If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code: . Sumerians said one year on planet Nibiru, a sar, was equivalent in time to 3600 earth years. Semitic civilizations referred to the god Saturn as "El". To the ancient Egyptians, the sun god Atum-Ra, the model ruler, reigned over the fortunate era for a time, then retired from the world. He is tikuka ("your patriarch"). After being separated from An by the former, Ki stayed on Earth to rule over the domain. [9]Lloyd R. Bailey, Israelite l adday and Amorite Bl ad.Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. However it can also mean that Yahweh stands in the Divine Council (generally known as the Council of l), as l judging among the other members of the council. The E-kur was the home of the divine council, the place where the gods convened to decide and decree the fates of the people under their domain. Whether this was a long-standing belief or a relatively new one has long been the subject of inconclusive scholarly debate about the prehistory of the sources of the Tanakh and about the prehistory of Israelite religion. Kmr is roughly halfway between Aleppo and the Amuq Valley, right in the middle of an area that includes ancient Antioch, a city of some importance to the early Christian church; Mount Zaphon (modern Jebel al-Aqra), the mountain on which Baals palace was believed to sit; and the Amanus Mountains, the significance of which well explain as we get deeper into this book. The Fallen Realm doesnt hesitate to steal that which belongs to their Creator. As the patron god of the city of Eridu, Enkis job was to imbue the ruler of the land with knowledge, skill, and intelligence. His other children, depending on the version of the myth, were Enki, Nikikurga, Nidaba, Baba, and even Inanna and Kumarbi. Originally, he seems to have been a god of thunderstorms. Cross (1973, p.19) points out that Ptah is often called the Lord (or one) of eternity and thinks it may be this identification of l with Ptah that lead to the epithet 'olam 'eternal' being applied to l so early and so consistently. He dwells in a tent according to some interpretations of the text which may explain why he had no temple in Ugarit. Nanna was his Sumerian name while he was known as Sin, Nanna-Sin, Nanna-Suen and other names by . A trilingual god list from Ugarit, composed during the time of the judges, confirms that the Amorites, Hurrians, Akkadians, and Sumerians all worshiped the god with this handy linguistic equation: Enlil = Kumarbi = El. She then proceeded to turn it into a living, breathing human with the help of seven goddesses including Ninmah, who played the role of a midwife. [10] Among the Hittites, El was known as Elkunirsa. Shamash, as the solar deity, exercised the power of light over darkness and evil. Traditionally bn 'lm has been interpreted as 'sons of the mighty', 'mighty ones', for 'El can mean 'mighty', though such use may be metaphorical (compare the English expression [by] God awful). The Sumerians were possibly the earliest society to emerge in the world, in Southern Mesopotamia more than 5000 years ago. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death [7](Emphasis added). Utu was also known as the god of truth and justice because he was deemed to be able to see everything from his vantage point. The History of Guns, Greek Mythology: Stories, Characters, Gods, and Culture, Aztec Mythology: Important Stories and Characters, Greek Gods and Goddesses: Family Tree and Fun Facts, Roman Gods and Goddesses: The Names and Stories of 29 Ancient Roman Gods, Nammu The Goddess of the Primordial Sea, Enki The God of Water, Wisdom, Arts, Crafts, Male Fertility, and Magic, Inanna Goddess of Female Fertility, Love, and War, Ereshkigal The Goddess of the Netherworld, Utu The God of the Sun, Truth, and Justice, Apollo: The Greek God of Music and the Sun, iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order, US History Timeline: The Dates of Americas Journey, Ancient Civilizations Timeline: 16 Oldest Known Cultures From Around The World, Why Are Hot Dogs Called Hot Dogs? Strangely, Nanna was also considered to be the god of cattle because their horns resembled the crescent moon. Unlike Enlil, however, Enki was almost always nice to humans, appearing to be wiser and more peaceful than his master. Answer (1 of 3): From their writing the Sumerians knew a lot about the solar system. The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess Athirat, who is otherwise l's chief wife, and the goddess Ramayyu ("the one of the womb"), otherwise unknown. The stem l is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Hence, the Greek Pan was the half human/goat and Osiris was the ram of Egypt; both represent "all things" and the planet Jupiter who gave life and light to the . In Canaanite mythology, El builds a desert sanctuary with his children and his two wives, leading to speculation[by whom?] lm; Aramaic l; Akkadian ilu, pl. However, Cross (1973, p.17) translated the text as follows: The Eternal One ('Olam) has made a covenant oath with us, It's hard to come across evidence that is conclusive about how life really was back then but suffice to say that Sumeria has always been a place of fascination. Ashshur has established (it) for us, Presumably these sons have been fathered on Athirat by l; in following passages they seem to be the gods ('ilm) in general or at least a large portion of them. Like an aging movie star who gradually finds leading roles harder to come by as younger actors arrive in Hollywood, Enlil was eventually replaced as the king of Mesopotamian deities by the city-god of Babylon, Marduk, a process that was complete by about the twelfth century BC.[23]. The minor god Damu also had the power to drive demons away, and had many a Sumerian poem written about him. Reply Quote. Gula was also known to be the goddess of dogs and other animals, and this is immortalized in depictions of her with a dog carved into a boundary stone dating from the period. In this article, I am going to give you a crash course in the mythology of Enki and Enlil. There was no fair system of karmic give-and-take as there appeared in later religions the average Mesopotamian god could grant a difficult wish or take a life as they pleased, even if the person in question had been a devout worshiper and a good human being. They prayed to Anu (supreme god or sky god), Enki (god of water, knowledge, mischief, crafts, and creation), Enlil (Lord Wind), Inanna (Queen of Heaven), Utu (sun-god), and Sin (moon-god). He is often depicted in paintings as an elderly man with a long beard . This is a striking parallel with the Akkadian personal names. Utu was the personification of the brilliance and warmth of the sun unfailing and perpetual. Although the Amorites spoke a Semitic language, they were usually portrayed in Egyptian art with fair skin. She was known to accompany her favorite king in battle in the shape of the planet Venus, the morning star, or the evening star. and the majority of the group of all the holy ones, The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) l came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. [11] l is listed at the head of many pantheons. However, he was far from being autonomous, as his actions were almost entirely dictated by Enlil, with Enki being something of an agent of execution. Saturn, Venus, Mars were mistress suns before our yellow sun . EMESH - The Sumerian god of summer and personification of summer. [14]However, the epithetkur-galhas not been found in any Sumerian text prior to the rise of Sargon in the late twenty-fourth century BC,[15]evidence that this particular title of the god was introduced to Sumer by the Akkadians, rather than a holdover from the dim Sumerian past. The throne was then stolen by Jupiter. And the great council of all the Holy Ones. Enlil was subject only to Anu, the sky-god, and he was often portrayed as the only deity who could contact Anu. Unlike most major gods, Enki did not live in heaven, Earth, or the Netherworld; he lived in the Abzu. A patron deity of Ur, Nannas main temple was Ekishnugal, which was rebuilt or restored many times by different rulers. Rather than exhausting the subject after the point has been made, we'll summarize: The chief god of the Roman pantheon, the deity worshiped in the Capitolium, was the storm-god, Jupiter. In D. N. Freedman (Ed. An and Ki then proceeded to mate, and birthed Enlil. In Judges 9:46 we find 'l Brt 'God of the Covenant', seemingly the same as the Ba'al Brt 'Lord of the Covenant' whose worship has been condemned a few verses earlier. he judges among the gods (Elohim). The god of air, rain, storms, and even the Earth, Enlil may have created life by mating with his mother, but he later married the goddess Ninlil, with whom he birthed the gods Ninurta, Nanna, and Utu, among others. Here are some popular Sumerian symbols from that time period. l is the father of Persephone and of Athena (presumably the goddess 'Anat). He is qniyunu 'lam ("creator eternal"), the epithet 'lam appearing in Hebrew form in the Hebrew name of God 'l 'lam "God Eternal" in Genesis 21.33. [11]Michael C. Astour, Semitic Elements in the Kumarbi Myth.Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. Under the names Zeus, the storm-god of the Greeks, and Baal, the West Semitic storm-god, he was unmasked by Jesus and identified as Satan. Heliocentric Solar System: The Sumerians were well aware that our solar system was Heliocentric.Moreover they show 11 celestial bodies or planets.The above picture taken from a Sumerian cylinder seal cleary shows that they not only knew the number of bodies in the solar system, but the relative size as well. Here 'l might refer to a generic god, or to a highest god, l. Each of their major cities worshiped a different god as their chief local deity. 'elhm ("god") stands in the council of 'l 12th celestial body found in our solar system, ruled by Anu and spouse Antu. Its true that correlation does not imply causation, but the arrival in Sumer of that epithet at about the same time as groups of Semitic-speaking Akkadians and Amorites is strong circumstantial evidence. As recorded on the clay tablets of Ugarit, El is the husband of the goddess Asherah. In each case, the god had assumed kingship over the pantheon by replacing a primordial deity who represented the sky or heaven. Similarly, it is argued inconclusively whether l Shaddi, l 'lm, l 'Elyn, and so forth, were originally understood as separate divinities. Other cult centers of renown include Agade and Nineveh. Before that, the androgynous goddess of sex and war, Inanna (called Ishtar in Akkadian), the patron deity of Uruk, conveyed rulership to leaders in southern Sumer where Enlil was apparently considered a foreign god. A fuller account of the sacrifice appears later: It was a custom of the ancients in great crises of danger for the rulers of a city or nation, in order to avert the common ruin, to give up the most beloved of their children for sacrifice as a ransom to the avenging daemons; and those who were thus given up were sacrificed with mystic rites. Seven celestial objects share a property borne by no other in the sky. Cronus or Kronos is known for having swallowed his children, until his youngest child, Zeus, forced him to regurgitate. He also had relationships with Damkina, and Ninsar and Ninkurra who were his daughters. Likewise, the Sumerian god Anu was represented by the same pointed star inside a solar disk. Genesis, Book of. He and his military allies the Eloim gain Sky's kingdom.[48]. For example, the people of Uruk revered the god An and the goddess Inanna, while the residents of Nippur considered Enlil to be their patron deity, and Eridu saw Enki being held as most important. The Balikh-Harran region is roughly a hundred miles west of Urkesh, where the god had been worshiped under the name Kumarbi for probably fifteen hundred years by the time of Abraham. [38][39], In some places, especially in Psalm 29, Yahweh is clearly envisioned as a storm god,[40] something not true of l so far as we know[41] (although true of his son, Ba'al Haddad). I discussed the moon-god in some detail in my book on the spiritual forces behind Islam,Bad Moon Rising. Nanna (also known as Nannar, Nanna-Suen, Sin, Asimbabbar, Namrasit, Inbu) is the Mesopotamian god of the moon and wisdom. Mesopotamians believed these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. Mesopotamian equivalent: Enlil: Hurrian equivalent: . For the Canaanites and the ancient Levantine region as a whole, l or Il was the supreme god, the father of mankind and all creatures. Hendel, R. S. (1992). [48] Sky and Earth are themselves children of 'Elyn 'Most High'. This included the aforementioned air god Enlil, air goddess Ninlil, moon god Nanna, and sun god Utu. In astrology, Capricorn is considered an earth sign, negative sign, and one of the four cardinal signs. l has three wives, his sisters or half-sisters Aphrodite/Astarte ('Ashtart), Rhea (presumably Asherah), and Dione (identified by Sanchuniathon with Ba'alat Gebal the tutelary goddess of Byblos, a city which Sanchuniathon says that l founded). This star is actually not a star at all, but the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. In an ancient seal that dates back to the period, Inanna was depicted to have several weapons ready on her back, a horned helmet, wings, and with her foot on a lion whose leash she was holding. This is the form under which l/Cronus appears on coins from Byblos from the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175164 BCE) four spread wings and two folded wings, leaning on a staff. Again l lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". Philo of Byblos (c. 64141 AD) was a Greek writer whose account Sanchuniathon survives in quotation by Eusebius and may contain the major surviving traces of Phoenician mythology. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. Other establishments dedicated to him were the temple Kurigalzu I and a ziggurat called Elugalgalgasisa. In later times, Engur was essentially superseded by Enki, the Sumerian god of water, wisdom, water, and crafts whom we will meet later on. . Specific deities known as 'El, 'Al or 'Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion[9] and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia's Early Dynastic Period. The only consistent aspect of any visual portrayals is his symbol, which was a horned cap. The Sumerian sky god Anu and the highest semitic deity El were considered the same personage in the northern regions of Mesopotamia 6. Mark Smith has argued that Yahweh and El were originally separate, but were considered synonymous from very early on. By now, Enlil should require little in the way of an introduction. [45] Enlils importance was immense as he was said to be the being that granted kingship to kings, and the force behind most of the aspects of the universe. In Sumerian astrology, the planet Saturn was associated with Ninurta and he was considered a bad omen. He scattered stars and planets around the sky, and together with his wife Ningal, gave birth to Inanna and her twin brother Utu. Gula was also known as Ninisina, Nintinuga, Ninkarrak, and Meme. Their civilization existed between about 4,500 BCE and 1,900 BCE. We can see immediately the moon-god Erah and El (God) are the two most popular (and only) theophoric elements in these early Amorite personal names. The theological position of the Tanakh is that the names l and 'lhm, when used in the singular to mean the supreme god, refer to Yahweh, beside whom other gods are supposed to be either nonexistent or insignificant. The Moon, the Sun, and the planets were viewed as gods or manifestations of gods. The Romans connected Wden to Mercury because they were both guides of souls after. In fact, legends spoke of how he had Nanna and Utu illuminate the sky after being unhappy about the darkness in his heavenly home. The Roman version is far more benign. 87, No. Four Sumerians, whose names we do have, fall somewhere between myth, legend, and history. With oaths of Heaven and Ancient Earth. I thought those of you interested in divine into the actual source material for this sort of thing might like it. While most religions today are firmly rooted in the idea of a perennial god who transcends the very concept of time, the Sumerians believed that their primary gods came from the union between the goddess Nammu the Sumerian goddess of what was considered the primordial sea or salt water bodies and her partner Engur, who was not a deity but a personification of what was assumed to be an underground ocean of freshwater called the Abzu or Apsu. 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