[20], The name Raphael or Rapha-El, meaning 'God has healed' in Ugarit, is attested to in approximately 1350 BCE in one of the Amarna Letters EA333, found in Tell-el-Hesi from the ruler of Lachish to 'The Great One' [21]. A rarer form, . Whether this was a long-standing belief or a relatively new one has long been the subject of inconclusive scholarly debate about the prehistory of the sources of the Tanakh and about the prehistory of Israelite religion. In this capacity he became known as the god of justice and . [10] Among the Hittites, El was known as Elkunirsa. Cronus or Kronos is known for having swallowed his children, until his youngest child, Zeus, forced him to regurgitate. Reply Quote. Philo of Byblos (c. 64141 AD) was a Greek writer whose account Sanchuniathon survives in quotation by Eusebius and may contain the major surviving traces of Phoenician mythology. Under the names Zeus, the storm-god of the Greeks, and Baal, the West Semitic storm-god, he was unmasked by Jesus and identified as Satan. Its meaning is unknown, possibly simply emphasis. Cross (1973, p.19) points out that Ptah is often called the Lord (or one) of eternity and thinks it may be this identification of l with Ptah that lead to the epithet 'olam 'eternal' being applied to l so early and so consistently. Saturn is often connected to Ninurta, god of war and hunt. She was known to accompany her favorite king in battle in the shape of the planet Venus, the morning star, or the evening star. Utu was also known as the god of truth and justice because he was deemed to be able to see everything from his vantage point. He is the first and most distant ancestor, theologically conceived as the God of Heaven in its "transcendental obscurity". Before that, the androgynous goddess of sex and war, Inanna (called Ishtar in Akkadian), the patron deity of Uruk, conveyed rulership to leaders in southern Sumer where Enlil was apparently considered a foreign god. Likewise, the Sumerian god Anu was represented by the same pointed star inside a solar disk. 268-278. As the Chief Deity of Hathra, he was known as "Shamiyah." Note the horns in the photo of the sculpture at left. Of the four planes of existence in Sumerian mythos, the Netherworld, otherwise known as Kigal or Irkalla, was by far the most depressing. The Sumerian sky god Anu and the highest semitic deity El were considered the same personage in the northern regions of Mesopotamia 6. 12th celestial body found in our solar system, ruled by Anu and spouse Antu. . Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Hittite texts. 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. One of the four gods to whom creation was attributed, Enki was primarily the god of fresh water, and was said to have filled the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with both water and marine life. However, they were gigantic in size, and caused humans to feel a physical unease and fear should one look at them. Saturn: A very ancient god, the father of many of the others. He dwells in a tent according to some interpretations of the text which may explain why he had no temple in Ugarit. It' s a free PDF paper (28 pp) on the planets in Mesopotamian sources (i.e., the actual cuneiform astronomical texts also known as the stuff Zecharia Sitchin hides from his readers). 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. His other children, depending on the version of the myth, were Enki, Nikikurga, Nidaba, Baba, and even Inanna and Kumarbi. In Canaanite mythology, El builds a desert sanctuary with his children and his two wives, leading to speculation[by whom?] [25], In a Hurrian hymn to l (published in Ugaritica V, text RS 24.278), he is called 'il brt and 'il dn, which Cross (p.39) takes as 'l of the covenant' and 'l the judge' respectively.[26]. ), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. The fragmentary text R.S. [7]Rients de Boer, Amorites in the Early Old Babylonian Period (Dissertation: Leiden University, 2014), p. 69. "The Phoenicians every year sacrificed their beloved and only begotten children to Kronos, or Saturn; and the Rhodesians often did the same." In northwest Semitic use, l was a generic word for any god as well as the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being "the god". She then proceeded to turn it into a living, breathing human with the help of seven goddesses including Ninmah, who played the role of a midwife. For the Canaanites and the ancient Levantine region as a whole, l or Il was the supreme god, the father of mankind and all creatures. The Moon, the Sun, and the planets were viewed as gods or manifestations of gods. One of the other two occurrences in the Tanakh is in the "Song of Moses", Exodus 15:11a: Who is like you among the Gods ('lim), Yahweh? Saturn god is a common character in Roman mythology. In fact, Sumerian poetry referred to him as being greatly concerned with human civilization as a whole. 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. Inanna was regarded as the most important of all female deities of the Ancient Sumerian pantheon. Hendel, R. S. (1992). It is unclear as to who her husband was, but it was either the god of war Ninurta or the god of plants Abu. 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. In the semitic religion, El, just like his Greek equivalent Kronos, was associated with the planet Saturn. The symbol that denotes her name is the same as the one used to designate Engur, her mate and the personification of the mythical underground freshwater ocean known as Abzu. 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. Source:https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-eg8e2-12bc395A whistleblower recently came up with a powerful statement. Over time, garbage, debris, and earth were piled up to lift the town above the surrounding marsh. [28] Though Ugarit had a large temple dedicated to Dagon and another to Hadad, there was no temple dedicated to l. With oaths of Heaven and Ancient Earth. There was no place in Greek tradition for a Great Goddess equal to Kronos but the Mistress of Animals became Artemis (Diana in Roman tradition).] He also had relationships with Damkina, and Ninsar and Ninkurra who were his daughters. Four Sumerians, whose names we do have, fall somewhere between myth, legend, and history. That phrase with m-enclitic also appears in Phoenician inscriptions as late as the fifth century BCE. While most religions today are firmly rooted in the idea of a perennial god who transcends the very concept of time, the Sumerians believed that their primary gods came from the union between the goddess Nammu the Sumerian goddess of what was considered the primordial sea or salt water bodies and her partner Engur, who was not a deity but a personification of what was assumed to be an underground ocean of freshwater called the Abzu or Apsu. [42] It is Yahweh who is prophesied to one day battle Leviathan the serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea in Isaiah 27:1. Ownership of Nippur was proof that Enlil wanted him to be king. Enlil was known as the god of rain, wind, and storm, and it was he who separated heaven from Earth and made way for life as we know it, also becoming the god of earth in the process. They include Ugaritic ilu, pl. At sunrise ama was known to emerge from his underground sleeping chamber and take a daily path across the skies [ Image 1 ]. This myth nicely rounds up Inannas personality:lustful, violent, and vengeful. Its symbol is based on the Sumerians' primordial god of wisdom and waters, Enki [4] with the head and upper body of a mountain goat, and the lower body and tail of a fish. When Amorites first encountered the civilizations of Akkad and Sumer in the twenty-fourth century BC, the two most popular deities among the newcomers were the moon-god, Erah (also spelled Yarikh; called Sn in Akkad and Nanna in Sumer) and the god, under the Amorite name El. This is documented by the Amorite personal names logged in official Sumerian and Akkadian records: If we then take a look at the 43 most popular Amorite names (in this case: Amorite names occurring three times or more). Seven celestial objects share a property borne by no other in the sky. It appears that the moon-god was considered the god of the Amurru-landin other words, the god of the Amorites: We may reasonably conclude, therefore, that the god worshiped by the nomadic Amurru-peoples in the Balikh-Harran region by the epithets Amurru and Bl ad, at the time of the Mari and Old Babylonian texts, was a lunar deity. So, possession of Nippur was crucial for an ambitious ruler in Sumer. But to each of the other gods he gave two wings upon the shoulders, as meaning that they accompanied Cronus in his flight. The Hebrew form () appears in Latin letters in Standard Hebrew transcription as El and in Tiberian Hebrew transcription as l. If El was the high God of AbrahamElohim, the prototype of YahvehAsherah was his wife, and there are archaeological indications that she was perceived as such before she was in effect "divorced" in the context of emerging Judaism of the 7th century BCE. The highest echelon of gods in Sumerian religion were known as the Anunnaki. The supreme deity was represented by a black cube. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, il mlk is understood[13] to mean "l the King" but il hd as "the god Hadad". She was referred to as the patroness of doctors, and was said to be in possession of medical equipment such as scalpels, herbal medicine, and bandages. Answer (1 of 3): From their writing the Sumerians knew a lot about the solar system. The only consistent aspect of any visual portrayals is his symbol, which was a horned cap. Similarly, it is argued inconclusively whether l Shaddi, l 'lm, l 'Elyn, and so forth, were originally understood as separate divinities. She was the embodiment of the primeval sea, which played a major part in the creation of the world, and also considered the mother goddess. [citation needed]. Also at Delos, that association of Tyrians, though mostly devoted to Heracles-Melqart, elected a member to bear a crown every year when sacrifices to Poseidon took place. With more than 3,000 Sumerian gods and goddesses, the pantheon is immense. Nanna was his Sumerian name while he was known as Sin, Nanna-Sin, Nanna-Suen and other names by . He scattered stars and planets around the sky, and together with his wife Ningal, gave birth to Inanna and her twin brother Utu. In the Tanakh, 'elhm is the normal word for a god or the great God (or gods, given that the 'im' suffix makes a word plural in Hebrew). Capricorn is said to be ruled by the planet Saturn. Accessed April 18, 2023. l (rendered Elus or called by his standard Greek counterpart Cronus) is not the creator god or first god. 3. l is the father of Persephone and of Athena (presumably the goddess 'Anat). The god was later known as Shamash. was universally the god of heaven, Enlil - the god of air and earth . [7](Emphasis added). The Second Coming of Saturn Part 13: Bashan, Land of the Serpent. Though Sanchuniathon distinguishes Poseidon from his Elus/Cronus, this might be a splitting off of a particular aspect of l in a euhemeristic account. But the form 'El also appears, mostly in poetic passages and in the patriarchal narratives attributed to the Priestly source of the documentary hypothesis. Like his son Utu, Nanna was determined to be a judge of good and bad due to his all-seeing position. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Shamash was the son of Sin. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. She was also a patron of Uruk, where she was later known as Ishtar in the Babylonian version of events. To cite this article in an academic-style article or paper, use: James Hardy, "The 10 Most Important Sumerian Gods", History Cooperative, April 22, 2022, https://historycooperative.org/sumerian-gods/. For example, the people of Uruk revered the god An and the goddess Inanna, while the residents of Nippur considered Enlil to be their patron deity, and Eridu saw Enki being held as most important. Psalm 29, understood as an enthronement psalm, begins: A Psalm of David. El Elyon also corresponds to the Sumerian Anu, as well. It is said that Enlil himself betrothed the two divine beings. An was said to be both the brother and husband of Ki, the goddess of the Earth, and was at some points considered the de facto father of all creation. As the sun fills the entire sky with light, ama oversaw everything that occurred during the . 1. In Tablet 5 of the Enuma Elish it may be the pole star, which at the time was Thuban or possibly Kochab (Ursa Minor). In Judges 9:46 we find 'l Brt 'God of the Covenant', seemingly the same as the Ba'al Brt 'Lord of the Covenant' whose worship has been condemned a few verses earlier. They also required food, water, and shelter much like the people who worshiped them. tures and ages have added to it. 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). The Sumerian god Enki is more like the serpent of Genesis and Lucifer. . 24.258 describes a banquet to which l invites the other gods and then disgraces himself by becoming outrageously drunk and passing out after confronting an otherwise unknown Hubbay, "he with the horns and tail". In most Babylonian texts it is identified with the planet Jupiter. 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. The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) l came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. Sumerians said one year on planet Nibiru, a sar, was equivalent in time to 3600 earth years. 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. Ninurta was an ancient Sumerian and Akkadian god of War. 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. An additional name, which is only attested in literary texts, is Dilimbabbar. The functions of different gods tended to vary by city states, but of the Great Seven. 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. 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