Sumerian Religion and Deities :
The major deities in the Sumerian
pantheon included An, the god of the
heavens; Enlil, the god of wind
and storm; Enki, the god of water and
human culture; Ninhursag, the goddess
of fertility and the earth; Utu,
the god of the sun and justice; and his
father Nanna, the god of the moon.
During the Akkadian period
and afterward, Inanna, the goddess of
sex, beauty, and warfare was widely
venerated across Sumer and appeared in
many myths.
In short, it can be described as
polytheistic religion, with a strong
belief in the efficacy and necessity of
ritual, which expressed human
dependence on the divine while at the
same time enabling a reciprocal
relationship between the two. The
principal members of the pantheon were
anthropomorphic and had joint roles, on
a local level being identified with
particular cities and on a regional
level, contributing to the
cultural continuity that united Sumer.
The pantheon of gods remained fluid
and, paralleling the human form
of deities, was organised on the same
principles as human institutions. It
was this fluidity that enabled
the pantheon to develop, to found its
speculation about the physical
universe, and subsequently expand
to include deities of pastoral and
arable farming, and then of skills such
as metal working and writing, as well
as of objects symbolising political
status, a divine patronage thus
stimulating and reinforcing socio-
economic and political change.
Inanna (or Inana) was the paramount
goddess of the Sumerian pantheon. As a
goddess of fertility of the natural
world, she headed a long line of
historical female deities concerned
with fertility of the
natural world. Also as a warrior
goddess, was the daughter of the moon
goddess Nana, and sister of Utu, the
god of justice; and Ereshkigal, the
goddess of the underworld. In an
alternative tradition, she is
considered as the daughter of An.
The significance of her position within
the spectrum of female Mesopotamian
deities was highly unusual: while she
was a fertility goddess, she was never
considered as the “mother goddess” nor
as an exemplary wife. Her independence
and strong spirit was well coveted
across all of Asia Minor, traits well-
illustrated in survivng cuneiforms. A
number of famous mythological stories
and legends have been written on her,
that narrate her infamous descent to
the underworld and those that reveal
her relationship with her husband, the
shepherd king Dumuzid.
What is particularly noteworthy is that
the first identified named author known
to humanity was the chief priestess of
Inanna, called Enhaduanna, who produced
books of priase and chronicles
detailing the life of the goddess. As a
popular figure in literature and
mythology, she is often shown armed or
with a star or a rose. The gradual
extension of her role to the patron
goddess of wool, meat and grain and
ultimately to the whole of the natural
world, is revealing of the socio-
economic changes that took place in the
Sumerian civilisation. In
later civilisations, Inanna takes form
of Ishtar in Akkadian and Assyrian
context, Sauska in the Hittite culture
and Astarte in the Phoenician religion.
(SY)
- (OF.203)
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