Home Add to Favorites Add material Report an error A little humor Other similar sites
Sumerian myths The myth of Dumuzi and Inanna The myth of creation The myth of the flood The myth of Enki and Ninhursag The Myth of Dumuzi and Enkimdu The myths of Gilgamesh Babylonian myths The Descent of Ishtar into the underworld The myth of creation The Myth of the flood The epic of Gilgamesh The myth of Adapa The myth of Ethan and the eagle The myth of Zu The Worm and Toothache
Chapter 1 Mesopotamian Mythology Before we begin to get acquainted with the most important myths that have their roots in the history of Mesopotamia, it is necessary to say a few words about the ancient cultural conditions in which these myths appeared.
Archaeological excavations at the sites of ancient cities in the Tigris and Euphrates Valley indicate that this region, known as Sumer and Akkad, was inhabited as early as 4000 BC.
Some scientists believe that there are traces of earlier settlements there, but a fully developed civilization, discovered during the excavations of such cities as Ur, Uruk and Kish, was created by the Sumerians.
Apparently, they appeared in the delta of the rivers, having migrated from the mountainous regions to the northeast of Mesopotamia.
Their myths show that they came from an area that was completely different from their new homeland.
Cuneiform was their invention, and it was they who built the strange tower temples known as" ziggurats " and are a distinctive feature of their cities.
The excavations of Sir Leonard Woolley in the city of Ur indicate that it was a highly developed agrarian type civilization, with wonderful temples, priests, laws, literature and rich mythology.
After the Sumerian settlements appeared in the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates, the area of Sumer and Akkad was overwhelmed by the first wave of Semitic conquerors, who gradually conquered the Sumerians, absorbed their culture and adopted their cuneiform, but not their language.
The language of the Semitic conquerors is known as Akkadian.
It is one of the most important branches of the great Semitic family of languages.
The second wave of the Semitic invasion (it was the Amurru people, or Amorites) led to the foundation of the first Amorite dynasty in Babylon, to the heyday of Babylon under Hammurabi and, as a result, to its hegemony over Sumer and Akkad.
The first king of the Amorite dynasty ascended to the throne around 2200 BC.
Five centuries later, another Semitic people, who lived upstream of the Tigris, conquered Babylon and created the first Assyrian empire in Mesopotamia.
Therefore, the mythology of Mesopotamia has come down to us in different forms Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian.
Although there is very little difference between the variants of any particular myth, nevertheless, there is a very significant difference between the Sumerian and Assyrian Babylonian versions of the creation myth.
Moreover, some Sumerian myths have no Semitic analogues.
We will begin our story about Mesopotamian mythology with Sumerian material.
Sumerian myths Among the huge amount of material that is available to us thanks to the selfless work of Sumerologists, there are three myths that have found such wide distribution that they can be considered basic myths.
It has now become clear that, although these basic myths occupy a significant place in Semitic mythology, their roots lie in the culture of the Sumerians, so we must begin our story about Sumerian mythology with them.
The myth of Dumuzi and Inanna The first of these myths has long been known as the myth of how Ishtar descended into the underworld, and existed in separate fragments; however, thanks to the efforts of Professor Kramer, this myth is now known in its full form as the myth of Dumuzi and Inanna.
Dumuzi is the Sumerian analogue of the more famous name Tammuz; and Inanna is the Sumerian analogue of the heroine of the Semitic myths Ishtar, the goddess of heaven.
Dumuzi is the prototype of all the gods of vegetation, who die in the fall and are reborn again in the spring along with the awakening of all plants.
In the version of the myth that became the basis of the cult of Tammuz, the central plot is the imprisonment of the god in the underworld.
It is also the main reason for Inanna's descent into the underworld.
However, in the earliest version of this myth, which is given by Kramer in "Ancient Texts of the Middle East relating to the Old Testament", the reason for the goddess's journey to the underworld remains unclear.
The following version of the myth corresponds to Kramer's version.
For some unknown reasons, the goddess of heaven Inanna decides to go down to the underworld, "from where there is no return", where her sister, the goddess Ereshkigal, ruled.
Kramer suggests that she could be guided solely by her ambitions, the desire to subordinate the underground kingdom to her power.
To protect herself from all possible troubles, Inanna gave her vizier Ninshubur the most detailed instructions: if she did not return in three days, he would have to perform the funeral rite, visit the three supreme gods in turn – Enlil of Nippur, Nanna, the moon god of Ur, and Enki, the Babylonian god of wisdom – and beg them to do everything so that Inanna would not be killed in the underworld.
After that, Inanna put on her royal clothes and ornaments and approached the gates of the underworld.
There she was met by Neti, the guardian of the seven gates.
By order of Ereshkigal and in accordance with the laws of the underworld, Inanna takes off one piece of clothing at each gate.
Finally, she appears before Ereshkigal and the Anunnaki, the seven judges of the earth kingdom.
They turn their "eyes of death" on her, and she turns into a corpse, after which she is hung on a pole.
After three days, since Inanna does not return, Ninshubur does what Inanna ordered him to do.
Enlil and Nanna refuse to interfere in this matter, but Enki performs some magical actions, with the help of which Inanna returns to life.
From the dirt under his fingernails, he creates two strange figures kurgarra and kalaturra (the meaning of these words remains unclear).
He sends them to the underworld with living food and living water.
They must sprinkle Inanna's corpse with the food of life sixty times and sprinkle it with living water as many times.
They do this, and the goddess is reborn to life.
According to the laws of the underworld, no one can leave there without finding a replacement.
Therefore, the myth goes on to tell about Inanna's return to the world of the living, accompanied by demons who must take Inanna's replacement to the underworld.
The demons take turns choosing Ninshubur, Shar (the god Umm) and Latarak (the god Badtibir) as replacements, but Inanna saves them all.
At this point, the text given by Kramer ends, but in the note he mentions a recently made discovery.
It turns out that Inanna and the demons accompanying her come to her city of Uruk and find her husband Dumuzi there.
He does not bow his head before her, as the aforementioned three did, and as a punishment, she hands him over to the demons to drag him into the underworld.
Dumuzi begs Uta, the sun god, to save him, then the text breaks off again.
Therefore, we do not know whether he was still carried away by demons to the underworld in the original Sumerian version of the myth or not.
This is the first of the three main myths in its Sumerian version.
It is quite possible that the Sumerians brought this myth with them when they began to settle the delta of the river, and that this is the oldest version of it.
In this version, Inanna does not descend to the underworld to save her husband Dumuzi (Tammuz) from death.
On the contrary, in complete contradiction to later versions of the myth, it is Inanna who allows the demons to carry Dumuzi to the underworld instead of herself, although the reasons why she herself descended there remain unclear.
Nevertheless, the rituals in honor of the cult of Tammuz, which belong to the Sumerian period, already give a later version of the myth.
They describe the chaos and desolation that engulfed the earth when Tammuz descends into the underworld; they talk about Ishtar's complaints and her journey to the underworld to save Tammuz; they conclude with a description of Tammuz's triumphant return to the world of the living.
It is obvious that these rituals are part of the seasonal rite, so this myth can be rightfully considered a ritual one.
The explanation for the changes that occurred in this myth can be found in the fact that the Sumerians, having come to the delta, moved from a primitive economy to an agrarian one.
In prayers, Tammuz and Ishtar are often depicted as a male and female coniferous tree, and coniferous trees do not grow in the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates.
They grow only in the mountains, where the Sumerians came from.
Moreover, the fact that the" ziggurats " were part of the Sumerian temple architecture also indicates this.
The original version of the myth most likely arose under the influence of living conditions that were extremely different from the way to which the Sumerians had to adapt while living in the delta.
There is evidence that Semites and Sumerians lived together in the delta long before the invasion of the Amorites and the subsequent conquest of the Sumerians by the Semites.
We know that the Semites adopted cuneiform script from the Sumerians, as well as a significant part of their religion and mythology.
This can be taken as an explanation for the changes in the myth of Tammuz Ishtar that occurred in the Assyrian Babylonian period.
Next, we will find out what changes this myth has undergone, moving from country to country.
The second fundamental myth that we find in the Sumerian version is the myth of creation.
It should be noted that in none of the ancient myths about creation do we find the idea of creating a world "out of nothing".
That is, in all these myths, the creation of the world is the restoration of order in the existing chaos.
When we consider the Assyrian Babylonian myths, we will see that the cosmogonic myth existed there in one main version, the famous "Enuma Elish", or" Epic of Creation", as it is now called.
However, there is no analogue for it in the Sumerian version.
Professor Kramer showed that Sumerian cosmogony should be literally pieced together from various myths about the origin of the world.
The following retelling of these myths is based precisely on the research of Professor Kramer.
However, he does not forget to warn us that there are many white spots in our knowledge about the Sumerians and that many of the tablets on which these myths were actually written were broken.
Therefore, at the current level of our knowledge about the Sumerians, it is simply impossible to give an absolutely coherent retelling of Sumerian mythology.
Sumerian creation myths can be divided into three subgroups: the origin of the universe; the structure of the universe; the creation of man.
The origin of the universe On a tablet with a list of Sumerian gods, the goddess Nammu, whose name is depicted by an ideogram meaning "sea", is described as "the mother who gave birth to heaven and earth".
From other myths it becomes clear that the sky and the earth originally represented a mountain, the base of which was the earth, and the top was the sky.
The sky was represented by the god An (Anu), the earth was represented by the goddess Ki.
From their union, the air god Enlil was born, who separated the sky from the earth and created the universe in the form of heaven and earth separated by air.
Sumerian mythology does not give any explanation for the appearance of the ancient sea.
The structure of the universe This aspect of the creation of the world is touched upon in a number of myths that tell how the divine creatures and other elements of the Sumerian civilization arose.
The first of these myths describes the birth of the moon god Nanna, or Sin.
The details of this event are unclear, and it is quite possible that some day our knowledge will be supplemented with new information.
However, the essence of the matter is as follows: Enlil, the supreme god in the Sumerian pantheon of gods, whose temple was in Nippu re, fell in love with the goddess Ninlil and forcibly possessed her while she was sailing in a boat on the Nunbird.
For this dishonorable act, Enlil was thrown into the underworld.
However, Ninlil, who was carrying a child under her heart, refused to stay on earth without him and followed him.
Since this meant that Nanna, the moon god, would be born in the darkness of the underworld and would not light up the sky at night, Enlil devised a clever plan: Ninlil became the mother of three deities of the underworld, replacing Nanna there, who was then able to ascend to heaven.
Obviously, this curious and the myth that has been in oblivion for a long time gives the key to understanding the transformation of the myth of Tammuz and Ishtar, which we have already talked about.
From the texts associated with the cult of Tammuz, we know that his middle name is Enlil, and Ninlil is the second name of Ishtar, so Ishtar's journey to the underworld, the reasons for which remained unclear in the oldest version of the Sumerian myth of Inanna, finds its explanation in this myth about the birth of Nanna, the moon god.
In the Sumerian pantheon of gods, Nanna, or Sin, was the main astral deity, and the sun god Utu was considered the son of Nanna and his wife Ningal.
In the later Jewish cosmogony, they changed places, and the sun became the main luminary, and the moon received a goddess as a patron, as in classical mythology.
The Sumerians imagined Nanna passing through the night sky in a round boat – such as the Sumerians themselves sailed on the Euphrates accompanied by stars and planets, the origin of which is not given any explanation.
After Enlil separated the sky from the earth, and the heavens began to illuminate Nanna, Uta, as well as the stars and planets, it was necessary to complete the organization of life on earth.
Various myths are devoted to the elements of the earthly order.
It is worth noting some illogicality of the ideas that the cities and temples of the gods existed even before the creation of man, which occurred at the very end of the divine activity to create the earthly order.
Enlil is considered the creator of all vegetation, livestock, agricultural implements and objects of civilization, although he acted indirectly through the creation of less significant gods who perform his tasks.
To give the earth cattle and grain, at the suggestion of the god of wisdom Enki (the Babylonians – Ea), Enlil created two smaller deities Lahara, the god of cattle, and Ashnan, the goddess of grain, to give the gods food and clothing.
The myth describes the abundance created by the gods on earth.
However, they drink wine, get drunk, quarrel, forget about their duties and simply cannot get what they need.
Man was created precisely to correct this situation.
The following passage from Kramer's translations is part of the myth of Lahar and Ashnan: In those days, in the dwelling Where the gods worked, In Dulkug, Lahar and Ashnan were born.
And their creation Anunnaki eats and eats, Canot get enough.
From the purest pastures, Milk... and much More, Anunnaki drinks everything — He canot get enough.
So that there was milk and much more, and so that healthy cattle Walked on pastures — a man was created.
In addition to the myths that tell about the creation of food and clothing, there are a variety of myths that talk about the emergence of other elements of civilization and the structure of the universe.
The long poem, most of which has not yet been deciphered, describes Enlil's creation of the axe and how he gave this valuable tool to the "black headed people" so that they could build houses and cities.
Another myth describes the activity of the gods to provide the Sumerians with the most necessary elements of civilization.
It tells how Enki, having first visited the Sumerians, traveled all over the world, distributing "tables of destinies".
This term was used by the Sumerians to denote the creative activity of the gods to restore order in the universe.
First Enki goes to Ur, then to Melukha (which probably meant Egypt), then to the Tigris and Euphrates, which he fills with fish, and finally to the Persian Gulf.
At the head of each of these places, he puts a god or goddess.
An excerpt from Kramer's translation of this interesting myth illustrates the nature of Enki's creative activity: He (Enki) ordered the creation of a plow And a hoe, He forced the bull…
He called out to the harvests;
In the barren fields he cultivated grain;
The Lord, the jewel and Ornament of the Plain; ... the farmer of Enlil Enkimdu, the lord of canals and ditches; Enki ordered them to be controlled;
The lord called to the fields And commanded them to give birth to grain; Enki ordered the creation of small And large beans ... ... grain, which he put in storage; Enki created many Repositories;
Together with Enlil, he created abundance on earth;
The one whose head... and whose face... is the Tower, which is the power of the earth, the Support of the "black headed people", is Ashnan, the support of all things, which Enlil put at the head of everything.
Enki then appoints Kabta, the god of stone, as the master of the axe and trowel.
He creates the foundation and builds houses, and makes Mushdamma, the "great builder of Enlil", the god of construction.
He fills the plain with plant and animal life, and puts Sumukan, the "king of the mountains", at the head of this life.
Finally, Enki builds stables and sheepfields, and he puts the shepherd god Dumuzi at the head of all livestock.
The last myth concerning the structure of the universe is connected with the activity of the goddess Inanna (or Ishtar).
We have already mentioned the "tables of fate", and we will see later, when we talk about the Babylonian myths, that these very "tables of fate" play a very important role in several myths.
The possession of them was one of the privileges and attributes of the deity.
Often in myths it is said that these tables were stolen or taken away from the gods by force.
The fact is that God, who possesses the "tables of fate", received power over the world order.
In the myth we are talking about now, Inanna wants to spread the benefits of civilization to her city of Uruk.
To do this, she must receive "me" – this Sumerian word, apparently, means the same power and authority that is contained in the Akkadian "tables of fate".
The "Me" is in the hands of Enki, the god of wisdom.
Inanna goes to Eridu, where Enki lives in his house Apsu, by the spring of sweet water.
Enki hospitably receives his daughter Inanna and arranges a grand feast in her honor.
Becoming drunk on wine, he promises her all sorts of gifts, including "me", or divine orders, which, according to Kramer, " are the basis of Sumerian civilization."
The myth lists more than a hundred elements that make up this very civilization.
Inanna gladly receives these gifts, loads her boat with them and sails to Uruk.
Having discovered the loss, Enki sends his servant Isimud to return the sacred "tables of fate".
He tries to do this as many as seven times, but each time he is prevented by Ninshubur, the vizier of Inanna, of whom we have already spoken.
Thus, the goddess brings the benefits of civilization to Uruk.
It should be noted that the theme of rivalry between the Sumerian city states is somehow visible in many myths.
The first in the lists of "me" that Inanna brought to Uruk are the symbols of power: the crown, the throne and the scepter.
From this we can conclude that the struggle for supremacy in the Sumerian state was one of the main motives of the myths dedicated to the arrangement of the world order.
We have already noted that the myth of Lahara and Ashnan ended with the creation of a man who was supposed to serve the gods.
Another myth, the text of which is scattered and difficult for general understanding, describes the process of creation of man.
Although the Sumerian myths differ significantly in content from the Babylonian "Epic of Creation", they are united by the same understanding of the purpose for which man was created.
Man was created to serve the gods, to cultivate the earth and to free the gods from the need to create everything necessary for life themselves.
In Sumerian myth, the gods complain that they cannot get food for themselves.
Enki, the god of wisdom, to whom the gods always turn for help, is asleep.
However, Nammu, the prehistoric ocean, the mother of all gods, awakens him from his sleep.
At the behest of Nammu and Ninmah, the goddess of birth, with the help of other deities, whom Kramer describes in his retelling of the myth as "kind hearted and noble performers", mix clay taken from a source of sweet water and create a person.
Then the text written on the clay tablet is interrupted, because the tablet is broken.
Nevertheless, some interesting details are being clarified.
Enki arranges a dinner for the gods in honor of the creation of man.
Enki and Ninmah drink a lot of wine and get drunk quickly.
Ninmah takes some clay and makes six different human creatures, whose origin is shrouded in mystery.
Something is known only about the last two: this is a barren woman and a eunuch.
Enki announces the fate of the eunuch: he must always be near or even in front of the king.
The myth then describes the next step that Enki takes.
He creates a weak person in body and soul and asks Ninmah to somehow improve this unfortunate creature.
However, Ninmah canot do anything and scolds Enki for creating such a creature.
In Hebrew, there are several words meaning "man", "man".
One of them is "enoch", the root of which has the meaning "weak" or "sick".
This quality of a person is very often mentioned and emphasized in Jewish poetry.
Perhaps it is this element of Sumerian mythology that underlies the Jewish idea of man as a being unable to rise to the place in the universe that was intended for him by divine providence.
Later we will see that the Babylonian myth of the creation of man has very important differences that influenced the Jewish myths about the creation of man.
The third main myth is the myth of the flood.
In his work, Kramer showed that the myth of the destruction of humanity by the flood in one form or another is found in all parts of the world.
The main idea of the myth is that the gods decide to destroy humanity; the means by which they decided to do this is of secondary importance – later we will see that the gods resorted not only to the flood.
It has long been known that the biblical story of the flood is based on the Babylonian myth, which we will get acquainted with in the next chapter of our study.
However, until 1914, when the American Arno Peble published a fragment of the text of one of the clay tablets, no one assumed that the Babylonian version of the myth, in turn, was based on an even earlier Sumerian myth.
Other tablets related to the topic of the flood have not yet been found.
Here is a summary of the Sumerian version of the flood myth.
The story begins with the fact that one of the gods announces his intention to save humanity from destruction, contrary to the decision of the gods.
The reasons for this decision are unknown.
It is Enki who takes measures to save humanity from destruction.
He orders the pious king of Sippar, Ziusudra, to stand near the wall, through which he will reveal to him the intention of the gods and tell him what needs to be done to save himself from the flood.
The part of the text where the construction of the ark should be described is missing, but it is clear from the following passage that it existed: All the storms of the world Struck with a single power, And at that time the waves overwhelmed all the sacred places; Streams of water rushed Over the earth For a week: seven nights and Seven anxious days — The huge ship was shaken By the waves like a chip.
And here comes Utu, which Sheds light on the sky and on the earth.
Ziusudra opened the window In the ship's closet, And Utu stretched out the rays Like strong ropes.
So King Ziusudra prostrated himself before Utu and brought him a bull and a sheep as a gift.
Here there is a gap in the text, and then the tablet describes the appearance of King Ziusudra: King Ziusudra Flattened himself in front of Anu And Enki.
Both Anu and Enki granted Him mercy, and this mercy is life Like the gods;
And eternal, and easy breathing.
And here is King Ziusudra the guardian of the name and seed of the Human race;
He came to the blessed land by the name of Dilmun.
The sun is shining brightly there, and they were told to live there.
From the Babylonian flood myth, we can conclude that the Sumerian version contained much more details about the cause of the flood and the construction of the ark; but we will leave them aside.
The question of whether the flood myth can be considered a ritual myth is quite complicated.
However, we can postpone its consideration until we get acquainted with it more fully and evaluate its connection with the myth of Gilgamesh.
In addition to the three main myths described, there are still a great many Sumerian myths that should be included in our story about the oldest mythology of the world (well, maybe with the exception of the Egyptian one).
It should also be borne in mind that our knowledge of the Sumerians is far from complete and the meaning of many words in their language remains not completely clear.
Moreover, the texts on the tablets are often fragmentary and fragmentary, and they are very difficult to read.
Therefore, although this presentation of Sumerian myths is based on the research of the best scientists, further research and excavations are likely to bring something new or supplement it in the future.
The myth of Enki and Ninhursag has no analogue in Akkadian mythology, but it was Kramer who called it one of the most complete Sumerian myths that have come down to us.
In the "Ancient Texts of the Near East" this myth is described as the myth of paradise.
Some of its elements formed the basis of Jewish myths about paradise.
The action of the myth takes place in Dilmun, which is spoken of both as a country and as a city.
Modern scientists believe that this is Bahrain.
The main characters of the myth are the god Enki(the god of water) and the goddess Ninhursag (the goddess of the earth).
The story begins with a description of Dilmun as a very clean, bright and bright place where all animals live in peace with each other and where no one is threatened by illness or old age.
The only thing that is not in Dilmun is pure water.
At the request of Ninhursag, Enki gives water to this place.
The myth goes on to say that from the union of Enki and Ninhursag, Ninsar (or Ninmu), the goddess of plants, was born.
Ninhursag pregnancy lasts for nine days (one day for each of the nine months of pregnancy of an earth woman).
After that, Enki enters into a relationship with his daughter Ninsar, who gives birth to the goddess Ninkurra, and she, in turn, again gives birth to Utta, the goddess of plants from Enki (not to be confused with the sun god Utu).
Ninhursag then warns Utta of Enki's intentions and advises her on how to handle this situation.
On the advice of Ninhursag, Uttu demands that Enki give her cucumbers, apples and grapes as wedding gifts.
Enki brings these gifts, and Uttu greets him joyfully.
Eight plants appear from their union.
However, before Ninhursag has time to name them and determine their properties, Enki eats them all.
In a rage, Ninhursag scolds him terribly and leaves.
The gods are in fear, and Enki feels pain in eight parts of his body.
With the help of a clever fox, the gods summon Ninhursag and force her to cure Enki.
She does this by creating eight divine beings in turn – one for each part of Enki's body that is affected by the disease.
It is noted that there is a direct connection between the name of each deity and a specific part of Enki's body.
The final lines of the poem give reason to consider these eight deities as the children of Enki, whose life and fate are determined by Ninhursag.
This myth has no analogues in Middle Eastern mythology, except for the idea of a golden age, which was widely spread, and the theme of incest between father and daughter.
The same theme is reflected in Greek mythology – let's remember the relationship between Saturn and Vesta, as Milton says about them: The red haired Vesta was burning with love for Saturn.
Even though she was his daughter, no one saw shame in that.
However, we do not have a clue to the interpretation of the details of this myth.
Professor Thorkild Jacobsen says that this myth tries to find a causal connection between disparate phenomena and events, but this connection is causal only in the poetic sense of the word.
Although, if plants are considered as a product of soil and water, we can still trace this connection, albeit with some stretch.
However, at the end of the story, it turns out that the deities born to cure Enki have no internal connection either with the earth that gives them life, or with water.
The myth nevertheless shows that, although the Babylonians borrowed a lot from Sumerian mythology, the Semitic mind could not perceive many of its elements.
The myth of Dumuzi and Enkimdu Of great interest is another Sumerian myth, which seems to echo in the story of Cain and Abel, only without its tragic end.
This myth, in fact, concerns the centuries old rivalry between the agricultural and pastoral way of life.
It tells that Inanna (or Ishtar) must choose a husband for herself.
There are two applicants: the shepherd god Dumuzi (or Tammuz) and the peasant god Enkimdu.
Inanna's brother Utu, the sun god, prefers Dumuzi, but Inanna herself sympathizes with Enkimd.
Dumuzi is persistent and says that he has everything that Enkimdu has to offer, and even more.
Enkimdu tries to appease Dumuzi and offers him all sorts of gifts, but Dumuzi is firm in his decision to win Inanna and obviously succeeds in his intention, since in other myths he appears as Inanna's husband.
It makes sense to cite here the final lines of the myth in Kramer's retelling.
Enkimdu says: O shepherd, why do you need this quarrel?
O shepherd, why do you start it?
Why do you compare me to yourself?
Let your sheep eat grass, Let your sheep graze in my meadows, Let them eat grass in the fields of Zabalam And all your flocks drink Water from my river Unun.
Dumuzi says: I am a shepherd, and you are a peasant, Do not interfere with my family life, O Enkimdu, as a friend I ask you.
Enkimdu answers him: I will bring you wheat and beans, I will bring you beans.
And the virgin Inanna, what is so pleasant to you, the Virgin Inanna…
I'll get it for you.
When we look at the Hebrew myths, we will see that the myth of Cain and Abel traces the features of older myths, and it is quite possible that Dumuzi's refusal of all the gifts offered to him by God the farmer is nothing more than the original version of Yahweh's refusal of the gifts offered to him by Cain.
An important figure in Akkadian mythology is the hero Gilgamesh, who, according to the Epic of Gilgamesh, is two thirds god and one third man.
But it also belongs to Sumerian mythology.
Three Sumerian myths included in Kramer's "Ancient Texts of the Middle East" contain episodes involving Gilgamesh.
It should be noted that in the list of Sumerian kings, Gilgamesh is the fifth king of the Uruk dynasty, the second dynasty that ruled after the flood (according to Sumerian mythology).
The first of these texts, entitled "Gilgamesh and Agga", reflects the struggle for primacy that existed between the ancient Sumerian cities.
It tells about the conflict between Gilgamesh of the Uruk dynasty and Agga, the last king of the Kish dynasty, the first dynasty to rule after the flood.
Most of the poem has not reached us, but, apparently, it contains a story about Aggi's demand to surrender Uruk to him, about the resistance of Gilgamesh, about the siege of Uruk by Aggi, and, finally, about the reconciliation of the two kings.
The gods did not interfere in this conflict, so, strictly speaking, this text is not a pure example of Sumerian mythology
It is included in the collection only because it indicates that the figure of Gilgamesh appeared in Sumerian sources.
The second text, entitled "Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living", clearly contains a mythological component that was used in the creation of the Akkadian "Epic of Gilgamesh".
Its main plot is the search for immortality, that is, a theme that runs through the entire Middle Eastern mythology.
Oppressed by the thought of the inevitability of death, Gilgamesh decides to go in search of the Land of the Living.
His friend and servant Enkidu, about whom we will learn more in the Akkadian epic, advises him to first talk about his intention with the sun god Utu.
Utu tells Gilgamesh about all the dangers, but then helps him to cross the seven mountains and reach his goal, which turns out to be the mountain where the giant Huvava lives.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut off the giant's head.
This is where the table with the text ends.
The significance of the text lies in the fact that it shows how much thoughts about death occupied the Sumerians, it is also the source from which the Babylonians drew the material to complete the story of Gilgamesh, which appeared in the Akkadian version of the myth.
The third text about Gilgamesh," The Death of Gilgamesh", develops the theme of death and the search for immortality.
Apparently, Gilgamesh had a dream interpreted by the god Enlil as follows: the gods denied people immortality, but they gave Gilgamesh fame, wealth and success on the battlefield instead.
The second part of the poem describes a funeral rite, which, according to Kramer, may shed light on the significance of the tomb found by Sir Leonard Bouli during the excavations of Ur.
It is possible that the Sumerians, like the ancient Egyptians, killed the wives and servants of the deceased king; the text itself implies that the deceased king is Gilgamesh, and ends with a sacred chant in his honor.
Now we can leave Sumerian mythology and move on to Akkadian mythology, namely Assyro Babylonian, most of which, as already noted, is based on Sumerian myths.
It should be borne in mind that the Semitic conquerors adopted cuneiform from the Sumerians and adapted it to Semitic (Akkadian) a language that is completely different from the language of the Sumerians.
Therefore, many gods of the Sumerian pantheon appear in Akkadian mythology under Semitic names.
Inanna becomes Ishtar, Utu becomes Shamash, the moon god Nanna becomes Sin.
Nevertheless, many ritual and temple terms retain their Sumerian form.
Many of the prayers and hymns were still recited in Sumerian, which remained the language of religious rituals and liturgies even after it ceased to exist in its colloquial form.
Similarly, now Latin continues to be the language of the church, although no one speaks it in everyday life for a long time.
Thus, the Akkadian versions of Sumerian myths reflect both the changed political situation (the conquest of the Sumerians by the Semites) and a completely different mentality of the Semites.
Babylonian myths For convenience, we have designated the myths described in this section as Babylonian, although many texts were written by Assyrian scribes and were kept in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.
Professor Sidney Smith says: "It is obvious that the Assyrian scribes were engaged in processing literary texts that they borrowed from the Babylonians.
They changed the style of the first dynasty of Babylon and gave these texts the form in which they were in the Assyrian library."
Assyrian gods were also worshipped in Babylon, and Assyrian religious holidays were celebrated at the same time and in the same way as in Babylon.
There are several myths or legends that we can call purely Assyrian.
For example, the legend of Sargon of Akkad, which had a very interesting history.
But mostly the myths that we will talk about have Babylonian roots and represent a Semitic development of the older Sumerian material.
We will start by getting acquainted with the Babylonian version of the three fundamental myths, which were already discussed in the previous section.
The descent of Ishtar into the underworld In both the Sumerian and Babylonian versions of this myth, no explanation is given for the reasons for Ishtar's descent into the underworld.
However, at the end of the poem, after the liberation of Ishtar, Tammuz is presented as the brother and lover of Ishtar, again without explaining how he ended up in the underworld.
The following lines make it clear that Tammuz's return to the world of the living was greeted with joy.
And only from the text included in the ritual of worship of Tammuz, we learn about the imprisonment of Tammuz in the underworld and about the desolation and despair that settled on earth during his absence.
In the Babylonian version of the myth of Ishtar's descent into the "land of no return" , there is a description of how general infertility reigned in her absence: "bulls have stopped covering cows; donkeys do not leave their seed in donkeys, and men in maidens."
With these words, the vizier of the great gods Papsukkal announces that Ishtar will not return, and the consequences of this.
The description of Ishtar's descent into the world of the dead basically coincides with the Sumerian text, but there are some differences.
When Ishtar knocks on the gates of the underworld, she threatens to tear down the gates if she is not allowed inside, and free all the dead who are in the underworld.
This is how the scene is described: O guardian of the gate, open it, Open the gate and I will enter!
If you do not open the gate, I will break the bolts and tear down the gate;
I will tear down your tower, and I will come there;
I will raise up the dead, devouring the living, so that there will be more of them than the living.
In this version of the myth, Ishtar is a more aggressive and even formidable figure than the Sumerians.
Ishtar's threat to release the dead and set them against the living reflects the Babylonians ' fear of spirits, which was a hallmark of their religion.
As in the Sumerian version, passing through each gate, Ishtar takes off some piece of clothing.
The Babylonian version, however, does not contain a description of how the terrible "eyes of death" turn Ishtar into a corpse.
Nevertheless, she does not return to earth, and Papsukkal's appeal to the gods follows.
In response to this plea, Ea (Enki in Sumerian myth) creates the eunuch Asushunamir and sends him down to Ereshkigal for a vessel of living water.
Thanks to his charm, he manages to persuade Ereshkigal to give him living water, but Ereshkigal does it very reluctantly: she orders her vizier Namtar to spray Ishtar with living water.
Ishtar is released and returns to earth, having received back all the jewelry and clothes that she gave at every gate of the underworld.
However, she must pay a ransom for her release.
Ereshkigal tells Namtar: "If she doesnot give you a ransom for herself, bring her back."
The myth does not specify what is meant by ransom, but the mention of the name of Tammuz at the end implies that it is he who should descend into the underworld.
However, there is no indication of how exactly it gets there.
We already know that there is a Sumerian myth about Enlil's descent into the underworld and that Inanna accompanied him there.
Also in the cult texts there is an indication that Enlil and Tammuz are in principle the same deity.
Therefore, it is quite natural that as the myth develops, the descent of Tammuz into the underworld becomes increasingly important and is associated with the extinction and rebirth of plant life.
When this myth eventually spread to other countries, the theme of his death and mourning for him came to the fore.
Hence Ezekiel's mention of the women of Israel mourning for Tammuz, and the myth of Venus and Adonis, the ancient Greek analogue of the myth we are considering.
The death of Baal in Ugaritic mythology may represent the earliest stage in the development of the myth.
We have already seen that in the Sumerian creation myth, all creative activity was divided among various gods, with Enlil and Enki as the main figures here.
In Babylon, the creation myth took a dominant position in the hierarchy of myths due to the fact that it was associated with the main holiday of Babylon – the New Year (or Akitu).
This myth found its embodiment in a liturgical poem, known from its opening lines as " Enuma Elish "("When above...").
The main role is assigned to the god Marduk.
It is he who defeats Tiamat, saves the "tables of fate" and performs various creative actions described in the poem.
Seven tablets with the text of the myth were discovered by a British expedition during the excavations of Nineveh.
Some of them were translated and published by George Smith in 1876.
Some scholars too hastily drew a parallel between the seven days of creation and the seven tablets with the text of the Babylonian myth and put forward the theory that the Jewish retelling of the story of the creation of the world is completely borrowed from the Babylonian myth.
We will come back to this later when we consider Jewish mythology.
Later, other parts of the text were found and thus filled in some of the gaps that existed in the myth.
Most modern scholars date this work to the beginning of the second millennium BC, the period when Babylon came to the fore among the Akkadian city states.
From the cult New Year's poem, we know that during the meeting of the New Year, the clergy twice quoted the lines of "Enuma Elish", accompanying the reading with magical rites.
Excavations at the site of the ancient city of Assur, the first capital of the Assyrian empire, have found tablets with the text of the Assyrian version of "Enuma Elish", in which the place of the Babylonian god Marduk was taken by Assur, the main god of Assyria.
In general, the Babylonian version is as follows: the first tablet begins with a description of the oldest state of the universe, when nothing existed yet except Apsu, an ocean of pure, sweet (fresh) water, and Tiamat, an ocean of salty sea water.
From their union, the gods were born.
The first pair of gods, Lahmu and Lahamu (Jacobsen interpreted these gods as silt deposited at the junction of the ocean and rivers), gave birth to Anshar and Kishar (the horizon line of the sea and sky in the interpretation of the same scientist).
In turn, Anshar and Kishar gave birth to Anu, the god of heaven, and Nudimmud or Ea, the god of earth and water.
Here there is a certain difference from the Sumerian tradition.
Enlil, whose activity is already familiar to us from Sumerian mythology, is replaced by Ea, or Enki, who in Babylonian mythology is designated as the god of wisdom and the source of magic.
Ea gives birth to Marduk, the hero of the Babylonian version of the myth.
However, even before the birth of Marduk, the first conflict arises between the progenitor gods and their offspring.
Tiamat and Apsu are annoyed by the noise created by the younger gods, and they confer with their vizier Mummu, thinking about how to destroy them.
Tiamat is not particularly keen on destroying his own children, but Apsu and Mummu develop a plan.
However, their intention becomes known to the younger gods, and this naturally worries them.
However, the wise Ea comes up with his own plan: he casts a sleep spell on Apsu, kills him, blinds Mummu and puts a cord in his nose.
Then he builds a sacred monastery and calls it "Apsu".
Marduk is born there, followed by a description of his beauty and extraordinary strength.
The first tablet ends with a description of the preparation for a new conflict between the older and younger gods.
The older children reproach Tiamat for being calm when Apsu was killed.
They manage to "stir up" her and take measures to destroy Anu and his pomo shchnikov.
She forces Kinga, her firstborn, to lead the attack, equips him and gives him the "tables of fate".
Then she gives birth to a horde of terrible creatures, such as the scorpion man and the centaur, whose image we see on Babylonian seals and boundary stones.
She puts Kinga at the head of this horde and prepares to avenge Apsu.
The second table describes how the Assembly of gods perceives the news of the upcoming attack.
Anshar is alarmed and, thinking, tears his thigh.
At first, he reminds Ea of his previous victory over Apsu and offers to deal with Tiamat in the same way; but Ea either refuses to do this, or he simply fails to defeat Tiamat; at this very point the text is interrupted, and it is not quite clear what happened to Ea.
The council of the gods then sends An armed Anu to convince Tiamat to abandon her intentions, but he also fails to do this.
Anshar suggests that the mighty Marduk be entrusted with this task.
Marduk's father Ea advises him to agree to perform this task, and he agrees, but on the condition that he will be given full and unconditional "power at the council of the gods", that his word will be decisive in determining the fate.
This is the end of the second table.
The third table once again repeats the decision made by the gods, and ends with a description of the feast, where Marduk officially receives the power that he demanded.
The fourth table begins with a description of the presentation of the symbol of royal power to Marduk.
The gods demanded from him proof that he has sufficient strength to cope with the task entrusted to him.
To do this, he makes his mantle disappear by his will, and then reappear again.
The gods were satisfied and declared: "Marduk is the king."
Then Marduk is armed for battle; his weapons are a bow and arrows, lightning, and a net held by four winds at the corners; he fills his body with flame and creates seven terrible hurricanes; he gets into his cart drawn by a storm, and goes against Tiamat and her horde.
He challenges Tiamat to a duel; he throws a net to capture her, and when she opens her mouth to swallow him, rides into it on an evil wind and hits her with an arrow right in the heart.
Her assistant demons run, but get caught in the net.
Their leader Kingu is also caught and tied up.
Marduk then takes the "tables of fate" from Kingu and ties them to his chest, thereby emphasizing his supremacy over the gods.
After that, he divides the body of Tiamat in two; he places one half above the ground like the sky, strengthens it on poles, puts guards.
Then he builds Esharra, the dwelling of the great gods, after the model of Ea – Apsu's dwelling, and forces Anu, Enlil and Ea to settle there.
This is the end of the fourth table.
The fifth tablet is too fragmentary for us to learn from it information about the first steps in the structure of the universe, but its initial lines indicate that Marduk created the calendar first of all (this has always been one of the first duties of the king).
He determined the months of the year and their sequence in accordance with the phases of the moon.
He also defines three earthly "paths" – the path of Enlil in the northern heavens, the path of Anu in the zenith and the path of Ea in the south.
The planet Jupiter should observe the celestial order of things.
The sixth tablet tells about the creation of man.
Marduk declares his intention to create man and make him serve the gods.
On Ea's advice, it was decided that the leader of the rebels, Kingu, should die in order to create people in his image and likeness.
So, Kingu is executed, and people are created from his blood who must "free the gods", that is, perform actions related to the implementation of temple rites, and get food for the gods.
Then the gods build for Marduk the great temple of Esagil in Babylon with the famous "ziggurat".
At the command of Anu, they proclaim the fifty great names of Marduk.
Their enumeration takes up the rest of the poem.
This is the plot of the Babylonian creation myth.
It clearly traces the Sumerian basis.
However, those elements that are scattered across several Sumerian myths are brought together in the Enuma Elish and represent a coherent whole.
We have no evidence that various Sumerian myths were ever part of the ritual.
The poem "Enuma Elish" became a ritual myth with magical power and playing a vital role in the Babylonian New Year holiday, in connection with the dramatic embodiment of the plot about the death and resurrection of the gods.
The third of our fundamental myths is the myth of the flood.
In this case, the somewhat fragmentary Sumerian myth was significantly expanded, and the Babylonian version of the flood myth became part of the"Epic of Gilgamesh".
We will deal directly with the Babylonian version of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" a little later, but the myth of the flood is connected with the" Epic of Gilgamesh " as part of the hero's adventures.
The problem of death, disease and the search for immortality was practically absent in Sumerian mythology, but it is very noticeable in Semitic myths.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it appears to Gilgamesh when his friend Enkidu dies, which we will talk about later when considering other parts of the epic.
Now we are more interested in the connection between the epic and the myth of the flood.
After describing the death of Enkidu and Gilgamesh's grief for his friend, the myth tells us that Gilgamesh was shocked by the idea that he, too, was mortal.
"When I die, wonot I be like Enkidu?
Fear settled in me.
Fearing her, I wander through the desert."
The only mortal who managed to escape death and find the secret of immortality was Gilgamesh's ancestor Utnapishtim.
This is the Babylonian equivalent of Ziusudra, the Sumerian hero of the flood legend.
Gilgamesh decides to go in search of his ancestor to uncover the secret of immortality.
He is warned about the dangers that lie in wait on the way.
He is told that before he reaches his goal, he will have to cross the Mashu Mountains and the river of death.
Only the god Shamash could do such a thing.
Nevertheless, Gilgamesh overcomes all obstacles and comes to Utnapishtim.
The text is interrupted just at the place where their meeting is described.
When the text becomes legible again, we read that Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh that the gods have kept the secret of life and death for themselves.
Gilgamesh asks him how he managed to achieve immortality.
In response, Utnapishtim tells him the story of the flood.
It is written on the eleventh tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
This is the most complete and well preserved part of the epic, which is recorded on twelve tablets.
This myth was widely known in the Ancient East.
This is confirmed by recently discovered fragments of Hittite and Hurrian versions of this myth.
Utnapishtim warns Gilgamesh that the story he is going to tell him is "the secret of the gods".
Utnapishtim describes himself as a man from Shuruppak, the oldest of the cities of Akkad.
Ea secretly informs him that the gods have decided to destroy all the sprouts of life on earth by sending a flood on it.
At the same time, nothing is said about the reasons for this decision.
Ea tells Utnapishtim to build an ark, to which he must bring "the offspring of all living things on earth".
The myth gives the size and shape of the ship.
Judging by this description, the ship was shaped like a cube.
Utnapishtim asks Ea how he should explain his actions to the people of Shuruppak, and Ea says that he should say that he angered Enlil, and he expelled him from his land.
Utnapishtim says to them: "Now I will go down to the very bottom, where I will live with my lord Ea."
Then he says that Enlil will send down abundance on them.
Thus, the inhabitants are deceived about the intentions of the gods.
The following is a description of the process of building the ship and loading it: "Everything I had" I loaded there: I put all the silver on the ship;
And he brought all the gold;
And I drove all God's creatures there.
As well as family and relatives.
And from the fields, and from the steppe, I brought All the bugs there;
And he brought all the craftsmen to the ship.
Then a description of the storm is given in colors.
Adad thunders with thunderclaps; Nergal demolishes the gates that hold back the pressure of the waters of the upper ocean;
The Anunnaki raise their torches to " ignite the earth with their fire."
The gods themselves are alarmed by what is happening and, like dogs, cowardly cling to the wall of the heavenly house.
Ishtar, who apparently incited the gods to destroy people, regrets what she did, and the gods echo her.
The storm rages for six days and nights.
On the seventh day, it subsides.
Utnapishtim looks out and sees a devastated plain in front of him: "All the people have turned into clay."
The ship docks on Mount Nizir.
Utnapishtim waits for seven days and sends a pigeon, which returns without finding shelter.
Then he sends a swallow flying, but it also returns.
Finally, he sends out a raven, which finds food and does not come back.
Utnapishtim releases all those gathered there from the ship and makes a sacrifice to the gods.
The gods smell the fragrance and, like flies, flock to the place of sacrifice.
Ishtar comes, touches his necklace made of lapis lazuli, and vows never to forget what happened.
She reproaches Enlil for having decided to destroy her people.
Then Enlil appears.
He is furious that one of the people was allowed to escape death.
Ninurta reproaches Ea for betraying the secret of the gods.
Ea argues with Enlil, defending Utnapishtim.
Enlil concedes and grants Utnapishtim and his wife the immortality that the gods possess.
He commands that from now on they will live far away at the mouth of rivers.
This is the end of the story about the flood.
The remainder of this tablet and the entire twelfth tablet are dedicated to and stories about Gilgamesh.
Although excavations in Mesopotamia have proved that in ancient times Ur, Kish and Uruk suffered from terrible floods more than once, there is still no reason to believe that any of these floods flooded the whole country, in addition, floods occurred at different times and were of different strength.
Nevertheless, this myth is based on the fact of an unusually strong flood, although it was associated with funeral rituals and the idea of seeking immortality.
However, there is no convincing evidence that the myth of the flood, like the myth of creation, has become a ritual myth.
Now we will proceed to the description of other Assyro Babylonian myths that have been found in various graves discovered by archaeologists in recent years.
The epic of Gilgamesh is a wonderful literary work, which includes the myth of the flood, is partly a myth, partly a saga.
It describes the adventures of the semi mythical king of the city of Uruk, who is listed in the Sumerian chronicle of kings as the fifth king of the first dynasty of Uruk, who allegedly ruled for one hundred and twenty years.
In ancient times, this work was extremely popular in the Middle East.
Fragments of the translation of this text into the Hittite language, as well as fragments of the Hittite version of this work, were found in the archives of Bogazkey.
During the excavations carried out by one of the American expeditions to Megiddo, fragments of the Akkadian version of the epic were discovered.
It is worth quoting Professor Speizer's words about this work: "For the first time in history, such a meaningful narrative about the hero's exploits has found such a noble expression.
The size and scale of this epic, its purely poetic power determine its timeless appeal.
In ancient times, the influence of this work was felt in a variety of languages and cultures."
The Akkadian version consisted of twelve tablets.
Most of the fragments of these tablets were kept in the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh.
The eleventh tablet, on which the myth of the flood is recorded, is best preserved.
The epic begins with a description of the strength and qualities of Gilgamesh.
The gods created him a superman with extraordinary height and strength.
He was considered two thirds God and one third man.
However, the noble inhabitants of Uruk complain to the gods that Gilgamesh, who should be the guide of his people, behaves arrogantly, like a real tyrant.
They implore the gods to create a being like Gilgamesh, with whom he could measure his strength, and then peace will reign in Uruk.
The goddess Aruru sculpts a figure of Enkidu, a savage nomad, out of clay, giving him superhuman strength.
He eats grass, makes friends with wild animals and goes to water with them.
He destroys the traps that are set by hunters, and rescues wild animals from them.
One of the hunters tells Gilgamesh about the character and strange habits of the savage.
Gilgamesh tells the hunter to take the harlot from the temple to the watering hole, where Enkidu drinks water with wild animals, so that she tries to seduce him.
The hunter obeys the order, and the woman lies waiting for Enkidu.
When he comes, she shows him her charms, and he is seized with a desire to possess her.
After seven days of lovemaking, Enkidu comes out of oblivion and notices that some changes have occurred in him.
Wild animals run away from him in horror, and the woman tells him: "You have become wise, Enkidu; you have become like a God."
Then she tells him about the glory and beauty of Uruk and about the power and glory of Gilgamesh; she begs him to throw off his fur clothes, shave, anoint himself with incense, and leads him to Uruk to Gilgamesh.
Enkidu and Gilgamesh compete in strength, after which they become best friends.
They swear eternal friendship to each other.
On this
