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50-543: The early Sumerian legend " Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird ", set in the reign of Enmerkar of Uruk , alludes to the "mountains of Lulubi" as being where the character of Lugalbanda encounters the gigantic Anzû bird while searching for the rest of Enmerkar's army en route to siege Aratta . Lullubum appears in historical times as one of the lands Sargon the Great subjugated within his Akkadian Empire , along with

100-648: A revolt among the Zamuan chiefs in 881 BC, during which they constructed a wall in the Bazian pass between modern Kirkuk (the Assyrian city of Arrapha ) and Sulaymaniyah in a failed attempt to keep the Assyrians out. They were said to have had 19 walled cities in their land, as well as a large supply of horses, cattle, metals, textiles and wine, which were carried off by Ashur-nasir-pal. Local chiefs or governors of

150-578: Is modern day Iraq . The Sumerians widely regarded their divinities as responsible for all matters pertaining to the natural and social orders of their society. Before the beginning of kingship in Sumer , the city-states were effectively ruled by theocratic priests and religious officials. Later, this role was supplanted by kings, but priests continued to exert great influence on Sumerian society. In early times, Sumerian temples were simple, one-room structures, sometimes built on elevated platforms. Towards

200-477: Is now thought to date to the Ur-III period; however, a later Assyrian- Babylonian legendary retelling of the exploits of Sargon the Great mentions Anubanini as one of his opponents. In the following (second) millennium BC, the term " Lullubi " or " Lullu " seems to have become a generic Babylonian/ Assyrian term for "highlander" without reference ro any single ethnic group, while the original region of Lullubi became

250-500: Is the prologue to the epic poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld , which briefly describes the process of creation: originally, there was only Nammu , the primeval sea. Then, Nammu without a father gave birth to Utu , then went on to create An the sky, and Ki , the earth. An and Ki mated with each other, causing Ki to give birth to Enlil , the god of wind, rain, and storm. Enlil separated An from Ki and carried off

300-654: The Enûma Eliš ). The Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon was altered, most notably with the introduction of a new supreme deity, Marduk . The Sumerian goddess Inanna also developed the counterpart Ishtar during the Old Babylonian Period. The Hurrians adopted the Akkadian god Anu into their pantheon sometime no later than 1200 BC. Other Sumerian and Akkadian deities adapted into the Hurrian pantheon include Ayas,

350-519: The Third Dynasty of Ur , the Sumerian pantheon was said to include sixty times sixty (3600) deities. Enlil was the god of air, wind, and storm. He was also the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon and the patron deity of the city of Nippur . His primary consort was Ninlil , the goddess of the south wind, who was one of the patron deities of Nippur and was believed to reside in

400-557: The galla dragging the god Dumuzid into the underworld. The later Mesopotamians knew this underworld by its East Semitic name: Irkalla . During the Akkadian Period , Ereshkigal's role as the ruler of the underworld was assigned to Nergal , the god of death. The Akkadians attempted to harmonize this dual rulership of the underworld by making Nergal Ereshkigal's husband. It is generally agreed that Sumerian civilization began at some point between c. 4500 and 4000 BC, but

450-711: The Anzud Bird Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird (or Lugalbanda II , The Return of Lugalbanda , Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird ) is a Sumerian mythological account. The story is the second of two about the hero Lugalbanda . The first story is known as Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave , or sometimes Lugalbanda in the Wilderness . They are part of a four-story cycle that describes the conflicts between Enmerkar , king of Unug ( Uruk ), and

500-664: The Hurrian counterpart to Ea; Shaushka, the Hurrian counterpart to Ishtar; and the goddess Ninlil , whose mythos had been drastically expanded by the Babylonians. Some stories recorded in the older parts of the Hebrew Bible bear strong similarities to the stories in Sumerian mythology. For example, the biblical account of Noah and the Great Flood bears a striking resemblance to the Sumerian deluge myth , recorded in

550-624: The Lullubi kingdom: Various Lullubian reliefs can be seen in the area of Sar-e Pol-e Zohab , the best preserved of which is the Anubanini rock relief . They all show a ruler trampling an enemy, and most also show a deity facing the ruler. Another relief can be found about 200 meters away, in a style similar to the Anubanini relief, but this time with a beardless ruler. The attribution to a specific ruler remains uncertain. Lugalbanda and

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600-575: The Lullubians rebelled against the Gutian king Erridupizir , according to Mesopotamian inscriptions: Ka-Nisba, king of Simurrum , instigated the people of Simurrum and Lullubi to revolt. Amnili, general of [the enemy Lullubi]... made the land [rebel]... Erridu-pizir, the mighty, king of Gutium and of the four quarters hastened [to confront] him... In a single day he captured the pass of Urbillum at Mount Mummum. Further, he captured Nirishuha. Following

650-528: The Zamua region continued to be mentioned down to the end of Esarhaddon 's reign (669 BC) after which they disappear from history. In depictions of them, the Lullubi are represented as warlike mountain people. The Lullubi are often shown bare-chested and wearing animal skins. They have short beards, their hair is long and worn in a thick braid, as can be seen on the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin . Rulers of

700-405: The [>Hurrian]] inhabited Zamua . However, the "land of Lullubi" makes a reappearance in the late 12th century BC, when both Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon (in c. 1120 BC) and Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria (in 1113 BC) subdued it. Neo-Assyrian kings of the following centuries also recorded campaigns and conquests in the area of Lullubum / Zamua . Most notably, Ashur-nasir-pal II had to suppress

750-452: The advent of the Lugal ("King"), Sumerian city-states were under a virtually theocratic government controlled by various En or Ensí , who served as the high priests of the cults of the city gods. (Their female equivalents were known as Nin .) Priests were responsible for continuing the cultural and religious traditions of their city-state, and were viewed as mediators between humans and

800-479: The city of Aratta. But his king, Enmerkar, is facing problems with the siege, and after a year of setbacks without success, decides to seek the advice of the goddess Inanna , who is back in Uruk (in the story referred to as Unug or Kulaba), pleading for her to assist him once more, as she had assisted in building a wall against the encroaching Martu in the fiftieth year of his reign. Finally, Lugalbanda volunteers for

850-425: The cosmic and terrestrial forces. The priesthood resided full-time in temple complexes, and administered matters of state including the large irrigation processes necessary for the civilization's survival. Some cities in Sumer had periods where their kings were worshipped as gods, and occasionally, these times spread to all cities in the region. During the Third Dynasty of Ur , the Sumerian city-state of Lagash

900-578: The dead to drink. Nonetheless, there are assumptions according to which treasures in wealthy graves had been intended as offerings for Utu and the Anunnaki , so that the deceased would receive special favors in the underworld. During the Third Dynasty of Ur , it was believed that a person's treatment in the afterlife depended on how he or she was buried; those that had been given sumptuous burials would be treated well, but those who had been given poor burials would fare poorly, and were believed to haunt

950-532: The earliest historical records only date to around 2900 BC. The Sumerians originally practiced a polytheistic religion, with anthropomorphic deities representing cosmic and terrestrial forces in their world. The earliest Sumerian literature of the third millennium BC identifies four primary deities: An , Enlil , Ninhursag , and Enki . These early deities were believed to occasionally behave mischievously towards each other, but were generally viewed as being involved in co-operative creative ordering. During

1000-431: The earth as his domain, while An carried off the sky. The ancient Mesopotamians regarded the sky as a series of domes (usually three, but sometimes seven) covering the flat earth and a place where holy stars resided. Each dome was made of a different kind of precious stone. The lowest dome of heaven was made of jasper and was the home of the stars . The middle dome of heaven was made of saggilmut stone and

1050-453: The earth as his domain. Humans were believed to have been created by AnKi or Enki , the son of the An and Ki. Heaven was reserved exclusively for deities and, upon their deaths, all mortals' spirits, regardless of their behavior while alive, were believed to go to Kur , a cold, dark cavern deep beneath the earth, which was ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and where the only food available

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1100-503: The earth was named Ki . First the underground world was believed to be an extension of the goddess Ki, but later developed into the concept of Kur . The primordial saltwater sea was named Nammu , who became known as Tiamat during and after the Ur III period . Some ancient Sumerians believed that salt and other minerals were alive, and could even think independent thoughts. The main source of information about Sumerian creation mythology

1150-433: The end of Sumerian civilization, these temples developed into ziggurats —tall, pyramidal structures with sanctuaries at the tops. The Sumerians believed that the universe had come into being through a series of cosmic births such as gods. First, Nammu , the primeval waters, gave birth to Ki (the earth) and An (the sky), who mated together and produced a son named Enlil . Enlil separated heaven from earth and claimed

1200-399: The end of the Sumerian civilization, ziggurats became the preferred temple structure for Mesopotamian religious centers. Temples served as cultural, religious, and political headquarters until approximately 2500 BC, with the rise of military kings known as Lu-gals ("man" + "big") after which time the political and military leadership was often housed in separate "palace" complexes. Until

1250-550: The gods as living in a feudal society with class structure . Powerful deities such as Enki and Inanna became seen as receiving their power from the chief god Enlil . The majority of Sumerian deities belonged to a classification called the Anunna ("[offspring] of An "), whereas seven deities, including Enlil and Inanna, belonged to a group of "underworld judges" known as the Anunnaki ("[offspring] of An" + Ki ). During

1300-543: The highlands of Lullubi . He finds the chick of the giant Anzû (or Anzud) bird, which is described as a lion-headed eagle, and decides to feed the chick. When the Anzu bird returns, it is first startled by the chick not responding to its call, but once it finds out what happened, it is very pleased with Lugalbanda and in appreciation grants him the power to travel at unbelievable speed. With his newly gained abilities, Lugalbanda catches up with his comrades who are laying siege to

1350-463: The king of Aratta . The texts are believed to be composed during the Ur III Period (21st century BCE), but almost all of the extant copies come from Isin-Larsa period (20th-18th centuries BCE). Nevertheless, a few fragmentary bilingual copies (Sumerian and Akkadian) from Nineveh suggest that the texts were still known during the first millennium. This story starts with Lugalbanda alone in

1400-642: The living. The entrance to Kur was believed to be located in the Zagros Mountains in the far east. It had seven gates, through which a soul needed to pass. The god Neti was the gatekeeper. Ereshkigal's sukkal , or messenger, was the god Namtar . Galla were a class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld; their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur. They are frequently referenced in magical texts, and some texts describe them as being seven in number. Several extant poems describe

1450-651: The mid-17th century BC. During the Old Babylonian Period , the Sumerian and Akkadian languages were retained for religious purposes; the majority of Sumerian mythological literature known to historians today comes from the Old Babylonian Period, either in the form of transcribed Sumerian texts (most notably the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh ) or in the form of Sumerian and Akkadian influences within Babylonian mythological literature (most notably

1500-433: The middle of the third millennium BC, Sumerian society became more urbanized. As a result of this, Sumerian deities began to lose their original associations with nature and became the patrons of various cities. Each Sumerian city-state had its own specific patron deity, who was believed to protect the city and defend its interests. Lists of large numbers of Sumerian deities have been found. Their order of importance and

1550-718: The moon. During the Akkadian Empire , Inanna , the goddess of sex, beauty, and warfare, was widely venerated across Sumer and appeared in many myths, including the famous story of her descent into the Underworld . Sumerian religion heavily influenced the religious beliefs of later Mesopotamian peoples ; elements of it are retained in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians , Akkadians , Babylonians , Assyrians , and other Middle Eastern culture groups. Scholars of comparative mythology have noticed parallels between

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1600-597: The morning and evening star. Her main cult center was the Eanna temple in Uruk , which had been originally dedicated to An. Deified kings may have re-enacted the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzid with priestesses. Accounts of her parentage vary; in most myths, she is usually presented as the daughter of Nanna and Ningal, but, in other stories, she is the daughter of Enki or An along with an unknown mother. The Sumerians had more myths about her than any other deity. Many of

1650-509: The myths involving her revolve around her attempts to usurp control of the other deities' domains. Utu was god of the sun, whose primary center of worship was the E-babbar temple in Sippar . Utu was principally regarded as a dispenser of justice; he was believed to protect the righteous and punish the wicked. Nanna was god of the moon and of wisdom. He was the father of Utu and one of

1700-581: The neighboring province of Gutium , which was possibly of the same Hurrian origin as the Lullubi. Sargon's grandson Naram Sin defeated the Lullubi and their king Satuni , and had his famous victory stele made in commemoration: "Naram-Sin the powerful . . . . Sidur and Sutuni, princes of the Lulubi, gathered together and they made war against me." After the Akkadian Empire fell to the Gutians ,

1750-449: The original Akkadian belief systems that have been mostly lost to history. Sumerian deities developed Akkadian counterparts. Some remained virtually the same until later Babylonian and Assyrian rule. The Sumerian god An, for example, developed the Akkadian counterpart Anu; the Sumerian god Enki became Ea . The gods Ninurta and Enlil kept their original Sumerian names. The Amorite Babylonians gained dominance over southern Mesopotamia by

1800-546: The original patron deity of Uruk . Most major gods had a so-called sukkal , a minor deity serving as their vizier, messenger or doorkeeper. The Sumerians had an ongoing linguistic and cultural exchange with the Semitic Akkadian peoples in northern Mesopotamia for generations prior to the usurpation of their territories by Sargon of Akkad in 2340 BC. Sumerian mythology and religious practices were rapidly integrated into Akkadian culture, presumably blending with

1850-481: The patron deities of Ur . He may have also been the father of Inanna and Ereshkigal. Ningal was the wife of Nanna, as well as the mother of Utu, Inanna, and Ereshkigal. Ereshkigal was the goddess of the Sumerian Underworld , which was known as Kur . She was Inanna's older sister. In later myth, her husband was the god Nergal . The gatekeeper of the underworld was the god Neti . Nammu

1900-554: The relationships between the deities has been examined during the study of cuneiform tablets. During the late 2000s BC, the Sumerians were conquered by the Akkadians . The Akkadians syncretized their own gods with the Sumerian ones, causing Sumerian religion to take on a Semitic coloration. Male deities became dominant and the gods completely lost their original associations with natural phenomena. People began to view

1950-414: The same temple as Enlil. Ninurta was the son of Enlil and Ninlil. He was worshipped as the god of war, agriculture, and one of the Sumerian wind gods. He was the patron deity of Girsu and one of the patron deities of Lagash . "Sumerian cities each had their own gods but acknowledged the supremacy of...Enlil." Enki was god of freshwater, male fertility, and knowledge. His most important cult center

2000-610: The short lived Gutian period, the Neo-Sumerian Empire (Ur-III) ruler Shulgi is said to have raided Lullubi at least 9 times; by the time of Amar-Sin , Lullubians formed a contingent in the military of Ur, suggesting that the region was then under Neo- Sumerian control. Another famous rock relief depicting the Lullubian king Anubanini with the Assyrian-Babylonian goddess Ishtar , captives in tow,

2050-515: The stories of the ancient Sumerians and those recorded later in the early parts of the Hebrew Bible . Sumerian myths were passed down through the oral tradition until the invention of writing (the earliest myth discovered so far, the Epic of Gilgamesh , is Sumerian and is written on a series of fractured clay tablets). Early Sumerian cuneiform was used primarily as a record-keeping tool; it

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2100-421: The trip. Lugalbanda is able to travel the incredible distance over seven mountain ranges within a day's time. Inanna responds with a parable instructing Enmerkar how to wrest control of Aratta and its resources. Sumerian religion Sumerian religion was the religion practiced by the people of Sumer , the first literate civilization found in recorded history and based in ancient Mesopotamia , and what

2150-419: Was a goddess representing the primeval waters (Engur), who gave birth to An (heaven) and Ki (earth) and the first deities; while she is rarely attested as an object of cult, she likely played a central role in the early cosmogony of Eridu, and in later periods continued to appear in texts related to exorcisms. An was the ancient Sumerian god of the heavens. He was the ancestor of all the other major deities and

2200-451: Was believed to be ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal . All souls went to the same afterlife, and a person's actions during life had no effect on how the person would be treated in the world to come. The souls in Kur were believed to eat nothing but dry dust and family members of the deceased would ritually pour libations into the dead person's grave through a clay pipe, thereby allowing

2250-401: Was dry dust. In later times, Ereshkigal was believed to rule alongside her husband Nergal , the god of death. The major deities in the Sumerian pantheon included An, the god of the heavens, Enlil, the god of wind and storm, AnKi Enki, the god of water and human culture, Ninhursag , the goddess of fertility and the earth, Utu , the god of the sun and justice, and his father Nanna , the god of

2300-485: Was not until the late Early Dynastic period that religious writings first became prevalent as temple praise hymns and as a form of "incantation" called the nam-šub (prefix + "to cast"). These tablets were also made of stone clay or stone, and they used a small pick to make the symbols. In the Sumerian city-states, temple complexes originally were small, elevated one-room structures. In the early dynastic period, temples developed raised terraces and multiple rooms. Toward

2350-461: Was said to have had sixty-two "lamentation priests" who were accompanied by 180 vocalists and instrumentalists. The Sumerians envisioned the universe as a closed dome surrounded by a primordial saltwater sea. Underneath the terrestrial earth, which formed the base of the dome, existed an underworld and a freshwater ocean called the Abzu . The deity of the dome-shaped firmament was named An ; that of

2400-456: Was the E-abzu temple in the city of Eridu . He was the patron and creator of humanity and the sponsor of human culture. His primary consort was Ninhursag , the Sumerian goddess of the earth. Ninhursag was worshipped in the cities of Kesh and Adab . Inanna was the Sumerian goddess of love, sexuality, prostitution, and war. She was the divine personification of the planet Venus ,

2450-509: Was the abode of the Igigi . The highest and outermost dome of heaven was made of luludānītu stone and was personified as An , the god of the sky. The celestial bodies were equated with specific deities as well. The planet Venus was believed to be Inanna , the goddess of love, sex, and war. The sun was her brother Utu , the god of justice, and the moon was their father Nanna . Ordinary mortals could not go to heaven because it

2500-410: Was the abode of the gods alone. Instead, after a person died, his or her soul went to Kur (later known as Irkalla ), a dark shadowy underworld , located deep below the surface of the earth. The Sumerian afterlife was a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground, where inhabitants were believed to continue "a shadowy version of life on earth". This bleak domain was known as Kur , and

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