Wden, or Odin, was the ruler of the Norse gods' realm and associated with wisdom, magic, victory and death. They associated the planets with different gods in their pantheon: Jupiter with Marduk, Venus with Ishtar, Saturn with Ninurta, Mercury with Nabu, Mars with Nergal, the Sun with Shamash and the Moon with Sin. Enlil and Kumarbi supplanted Anu, while El took the place of amm (Heaven). It wasnt just their powers that separated them from humans, though. Over the millennia, Sumerians branched off into Akkadians and later Babylonians, with the core mythology undergoing anywhere between minute and massive changes. The rise of the Akkadians occurred around the same time that Amorite migrants began to arrive in southern Mesopotamia. [43] The slaying of the serpent in myth is a deed attributed to both Ba'al Hadad and 'Anat in the Ugaritic texts, but not to l.[44]. He is one of the oldest gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon and is first mentioned at the very dawn of writing in Sumer c. 3500 BCE. ama (Sumerian Utu) is the god of the sun. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, l played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. That phrase with m-enclitic also appears in Phoenician inscriptions as late as the fifth century BCE. There is even evidence of cults which considered Nanna to be the primary god. One of the first civilizations to grace the Earth, the Sumerians banded together and settled in ancient southern Mesopotamia (modern day south-central Iraq) around 3500 BC. The son who is born of the union, called Demars or Zeus, but once called Adodus, is obviously Hadad, the Ba'al of the Ugaritic texts who now becomes an ally of his grandfather Sky and begins to make war on l. Mesopotamian Gods and Astrology. His other children, depending on the version of the myth, were Enki, Nikikurga, Nidaba, Baba, and even Inanna and Kumarbi. Members of the Mesopotamian pantheon were immortal, and as long as they were above the Netherworld, had an aura about them called melammu, which was described as a glow which instantly distinguished them from mere mortals. They saluted him as husband. These entities gave birth to An, the god of the sky which doubled as heaven, and Ki, who represented the Earth. It is said that Enlil himself betrothed the two divine beings. Enlil was subject only to Anu, the sky-god, and he was often portrayed as the only deity who could contact Anu. Nibiru Science 21 Who is SATURN? An, the Sumerian deity who ruled heaven, was the most important god, and the most important deity, in the religion overall. Gula was also known as Ninisina, Nintinuga, Ninkarrak, and Meme. In some theological systems all of the deities were believed to be the offspring of An and his consort Ki. [19], In an inscription in the Proto-Sinaitic script, William F. Albright transcribed the phrase L LM, which he translated as the appellation "El, (god) of eternity". 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. Ninurta was an ancient Sumerian and Akkadian god of War. This star is actually not a star at all, but the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. (Father of Heaven / Saturn) and his major son: "Hadad" (Father of Earth / Jupiter), are symbolized both . who can be likened to Yahweh among the sons of Gods (bn 'lm). Ninurta began his divine career as a god of irrigation and agriculture. 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. 3 (July, 1968), p. 172. Despite their varied appearance to the. The only sons of l named individually in the Ugaritic texts are Yamm ("Sea"), Mot ("Death"), and Ashtar, who may be the chief and leader of most of the sons of l. Sumerian myth dictates that while almost every Sumerian god was a powerful being with supernatural abilities at their disposal, they were far from being the kind of omnipotent, supreme deity we have become accustomed to thanks to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Inanna is the ancient Sumerian goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, and also of war. As a result, he was visually depicted as a bearded man in a typical garb of the time complete with horned hat sitting down, with flowing streams and fish around him. "The Phoenicians every year sacrificed their beloved and only begotten children to Kronos, or Saturn; and the Rhodesians often did the same." He was father to three other children as well Marduk, Uttu, and Ninti. Saturn's Black Cube holds a massive tank that acts as a harvesting station for blood sacrifice from human beings, in any way . It is important to remember that records from that long ago are often unreliable, and that there is plenty of overlap between deities as to what they are gods or goddesses of. The minor god Damu also had the power to drive demons away, and had many a Sumerian poem written about him. There were more than 3,000 Sumerian gods and goddesses, and the four most well-known gods in the Sumerian religion were An, Ki, Enlil and Enki. The Hebrew form () appears in Latin letters in Standard Hebrew transcription as El and in Tiberian Hebrew transcription as l. Shamash, as the solar deity, exercised the power of light over darkness and evil. Mesopotamian moon god. Genesis, Book of. [23], In some inscriptions, the name 'l qne 'ar (Punic: l qn r) meaning "l creator of Earth" appears, even including a late inscription at Leptis Magna in Tripolitania dating to the second century. 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. Along with his grandfather Beelzebub, he controlled the airways for the Gods, wearing his symbol of . The Sumerians believed in many gods. through the bond of heaven and earth for ever, [22]. Ascribe to Yahweh, glory and strength. [10] Among the Hittites, El was known as Elkunirsa. The true etymologies of both Nanna and Su'en remain unclear ( Krebernik 1993-98b: 360-64). In some cases, he was denoted as a consort of Nammu. , romanized: ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "god" or "deity", or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. The Saturnalia festival celebrates his pleasant rule. Cronus's functions were connected with agriculture; in Attica his festival, the Kronia, celebrated the harvest and resembled the Saturnalia. that at one point El was a desert god. 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. These Israelites are described as a people inhabiting Canaan. Eusebius, through whom the Sanchuniathon is preserved, is not interested in setting the work forth completely or in order. 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. She was also a patron of Uruk, where she was later known as Ishtar in the Babylonian version of events. While the Hurrians remained in the Outer Fertile Crescent, the Amorites moved south along the Euphrates and Tigris during the second half of the third millennium BC. Named after the Earth itself, Ki was a direct descendent of Nammu. Considering the number of gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon, its significant that Amorites in Akkad and Sumer during the lifetime of Abraham only honored two of them. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death 4 (Dec., 1968), p. 435. 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. The only consistent aspect of any visual portrayals is his symbol, which was a horned cap. Together with An, she created a portion of the vegetation of the planet and also gave birth to Enlil and the other gods collectively known as the Annunaki. That fits the character of Enlil, El, and Kumarbi in their respective pantheons. According to the Sumerians these gods came from the planet Nibiru 'Planet of the Crossing.' The Assyrians and Babylonians called it 'Marduk', after their chief god. An archaic phrase appears in Isaiah 14:13, kkkb 'l 'stars of God', referring to the circumpolar stars that never set, possibly especially to the seven stars of Ursa Major. [This article tackles two issues in the "proto-astronomical" conception of the planet Saturn, first attested in Mesopotamia and followed by the Greeks and Hindus: the long-standing . Three of the four chapels at its headquarters on the hill northwest of the Sacred Lake were dedicated to Poseidon, the Tyche of the city equated with Astarte (that is 'Ashtart), and to Eshmun. And its known that Urkesh and Harran were connected by an important trade route, linking the resource-rich mountains north of Urkesh to markets in northern Syria and the Mediterranean port near Antioch. He was called Nanna in Sumerian, and Su'en or Sin in Akkadian. [7] The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *il-, meaning "god".[8]. Although some other gods had a relatively higher share of support as far as surviving records testify, Enkis contribution to legends was perhaps just as significant, if not more. An and Ki then proceeded to mate, and birthed Enlil. I discussed the moon-god in some detail in my book on the spiritual forces behind Islam,Bad Moon Rising. 5. And the symbol meant that Cronus could see when asleep, and sleep while waking: and similarly in the case of the wings, that he flew while at rest, and was at rest when flying. ilnu. The Moon, the Sun, and the planets were viewed as gods or manifestations of gods. And to Cronus himself again he gave two wings upon his head, one representing the all-ruling mind, and one sensation. Osiris was the God of the Afterlife, King of Heaven and Hell, the King of Eternity, King of the Living, Master of Souls; He who appears as ram in Mendes, and the Sovereign of Amenti. Even though his name isnt mentioned even once in our English Bibles, the proof of Enlils power is written in the Old Testament. The Babylonians also recognized five of the planets, along with the Sun and Moon. The name is Akkadian and means 'crossing place' or 'place of transition'. Utu was Nannas son and Inannas twin brother, but he was not as ardently worshiped as other Sumerian gods. . . Source:https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-eg8e2-12bc395A whistleblower recently came up with a powerful statement. 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. Utu had one child a daughter named Mamu who was one of many goddesses who presided over the realm of dreams. As to the rivers and the spring of the two deeps, these might refer to real streams, or to the mythological sources of the salt water ocean and the fresh water sources under the earth, or to the waters above the heavens and the waters beneath the earth. The patron deity of the city of Nippur was given the names father, creator, lord, the great mountain, raging storm, and king of the foreign lands.. Although the Amorites spoke a Semitic language, they were usually portrayed in Egyptian art with fair skin. While Nammu may have been considered to be higher up in earlier forms of the religion, Sumerian goddess Inanna was unquestionably the most important female deity in the history of ancient Mesopotamia , and one of the most revered goddesses from all ancient civilizations. Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, and Mars were the five planets known, in the order, they appear in ancient Babylonian literature; Mercury and Saturn traded places in later works. After the Roman conquest of Greece, he was conflated with the Greek Titan . Albrecht Alt presented his theories on the original differences of such gods in Der Gott der Vter in 1929. Not one Sumerian astrologer's name is left to us. Numerous ancient texts describe him as both an aggressive, antagonistic god, while others have him down as a kind, friendly, and benevolent being who protected Sumerians. ), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. Other cult centers of renown include Agade and Nineveh. And all the sons of El, One of Sky's concubines (who was given to l's brother Dagon) was already pregnant by Sky. Her primary temples were called Esabad and Egalmah. See Baal for a discussion of this passage. l was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. They recognised five planets and these were identified with the gods of the Babylonian p. lm; Aramaic l; Akkadian ilu, pl. So, possession of Nippur was crucial for an ambitious ruler in Sumer. The stem l is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Three pantheon lists found at Ugarit (modern Ras ShamrArabic: , Syria) begin with the four gods 'il-'ib (which according to Cross;[28] is the name of a generic kind of deity, perhaps the divine ancestor of the people), l, Dagnu (that is Dagon), and Ba'l apn (that is the god Haddu or Hadad). Again l lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". However, it wasnt just heaven and Earth; there was also the Netherworld or Kur, which was a bleak, dark, underground version of Earth which was home to every deceased soul regardless of their actions on the living plane. As the myth goes, she allowed the demons of the underworld to take him after he failed to show a satisfactory level of sadness upon her own descent into the Nether realm. [17]M. G. Easton, Amorites.Illustrated Bible Dictionary(New York: Thomas Nelson, 1897). [45] In each case, the god had assumed kingship over the pantheon by replacing a primordial deity who represented the sky or heaven. Emesh was depicted as a farmer. The goddess was married to Nergal, the god of war, death, and disease. This gave rise to more than 3,000 Sumerian gods and goddesses. 12th celestial body found in our solar system, ruled by Anu and spouse Antu. Although the gods Nanna and Enlil refused to come to her aid, good old Enki sprang into action and tried to have Inanna extracted from the Nether realm. This is the position of Frank Moore Cross (1973). This may explain the best-known epithet of Enlil, Great Mountain. The Akkadian term is A.D-li ra-b-um, literally, the great mountain of the gods.[13]This title is attested from the time of Sargon of Akkad, who reigned in the late twenty-fourth and early twenty-third centuries BC, about three or four hundred years before the time of Abraham. Such mythological motifs are variously seen as late survivals from a period when Yahweh held a place in theology comparable to that of Hadad at Ugarit; or as late henotheistic/monotheistic applications to Yahweh of deeds more commonly attributed to Hadad; or simply as examples of eclectic application of the same motifs and imagery to various different gods. Mason-Dixon Line In Canaanite mythology, El builds a desert sanctuary with his children and his two wives, leading to speculation[by whom?] There was also no cult formed to worship her, and it is said that she is the same entity as the goddesses Ninmah, Ninhursag, and Nintu, among others. In D. N. Freedman (Ed. 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. 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]. Despite Enlils symbol having been a horned crown, no horns can be seen in this instance although that is likely to be a result of thousands of years of damage. Gulas cult center was Umma, but her popularity stretched to Adab, Nippur, Lagash, Uruk, and Ur. This parallel pleads against the Amorites as newcomers, because such a phenomenon is typically the result of long-term contact and/or acculturation. These temples began as little more than elaborate buildings, but as construction became more advanced, they were transformed into massive ziggurats, Babylonian pyramids, and a home to religious traditions and celebrations. Said to be in control of female fertility, sexual love, reproduction, and war, she was a catalyst of both life and death, showering the civilization with blessings when pleased. [4]Christopher B. Hays, Enlil, Isaiah, and the Origins of thellm: A Reassessment.Zeitschrift fr die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 132(2) (2020), p. 226. They had a strong tradition of astronomical observation. When it comes to the well-known sun gods of early man, nothing in the mythical record seems to have unnerved the experts. This research identifies the Mesopotamian deity Amurru, generally considered a separate entity by most scholars, as the moon-god, and places the center of his cult in the very region that produced the family of Abrahamthe area along the Balikh River and around the city of Harran, which was home to a well-known temple to Sn. The god of the southern deserts The first mention of the Israelite tribe itself is a victory stele erected around 1210 BCE by the pharaoh Mernetpah (sometimes called "the Israel stele"). And the Hurrians, too, were familiar with highland life, as Urkesh controlled trade between their cousins in the Taurus Mountains to the north and the cities of Mesopotamia to the south. Not to follow rabbits too far off the main trail here, but that begs the question: Were the Amorites and Hurrians related? There were many notable differences between most modern religions and Sumerian religion apart from the aforementioned polytheism. [6]Frank Moore Cross,Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973), p. 41. 1 (1984), p. 1. This is a striking parallel with the Akkadian personal names. One version of the myth states that when Enlil proposed the idea of creating humans to Nammu, she told him that she could make such beings with the help of Enki who was also her son. But others have argued that from patriarchal times, these different names were in fact generally understood to refer to the same single great god, l. l (also 'Il, Ugaritic: lu; Phoenician: l;[6] Hebrew: l; Syriac: yl; Arabic: l or ilh; cognate to Akkadian: , romanized:ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "god" or "deity", or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. lm; Hebrew l, pl. He and his military allies the Eloim gain Sky's kingdom.[48]. If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code: . 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