Myths of the Sumerians

This book invites you to lift the thousand-year veil of mystery over the life and beliefs of the legendary Sumerians who, as we all remember from school, lived in the “cradle of civilization”—between the Tigris and the Euphrates. You will learn what the civilization of the people of Mesopotamia was like, understand how Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad, and Assyria are connected, meet the pantheon and bestiary of Sumerian mythology, and discover one of humanity’s oldest literary works—“The Epic of Gilgamesh.”

You are in for gripping, dangerous, and mysterious tales of Inanna, the dual goddess of love and war; of the personified Fate appearing in the guise of the demon of death Namtar; of the land of the dead from which there is no return, where the god Nergal and the goddess Ereshkigal rule; of terrifying demons and vampires, and of benevolent protective spirits—the winged bulls (shedu), the most recognizable symbol of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Contents:
Chapter 1. Riddles of Sumerian civilization

The ancient state and its people

Sumerian cities

Sumerian writing

Chapter 2. Sumerian beliefs

“The Nippur school canon”

Cosmological and theological beliefs of the Sumerians

Fate and the afterlife

Secrets of the underworld

The link with nature

Chapter 3. The gods’ pantheon

The formation of the Sumerian pantheon

Where the gods live

Igigi and Anunnaki

Intermediaries between gods and people

The paradise island

Chapter 4. The creation of humankind

The first man

The universal flood

Chapter 5. The unclean power of the Two Rivers

Demons and spirits

The Sumerians and magic

Chapter 6. Characters of Sumerian mythology

Significant figures of the Sumerian pantheon

Enlil

Enki

Anu

Alu

Anzud

Antu

Arabu

Ashshur

Bau

Mother goddess

Ki

Ninhursag

Nammu

Ninmah

Damgalnuna

Nintu

Gestinanna

Gibil

Gilgamesh

Gula

Damu

Dumuzid

Zababa

Zi-Usudra

Inanna

Ishkur

Ishtaran

Lamashtu

Lilith

Lugalbanda

Marduk

Nabu

Namtar

Nanaya

Nanna

Nergal

Ninazu

Ningal

Ningirsu

Ningishzida

Ninkasi

Ninsun

Ninurta

Nisaba

Pazuzu

Tiamat

Utu

Shala

Sherida

Enkidu

En-Merkar

Ereshkigal

Other characters of the pantheon

Chapter 7. Literature of the people of the Two Rivers

“Enki and Ninmah”

“Lahar and Ashnan”

“Enlil and Ninlil”

“The Descent of Inanna to the Underworld”

“The Death of Dumuzid”

“Inanna and Shukaletuda”

The flood myth

“Enki and world order”

Heroic poems

“En-Merkar and the High Priest of Aratta”

“En-Merkar and Ensukushsiranna”

“Lugalbanda and the mountain of Hurum”

“Lugalbanda and En-Merkar”

“The Epic of Gilgamesh”

“Gilgamesh and Agga”

“Gilgamesh and the mountain of Immortality”

“Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven”

“Gilgamesh and the Underworld”

“The Death of Gilgamesh”

“Enuma Elish”

Chapter 8. Sumerian wisdoms