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53-435: The sequence consists of 70 hymns, each of which is dedicated to a deity associated with a specific location. Most of them belonged to the pantheon of southern Mesopotamia , with northern deities being less numerous and these from more distant areas like Ebla , Mari and Susa absent altogether. While the first eleven hymns are dedicated to major, well attested deities such as Enlil , Inanna , Nanna or Ningal , some of

106-683: A deity's melam has on a human is described as ni , a word for the " physical creeping of the flesh ". Both the Sumerian and Akkadian languages contain many words to express the sensation of ni , including the word puluhtu , meaning "fear". Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps, consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns. They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven , but that

159-626: A deity's cult statue would be transported to the location of a battle so that the deity could watch the battle unfold. The major deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon were believed to participate in the "assembly of the gods", through which the gods made all of their decisions. This assembly was seen as a divine counterpart to the semi-democratic legislative system that existed during the Third Dynasty of Ur ( c. 2112 BC – c. 2004 BC). The Mesopotamian pantheon evolved greatly over

212-1001: A forerunner of the Temple Hymns , and it has been suggested the author of the latter work was familiar with the former. Both compositions deal with the assignment of cult centers to major deities, and around a half of the cities mentioned in the Temple Hymns are also present in the Zame Hymns . However, the Temple Hymns do not use the formula zame ; its later form zami only appears in the hymn dedicated to Nisaba and her cult center Eresh. Mesopotamian pantheon Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic . They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore melam , an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor" and which could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons. The effect that seeing

265-643: A god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself. As such, cult statues were given constant care and attention and a set of priests were assigned to tend to them. These priests would clothe the statues and place feasts before them so they could"eat". A deity's temple was believed to be that deity's literal place of residence. The gods had boats, full-sized barges which were normally stored inside their temples and were used to transport their cult statues along waterways during various religious festivals . The gods also had chariots , which were used for transporting their cult statues by land. Sometimes

318-417: A phrase which recurs in all of the hymns, identified as an early form of later za 3 -mi 2 , "praise". The title has been coined by Robert D. Biggs at the time of their first publication in 1974. The designation of the individual sections of the composition, as hymns, while conventional, is sometimes criticized due to their length, as some consist of only two lines. However, sometimes the entire sequence

371-520: Is a text entitled An = Anum , a Babylonian scholarly work listing the names of over 2,000 deities. While sometimes mistakenly regarded simply as a list of Sumerian gods with their Akkadian equivalents, it was meant to provide information about the relations between individual gods, as well as short explanations of functions fulfilled by them. In addition to spouses and children of gods, it also listed their servants. Various terms were employed to describe groups of deities. The collective term Anunnaki

424-434: Is assumed that at least some of the latter belong to the same tablets, but it is nonetheless agreed that at least seven different copies have been excavated. With the exception of a single fragment which might not belong to the composition, all of the copies were found in the same room, which might have served as the scriptorium of a temple. However, the tablets were not scribal exercises , as evidenced by their large size and

477-643: Is divided into seven tablets. The surviving version of the Enûma Eliš could not have been written any earlier than the late second millennium BC, but it draws heavily on earlier materials, including various works written during the Akkadian, Old Babylonian, and Kassite periods in the early second millennium BC. A category of primordial beings common in incantations were pairs of divine ancestors of Enlil and less commonly of Anu. In at least some cases these elaborate genealogies were assigned to major gods to avoid

530-465: Is first attested during the reign of Gudea ( c. 2144 – 2124 BC) and the Third Dynasty of Ur. This term usually referred to the major deities of heaven and earth, endowed with immense powers, who were believed to "decree the fates of mankind". Gudea described them as " Lamma (tutelary deities) of all the countries." While it is common in modern literature to assume that in some contexts

583-450: Is instead the king's daughter ). Inscriptions on their respective garments identify each person. On the bottom register, Ur-Nanshe is at a banquet, which is to celebrate the building of the temple. He is seated on a throne wearing the same outfit as the top register surrounded by other court members. In both registers Ur-Nanshe is shown using hierarchical proportion in which he is considerably larger than everyone surrounding him. A part of

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636-618: Is known to have originally built the Ibgal of Inanna , because of Eanatum's honorary inscriptions left after temple renovation. The Ibgal of Inanna is located in modern-day al-Hiba (ancient city of Lagash). An oval wall surrounds the main mud brick temple and it is located on the southwest edge of the city. This placement within the city is different because temples were usually centrally positioned in ancient Sumer. Ur-Nanshe has left behind many inscriptions and plates that depict him, his family, and court. The Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe

689-677: Is on display at the Louvre . The king is portrayed as a builder of temples and canals, thus a preserver of order perceived to be bestowed upon them by the gods. It is a perforated limestone slab that was probably part of a wall as a votive decoration and is inscribed in Sumerian: 𒌨𒀭𒀏 / 𒈗 / 𒉢𒁓𒆷 / 𒌉𒄖𒉌𒁺 / 𒌉𒄥𒊬 / 𒂍𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄈𒋢 𒈬𒆕 / 𒍪𒀊𒌉𒁕 𒈬𒆕 / 𒂍𒀭𒀏 𒈬𒆕 Ur-Nanshe / lugal / Lagash / dumu Gunidu / dumu Gurmu/ e2 Ningirsu mu-du3 / abzu-banda3da mu-du3 / e2 nanshe mu-du3 “Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, son of Gunidu, son of Gurmu, built

742-665: Is overall more widespread among Assyriologists. A second possibility suggested by Krebernik and Lisman is that all of the deities are praised by mankind. Unless stated otherwise, the numbering of the hymns, toponyms and theonyms follow the table in Krebernik & Lisman 2020. In contrast with compositions such as the Instructions of Shuruppak or the Kesh temple hymn , the Zame Hymns did not continue to be copied in later periods. The Temple Hymns attributed to Enheduanna are

795-1766: Is perfection in the presence of the lady. Lagaš thrives in abundance in the presence of Nanše. She chose the šennu in her holy heart and seated Ur-Nanše, the beloved lord of Lagaš, on the throne. She gave the lofty scepter to the shepherd.” ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon

848-604: Is referred to as a singular hymn. The Zame Hymns are the oldest known collection of Mesopotamian hymns, and have been dated to Early Dynastic IIIa period . More precise dating is not possible. Alongside compositions from Fara discovered in 1902 and 1903, the Zame Hymns have been described by Robert D. Biggs as "testimonies of the first great flowering of Sumerian literature ". However, according to Manfred Krebernik  [ de ] and Jan Lisman literary texts, while overall more recent than administrative and lexical ones, must have already been composed earlier, possibly in

901-585: The Uruk III period , as the text corpora from Fara and Abu Salabikh already show the existence of shared conventions, and in some cases the same compositions are known from more than one Early Dynastic site. No copies of the Zame Hymns have been discovered outside Abu Salabikh. However, they are not entirely isolated, and a number of passages with parallels to them have been identified in other contemporary texts, which might indicate all were derived from shared oral tradition . Mark E. Cohen proposed shortly after

954-576: The Anunnaki as a distinct group have yet been discovered, although a few depictions of its frequent individual members have been identified. Another similar collective term for deities was Igigi , first attested from the Old Babylonian Period ( c. 1830 BC – c. 1531 BC). The name Igigi seems to have originally been applied to the "great gods", but it later came to refer to all the gods of Heaven collectively. In some instances,

1007-475: The Early Dynastic period cuneiform signs were not yet necessarily arranged in sequence in accordance with the lexical and morphological units they represented. Suffixes , postpositions , verbal morphemes and some determinatives (especially ki , used to designate toponyms ) are left out, which might indicate the texts served as a memory aid for individuals already familiar with the hymns. Most of

1060-465: The Early Dynastic period. The first 11 hymns focus on the most important deities ( Enlil , Inanna , Ninirigal , Enki , Asalluḫi , Nanna , Utu , Ningal , An , Damgalnuna and Nin-UM ) and their cult centers. Notable omissions include Bau , Dumuzi , Ninhursag , Ninlil , Ninurta , Nuska and Ningishzida . Additionally, comparatively few northern deities are mentioned, with only hymns from 12 to 17 being dedicated to them. This presumably reflects

1113-573: The building and renovation of Ur-Nanshe's original buildings. He ascended after Lugalshaengur (lugal-ša-engur), who was the ensi , or high priest of Lagash, and is only known from the macehead inscription of Mesilim . According to the Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe, temples attributed to Ur-Nanshe include Ningirsu 's temple in Girsu , Nanshe 's temple in Nina , and Apsubanda. He

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1166-408: The course of its history. In general, the history of Mesopotamian religion can be divided into four phases. During the first phase, starting in the fourth millennium BC, deities' domains mainly focused on basic needs for human survival. During the second phase, which occurred in the third millennium BC, the divine hierarchy became more structured and deified kings began to enter the pantheon. During

1219-459: The fact the order of signs might not necessarily reflect grammar and syntax in Early Dynastic texts. 70 individual hymns of variable length (from 2 to 12 lines) have been identified. It is not known if this number has any special significance in the Early Dynastic period, but later sources do not indicate that 70 was a number with any specific importance in Mesopotamian religion . The text of

1272-490: The fact they were copied by experienced scribes, some of whom added colophons . Five survive, with a total of seventeen individuals presumably involved in the preparation of the tablets mentioned in them. Other texts discovered in the same room include the myths Lugalbanda and Ninsumuna and Ezina and her children , the Abu Salabikh god list (in multiple copies) and numerous examples of UD.GAL.NUN . Biggs published

1325-538: The first modern edition of the hymns in 1974, though he stressed that it should only be considered the first step in the process of translating them. The first hymn has been subsequently translated by multiple other researchers, though the rest of the corpus attracted less attention. A new edition of the full sequence of hymns has been completed by Manfred Krebernik and Jan Lisman in 2020, though they also state that it should not be considered definitive, as uncertainties over correct translation of multiple passages remain due to

1378-455: The foundation of her temple . They speculate they might have been performed when this event was reenacted during a cyclical (possibly annual) festival, but stress that this cannot be established with certainty. A different view has been advanced by Douglas Frayne, who argued that since both the second and second to last hymns focus on Uruk or Kullaba, the toponyms listed might represent the full territorial extent of an area which at some point

1431-479: The god list An = Anum Gula, Ninkarrak and Nintinugga all figure as separate deities with own courts. Dogs were associated with many healing goddesses and Gula in particular is often shown in art with a dog sitting beside her. Various civilizations over the course of Mesopotamian history had many different creation stories . The earliest accounts of creation are simple narratives written in Sumerian dating to

1484-611: The gods," possibly reflecting the existence of a similar belief connected to him among his clergy too, though unlike the doctrine of supremacy of the moon god, accepted by Nabonidus , it found no royal support at any point in time. In Zabban, a city in the northeast of Babylonia, Hadad was the head of the pantheon. In the first millennium BCE Marduk became the supreme god in Babylonia, and some late sources omit Anu and Enlil altogether and state that Ea received his position from Marduk. In some neo-Babylonian inscriptions Nabu 's status

1537-502: The hymns is uniform overall, and very few passages have variants. While some of the texts discovered in Abu Salabikh follow the unusual UD.GAL.NUN orthography, the Zame Hymns , much like the copies of Instructions of Shuruppak and the Kesh temple hymn from this site, represent conventional Sumerian similar to that later used in Old Babylonian scribal schools . They are nonetheless considered difficult to translate, as in

1590-451: The hymns start with a toponym and its description. Each concludes with a formula consisting of a theonym and the phrase za 3 -me . Most likely za 3 -me in this context should be interpreted as za 3 -me mu-DUG 3 , "(a deity) spoke praise". Next to the god lists from Fara and Abu Salabikh, the hymns are considered the most important source of information about the pantheon and location of religious sites in lower Mesopotamia in

1643-714: The implications of divine incest. Figures appearing in theogonies were generally regarded as ancient and no longer active (unlike the regular gods) by the Mesopotamians. Ur-Nanshe Ur-Nanshe ( Sumerian : 𒌨𒀭𒀏 , UR- NANŠE ) also Ur-Nina , was the first king of the First Dynasty of Lagash (approx. 2500 BCE) in the Sumerian Early Dynastic Period III. He is known through inscriptions to have commissioned many building projects, including canals and temples, in

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1696-467: The inscriptions, in front of the seated king, reads: “Boats from the (distant) land of Dilmun carried the wood (for him)”. This is the oldest known written record of Dilmun and importation of goods into Mesopotamia . An inscribed door socket from Ur-Nanshe is also known, now in the Louvre Museum . The full inscription of the door socket has been translated as: "Ur-Nanshe, the king of Lagash,

1749-480: The king and his court standing rigid and wide eyed, paying homage to the god Nanshe. They are dressed in kaunakes with their hands clasped together over their chest. Hierarchical scale of the king and the use of cuneiform on the figures to identify them are employed as in the Perforated Relief. 𒌨𒀭𒀏 / 𒈗 / 𒉢𒁓𒆷 / 𒌉𒄖𒉌𒁺 / 𒂍𒀭𒊩𒌆𒄈𒋢 / 𒈬𒆕 Ur-Nanshe / lugal / Lagash / dumu Gunidu / E-Ningirsu / mudu "Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, son of Gunidu, built

1802-630: The late third millennium BC. These are mostly preserved as brief prologues to longer mythographic compositions dealing with other subjects, such as Inanna and the Huluppu Tree , The Creation of the Pickax , and Enki and Ninmah . Later accounts are far more elaborate, adding multiple generations of gods and primordial beings. The longest and most famous of these accounts is the Babylonian Enûma Eliš , or Epic of Creation , which

1855-514: The only known collection of hymns written in Sumerian with a similar structure. While a number of texts from Fara, including a composition focused on Sud and her temple, as well as a section of the Kesh temple hymn describing the eponymous house of worship (lines 22–54) show parallels to them too, ultimately the Temple Hymns are the most similar. Comparisons between them have been made as early as 1966. The Zame Hymns are sometimes outright described as

1908-478: The original publication of the hymns that they were composed in Abu Salabikh. He suggested that Lisin occurs as the final deity praised in them because she was the tutelary goddess of Abu Salabikh. Support for this view has more recently been voiced by Krebernik and Lisman, who argue that based on Lisin's position in the hymns and the possible identification of her cult center as Abu Salabikh, it can be assumed that they were originally composed in this city to celebrate

1961-404: The others are sparsely attested and their character is poorly understood. Due to structural similarities it has been suggested that the Zame Hymns influenced the later Temple Hymns , traditionally attributed to Enheduanna . The modern name of the Zame Hymns is derived from the Sumerian word za 3 -me . It should not be considered a name of a distinct literary genre. It is derived from

2014-471: The others is impossible to determine. In some cases, goddesses are identified with feminine titles like lamma or ama , but they are not applied consistently. Robert D. Biggs assumed that the hymns should be interpreted as praise uttered by Enlil, the first god mentioned, in honor of the other deities. However, according to Manfred Krebernik and Jan Lisman the opposite is more likely, with Enlil being praised by other deities. Xianhua Wang notes that this view

2067-470: The perception of upper Mesopotamia as a "fringe" area in the south. However, Aage Westenholz notes that the inclusion of some of the northern deities like Zababa indicates that there was no systematic religious discrimination against their cults. More distant areas, like Ebla , Mari and Susa , are omitted altogether. Of the deities listed, at least twenty five are male and at least thirty seven female, but due to scarcity of attestations gender of some of

2120-614: The publication of preliminary results of excavations of Abu Salabikh by Robert D. Biggs. The excavations were conducted in 1963 and 1965 by a team from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago , with participation of representatives of the Iraqi Directorate General for Antiquities. All of the known copies come from Abu Salabikh. A total of 24 tablets and fragments have been identified; it

2173-489: The rise of Ur-Nanshe to power, as it is known that from that time up to the reign of Urukagina the area was independent from Uruk. Joan Goodnick Westenholz assumed that the Zame Hymns were composed for both theological and political reasons, as a reflection of the existence of an " amphictyonic " organization centered on Nippur , due to the prominent position of this city and its tutelary god Enlil . The Zame Hymns first became known to Assyriologists in 1966, after

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2226-616: The son of Gunidu, the son of Gurmu, built the house of Ningirsu ; built the house of Nanshe ; built the house of Gatumdug ; built the harem; built the house of Ninmar . The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as a tribute from foreign lands. He built the Ibgal ; built the Kinir ; built the scepter (?)-house." The Plaque of Ur Nanshe is a limestone plaque currently located at the Louvre Museum that honors Ur Nanshe. The figures displayed are

2279-511: The state of Lagash, and defending Lagash from its rival state Umma . He was probably not from royal lineage, being the son of Gunidu ( 𒄖𒉌𒁺 ) who was recorded without an accompanying royal title. He was the father of Akurgal , who succeeded him, and grandfather of Eannatum . Eannatum expanded the kingdom of Lagash by defeating Umma as illustrated in the Stele of the Vultures and continued

2332-460: The temple of Ningirsu " There are many other inscriptions found by or mentioning Ur-Nanshe. Some of them include a listing of rulers of Lagash and a hymn to Nanshe. Excerpt from Ruler of Lagash: “Ur-Nanše, the son of ......, who built the E-Sirara, her temple of happiness and Niĝin, her beloved city, acted for 1080 years. Ane-tum, the son of Ur-Nanše” Excerpt from A Hymn to Nanshe: “There

2385-407: The temple of Ningirsu, built Apsubanda, built the temple of Nanshe.” The carved illustration is in two registers, top and bottom, both depicting Ur-Nanshe in different roles as king. In the top register he is dressed in a kaunakes (tufted wool skirt), carrying a basket of bricks on his head while surrounded by other Lagash elite, his wife, and seven of his sons (though it is possible female figure

2438-402: The term was applied to a class of distinct, Hurrian, gods instead. Anunnaki are chiefly mentioned in literary texts and very little evidence to support the existence of any distinct cult of them has yet been unearthed due to the fact that each deity which could be regarded as a member of the Anunnaki had his or her own individual cult, separate from the others. Similarly, no representations of

2491-519: The term was instead applied to chthonic Underworld deities, this view is regarded as unsubstantiated by assyriologist Dina Katz, who points out that it relies entirely on the myth of Inanna's Descent , which doesn't necessarily contradict the conventional definition of Anunnaki and doesn't explicitly identify them as gods of the Underworld. Unambiguous references to Anunnaki as chthonic come from Hurrian (rather than Mesopotamian) sources, in which

2544-449: The terms Anunnaki and Igigi are used synonymously. Samuel Noah Kramer , writing in 1963, stated that the three most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon during all periods were the deities An , Enlil , and Enki . However, newer research shows that the arrangement of the top of the pantheon could vary depending on time period and location. The Fara god list indicates that sometimes Enlil, Inanna and Enki were regarded as

2597-499: The third phase, in the second millennium BC, the gods worshipped by an individual person and gods associated with the commoners became more prevalent. During the fourth and final phase, in the first millennium BC, the gods became closely associated with specific human empires and rulers. The names of over 3,000 Mesopotamian deities have been recovered from cuneiform texts. Many of these are from lengthy lists of deities compiled by ancient Mesopotamian scribes. The longest of these lists

2650-659: The three most significant deities. Inanna was also the most important deity in Uruk and a number of other political centers in the Uruk period. Gudea regarded Ninhursag , rather than Enki, as the third most prominent deity. An Old Babylonian source preserves a tradition in which Nanna was the king of the gods, and Anu, Enlil and Enki merely his advisers, likely a view espoused by Nanna's priests in Ur , and later on in Harran . An Old Babylonian personal name refers to Shamash as "Enlil of

2703-526: Was believed to be the planet Venus , Utu was believed to be the Sun, and Nanna was the Moon. However, minor deities could be associated with planets too, for example Mars was sometimes called Simut , and Ninsianna was a Venus deity distinct from Inanna in at least some contexts. Eventually Gula became the preeminent healing goddess, and other healing goddesses were sometimes syncretised with her, though in

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2756-459: Was equal to that of Marduk. In Assyria, Assur was regarded as the supreme god. The number seven was extremely important in ancient Mesopotamian cosmology. In Sumerian religion , the most powerful and important deities in the pantheon were sometimes called the "seven gods who decree": An , Enlil , Enki , Ninhursag , Nanna , Utu , and Inanna . Many major deities in Sumerian mythology were associated with specific celestial bodies: Inanna

2809-502: Was under the control of this city. He proposed that scribes composed them under the patronage of a ruler of Uruk, similarly to how the later Temple Hymns traditionally attributed to Enheduanna might have been composed on behalf of Sargon of Akkad with the aim of delineating the extent of the Akkadian Empire . Since cities in the proximity of Lagash are mentioned in the hymns, he assumes they were originally compiled before

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