SUMERIAN MYTHOLOGY: Innovative or Simply Post-Modern?
Overview
The Sumerians inhabitants were the first literate civilization of ancient Mesopotamia, now called the Middle East. They practiced and obeyed the Sumerian religion. Priests and religious authorities largely dominated the kingdom of Sumer until the beginning of the Kingship. Kings subsequently substituted this role, but priests continued to influence Sumerian society. Sumerian temples were early on simplistic one-room buildings, which were often constructed on high platforms. These temples were converted into massive pyramid structures, with sanctuaries on the top. The Sumerians assumed that by a sequence of celestial births, the world came into being. The myths from this period are some of the oldest we know!
The Grand Assembly of the Anunnaki
The main goddesses within the Sumerian mythology are:
- An, the god of the heavens,
- Enlil, the god of air and earth,
- Enki, the god of water and earth,
- Ninhursag, the goddess of fertility,
- Utu, the god of the sun and justice,
- Nanna, the god of the moon.
Religious Traditions
Religious traditions of later Mesopotamia people were strongly influenced by Sumerian faith and are integrated into the mythologies and religions of Middle Eastern cultural groups. Another interesting fact is that comparative mythology scholars have found many similarities in the early part of the Hebrew bible.
Architecture
The temple complexes were originally small and elevated rooms in the Sumerian city-states. By the end of the Sumerian civilization, the ziggurats became the Mesopotamian religious centres chosen temple structure. The temples were used as cultural, religious, and political headquarters until about 2500 BC, with the emergence of military kings known as Lu-gals.
Inanna's Decent
Hey Myth Geeks!
Let's talk about The Descent of Inanna today!
The Descent of Inanna is one of the oldest myths in the world. It follows Inanna's journey, who is the goddess and Queen of Heaven. The control of her kingdom is brought to the underworld to visit her sister Ereshkigal who is widowed. She gives precise instructions to Ninsubur that if she doesn't return to go to the temples and beg on her behalf.
Inanna gets well-dressed and goes down to the underworld. She gets to the gate and says she is the Queen of Heaven. Neti lets her in, but at every entrance, she is stripped of everything she owned.
We are all wondering what's happening at this point!
How does a queen get treated like this?
In the underworld, she enters through and passes through seven doors until she is converted into Ereshkigal's corpse. Inanna never returns, so Ninsubur does as she's told and goes to see Inanna's father, requesting two demons to get Inanna back. The demons give the queen of the dead a tremendous amount of pain until Ereshkigal gives them Inanna. Once you arrive in the underworld, you cannot leave so quickly. Someone must replace Inanna. Thankfully Geshtinanna offers to take her spot, which allows Inanna to go.
This is a Sumerian myth of Injustice!
See you next week,
-@MythManMike
