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Undid revision 772253847 by Katolophyromai Unsourced layman's retelling from memory
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Grouped around the main sanctuary, there arose temples and chapels to the gods and goddesses who formed his court, so that Ekur became the name for an entire sacred precinct in the city of Nippur. The name "mountain house" suggests a lofty structure and was perhaps the designation originally of the [[ziggurat|staged tower]] at Nippur, built in imitation of a mountain, with the sacred shrine of the god on the top.
Grouped around the main sanctuary, there arose temples and chapels to the gods and goddesses who formed his court, so that Ekur became the name for an entire sacred precinct in the city of Nippur. The name "mountain house" suggests a lofty structure and was perhaps the designation originally of the [[ziggurat|staged tower]] at Nippur, built in imitation of a mountain, with the sacred shrine of the god on the top.


In the Sumerian version of the [[flood story]], the causes of the flood are unclear due to the fact that portion of the tablet recording the beginning of the story has been destroyed. What is clear about the beginning from the surviving portions of the tablet is that a mortal known as [[Ziusudra]] manages to survive the flood, likely through the help of the god [[Enki]], although the exact nature of how he survives is unclear, due to the relevant portion of the tablet being destroyed. The tablet begins in the middle of the description of the flood. The flood lasts for seven days and seven nights before it subsides. Then, [[Utu]], the god of the Sun, emerges. Ziusudra opens a window in the side of the boat and falls down prostrate before the god. Ziusudra sacrifices an ox and a sheep in honor of Utu. Unfortunately, at this point, the text breaks off again. When it picks back up, Enlil and An are in the midst of declaring Ziusudra immortal as an honor for having managed to survive the flood. The remaining portion of the tablet after this point is destroyed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition|date=1961|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|pages=97-98|isbn=0-8122-1047-6|accessdate=26 March 2017}}</ref>
In the Sumerian version of the [[flood story]], the causes of the flood are unclear due to the fact that portion of the tablet recording the beginning of the story has been destroyed. A mortal known as [[Ziusudra]] survives the flood through the help of the god [[Enki]]. Enlil thereafter proclaims Ziusudra immortal as an honor for having managed to survive the flood.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition|date=1961|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|pages=97-98|isbn=0-8122-1047-6|accessdate=26 March 2017}}</ref>


As Enlil was placed in command by [[Anu|An]], the god of [[Sky|the heavens]], he held sway over the other gods who were assigned tasks by his agent and would travel to Nippur to draw in his power. He is thus seen as the model for [[kingship]].<ref>Kingship in the Mediterranean world, p. 5162a Grottanelli and Mander, Encyclopaedia of Religion, second edition 2005. Thomson Gale.</ref> Enlil was assimilated to the north "Pole of the Ecliptic".<ref>Jeremias, Alfred 1913. ''Handbuch der altorientalischen Geisteskultur''. Leipzig. p. 74.</ref> His sacred number name was 50.<ref>''Reallexikon der Assyriologie III''. Götterzahlen. p. 500.</ref>
As Enlil was placed in command by [[Anu|An]], the god of [[Sky|the heavens]], he held sway over the other gods who were assigned tasks by his agent and would travel to Nippur to draw in his power. He is thus seen as the model for [[kingship]].<ref>Kingship in the Mediterranean world, p. 5162a Grottanelli and Mander, Encyclopaedia of Religion, second edition 2005. Thomson Gale.</ref> Enlil was assimilated to the north "Pole of the Ecliptic".<ref>Jeremias, Alfred 1913. ''Handbuch der altorientalischen Geisteskultur''. Leipzig. p. 74.</ref> His sacred number name was 50.<ref>''Reallexikon der Assyriologie III''. Götterzahlen. p. 500.</ref>

Revision as of 05:48, 26 March 2017

Enlil
God of Agriculture, Breath, Wind, Spatial dimensions
Genealogy
ParentsAnu and Uraš
ConsortNinlil
ChildrenNinurta, Nanna/Suen, Nisaba, Pabilsag, Namtar, Other Children Enbilulu (some versions)
Part of a series on
Ancient
Mesopotamian religion
Chaos Monster and Sun God
Chaos Monster and Sun God
Primordial beings
Seven gods who decree
Other major deities
Minor deities
Demigods and heroes
Spirits and monsters
Tales
Terms

Enlil (/ˈɛŋlil/; Sumerian: dEN.LIL 𒂗𒇸, EN = Lord + LÍL = Wind, "Lord (of the) Storm")[1] is the god of agriculture, breath, wind, and loft and breadth (height and distance).[2] It was the name of a chief deity (ranked "Lord (of the) Command")[2] listed and written about in Sumerian religion, and later in Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian), Hittite, Canaanite, and other Mesopotamian clay and stone tablets.

Origins

The myth of Enlil and Ninlil discusses when Enlil was a young god, he was banished from Ekur in Nippur, home of the gods, to Kur, the underworld for seducing a goddess named Ninlil. Ninlil followed him to the underworld where she bore his first child, the moon god Sin (Sumerian Nanna/Suen). After fathering three more underworld-deities (substitutes for Sin), Enlil was allowed to return to the Ekur.[3][4]

Enlil was known as the inventor of the mattock (a key agricultural pick, hoe, ax or digging tool of the Sumerians) and helped plants to grow.[5]

Cosmological role

Enlil, along with An, Enki, and Ninhursag were gods of the Sumerians.[6]

By his wife Ninlil or Sud, Enlil was father of the moon god Nanna/Suen (in Akkadian, Sin) and of Ninurta (also called Ningirsu). Enlil is the father of Nisaba the goddess of grain, of Pabilsag who is sometimes equated with Ninurta, and sometimes of Enbilulu. By Ereshkigal Enlil was father of Namtar.

In one myth, Enlil gives advice to his son, the god Ninurta, advising him on a strategy to slay the demon Asag. This advice is relayed to Ninurta by way of Sharur, his enchanted talking mace, which had been sent by Ninurta to the realm of the gods to seek counsel from Enlil directly.

Cultural histories

Enlil is associated with the ancient city of Nippur, sometimes referred to as the cult city of Enlil.[7] His temple was named Ekur, "House of the Mountain."[8] Such was the sanctity acquired by this edifice that Babylonian and Assyrian rulers, down to the latest days, vied with one another to embellish and restore Enlil's seat of worship. Eventually, the name Ekur became the designation of a temple in general.

Grouped around the main sanctuary, there arose temples and chapels to the gods and goddesses who formed his court, so that Ekur became the name for an entire sacred precinct in the city of Nippur. The name "mountain house" suggests a lofty structure and was perhaps the designation originally of the staged tower at Nippur, built in imitation of a mountain, with the sacred shrine of the god on the top.

In the Sumerian version of the flood story, the causes of the flood are unclear due to the fact that portion of the tablet recording the beginning of the story has been destroyed. A mortal known as Ziusudra survives the flood through the help of the god Enki. Enlil thereafter proclaims Ziusudra immortal as an honor for having managed to survive the flood.[9]

As Enlil was placed in command by An, the god of the heavens, he held sway over the other gods who were assigned tasks by his agent and would travel to Nippur to draw in his power. He is thus seen as the model for kingship.[10] Enlil was assimilated to the north "Pole of the Ecliptic".[11] His sacred number name was 50.[12]

At a very early period prior to 3000 BC, Nippur had become the centre of a political district of considerable extent. Inscriptions found at Nippur, where extensive excavations were carried on during 1888–1900 by John P. Peters and John Henry Haynes, under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania, show that Enlil was the head of an extensive pantheon. Among the titles accorded to him are "King (of) Lands", "King (of) Heaven and Earth", "Father of the Gods", and "Lord (of the) Command".

Family tree

An
NinḫursaĝEnki
born to Namma
Ninkikurga
born to Namma
Nisaba
born to Uraš		Ḫaya
NinsarNinlilEnlil
NinkurraNingal
maybe daughter of Enlil		NannaNergal
maybe son of Enki		Ninurta
maybe born to Ninḫursaĝ
Baba
born to Uraš
UttuInanna
possibly also the daughter of Enki, of Enlil, or of An		Dumuzid
maybe son of Enki		UtuNinkigal
married Nergal
MeškiaĝĝašerLugalbandaNinsumun
EnmerkarGilgāmeš
Urnungal


See also

References

  1. ^ Halloran, John A.; "Sumerian Lexicon: Version 3.0"; December 10th, 2006 at http://sumerian.org/sumerlex.htm
  2. ^ a b Clay Tablets from Sumer, Babylon and Assyria, Earth-history.com. Neo-Sumerian inscriptions clay, Babylonia, 1900–1700 BC, image with translations on display.
  3. ^ "Enlil and Ninlil: translation". Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Oxford University. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  4. ^ Jacobsen, Thorkild (Apr 1946). "Sumerian Mythology: A Review Article". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 5 (2): 128–152. doi:10.1086/370777. JSTOR 542374.
  5. ^ Hooke, S. H. (2004). Middle Eastern Mythology. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0486435510.
  6. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah, "The Sumerian Deluge Myth: Reviewed and Revised", Anatolian Studies, Vol. 33, (1983), pp. 115-121. JSTOR 3642699
  7. ^ William W. Hallo, "Review: Enki and the Theology of Eridu", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 116:2 (Apr.–Jun. 1996), p. 231–234
  8. ^ Reallexikon der Assyriologie II, p. 385.
  9. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah (1961). Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-8122-1047-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  10. ^ Kingship in the Mediterranean world, p. 5162a Grottanelli and Mander, Encyclopaedia of Religion, second edition 2005. Thomson Gale.
  11. ^ Jeremias, Alfred 1913. Handbuch der altorientalischen Geisteskultur. Leipzig. p. 74.
  12. ^ Reallexikon der Assyriologie III. Götterzahlen. p. 500.
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