Monday, May 21, 2012

The Sumerian Pantheon





Ancient Sumer consisted of several city-states in what is now Iraq.  They are one of the oldest civilizations known and they possibly pre-date ancient Egypt.  Their writing consisted of Cuneiform that was inscribed in clay tablets.  It is the Library of Ashurbanipal that helped researchers understand the mythologies of ancient Sumer.  The Sumerian religion influenced Mesopotamian mythology and influenced the later civilizations of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians. The pantheon consisted of the following gods/goddess called the Anunnaki:

Enlil - God of the Air
Ninlil - Goddess of the Air
Nanna - God of the Moon
Ningal - Wife of Nanna
Inanna - Goddess of Love and War
Utu - God of the Sun
Enki - God of the Water
Ninhursag - Goddess of the Earth
An- Sky Father of the Heavens
Ki - Sky Mother and wife of An
Ereshkigal - Goddess of the Underworld
Ninurta - God of War
Nammu or Tiamat - The Mother Goddess who gave birth to the gods/goddesses


By Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_religion




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