Sumerian mythology. Sumerian creation myth Sumerian mythology

The first Sumerian settlements emerged around 4000 BC. The largest of these cities were Eridu, Nippur, Kish, Lagash, Uruk, Ur and Umma. Their population has created one of the richest cultures in the history of mankind in the Euphrates-Tigris basin. The main creators of this great culture were the Sumerians. Already in the third millennium BC, they built wonderful cities, irrigated the soil with the help of an extensive network of irrigation canals, their craft flourished, they created magnificent monuments of art and literature. The Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites and Arameans, who later founded their states in Mesopotamia and Syria, were students of the Sumerians and inherited great cultural values from them. Until the middle of the 19th century, we had only scanty and even absurd information about the culture of these peoples. Only archaeological excavations carried out on a large scale in Mesopotamia have revealed to us the greatness and wealth of these peoples. Mighty cities such as Ur, Babylon and Nineveh were dug up, and thousands of tablets were found in the royal palaces, speckled with cuneiform, which we have already managed to read. According to their content, these documents are divided into historical chronicles, diplomatic correspondence, treaties, religious myths and poems, among which is the most ancient epic of humanity, dedicated to the Sumerian national hero Gilgamesh. As the cuneiform writing was deciphered, it became clear that the Bible, which for centuries was considered the original creation of the ancient Jews, allegedly created by the inspiration of God, traces its roots to the Mesopotamian tradition, that many private details and even whole legends are more or less borrowed from the rich treasury. Sumerian myths and legends.

Almost all written sources, which can be used to judge the cosmology and theology of the Sumerians, date back to the end of the 3rd millennium BC, when the integral religion of Sumer was already formed, therefore, the study of earlier religious views is very difficult (the very first pictographic texts of the Uruk period and Jemdet-Nasr, dating from the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, include symbolic images of such gods as Enlil, Inanna, etc.). Its main motives were assimilated into Akkadian mythology after the conquest of Sumer in 2311 BC by the Akkadian king Sargon. The main Akkadian mythological sources date back to the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. (from earlier works, unlike the Sumerian ones, not a single one has come down to us in full). After the conquest of Mesopotamia by Assyria, Assyrian mythology inherits Akkadian mythology (with the replacement of the names of the gods). However, apparently, these myths were spread not only through military campaigns, since their traces are found in the west, for example, Ugarit.

The famous archaeologist George Smith read on cuneiform tablets a whole Babylonian poem about the creation of the world, known as the Enuma Elish, which outwardly has nothing to do with the biblical legend. The content of this mythological epic, of course with large abbreviations, can be stated as follows. In the beginning, there was only water and chaos reigned. The first gods were born from this terrible chaos. Over the centuries, some gods decided to establish order in the world. This angered the god Abzu and his wife Tiamat, the monstrous goddess of chaos. The rebels united under the leadership of the wise god Ea and killed Abzu. Tiamat, depicted as a dragon, decided to avenge her husband's death. Then the gods of order under the leadership of Marduk in a bloody battle killed Tiamat, and her gigantic body was cut into two parts, of which one became the earth, and the other the sky. And the blood of the Abzu was mixed with clay, and from this mixture the first man emerged.

American archaeologist James J. Pritchard took the trouble to meticulously compare the two texts and found many surprising coincidences in them. First of all, the sequence of events common to both texts is striking: the emergence of the sky and celestial bodies, the separation of water from the earth, the creation of man on the sixth day, as well as the rest of God in the Bible and the joint feast of the Babylonian gods in the text "Enuma elish" on the seventh day. Scientists rightly believe that the text of the book of Genesis (Ch. 3, Art. 5).

In the seventies of the last century, a great impression was made by the discovery concerning the biblical flood. One fine day, a humble worker at the British Museum in London, George Smith, set about deciphering the cuneiform tablets sent from Nineveh and stacked in the museum's basement. To his surprise, he came across the oldest poem of humanity, describing the exploits and adventures of Gilgamesh, the legendary hero of the Sumerians. Once, while examining the tablets, Smith literally did not believe his eyes, for on some tablets he found fragments of the flood story, strikingly similar to the biblical version. As soon as he published them, a storm of protest arose from the bigots of Victorian England, for whom the Bible was a sacred, divinely inspired book. They could not reconcile themselves to the idea that Noah's story was a myth borrowed from the Sumerians. What Smith read, in their opinion, rather indicated an accidental coincidence of details. This dispute could be finally resolved only by the discovery of the missing cuneiform tablets, which, however, seemed very unlikely. But George Smith did not lay down his arms. He personally went to Mesopotamia and in the gigantic ruins of Nineveh found the missing fragments of the legend, which fully confirmed his assumption. This was evidenced by such identical details as the episodes with the raven and the dove released, the description of the mountain to which the ark stuck, the duration of the flood, as well as the moral of the legend: the punishment of mankind for sins and the salvation of a godly man. There are, of course, differences. The Sumerian Noy is called Utnapishtim, in the Sumerian myth there are many gods endowed with all human weaknesses, and in the Bible the flood brings on the human race Yahweh, the creator of the world, depicted in all the greatness of his power. The alteration of the myth in a monotheistic spirit, probably, refers to a later time, and its final religious and ethical deepening, apparently, is due to editors from priestly circles.

Creation myths

Sumerian myths:

Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld, The Myth of the Hoe, Lahar and Ashnan. As such, there are no Sumerian myths about the structure of the universe. There are only mentions that in the beginning there was a primordial endless sea. Somehow, the "universe" was born in him (the Sumerian word "an-ki" - heaven-earth). The earth appeared to be a flat disc under a domed sky. Between them was a certain substance "lel", in which the stars and other celestial bodies were located. Then plants, animals and people arose on the earth. All this was ruled by a whole pantheon of deities, outwardly similar to humans, but much more powerful and powerful. Such superhuman immortal beings were called dingir, which translates as god. The primeval paradise was on the island of Dilmun (the poem "Enki and Ninhursag").

Babylonian myths:

"Enuma elish" (X century BC): In the beginning there was only water and chaos reigned. The first gods were born from this terrible chaos. Over the centuries, some gods decided to establish order in the world. This angered the god Abzu and his wife Tiamat, the monstrous goddess of chaos. The rebels united under the leadership of the wise god Ea and killed Abzu. Tiamat, depicted as a dragon, decided to avenge her husband's death. Then the gods of order under the leadership of Marduk in a bloody battle killed Tiamat, and her gigantic body was cut into two parts, of which one became the earth, and the other the sky. And the blood of the Abzu was mixed with clay, and from this mixture the first man emerged.

Bible:

The first book of Genesis (Genesis 1: 1-8), in particular: "And the Lord God created man from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul". (Gen. 2: 7)

There is a noticeable difference in the words "clay" and "dust" from which the first man was made. There is also a more serious difference - in Mesopotamia, the "abyss" was represented by a personified pair of male and feminine: Apsu and Tiamat, their copulation was considered the beginning of creation. In the late Jewish religion (c. 7th century BC), which was finally formed after the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity, Israel sees creation not as a struggle, but as an act of one God. In Canaan, creation is also described as a struggle between Baal, the king of the gods, and the eternal dragon of chaos, called Leviathan (Latanu) or the Sea (Yammu). The title "king of the gods" is applied in the Psalter to the Hebrew god Yahweh.

In the Old Testament, this symbol of chaos is mentioned several times, while terms such as "serpent", "dragon" or "monster" are used to designate it, as well as "Rahab", "Leviathan" and "Sea" (for example, Psalm 73, 13-14; 88, 10; Job 3, 8, where the "day" means the "Sea" (Job 41; Isa. 27: 1; 51: 9; Am. 9: 3). In Christianity, this image is associated with and the "beast" of the Apocalypse, the story of the destruction of which ends very eloquently: "and the sea is no more" (Rev. 21: 1).

Differences between polytheistic religions and monotheism

The polytheist viewed creation as a struggle between various forces of nature, and the established world order as a harmony of many wills. It was believed that a certain principle subject to the world order, which even the gods followed, was set during creation. Humanity had its own destiny or destiny, which existed even before it, humanity, actually appeared. At the same time, the biblical faith did not proceed from similar principles of world order and from the idea of the inevitability of soulless predestination. This world order is not something fixed and eternal; God enters into a struggle with the world that has departed from him, and therefore the current picture of the world should not be considered final. At the same time, it is necessary to mention the polytheism of the ancient Iranian religion Mazdaism (see), whose influence on Judaism cannot be overlooked, in which the outcome of the struggle between the forces of "good" and "evil" depends on the "righteous" actions of people. Since the Jewish religion is a much later work, the Israeli vision of man is also fundamentally different from the polytheistic ideas of the ancient peoples. A person has high dignity and value, since he has been given the right to be a creature responsible for his own actions, which generally reflects the total course of universal human morality.

Creation of seven days

Babylonian myths:

The sequence of events: the emergence of the sky and celestial bodies, the separation of water from the earth, the creation of man on the sixth day, as well as the joint feast of the Babylonian gods in the text "Enuma elish" on the seventh day.

Bible: See Gen. one.

Remnants of Polytheism in Judaism

Despite the traditional belief that the Jewish religion has always been monotheism, many traces of polytheism existed in it already during the time of the cult of Yahweh.

"... and you will, like gods, know good and evil"(Gen. 3: 5) - a remnant of the original polytheism - "gods" is used in the plural.

"2 Then the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and took them as their wives, which one chose."... (Genesis 6: 2)

"Sons of God" - this is the definition given by the Babylonian myth to the rebellious gods, since they were indeed the sons of the god Abzu and the goddess Tiamat.

The Creator's Stay Above Water in the Days of Creation

Ugaritic epic (Phenicia):

The text, according to which God sat on the water like a bird on eggs, and hatched life out of chaos.

Bible:

"The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water."(Gen. 1: 2) - here the "spirit of God" incubates life on earth.

Mention of (dragon) Leviathan

The Ugaritic Poem:

The god Baal defeats the seven-headed dragon Leviathan.

Bible:

"On that day the Lord will smite with his sword, heavy, and large and strong, Leviathan, a serpent running straight, and Leviathan, a snake that bends, and he will kill the monster of the sea."... (Isa. 27: 1).

The monster also appears as Rahab. The Book of Job, one of the psalms, and also the Book of Isaiah mention the conflict between Yahweh and Rahab. In the time of the Sumerians, Enlil was considered the victorious god who defeated the dragon. When Mesopotamia was conquered by the Akkadian (Babylonian) king Hammurabi, the god Marduk became the winner of the monster. The Assyrians replaced it with the name of their tribal god Ashur. An echo of the myth can be traced in Christianity - the legend of St. George killing the dragon.

About the creation of humans

Sumerian myths:

"Enki and Ninmahh", according to which the gods fashioned a man from the clay of the underground world ocean Abzu and determined his fate - he had to work for the good of the gods.

Babylonian myths:

"Enuma elish": the gods of order, under the leadership of Marduk, killed Tiamat in a bloody battle, and her gigantic body was cut into two parts, of which one became the earth and the other the sky. The blood of the Abzu was mixed with clay, and from this mixture the first man emerged.

Bible:

"And the Lord God created man from the dust of the earth"(Gen. 2: 7) (molded from clay).

On the fall of man

Sumerian myths:

In the myth of the god Enki, paradise is depicted as a garden full of fruit trees, where people and animals live in peace and harmony, without suffering and disease. It is located in the Dilnum area, in Persia. The biblical paradise is undoubtedly located in Mesopotamia, for four rivers originate in it, of which two are the Euphrates and the Tigris. The Sumerian hero Gilgamesh went to the island of paradise, where the favorite of the gods Utnapishtim lived, in order to receive from him the plant of life. When he returned across the river, one of the gods, not wishing that man would receive immortality and become equal to the gods, took the form of a serpent and, emerging from the water, plucked a magic plant from Gilgamesh. By the way, in this Sumerian legend one should, in all likelihood, look for an explanation why, from the time of Abraham, for many centuries, the Jews depicted Yahweh in the form of a serpent.

Bible:

The serpent seduces Adam and Eve to taste the fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; in the Mesopotamian myth, the god Ea is the insidious adviser of people. God expelled Adam and Eve not only for disobedience, but also for fear that they would reach for the fruit of the tree of life and, like God, gain immortality:

“And the Lord God said: behold, Adam became like one of us (here again the remnant of polytheism), knowing good and evil; began to live forever "(Genesis 3:22).

About the creation of woman

In Sumerian myth:

The god Enki had a pain in his rib. In the Sumerian language the word "rib" corresponds to the word "ti". The goddess who was called to heal the rib of the god Enki is called Ninti, that is, "the woman from the rib." But ninti also means to give life. Thus, Hinti can equally mean "woman from the rib" and "woman who gives life".

Bible:

"21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep on the man; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and closed that place with flesh. 22 And the Lord God made a woman out of a rib taken from a man, and brought her to a man. 23 And the man said, Behold, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called a wife, for she was taken from [her] husband. "(Genesis 2: 21-23)

Tower to heaven and confusion of languages

In Babylonian the name of the capital "Babylon" means "the gates of God" (bab-ilu), and in the Hebrew language the similar-sounding word "balal" means the process of mixing. As a result of the sound similarity of both words, Babylon could easily become a symbol of linguistic chaos in the world, especially since it was a multilingual city.

Bible:

"Let us mix their languages there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other."(Gen. 11: 7)

The flood and the story of salvation in the ark

Babylonian myth:

Unfortunately, the tablet on which the Sumerian myth was recorded was not completely preserved, and the beginning of the myth was repulsed. We can make up for the meaning of the missing fragments in its later Babylonian version. It is inserted, like a story, into the epic about Gilgamesh "About everything that has seen ...". The first lines to be read tell about the creation of man, about the divine origin of royal power and about the founding of the five oldest cities.

Further, we are talking about the fact that at the council of the gods it was decided to send a flood to the earth and destroy all of humanity, but many gods are upset by this. Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, appears to be a pious and God-fearing king who is in constant expectation of divine dreams and revelations. He hears the voice of a god, most likely Enki, informing him of the intention of the gods to "destroy the human seed."

The further text was not preserved due to a large crack, but, judging by the Babylonian analogue, in it Ziusudra receives detailed instructions on building a huge boat in order to escape from imminent disaster.

The text is renewed with a vivid description of the flood. For seven days and seven nights, a storm rages on earth so strong that even the gods are afraid of it. Finally, the sun god Utu appeared in the sky, who illuminated and warmed the earth. Ziusudra prostrated himself before him and sacrificed oxen and sheep.

The last lines of the myth describe the deification of Ziusudra. He received as a gift "life like a god", that is, immortality, and together with his wife was transferred to the divine paradise country of Dilmun.

The Babylonian version of the flood myth exists in the form of an independent legend about Atrahasis and in the form of the above-mentioned insert in the epic of Gilgamesh. In the last story, the name of the hero sounds like Utnapishti. It is almost a literal translation into Akkadian of the name of Ziusudra - noise. "who has found life for long days." In Akkadian, Utnapishti means "found breath".

The myth of the flood was preserved both in the form of the well-known biblical legend about Noah, and in the writings of the historian Berossus, who wrote in Greek. Only Berossus calls Ziusudra Xisutros, and the god who warned him of the danger was Kronos.

The first 37 lines are split.
I

The extermination of my people ...
I created the goddess Ninthu ...
Indeed, I will return it to her.
I will bring the people back to their places of residence.
May their cities be built, may their troubles be dispelled.
Bricks in all their cities to sacred places
Verily, let them deliver.
Let them be gathered in holy places.
Holiness of water - fire extinguishing - let it be
Established in righteousness.
Rituals, mighty Essences will truly be perfect,
Let water irrigate the earth, I will give them a blissful peace. "

When An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag
They created a black-headed people,
The living creatures in the ground began to multiply violently,
All kinds of four-legged creatures
the valleys were covered with a pattern worthy.

More than 30 lines destroyed.

"I want to direct the labors of their efforts.
Let the Builder of the Country dig the ground and lay the foundations. "

When the Essences of royalty descended from heaven,
A mighty crown and royalty have lowered the throne from heaven,
He performed their rites, he is mighty Essences
Made perfect.
He founded villages and towns.
He named them, he distributed shares to them.

The first of them is Eredug, he gave it to the leader Nudimmud.
The second - to the priestess of heaven - he gave Badtibira to her.
The third is Laragues, he gave it to Pabilsag.
The fourth is Sippar, he gave it to the hero Utu.
The fifth is Shuruppak, he gave it to the court.
He gave names to these cities, he appointed them capitals.
He didn't stop the spills, he dug in the ground,
He brought them water.
He cleared small rivers and drew irrigation channels.

40 lines destroyed

In those days Ninthu ... his creations ...
Bright Inanna starts crying for her people.
Enki himself consults with himself.
An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag,
The gods of the universe swore by the name of An,
In the name of Enlil they swore.
In those days, Ziusudra, the anointed of God ...
I built an oval canopy for myself ...
In obedience, reverently, with the humble,
In righteous words ...
Every day he stood bowing ...
It is not a dream, then the output of his utterances ...
To curse heaven and earth.

In god's Kiura ... the wall ...
Ziusudra, standing at the edge, hears ...
"The edge of the wall on the left, come on, listen!
The edge of the wall, I'll tell you my word, take my word!
Be attentive to my instructions!
The flood will sweep over the whole world
To destroy the seed of humanity.
The final decision, the word of God's meeting ...
The solution spoken by An, Enlil, Ninhursag,
Tsarity, its interruption ... "

About 40 lines, destroyed.

All evil storms, all hurricanes, they all came together.
The flood is raging over the whole world.
Seven days. Seven nights.
When the flood raged over the country,
A spiteful wind in a high wave
Tossed a huge ship
The sun rose, lit heaven and earth,
Ziusudra made a hole in his huge ship,
And the sunbeam penetrated the huge ship.
King Ziusudra
Fell down before the sun-Utu.
The king slaughtered the bulls, slaughtered many sheep.

About 40 lines were destroyed.

They swore by the life of the heavens and the life of the earth,
An and Enlil have sworn to this by the life of heaven and earth.
Who took refuge
So that living things rise from the earth,
So that it comes out for them.
King Ziusudra
Before An, Enlil prostrated humbly.
Enlil and Ziusudra spoke kindly.
When life, like a god, was awarded to him,
Long life, as if to God, they told him,
Then they are King Ziusudra,
Who saved the name of life, saved the seed of mankind,
They settled him in the country of transition, in the country of Dilmun, there,
Where the sun-Utu rises ...
"You..."

The end is also destroyed.

Bible: See Gen. 6.

Saving a child who was sent down the river and then became a great man

The rescue of the prince in 2316 BC in Kish (Akkadian kingdom), a coup took place and the personal cupbearer of the lugal Ur-Zababa overthrew his master. After seizing power, he began to call himself Sharrumken, which in East Semitic means "true king". Subsequently, this name was transformed into the one under which this outstanding person is well known to us - Sargon I the Ancient (2316-2261 BC). Legends say that Sargon's mother was a noble family, but immediately after his birth, she put the child in a basket and sent it along the Euphrates. The boy was found and raised by Akka's water carrier. When Sargon grew up and became a gardener, the goddess of love Ishtar drew attention to him, promising him her special favor. So the goddess's favorite got into the immediate environment of Ur-Zababa's lugal, and then ascended above the rest of the kings. Motives of the miraculous salvation of a child who was sent down the river and then became a great man are very often found in the legends of various peoples.

Bible:

Salvation of Moses by Pharaoh's daughter:
"1 Someone from the tribe of Levi went and took a wife from the same tribe. 2 The wife conceived and bore a son and, seeing that he was very handsome, hid him for three months; 3 but could no longer hide him, took a basket of reeds and tarred her asphalt and pitch, and putting the baby in it, put it in the reed by the river bank, 4 and his sister began to watch in the distance what would happen to him. 5 And Pharaoh's daughter went out to the river to wash, and her maids walked along the river bank. a basket among the reeds, and sent her maidservant to take it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby, and, behold, the child was crying [in the basket], and she took pity on him [Pharaoh's daughter] and said, This is one of the Hebrew children. 7 And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter: Shall I not go and call to you a nurse from the Hebrews, so that she nurtured the baby for you? 8 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go down. The maiden went and called the baby's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this baby and feed him to me; I I will give you payment. ”The woman took the baby and fed him. 10 And you the baby grew up, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was in her place for her son, and she named his name Moses, because, she said, I took him out of the water. "(Ex. 2: 1-10)

This is the shortest Sumerian epic poem, in addition, there is no mention of any gods in it. Apparently, this legend can be regarded as a historiographic text. The tablets with this myth were found by an expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in Nippur and date back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, being, possibly, copies of earlier Sumerian texts.

The lord of Uruk, Gilgamesh, is in a gloomy mood, tormented by thoughts of death. Y-where he decides that if he is destined to die like all mortals, then he will at least glorify his name before leaving for the "country of no return." He intends to go to distant mountains, cut down cedars there and deliver them to his homeland. Gilgamesh reveals his plans to the faithful servant Enkidu, but he advises the owner to first notify the sun god Utu, who owns that country.

The poem begins with a prologue about the divine act of creation, about the separation of earth and sky, about the overthrow of the goddess Ereshkigal into the underworld, about the battle of Enki with the monster of the lower world. The following describes a huluppu tree (possibly willow) that grew on the banks of the Euphrates. It was uprooted by the merciless south wind, but Inanna found it and planted it in her garden. She looked after him, apparently hoping to make him a throne and a bed in the future.

Beautiful Inanna, Queen of Heaven, daughter of the bright moon god Nanna, lived in a palace at the edge of heaven. As she descended to the ground, every touch of hers covered the soil with greenery and flowers. The beauty of the goddess was unmatched, and the divine shepherd Dumuzi and the divine farmer Enkimdu loved her at the same time. Both of them wooed the lovely maiden, but she hesitated and delayed with an answer. Her brother, the sun god Utu, persuaded her in every possible way to turn her eyes to the meek Dumuzi.

Once upon a time there was a gardener named Shukalletuda. He very diligently cultivated his garden, watered trees and beds, but all his efforts were in vain - the dry wind of the desert dried up the soil and plants died. Exhausted by the failures of Shukalletud, he turned his gaze to the starry skies and began to ask for a divine sign. Probably, he received the command of the gods, because by planting a sarbatu tree (origin unknown) in the garden, which extends its shadow from west to east, Shukalletuda received the desired result - all the plants in his garden bloomed in lush flowers.

Inanna, the queen of heaven, the patron goddess of Uruk, once passionately desired to exalt her city and make it the capital of all Sumer, which would contribute to her veneration and glory. She knew that the god of wisdom Enki, who lives in the underground world ocean Abzu, is in charge of all divine providences and all the foundations of the universe. He kept a hundred tablets on which the me - essence of things, the foundations of being and the mysterious institutions of life were captured. If Inanna could somehow get them, then the power of Uruk would be unsurpassed. Therefore, the goddess goes to the city of Eridu, where the entrance to the Abzu was located, to meet with Enki. Wise Enki learns that a great guest is approaching his city and sends her messenger, the two-faced Isimud, to meet her.

Once the king of Uruk, Enmerkar, planned to make a trip to Aratta and conquer the rebellious country. He threw a cry over the cities and lands, and hordes of soldiers began to flock to Uruk. Seven powerful and illustrious heroes led this campaign. Lugalbanda also joins them.

They had barely passed half the way when some strange disease attacked Lugalbanda. Weakness and pain bound the hero, he could not move his hand or foot. Friends decided that he was dead, and for a long time they thought what to do with him. In the end, they leave him on Mount Hurum, making a magnificent bed for him, leaving all sorts of food. On the way back from the hike, they are going to pick up his body and deliver it to Uruk.

For a long time Lugalbanda wanders alone in the mountains. Finally it occurred to him that if he could somehow please the wonderful eagle Anzud, he would be able to help the hero find the army of Uruk.

And so he did. I found a huge tree at the top of the cliff, in which Anzud made a nest, waited for the giant bird to go hunting, and began to please the little eaglet in every possible way. He fed him various delicacies, tinted his eyes with antimony, decorated him with fragrant juniper, and laid a crown on his head.

Unfortunately, the tablet on which the myth was written was not completely preserved, and the beginning of the myth was repulsed. We can make up for the meaning of the missing fragments in its later Babylonian version. It is inserted, like a story, into the epic about Gilgamesh "About everything that has seen ...". The first lines to be read tell about the creation of man, about the divine origin of royal power and about the founding of the five oldest cities.

Inanna, Queen of Heaven, the ambitious goddess of love and war, who married the shepherd king Dumuzi, decides to become the ruler of the lower world. Her sister Ereshkigal, the goddess of death and darkness, ruled there. Apparently the relationship between the sisters left much to be desired, since before entering the “country of no return,” Inanna gives instructions to her servant Ninshubur. They agree that if the goddess does not return within three days, then Ninshubura should go to Nippur and pray there to Enlil for her salvation. If Enlil refuses, then it was necessary to go with the same request to Ur to the god of the moon Nanna. If he did not help either, it was necessary to go to Eridu to Enki.

Sumerian Peace Creation Myth

SOME ARTICLES FROM O. ZHANAYDAROV'S BOOK "TENGRIANITY: MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT TURKS"

The Sumerians explained the origin of the universe as follows.
In the beginning there was the primordial ocean. Nothing is said about his origin or birth. It is likely that, in the mind of the Sumerians, he existed forever.
The primordial ocean gave birth to a cosmic mountain, consisting of earth combined with the sky.
Created as gods in the guise of man, the god An (Heaven) and the goddess Ki (earth) gave birth to the god of air, Enlil.
The air god Enlil separated the sky from the earth. While his father An lifted (carried away) the sky, Enlil himself sent down (carried away) the earth, his mother. S. Kramer, “History Begins in Sumer,” p. 97.
And now, for comparison, let us present the ancient Türkic version of the myth about the origin of the universe, earth and sky. This myth was recorded by Verbitsky among the Altai. Here is its content:
When there was still no earth or sky, there was only a great ocean, without borders, without end and edge. Above all this, God flew tirelessly - Tengri - by the name of Ulken - that is, big, huge. In some sources, even Kazakh, the name of this god is written Ulgen, which seems to me incorrect. Ulgen is the same as dead, Olgen. God, who is destined to give birth to life and create the universe, cannot be dead or bear the name "Deceased" ... Once in the East Kazakhstan region I had to visit an outpost called Uryl. The officers and soldiers could not explain why it was called that. I had to contact the locals. It turns out that the outpost and the aul of the same name bear the name "Or spruce", that is, an aul located high in the mountains. Almost an Eagle! And in the army, by border guards, this is all distorted to the obscure and derogatory Uryl. The same thing, I think, happened with Ulken-Ulgen, whose name was also distorted when recording in the 19th century, which was believed by the Kazakhs and Altaians themselves. Moreover, East Kazakhstan and Altai are close by.
But next to us is Ulken - the Huge, great, great Altai creator of the universe! Who can create the World if not the big and huge Ulken!
So, the Big God, Tengri Ulken, flew and flew tirelessly over the ocean of water, until some voice ordered him to grab the rock-cliff that looked out of the water. Sitting on the order from above on this cliff, Tengri Ulken began to think:
"I would like to create the World, the Universe. But this is how it should be? Whom and how should I create?" At that moment, Ak Ana - White Mother living in the water came to the surface and said to Tengri Ulken:
"If you want to create, then say the following sacred words:" I have created, basta! " "The White Mother said so and disappeared.
Tengri Ulken remembered these words. He turned to the Earth and said: "Let the Earth arise!" and the Earth came into being.
Tengri Ulken turned to Heaven and said: "Let Heaven arise" and Heaven arose.
Tengri Ulken created three fishes and placed the World created by him on the backs of these three fishes. At the same time, the World was motionless, stood firmly in one place. After Tengri Ulken thus created the World, he climbed the highest Golden Mountain, reaching the heavens, and sat there watching.
The world was created in six days, on the seventh Tengri Ulken went to bed. When he woke up, he looked around and examined what he had created.
He, it turns out, created everything except the Sun and the Moon.
Once he saw a lump of clay in the water, grabbed it, and said: “Let it be a man!” The clay turned into a man whom Tengri Ulken gave the name “Erlik”, and began to consider him his brother.
But Yerlik turned out to be an envious person, he envied Ulken, that he himself was not like Yerlik, that he was not the creator of the whole World.
Tengri Ulken created seven people, made bones for them from reeds, and made them muscles from earth and mud, and breathed life into them through their ears, and through their noses breathed mind into their heads. To lead people, Tengri Ulken created a man named Maytore and made him a khan.
In this Altai eclectic myth, various elements from different religions are collected, the influence of the Bible is most noticeable. It cannot be recognized as completely independent.
But the Sumerian theme of the great ocean and the world's mountain, created in one period, is also noticeable. We can say that the Sumerian myth about the origin of the World was edited by the Semitic biblical mythology, and the Altai (ancient Turkic) myth about the origin of the World was obtained.

Gods Itu and Inanna. Bas-relief. Around the 23rd century BC.

General ideas about the mythology of the Sumerians. Universe. Gods. Creation of man.

The Sumerians were tribes who mastered the territory of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys at the end of the 4th millennium. When the first city-states were formed in Mesopotamia, ideas about gods and deities were also formed. For the tribes, deities were patrons who personified the creative and productive forces of nature.

The very first written sources (these were pictographic texts of the late IV - early III millenniums) name the names of the gods Enlil and Inanna.

Over time, each city-state has its own special deities, cycles of myths, and also formed its own priestly traditions.

Nevertheless, there were several common Sumerian deities.

The gods Anu and Enlil. Babylonian stone. OK. 1120 BC

Enlil... The lord of the air, as well as the king of the gods and all people. He was the god of the city of Nippur, which was the center of the oldest union of the Sumerian tribes.

Enki... Lord of the oceans and underground fresh waters, later became known as the divine essence of wisdom. He was the main god of the city of Eredu, which was the most ancient cultural center of Sumer.

An... God of the sky.

Inanna... Goddess of war and love. Together with An, they were the deities of the city of Uruk.

Naina... God of the Moon, he was revered in Ur.

Ningirsu... God-warrior, who was honored in Lagash.

God Enki with the bird Anzud. OK. 23 c. BC.

The most ancient list of gods, which dates back to the 26th millennium BC. identifies 6 supreme gods: Enlil, Anu, Enki, Inanna, Nanna, Utu (the sun god).

The most typical image of the deity was presented as the image of a mother-goddess who holds a child in her arms. This meant that the patroness was fertile. She was revered under different names, for example, like Ninmah, Ninthu, Ninhursag, Damgalnuna, Mami, Mama.

The worldview of the Sumerian tribes about the origin of the universe can be found in the text "Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the underworld." The god Anu is the lord of the sky, and Enlil rules over the earth. Kura belongs to Ereshkigal. The pristine paradise is told in the myth of "Enki and Ninhursag", where this very paradise is the island of Tilmun. How man was created is most fully described in the myth of Enki and Ninmah, who mold a man from clay.

The gate of the goddess Ishtar. 7-6 centuries. BC. Iraq, Babylon.

Man was created in order to serve the gods and fulfill their will, his duties included herding cattle, cultivating the land, collecting, and also observing the cults of sacrifice.

When a person is ready, the gods reward him with fate and feast in honor of the new creation. At this very feast, Enki and Ninmah, getting a little drunk, again sculpt people, but now they get ugly things, for example, a man without sex or a woman unable to bear a child.

One of the myths about the goddesses of cattle and grain even explains the creation of man. The thing is that the Anunnaki gods are not adapted to housekeeping, so they needed people.

Sumerian mythology is riddled with myths about the creation and birth of gods, but myths about heroes are also common.

Introduction

The famous archaeologist George Smith read on cuneiform tablets a whole Babylonian poem about the creation of the world, known as "Enuma elish", which outwardly has nothing to do with the biblical legend. The content of this mythological epic, of course with large abbreviations, can be stated as follows. In the beginning, there was only water and chaos reigned. The first gods were born from this terrible chaos. Over the centuries, some gods decided to establish order in the world. This angered the god Abzu and his wife Tiamat, the monstrous goddess of chaos. The rebels united under the leadership of the wise god Ea and killed Abzu. Tiamat, depicted as a dragon, decided to avenge her husband's death. Then the gods of order under the leadership of Marduk in a bloody battle killed Tiamat, and her gigantic body was cut into two parts, of which one became the earth, and the other the sky. And the blood of the Abzu was mixed with clay, and from this mixture the first man emerged.

American archaeologist James J. Pritchard took the trouble to meticulously compare the two texts and found many surprising coincidences in them. Affects first of all the sequence of events common to both texts: the emergence of the sky and celestial bodies, the separation of water from the earth, the creation of man on the sixth day, as well as the rest of God in the Bible and the joint feast of the Babylonian gods in the text "Enuma Elish" on the seventh day. Scientists rightly believe that the text of the book of Genesis (Ch. 3, Art. 5).

In the seventies of the last century, the discovery of the biblical flood made a huge impression. One fine day, a humble worker at the British Museum in London, George Smith, set about deciphering the cuneiform tablets sent from Nineveh and stacked in the museum's basement. To his surprise, he came across the oldest poem of humanity, describing the exploits and adventures of Gilgamesh, the legendary hero of the Sumerians. Once, while examining the tablets, Smith literally did not believe his eyes, for on some tablets he found fragments of the flood story, strikingly similar to the biblical version. As soon as he published them, a storm of protest arose from the bigots of Victorian England, for whom the Bible was a sacred, divinely inspired book. They could not reconcile themselves to the idea that Noah's story was a myth borrowed from the Sumerians. What Smith read, in their opinion, rather indicated an accidental coincidence of details. This dispute could be finally resolved only by the discovery of the missing cuneiform tablets, which, however, seemed very unlikely. But George Smith did not lay down his arms. He personally went to Mesopotamia and in the gigantic ruins of Nineveh found the missing fragments of the legend, which fully confirmed his assumption. This was evidenced by such identical details as the episodes with the raven and the dove released, the description of the mountain to which the ark stuck, the duration of the flood, as well as the moral of the legend: the punishment of mankind for sins and the salvation of a godly man. There are, of course, differences. The Sumerian Noy is called Utnapishtim, in the Sumerian myth there are many gods endowed with all human weaknesses, and in the Bible the flood brings on the human race Yahweh, the creator of the world, depicted in all the greatness of his power. The alteration of the myth in a monotheistic spirit, probably, refers to a later time, and its final religious and ethical deepening, apparently, is due to editors from priestly circles.

Marduk pursues Tiamat.

Creation myths

Sumerian myths:

Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld, The Myth of the Hoe, Lahar and Ashnan. As such, there are no Sumerian myths about the structure of the universe. There is only mention that in the beginning there was a primordial endless sea. Somehow a "universe" was born in him(the Sumerian word "an-ki" is heaven-earth). The earth appeared to be a flat disc under a domed sky. Between them was a certain substance "lel", in which the stars and other celestial bodies were located. Then plants, animals and people arose on the earth. All this was ruled by a whole pantheon of deities, outwardly similar to humans, but much more powerful and powerful. Such superhuman immortal beings were called dingir, which translates as god. The primeval paradise was on the island of Dilmun (the poem "Enki and Ninhursag").

Babylonian myths:

"Enuma elish" (X century BC): In the beginning, there was only water and chaos reigned. The first gods were born from this terrible chaos. Over the centuries, some gods decided to establish order in the world. This angered the god Abzu and his wife Tiamat, the monstrous goddess of chaos. The rebels united under the leadership of the wise god Ea and killed Abzu. Tiamat, depicted as a dragon, decided to avenge her husband's death. Then gods Order under the leadership of Marduk killed Tiamat in a bloody battle, and her gigantic body was chopped into two parts, one of which became the earth and the other sky. And the blood of the Abzu was mixed with clay, and from this mixture the first man emerged.

Bible:

The first book "Genesis"(Gen. 1: 1-8), in particular: "And the Lord God created man from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul". (Gen. 2: 7)

There is a noticeable difference in the words "clay" and "dust" from which the first man was made. There is also a more serious difference - in Mesopotamia, the "abyss" was represented by a personified pair of masculine and feminine principles: Apsu and Tiamat, while their copulation was considered the beginning of creation. In the late Jewish religion (c. 7th century BC), which was finally formed after the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity, Israel sees creation not as a struggle, but as an act of one God. In Canaan, creation is also described as a struggle between Baal, the king of the gods, and the eternal dragon of chaos, called Leviathan (Latanu) or the Sea (Yammu). The title "king of the gods" is applied in the Psalter to the Hebrew god Yahweh.

Differences between polytheistic religions and monotheism

The polytheist viewed creation as a struggle between various forces of nature, and the established world order as a harmony of many wills. It was believed that a certain principle subject to the world order, which even the gods followed, was set during creation. Humanity had its own destiny or destiny, that existed even before it, humanity, actually appeared. At the same time, the biblical faith did not proceed from similar principles of world order and from the idea of the inevitability of soulless predestination. This world order is not something fixed and eternal; God enters into a struggle with the world that has departed from him, and therefore the current picture of the world should not be considered final. At the same time, it is necessary to mention the polytheism of the ancient Iranian religion Mazdaism (see), whose influence on Judaism cannot be overlooked, in which the outcome of the struggle between the forces of "good" and "evil" depends on the "righteous" actions of people. Since the Jewish religion is a much later work, the Israeli vision of man is also fundamentally different from the polytheistic ideas of the ancient peoples. A person has high dignity and value, since he has been given the right to be a creature responsible for his own actions, which generally reflects the total course of universal human morality.

Clay tablet with a fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Creation of seven days

Babylonian myths:

Bible: See Gen. one.

Remnants of Polytheism in Judaism

Despite the traditional notion that the Jewish religion has always been monotheism, in it many traces have survived that already at the time of the cult of Yahweh polytheism existed.

"... and you will, like gods, know good and evil" (Gen. 3: 5) - a remnant of the original polytheism - "gods" is used in the plural.

Also:

"Then the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and took them as their wives, whatever one chose." ... (Genesis 6: 2)

"Sons of God" - this is the definition given by the Babylonian myth to the rebellious gods as they were indeed the sons of the god Abzu and the goddess Tiamat.

The Creator's Stay Above Water in the Days of Creation

Ugaritic epic (Phenicia):

The text according to which God sat on the water like a bird on eggs, and hatched life out of chaos.

Bible:

W. Blake. hippopotamus and Leviathan... Illustration for the Book of Job.

Mention of (dragon) Leviathan

The Ugaritic Poem:

The god Baal defeats the seven-headed dragon Leviathan.

Bible:

"On that day the Lord will smite with his sword, heavy, and large and strong, Leviathan, a serpent running straight, and Leviathan, a snake that bends, and he will kill the monster of the sea." ... (Isa. 27: 1).

The monster also appears as Rahab. The Book of Job, one of the psalms, and also the Book of Isaiah mention the conflict between Yahweh and Rahab. In the time of the Sumerians, Enlil was considered the victorious god who defeated the dragon. When Mesopotamia was conquered by the Akkadian (Babylonian) king Hammurabi, the god Marduk became the winner of the monster. The Assyrians replaced it with the name of their tribal god Ashur. An echo of the myth can be traced in Christianity - the legend of St. George killing the dragon.

About the creation of humans

Sumerian myths:

"Enki and Ninmahh", by which the gods fashioned a man out of clay the underground world ocean Abzu and determined his fate - he had to work for the good of the gods.

Babylonian myths:

Enuma Elish: the gods of order, under the leadership of Marduk, killed Tiamat in a bloody battle, and her gigantic body was cut into two parts, of which one became the earth and the other sky. The blood of the Abzu was mixed with clay, and from this mixture the first man emerged.

Bible:

"And the Lord God created man from the dust of the earth" (Gen. 2: 7) (molded from clay).

On the fall of man

Sumerian myths:

In the myth of the god Enki, paradise is depicted as a garden full of fruit trees, where people and animals live in peace and harmony, without suffering and disease. It is located in the Dilnum area, in Persia. The biblical paradise is undoubtedly located in Mesopotamia, for four rivers originate in it, of which two are the Euphrates and the Tigris. ... The Sumerian hero Gilgamesh went to the paradise island, where the favorite of the gods Utnapishtim lived, in order to get the plant of life from him. When he returned across the river, one of the gods, not wishing that man would receive immortality and become equal to the gods, took the form of a serpent and, emerging from the water, plucked a magic plant from Gilgamesh. By the way, in this Sumerian legend one should, in all likelihood, look for an explanation why, from the time of Abraham, for many centuries, the Jews depicted Yahweh in the form of a serpent.

Bible:

About the creation of woman

In Sumerian myth:

The god Enki had a pain in his rib. In the Sumerian language the word "rib" corresponds to the word "ti". The goddess who was called to heal the rib of the god Enki is called Ninti, that is, "the woman from the rib." But ninti also means to give life. Thus, Hinti can equally mean "woman from the rib" and "woman who gives life".

Bible:

Tower to heaven and confusion of languages

Bible:

"Let us mix their languages there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other." (Gen. 11: 7)

The flood and the story of salvation in the ark

Babylonian myth:

Unfortunately, the tablet on which the Sumerian myth was recorded was not completely preserved, and the beginning of the myth was repulsed. We can make up for the meaning of the missing fragments in its later Babylonian version. It is inserted, like a story, into the epic about Gilgamesh "About everything that has seen ...". The first lines to be read tell about the creation of man, about the divine origin of royal power and about the founding of the five oldest cities.

The text is renewed with a vivid description of the flood. For seven days and seven nights, a storm rages on earth so strong that even the gods are afraid of it. Finally, the sun god Utu appeared in the sky, who illuminated and warmed the earth. Ziusudra prostrated himself before him and sacrificed oxen and sheep.

The first 37 lines are split.

More than 30 lines destroyed.

"I want to direct the labors of their efforts.
Let the Builder of the Country dig the ground and lay the foundations. "

40 lines destroyed

III

About 40 lines, destroyed.

About 40 lines were destroyed.

The end is also destroyed.

Bible: See Gen. 6.

Mask of Sargon the Elder

Saving a child who was sent down the river and then became a great man

Bible:

Salvation of Moses by Pharaoh's daughter:

"1 Someone from the tribe of Levi went and took a wife from the same tribe. 2 The wife conceived and bore a son and, seeing that he was very handsome, hid him for three months; 3 but could no longer hide him, took a basket of reeds and tarred her asphalt and pitch, and putting the baby in it, put it in the reed by the river bank, 4 and his sister began to watch in the distance what would happen to him. 5 And Pharaoh's daughter went out to the river to wash, and her maids walked along the river bank. a basket among the reeds, and she sent her maid to fetch it. 6 She opened and saw the baby; and, behold, the child is crying [in the basket]; and she took pity on him [Pharaoh's daughter] and said, This is one of the Hebrew children. 7 And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I not go down and call to you a nurse from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the baby? 8 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go down. The girl went and called the baby's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this baby and feed him to me; I'll give you a fee. The woman took the baby and fed him. 10 And the baby grew up, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was in her place for her son, and she called his name Moses, because, she said, I took him out of the water. "(Ex. 2: 1-10)