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词条 List of Mesopotamian deities
释义

  1. Triad of Heaven

  2. Seven planetary deities

  3. Primordial beings

  4. Other major deities

  5. Minor deities

  6. Foreign deities in Mesopotamia

  7. Notes

  8. See also

  9. References

     Bibliography 
{{featured list}}

Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=93}} They were thought to possess extraordinary powers{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=93}} and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=93}} The deities typically wore melam, an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=93–94}} Melam could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=130–131}} The effect that seeing a deity's melam has on a human is described as ni, a word for the "physical tingling of the flesh".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=130}} Both the Sumerian and Akkadian languages contain many words to express the sensation of ni,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=130–131}} including the word puluhtu, meaning "fear".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=130}} Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=98}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=185}} consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=102}} They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them.{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=185}}

The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=94}} but that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=94}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=186}} As such, cult statues were given constant care and attention{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|pages=186–187}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=94}} and a set of priests were assigned to tend to them.{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|pages=186–188}} These priests would clothe the statues{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=186}} and place feasts before them so they could "eat".{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|pages=186–187}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=94}} A deity's temple was believed to be that deity's literal place of residence.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=174}} The gods had boats, full-sized barges which were normally stored inside their temples{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=44–45}} and were used to transport their cult statues along waterways during various religious festivals.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=44–45}} The gods also had chariots, which were used for transporting their cult statues by land.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=52}} Sometimes a deity's cult statue would be transported to the location of a battle so that the deity could watch the battle unfold.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=52}} The major deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon were believed to participate in the "assembly of the gods",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=98}} through which the gods made all of their decisions.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=98}} This assembly was seen as a divine counterpart to the semi-democratic legislative system that existed during the Third Dynasty of Ur ({{circa}} 2112 BC – {{circa}} 2004 BC).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=98}}

The Mesopotamian pantheon evolved greatly over the course of its history.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=54}} In general, the history of Mesopotamian religion can be divided into four phases.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=54}} During the first phase, starting in the fourth millennium BC, deities' domains mainly focused on basic needs for human survival.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=53}} During the second phase, which occurred in the third millennium BC, the divine hierarchy became more structured{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=53}} and deified kings began to enter the pantheon.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=53}} During the third phase, in the second millennium BC, the gods worshipped by an individual person and gods associated with the commoners became more prevalent.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=53}} During the fourth and final phase, in the first millennium BC, the gods became closely associated with specific human empires and rulers.{{snf|Schneider|2011|pages=53–54}} The names of over 3,000 Mesopotamian deities have been recovered from cuneiform texts.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}}{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=54}} Many of these are from lengthy lists of deities compiled by ancient Mesopotamian scribes.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}}{{snf|Schneider|2011|pages=52–53}} The longest of these lists is a text entitled An = Antum, a Babylonian scholarly work listing the names of over 2,000 Sumerian deities with their Semitic equivalents.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}}{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=53}}

The Anunnaki are a group of deities first attested during the reign of Gudea ({{circa}} 2144 – 2124 BC) and the Third Dynasty of Ur.{{sfn|Brisch|2016}}{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=8}} Originally, the Anunnaki appear to have been heavenly deities with immense powers,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=34}}{{sfn|Brisch|2016}} who were believed to "decree the fates of mankind".{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=8}} Later they became regarded as chthonic Underworld deities.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=34}} They are chiefly mentioned in literary texts{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=8}} and very little evidence to support the existence of any cult of them has yet been unearthed.{{sfn|Falkenstein|1965|pages=127–140}}{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=8}} This is likely due to the fact that each member of the Anunnaki had his or her own individual cult, separate from the others.{{sfn|Brisch|2016}} Similarly, no representations of the Anunnaki as a group have yet been discovered,{{sfn|Brisch|2016}} although a few depictions of its individual members have been identified.{{sfn|Brisch|2016}} Another group of deities are the Igigi, who are first attested from the Old Babylonian Period ({{circa}} 1830 BC – {{circa}} 1531 BC).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=106}} The name Igigi seems to have originally been applied to the ten "great gods",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=106}} but it later came to refer to all the gods of Heaven collectively.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=106}} In some instances, the terms Anunnaki and Igigi are used synonymously.{{sfn|Brisch|2016}}{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=8}}

Triad of Heaven

The three most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon during all periods were the gods An, Enlil, and Enki.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=120–122}} An was identified with all the stars of the equatorial sky, Enlil with those of the northern sky, and Enki with those of the southern sky.{{sfn|Rogers|1998|page=13}} The path of Enlil's celestial orbit was a continuous, symmetrical circle around the north celestial pole,{{sfn|Levenda|2008|page=29}} but those of An and Enki were believed to intersect at various points.{{sfn|Levenda|2008|pages=29–30}}

NameImageMajor cult centersCelestial bodyDetailsAssociated color
An
Anu{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30		Harris|1991|pages=261–278}}Rogers|1998|page=13}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}}Clay|2006|p=101}} is the supreme God and "prime mover in creation", embodied by the sky.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}} He is the first and most distant ancestor,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}} theologically conceived as the God of Heaven in its "transcendental obscurity".{{sfn|James|1963|p=140}} All the deities were believed to be the offspring of An and his consort Ki (cf. Anunnaki).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}}{{sfn|Katz|2003|page=403}}{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=8}} While An was the utmost God,{{sfn|Stephens|2013}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}} at least by the time of the earliest written records the cult was largely devoted to Enlil.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=58}}{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=118}}Luludanitu; ensemble of red, white and black{{sfn|Ataç|2018|p=78}}
Enlil
Nunamnir, Ellil{{snf|Coleman|Davidson|2015|page=108{{snf|Black|Green|1992|page=76		Black|Green|1992|pages=74 and 76}}{{snf|Hallo|1996|pages=231–234}}Rogers|1998|page=13}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}}Coleman|Davidson|2015|page=108}} and the chief of all the gods.{{snf|Kramer|1983|pages=115–121}} He is theologically conceived as the "transcendent" facet of An.{{sfn|Saggs|1987|p=191}} The Sumerians envisioned Enlil as a benevolent, fatherly deity, who watches over humanity and cares for their well-being.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=119}} One Sumerian hymn describes Enlil as so glorious that even the other gods could not look upon him.{{snf|Black|Green|1992|page=76}}{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=121}} His cult was closely tied to the holy city of Nippur{{snf|Hallo|1996|pages=231–234}} and, after Nippur was sacked by the Elamites in 1230 BC, his cult fell into decline.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=59}} He was eventually paralleled in his role as chief deity by Marduk, the national god of the Babylonians.{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=59}}Lapis lazuli-blue{{sfn|Ataç|2018|p=78}}{{sfn|Wright|2002|pp=34–35}}
Enki
Nudimmud, Ninshiku, Ea{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75		Black|Green|1992|page=75}}Rogers|1998|page=13}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}}Black|Green|1992|page=75}} who is also closely associated with wisdom, magic, incantations, arts, and crafts.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} He is either the son of An, or the goddess Nammu,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} and is the twin brother of Ishkur.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} He is theologically conceived as the "immanent" facet of An.{{sfn|Saggs|1987|p=191}} His wife is the goddess Damgalnuna (Ninhursag){{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} and his sons include the gods Marduk, Asarluhi, Enbilulu, the sage Adapa, and the goddess Nanshe.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} His sukkal, or minister, is the two-faced messenger god Isimud.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} Enki is the divine benefactor of humanity,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} who helped humans survive the Great Flood.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} In Enki and the World Order, he organizes "in detail every feature of the civilised world."{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}} In Inanna and Enki, he is the holder of the sacred mes, the tablets concerning all aspects of human life.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=75}}Jasper-green{{sfn|Ataç|2018|p=78}}{{sfn|Wright|2002|pp=34–35}}

Seven planetary deities

The number seven was extremely important in ancient Mesopotamian cosmology.{{sfn|McEvilley|2002|page=424}}{{sfn|Bautsch|2003|page=119}} In Sumerian religion, the most powerful and important deities in the pantheon were the "seven gods who decree":{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=123}} An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=122–123}} Many major deities in Sumerian mythology were associated with specific celestial bodies:{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|pages=201–203}} Inanna was believed to be the planet Venus,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}} Utu was believed to be the Sun,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=182–184}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}} and Nanna was the Moon.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}} Later Mesopotamian peoples adopted these associations and also assigned their own deities to the classical planets until all seven celestial bodies visible with the naked eye had become identified with major deities.{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|loc=passim}} The modern seven-day week originated with the ancient Babylonians,{{sfn|Lutwyche|2013}} for whom each day was associated with one of the seven planetary deities.{{sfn|Lutwyche|2013}}

NameImageMajor cult centersCelestial bodyDetailsAssociated metal and color{{refn|group=note|The metals are listed as done by the Arab geographer al-Dimašqī (†1327), who described the temples of the Sabians of Harran (a group who preserved Mesopotamian religion), and by the 10th-century scholar al-Nihāwandī.{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 The colors are listed according to the general reconstruction provided by Peter James and Marius Anthony Van der Sluijs, based on Herodotus's description of the walls of Ecbatana, the descriptions of other Mesopotamian temples, and the earlier studies of Henry Rawlinson. Mesopotamian temples' levels were each of a different color, corresponding to the hierarchy of the planetary gods.{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|loc=passim
MardukBlack|Green|1992|page=128}}{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=59}}Kasak|Veede|2001|page=20}}Black|Green|1992|page=128}} The expansion of his cult closely paralleled the historical rise of Babylon{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=128}}{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=59}} and, after assimilating various local deities, including a god named Asarluhi, he eventually came to parallel Enlil as the chief of the gods.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=128}}{{snf|Schneider|2011|page=59}} His wife was the goddess Sarpānītu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=128}}Tin, white{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal; passim for the color}}
Ninurta
Ninĝirsu{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142		Black|Green|1992|page=142}} Girsu,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=138, 142}} Lagash,{{sfn|Mark|2017}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=71, 138}} and later Kalhu in Assyria{{sfn|Robson|2015}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=43}}Kasak|Veede|2001|pages=25–26}}Black|Green|1992|page=142}} He was the champion of the gods against the Anzû bird after it stole the Tablet of Destinies from his father Enlil{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} and, in a myth that is alluded to in many works but never fully preserved, he killed a group of warriors known as the "Slain Heroes".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} Ninurta was also an agricultural deity and the patron god of farmers.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=142}} In the epic poem Lugal-e, he slays the demon Asag and uses stones to build the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to make them useful for irrigation.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} His major symbols were a perched bird and a plow.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=142–143}}Lead, black{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal; passim for the color}}
NergalBlack|Green|1992|page=135}}Kasak|Veede|2001|page=27}}Black|Green|1992|page=136}} and is usually the husband of Ereshkigal.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=136}} He was also associated with forest fires (and identified with the fire-god, Gibil{{sfn|Kasak|Veede|2001|page=28}}), fevers, plagues, and war.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=136}} In myths, he causes destruction and devastation.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=136}}Iron, red{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal; p. 57, note 1 for the color}}{{refn|group=note|Herodotus, in his description of the walls of Ecbatana, uses the Greek term phoiníkeos, which may mean "purple-red", "crimson", "dark red" or simply "red". Modern translators appropriately use "scarlet".{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|page=57}}}}
Inanna
Ishtar{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=108		Leick|1998|page=87}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}}{{sfn|Harris|1991|pages=261–278}} though she also had temples in Nippur, Lagash, Shuruppak, Zabalam, and Ur{{sfn|Leick|1998|page=87}}Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}}Black|Green|1992|page=108}} She was the Sumerian goddess of love, sexuality, prostitution, and war.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=109}} She was the divine personification of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}} Accounts of her parentage vary;{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=108}} in most myths, she is usually presented as the daughter of Nanna and Ningal,{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=ix–xi, xvi}} but, in other stories, she is the daughter of Enki or An along with an unknown mother.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=108}} The Sumerians had more myths about her than any other deity.{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=xiii, xv}}{{sfn|Kramer|1961|page=101}} Many of the myths involving her revolve around her attempts to usurp control of the other deities' domains.{{sfn|Vanstiphout|1984|pages=225–228}} Her most famous myth is the story of her descent into the Underworld,{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=101}} in which she attempts to conquer the Underworld, the domain of her older sister Ereshkigal,{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=101}} but is instead struck dead by the seven judges of the Underworld.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=101–103}}{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=83–96}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=52–71}} She is only revived due to Enki's intervention{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=101–103}}{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=83–96}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=52–71}} and her husband Dumuzid is forced to take her place in the Underworld.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=102–104}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=71–89}} Alongside her twin brother Utu, Inanna was the enforcer of divine justice.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=36–37}}Copper, blue{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal; passim for the color}}
NabuBlack|Green|1992|page=133}}Black|Green|1992|page=133}}Black|Green|1992|page=133}} His wife was the goddess Tashmetu{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}} and he may have been associated with the planet Mercury.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}} He later became associated with wisdom and agriculture.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}}Mercury, orange{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal; p. 57, note 1 for the color}}{{refn|group=note|Herodotus uses the Greek term sandarákinos, which defined "an orange pigment" made from realgar, thus rendered as "orange" (or "vermilion", an orange-red) by modern translators.{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|page=61}}}}
Nanna-Suen
Nanna, Enzu, Zuen, Suen, Sin{{sfn|Kasak|Veede|2001|pages=17–18		Black|Green|1992|page=135}}Black|Green|1992|page=135}}Kasak|Veede|2001|pages=17–18}} is the ancient Mesopotamian god of the Moon.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}} He was the son of Enlil and Ninlil and one of his most prominent myths was an account of how he was conceived and how he made his way from the Underworld to Nippur.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}} The Moon-god has an important role among the major gods; in Assyrian esoteric literature, he is regarded as symbolizing the pleroma, i.e. the sum of all the gods' powers, and thus An itself.{{sfn|Parpola|1993|pages=176, 184–185, notes 66, 89, 93}} The crescent of the Moon-god was featured on the top of the cusps of Mesopotamian temples.{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|page=69}}Silver, green{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal; p. 58 for the color}}{{refn|group=note|The authors cite Henry Rawlinson (1841) in Memoir on the Site of the Atropatenian Ecbatana, where he says that the color associated with the moon was green, "a hue which is applied by the orientals to silver".{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|page=58}}}}
Utu
Shamash{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=182		Black|Green|1992|page=184}}Black|Green|1992|page=182}}Black|Green|1992|page=182}} who was also revered as the god of truth, justice, and morality.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=184}} He was the son of Nanna and the twin brother of Inanna.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=182}} The Sun-god was believed to see all things that happen during the day{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=184}} and to aid mortals in distress.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=184}} Alongside his sister Inanna, Utu was the enforcer of divine justice.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=36–37}}Gold, yellow{{sfn|James|Van der Sluijs|2008|p=66 for the metal, passim for the color}}

Primordial beings

Various civilizations over the course of Mesopotamian history had many different creation stories.{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|pages=107–147}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=53–54}} The earliest accounts of creation are simple narratives written in Sumerian dating to the late third millennium BC.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=30–41}}{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|pages=107–108}} 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.{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|page=134}}{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=30–41}} Later accounts are far more elaborate, adding multiple generations of gods and primordial beings.{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|pages=107–134}} The longest and most famous of these accounts is the Babylonian Enûma Eliš, or Epic of Creation, which is divided into seven tablets.{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|pages=107–108}} The surviving version of the Enûma Eliš could not have been written any earlier than the late second millennium BC,{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|pages=107–108}} but it draws heavily on earlier materials,{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|page=108}} including various works written during the Akkadian, Old Babylonian, and Kassite periods in the early second millennium BC.{{sfn|Horowitz|1998|page=108}}

NameImageDetails
AbzuEnûma Eliš, Abzu is primordial undeterminacy,{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=27}} the consort of the goddess Tiamat who was killed by the god Ea (Enki).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=27}} Abzu was the personification of the subterranean primeval waters.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=27}}
Anshar and KisharBlack|Green|1992|page=34}} In the Babylonian Enûma Eliš, they are the second pair of offspring born from Abzu and Tiamat{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=34}} and the parents of the supreme An.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=34}}
KiBlack|Green|1992|page=112}} In some Sumerian accounts, she is a primordial being who copulates with An to produce a variety of plants.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=112–113}} Ki is the mother of Enlil{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=72–73}} and the Sumerians believed that the world began when Enlil separated her from An.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=72–73}} She may be another name for Ninhursag, the earth goddess.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|page=41}}{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=122}}
NammuBlack|Green|1992|page=134}} She eventually came to be regarded as the mother of Enki{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=134}} and was revered as an important mother goddess.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=134}} Because the cuneiform sign used to write her name is the same as the sign for engur, a synonym for abzu, it is highly probably that she was originally conceived as the personification of the subterranean primeval waters.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=134}}
TiamatEnûma Eliš, after the separation of heaven and earth, the goddess Tiamat and her consort Abzu are the only deities in existence.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=177}} A male-female pair, they mate and Tiamat gives birth to the first generation of gods.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=177}} Ea (Enki) slays Abzu{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=177}} and Tiamat gives birth to eleven monsters to seek venegeance for her lover's death.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=177}} Eventually, Marduk, the son of Enki and the national god of the Babylonians, slays Tiamat and uses her body to create the earth.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=177}} In the Assyrian version of the story, it is Ashur who slays Tiamat instead.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=177}} Tiamat was the personification of the primeval waters and it is hard to tell how the author of the Enûma Eliš imagined her appearance.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=177}}

Other major deities

NameImageMajor cult centersDetails
AshurBlack|Green|1992|page=37}}Black|Green|1992|page=37}} who was syncretized with Enlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=38}} He may have originally been a local deity associated with the city of Assur,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=37}} but, with the growth of the Assyrian Empire,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=37}} his cult was introduced to southern Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=37–38}}
Dagan
Dagon		Black|Green|1992|page=56}}Black|Green|1992|page=56}} According to one tradition, Dagan was the inventor of the plough.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=56}} Dagan was assimilated into the Sumerian pantheon at an early date as a minor attendant deity to Enlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=56}} His cult was extensively promoted by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who claimed that Dagan had allowed him to conquer all of Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=56}} In an Assyrian poem, Dagan is one of the judges of the Underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=56}} Although Dagan was once mistakenly assumed to appear in artwork as a fish-garbed figure,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=56}} this is now known to be inaccurate.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=56}}
Dumuzid
Tammuz{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=72		Black|Green|1992|page=72}}Black|Green|1992|page=72}} and the primary consort of the goddess Inanna.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=72}} His sister is the goddess Geshtinanna.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=72}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=74–84}} In addition to being the god of shepherds, Dumuzid was also an agricultural deity associated with the growth of plants.{{sfn|Ackerman|2006|page=116}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2008|pages=87–88}} Ancient Near Eastern peoples associated Dumuzid with the springtime, when the land was fertile and abundant,{{sfn|Ackerman|2006|page=116}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2008|pages=83–84}} but, during the summer months, when the land was dry and barren, it was thought that Dumuzid had "died".{{sfn|Ackerman|2006|page=116}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2008|pages=83–87}} During the month of Dumuzid, which fell in the middle of summer, people all across Sumer would mourn over his death.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=73}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2008|pages=74–84}} An enormous number of popular stories circulated throughout the Near East surrounding his death.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=73}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|2008|pages=74–84}}
Ereshkigal KuthaBlack|Green|1992|page=77}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=184}} She lived in palace known as Ganzir.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} In earlier stories, her husband is Gugalanna,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} but, in later myths, her husband is the god Nergal.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=184}} Her gatekeeper was the god Neti{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=184}} and her sukkal is the god Namtar.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} In the poem Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, Ereshkigal is described as Inanna's "older sister".{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|page=55}}
GeshtinannaRichter|2004|page=}}Black|Green|1992|page=88}} She is the sister of Dumuzid, the god of shepherds.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} In one story, she protects her brother when the galla demons come to drag him down to the Underworld by hiding him in successively in four different places.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} In another version of the story, she refuses to tell the galla where he is hiding, even after they torture her.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} The galla eventually take Dumuzid away after he is betrayed by an unnamed "friend",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} but Inanna decrees that he and Geshtinanna will alternate places every six months, each spending half the year in the Underworld while the other stays in Heaven.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} While she is in the Underworld, Geshtinanna serves as Ereshkigal's scribe.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}}
GilgameshBlack|Green|1992|page=89}}Black|Green|1992|page=89}}{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=40}} who probably ruled sometime during the early part of the Early Dynastic Period ({{circa}} 2900–2350 BC).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}}{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=40}} It is certain that, during the later Early Dynastic Period, Gilgamesh was worshipped as a god at various locations across Sumer.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}} In the twenty-first century BC, Utu-hengal, the king of Uruk adopted Gilgamesh as his patron deity.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}} The kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur were especially fond of Gilgamesh, calling him their "divine brother" and "friend".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}} During this period, a large number of myths and legends developed surrounding him.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}} Probably during the Middle Babylonian Period ({{circa}} 1600 BC – {{circa}} 1155 BC), a scribe named Sîn-lēqi-unninni composed the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian narrating Gilgamesh's heroic exploits.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}} The opening of the poem describes Gilgamesh as "one-third human, two-thirds divine".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=89}}
Gula
Nintinugga, Ninkarrak, Meme, Bau, Ninisina{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=101		Black|Green|1992|page=101}} Bau, and Ninisina, is the Mesopotamian goddess of healing and the divine patroness of doctors and medicine-workers.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=101}} Dogs were considered sacred to her{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=101}} and she is often shown in art with a dog sitting beside her.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=101}} She is sometimes the wife of Ninurta or Pabilsaĝ,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=101}} but is also sometimes described as being married to the minor vegetation god Anu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=101}}
Ishkur
Adad{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110		Black|Green|1992|page=111}}Black|Green|1992|page=110}} He was sometimes syncretized with the Hurrian god Teshub and the Kassite god Buriash.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} His wife is the goddess Shala.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} He is usually the son of An, but, in older traditions, he is the son of Enlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}}
IštaranBlack|Green|1992|page=111}}Black|Green|1992|page=111}} His wife is the goddess Šarrat-Dēri, whose name means "Queen of Der",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} and his sukkal was the snake-god Nirah.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} A text from the late Early Dynastic Period invokes Ištaran to resolve a boundary dispute between the cities of Lagash and Umma.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} In one of his inscriptions, King Gudea of Lagash mentions himself having installed a shrine for Ištaran in the temple of Ningirsu at Girsu{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} and describes Ištaran as a god of justice.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} On kudurrus (boundary stones), Ištaran is often represented by a serpent, which may be Nirah{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} or Ištaran himself.{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=86}} In a ritual associated with the Ekur temple in Nippur, Ištaran is a "dying god" and is equated with Dumuzid.{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=86}} His cult fell into decline during the Middle Babylonian Period, after which point he no longer appears in personal names.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}}
NansheBlack|Green|1992|page=133}}Black|Green|1992|page=135}} She is the daughter of Enki and the sister of Ningirsu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}} She is associated with divination and the interpretation of dreams{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}} She was also believed to assist the poor and the impoverished{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}} and ensure the accuracy of weights and measurements.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=135}}
NinazuBlack|Green|1992|page=137}}Black|Green|1992|page=137}} He is closely associated with the Underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=137}} He was mostly worshipped in Eshnunna during the third millennium BC, but he was later supplanted by the Hurrian storm god Tishpak.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=137}} A god named "Ninazu" was also worshipped at Enegi in southern Sumer,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=137}} but this may be a different local god by the same name.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=137}} His divine beast was the mušḫuššu, a kind of dragon, which was later given to Tishpak and then Marduk.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=137}}
Ningal
Nikkal{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=138		Black|Green|1992|page=138}}Black|Green|1992|page=138}}
NingishzidaBlack|Green|1992|page=139}}Black|Green|1992|page=138}} He is the son of Ninazu and his name may be etymologically derived from a phrase meaning "Lord of the Good Tree".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=138}} In the Sumerian poem, The Death of Gilgamesh, the hero Gilgamesh dies and meets Ningishzida, along with Dumuzid, in the Underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=139}} Gudea, the Sumerian king of the city-state of Lagash, revered Ningishzida as his personal protector.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=139}} In the myth of Adapa, Dumuzid and Ningishzida are described as guarding the gates of the highest Heaven.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=139–140}} Ningishzida was associated with the constellation Hydra.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}}
Ninhursag
Damgalnuna, Ninmah{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140		Black|Green|1992|page=140}}Black|Green|1992|page=140}} Many of the gods are her offspring,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} and many mortal rulers claimed her as their mother as well.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} She is also Enki's primary consort.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} In the myth of Enki and Ninhursaga, Enki and Ninhursag have sex and Ninhursag gives birth to a daughter, whom Enki rapes, resulting in a string of daughters, each of whom is raped by Enki.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} Her main temple was the E-Mah in Adab,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} but she was also associated with the city of Kesh{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} and she is sometimes referred to as the "Bēlet-ilī of Kesh" or "she of Kesh".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} One of her main symbols is a divine emblem resembling the later Greek letter omega.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=146}}
NinlilBlack|Green|1992|pages=140–141}}Black|Green|1992|page=140}} She was probably an artificially created deity, invented as a female equivalent to Enlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=140}} She was regarded as having power on par with Enlil;{{sfn|Leick|2013|page=67}} in one poem, Ninlil declares, "As Enlil is your master, so am I also your mistress!"{{sfn|Leick|2013|page=67}}
Ninshubur Worshipped with Inanna as her sukkalsukkal, or personal attendant, to the goddess Inanna.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=142}}{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}}{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=}} She is portrayed as "unshakably loyal" in her devotion to her mistress.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}} In the Sumerian myth of Inanna and Enki, Ninshubur rescues Inanna from the monsters that Enki sends to capture her.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=67–68}}{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=20–27}}{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}} In the Sumerian myth of Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, Ninshubur pleads with all the gods in effort to persuade them to rescue Inanna from the Underworld.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=92–94}}{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=61–63}} In addition to being a source of great wisdom and knowledge,{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}} Ninshubur was also a warrior goddess.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}} She was the guardian and messenger of the god An.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}} She is said to have walked in front of An wherever he went, a position traditionally reserved for a bodyguard.{{sfn|Pryke|2017|page=94}} In later Akkadian mythology, Ninshubur was syncretized with the male messenger deity Papsukkal.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=141}}
NisabaBlack|Green|1992|page=143}}Black|Green|1992|page=143}} but, starting in the Early Dynastic Period, she developed into a goddess of writing, accounting, and scribal knowledge.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} She was the daughter of Enlil and the sister of Ningirsu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} In earlier times, her husband was the god Haya,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}} but, in later times, she came to be regarded as the wife of Nabu, the god of scribes.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=143}}

Minor deities

NameImageMajor cult centersDetails
Ama-arhusJordan|2002|page=13}}Jordan|2002|page=13}}
AmasagnulJordan|2002|page=243}}
AmashilamaIn the Desert by the Early Grass, Amashilama is a divine leech and the sister of the god Damu, who has died and gone to the Underworld.{{sfn>Shushan|2009|page=79}} At her son's request, Damu's mother digs up his blood and chops it into pieces.{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}} She gives the congealed blood to Amashilama, who mixes it into a brew of beer, which Damu must drink in order to be restored to life.{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}} Damu, however, realizes that he is dead and declares that he is not in the "grass which shall grow for his mother again", nor in the "waters which will rise".{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}} Damu's mother blesses him{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}} and Amashilama dies to join him in the Underworld.{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}} She tells him that "the day that dawns for you will also dawn for me; the day you see, I shall also see",{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}} referring to the fact that day in the world above is night in the Underworld.{{sfn|Shushan|2009|page=79}}
AntuBlack|Green|1992|page=30}}{{sfn|Stephens|2013}} Her name is a female version of Anu's own.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}}{{sfn|Stephens|2013}} The Akkadians believed that rain was milk from the clouds,{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=182}} which they believed were Antu's breasts.{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=182}} According to the German classical scholar Walter Burkert, the Greek goddess Dione, mentioned in Book V of the Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite, is probably a calque for Antu.{{sfn|Burkert|2005|page=300}}
AnunītuBlack|Green|1992|pages=34–35}}Black|Green|1992|page=34}} She was later considered to be merely an aspect of Inanna.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=34}} Eventually, this aspect of Inanna became associated with the constellation Pisces.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=35}}
AsarluhiBlack|Green|1992|page=36}}Black|Green|1992|page=36}} He eventually became regarded as a god of magical knowledge{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=36}} and was thought to be the son of Enki and Ninhursag.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=36}} He was later absorbed as an aspect of Marduk.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=36}} In the standard Babylonian magical tradition, the name "Asarluhi" is used as merely an alternative name for Marduk.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=36}}
AshgiBlack|Green|1992|page=122}}Black|Green|1992|page=122}}
AshnanKramer|1963|page=220}} In the Sumerian poem The Dispute between Cattle and Grain, she and her sister Lahar are created by the Anunnaki to provide them with food.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=220–221}} They produce large amounts of food,{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=221–222}} but become drunk with wine and start to quarrel, so Enki and Enlil intervene, declaring Ashnan the victor.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=222}}
AruruBlack|Green|1992|page=133}}
Bel of BabylonFontenrose|1980|page=440}}{{sfn|Doniger|1990|page=120}}Fontenrose|1980|page=440}}{{sfn|Doniger|1990|page=120}} Bel held all the cultic titles of Enlil{{sfn|Doniger|1990|page=120}} and his status in the Babylonian religion was largely the same.{{sfn|Doniger|1990|page=120}} Eventually, Bel came to be seen as the god of order and destiny.{{sfn|Doniger|1990|page=120}} The cult of Bel is a major component of the Jewish story of "Bel and the Dragon" from the apocryphal additions to Daniel.{{sfn|Wills|2002|page=53}}
Belet-SeriJordan|2002|page=48}}
BirtumBlack|Green|1992|page=145}}{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=52}}
Bull of HeavenGilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven and in Tablet VI of the Standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh after Gilgamesh repudiates her sexual advances.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=49}} Anu gives it to her and she unleashes it on the world, causing mass destruction.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=49}} Gilgamesh and Enkidu eventually slay the bull.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=49}} The Bull of Heaven is identified with the constellation Taurus{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=49}} and the reason why Enkidu hurls the bull's thigh at Ishtar in the Epic of Gilgamesh after defeating it may be an effort to explain why the constellation seems to be missing its hind quarters.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=49}}
BuneneBlack|Green|1992|page=184}}sukkal and charioteer of the sun-god Utu.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=184}} He was worshipped at Sippar and Uruk during the Old Babylonian Period{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=184}} and was later worshipped at Assur.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=184}} According to some accounts, he may have been Utu's son.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=184}}
DamuBlack|Green|1992|page=57}}Black|Green|1992|page=57}} He is usually the son of Ninisina and Ningishzida, or is identical to Ningishzida himself.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=57}} In some texts, "Damu" is used as another name for Dumuzid,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=57, 73}} but this may be a different word meaning "son".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=57, 73}} Another god named "Damu" was also worshipped in Ebla and Emar,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=57}} but this may be a local hero, not the same as the god of healing.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=57}} The official cult of Damu became extinct sometime after the Old Babylonian Period.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=57}}
DingirmaBlack|Green|1992|page=133}} She may just be another name for Ninhursag.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}}
Dumu-zi-abzuBlack|Green|1992|page=73}}Black|Green|1992|page=73}} Her name, which probably means "good child of the Abzu",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=73}} was sometimes abbreviated to Dumu-zi,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=73}} but she has no obvious connection to the god Dumuzid.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=73}}
EmeshEnlil Chooses the Farmer-God (ETCSL 5.3.3), which describes how Enlil, hoping "to establish abundance and prosperity", creates two gods: Emesh and Enten, a farmer and a shepherd respectively.{{snf>Kramer|1961|pages=49–50}} The two gods argue and Emesh lays claim to Enten's position.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=50}} They take the dispute before Enlil, who rules in favor of Enten.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=51}} The two gods rejoice and reconcile.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=51}}
EnkimduBlack|Green|1992|page=76}} He appears in the myth of Inanna Prefers the Farmer as a wealthy farmer who competes with Dumuzid for Inanna's affection.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=101–103}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=30–49}} He is the son of Enki and is closely associated with Enbilulu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=76}} He is sometimes identified as a form of Ishkur or as an alternate name for Marduk.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=76}}
EnmesharraBlack|Green|1992|page=76}} Seven or eight other minor deities were said to be his offspring.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=76}} His symbol was the suššuru (a kind of pigeon).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=76}} In one incantation, Enmesharra and Ninmesharra, his female counterpart, are invoked as ancestors of Enki and as primeval deities.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=76}}
EnnugiBlack|Green|1992|page=77}} He is the son of Enlil or Enmesarra{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} and his wife is the goddess Nanibgal.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} He is associated with the Underworld{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=76}} and he may be Gugalanna, the first husband of Ereshkigal, under a different name.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}}
EntenEnlil Chooses the Farmer-God (ETCSL 5.3.3), which describes how Enlil, hoping "to establish abundance and prosperity", creates two gods: Emesh and Enten, a farmer and a shepherd respectively.{{snf>Kramer|1961|pages=49–50}} The two gods argue and Emesh lays claim to Enten's position.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=50}} They take the dispute before Enlil, who rules in favor of Enten.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=51}} The two gods rejoice and reconcile.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=51}}
EnzagBlack|Green|1992|page=77}}Black|Green|1992|page=77}} He is described as the "lord of Dilmun".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} In another text, he is referred to as the "Nabu of Dilmun".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}}
ErraHorry|2016}}{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=88}} He is the son of the sky-god An{{sfn|Horry|2016}} and his wife is an obscure, minor goddess named Mami, who is different from the mother goddess with the same name.{{sfn|Horry|2016}}{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=89}} As early as the Akkadian Period, Erra was already associated with Nergal{{sfn|Horry|2016}}{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=88}} and he eventually came to be seen as merely an aspect of him.{{sfn|Horry|2016}}{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=88}} The names came to be used interchangeably.{{sfn|Horry|2016}}
Erragal
Errakal		Simons|2017|page=88}} but the two gods are probably of separate origin.{{sfn|Simons|2017|pages=88–89}} He is connected with storms and the destruction caused by them.{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=89}} In An = Anum I 316, Erragal is listed as the husband of the goddess Ninisig and is equated with Nergal.{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=89}} in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Atra-Hasis Epic, Errakal is said to "tear up the mooring poles", causing the Great Flood.{{sfn|Simons|2017|page=89}}
Gareus UrukArmstrong|1996|page=736}} who built a small temple to him there in around 100 AD.{{sfn|Armstrong|1996|page=736}} He was a syncretic deity, combining elements of Greco-Roman and Babylonian cults.{{sfn|Armstrong|1996|page=736}}
GatumdugBlack|Green|1992|page=86}}Black|Green|1992|page=86}} She was later equated with Bau.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=86}}
GibilBlack|Green|1992|page=88}} As such, he represents fire in all of its destructive and creative aspects.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} According to Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, he "represented fire in all its aspects: as a destructive force and as the burning heat of the Mesopotamian summer; and as a creative force, the fire in the blacksmith's furnace and the fire in the kiln where bricks are baked, and so as a 'founder of cities'."{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} He is traditionally said to be the son of An and Shala,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=88}} but is sometimes the son of Nusku.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}}
GugalannaBlack|Green|1992|page=77}} His name probably originally meant "canal inspector of An"{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} and he may be merely an alternative name for Ennugi.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} The son of Ereshkigal and Gugalanna is Ninazu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}} In Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, Inanna tells the gatekeeper Neti that she is descending to the Underworld to attend the funeral of "Gugalanna, the husband of my elder sister Ereshkigal".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=77}}{{sfn|Kramer|1961|page=90}}{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|page=55}}
GunuraJordan|2002|p=91}}
HahanuJordan|2002|page=110}}
HanbiBlack|Green|1992|page=148}}
HaniJordan|2002|page=111}} He is the sukkal to the storm-god Adad.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=111}}
HayaWeeden|2016}}Black|Green|1992|page=143}}{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} Haya was primarily a god of scribes,{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} but he may have also been associated with grain and agriculture.{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} He also served as a doorkeeper.{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} In some texts, he is identified as the father of the goddess Ninlil.{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} He was worshipped mostly during the Third Dynasty of Ur, when he had temples in the cities of Umma, Ur, and Kuara.{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} In later times, he had a temple in the city of Assur and may have had one in Nineveh.{{sfn|Weeden|2016}} A god named Haya was worshipped at Mari, but this may have been a different deity.{{sfn|Weeden|2016}}
HayasumJordan|2002|page=117}}
Hegir-Nuna
Gangir		Jordan|2002|page=102}}
HendursagJordan|2002|page=120}} King Gudea of Lagash refers to him as the "herald of the land of Sumer" in one inscription.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=110}}
Ig-alimaBlack|Green|1992|page=39}}Black|Green|1992|page=39}}
IlabaBlack|Green|1992|pages=108–109}}Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}} but seems to have been completely obscure during all other periods of Mesopotamian history.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}} He was closely associated with the kings of the Akkadian Empire.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=109}}
Ilabrat Worshipped with Anu as his sukkalsukkal, or personal attendant, of the god Anu.{{sfn>Stephens|2013}}{{sfn|McCall|1990|page=65}} He appears in the myth of Adapa in which he tells Anu that the reason why the south wind does not blow is because Adapa, the priest of Ea in Eridu, has broken its wing.{{sfn|McCall|1990|page=65}}
ImdugudBlack|Green|1992|page=107}} Imdugud probably originated as the personification of atmospheric fog.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=107}} In some descriptions, he has a "beak like a saw", indicating that he sometimes had the head of a bird.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=107}} In Sumerian mythology, Imdugud steals the sacred mes (the clay tablets recording all the aspects of civilization) from Enki.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=107}} In Akkadian mythology, he steals the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=107}} In both stories, Imdugud is challenged by Ninurta, who defeats him and returns the stolen property to its rightful owner.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=107}} In the Sumerian story of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, Imdugud is one of several creatures that come to inhabit the huluppu tree planted by Inanna{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=107–108}}{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=33–34}}{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=153–154}} and is driven off by the hero Gilgamesh.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=33–34}}{{sfn|Pryke|2017|pages=153–154}}
IšḫaraBlack|Green|1992|page=110}}Black|Green|1992|page=110}} but who is also a goddess of war and extispacy, and sometimes a mother goddess.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} She was equated with Ishtar from early on.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} In early times, her sacred animal is the snake,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} but, in later times, it is the scorpion.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} She is identified with the constellation Scorpius.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} An important goddess with the same name as her was also worshipped by the Hurrians in southeast Anatolia and northwest Syria as an Underworld goddess.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}}
Isimud Worshipped with Enki as his sukkalsukkal, or personal attendant, to the god Enki.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=110}} His name is related to the word meaning "having two faces"{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} and he is shown in art with a face on either side of his head.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}} He acts as Enki's messenger in the myths of Enki and Ninhursag and Inanna and Enki.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=110}}
IshumBlack|Green|1992|page=112}} who was worshipped from the Early Dynastic Period onwards.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=112}} In one text, he is described as the son of Shamash and Ninlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=112}} He was a generally benevolent deity, who served as a night watchman and protector.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=112}} He may be the same god as the Sumerian Hendursag, because the both of them are said to have been the husband of the goddess Ninmug.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=112}} He was sometimes associated with the Underworld{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=112}} and was believed to exert a calming influence on Erra, the god of rage and violence.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=112}}
Kakkasukkal to both Anu and Anshar who plays a role in the text of Nergal and Ereshkigal.{{sfn>Jordan|2002|page=152}}
KittuHolland|2009|page=115}} Her name means "Truth".{{sfn|Holland|2009|page=115}}
KusTheogony of Dunnu.{{sfn>Jordan|2002|page=168}}
LaharKramer|1963|page=220}} In the Sumerian poem The Dispute between Cattle and Grain, she and her sister Ashnan are created by the Anunnaki to provide them with food.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=220–221}} They produce large amounts of food,{{sfn|Kramer|1963|pages=221–222}} but become drunk with wine and start to quarrel, so Enki and Enlil intervene, declaring Ashnan the victor.{{sfn|Kramer|1963|page=222}}
LahmuBlack|Green|1992|page=115}} He was originally associated with Enki and later with Marduk.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=115}} During the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 BC – 609 BC), figurines of Lahmu, who is depicted with long hair and a long, curled beard, were placed under the foundations of houses and temples to protect against demons and pestilence.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=115}} Lahmu is closely associated with the kusarikku or "bull-man".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=115}} In the Babylonian Enûma Eliš, Lahmu and his consort Lahamu are a primordial couple.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=115}} Their names are derived from the same root.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=115}}
LamashtuBlack|Green|1992|page=116}} She was believed to feed on the blood of human infants{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} and was widely blamed as the cause of miscarriages and cot deaths.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} Although Lamashtu has traditionally been identified as a demoness,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=115–116}} the fact that she could cause evil on her own without the permission of other deities strongly indicates that she was seen as a goddess in her own right.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} Mesopotamian peoples protected against her using amulets and talismans.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} She was believed to ride in her boat on the river of the Underworld{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} and she was associated with donkeys.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} She was believed to be the daughter of An.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}}
LisinBlack|Green|1992|page=122}}Black|Green|1992|page=122}} Her husband was the god Ninsikila.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=122}} In Sumerian times, Lisin was viewed as a mother goddess.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=122}} She is identified with the star α Scorpionis.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=122}} Later, Ninsikila was accidentally mistranslated as the name of a goddess and Lisin accordingly became treated as a god.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=122}}
LugalbandaBlack|Green|1992|page=123}}Black|Green|1992|page=123}} He is the husband of the goddess Ninsun and the father of the mortal hero Gilgamesh.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}} He is mentioned as a god alongside Ninsun in a list of deities as early as the Early Dynastic Period.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}} A brief fragment of a myth about him from this same time period is also preserved.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}} During the Third Dynasty of Ur, all the kings would offer sacrifices to Lugalbanda as a god in the holy city of Nippur.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}} Two epic poems about Lugalbanda describe him successfully crossing dangerous mountains alone, though hindered by severe illness.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}} The Sumerian King List makes him a shepherd, who reigned for 1,200 years.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}} He has a close relationship with the goddess Inanna.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=123}}
Lugal-irra and Meslamta-eaBlack|Green|1992|page=123}}Black|Green|1992|page=123}} They were regarded as guardians of doorways{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=124}} and they may have originally been envisioned as a set of twins guarding the gates of the Underworld, who chopped the dead into pieces as they passed through the gates.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=123–124}} During the Neo-Assyrian period, small depictions of them would be buried at entrances,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=124}} with Lugal-irra always on the left and Meslamta-ea always on the right.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=124}} They are identical and are shown wearing horned caps and each holding an axe and a mace.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=124}} They are identified with the constellation Gemini, which is named after them.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=124}}
LulalBlack|Green|1992|page=116}}Black|Green|1992|page=116}} but their relationship is unclear and ambiguous.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} He appears in Inanna's Descent into the Underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} He seems to have primarily been a warrior-god,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}} but he was also associated with domesticated animals.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=116}}
Mami or MamaBlack|Green|1992|page=133}} She may be the same goddess as Ninhursag.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}}
MandanuJordan|2002|page=187}}
MartuBlack|Green|1992|page=129}} He is the personification of the nomads who began to appear on the edges of the Mesopotamian world in the middle of the third millennium BC, initially from the west, but later from the east as well.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=129}} One myth describes how the daughter of the god Numušda insists on marrying Martu, despite his unattractive habits.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=129–130}} In Old Babylonian and Kassite art, Amurru is shown as a god dressed in long robes and carrying a scimitar or a shepherd's crook.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=130}}
MisharuHolland|2009|page=115}} His name means "Justice".{{sfn|Holland|2009|page=115}}
NanayaBlack|Green|1992|page=134}}Black|Green|1992|page=134}} During the Old Babylonian Period, she and Inanna, as well as her daughter Kanisura, were worshipped as a trinity of goddesses in Uruk and later in Kish.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=134}} In later times, Nanaya was completely assimilated into Inanna{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=134}} and her name became merely one of Inanna's many cultic epithets.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=134}}
NetiKramer|1961|page=87}} In the story of Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, he leads Inanna through the seven gates of the Underworld,{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=87}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=157–159}} removing one of her garments at each gate so that when she comes before Ereshkigal she is naked and symbolically powerless.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=87}}{{snf|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=157–159}}
NingikugaJordan|2002|page=221}} Her name means "Lady of the Pure Reed".{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=221}} She is the daughter of Anu and Nammu{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=221}} and one of the many consorts of Enki.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=221}}
Nin-immaCeccarelli|2016|page=21}}{{sfn|Launderville|2010|page=184}} Her name literally means "lady female genitals".{{sfn|Launderville|2010|page=184}} She appears in one version of the myth of Enki and Ninsikila in which she is the daughter of Enki and Ninkurra.{{sfn|Launderville|2010|page=184}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=195}} Enki rapes her and causes her to give birth to Uttu, the goddess of weaving and vegetation.{{sfn|Launderville|2010|page=184}}{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=195}}
NindaraJordan|2002|page=183}}
NingilinBlack|Green|1992|page=132}} who was conflated at an early date with Ningirima, a god of magic invoked for protection against snakes.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}} She is probably a goddess, but might have sometimes been considered a god.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}} She was so closely associated with mongooses that the Akkadian word for "mongoose" was later written using the Sumerian symbol for her name.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}} According to a Babylonian popular saying, when a mouse fled from a mongoose into a serpent's hole, it announced, "I bring you greetings from the snake-charmer!"{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}} A creature resembling a mongoose also appears in Old Babylonian glyptic art,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}} but its significance is not known.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}}
NingirimaBlack|Green|1992|page=132}} He or she was conflated with Ningilin, the deity of mongooses, at an early date.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=132}}
Ninkasi Ninkasi is the ancient Sumerian tutelary goddess of beer.
NinkurraJordan|2002|page=223}} After having sex with her father Enki, Ninkurra gave birth to Uttu, the goddess of weaving and vegetation.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=223}}
NinmenaBlack|Green|1992|page=133}}{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=223}} She may just be another name for Ninhursag.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}}{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=223}}
NinmugBlack|Green|1992|page=112}}
NinnisigSimons|2017|page=89}}
NinsarJordan|2002|pages=90, 223}} After having sex with her father Enki, Ninsar gave birth to Ninkurra.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=223}}
NinsiannaStephens|2016}}Stephens|2016}} She was originally a goddess, but was sometimes later viewed as a god.{{sfn|Stephens|2016}} She is described in one text as the "holy torch who fills the heavens"{{sfn|Stephens|2016}} and was frequently associated with haruspicy.{{sfn|Stephens|2016}} Her worship is first attested during the Third Dynasty of Ur and she continued to be venerated until the Seleucid Period (312 BC – 63 BC).{{sfn|Stephens|2016}} Especially in later texts, she is often subsumed as an aspect of Inanna-Ishtar.{{sfn|Stephens|2016}}
NinsikilaBlack|Green|1992|page=122}} Later, his name was mistranslated as the name of a goddess and he became regarded as female.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=122}}
NinsunBlack|Green|1992|page=143}}Black|Green|1992|page=141}}
NintuBlack|Green|1992|pages=132–133}} Her name literally means "Lady of Birth".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}} She may just be an aspect of Ninhursag.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=133}}
NirahBlack|Green|1992|page=111}}sukkal, or personal attendant, of the god Ištaran.{{sfn>Black|Green|1992|page=111}} He was identified with snakes{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}} and may appear in the form of a snake on kudurrus.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}}
NumushdaBlack|Green|1992|page=145}}Black|Green|1992|page=145}} His worship is attested from the Early Dynastic Period,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} but his cult seems to have ceased at the end of the Old Babylonian Period.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} He was believed to be the son of the moon-god Nanna and may have been regarded as a storm deity.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} In the myth of The Marriage of Martu, Numushda's unnamed daughter insists on marrying the nomadic desert god Martu, despite his unattractive lifestyle.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}}
NungalBlack|Green|1992|page=145}}Black|Green|1992|page=145}} Her husband was the god Birtum.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} She later became seen as an aspect of Nintinugga.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}}
NuskuBlack|Green|1992|page=145}}Black|Green|1992|page=145}} He was the son and minister of Enlil.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} The god Gibil is sometimes described as his son.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} Nusku's main symbol was a lit oil lamp.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}} He was a member of a group of deities that were worshipped in Harran during the Neo-Assyrian Period by the predominately Old Aramaic-speaking population there.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=145}}
PabilshagBlack|Green|1992|page=147}}Black|Green|1992|page=147}} He was believed to be the son of Enlil and the husband of Ninisina, the patron goddess of Isin.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}} In some texts, he is identified with Ninurta or Ningirsu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}} One Sumerian poem describes Pabilshag's journey to Nippur.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}} Pabilshag was believed to be the constellation Sagittarius.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}}
PazuzuBlack|Green|1992|page=147}} He is shown with "a rather canine face with abnormally bulging eyes, a scaly body, a snake-headed penis, the talons of a bird and usually wings."{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}} He was believed to be the son of the god Hanbi.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=148}} He was a beneficent entity who protected against winds bearing pestilence{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=147}} and he was thought to be able to force Lamashtu back to the Underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=147–148}} Amulets bearing his image were positioned in dwellings to protect infants from Lamashtu{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=148}} and pregnant women frequently wore amulets with his head on them as protection from her.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=148}} Ironically, Pazuzu appears in The Exorcist films as the demon that possesses the little girl.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=148}}
Šarrat-DēriBlack|Green|1992|page=111}}Black|Green|1992|page=111}} Her name means "Queen of Der".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=111}}
SharaBlack|Green|1992|page=173}}Black|Green|1992|page=173}} A fragment of a stone bowl inscribed with his name discovered in the rubbish dump at Tell Agrab, northeast of Babylon, indicates that he may have also been worshipped there.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} He was also a warrior god and is referred to as a "hero of An".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} In the Babylonian myth of Anzû, Shara is one of the warrior gods who is asked to retrieve the Tablet of Destinies, but refuses.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} In Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, Shara is one of the three deities who come to greet her upon her return.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} In the myth of Lugalbanda and in a single building inscription from the Third Dynasty of Ur, Shara is described as Inanna's "son",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} a tradition which runs directly contrary to the usual portrayal of Inanna as youthful and without offspring.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=108}}
SheridaBlack|Green|1992|page=173}}{{sfn|George|1999|pages=224–225}}Black|Green|1992|page=173}}{{sfn|Holland|2009|page=115}} She was closely associated with sexuality and fertility.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}}{{sfn|Holland|2009|page=115}} She was especially popular during the Old Babylonian Period and the Neo-Babylonian Period (626 BC – 539 BC).{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}}
Shul-pa-eBlack|Green|1992|page=173}} but he was not envisioned as youthful god.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} According to one tradition, he was the consort of Ninhursag, a tradition which contradicts the usual portrayal of Enki as Ninhursag's consort.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}}{{sfn|George|1999|page=225}} In one Sumerian poem, offerings to made to Shul-pa-e in the Underworld{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} and, in later mythology, he was one of the demons of the Underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=173}}
Shul-utulaJordan|2002|page=245}}
SirturJordan|2002|pages=286–287}} In some texts, she is described as the mother of Dumuzid.{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=85–87}}
Šul-šaganaBlack|Green|1992|page=39}}Black|Green|1992|page=39}}
SiduriGeorge|1999|page=225}} In the earlier Old Babylonian versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, she attempts to dissuade Gilgamesh from his quest for immortality,{{sfn|Ackerman|2005|pages=130–131}} instead urging him to be content with the simple pleasures in life.{{sfn|Ackerman|2005|pages=130–131}} Her name means "She is my Rampart".{{sfn|George|1999|page=225}}
SililiGeorge|1999|page=225}} She is only attested once in the Epic of Gilgamesh.{{sfn|George|1999|page=225}}
SumuganThe Dispute between Cattle and Grain.{{sfn>Kramer|1963|page=220}}
TashmetuHorry|2013}}Horry|2013}} in Babylonian mythology, this role is instead assigned to the goddess Nanaya.{{sfn|Horry|2013}} Tashmetu is associated with wisdom and sexual attractiveness, a quality which she shares with Inanna and Nanaya.{{sfn|Horry|2013}} A poetic composition from the Library of Ashurbanipal describes how, in one ritual, Nabu and Tashmetu's statues would be brought together for a "marriage ceremony".{{sfn|Horry|2013}} One extant letter describes how, after their wedding, Tashmetu and Nabu stayed in the bedchamber for six days and seven nights, during which time they were served an elaborate feast.{{sfn|Horry|2013}} Tashmetu is attested relatively late{{sfn|Horry|2013}} and is not mentioned in texts prior to the Old Babylonian Period.{{sfn|Horry|2013}}
UrašBlack|Green|1992|page=30}}{{sfn|Stephens|2013}} she is described in Sumerian texts dating to the third millennium BC.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}}{{sfn|Stephens|2013}} Her role as Anu's consort was later ascribed to Ki, the personification of the earth.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=30}}{{sfn|Stephens|2013}}
UttuBlack|Green|1992|page=182}} The same cuneiform symbol used to write her name was also used to write the Sumerian word for "spider",{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=182}} indicating that Uttu was probably envisioned as a spider spinning a web.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=182}} She appears primarily in the myth of Enki and Ninsikila, in which she resists the sexual advances of her father Enki by ensconcing herself inside her web,{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=184}} but he convinces her to let him in using a gift of fresh produce and the promise that he will marry her.{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=184}} Enki then intoxicates her with beer and rapes her.{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=184}} She is rescued by Enki's wife Ninhursag,{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=184}} who removes Enki's semen from her vagina and plants it in the ground, resulting in the growth of eight new plants, which Enki later eats.{{sfn|Jacobsen|1987|page=184}}
ZababaBlack|Green|1992|page=187}}Black|Green|1992|page=187}} According to the local tradition, he was the husband of the warrior-goddess Inanna, who was a very important deity in that city.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=187}} The earliest attestation of Zababa comes from the Early Dynastic Period.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=187}} Zababa was a god of war and he was syncretized with the god Ninurta, who was also known as Ningirsu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=187}} In one list of deities he is called "Marduk of battle".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=187}} His primary symbol was a staff with the head of an eagle.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=187}}

Foreign deities in Mesopotamia

Name Image Place of origin Details
AstarteBudin|2004|pages=95–145}}Budin|2004|pages=95–145}} whose name is cognate to the one belonging to the East Semitic goddess Ishtar.{{sfn|Budin|2004|pages=95–145}} She and Ishtar had many qualities in common,{{sfn|Budin|2004|pages=95–145}} but Astarte was more closely associated with warfare, while Ishtar was more closely associated with love and sexuality.{{sfn|Budin|2004|pages=95–145}} The two goddesses were eventually syncretized.{{sfn|Budin|2004|pages=95–145}}
AtargatisAndrade|2013|page=288}}Andrade|2013|page=288}} Her main cult center was her temple in the city of Hierapolis,{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=288}} which a Jewish rabbi later listed as one of the five most important pagan temples in the Near East.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=289}} Her cult was apparently highly influential during the Roman Period,{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=288-289}} but the only source describing the rituals associated with her in detail is the satirical essay On the Syrian Goddess, written in the second century AD by the Hellenized Syrian Lucian.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=288-289}} Lucian's treatise is primarily a work of satire making fun of the arbitrary cultural distinctions between "Greeks" and "Assyrians" by emphasizing the manner in which Syrians have adopted Greek customs and thereby effectively become "Greeks" themselves.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|pages=289–292}} Scholars therefore dispute whether the treatise is an accurate description of Syrian cultural practices{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=288}} and very little is known about Hierapolis other than what is recorded in On the Syrian Goddess itself.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|page=288}}
AglibolTeixidor|1979|pages=34–35}}Teixidor|1979|pages=34–35}} He was worshipped alongside Malakbel, the god of the sun.{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|pages=34–35}}
BaalshaminTeixidor|1979|page=18}}Teixidor|1979|page=18}} He is the god of fertile soil and clear skies.{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|page=18}} His name means "Lord of Heaven" and the heavens were thought to belong to him.{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|page=18}} He was a supreme god of weather and rain.{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|page=18}}
Bel of PalmyraTeixidor|1979|page=1}}Teixidor|1979|pages=1–16}} He is first attested under the name Bol,{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|page=16}} but, after the Babylonian cult of Marduk-Bel was introduced to Palmyra in around 213 BC, he was renamed as "Bel".{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|page=16}}
BesBlack|Green|1992|pages=41–42}}Black|Green|1992|page=41}} He was envisioned as a "full-faced, bow-legged dwarf with an oversized head, goggle eyes, protruding tongue, bushy tail and usually a large feathered crown as a head-dress."{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=41}} Representations of an almost identical dwarf-god became widespread across the Near East during the first millennium BC and are common in Syria, Palestine, and Arabia.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=42}} This god's name in Assyrian and Babylonian may have been Pessû.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=42}} Bes seems to have been the only Egyptian god who became widely worshipped throughout Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
HumbanBlack|Green|1992|page=74}}Black|Green|1992|page=74}} His name means "Great God".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
HutranBlack|Green|1992|page=74}}Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
InshushinakBlack|Green|1992|page=74}}Black|Green|1992|page=74}} but later became a major underworld deity.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
InzakBlack|Green|1992|page=66}}Black|Green|1992|page=66}} but the Dilmunites themselves regarded him as a god of Agaru, a land in eastern Arabia.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}} His main cult center was on Failaka Island,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}} where a temple was dedicated to him.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}} During the Neo-Babylonian Period, Inzak was identified with Nabu.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}}
Lagamal and IshmekerabBlack|Green|1992|page=74}}Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
MalakbelTeixidor|1979|pages=34–35}}Teixidor|1979|pages=34–35}} He was worshipped alongside Aglibol, the god of the moon.{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|pages=34–35}}
MeskilakBlack|Green|1992|page=66}}Black|Green|1992|page=66}} She may have been seen as the wife or mother of Inzak.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}} The Sumerians seem to have identified her with Ninhursag.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}} She is sometimes referred to as Nin-Dilmun, meaning "Lady of Dilmun".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=66}}
MuatiJordan|2002|page=205}}Jordan|2002|page=205}} He was later syncretized with Nabu.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|page=205}}
NahhunteBlack|Green|1992|page=74}}Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
NapirBlack|Green|1992|page=75}}Black|Green|1992|page=75}}
PienenkirBlack|Green|1992|page=74}}Black|Green|1992|page=74}} Her name means "Great Goddess".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=74}}
LahamunBlack|Green|1992|page=66}}Black|Green|1992|page=66}}
ManzâtBlack|Green|1992|page=75}}Black|Green|1992|page=75}}
Ruhurater, Kilahšupir, and TirutirBlack|Green|1992|page=75}}Black|Green|1992|page=75}}
Siyâšum, Narunte, and NiarzinaBlack|Green|1992|page=75}}Black|Green|1992|page=75}}
SimutBlack|Green|1992|page=75}}Black|Green|1992|page=75}}
Yahweh
El, Elohim, El Shaddai, Yah		Miller|1986|page=110}}{{sfn|Day|2002|page=15}}{{sfn|Dever|2003|page=125}}Miller|1986|page=110}}{{sfn|Day|2002|page=15}}{{sfn|Dever|2003|page=125}} In 586 BC, the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple of Solomon, and deported the elite members of Judahite society to Babylon in an event known as the "Babylonian exile".{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|page=2}} Modern scholars generally agree that much of the Deuteronomistic History was probably edited and redacted by Judahite priests living in Babylon during the exile.{{sfn|Finkelstein|Silberman|2001|pages=302–305}} The works of Second Isaiah, also written in Babylon, represent the first unambiguous Judahite declaration of the non-existence of foreign deities and proclamation of Yahweh as the sole, supreme God.{{sfn|Betz|2000|page=917}} Much of the Torah was probably written and compiled after the exile, when the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland by the Persians.{{sfn|Blum|1998|pages=32–33}}{{sfn|Finkelstein|Silberman|2001|pages=310–313}}
YarhibolTeixidor|1979|pages=33–34}}Teixidor|1979|pages=33–34}} but he eventually became regarded as the god of the sun as well, due to syncretism with the Babylonian sun-god Shamash.{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|page=34}}

Notes

See also

  • Family tree of the Babylonian gods

References

{{Reflist|20em}}

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  • {{citation|last=Stephens|first=Kathryn|title=An/Anu (god): Mesopotamian sky-god, one of the supreme deities; known as An in Sumerian and Anu in Akkadian|url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/an/|website=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses|publisher=Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, UK Higher Education Academy|date=2013|accessdate=9 May 2018|ref=harv}}
  • {{citation|last=Stephens|first=Kathryn|title=Ninsi'anna (god/goddess); Deity of the planet Venus; an aspect of Inana/Ištar as Venus.|url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/ninsianna/index.html|website=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses|publisher=Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, UK Higher Education Academy|date=2016|accessdate=9 May 2018|ref=harv}}
  • {{citation|last=Teixidor|first=Javier|date=1979|title=The Pantheon of Palmyra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TccUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR1|editor-last=Vermaseren|editor-first=M. J.|series=Études Préliminaires aux Religiones Orientales Dans l'Empire Romain|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|publisher=E. J. Brill|isbn=978-90-04-05987-0|language=en|ref=harv}}
  • {{citation|last=Vanstiphout|first=H. L.|year=1984|title=Inanna/Ishtar as a Figure of Controversy|journal=Struggles of Gods: Papers of the Groningen Work Group for the Study of the History of Religions|volume=31|location=Berlin|publisher=Mouton Publishers|url=https://books.google.com/?id=mQnv_Wh3gCwC&pg=PA225&dq=origins+of+Inanna#v=onepage&q=origins%20of%20Inanna&f=false|isbn=978-90-279-3460-4|ref=harv}}
  • {{citation|last=Weeden|first=Mark|title=Haya (god); Spouse of Nidaba/Nissaba, goddess of grain and scribes, he is known both as a "door-keeper" and associated with the scribal arts.|url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/haya/index.html|website=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses|publisher=Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, UK Higher Education Academy|date=2016|accessdate=9 May 2018|ref=harv}}
  • {{citation|last=Wills|first=Lawrence Mitchell|date=2002|title=Ancient Jewish Novels: An Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/?id=EgT06Wdvo5AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bel+and+the+dragon#v=onepage&q=Bel%20and%20the%20dragon&f=false|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-515142-8|ref=harv}}
  • {{citation|last1=Wolkstein|first1=Diane|last2=Kramer|first2=Samuel Noah|title=Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer|year=1983|publisher=Harper&Row Publishers|location=New York City, New York|isbn=978-0-06-090854-6|ref=harv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DF4pNpLmRBUC}}
  • {{citation|last=Wright|first=J. Edward|title=The Early History of Heaven|year=2002|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-534849-1|ref=harv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lKvMeMorNBEC}}
{{refend}}{{List of mythological figures by region}}{{featured list}}

3 : Mesopotamian deities|Lists of deities|Mythology-related lists
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