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Introduction
It has already been proven that the Sumerian civilization is the oldest on Earth, which appeared more than 6 thousand years ago. Their first civilization arose at least 445 thousand years ago. Many scientists have fought and are fighting to solve the mystery of the most ancient people on the planet, but there are still a lot of mysteries. A little over a hundred years ago, nothing at all was known about the Sumerians and their civilization.
Sumer as a country and the Sumerians as a people did not leave any noticeable traces in the literature that was available to enthusiasts and scientists who began excavations in Mesopotamia in the last century in search of the palaces of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings mentioned in the Bible.
It was during the excavations of the palace of the king Ashurbanipal in Nineveh were found the first Sumero-Akkadian texts, exploring which, historians first encountered traces of the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. The very concepts of Sumer and Sumerians (Sumerians) first came into scientific use in the late 80s of the XIX century (Oppert).
The Sumerian civilization had all the signs of a highly developed one. Suffice it to mention that the Sumerians used a binary counting system and knew the Fibonacci numbers.
The Sumerian texts contain information about the origin, development and structure of the solar system. In their depiction of the solar system, located in the Middle East section of the State Museum in Berlin, the Sun is at the center of the system, surrounded by all the planets known today. However, there are differences in their depiction of the solar system, the main of which is that the Sumerians place an unknown large planet between Mars and Jupiter - the 12th planet in the Sumerian system! The Sumerians called this mysterious planet Nibiru, which means "crossing planet". The orbit of this planet - a highly elongated ellipse - once every 3600 years crosses the solar system.
The next passage of the Niber through the solar system is expected between 2100 and 2158. According to the Sumerians, the planet Niberu was inhabited by conscious beings - the Anunaki. Their life span was 360,000 Earth years. They were real giants: women from 3 to 3.7 meters tall, and men from 4 to 5 meters.
It is worth noting here that, for example, the ancient ruler of Egypt, Akhenaten, was 4.5 meters tall, and the legendary beauty Nefertiti was about 3.5 meters tall. Already in our time, two unusual coffins were discovered in Akhenaten's city of Tel el-Amarna. In one of them, right above the head of the mummy, an image was engraved Flower of Life. And in the second coffin were found the bones of a seven-year-old boy, whose height was about 2.5 meters. Now this coffin with the remains is exhibited in the Cairo Museum.
In Sumerian cosmogony, the main event is called the “celestial battle”, a catastrophe that occurred 4 billion years ago and changed the appearance of the solar system. Modern astronomy confirms the data on this catastrophe!
A sensational discovery by astronomers in recent years has been the discovery of a set of fragments of some celestial body with a common orbit corresponding to the orbit of the unknown planet Nibiru.
Sumerian manuscripts contain information that can be interpreted as information about the origin of intelligent life on Earth. According to these data, the genus Homo sapiens was created artificially as a result of the use of genetic engineering about 300 thousand years ago. Thus, perhaps humanity is a civilization of biorobots.
The origin of mankind according to the Sumerian theory
The deciphering of Sumerian manuscripts shocked the researchers.
After deciphering the Sumerian tables, it became clear that the Sumerian civilization possessed a number of modern knowledge in the field of chemistry, herbal medicine, cosmogony, astronomy, modern mathematics (for example, it used the golden ratio, the binary system used after the Sumerians only when creating modern computers, used Fibonacci numbers! ), had knowledge in genetic engineering ( this interpretation of the texts was given by a number of scientists in the order of the version of the transcription of the manuscripts), had a modern state structure - a jury and elected bodies of people's (in modern terminology) deputies, and so on.
Where could such knowledge come from at that time?
Let's try to figure it out, but let's draw some facts about that era - 6 thousand years ago. This time is significant in that the average temperature on the planet then was several degrees higher than at present. The effect is called the temperature optimum. Approximation of the binary system belongs to the same period Sirius (Sirius-A and Sirius-B) to the solar system. At the same time, for several centuries of the 4th millennium BC, two moons were visible in the sky instead of one moon - the second celestial body, then comparable in size to the moon, was the approaching Sirius, an explosion in the system of which occurred again in the same period - 6 thousand years ago! At the same time, absolutely regardless of the development of the Sumerian civilization in Central Africa, there was a Dogon tribe leading a rather isolated lifestyle from other tribes and nationalities, however, as it became known in our time, the Dogon knew the details of not only the structure of the Sirius star system, but also owned other information from the field of cosmogony. Those are the parallels. But if the Dogon legends contain people from Sirius, whom this African tribe perceived as gods who descended from heaven and flew to Earth due to a disaster on one of the inhabited planets of the Sirius system associated with an explosion on the star Sirius, then, according to the Sumerian According to texts, the Sumerian civilization was associated with immigrants from the dead 12th planet of the solar system, the planet Nibiru.
According to Sumerian cosmogony, the planet Nibiru, not without reason called "crossing", has a very elongated and inclined elliptical orbit and passes between Mars and Jupiter once every 3600 years. For many years, the information of the Sumerians about the dead 12th planet of the solar system was classified as a legend. However, one of the most amazing discoveries of the last two years has been the discovery of a collection of fragments of a previously unknown celestial body moving along a common orit in a way that only fragments of a once single celestial body can do. The orbit of this collection crosses the solar system once every 3600 years precisely between Mars and Jupiter and exactly corresponds to the data from the Sumerian manuscripts.
The planet Nibiru plays a special role in the formation of the mysterious civilization of the Sumerians. So, the Sumerians claim to have had contact with the inhabitants of the planet Nibiru! It was from this planet that, according to the Sumerian texts, the Anunaki came to Earth, "descending from heaven to Earth."
The Bible also supports this assertion. In the sixth chapter of Genesis there is a mention of them, where they are called niphilim, "descended from heaven". Anunaki, according to Sumerian and other sources (where they had the name "nifilim"), often mistaken for "gods", "took earthly women as wives."
Here we are dealing with evidence of the possible assimilation of settlers from Nibiru. By the way, according to these legends, which are quite numerous in different cultures, humanoids not only belonged to the protein form of life, but were also so compatible with earthlings that they could have a common offspring. Biblical sources also testify to such assimilation. We add that in most religions, the gods converged with earthly women. Doesn't the above testify to the reality of paleocontacts, that is, contacts with representatives of other inhabited celestial bodies that occurred from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago.
How incredible is the existence of beings close to human nature outside the Earth? Among the supporters of the plurality of intelligent life in the Universe there were many great scientists, among whom it is enough to mention Tsiolkovsky, Vernadsky and Chizhevsky.
However, the Sumerians report much more than the biblical books. According to Sumerian manuscripts, the Anunaki first arrived on Earth about 445 thousand years ago, that is, long before the emergence of the Sumerian civilization.
Let's try to find an answer in the Sumerian manuscripts to the question: why did the inhabitants of the planet Nibiru fly to Earth 445 thousand years ago? It turns out they were interested in minerals, First of all, gold. Why?
If we take as a basis the version of an ecological catastrophe on the 12th planet of the solar system, then we could talk about creating a protective gold-containing screen for the planet. Note that a technology similar to the proposed one is currently used in space projects.
At first, the Anunaki unsuccessfully tried to extract gold from the waters of the Persian Gulf, and then they took up mining in Southeast Africa. Every 3600 years, when the planet Niberu appeared near the earth, gold reserves were sent to it. According to the chronicles, the Anunaki were engaged in gold mining for a long time: from 100 to 150 thousand years. And then, as expected, a rebellion broke out. The long-lived Anunaki were tired of working in the mines for hundreds of thousands of years. And then the leaders made a unique decision: to create "primitive workers" to work in the mines.
And the whole process of creating a person or the process of mixing divine and earthly components - the process of fertilization in a test tube - is painted with details on clay tablets and depicted on the cylinder seals of the Sumerian chronicles. This information literally shocked modern geneticists.
Ancient Jewish bible - Torah, which was born on the ruins of Sumer, attributed the act of creation of man to Elohim. This word is given in the plural and should be translated as gods. Well, the purpose of the creation of man is defined very precisely: "... and there was no man to cultivate the land." The ruler of Niberu Anu and the chief scientist of the Anunaki Enki decided to create "Adama". This word comes from "Adamah" (earth) and means "Earthling".
Enki decided to use the upright walking anthropomorphic creatures that already lived on earth, and improve them so much that they would understand orders and be able to use tools. They understood that terrestrial hominids had not yet evolved and decided to speed up this process. Considering the universe as a single living and intelligent being, self-organizing on an infinite number of levels, in connection with which the mind and mind are constant cosmic factors, he believed that life on earth came from the same cosmic seed of life as on his home planet.
In the Torah, Enki is called Nahash , which means in translation "snake, snake" or "one who knows secrets, secrets." And the emblem of Enki's cult center was two intertwined snakes. In this symbol, you can see a model of the structure of DNA, which Enki was able to unravel as a result of genetic research.
Enki's plans included using primate DNA and Anunaki DNA to create a new race. As an assistant, Enki attracted a young beautiful girl, whose name was Ninti - "the lady who gives life." Subsequently, this name was replaced by the pseudonym Mami? The prototype of the universal word mom. The chronicles give the instruction that Enki gave to Ninti. First of all, all procedures must be performed under completely sterile conditions. The Sumerian texts repeatedly mention that before working with "clay" Ninti washed her hands first. As is clear from the text, Enki used the egg of an African female monkey that lived north of Zimbabwe.
The instruction says:
“Add clay (egg) to the “essence” from the base of the earth, which is slightly up (to the north) from the Abzu, and fit it into a mold with the “essence”. I represent a good, knowledgeable, young Anunaki who will bring the clay (egg) to the desired state ... you will tell the fate of the newborn ... Ninti will embody the image of the gods in him, and what it will become will be Man.
The divine element, which in the Sumerian chronicles is called "TE-E-MA" and translates as “essence” or “that which binds memory”, and in our understanding it is DNA, obtained from the blood of a specially selected Anunaki (or Anunaki) and subjected to treatment in a “cleansing bath”. They also took from a young man Shiru - sperm.
The word "clay" comes from "TI-IT", translated as "that which accompanies life." A derivative of this word is "egg". In addition, the texts note that from the blood of the blood of one of the gods was obtained what is called napishtu (a parallel biblical term Naphsh, which is usually not accurately translated as "soul"). Sumerian texts say that luck did not immediately accompany scientists, and as a result of experiments, ugly hybrids first appeared. Finally they came to success. The successfully formed egg was then placed into the body of the goddess Ninti had agreed to become. As a result of a long pregnancy and caesarean section, the first man, Adam, was born.
Since there were many industrial workers for the mines, Eve was created to reproduce their own kind by cloning. Unfortunately, this can only be assumed, descriptions of the details of cloning in the Sumerian chronicles have not yet been found. But having given us their image and abilities for intellectual development, the Anunaki did not give us longevity. The Torah says in this regard:
“Elohim uttered the phrase: “Adam became like one of us ... And now, no matter how he stretched out his hand and took the same from the tree of life, and did not taste, and did not begin to live forever.” And Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden.
More recently, as a result of careful DNA research, Wesley Brown made an interesting discovery. "about the mitochondrial Eve, common for all people of the Earth" who lived in Africa about 250,000 years ago. And it turned out that the first human being came from the very valley where we, according to the Sumerians, mined gold.
Later, when the women of the Earth acquired an attractive appearance, the Anunaki began to take them as wives, which also contributed to the development of the intellect of the next generations of people. The Moses Bible says this:
“Then the sons of God saw the daughters of men, and they began to bear them. These are strong, glorious people from ancient times.” The “new explanatory Bible” says the following about this: “This is one of the most difficult passages in the Bible to interpret; the main difficulty lies in determining who here can be understood as "sons of God." And since the Bible of Moses does not directly say anything about the Anunaki, the interpreters decided to consider the “sons of God” the descendants of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, who “were the spokesmen for all that is good, exalted and good” - “Giants of the Spirit”. If you do not know about the content of the Sumerian chronicles, then this is still some kind of explanation.
Sumerian cities. Babylon
The history of Babylon, the most famous city of the ancient Near East, has almost 2 thousand years. The city arose in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. in Central Mesopotamia on the banks of the Euphrates. For the first time in cuneiform texts, it is mentioned during the reign of the kings of the Akkadian dynasty (24-23 centuries BC). At the very end of 3 thousand BC. under the kings of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur, Babylon became the capital of the province, in which the royal governor sat, collecting taxes.
At the beginning of 2 thousand BC. Babylon, like most other cities of Mesopotamia, was under the control of the Amorites, one of whose leaders founded his dynasty here (1st Babylonian dynasty). During the reign of its sixth representative, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), who managed to unite the entire territory of Mesopotamia into a single state, Babylon first became the political center of the country and has remained so since then for more than 1000 years. The city was proclaimed "the eternal abode of royalty", and its patron god Marduk occupied one of the central places in the pantheon of Mesopotamia.
In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. with the accession of new ruling dynasties in Southern Mesopotamia, Babylon remained the capital of Southern Mesopotamia. The city grew rich, handicrafts and trade successfully developed in it, the population grew rapidly. Economic growth was reflected in the external appearance of the city: a new urban development plan was developed and implemented, the construction of new walls and city gates was undertaken, wide streets were laid in the city center for the passage of temple processions. In the 14th century BC. Babylon was granted the right to self-government, its inhabitants were exempted from state duties and military conscription.
The Babylonian school, e-dubba ("house of tablets"), occupied a leading place in the system of education and the preservation of scribal traditions. Created here a new cult epic about the creation of the world ( enuma elish), consolidated the idea of the main god of the city of Babylon, Marduk, as originally the main world deity, and of the city of Babylon as the cosmological and theological center of the world. The very name of the city - the word Babylon (Bab-or) meant "Gate of the Gods" - reflected its role as the center of the world, the junction of the earthly and heavenly. This concept was reflected in the so-called Babylonian map of the world. The earth is depicted on it as a round disk floating in the ocean. In the center is the city of Babylon, depicted as a rectangle. The river Euphrates, crossing the circle from top to bottom, divides the city into two parts.
Throughout its long history, Babylon has experienced many difficult trials. The most tragic events for the city took place in 689 BC, when the Assyrian king Sennacherib, enraged by the disobedience of the Babylonians, ordered the city to be destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth. That Babylon, which became known in the 20th century. after the archaeological excavations of R. Koldewey, this is a completely new city that arose during a long process of construction and reconstruction, which began after the death of Sennacherib and culminated in the reign of the Babylonian king Nabushadnezzar 2, the biblical Nebuchadnezzar.
His reign (604-562 BC) was the time of the country's greatest economic and cultural upsurge. The military successes of Babylonia, whose borders stretched at that time from Egypt to Iran, provided her with political stability, and contributed to the constant influx of huge material wealth into the capital. This made it possible to carry out a grandiose program for the reconstruction of the city of Babylon, which turned into the largest and richest city in the Middle East during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
The city was a regular rectangle in plan with sides of 27x16 km, stretching on two banks of the Euphrates. On the left bank was the so-called Old Town, built up with rich private and public buildings. In the New City on the right bank of the river, apparently, ordinary citizens lived. The right bank communicated with the left by means of a huge stone bridge supported on seven piles of burnt bricks fastened with asphalt. Long straight streets stretched through the whole city and divided it into rectangular quarters.
In the center of the Old City in the main city quarter there were 14 temples, including the main temple of Babylon, the temple of Marduk (Esagil), and the seven-step cult tower (ziggurat), which is associated with the biblical legend of the Tower of Babel and the legend of the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" as one of the seven wonders of the world. A garden was planted on the upper platform of the ziggurat, which travelers approaching the city could see from afar, towering high above the city walls.
In the northwestern part of the Old City was the main residence of Nebuchadnezzar, the so-called Southern Palace. It was a giant complex of five huge courtyards surrounded by enfilades of rooms and separate buildings. The most important, third courtyard (60x55 m) adjoined the famous throne room of Nebuchadnezzar with an area of about 900 square meters. m. The walls of this hall were decorated with reliefs of colored glazed bricks, on which giant “trees of life” were depicted against a bright blue background, and figures of walking lions were depicted below.
The city was surrounded by a deep moat and a double ring of powerful walls with fortified gates. One of these gates, through which the road to the temple of Marduk passed, was called the gate of the goddess Ishtar. They are famous for their magnificent colored glazed brick reliefs depicting lions and dragons.
Babylon was a huge city, with a population of about 200,000 people. Here, together with the Babylonians, people of different languages and cultures coexisted peacefully. Many of them came here or were brought by force as captives from all over the vast Babylonian Empire and even from beyond its borders (Medes, Elamites, Egyptians, Jews). They continued to speak their native languages ("mixing languages") and wore traditional dress. The reviews that Babylon received in the Bible are far from enthusiastic, as they are associated with memories of the conflicts of Israel and Judah with Babylonia and the death of the kingdom of Judah.
After the conquest of Babylon by the Persians in 539, the city retained its status as the capital for a long time. Only in 479, after the suppression of another uprising of the Babylonians against the Persians, did the Persian king Xerxes deprived the city of independence. From that time on, Babylon completely lost its significance as the most important cult center, although the economic life in the city continued. Between 470 and 460 BC. Babylon visited Herodotus, who left a detailed description of its attractions, calling it "not only very large, but also the most beautiful" of all the cities known to him. At the end of the 4th c. BC. most of the inhabitants of Babylon were relocated to the new capital, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris. On the site of a huge city, a small poor settlement remained. After the conquest of the country by the Arabs in 624, it also disappeared. Soon the very place where the ancient Babylon was located was forgotten.
Nippur
At the end of the 3rd beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Mesopotamia was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history. A single state with its capital in the city of Ur, which had united the entire Mesopotamia for more than two centuries, disintegrated, and this, in fact, ended the Sumerian stage of the Mesopotamian civilization. The collapse of a huge state at that time caused many small local disasters. Many ancient Sumerian cities that arose as early as 4 thousand BC. e. were completely destroyed and could not be reborn (Eredu, Kesh, Shuruppak). Others seemed to continue to be inhabited in the subsequent, Old Babylonian, period, but clearly lost all political significance. During the excavations of such ancient cities of Sumer as Lagash, Girsu, Adab, Old Babylonian texts and some monuments of material culture of this period were found in a small number, but they are never mentioned in other documents relating to the political events of this era. The city of Umma, during the excavations of which a huge number of texts were found relating to all stages of the Sumerian civilization, especially to the period of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur, after 2000 BC. e. not mentioned at all.
However, not all Sumerian cities suffered such a fate. For about half a century (the first half of the 20th century BC) in a number of cities Sumer and Akkad small independent states were formed, in which the Amorite dynasties ruled. In total, judging by the royal inscriptions, there were more than 30 such dynasties. Some of them were clearly ephemeral and did not last more than one generation, others reigned for tens and hundreds of years. Separate cities of Southern Mesopotamia, which became the centers of new states, such as Isin, Eshnunna, Uruk, Larsa experienced a brief period of economic recovery at that time. The boundaries of these cities expanded significantly, the population increased, which gave reason to some researchers to call this time the period of the "Sumerian Renaissance".
City Nippur always occupied a special position among other Sumerian cities. Nippur has never been a political center, and it has never had its own king, but from the very moment of its inception and throughout its subsequent history, it has been the main cult center of Mesopotamia. Why exactly Nippur became the most important sacred city of the Sumerians, one can only guess. The main god of the city was the great god Enlil, which gave the rulers of the Sumerian cities the right to royalty. An important role in the rise of the city was probably played by its geographical position: it was located in the very center of the Mesopotamian plain.
During only 3 thousand and at the beginning of 2 thousand BC. e. the city of Nippur, with its numerous monumental temples and sanctuaries, was the cult center of all Sumer. The city reached its peak under the kings of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur (XXII - XX centuries BC), under which, in strict accordance with a carefully developed system of order of supply of sacrifices (bala), a huge number of the most variety of food and livestock.
The fall of the state of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur and the tragic events associated with it (devastation and a terrible famine that engulfed the entire south of the country around 2020 BC), apparently, initially little affected Nippur. Remaining the sacred center of Sumer, Nippur fell into the sphere of influence of the city of Isin, which seized political leadership from Ur. After 2026 BC e. receipts stopped - bala to the temple of Nippur, but Isin was rich in grain and still supplied Nippur with it, in addition, numerous temples of the sacred city owned vast farms in which everything needed was produced. Nevertheless, the catastrophic consequences of the collapse of the unified Sumerian state and the anarchy and decentralization that arose after this could not bypass any Sumerian city. By the middle of the XX century. BC e. the whole of Sumer was devastated by the war, and Nippur was destroyed to such an extent that even the worship of the god Enlil stopped there for a while.
The restoration of the city is associated with the name of King Isin Ishme Dagan, who gathered the "scattered people" of Nippur, repopulated the city and restored temple services. IshmeDagan carried out extensive restoration work in the holy city and, by a special decree, freed its inhabitants from military service and taxes.
Sumerian architecture
There are few trees and stone in Mesopotamia, so the first building material was raw bricks made from a mixture of clay, sand and straw. The basis of the architecture of Mesopotamia is secular (palaces) and religious (ziggurats) monumental structures and buildings. The first of the temples of Mesopotamia that have come down to us belong to IV-III millennia BC. e. These powerful cult towers, called ziggurats (ziggurat - holy mountain), were square and resembled a stepped pyramid. The steps were connected by stairs, along the edge of the wall there was a ramp leading to the temple. The walls were painted black (asphalt), white (lime) and red (brick). A constructive feature of monumental architecture was going from the 4th millennium BC. e. the use of artificially erected platforms, which is explained, perhaps, by the need to isolate the building from the dampness of the soil, moistened by spills, and at the same time, probably, by the desire to make the building visible from all sides.
Another characteristic, based on an equally ancient tradition, was the broken line of the wall, formed by ledges. Windows, when they were made, were placed at the top of the wall and looked like narrow slits. Buildings were also illuminated through a doorway and a hole in the roof. The coverings were mostly flat, but the vault was also known. Residential buildings discovered by excavations in the south of Sumer had an open courtyard around which covered premises were grouped. This layout, which corresponded to the climatic conditions of the country, formed the basis for the palace buildings of the southern Mesopotamia. In the northern part of Sumer, houses were found that had a central room with a ceiling instead of an open courtyard.
Sumero-Akkadian mythology
By the time the first Sumerian city-states were formed, the idea of an anthropomorphic deity had formed. The patron deities of the community were, first of all, the personification of the creative and productive forces of nature, with which the ideas about the power of the military leader of the tribe-community, combined (at first irregularly) with the functions of the high priest, are connected.
From the first written sources (the earliest pictographic texts of the so-called Uruk III - Jemdet-Nasr period date back to the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium), the names (or symbols) of the gods are known Inanna, Enlil and others, and since the so-called. the period of Abu-Salabiha (settlements near Nippur) and headlights (Shuruppak) 27-26 centuries. - Theophoric names and the most ancient list of gods. The earliest actually mythological literary texts - hymns to the gods, lists of proverbs, exposition of some myths (for example, about Enlil) also date back to the period of Fara and come from the excavations of Fara and Abu-Salabih. From the time of the reign of the Lagash ruler Gudei (c. 22nd century BC), construction inscriptions have come down that provide important material regarding cult and mythology (a description of the renovation of the main temple of the city of Lagash to Eninnu - the “temple of fifty” for Ningirsu, the patron god of the city ).
But the main mass of Sumerian texts of mythological content (literary, educational, actually mythological, etc., one way or another connected with myth) refers to the end of the 3rd - the beginning of the 2nd millennium, to the so-called Old Babylonian period - the time when the Sumerian language was already dying out, but the Babylonian tradition still retained the teaching system on it. Thus, by the time writing appeared in Mesopotamia (the end of the 4th millennium BC), a certain system of mythological ideas was recorded here. But each city-state retained its own deities and heroes, cycles of myths and its own priestly tradition. Until con. 3rd millennium BC e. there was no single systematized pantheon, although there were several common Sumerian deities:
Enlil, "lord of the air", "king of gods and people", god of the city of Nippur, the center of the ancient Sumerian tribal union; Enki, the lord of underground fresh waters and the oceans (later also the deity of wisdom), the main god of the city of Eredu, the ancient cultural center of Sumer; An, the god of keba, and Inanna, the goddess of war and carnal love, the deity of the city of Uruk, which rose at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e.; Nain, the moon god worshiped in Ur; the warrior god Ningirsu, revered in Lagash (this god was later identified with the Lagash Ninurta), and others. The oldest list of gods from Fara (c. 26 century BC) identifies six supreme gods of the early Sumerian pantheon:
Enlil, An, Inanna, Enki, Nanna and the sun god Utu. The ancient Sumerian deities, including the astral gods, retained the function of a fertility deity, which was thought of as the patron god of a separate community. One of the most typical images is the image of the mother goddess (in iconography, images of a woman with a child in her arms are sometimes associated with her), which was revered under various names:
Damgalnuna, Ninhursag, Ninmah (Mach), Nintu, Mama, Mami. Akkadian versions of the image of the mother goddess - Beletili ("mistress of the gods"), the same Mami (having the epithet "helping with childbirth" in Akkadian texts) and Aruru - the creator of people in Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian myths, and in the epic about Gilgamesh - "wild" man (symbol of the first man) Enkidu.
It is possible that the patron goddesses of cities are also associated with the image of the mother goddess: for example, the Sumerian goddesses Bay and Gatumdug also bear the epithets “mother”, “mother of all cities”. In the myths about the gods of fertility, there is a close connection between the myth and the cult. The cult songs from Ur (end of the 3rd millennium BC) speak of the love of the priestess "lukur" (one of the significant priestly categories) for King Shu-Suen and emphasize the sacred and official nature of their union. Hymns to the deified kings of the III Dynasty of Ur and the I Dynasty of Isin also show that between the king (at the same time the high priest "en") and the high priestess, a sacred marriage ceremony was performed annually, in which the king represented the incarnation of the shepherd god Dumuzi, and the priestess - the goddess Inanna. The content of the works (constituting a single cycle "Inanna-Dumuzi") includes the motives of the courtship and wedding of the heroes-gods, the descent of the goddess into the underworld ("country without return") and replacing her with a hero, the death of the hero and crying for him and the return of the hero to earth. All works of the cycle turn out to be the threshold of the drama-action, which formed the basis of the ritual and figuratively embodied the metaphor "life - death - life". The numerous variants of the myth, as well as the images of the departing (dying) and returning deities (which in this case is Dumuzi), are connected, as in the case of the mother goddess, with the disunity of the Sumerian communities and with the very metaphor "life - death - life" , all the time changing its appearance, but constant and unchanged in its renewal. More specific is the idea of replacement, which runs like a leitmotif through all the myths associated with the descent into the underworld.
In the myth of Enlil and Ninlil, the role of the dying (leaving) and resurrecting (returning) deity is the patron of the Nippur community, the lord of the air Enlil, who seized Ninlil by force, expelled by the gods to the underworld for this, but managed to leave it, leaving instead of himself, his wife and son "deputies". The form of the requirement "for the head - head" looks like a legal ploy, an attempt to circumvent the law, unshakable for anyone who entered the "land of no return." But it also sounds the idea of a certain balance, the desire for harmony between the world of the living and the dead. In the Akkadian text on the descent Ishtar(corresponds to the Sumerian Inanna), as well as in the Akkadian epic about Erra, the god of the plague, this idea is formulated more clearly: Ishtar in front of the gates of the “country without return” threatens, if she is not let in, “to release the dead that eat the living”, and then "the dead will multiply more alive," and the threat works. Myths related to the cult of fertility provide information about the ideas of the Sumerians about the underworld.
There is no clear idea about the location of the underworld (Sumer. Kur, Kigal, Eden, Irigal, Arali, the secondary name is kur-nugi, “country without return”; Akkadian parallels to these terms - ercetu, tseru) there is no clear idea. They not only descend there, but also “fall through”; the border of the underworld is the underground river, through which the carrier ferries. Those entering the underworld pass through the seven gates of the underworld, where they are met by the chief gatekeeper Neti. The fate of the dead underground is hard. Their bread is bitter (sometimes it is sewage), salty water (slops can also serve as a drink). The underworld is dark, full of dust, its inhabitants, "like birds, are dressed in clothes of wings." There is no idea of a "field of souls", just as there is no information about the court of the dead, where they would be judged by behavior in life and by the rules of morality. A tolerable life (clean drinking water, peace) is awarded to the souls for whom the funeral rite was performed and sacrifices were made, as well as those who fell in battle and those with many children. The judges of the underworld, sitting before Ereshkigal, the mistress of the underworld, pass only death sentences. The names of the dead are entered in the table by a female scribe of the underground kingdom of Geshtinanna (among the Akkadians - Beletzeri). Among the ancestors - the inhabitants of the underworld - are many legendary heroes and historical figures, for example, Gilgamesh, the god Sumukan, the founder of the III dynasty of Ur Ur-Nammu. The unburied souls of the dead return to earth and bring trouble, the buried are crossed over the “river that separates from people” and is the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The river is crossed by a boat with the carrier of the underworld Ur-Shanabi or the demon Humut-Tabal. Actually cosmogonic Sumerian myths are unknown. The text "Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld" says that certain events took place at the time "when the heavens separated from the earth, when an took the sky for himself, and Enlil took the earth, when Ereshkigal was given to Kur." The myth of the hoe and ax says that Enlil separated the earth from heaven, the myth of Lahar and. Ashnan, the goddesses of cattle and grain, also describes the merged state of earth and heaven (“mountain of heaven and earth”), which, apparently, was in charge of an. The myth of Enki and Ninhursag tells of the island of Tilmun as a primeval paradise.
Several myths have come down about the creation of people, but only one of them is completely independent - about Enki and Ninmah. Enki and Ninmah sculpt a man from the clay of the Abzu, the underground world ocean, and involve the goddess Nammu, "the mother who gave life to all the gods," in the process of creation. The purpose of the creation of man is to work for the gods: cultivate the land, graze cattle, collect fruits, feed the gods with their victims.
When a person is made, the gods determine his fate and arrange a feast on this occasion. At the feast, drunken Enki and Ninmah begin to sculpt people again, but they end up with freaks: a woman unable to give birth, a creature devoid of sex, etc. In the myth of the goddesses of cattle and grain, the need to create a person is explained by the fact that the gods who appeared before him they don't know how to run a business. The idea repeatedly slips that earlier people grew underground, like grass. In the myth of the hoe, Enlil makes a hole in the ground with a hoe and people come out from there. The same motive sounds in the introduction to the hymn to the city of Ered.
Many myths are devoted to the creation and birth of the gods. Cultural heroes are widely represented in Sumerian mythology. Creators-demiurges act mainly Enlil and Enki. According to various texts, the goddess Ninkasi is the initiator of brewing, the goddess Uttu is the weaving craft, Enlil is the creator of the wheel, grain; gardening is an invention of the gardener Shukalitudda. A certain archaic king Enmeduranki is declared to be the inventor of various forms of predicting the future, including predictions with the help of an outpouring of oil. The inventor of the harp is a certain Ningal-Paprigal, the epic heroes Enmerkar and Gilgamesh are the creators of urban planning, and Enmerkar is also writing. The eschatological line is reflected in the myths about the flood and the wrath of Inanna. In Sumerian mythology, very few stories have been preserved about the struggle of the gods with monsters, the destruction of elemental forces, etc. (only two such legends are known - about the struggle of the god Ninurta with the evil demon Asag and about the struggle of the goddess Inanna with the monster Ebih). Such battles are in most cases the lot of a heroic personality, a deified king, while most of the deeds of the gods are associated with their role as deities of fertility (the most archaic moment) and bearers of culture (the latest moment).
The functional ambivalence of the image corresponds to the external characteristics of the characters: these omnipotent, omnipotent gods, the creators of all life on earth, are evil, rude, cruel, their decisions are often explained by whims, drunkenness, promiscuity, everyday unattractive features can be emphasized in their appearance (dirt under the nails, dyed red, Enki has Ereshkigal's disheveled hair, etc.). The degree of activity and passivity of each deity is also varied. So, the most alive are Inanna, Enki, Ninhursag, Dumuzi, some minor deities.
The most passive god is the "father of the gods" An. The images of Enki, Inaina and, to some extent, Enlil are comparable to the images of the demiurge gods, “bearers of culture”, whose characteristics emphasize the elements of comedy, the gods of primitive cults living on earth, among people, whose cult supplants the cult of the “higher being”. But at the same time, no traces of "theomachy" - the struggle of old and new generations of gods - were found in Sumerian mythology.
One canonical text of the Old Babylonian period begins with a list of 50 pairs of gods that preceded Anu: their names are formed according to the scheme: "the lord (mistress) of so-and-so." Among them is named one of the oldest, judging by some sources, the gods Enmesharra ("master of all me"). From a source even later (a Neo-Assyrian incantation of the 1st millennium BC), we learn that Enmesharra is "the one who gave Anu and Enlil the scepter and dominion." In Sumerian mythology, this deity is chthonic, but there is no evidence that Enmesharra was forcibly cast into the underworld. Of the heroic tales, only the tales of the Uruk cycle have come down to us. The heroes of the legends are three kings of Uruk who ruled successively: Enmerkar, son of Meskingasher, the legendary founder of the I dynasty of Uruk (27-26 centuries BC; according to legend, the dynasty originated from the sun god Utu, whose son Meskingasher was considered); Lugalbanda, the fourth ruler of the dynasty, the father (and possibly the ancestral god) of Gilgamesh, the most popular hero of Sumerian and Akkadian literature. A single external line for the works of the Uruk cycle is the theme of the connections of Uruk with the outside world and the motive of the wandering (journey) of the characters. The theme of the hero's journey to a foreign country and the test of his moral and physical strength, combined with the motifs of magical gifts and a magical helper, not only shows the degree of mythologization of the work, compiled as a heroic-historical monument, but also reveals early motifs associated with initiation rites. The connection of these motifs in the works, the sequence of a purely mythological level of presentation, brings the Sumerian monuments closer to a fairy tale. In the early lists of gods from Farah, the heroes Lugalband and Gilgamesh are attributed to the gods; in later texts they appear as gods of the underworld. Meanwhile, in the epos of the Uruk cycle, Gilgamesh, Lugalbanda, Enmerkar, although they have mytho-epic and fairy-tale features, act as real kings - the rulers of Uruk. Their names appear in the so-called. "royal list", compiled during the III dynasty of Ur (apparently, c. mythical number of years of reign: Meskingasher, founder of the dynasty of Uruk, "son of the sun god", 325 years old, Enmerkar 420 years old, Gilgamesh, who is called the son of the demon lilu, 128 years old).
The epic and non-epic tradition of Mesopotamia thus has a single general direction - the idea of the historicity of the main mytho-epic heroes. It can be assumed that Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh were posthumously deified as heroes. Things were different from the beginning of the Old Akkadian period. The first ruler who declared himself the “patron god of Akkad” during his lifetime was the Akkadian king of the 23rd century. BC e. Naram-Suen; in the period of the III dynasty of Ur, the cult veneration of the ruler reached its climax. The development of the epic tradition from myths about cultural heroes, characteristic of many mythological systems, did not, as a rule, take place on Sumerian soil. A characteristic actualization of ancient forms (in particular, the traditional motif of travel) also looks like the motif of a god’s journey to another, higher, deity for a blessing, often found in Sumerian mythological texts (myths about Enki’s journey to Enlil after the construction of his city, about the journey of the moon god Naina to Nippur to Enlil, his divine father, for a blessing). The period of the III dynasty of Ur, the time from which most of the written mythological sources have come down, is the period of the development of the ideology of royal power in the most complete form in Sumerian history. Since myth remained the dominant and most "organized" area of social consciousness, the leading form of thinking, it was through myth that the corresponding ideas were affirmed. Therefore, it is no coincidence that most of the texts belong to one group - the Nippur canon, compiled by the priests of the III dynasty of Ur, and the main centers most often mentioned in myths: Eredu, Uruk, Ur, gravitating towards Nippur as a traditional place of the Sumerian cult. A “pseudomyth”, a myth-concept (and not a traditional composition) is also a myth that explains the appearance of the Semitic tribes of the Amorites in Mesopotamia and gives the etiology of their assimilation in society - the myth of the god Martu (the very name of god is a deification of the Sumerian name of the West Semitic nomads). The myth underlying the text did not develop an ancient tradition, but was taken from historical reality. But traces of a general historical concept - the idea of the evolution of mankind from savagery to civilization (which is reflected - already on Akkadian material - in the history of the "wild man" Enkidu in the Akkadian epic of Gilgamesh) show through the "actual" concept of myth. After the fall at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. under the onslaught of the Amorites and Elamites of the III dynasty of Ur, almost all the ruling dynasties of individual city-states of Mesopotamia turned out to be Amorites. However, in the culture of Mesopotamia, contact with the Amorite tribes left almost no trace.
Akkadian (Babylonian-Assyrian) mythology
From ancient times, the Eastern Semites - Akkadians, who occupied the northern part of the lower Mesopotamia, were neighbors of the Sumerians and were under strong Sumerian influence. In the 2nd half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Akkadians are also established in the south of Mesopotamia, which was facilitated by the unification of Mesopotamia by the ruler of the city of Akkad Sargon the Ancient into the "kingdom of Sumer and Akkad" (later, with the rise of Babylon, this territory became known as Babylonia). History of Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BC e. - this is the history of the Semitic peoples.
However, the merger of the Sumerian and Akkadian peoples occurred gradually, the displacement of the Sumerian language by Akkadian (Babylonian-Assyrian) did not mean the complete destruction of the Sumerian culture and its replacement with a new, Semitic one.
Not a single early purely Semitic cult has yet been found on the territory of Mesopotamia. All the Akkadian gods known to us are of Sumerian origin or have long been identified with Sumerian ones. Thus, the Akkadian sun god Shamash was identified with the Sumerian Utu, the goddess Ishtar with Inanna and a number of other Sumerian goddesses, the storm god Adad with Ishkur, etc. The god Enlil receives the Semitic epithet Bel (Baal), "lord".
With the rise of Babylon, the main god of this city begins to play an increasingly important role. Marduk, but this name is also Sumerian in origin. The Akkadian mythological texts of the Old Babylonian period are much less known than the Sumerian ones; none of the text is complete. All the main sources on Akkadian mythology date back to the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e., that is, by the time after the Old Babylonian period. If very fragmentary information has been preserved about Sumerian cosmogony and theogony, then the Babylonian cosmogonic teaching is represented by a large cosmogonic epic poem "Enuma Elish" (according to the first words of the poem - “When above”; the earliest version dates from the beginning of the 10th century BC). The poem allocates the main role in the creation of the world to Marduk, who gradually occupies the main place in the pantheon of the 2nd millennium, and by the end of the Old Babylonian period, he receives universal recognition outside Babylon (for an exposition of the cosmogonic myth, see the articles Abzu and Marduk).
In comparison with the Sumerian ideas about the universe, what is new in the cosmogonic part of the poem is the idea of successive generations of gods, each of which surpasses the previous one, of theomachy - the battle of old and new gods and the unification of many divine images of the creators into one. The idea of the poem is to justify the exaltation of Marduk, the purpose of its creation is to prove and show that Marduk is the direct and rightful heir of the ancient powerful forces, including the Sumerian deities. The "original" Sumerian gods are then the young heirs of the older forces that they crush. He receives power not only on the basis of legitimate succession, but also on the basis of the right of the strongest, therefore the theme of the struggle and the violent overthrow of the ancient forces is the leitmotif of the legend. Features of Enki - Eya, like other gods, are transferred to Marduk, but Eya becomes the father of the "lord of the gods" and his adviser. In the Ashur version of the poem (end of the 2nd millennium BC), Marduk is replaced by Ashur, the chief god of the city of Ashur and the central deity of the Assyrian pantheon. This became a manifestation of a general tendency towards monotheism, expressed in the desire to single out the main god and rooted not only in the ideological, but also in the socio-political situation of the 1st millennium BC. e.
A number of cosmological motifs of the Enuma Elish have come down to us in Greek transcriptions by a Babylonian priest of the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. Berossus (through Polyhistor and Eusebius), as well as a Greek writer of the 6th century. n. e. Damascus. Damascus has a number of generations of gods: Taut and Apason and their son Mumiyo (Tiamat, Apsu, Mummu), and also Lahe and Lahos, Kissar and Assoros (Lahmu and Lahamu, Anshar and Kishar), their children Anos, Illinos, Aos (Anu, Enlil, Eya). Aos and Dauke (i.e. the goddess Damkina) create the demiurge god Bel (Marduk). In Berossus, the mistress corresponding to Tiamat is a certain Omorka (“sea”), who rules over darkness and waters and whose description resembles that of the evil Babylonian demons. God Bel cuts it, creates heaven and earth, organizes the world order and orders to cut off the head of one of the gods in order to create people and animals from his blood and earth.
Myths about the creation of the world and the human race in Babylonian literature and mythography are associated with tales of human disasters, death of people, and even the destruction of the universe.
As in the Sumerian monuments, in the Babylonian legends it is emphasized that the cause of disasters is the malice of the gods, their desire to reduce the number of the ever-growing and bothering the gods with their noise of the human race. Calamities are perceived not as a legitimate retribution for human sins, but as an evil whim of a deity. The myth of the flood, which, according to all sources, was based on the Sumerian the legend of Ziusudra , came in the form of a myth about Atrahasis and the story of the flood, inserted into the Epic of Gilgamesh (and not much different from the first), and also preserved in the Greek transmission of Berossus. The myth of the plague god Erra, who fraudulently takes away power from Marduk, also tells about the punishment of people. This text sheds light on the Babylonian theological concept of a certain physical and spiritual balance of the world, depending on the presence of the rightful owner in its place (cf. the Sumero-Akkadian motif of the balance between the world of the living and the dead).
Traditional for Mesopotamia (since the Sumerian period) is the idea of the connection of a deity with his statue: leaving the country and the statue, the god thereby changes his place of residence. This is done by Marduk, and the country is damaged, and the universe is threatened with death. It is characteristic that in all epics about the destruction of mankind, the main disaster - the flood, is caused not by a flood from the sea, but by a rain storm. The significant role of the gods of storms and hurricanes in the cosmogony of Mesopotamia, especially the northern one, is also connected with this. In addition to the special gods of the wind and thunderstorms, storms (the main Akkadian god is Adad), the winds were the sphere of activity of various gods and demons. So, according to tradition, he was probably the supreme Sumerian god Enlil (the literal meaning of the name is “breath of the wind”, or “lord-wind”), although he is basically the god of air in the broad sense of the word. But still, Enlil owned destructive storms, with which he destroyed enemies and hated cities. Enlil's sons, Ninurta and Ningirsu, are also associated with the storm. As deities, in any case, as personified higher powers, the winds of the four directions were perceived. The Babylonian legend about the creation of the world, the plot of which was built around the personality of a powerful deity, the epic development of episodes telling about the battle of the god-hero with the monster - the personification of the elements, gave rise to the theme of the god-hero in the Babylonian epic-mythological literature (and not the mortal hero, as in Sumerian literature). According to Akkadian concepts, the tables of fate determined the movement of the world and world events.
Possession of them ensured world domination (cf. "Enuma Elish", where they were initially owned by Tiamat, then by Kingu, and finally by Marduk). The Scribe of the Tables of Fates - the god of scribal art and the son of Marduk Nabu - was also sometimes perceived as their owner. Tablets were also written in the underworld (the scribe was the goddess Beletzeri); apparently, it was a fixation of death sentences, as well as the names of the dead. If the number of god-heroes in Babylonian mythological literature prevails compared to Sumerian literature, then about mortal heroes, in addition to the epic about Atrahasis, only a legend (obviously of Sumerian origin) about Etana, a hero who tried to fly to heaven on an eagle, and a relatively late story are known about Adapa, a wise man who dared to “break his wings” to the wind and provoke the wrath of the sky god An, but missed the opportunity to get immortality, and the famous epic about Gilgamesh is not a simple repetition of the Sumerian legends about the hero, but a work that reflected the complex worldview evolution that, together with the Babylonian society was done by the heroes of Sumerian works.
The leitmotif of the epic works of Babylonian literature is the failure of man to achieve the fate of the gods, despite all his aspirations, the futility of human efforts in an attempt to obtain immortality. The monarchical-state, and not communal (as in Sumerian mythology) nature of the official Babylonian religion, as well as the suppression of the public life of the population, leads to the fact that the features of archaic religious and magical practice are gradually suppressed. Over time, "personal" gods begin to play an increasingly important role. The idea of a personal god of each person, who facilitates his access to the great gods and introduces him to them, arises (or, in any case, spreads) from the time of the III dynasty of Ur and in the old Babylonian period. On the reliefs and seals of this time, there are frequent scenes depicting how the patron deity leads a person to the supreme god to determine his fate and receive blessings. In the period of the III dynasty of Ur, when the king was considered as the protector-guardian of his country, he took on some of the functions of the god-protector (especially the deified king). It was believed that with the loss of his protector god, a person became defenseless against the evil self-will of the great gods, and could easily be attacked by evil demons. In addition to a personal god, who was primarily supposed to bring good luck to his patron, and a personal goddess who personified his life “share”, each person also had his own shedu (cf. Sumer, alad) - an anthropomorphized or zoomorphized life force. In addition to these defenders, the inhabitant of Babylonia in the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. his own personal guardian appears - lamassu, the bearer of his personality, possibly associated with the cult of the placenta. The "name" of a person or his "glory" (noise) was also considered as a material substance, without which his existence is unthinkable and which was passed on to his heirs. On the contrary, the “soul” (napishtu) is something impersonal, it was identified either with breath or with blood. Personal guardian gods resisted evil and were, as it were, antipodes of the evil forces surrounding a person. Among them are the lion-headed Lamashtu, rising from the underworld and leading all kinds of diseases, the evil spirits of diseases themselves, ghosts, embittered shadows of the dead who do not receive victims, various kinds of service spirits of the underworld (utukki, asakki, etimme, galle, galle lemnuti - “evil devils”, etc.), the god-destiny Namtar, who comes to a person at the hour of his death, the night spirits-incubus lilu visiting women, the succubus lilit (lilith) taking possession of men, etc. The most complex system of demonological representations that developed in Babylonian mythology (and is not attested in Sumerian monuments) was also reflected in the visual arts. The general structure of the pantheon, the addition of which dates back to the III dynasty of Ur, basically remains unchanged throughout the entire era of antiquity. The triad is officially at the head of the whole world Anu, Enlil and Eya, surrounded by a council of seven or twelve "great gods" who determine the "shares" (shimatu) of everything in the world. All gods are thought to be divided into two generic groups - the Igigi and the Anunnaki, the gods of the earth and the underworld, as a rule, are among the latter, although there are also Anunnaki gods among the heavenly gods. In the underworld, however, it is no longer Ereshkigal who rules as much as her husband Nergal, who subjugated his spouse, which corresponds to the general decrease in the role of female deities in Babylonian mythology, relegated, as a rule, almost exclusively to the position of impersonal spouses of their divine husbands (essentially, a special only the goddess of healing Gula and Ishtar retain their significance, although, judging by the epic of Gilgamesh, her position is also under threat). But steps towards monotheism, manifested in the strengthening of the cult of Marduk, which monopolized to the end. 2nd millennium, almost all areas of divine activity and power continue to occur. Enlil and Marduk merge into a single image of the "lord" - Bela (Baal) (in Assyria - Enlil and Ashur). In the 1st millennium BC. e. Marduk in a number of centers is gradually being replaced by his son, the god of scribal art Nabu, who tends to become a single Babylonian deity. The properties of one god are endowed with other deities, and the qualities of one god are determined by the qualities of other gods. This is another way to create the image of a single omnipotent and omnipotent deity in a purely abstract way.
Monuments (mainly of the 1st millennium) make it possible to reconstruct the general system of cosmogonic views of the Babylonian theologians, although there is no complete certainty that such a unification was carried out by the Babylonians themselves. The microcosm is a reflection of the macrocosm - "bottom" (earth) - as if a reflection of the "top" (heaven). The whole universe, as it were, floats in the world ocean, the earth is likened to a large inverted round boat, and the sky is like a solid semi-arch (dome) covering the world. The entire celestial space is divided into several parts: the “upper sky of Anu”, the “middle sky”, belonging to the Igigi, in the center of which was the lapis lazuli cella of Marduk, and the “lower sky”, already visible to people, on which the stars are located. All heavens are made of different types of stone, for example, the “lower sky” is made of blue jasper; above these three heavens there are four more heavens. The sky, like a building, rests on a foundation attached to the heavenly ocean with pegs and, like an earthly palace, protected from water by a rampart. The highest part of the heavenly vault is called the "middle of heaven." The outer side of the dome (the "inside of heaven") radiates light; this is the space where the moon hides - Sin during his three-day absence and where the sun - Shamash spends the night. In the east is the "mountain of sunrise", in the west - the "mountain of sunset", which are locked. Every morning, Shamash opens the “mountain of sunrise”, sets off on a journey through the sky, and in the evening through the “mountain of sunset” hides in the “inside of heaven”. The stars in the firmament are "images" or "writings", and each of them has a fixed place, so that not one "strays from its path." Earthly geography corresponds to heavenly geography. The prototypes of all things: countries, rivers, cities, temples - exist in the sky in the form of stars, earthly objects are only reflections of heavenly ones, but both substances each have their own dimensions. Thus, the heavenly temple is about twice as large as the earthly one. The plan of Nineveh was originally drawn in heaven and existed from ancient times. In one constellation is the celestial Tigris, in the other - the celestial Euphrates. Each city corresponds to a certain constellation: Sippar - the constellation of Cancer, Babylon, Nippur - others whose names are not identified with modern ones. Both the sun and the month are divided into countries: on the right side of the month - Akkad, on the left - Elam, the upper part of the month - Amurru (Amorites), the lower part - the country of Subartu. Under the vault of heaven lies (like an inverted boat) "ki" - the earth, which is also divided into several tiers. People live in the upper part, in the middle part - the possessions of the god Ey (the ocean of fresh water or underground waters), in the lower part - the possessions of the gods of the earth, the Anunnaki, and the underworld. According to other views, seven earths correspond to the seven heavens, but nothing is known about their exact division and location.
To strengthen the earth, they tied it to the sky with ropes and secured it with pegs. These ropes are the Milky Way. The upper land is known to belong to the god Enlil. His Ekur temple ("house of the mountain") and one of its central parts - Duranki ("connection of heaven and earth") symbolize the structure of the world. Thus, a certain evolution is outlined in the religious and mythological views of the peoples of Mesopotamia. If the Sumerian religious-mythological system can be defined as based primarily on communal cults, then the Babylonian system shows a clear desire for monolatry and for more individual communication with the deity. From very archaic ideas, a transition is planned to a developed religious and mythological system, and through it to the field of religious and ethical views, in whatever rudimentary form they may be expressed.
The Great Ziggurat of Ur – Preserved for Millennia
History of the ziggurat
The city of Ur itself has been famous since time immemorial. It was here, according to the biblical teaching, that the father of many nations Abraham was born.. In 2112-2015 BC, during the reign of the III dynasty, Ur enters the peak of its power, and it was during this period that the founder of the dynasty, King Urnammu, with his son Shulgi, took up the creation of the great image of the city.
Conclusion
Modern science cannot provide answers to all the questions that arise when studying the history of the Sumerians. Too few sources and monuments of that period have survived to this day. However, the civilization of Sumer is one of the most mysterious, significant and developed in the history of the Ancient World. And, perhaps, the key to understanding the whole history of antiquity lies in understanding and appreciating the significance of the Sumerian-Akkadian civilization.
Apparently, the recent raid of terrorists not in Iraq and Syria, Libya and so on, pursued one goal. Namely:
Destroy ancient monuments, wipe out all mega buildings from the face of the earth, smash into shards or dust, all clay tablets with the most valuable material...
Well, what is it for?
The elites have already gathered for some time to rewrite history, since many not entirely convenient parallels with religious movements on Earth correlate and indicate the origin of one or another movement.
An attentive reader who knows the Bible, the Koran, the Tanakh ... will very quickly find the so-called "similarity" and conclude where it comes from.
"Culture" (Cult_Ura - as a hint) "Tiamat" (This is the ancient name of the Earth) more precisely, a piece from the pre-existing planet Tiamat - became the Earth.
We slightly deviated from the topic of the Semites:
Homeland of the Semites The term "Semites" appeared in the 18th century, when European scientists named an ethnic group in honor of Shem, which included the ancient and modern peoples of the Middle East. The fact that they are related in relation to each other is confirmed by the similarity of their languages. Later the term was expanded and modified. The archaeological boom and excavations in the Middle East have shown that there were other peoples that could be attributed to this group.
The ancient Semites inhabited the territory of Arabia, Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia. During raids and military campaigns, they left their historical homeland. Some Semites even managed to gain a foothold in North Africa. Long before the advent of Christianity, they migrated to modern Ethiopia. The colonists were attracted by the natural wealth of this region. Thus, trading settlements appeared on the coast of the Red Sea, the population of which later created the state of Aksum.
Colonizers and settlers In addition to the peoples already mentioned, the Semites are also the Phoenicians, who had the fame of the most outstanding colonizers and navigators of their time. Their network of trading posts and settlements covered the entire Mediterranean. Phoenician colonies appeared in Spain, Africa and Sicily. Although this people later declined and disappeared, elements of their culture have survived in many regions of the Mediterranean.
The history of the Semites is indicative of the example of the Maltese - the indigenous inhabitants of the small island of Malta. Apparently, they are descendants of the Phoenicians. The Maltese for a long time lived under the rule of other peoples. Their island was owned by the Romans, Byzantines and even the Normans. Then Malta became the property of the Catholic Order of Malta, and in the 19th century it became a colony of Great Britain. An independent state on a small piece of land in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea appeared only in 1964. And yet, despite a long life under foreign rule, the Maltese managed to preserve their own original culture and language.
Another factor in the spread of Semitic languages and customs was Jewish migration. The Jews began to settle in foreign countries even before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and after this event, the resettlement took on a general character. Society of nomads The behavior and outlook of the Semites was formed according to the natural conditions in which they lived and live. Even at the dawn of civilization, these shepherds became nomads. Since desert conditions have hardly changed over the centuries, some isolated groups continue to lead this archaic way of life today. Semites are nomads who were able to adapt to existence on the Arabian Peninsula thanks to the domestication of camels. On the edges of the desert, these peoples herded sheep and donkeys. The basic unit in their society was the family. Inheritance went through the male line, the supreme power belonged to the father. Families united in collective organizations - tribes. They could include hundreds of people. Each ancient Semite who was part of the tribe was connected with his cohabitants by blood and community of interests. There was a strong sense of solidarity among these ancient desert dwellers. In the event of an attack on any member of the tribe, his comrades necessarily took revenge on the offenders. It was the Semites who developed the rule "tooth for a tooth" and "an eye for an eye." The principle of blood feud has become part of most of the legislative codes of the peoples of the Middle East.
Amorites
Amorites are one of the most ancient Semitic peoples, which appeared in the III millennium BC. e. These tribes have never been united. On the contrary, internal conflicts and civil strife constantly arose among them, which in the end did not allow them to defend themselves from aggressive neighbors. The main Amorite city is Ugarit. Its ruins were discovered by French archaeologists in 1929. Today it is the territory of Syria. Cattle breeding and agriculture flourished here. The Amorites grew grain, produced olive oil and wine. Their wood was highly valued in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Ugarit became one of the first international ports. It was the crossroads of trade routes from Anatolia, the Aegean, Babylon, the Middle East and Egypt. Amorite cities fell into decay in the 16th century BC. e. as a result of the devastating invasions of the Hittites and Kassites.
Arameans
The other original inhabitants of Syria were the Arameans. The first mention of them dates back to the III millennium BC. e. The Arameans managed to penetrate the middle Euphrates and populate almost the entire Near East. By the beginning of our era, their language had become the main spoken language in Palestine, Arabia and Mesopotamia. The largest Aramaic center was Damascus. Around this city, a kingdom was formed that existed in the X-VIII centuries. BC e. The Damascus state was conquered by Assyria. The various kingdoms of the Near East were at enmity with each other, even though they were all inhabited by Semites. It was a struggle for fertile lands and other important resources of antiquity.
Jews
If Arabia has always been a desert country, then Mesopotamia, Phoenicia and Lower Egypt, surrounding this meager peninsula, in ancient times became the main agricultural breadbasket of mankind. It was here in the Fertile Crescent that the first Semites settled. Photos of these places show the ruins of monuments left over from ancient civilizations. One of these peoples were the Jews. They appeared in the II millennium BC. e. in Palestine as a result of complex ethnological processes. The Semitic pastoralists who lived in the west of the Fertile Crescent intermingled with the farmers of the agricultural oases among the Amorites. Thus a new civilization was born. The history of the origin of the Jews is closely intertwined with the biblical legends set forth in the Old Testament. A unique feature of this people was its faith - the most ancient Abrahamic religion of Judaism. Some of its features many centuries later influenced the formation of Christianity and Islam. The Jews ruled Palestine until the conquest of Judea by Rome in the 1st century BC. e. Then followed a long period of exile. Jews settled throughout the territory of the Roman Empire, and after that, the barbarian states that arose on its ruins. For a long time they indulged in persecution and discrimination from both Christians and Muslims. Only after the Second World War did the Jews manage to achieve the re-establishment of their own national state in Palestine - Israel.
Assyrians
The Assyrian people formed in the II millennium BC. e. in northern Mesopotamia. The basis of the new ethnos was the communities of Amorites, Harrites and Subareys. A distinctive feature of the people was the Akkadian language, over the deciphering of which several generations of archaeologists of the New Age struggled. The state of Assyria is considered the first empire in the history of mankind. The heart of its territory was the middle course of the Tigris and the valleys of the Small and Big Zab. The most important cities of antiquity appeared here: Ashur and Nineveh. During their heyday, the Assyrians controlled all of Mesopotamia, neighboring Palestine, modern Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and even Cyprus. As befits any empire, many conquered peoples lived in the vastness of this vast state. That is why the Assyrian culture turned into a kaleidoscope, made up of the customs of neighboring tribes. The kingdom reached the pinnacle of power in the 8th century BC. e. In 609 B.C. e. The Assyrian empire was destroyed by the Babylonians.
Chaldeans
In the Assyrian annals dating back to 878 BC. e., historians discovered the first mention of another Semitic people - the Chaldeans. They lived on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Their native places were the lakes and swamps of the lower reaches of the Euphrates and the Tigris. The Chaldean people were small in number - only six of their tribes are known. They spoke the ubiquitous Aramaic language. In the VII-VI centuries. BC e. The Chaldean dynasty ruled Babylon (it was she who founded the Neo-Babylonian kingdom). These Semites were pagans. They are mentioned in the Bible. From there, the second meaning of the word "Chaldean" spread - this is how magicians, sorcerers, sorcerers, astrologers and fortunetellers began to be called. Traces of this people can be found in the most unexpected places. One version of theologians says that the Magi who went to bow to the newly born Jesus were Chaldeans. Some modern Christians in the Middle East continue to identify themselves with this Semitic people.
Arabs Approximately in the X century BC. e. in the deserts of Arabia and Mesopotamia, a new breakaway Semitic people appeared. These were the Arabs. The Semites of this group created the Sabaean kingdom, which was formed on the territory of modern Yemen. In the north of their country, the Arabs built Palmyra, Nabatea, Lahm and Hassan. These were rich trading cities, the ruins of which became famous symbols of antiquity. Between the northern and southern Arabs lay the sands of the Arabian desert. The nomads kept in touch with the help of merchant routes through the Hijaz.
Rise of Islam
In the 5th century, Arab civilization experienced a serious decline. It seemed that this people would disappear forever under the onslaught of their aggressive neighbors - Persia and Byzantium. However, at the beginning of the 7th century, a new religion, Islam, began to gain popularity in Arabia. Her preacher was a merchant from Mecca named Mohammed. He created the Islamic Caliphate, which during its heyday controlled the entire Middle East, North Africa and Spain. In terms of expansion, this was the most serious political success achieved by the Semites. The Jews, despite their common ethnic roots with the Arabs, became their opponents. The conflict between the two peoples was and is in a different religion. Today, the confrontation between Jews and Arabs is one of the explosive factors in the Middle East.
Semitic languages
The linguistic features of the languages are another unique feature that distinguishes the Semites. The peoples of this group, even after many centuries and today, have much in common in morphology, syntax, phonology and vocabulary.
For example, when the Arabs invaded Spain in the Middle Ages, local Jews who had not known their historical homeland for a long time found that their language was surprisingly similar to the language of strangers. Semitic phonology is characterized by a large number of consonants - guttural, guttural, emphatic and uvular.
There is nothing similar or even close similar in European languages. The southern Semitic languages - Ethiopian and Arabic - are especially distinctive. They adopt a unique way of forming the plural. The origin of the Semites and their further division into several peoples led to the emergence of variations of the previously common proto-Semitic language.
(Perhaps the reader will understand the message: "russophobic storm", which is rolling around the planet today with the full support of the West (Destroy the language - destroy the people!)
And what is most interesting is Semitic descendants those sitting in the government of the states of the planet are behind the "Russophobic Project"
And I'm not wrong!
The Sumerian gods have a complex hierarchy. Their list was supplemented by the Babylonian and Assyrian gods. Gradually, the number of deities reached more than 200. The ancient Sumerians had a council of gods, it included 50 deities who were directly involved in the life of all people. The main ones were An and Ki. The first created the heavens, the second created the earth. In the council, each god had clear rights and duties. Despite his high position in the council, An did not interfere in worldly affairs. These duties were carried out by Enlil and his associates. An was in charge of the mysterious "ME", which was a set of laws for all life on earth.
The god Enlil is the patron of the wind and air, in the Council of the Gods he takes second place after Ana. He chooses kings and governs distant countries. Initially, Enlil was an opponent of people and did not want them to settle in new lands. Later he began to control people's observance of holidays and rituals. In the mythology of the Sumerians, Enlil is considered the instigator of the Great Flood, in his opinion there were a lot of people and it was difficult to control.
Next on the list of Sumerian gods is the god Enke. According to the myths, this god created mankind and began to assist them in education. His duties also included the protection of clean water. The gods did not like Enke, because he had a rebellious character and loved people. He managed to save one family from the flood.
The patron god of animal husbandry among the Sumerians was the god Dumuzi. He was asked for help in increasing the number of livestock. Dumuzi is married to Inanna, goddess of love and helper of warriors. Her duty is to help in conception and birth. The goddess is also responsible for feelings and emotions.
The Council of the Gods included other deities. But they did not perform outstanding deeds, they simply performed their duties.
In addition to the supreme council, there was also a second level of gods, consisting of the moon goddess, the sun god, and the god of industriousness (Ninurt). Ninurt stood out from other gods. He was not only responsible for hard work, but was also a skilled warrior and, in case of danger, defended his lands. People loved this deity because they saw themselves in it. The Sumerians loved agriculture and bravely stood up to defend their lands. Subsequently, the god Ninurt became the god of thunder.
The goddess Nisba has undergone many changes throughout the history of Sumerian mythology. At first it was barley, it was used for sacrifices. She later became a patron of the computational sciences. And then she became responsible for schools and education.
In the main Council, the creator gods had only one name, other deities had several names.
Little information has been preserved about Sumerian spirits. It is known that the Sumerians divided them into three main groups - ancestral spirits, evil spirits and guardians.
Each Sumerian city revered a certain god, who was considered their patron. Ana and Inanna were revered in Uruk, where a large temple was built for them. The god Dumuzi was honored in the city of Lagash. Enlil settled in Nippur. This is the main city. Since the god Enlil patronized the air, he was not depicted. The god Enke was worshiped in Eris. The city of Erid was located on the coast of the Persian Gulf and therefore the deity was depicted as a fish.
Almost nothing is known about the family ties of the Sumerian gods. They could enter into relations with deities from neighboring cities, which was dictated by the political situation. The gods had their families and servants, who also had a divine origin. In a later period, a genealogy was compiled for each god. The number of gods grew to several hundred, family ties and hierarchy became even more complex.
The Sumerian civilization and Sumerian mythology are considered to be one of the most ancient in the history of all mankind. The golden age of this people, who lived in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), fell on the third millennium BC. The Sumerian pantheon consisted of many different gods, spirits and monsters, and some of them were preserved in the beliefs of subsequent cultures of the Ancient East.
Common features
The basis on which Sumerian mythology and religion rested was communal beliefs in numerous gods: spirits, demiurge deities, patrons of nature and the state. It arose as a result of the interaction of the ancient people with the country that fed them. This faith did not have a mystical teaching or orthodox doctrine, as was the case with the beliefs that gave birth to modern world religions - from Christianity to Islam.
Sumerian mythology had several fundamental features. She recognized the existence of two worlds - the world of the gods and the world of phenomena, which they ruled. Each spirit in it was personified - it possessed the features of living beings.
Demiurges
The main god of the Sumerians was considered An (another spelling - Anu). It existed even before the separation of the Earth from the Sky. He was portrayed as an adviser and manager of the assembly of the gods. Sometimes he was angry with people, for example, he once sent a curse on the city of Uruk in the form of a heavenly bull and wanted to kill the hero of ancient legends Gilgamesh. Despite this, for the most part, Ahn is inactive and passive. The main deity in Sumerian mythology had its own symbol in the form of a horned tiara.
An was identified with the head of the family and the ruler of the state. The analogy was manifested in the depiction of the demiurge along with the symbols of royal power: a staff, a crown and a scepter. It was An who kept the mysterious "me". So the inhabitants of Mesopotamia called the divine forces that ruled the earthly and heavenly worlds.
Enlil (Ellil) was considered the second most important god by the Sumerians. He was called Lord Wind or Lord Breath. This creature ruled over the world located between earth and sky. Another important feature that Sumerian mythology emphasized was that Enlil had many functions, but they all boiled down to dominion over wind and air. Thus, it was the deity of the elements.
Enlil was considered the ruler of all foreign countries for the Sumerians. It is in his power to arrange a disastrous flood, and he himself does everything to expel people alien to him from his possessions. This spirit can be defined as the spirit of the wild nature, which resisted the human collective trying to settle in desert places. Enlil also punished kings for neglecting ritual sacrifices and ancient holidays. As punishment, the deity sent hostile mountain tribes to peaceful lands. Enlil was associated with the natural laws of nature, the passage of time, aging, death. In one of the largest Sumerian cities, Nippur, he was considered their patron. It was there that the ancient calendar of this vanished civilization was located.
Enki
Like other ancient mythologies, Sumerian mythology included directly opposite images. So, a kind of "anti-Enlil" was Enki (Ea) - the lord of the earth. He was considered the patron saint of fresh waters and all mankind as a whole. The master of the earth was assigned the traits of a craftsman, magician and craftsman, who taught his skills to the younger gods, who, in turn, shared these skills with ordinary people.
Enki is the protagonist of Sumerian mythology (one of the three along with Enlil and Anu), and it was he who was called the protector of education, wisdom, scribal craft and schools. This deity personified the human collective, trying to subjugate nature and change its habitat. Enki was especially often called upon during wars and other grave dangers. But in peaceful periods, its altars were empty, there were no sacrifices made, so necessary to attract the attention of the gods.
Inanna
In addition to the three great gods, in Sumerian mythology there were also the so-called elder gods, or gods of the second order. Inanna is included in this host. She is best known as Ishtar (an Akkadian name that was later used also in Babylon during its heyday). The image of Inanna, which appeared among the Sumerians, survived this civilization and continued to be revered in Mesopotamia and in later times. Its traces can be traced even in Egyptian beliefs, and in general it existed until Antiquity.
So what does Sumerian mythology say about Inanna? The goddess was considered associated with the planet Venus and the power of military and love passion. She embodied human emotions, the elemental force of nature, as well as the feminine principle in society. Inanna was called a warrior maiden - she patronized intersexual relations, but she herself never gave birth. This deity in Sumerian mythology was associated with the practice of cult prostitution.
Marduk
As noted above, each Sumerian city had its own patron god (for example, Enlil in Nippur). This feature was associated with the political features of the development of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The Sumerians almost never, except for very rare periods, did not live within the framework of one centralized state. For several centuries, their cities formed a complex conglomerate. Each settlement was independent and at the same time belonged to the same culture, connected by language and religion.
The Sumerian and Akkadian mythology of Mesopotamia left its traces in the monuments of many Mesopotamian cities. She also influenced the development of Babylon. In a later period, it became the largest city of antiquity, where its own unique civilization was formed, which became the basis of a large empire. However, Babylon was born as a small Sumerian settlement. It was then that Marduk was considered his patron. Researchers attribute him to a dozen elder gods, which gave rise to Sumerian mythology.
In short, the importance of Marduk in the pantheon grew along with the gradual growth of the political and economic influence of Babylon. His image is complex - as he evolved, he included the features of Ea, Ellil and Shamash. Just as Inanna was associated with Venus, Marduk was associated with Jupiter. Written sources of antiquity mention its unique healing powers and the art of healing.
Together with the goddess Gula, Marduk was able to resurrect the dead. Also, the Sumerian-Akkadian mythology put him in the place of the patron of irrigation, without which the economic prosperity of the cities of the Middle East was impossible. In this regard, Marduk was considered the giver of prosperity and peace. His cult reached its apogee in the period (7th-6th centuries BC), when the Sumerians themselves had long since disappeared from the historical scene, and their language was consigned to oblivion.
Marduk vs Tiamat
Thanks to cuneiform texts, numerous legends of the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia have been preserved. The confrontation between Marduk and Tiamat is one of the main plots that Sumerian mythology has preserved in written sources. The gods often fought among themselves - similar stories are known in ancient Greece, where the legend of gigantomachy was widespread.
The Sumerians associated Tiamat with the global ocean of chaos, in which the whole world was born. This image is associated with the cosmogonic beliefs of ancient civilizations. Tiamat was depicted as a seven-headed hydra and a dragon. Marduk entered into a fight with her, armed with a club, a bow and a net. God was accompanied by storms and heavenly winds, called by him to fight with monsters, generated by a powerful opponent.
Each ancient cult had its own image of the foremother. In Mesopotamia, Tiamat was considered to be her. Sumerian mythology endowed her with many evil traits, because of which the rest of the gods took up arms against her. It was Marduk who was chosen by the rest of the pantheon for the decisive battle with the ocean-chaos. Having met the foremother, he was horrified by her terrible appearance, but joined the battle. A variety of gods in Sumerian mythology helped Marduk prepare for battle. The demons of the water element Lahmu and Lahamu granted him the ability to summon a flood. Other spirits prepared the rest of the warrior's arsenal.
Marduk, who opposed Tiamat, agreed to fight the ocean-chaos in exchange for the recognition by the rest of the gods of their own world domination. A deal was made between them. At the decisive moment of the battle, Marduk drove a storm into the mouth of Tiamat so that she could not close it. After that, he shot an arrow into the monster and thus defeated a terrible rival.
Tiamat had a consort husband, Kingu. Marduk dealt with him, taking away the tables of fate from the monster, with the help of which the winner established his own dominance and created a new world. From the upper part of the body of Tiamat, he created the sky, the signs of the zodiac, the stars, from the lower part - the earth, and from the eye the two great rivers of Mesopotamia - the Euphrates and the Tigris.
The hero was then recognized by the gods as their king. In gratitude, Marduk was presented with a sanctuary in the form of the city of Babylon. Many temples dedicated to this god appeared in it, among which were the famous monuments of antiquity: the Etemenanki ziggurat and the Esagila complex. Sumerian mythology left much evidence of Marduk. The creation of the world by this god is a classic story of ancient religions.
Ashur
Ashur is another god of the Sumerians, whose image survived this civilization. Initially, he was the patron of the city of the same name. In the XXIV century BC there arose When in the VIII-VII century BC. e. this state reached the peak of its power, Ashur became the most important god of all Mesopotamia. It is also curious that he turned out to be the main figure of the cult pantheon of the first empire in the history of mankind.
The king of Assyria was not only the ruler and head of state, but also the high priest of Ashur. This is how theocracy was born, the basis of which was still Sumerian mythology. Books and other sources of antiquity and antiquity testify that the cult of Assur lasted until the 3rd century AD, when neither Assyria nor independent Mesopotamian cities existed for a long time.
Nanna
The moon god of the Sumerians was Nanna (the Akkadian name Sin is also common). He was considered the patron of one of the most important cities of Mesopotamia - Ur. This settlement existed for several millennia. In the XXII-XI centuries. BC, the rulers of Ur united all of Mesopotamia under their rule. In this regard, the importance of Nanna also increased. His cult had an important ideological significance. The eldest daughter of the king of Ur became the high priestess of Nanna.
The moon god favored cattle and fertility. He determined the fate of animals and the dead. For this purpose, every new moon, Nanna went to the underworld. The phases of the Earth's celestial satellite were associated with his numerous names. The Sumerians called the full moon Nanna, the crescent - Zuen, the young crescent - Ashimbabbar. In the Assyrian and Babylonian tradition, this deity was also considered a soothsayer and healer.
Shamash, Ishkur and Dumuzi
If the god of the moon was Nanna, then the god of the sun was Shamash (or Utu). The Sumerians considered the day to be the product of the night. Therefore, Shamash, in their view, was Nanna's son and servant. His image was associated not only with the sun, but also with justice. At noon, Shamash judged the living. He also fought evil demons.
The main cult centers of Shamash were Elassar and Sippar. The first temples (“houses of radiance”) of these cities are attributed by scientists to the incredibly distant 5th millennium BC. It was believed that Shamash gives wealth to people, freedom to captives, and fertility to lands. This god was depicted as a long-bearded old man with a turban on his head.
In any ancient pantheon there were personifications of each natural element. So, in Sumerian mythology, the thunder god is Ishkur (another name for Adad). His name often appeared in cuneiform sources. Ishkur was considered the patron of the lost city of Karkara. In myths, he occupies a secondary position. Nevertheless, he was considered a warrior god, armed with terrible winds. In Assyria, the image of Ishkur evolved into the figure of Adad, which had an important religious and state significance. Another nature deity was Dumuzi. He personified the calendar cycle and the change of seasons.
Demons
Like many other ancient peoples, the Sumerians had their own hell. This lower underworld was inhabited by the souls of the dead and terrible demons. Hell was often referred to in cuneiform texts as "the land of no return". There are dozens of underground Sumerian deities - information about them is fragmentary and scattered. As a rule, each individual city had its own traditions and beliefs associated with chthonic creatures.
One of the main negative gods of the Sumerians is Nergal. He was associated with war and death. This demon in Sumerian mythology was portrayed as a distributor of dangerous epidemics of plague and fever. His figure was considered the main one in the underworld. In the city of Kutu there was the main temple of the Nergal cult. Babylonian astrologers personified the planet Mars with the help of his image.
Nergal had a wife and his own female prototype - Ereshkigal. She was Inanna's sister. This demon in Sumerian mythology was considered the master of the chthonic creatures of the Anunnaki. The main temple of Ereshkigal was located in the large city of Kut.
Another important chthonic deity of the Sumerians was Nergal's brother Ninazu. Living in the underworld, he possessed the art of rejuvenation and healing. Its symbol was a snake, which later in many cultures became the personification of the medical profession. With special zeal, Ninaza was revered in the city of Eshnunne. His name is mentioned in the famous Babylonian where it is said that offerings to this god are obligatory. In another Sumerian city - Ur - there was an annual festival in honor of Ninazu, during which plentiful sacrifices were arranged. The god Ningishzida was considered his son. He guarded the demons imprisoned in the underworld. The symbol of Ningishzida was a dragon - one of the constellations of Sumerian astrologers and astronomers, which the Greeks called the constellation Serpent.
sacred trees and spirits
Spells, hymns and recipes of the Sumerians testify to the existence of sacred trees among this people, each of which was attributed to a particular deity or city. For example, tamarisk was especially revered in the Nippur tradition. In the spells of Shuruppak, this tree is considered to be Tamarisk used by exorcists in rites of purification and treatment of diseases.
Modern science knows about the magic of trees thanks to the few traces of conspiracy traditions and epic. But even less is known about Sumerian demonology. Mesopotamian magical collections, according to which evil forces were expelled, were already compiled in the era of Assyria and Babylonia in the languages of these civilizations. Only a few things can be said for sure about the Sumerian tradition.
There were ancestral spirits, guardian spirits, and hostile spirits. The latter included the monsters killed by the heroes, as well as the personifications of illnesses and diseases. The Sumerians believed in ghosts, very similar to the Slavic mortgaged dead. Ordinary people treated them with horror and fear.
Evolution of mythology
The religion and mythology of the Sumerians went through three stages of its formation. At the first, communal-tribal totems evolved into the owners of cities and gods-demiurges. At the beginning of the III millennium BC, incantations and temple hymns appeared. There was a hierarchy of gods. It began with the names of Ana, Enlil and Enki. Then came the suns and moons, the warrior gods, etc.
The second period is also called the period of Sumero-Akkadian syncretism. It was marked by a mixture of different cultures and mythologies. Alien to the Sumerians, the Akkadian language is considered the language of the three peoples of Mesopotamia: the Babylonians, Akkadians and Assyrians. Its oldest monuments date back to the 25th century BC. Around this time, the process of merging the images and names of Semitic and Sumerian deities began, performing the same functions.
The third, final period is the period of unification of the common pantheon during the III dynasty of Ur (XXII-XI centuries BC). At this time, the first totalitarian state in the history of mankind arose. It subjected to strict ranking and accounting not only people, but also scattered and many-sided gods before. It was during the III dynasty that Enlil was placed at the head of the assembly of the gods. An and Enki were on either hand of him.
Below were the Anunnaki. Among them were Inanna, Nanna, and Nergal. About a hundred more minor deities were placed at the foot of this staircase. At the same time, the Sumerian pantheon merged with the Semitic one (for example, the difference between the Sumerian Enlil and the Semitic Bela was erased). After the fall of the III dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia, it disappeared for some time. In the second millennium BC, the Sumerians lost their independence, falling under the rule of the Assyrians. The mixture of these peoples later gave rise to the Babylonian nation. Along with ethnic changes came religious changes. When the former homogeneous Sumerian nation and its language disappeared, the mythology of the Sumerians also disappeared into the past.
Adad, Ishkur ("wind"), in the Sumerian-Akkadian mythology, the god of thunder, storm and wind, the son of the sky god Anu. God personified both the destructive and fruitful forces of nature: devastating flood fields and fertile rain; in his own jurisdiction - soil salinization; if the wind-god took away the rain, drought and famine began. According to the myths about Adad, the flood did not start because of a flood, but was the result of a rain storm, so one of the constant epithets of god is understandable - "lord of the dam of heaven." The bull was associated with the image of the god of the storm as a symbol of fertility and indomitability at the same time. The emblem of Adad was the bident or trident of lightning. In Semitic mythology, Baal corresponds to him, in Hurrito-Urartian - Teshub.
Anu
Ashur
Ashur, in Akkadian mythology, the central deity of the Assyrian pantheon, originally the patron of the city of Ashur. He is called "the lord of the countries", "the father of the gods" and is considered the father of Any; his wife is Ishtar of Ashur or Ninlil. Ashur was revered as the arbiter of destinies, the military deity and the deity of wisdom. The winged solar disk over the sacred tree of life served as the emblem of God, and on the monuments of the II - I millennium BC. e. Ashur was depicted with a bow, half hidden by the winged disk of the sun, he seemed to soar in its rays.
Marduk
Marduk, in Sumero-Akkadian mythology, the central deity of the Babylonian pantheon, the main god of the city of Babylon, the son of Ey (Enki) and Domkina (Damgalnuna). Written sources report the wisdom of Marduk, his art of healing and spell power; God is called "the judge of the gods", "the lord of the gods" and even the "father of the gods". The wife of Marduk was considered Tsarpanitu, and the son of Nabu, the god of scribal art, the scribe of the tables of fate. Myths tell about the victory of Marduk over the army of Tiamat, embodying world chaos. God, armed with a bow, a club, a net, and accompanied by four heavenly winds and seven storms created by him to fight the eleven monsters of Tiamat, entered the battle. In the gaping mouth of Tiamat, he drove the "evil wind", and she could not close it. Marduk immediately finished off Tiamat with an arrow, dealt with her retinue and took away from the monster Kingu (Tiamat's husband) killed by him, the tables of fate that gave him world domination. Then Marduk began to create the world: he cut the body of Tiamat into two parts; from the bottom he made the earth, from the top he made the sky. Moreover, God locked the sky with a bolt, put guards so that water could not seep down to the earth. He determined the possessions of the gods and the paths of the heavenly bodies, according to his plan, the gods created man and, in gratitude, built the "heavenly Babylon" for him. The symbols of Marduk were a hoe, a shovel, an ax and the dragon Mushkhush, and the parts of the body of the god himself were compared with various animals and plants: "his main entrails are lions; his small entrails are dogs; his spine is cedar; his fingers are reeds; his skull is silver; the outpouring of his seed is gold."
The Babylonian creation story is a myth in honor of the Babylonian god Marduk. The ruler of Babylon, Marduk, by unanimous decision of the gods, became king in the world of the gods; he is the owner of the tables of fate taken from the defeated dragon. The creation of the world and the "judge of the gods" Marduk is dedicated to the annual holiday of Tsakmuk. The cosmogonic ideas underlying the Sumerian-Akkadian mythology distinguish between the heavenly world of the god Anu, the aboveground world of Bela, and the underground world belonging to Eya. Under the earth is the realm of the dead. The main ideas of the Sumerian-Akkadian myths, which determine the position of the three worlds, were first set forth by Diodorus Siculus.
Syn
Sin, in Akkadian mythology, the god of the moon, the father of the sun god Shamash, the planet Venus (Inanna or Ishtar) and the fire god Nusku. He was conceived by Enlil, the god of air, who possessed the power of Ninlil, the goddess of agriculture, and was born in the underworld. Sin's wife is Ningal, the "great lady". Usually God was depicted as an old man with a blue beard, who was called "a shining heavenly boat." Every evening, sitting in a wonderful crescent-shaped boat, the god sailed across the sky. Some sources claim that the month is the instrument of God, and the moon is his crown. Sin is the enemy of intruders, as his light revealed their vicious plans. One day, the evil spirits Utukku conspired against Sin. With the help of Shamash, the goddess of love and fertility, Ishtar, and the god of thunder, Adad, they blocked his light. However, the great god Marduk went to war against the conspirators and returned his radiance to Sin. Sin, whose symbol was the sickle of the moon, was considered a sage and it was believed that, waxing and waning, the moon god measured time. In addition, the tides of water in the swamps around the city of Ur, where his temple was located, provided abundant food for the cattle.
Teshub
Teshub, god of thunder, revered throughout Asia Minor. The texts of Hittite mythology speak of how the formidable Teshub defeated the father of the gods Kumarbi. Kumarbi gave birth to an avenging son, Ullikumme, who was called upon to restore power to him; created from diorite and grown to a huge size on the back of the giant Upelluri, it was so large that, trying to examine it, Teshub climbed to the top of a high mountain, and when he saw the monster, he was horrified and called on the gods for help. However, this did not bring him success. Ullikumme reached the gates of Cummia, Teshub's hometown, and forced the god to abdicate. Teshub sought advice from the wise god Enki; after some thought, he took out from the earth an ancient saw with which the heavens and earth were separated, and cut the diorite at the base. As a result, Ullikumme quickly weakened, and the gods decided to attack him again. The end of the text is lost, but it is generally accepted that Teshub nevertheless regained his kingdom and throne. Teshub's wife, Hebat, occupied an equal position with her husband, and sometimes even surpassed him. Teshub's attributes are an ax and lightning. Sometimes he was depicted with a beard, armed with a club, trampling on the sacred mountain.
Utu
Utu ("day", "shining", "bright"), in Sumerian mythology, the sun god, son of the moon god Nanna, brother of Inanna (Ishtar). In his daily journey through the sky, Utu-Shamash hid in the underworld in the evening, bringing light, drink and food to the dead at night, and in the morning he again came out from behind the mountains, and two guardian gods opened the way for him. Utu was also revered as a judge, a keeper of justice and truth. Most often, the god was depicted with rays behind his back and a crescent-shaped serrated knife in his hand.
Shamash
Shamash, in Akkadian mythology, the all-seeing god of the sun and justice. His radiance illuminated all atrocities, which allowed him to foresee the future. In the morning, the guardian, a scorpion-man, opened the gates of the huge mountain Mashu, and Shamash rose to the highest point of the sky; in the evening he drove his chariot to another high mountain and hid in its gate. At night, the god passed through the depths of the earth to the first gate. The wife of Shamash, Aya, gave birth to justice, Kitta, as well as law and righteousness, Mishara. In Sumerian mythology, it corresponds to Utu.
Enki
Enki, Eya, Ea ("lord of the earth"), one of the main deities in Sumero-Akkadian mythology; he is the master of the Abzu, the underground world ocean of fresh waters, all earthly waters, as well as the god of wisdom and the lord of the divine powers of me. The ancients revered him as the creator of grain and livestock, the organizer of the world order. One of the myths tells how Enki fertilized the earth and "determined the fate" of cities and countries. He created a plow, a hoe, a brick mold; having created plants and animals, Enki gave them to the power of the "king of the mountains" Samukan, and the shepherd Dumuzi made the master in the stalls and sheepfolds. God is also credited with the invention of horticulture, horticulture, flax growing and the collection of medicinal herbs.
Enlil
Enlil ("lord of the wind"), in the Sumerian-Akkadian mythology, one of the main deities, the son of the sky god Anu. His wife was considered Ninlil, whom he mastered by force, for which he was banished to the underworld. According to the myths that compared Enlil with a roaring wind and a wild bull, he was especially vicious towards people: he sent pestilence, drought, soil salinization and, to top it all off, a global flood, in which only Ut-Napishti, who built the ark on the advice of the gods. Enlil, who was often annoyed by the noise and bustle of human life, in anger sent storms, storms, terrible disasters to the earth up to the flood.
Mythology of the ancient world, - M.: Belfax, 2002
Myths and legends of the Ancient East, - M.: Norint, 2002
