MIDDLE EASTERN
MYTHOLOGY

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MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHOLOGY
(Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia, and Sumer)
Update History

The Mesopotamian region comprised of the lands of Sumer and Akkad in about 4000 BC, though populated mainly by the Sumerians.  The region was gradually conquered by Semititic invaders who absorbed the culture and traditions of its former people.  Later, a second wave of Semites, known as Amurru (or Amorites), established their own empire - Babylon.  The Amorite dynasty started in around 2200 BC and lasted for about 500 years before it fell to yet another wave of Semitic invaders - the Assyrians.

Adad
Babylonian.  One of the gods sent to destroy mankind in the 'Flood' myth.  Possibly an underworld god of thunder.

Adapa
Babylonian.  According to myth, he was the first man, son of Ea, and a priest-king of Eridu (the oldest Babylonian city).  In a rage, he broke the wing of the South Wind, so that it didn't blow for seven days.  Summoned before Anu, he was offered the bread of life which would have given him immortality but, thinking it was the bread of death, he refused it.

Allat
The Babylonian name for Ereshkigal.

Amanus
Babylonian.  The abode of Ishtar.

An
- Other names: Anu -
Sumerian.  The god personifying Heaven.

Anshar
Babylonian.  With Kishar, 'Horizon gods' of the sky and earth.  They gave birth to Anu and Nudimmud.

Anu
Another name for An.

Anunnaki
Sumerian.  The seven judges of the underworld.

Apsu
Babylonian.  The god personifying the sweet-water-ocean, slain by Ea during the first war of the gods, and sealed in a sacred chamber where Marduk was born.

Aruru
Babylonian.  The goddess who created Enkidu from clay after the people of Erech begged her for help after Gilgamesh had become arrogant and tyrannical through lack of challenge.

Ashnan
Sumerian.  The grain-goddess.  Daughter of Enki.

Ashur
Babylonian.  The chief god of Assyria.

Asushunamir
Babylonian.  A eunuch, servant of Ea, sent to retrieve Ishtar from the underworld.  Compare to the Sumerian Kalaturru and Kurgarru.

Atrakhasis
The Akkadian name for Ziusudra.

Dulkug
Sumerian.  The creation chamber of the gods.

Dumuzi
- Other names: Tammuz (Babylonian) -
Sumerian.  The shepherd-god, brother of Enkimdu, and husband of Innana.  He was the the prototype of all vegetation gods, dying and rising again with the rebirth of the vegetation each spring.  He was imprisoned in the underworld.  In the Babylonian myth of 'Adapa', he was one of the gods who guarded the gates of Heaven.

Ea
The Babylonian name for Enki.

Ea-bani
Babylonian.  Another name for Enkidu.

Enkidu
- Other names: Ea-bani -
Babylonian.  A wild human creature of the steppes, fashioned from clay by the goddess Aruru to provide a challenge to the arrogant Gilgamesh.  He fed on grass and befriended the wild animals, protecting them from hunters.  He was lured to Erech by a temple-prostitute with whom he had fallen in love, and became civilised.  After a contest of strength with Gilgamesh, the two became firm friends, and had many adventures together.  Enkidu slew the 'Bull of Heaven' sent down by Ishtar to destroy Erech after Gilgamesh spurned her love.  For his act, the gods decreed that Enkidu must die.  He dreamt that he was transformed into a ghost by Nergal, and carried off to the underworld.  He subsequently fell sick and died.

Enki
- Other names: Ea (Babylonian), Nudimmud (Babylonian) -
Sumerian.  One of the High-gods, and a water-god.  He was also the Babylonian god of wisdom, and created a number of other gods in Dulkug, including Lahar, Ashnan, and Kabta.  He was cursed with sickness in eight parts of his body by the other gods as punishment for his unacceptable behaviour (incestuous relationships) with his daughters, but was later cured by his wife, Ninhursag.

Enkimdu
Sumerian.  The farmer-god, brother of Dumuzi, and a failed suitor of Innana.

Enlil
Sumerian.  The air-god, son of An and Ki, and a High-god of Nippur.  He separated Earth and Heaven, and created the universe.

Ereshkigal
- Other name: Allat (Babylonian) -
Sumerian.  The goddess who rules the underworld.

Esharra
Babylonian.  The abode of the gods.

Etana
Babylonian.  A shepherd and king of Kish.  He ascended to Heaven on the back of an eagle to obtain the plant of birth from the goddess Ishtar.

Gilgamesh
Sumerian.  A semi-mythical hero of superhuman size and strength, part man and part god.  He was the fifth king of the dynasty of Erech (also called Uruk), believed to have reigned for 120 years.  He defended his city and the siege by King Agga of Kish.  In the myth of 'Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living', he strove to escape death by setting out with his friend, Enkidu, in a search for immortality.

Hawawa
- Other names: Humbaba (Assyrian) -
Babylonian.  A fire-breathing giant that guarded the cedar forests of the Amanus, which stretched for six thousand leagues.  He was slain by Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Humbaba
The Assyrian name for Hawawa.

Ilabrat
Babylonian.  A messenger of Anu.  He was sent to bring Adapa before the gods, to answer for breaking the wing of the South Wind.

Innana
- Other names: Ishtar (Babylonian), Irnini (Babylonian) -
Sumerian.  Daughter of Enki.  She was the queen of Heaven, and wife of Dumuzi.  When Dumuzi was imprisoned in the underworld, she made a failed attempt to rescue him.  In the 'Flood' myth, she unintentionally incited the gods to destroy mankind, and in the 'Gilgamesh' myth, she fell in love with the hero.  When Gilgamesh spurned her advances with insults, she got Anu to create the Bull of Heaven, and sent it down to wreak havoc amongst the people of Erech.

Irnini
Another name for Ishtar.

Ishtar
The Babylonian name for the Sumerian goddess Innana.

Kabta
Sumerian.  The brick-god.

Kalaturru
Sumerian.  One of two strange creatures (the other being Kurgarru) created from the dirt under Enki's fingernails and sent to retrieve Innana when she failed to return from the underworld.  Compare with the Babylonian Asushunamir.

Ki
Sumerian.  The goddess personifying the Earth.

Kingu
Babylonian.  The first-born of Tiamat, and leader of her army in the second war of the gods.  He was slain by the gods, and from his blood, mankind was created.

Kishar
Babylonian.  See Anshar.

Kurgarru
Sumerian.  See Kalaturru.

Lahamu
Babylonian.  See Lahmu.

Lahar
Sumerian.  The cattle-god.

Lahmu
Babylonian.  With Lahamu, the first offspring of Tiamat and Apsu.  Described as 'the silt deposited at the junction of the sea and rivers'.  They gave birth to Anshar and Kishar.

Latarak
Sumerian.  God of Badtibira.

Lugalband
Babylonian.  Father of Gilgamesh.  He slew Zu and retrieved the tablets of destiny.

Marduk
Babylonian.  The principal god in the Babylonian myth of creation.  The son of Ea, he was tremendously handsome and strong.  His weapons were a bow and arrows, a mace, lightning, and a net held at each corner by the four winds.  He defeated and slew Tiamat after challenging her to single combat during the second war of the gods.

Mummu
Babylonian.  Vizier to Apsu.  He advised Apsu on how to destroy the younger gods after he (Apsu) and Tiamat were disturbed by their noise.  Not wishing her offspring to be killed, Tiamat warned the younger gods, who created a counter plan.  So began the first war of the gods.

Mushdamma
Sumerian. The 'Great Builder of Enlil'.

Nammu
Sumerian.  The goddess personifying the primeval ocean.  She gave birth to Heaven and Earth in the form of a mountain.  Heaven (An) at the top, and Earth (Ki) at the bottom.

Nanna
- Other names: Sin -
Sumerian.  One of the High-gods, and the moon-god of Ur.  He was regarded as the chief astral deity and father of Utu.

Nebo
Babylonian.  The son of Marduk, credited with vanquishing Zu.

Nergal
Babylonian.  One of the gods sent to destroy mankind in the 'Flood' myth.  Possibly an underworld god of wind.

Neti
Sumerian.  Gatekeeper of the seven gates of the underworld.

Ningal
Sumerian.  Consort of Nanna, and mother to Utu.

Ningizzida
Babylonian.  One of the two gods who guarded the gates of Heaven in the myth of 'Adapa', the other being Tammuz.

Ninhursag
Sumerian.  The Earth-mother, wife of Enki, and mother by him, to Ninsar.  She cursed Enki for his behaviour toward their daughters, but later relented and created eight plants or lesser deities to tend the eight afflicted parts of his body.

Ninkarrak
Babylonian.  The goddess of healing.

Ninkurra
Sumerian.  Daughter of Ninsar and Enki, and mother (by Enki) of Uttu.

Ninlil
Sumerian.  A goddess who was loved and raped by Enlil as she sailed on the stream of Nunbirdu.  After Enlil was banished to the underworld for his act, she followed him, later giving birth to Nanna.  Later she became the mother of three underworld deities.

Ninmah
Sumerian.  The goddess of birth.  She created six types of human being from clay, including the barren woman, and the eunuch.

Ninmu
Sumerian.  Another name for Ninsar.

Ninsar
- Other names: Ninmu -
Sumerian.  The goddess of plants.  Daughter of Enki and Ninhursag.  Mother, by Enki, of Ninkurra.

Ninshubar
Sumerian.  Vizier to Innana.  She instructed him to perform mourning rites and then to ask the assistance of the High-gods if she failed to return from her descent into the underworld within three days.  Compare with the Babylonian Papsukkal.

Nudimmud
Babylonian.  Another name for Ea.

Papsukkal
Babylonian.  Vizier of the gods.  He announced the non-return of Ishtar from the underworld to the gods.  Compare with the Sumerian Ninshubur.

Shamash
Sumerian.  Another name for Utu.

Shara
Sumerian.  The god of Umma.

Siduri
Babylonian.  The 'ale-wife'.  The goddess who guards the waters of death.

Sin
Sumerian.  Another name for Nanna.

Sumuqan
Sumerian.  'King of the Mountain'.

Tammuz
The Babylonian name for Dumuzi.

Tiamat
Babylonian.  The goddess personifying the salt-water ocean.  She was the mother of the gods by Apsu.  Depicted as a dragon or serpent.  Beginning the second war of the gods, she made her first-born, Kingu, the leader of her army, and gave birth to a horde of monsters, including the scorpion-men and the centaurs.

Urshanabi
Babylonian.  The steersman of Utnapishtim's boat.  He was commanded by Gilgamesh to ferry him accross the waters of death.

Utnapishtim
Babylonian.  An ancestor of Gilgamesh.  Ea warned him of the impending flood, and charged him with building a boat in which to preserve the seeds of life.  He was later rewarded with immortality.  Compare with the Sumerian Ziusudra.

Uttu
Sumerian.  A goddess of plants.  Daughter of Ninkurra and Enki.  She was forewarned of Enki's attempt to seduce her, but gave birth to eight plants by him.  Before Ninhursag could name the plants, Enki ate them.

Utu
- Other names: Shamash -
Sumerian.  The sun-god, son of Nanna and Ningal.

Ziusudra
- Other names: Atrakhasis (Akkadian) -
Sumerian.  In the 'Flood' myth, a human who was forewarned of the impending flood by Enki.  He was told to build a huge ship in which to preserve all kinds of animals.  He was later rewarded with immortality.  Compare with the Babylonian Utnapishtim.

Zu
Babylonian.  A lesser deity, possibly an underworld god, depicted as a bird-man.  He was an enemy of the High-gods and stole the tablets of destiny from Enlil.