The Godchecker Holy Database currently contains 149 Mesopotamian deity names these are listed below. Whoever the Shasu were, they were not Hebrew and the Habiru seem to be Canaanites who simply refused to conform to the customs of the land, not a separate ethnic group. Yahweh, according to Amzallag, was transformed from one god among many to the supreme deity by the Israelites in the Iron Age (c.1200-930 BCE) when iron replaced bronze and the copper smelters, whose craft was seen as a kind of transformative magic, lost their unique status. Nimintabba was a minor goddess who belonged to the entourage of Nanna, the tutelary god of Ur. In Isaiah 54:16, Yahweh is explicitly mentioned as the creator of both the copperworker and his workSuch an involvement of Yahweh is never mentioned elsewhere for other crafts or human activities. The name Yahweh (yah-WEH) occurs more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament. Aralu A nether-world that is expansive, but dark and gloomy. An Eblaite goddess of pre-Semitic and pre-Hurrian origin. This article was most recently revised and updated by. Ninkarrak, most likely of Akkadian, rather than Sumerian, origin, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 07:56. Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great (d. 530 BCE) of the Persians who allowed the Jewish leaders to return to their homeland in 538 BCE. [31], Iron Age I corresponds approximately to the Judges period of the Bible. Enkimdu is described as the "lord of dike and canal". The words at the top of the list are the ones most associated with sumerians, and as you go down the relatedness becomes more slight. Before the Greeks exalted Zeus or the Egyptians praised Osiris, the Sumerians worshipped the Anunnaki. [60] His worship presumably involved sacrifice, but many scholars have concluded that the rituals detailed in Leviticus 116, with their stress on purity and atonement, were introduced only after the Babylonian exile, and that in reality any head of a family was able to offer sacrifice as occasion demanded. Ura is the earliest attested consort of Anu, as evidenced by Sumerian texts dating to the third millennium BCE. Thank you! In Mesopotamia", "Agriculture as Civilization: Sages, Farmers, and Barbarians", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Mesopotamian_deities&oldid=1141283478, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with dead external links from July 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai (My Lord), which was translated as Kyrios (Lord) in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In the earliest Biblical literature Yahweh is a storm-god typical of ancient Near Eastern myths, marching out from a region to the south or south-east of Israel with the heavenly host of stars and planets that make up his army to do battle with the enemies of his people Israel: [17], There is none like God, O Jeshurun [a name for Israel] And the origin of the name Yahweh isn't a . Hahharnum and Hayyashum were the Mesopotamian adaptation of Hurrian words for heaven and earth, In Mesopotamia, the cult of Herakles was syncretised with the cults of Nergal and the Persian deity, Humban was an Elamite god associated with the concept of kingship and divine protection (, abrtum was a goddess understood as either "she of. Although the Bible, and specifically the Book of Exodus, presents Yahweh as the god of the Israelites, there are many passages which make clear that this deity was also worshipped by other peoples in Canaan. Tweet. This is not to say that he was not represented in some symbolic form, and early Israelite worship probably focused on standing stones, but according to the Biblical texts the temple in Jerusalem featured Yahweh's throne in the form of two cherubim, their inner wings forming the seat and a box (the Ark of the Covenant) as a footstool, while the throne itself was empty. Terracotta figurines of Athena are known from Seleucid Babylon. Nanshe was a goddess associated with the state of Lagash, Ninazu was a god regarded as either the son of. The story of Atram-hasis, the Mesopotamian "Noah," is the original story of the flood, in which the god Enlil decides to destroy humanity, because the people annoy the gods with their noise. These ancient gods of Mesopotamia had wings, wore horned caps, and possessed the ability to . We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. Gazbaba was a goddess closely associated with Nanaya, like her connected with erotic love. The names of the principal gods of Akkad and Sumer, c.3100 BC. and our Ereshkigal, Ninazu, Ningishzida, Tishpak; Bamu ("venomous snake") was a mythical horned snake who played an apotropaic role in Mesopotamian religion. After watching an episode of Rick and Morty recently that was clearly taking a shot at Christianity, I was left with a question from something that was said in the show. The monotheism of the Hebrew Scriptures would later be appropriated by the adherents of Christianity who would continue veneration of Yahweh, eventually known as Jehovah and then, simply, as God, and Islam would also develop the deity under the name of Allah (the God) beginning in the 7th century CE. For example: Howard the Duck: Inverted; Pazuzu is the patron god of the Doucheblade.Played straight with the other Mesopotamian gods, whose followers were . As the name of the supreme being was considered too holy to be spoken, the consonants YHWH were used to remind one to say the word 'adonai' (lord) in place of the god's name, a common practice throughout the Near East in which epithets were used in referencing a deity. [38], With the notable exception of Yahweh himself, the deities worshipped by Israel were also Canaanite. Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. Suhurmau was a creature likely imagined simply as a type of fish by the Sumerians, but as a fish-goat hybrid by the Akkadians. 03 Mar 2023. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. A prominent place in the Mesopotamian pantheon was occupied by healing goddesses. Akkad - The northern part of Mesopotamia. [34] During this period, Israel was a confederation of tribes,[35] each of which was (by then) a territorial entity with boundaries and rights. Silili is an obscure goddess who was apparently the mother of all horses. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, [9] but that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself. The Sumerian script is known as cuneiform, which, incidentally, is a relatively modern term originating from the early 18 th century. Dagan was the main god of the middle Euphrates area, regarded as a god of prosperity. Sumer was the southern part. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he possesses attributes typically ascribed to weather and war deities, fructifying the land and leading the heavenly army against Israel's . From the sky the stars fought. 1. He was also associated with water, as he dwelt in Abzu, also spelled Apsu - the freshwater ocean believed to be beneath the earth. Enki and Ninki were two primordial beings who were regarded as the first generation among the. Pazuzu is a demonic god who was well known to the Babylonians and Assyrians throughout the first millennium BC. Cite This Work ", Ennugi was a god regarded as "lord of ditch and canal", Enten is a shepherd deity in the Sumerian poem. Though scholars know the Anunnaki as the gods of ancient Mesopotamia, fringe theorists believe they are ancient alien invaders from the planet Nibiru. [29] This ties together various points of data, such as the absence of Yahweh from Canaan, his links with Edom and Midian in the biblical stories, and the Kenite or Midianite ties of Moses,[28] but its major weaknesses are that the majority of Israelites were firmly rooted in Palestine, while the historical role of Moses is highly problematic. TEXT CUT BOOK Keep Your Card in Tins Poilet Books will be issued only on presentation of proper library cards. The name "Yahweh" means "He Who Makes That Which Has Been Made" or "He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists". Allani, in Mesopotamia known as Allatum, was the Hurrian goddess of the underworld. In Roman times, following the Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of its Temple, in 70CE, the original pronunciation of the god's name was forgotten entirely. Mandanu was a divine judge, attested after the Old Babylonian period, but absent from older god lists such as the so-called Weidner and Nippur lists. Anatu The name is derived from 'Anat,' the Semitic goddess of fertility and war and hunting. This fit with the theory that Yahweh was a desert god whom the Hebrews adopted in their exodus from Egypt to Canaan. Model of Herod's Renovation of the Temple of Jerusalem, Although the Bible presents Yahweh as the god of the Israelites, there are many passages which make clear that this deity was also worshipped by other peoples in. Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea are a set of twin gods who were worshipped in the village of Kisiga, located in northern. He was brought into the pantheon by the Amorites in the third millennium BC. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was true and could explain to me like Im five one way or the other? Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. The Canaanites, like all ancient civilizations, worshipped many gods but chief among them was the sky-god El. Yahweh originates out of Canaan though he is described [sic] concerning his theophany with Baal. [12] In these texts, he is often mentioned alongside traditional Graeco-Roman deities and Egyptian deities. While in texts from cities such as Nippur Ura was an earth goddess, in Dilbat it was the name of an unrelated male god, husband of Ninegal, who served as the city's tutelary deity. View Rude Words. Yahweh, name for the God of the Israelites, representing the biblical pronunciation of YHWH, the Hebrew name revealed to Moses in the book of Exodus. Yahweh is the name of the state god of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and, later, the Kingdom of Judah. Amzallag notes that the Edomites, Kenites, Moabites, and Midianites all worshipped Yahweh to one degree or another and that there is evidence the Edomites who operated the mines at Timnah converted an earlier Egyptian temple of Hathor to the worship of Yahweh. At this time, scholars have established, the older works which eventually became the Hebrew Scriptures were revised to reflect a monotheistic belief system among the Israelites far earlier than was actually practiced. Abraham's initial community was developed by his son Isaac and then his grandson Jacob (also known as Israel). [67] There is no universally accepted explanation for such aniconism, and a number of recent scholars have argued that Yahweh was in fact represented prior to the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah late in the monarchic period: to quote one study, "[a]n early aniconism, de facto or otherwise, is purely a projection of the post-exilic imagination". ", Ninhursag ("Mistress of the mountain ranges". Kus is a god of herdsmen referenced in the, Kusu was a goddess of purification, commonly invoked in Akkadian, Lagamar, whose name means "no mercy" in Akkadian. Ki was a Sumerian goddess who was the personification of the earth. 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