War Gods Of Babylon Torrent
Fanny Lococo
In Babylonian religion, the ritual care and worship of the statues of deities were considered sacred; the gods lived simultaneously in their statues in temples and in the natural forces they embodied.[citation needed]
The pillaging or destruction of idols was considered to be a loss of divine patronage; during the Neo-Babylonian period, the Chaldean prince Marduk-apla-iddina II fled into the southern marshes of Mesopotamia with the statues of Babylon's gods to save them from the armies of Sennacherib of Assyria.[5]
Mesopotamian gods and goddesses were mostly anthropomorphic and often depicted wearing elaborately patterned clothes. Mesopotamians believed that, although deities lived in the sky, the statues of the gods were actual physical embodiments of the gods. Temple statues were treated with extravagant care and often given clothes to wear and food to eat. During religious festivals, statues of the gods were sometimes moved from one temple to another.
The mythological corpus of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires reflects their belief in an expansive pantheon of Assyrian and Babylonian god_. It is important to note that each of the Mesopotamian deities is known by many different names, with different parents, wives, and traits given in different sources. Assyrian gods become syncretized with other Babylonian deities over time, as the political status of cities and civilizations changed. Mesopotamian mythology also had an unparalleled level of influence on the development of mythology, literature, and religion in the ancient world. The mythology of ancient Greece and the Semitic literature collected in the Bible's Old Testament are both heavily influenced by the deities, stories, and motifs found in the mythology of Mesopotamia.
Thousands of fragmentary clay tablets have been retrieved from the Mesopotamian area that give insight into Mesopotamian religion. Some tablets contain long lists of deities that had been compiled by scribes. Others contain poems, hymns, and stories about the gods. Perhaps the most important of all of these is the Enuma Elish, the Mesopotamian creation epic. It is written in Akkadian cuneiform across seven clay tablets. The Enuma Elish describes the creation of the world, the gods' battle for supremacy, and the creation of humanity.
Much of what we know about Mesopotamian mythology comes from the various tablets, or portions of tablets, found in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian cities. While these tablets have only remained partially intact and large sections are as yet untranslated, they still give us a pretty clear picture of some of the myths of these ancient cultures, which introduce us to the gods and goddesses of the Mesopotamian pantheon. One of the longer and more descriptive myths we have from ancient Mesopotamian tablets is the Enuma Elish, or the creation epic, which tells us how the world and its gods and goddesses came to be.
This is a summary of the Sumerian gods' family tree. However, it should be noted that creating a complete family tree would be impossible, as most gods have different names, many are associated with one another, and the relationships of gods are often different in different sources.
The top level of the Sumerian gods' family tree consists of An, the sky god, and his consorts. With Ki (also known as Urash), the earth goddess, he creates Enlil, the air god, who marries Ninlil, the air goddess. An also progenerates with Nammu, goddess of the Watery Deep, and together they birth Enki, who is known as the god of wisdom and god of the waters. Enlil and Ninlil create Nanna, the moon god. Enki takes Ningikuga as consort and creates Ningal, the moon goddess. Enki also takes as consort Sirtur (also known as Ninsun), who is the sheep goddess, and together they create Dumuzi, the shepherd-king of Uruk, and Geshtihanna, Lady of Wine. Sirtur also procreates with Lugalbanda, king of Uruk, and together they give birth to Gilgamesh, king of Uruk and the hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Nanna and Ningal, the moon god and goddess, together create Inanna, whose title is Queen of Heaven and Earth and who is the goddess of love and war. They also create Utu, the sun god, who is also Innana's twin brother. Inanna takes Dumuzi as her consort, and she has two children, Shara and Lulal. Unrelated to any of these gods are Ereshkigal, queen of the underworld, and her consort Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven.
2. Nabu was the Babylonian god of scribes, writing, and wisdom. He was the grandson of Marduk and the son of Ea and was married to the goddess Tashmetu. Nabu was one of the major gods of Babylon, and the city regularly held a large festival for him. The main event of this festival was the ceremonial moving of a statue of Nabu from Borsippa to Babylon. In the neo-Babylonian period, Nabu became even more important than Marduk, and his cult spread beyond Mesopotamia, as far as Egypt. Nabu is pictured holding a stylus (an ancient writing tool), often with a Mushushushu (a dragon).
3. Apshu (also known as Abzu and Apsu) is the god of primordial chaos and the personification of primeval, subterranean water. He was believed to be the father of the gods and the god of fresh water. In the Enuma Elish, Apshu/Abzu is the consort of the goddess Tiamat and is killed by the god Ea (Enki).
6. Tiamat was the primordial goddess of the sea. She was believed to be the mother of the Babylonian gods, corresponding with the Sumerian Nammu. Tiamat was seen as a monstrous personification of chaos, as well as a mother goddess. The Enuma Elish describes how, after the creation of the world, Tiamat and her consort Abzu were the only deities. Tiamat gave birth to the first generation of gods. Ea (Enki) killed Abzu, and Tiamat gave birth to eleven monsters to seek revenge. Later, Marduk slew Tiamat and used her body to create the earth. It is unclear how the Babylonians pictured Tiamat, as she was sometimes portrayed as a woman and sometimes as a monstrous dragon.
9. Adad (known as Ishkur in Sumer) was the Mesopotamian god of thunder, storms, and rain. He was one of the most important gods in Mesopotamia, credited with bringing rain and making crops grow. He was also seen as the god of law and oaths. He was the son of An, his wife was Shala, and his servant was Nimgir, the lightning. Adad was usually depicted as a figure carrying a bolt of lightning, which symbolized his power over natural forces.
Ashur was the national god of the Assyrians and originally the deification of the city of Assur, but as the Assyrian empire grew, he spread across southern Mesopotamia. Ashur is not connected to any other gods and had no parents or wife. In later sources, Ashur is often syncretized with Enlil.
Anu, or An, was the supreme god of the Assyrians. He was believed to be the original prime mover of creation and the first ancestor of the gods. All other Assyrian gods were believed to be the children of An and his consort, Ki. An was embodied by the sky and seen as the god of the heavens.
Enlil (later known as Ellil) was the Assyrian god of wind, air, and storms. He was the chief of the gods and believed to be a benevolent deity who watched over humanity. Enlil's cult center was the holy city of Nippur.
Sin (also known as Nanna or Enzu) was the Mesopotamian god of the moon. He was also associated with cattle. He was the son of Enlil and Ninlil and married to Ningal. In some texts from the Old Babylonian period, it is Nanna (Sin), not Enlil, who is the king of the gods.
Mesopotamian mythology is a group of gods, goddesses, myths, and stories from ancient Mesopotamia. Two of the most important civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia were the Babylonian Empire and the Assyrian Empire. There was a vast and complex pantheon of Babylonian gods and Assyrian gods. Each of the Mesopotamian gods and goddesses is known by many names, with different parents, wives, and traits given in different sources. This pantheon's mythology influenced other religious writings of the day, including Greek mythology and the Torah.
The nine most well-known Babylonian deities are Ishtar, Nabu, Apshu, Shamash, Ea, Tiamat, Nergal, Marduk, and Adad, Of these, several have prominent myths about them; for example, Ishtar's descent into the underworld is a well-known myth. Enki, the Mesopotamian god of wisdom and protector of humankind, warned humans about the Great Flood. Tiamat was the primordial creator of Mesopotamian mythology and was both the mother of the gods and a vengeful monster. Marduk, son of Enki, was considered the primary creator of the world. He killed Tiamat and used her body to create the world. Other gods and goddesses include Ereshkigal, who was the Babylonian ruler of the underworld and was the daughter of Sin, the moon god. Tammuz was the Mesopotamian god of vegetation, whose return from the underworld signified the beginning of spring.
Tiamat has perhaps the most complicated history of the Mesopotamian gods. On the one hand, she is depicted as a beautiful woman who was mother to the gods and the embodiment of the salty sea. When she turned against the gods in the Enuma Elish, she became depicted as a dragon-like monster. In her anger, she created all the deadly creatures of the world, including serpents and scorpions.
Enki, sometimes known as Ea, was god of water and the most clever of the gods. In many myths he is a protector of humankind. He was the one who warned Atrahasis, the Mesopotamian Noah, about the flood and instructed him on how to build a boat and appease the gods.
While the major gods and goddesses are almost all present in the Enuma Elish, there are several other deities who are large parts of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Note that the familial relations between these gods and goddesses is somewhat confusing since there are multiple variations of the story of the family tree of the gods.
aa06259810