incredible mythology of enlil nisaba and nana enlil as he was commonly called was
considered one of the most powerful gods in mesopotamia he was also called nanamir
at times in sumer he was considered the god of the air but despite his limitations to
this element he was considered exceptionally powerful when compared with other elemental
deities as time went on he grew in power and esteem and eventually became the king of
all the gods following with the usual progression of mesopotamian pantheon family trees
enlil was sired by the high god anu alongside his father and the god of wisdom named enki enlil was part of the
ruling trinity of all existence in the universe he was closely associated with the
tablets of destiny and one whose decisions were not up for debate
the focus of enlil worship centered around nipple city there the people built a massive temple
called mountain house because of his importance in the overall pantheon of gods and goddesses
many people from other cities and towns worshipped him as well this was partially because they believed
he could directly speak with anu on their behalf while the worshipers understood him to
be basically the right hand of the ruler of the universe they also saw that he made his own
decisions without the council of his father enlil translates into lord of air
but his influence and power extended far beyond things like the sky and the atmosphere
some carvings call him the father of the gods or the father of the black-headed people
which is a moniker given to the sumerians at large this differs a bit from the general idea
of the creation myths that the mesopotamians believed in it was not enlil who first came up with the idea of
creating people and he was not complicit in creating other lesser gods either
this is generally given over to more ancient deities like tiamat apsu and enuma elish in babylon
although it seemed that primordial gods and especially anu ruled everything and controlled creation
enlil acted as a type of universe ceo who kept everything running as he or the
other gods intended the family line of deities included all the other roles necessary to make
existence work enlil had ninlow as a wife and they had multiple children between
them their first son was named nusca but they also had nana the moon god
utter shamash the sun god ishkur the god of weather and inanna the
goddess of love and relationships as with many ancient religious stories
the exact family placement of enlil and the gods and goddesses supposedly related to him were shaky and
dynamic for example the god of wisdom named enki was sometimes said to be ishkor's twin
brother and therefore enlil's son but also not related to him whatsoever
inanna is another one who has a shifting place in the family tree mesopotamia civilization lasted for an
exceptionally long time so it makes sense that belief systems and histories would change throughout
the centuries the addition of sumerian gods and goddesses and other beliefs from a diverse range of cultures
would infiltrate and blend with the original belief systems it is important to note that the early
scribes were frequently more interested in pleasing the people who paid them or making their writing popular
than they were with telling the truth or sticking with cultural conventions enlil was a target of much worship from around
2900 to 2083 bce throughout the early dynastic period
and during the acadian empire instead of disappearing completely after that he was reimagined as marduk from about
1790 to 1750 when hammurabi ruled in the area
no matter what he was called at different times throughout history he did remain one of the most important
deities and had many stories told about him and his activities
early myth of enlil and ninla this interesting story sets enlil near
the beginning of time in the city of nippor people have not been created yet so it seems that the city was created by the
gods themselves nisaba the goddess of writing has a lovely daughter named nin lil
she tells her that she should not go and bathe in the river because enlil has his eye on her however the younger goddess goes anyway
meets enlil who seduces her gets pregnant and eventually has nana the
moon god in response to this momentous occasion enlil figures he better ask to marry
ninja this turn of events however makes the other gods upset they arrest enlil and sentenced him to
exile in the underworld although it seems to be associated with his seduction and impurity when it comes
to ninli the story also puts forth other reasons why this arrest happened
the tale continues with enlil passing through the gates into the underworld talking with different characters and
asking them if they would be so kind as to not tell his wife where he went
perhaps believing they will not follow his directions the god puts on a disguise as each person he spoke with
and tells nineveh that he has no idea where he is the desperate wife tries to bribe him
with sexual favors to get the information he agrees but still does not reveal where he went
these tricky romantic encounters result in the birth of nergal the god of war and destruction
and bilulu the god of canals and ninazu the god of healing
although this myth makes these three out to be brothers there are other stories that give them a
different parentage completely for example nunazu is frequently shown as the son of the goddess of healing
gula whether enlar was the father of all these gods or not this story appears to exist to praise
how viral he is the entire thing seems to focus on the power of fertility and how
even though enlil and ninlil were forced apart by things outside their control
they still found a way to come together and create life the act of him disguising himself is also another
indication of how good he is at tricking the other gods and doing what he wants regardless of
their interests enlil and the anzu bird anzu shows up around the second
millennium bce in a legendary tale from babylon in this story enlil plays the role of
high god and the one who controls the tablets of destiny not only do these
symbolize his ultimate rule but they also contain information about the fate of all the people and deities
in existence as with most stories from these days there are multiple formats
one of the most common tells how anzu symbolically aligned with storms and evil things
tried to steal the tablets of destiny from enlil he so wanted to be the high god of everything
so watched and waited for the other god to slip up this happens when enlil decides to wash
his face one morning takes off the crown he wears on his head and releases his hold on the tablets of
destiny anzu flies in grabs them and heads up to the mountains
the other gods are quite upset by this turn of events but refused to take action against anzu even when told to do
so this led to a period of confusion and disorder in both the heavenly realm
and for human beings on earth eventually the tablets are returned to anu
the highest god of them all by one or another hero god different versions of the story say this
person was marduk ninerta or luger banda enlil was given back the tablets and
thus shown to be supported by the high gods in his control over existence this is akin to crowning a king in a way
however the story also shows that enlil can make mistakes further evidence of this was
shown in the next myth that included this popular god
the atrahasis and great flood written in the 1600s bce
a legend called the atrajesus tells one of the earliest stories from the religion of mesopotamia
the oldest gods in the pantheon relax while the younger gods they created toil away at doing all the important
tasks necessary for life and existence eventually the younger gods and goddesses get very tired of the
situation and enki suggests that they create some other type of beings that can help
this is essentially the human creation myth originally no one could find materials to make
people out of until a god named wee lou sacrificed himself for the project
his body and blood are transformed into the type of living clay that ninh hussain goddess shapes into seven women
and seven men who are set loose on the earth these were not the final incarnation of
human beings however they did do a lot of work for the gods and goddesses but they also procreated much too quickly
and filled the world with so many noisy and active people that they started causing problems for their creators
endless gets mad at their constant loud squabbling that he decides to thin out their numbers by sending plagues
droughts and other serious problems to them while some of them perish they also prayed to enki for help resisting these
horrible problems he helps many of them survive and restore balance once again
enlil is confused about why these human beings keep surviving so well and why their numbers keep going up all
the time finally he decides that he will flood all of the land and wipe them all out
once and for all even though he convinces the other gods and goddesses that this is a viable plan
enki still has some trouble agreeing he goes to a good man named atrajes and
instructs him to build a massive ark for his family and many of the animals on earth
once a flood occurs and everything is wiped out enlil begins to regret that he started this destruction in the first place
while they are mourning all the people and animals that they created in the first place enki instructs atrahasis to come out of
the ark with the animals make a sacrifice to the gods and worship them but first the knowledge that a person
did survive the flood angers enlil but they eventually accept the sacrifice and work out a way to create different
types of people that would not be so noisy and annoying the second draft of humanity seems to
work out quite well for the gods and goddesses these creatures do the jobs necessary to
maintain the earth but do not procreate as quickly because they now have mortal lives may
experience infertility and live with constant threats to their daily lives in this and other legends throughout the
years enki is frequently considered the creator of humankind however enlil is also credited with this
because he had to essentially sign off on the project to make it happen without his consent there would be no
people enlil's combination with marduk all the way until hammurabi took over
and the balance of power shifted to the babylonian kings and deities enlil was worshipped quite extensively
throughout the known civilization however when this changed enki's son
marduk took his place as the high god in the pantheon marduk was quite impressive as a hero
who accomplished many great feats and triumphed over many evil and chaotic forces
he was respected for helping to create people the earth itself and inspiring both farming techniques
and law his popularity made it very easy for the people to accept enlil's qualities
attached to him this new understanding spread throughout the babylonian empire and eventually the
assyrian one nippor remains the central city of enlil's worship practices
while enki was associated with the city called eredu nippor matched it in importance and
splendor of course because he was a high god people from outside the city also
worshipped him many other cities throughout suma aqad and babylon had temples constructed in
his honor these early temples operated very differently from ones later in history
and quite a bit different from those in existence today the priests or temple keepers did not
perform services that people could attend on a regular basis instead
they would accept offerings and make sacrifices themselves or on behalf of the citizens of the city
and surrounding area only one high priest could actually go inside the inner sanctum that contained
a statue of the god the temple was dedicated too as the prominence of enlil waned and
marduk took over the followers of the high god dwindled in number people still worshipped him in their
homes and in smaller shrines and the temple still stood in nepal
however since marduk along with the gods naboo and aso were now the prominent ones that led the pantheon
the temple was used for other purposes this occurred mostly between 900 and 600
bce during what is known as the neo-assyrian empire
in some documents or legends created around those times marduk and the two other associated gods
were sometimes referred to as assyrian enlil or other names associated with the original moniker of the high god creator
of humanity once the assyrians fell out of power around 612 bce
the invaders destroyed the temples and statues associated with enlil and the other gods and goddesses long worshipped
by the mesopotamian civilization marduk carried on for approximately five more centuries however
over that time enlil was essentially forgotten and ignored
nisaba with all the importance surrounding scribes and writing in the early mesopotamian and sumerian worlds
it makes sense that nisabha the goddess of writing is quite prominent and important
she was also called naga senaga nidaba and nisaba in various legends and tales
not only was she associated with writing itself but was also responsible for scribe work
for all the other gods and goddesses she started her incarnation in the early
dynastic period one solely in uma city where she was worshipped as a goddess of
grain this was around 2900 bce stories put her in eric city years later
but historians have not been able to identify where exactly it was nisaba was one of the immediate
offspring of the high god and goddess anuan unas she was one of the only goddesses that
was around for an exceptionally long period of time in the entire pantheon since she was the first generation after
the creation of the world however like a lot of sumerian deities she had different parentage depending on
what story you read tales from lagash stated that she was enlil and ninla's daughter
which would put her one generation down from the god of heaven and goddess of earth more popularly ninla was her daughter in
stories and not her mother way back when nisaba was a grain goddess in just one city
she was shown artistically as a simple stalk of grain after she became the goddess of writing
she was no longer shown as art instead she featured heavily in stories which makes sense due to her position as
scribe of the gods she was described as a lovely woman who sat before a clay tablet
and held a golden stylus with which to make the unique wedge-shaped cuneiform writing used in mesopotamia
the increase in interest in writing and records made her one of the most prominent and worshiped goddesses in sumer
around 2600 bce in the early dynastic period
nisaba was written of extensively on cylindrical seals and clay tablets alike not only did she cover writing but she
seemed very important in record keeping for things like building temples and important monuments in various cities
historians have identified a parallel between her and seshet the egyptian goddess responsible for the same types
of things as with any determination of ancient writings it is difficult to tell exactly
if the two goddesses influence each other or one was adopted by the other culture or not
since both suma and ancient egypt were quite fond of temples and grand building projects
it would make sense that these types of deities arise independently too when nisaba was a grain goddess she was
also known as which means the lady whose body is flecked barley
in the one city that viewed her this way she was often mentioned with the god of canals named enugi
how she changed from grain to writing is not quite clear however from around 2047
to 1600 bce she was solely associated with writing records and scribes
her popularity waned during the old babylonian period when hammurabi was in power
she was replaced by a god named nebu who was the son of marduk
hammurabi was very successful in introducing and transforming marduk as the king of all the gods so it would
make sense that his offspring were likewise elevated to important positions
nisaba scribes and writing the entire concept of writing was first
invented by the sumerians around 3500 bce
as with all early written communication it was used primarily to keep things clear and fair for trade
as mesopotamia grew and more great cities popped up they needed a way to officially
communicate between them after all servants or messengers sent could not possibly remember all the
precise wording of all the messages necessary to complete complex trade
or give appropriate honour to each of the minor rulers that they came across so a writing system
of wedge-shaped marks named cuneiform was created
unlike straight hieroglyphics that used more pictorial representations cuneiform was strictly symbolic
each different mark etched into the clay tablet represented an object an amount or measurement
for example one such tablet could speak of how many parcels of grain or heads of cattle
would be traded for each other or send as an offering to a temple
after writing on the clay they would get dried in the sun and carried to the recipient
many of them were stored for quite some time as a record of trade practices this was not writing as we know it today
there were not sentences and stories at the beginning of cuneiform it was more an accounting system for
economic ledgers in a way soon simply saying that two sheep were sent to a temple was not enough
information for the traders or messengers to convey more complicated writing was necessary
to give specific details in uric city around 3200 bce this more
complex system was developed instead of pictographs the people now learned how to use phonographs
in which the stylus marks represented phonetics or how the word sounded when spoken
using this method the scribe could indicate that the sheep were sent to a specific named temple when and by whom
they could also contain information about the type of sheep whether they were living or not
and what they would be used for once they got there such as breeding or sacrifice
it seems that the grain goddess nissaba was probably first linked with writing because grain was one of the most
frequently transported trade goods in mesopotamia since the first so-called writing consisted of measures and trade
ledgers the association with grain is quite obvious as the cuneiform evolved
so too did nisabha the goddess responsible for it as the years progressed the same
sound-based writing would expand to include grand stories important communication temple records
laws poetry and more scribes became incredibly vital to the functioning of the entire society they
were educated in schools called e-dubber or the tablet house that existed in many
towns all across the land although most of the scribes were men women were also educated in writing in
many places as the goddess of writing was obviously a female perhaps this influenced the education of
many priestesses and other women for example en hedwana the high priestess inua
wrote down hymns poetry and tales of her association with inanna goddess of love
the entire realm of education sprung from this early need for writing more than just simple records of trade
and commerce there are records that the practice tablets and instructional pieces used at
many of these scribe schools would end with praise be to nisab to one other goddess who helped create
cuneiform herself the belief system of the early mesopotamians
equated the gods and goddesses with the item or system they represented so when nisaba was first symbolized with
the image of the stalk of grain it meant that she was part of the grain herself
when she was later associated with writing the actual being of the goddess would have been present in the tablets
styluses and more specifically in the actual writing naboo gains more popularity and worship
although nisaba was undoubtedly highly respected and worshipped extensively no archaeologists have ever found a
temple for her specifically she was included in worship services with ninlil and nabu in some places
however it is possible that the temple started out for the goddess of writing herself
but were later restructured for these other gods as nisaba was so closely associated with
writing her worship may have been primarily executed in scribe schools and scribe
offices for the prominent temples and palaces of the time whenever someone wrote a new clay tablet
they were actively worshiping her over time as writing became more common
the goddess also became associated with the fields where it was used the most religion education astronomy and
mathematics the high priestess in hedwana wrote that nisabha was a faithful woman
exceeding in wisdom the importance of the high priestess and her close personal association with goddesses and
gods would have allowed her to call the deity of woman just like she was one of the
more prominent pieces of writing featuring the goddess of writing called the hymn to nisaba
described her as radiant as the stars clutching a tablet made a valuable lapis lazuli in her hands
and associated with cows sheep plants and reeds she was associated with 50 great divine
powers and described as most powerful these are the types of things that many scribes would write at the beginning of
their missives as they called upon nisaba's help in writing what they had to do more accurately and beautifully
when hammurabi took power however he began to push out the idea of nisab and replace her with a god named naboo
when the babylonian throne came to hammurabi after sin mubalid his father abdicated he became quite a forceful
ruler who truly sought to build a massive empire he created a strong military force and
moved against his enemies quite frequently while always giving glory to the gods for his wins
hammurabi had his own favorite gods and ignored most of the goddesses who were currently worshipped in mesopotamia this
belief system became more prominent as he conquered more people and assimilated the established ones into his idea of
the culture not only did he replace popular goddesses with new gods
he also brought about a time when women did not have as many rights as men with a focus on conquest and control
there is no mystery why hammurabi's favorite deities were all strong and war-like men like marduk ninuta and
asura marduk had a son named nebu would take over the realm of writing and
scholarship from nisaba despite her prominence in the position for centuries
she was now transformed into merely his wife nabu took over the creation and the
education side of things and nisaba only got to keep records for the other gods
essentially she was made a secretary while the man became the boss this did not stop nisabha from being
worshipped and venerated by many people for a very long time however as nabu's wife and the scribe to the
other deities in the pantheon she remained in the stories and records of various temples
all the way up to around 600 bce at this time when the assyrians fell out
of power most of the gods and goddesses were assimilated into the other cultures that rose up
nisaba and nebu transformed into other identities even as christianity began in rome and
greece the word of nisaba still existed actively in the region
some of the last mentions of her appeared between 365 bce in the seleucid
period after she disappeared forever as christianity took over for all the
polytheistic religious formats of the past nana
the mesopotamian god of wisdom and the moon who is mainly called nana but also
known as
is one of the deities who shows up the longest time ago in the records of their religion
he has a mention from around 3500 bce when writing systems were first being
developed the people who worshipped him primarily came from ur where he was quite popular
up through the third dynasty that stretched from 2047 to
1750 bce the god enzo was associated with nana as
the lord of wisdom because he was one of the oldest gods in the mesopotamian religion
it makes sense that he was considered the son of the high god and goddess enlil and ninla
in fact he is usually recorded as the first son that they had together
nana was married to ningal who was the goddess of fertility according to some of the tales they had
the sun god uttu shamash and the goddess of love and sexuality inanna or ishtar together
more of their children include the queen of the dead ereshkigal and the god of storms ishko
although the family trees of gods and goddesses were rather flexible in these early civilizations
it is interesting to note that this one depicts the moon as giving birth to the sun historians suggest that this would make
sense in a relatively nomadic hunter-gatherer society the sun only became much more important
once agriculture began in earnest as nomads they could tell the time of year more easily by the position of the
moon and may have traveled by night more frequently while on the hunt in this way it is easy to see how the rise of
religion followed the rise of civilization itself instead of the other way around
in many artistic depictions nana is shown as the moon itself lying down
some of the images put him near the early mesopotamian lion dragon and the mighty bull when he was depicted as a
man it was usually a quite old one with a long beard and the moon shining over his head
sometimes he would sit astride a ball with wings in early writings he was sometimes referred to with the number 30
as that would be the number of days in a month as understood by the people of that time
in ur and the surrounding areas nana was worshipped quite extensively
not only was he one of the oldest gods he was also incredibly popular another temple dedicated to him late in
haran this one gave equal attention to the god of light and fire his son nusku
in many instances the father mother and son were worshipped as a type of trinity
although most attention was paid to the father and son in general as late as 556 bce when a ruler named
nabonidus reigned nana was still worshipped quite extensively the mother of the king was high
priestess in haran while his daughter was the high priestess inua this was not only a way to honor the god
but also to extend his power throughout the civilization in a positive way earlier leaders like sargon of akkad
who ruled in around 2300 bce did very similar things with their
female family members as mentioned above the earliest mentions of nana using that
name appeared around 3500 bce text throughout the years called him the
illuminator as it was specifically associated with the moon that would form the only type
of light at night time because it was associated with being wise many different rulers honored him and
claimed his name as part of their own after all if a king aligned himself with the god
of wisdom it would be much easier for him to convince his people that he was a fair and just ruler
this included naram sin who ruled from approximately 2260 to
2224 bce andes generally thought it was one of the most powerful kings in the acadian
period of that first civilization during this time nana was given multiple
names that meant everything from embellisher to he who shines forth to the fruit
in later years when the babylonians adopted him for their own purposes he was considered a son of a great god
marduk instead of enlil stories of nana from long ago
as the records of nana began very early in the civilization it makes sense that he showed up in
quite a few well-known stories the ultimate mesopotamian tale the epic of gilgamesh identified nana and his
parentage over ishtar and shamash he is praised by gilgamesh himself in
this work for inspiration and changes that came to the hero he is mentioned as the guardian of the
future and the keeper of time who could look either way through time to clearly
see destiny and change it another great legend in which nana appeared is called the journey of nana
to nippur this story has him load up a boat near his temple inua
and traveled to nepal to give all these great gifts to his father the boat is full of animals plants and
especially large trees during the journey up the river he pulls into port at five different cities to
honor the lesser gods that are patrons and protectors of those places
finally he comes to enlil's temple in nipur they eat a great feast and nana asks for a few favors
these include a large quantity of sweet water in the river abundant crops for the people plenty of
honey and wine and to live an exceptionally long time so he can enjoy all of it
enlil fulfills his son's wishes and sends them back to ur with great appreciation although this can be simply
a story of the gods it may also indicate the people's understanding of how the moon was associated with abundance and fertility
because enlil the highest god was so generous with his gifts to nana it was clear that he also found favor
with the people who were able to take advantage of all these things the herds of nana was another poem in
which he was given another moniker as the leader of the land and the creatures who live on it
the people all believe that human beings came from enki but nana sometimes snuck in with a bit
of responsibility for the beginnings of life as well instead of directly creating creatures
he was more closely associated with the gifts that allowed them and the people to thrive and survive
this poem starts off with a general description of nana's primary job sailing his crescent-shaped boat across
the night sky to illuminate everything he spends some time afterward talking to
enlil counting his herds and writing down their numbers by the goddess of writing nisaba
the poem goes on to praise nana for his generous gifts of healthy herds of animals and agricultural abundance
this is specifically focused on alcoholic drinks the mesopotamians of the time saw the
goddess nankasi as associated with beer specifically but this poem also pushes nana into this
role the descent of inanna's story also mentions nana
when inanna has trouble coming back from her underworld journey they ask nana among others to help
another mention of this popular god was in the curse of agade in this one nana acted as an appeaser or
mediator to try to soften his father's anger with people
nana and ningal together early in the mesopotamian theology
inanna's elder sister ereshkigal became the ruler of the underworld this was not a judgmental role
instead she simply kept all the dead souls down there where they could not cause any trouble
the religious beliefs of the people did not have any concept of afterlife rewards or punishment
they just descended to the underworld where everything was generally miserable a surprising turn came about in the
third dynasty of ur when nana transcended his role as the god of the moon and wisdom
and also became the god of afterlife judgment people no longer went to a dusty realm
of discomfort and darkness automatically when they died now their friends and family members
could appeal to nana to get them a better position after they passed on
they also worshiped their home cities patron god or goddess and the one specifically worshipped by
the individual if they were successful the deceased could enjoy drinking beer eating bread
and generally feeling much more comfortable in the underworld nana took on the role of a type of
bridge between the living and the dead he handled both with wisdom and fairness
meted out judgment and even intervened for both the deceased and the living in many cases
this was not adopted as general belief everywhere at that time for example people in sumer stuck with
the idea of a dull and dreary afterlife no matter what some of the responsibility for judgment
of the deceased also fell to ningal artwork created around those times would
sometimes depict semi-precious stone eyes of ningal these were the type of warning or
promise that this god was watching people to judge their activities and decide what type of afterlife they would
have one of the most unique and special pairs of eyes were presented to the ruler named nabonidus
it was not unusual for the mesopotamian people to carve eyes in stone but these were specifically dedicated to
ning girl and associated with the afterlife others were used as amulets or talismans
intended to protect the wearer or carrier from bad luck and judgment
way back at the beginning of the mesopotamian civilization the people accepted seven different gods
and goddesses as the primary pantheon they worshipped this included anu enki and enlil
ninhusag nana shamash and inanna each had their own role
interacted with people in different ways and were responsible for various aspects of everyday life the afterlife
and godly juices not specifically important in the physical world throughout the centuries
many of them changed identity or purpose however nana stayed basically the same
as the god of the moon and wisdom perhaps because of this amazing staying power it was also readily adopted by the
assyrians when they came to power in the area around 600 bce
in fact evidence of his worship and belief stretched all the way from 3500 bce
up until around 300 bce which is an amazingly long time for any
diverse group of people to believe in the same god in the same way
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