A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology
Language: English
Pages: 240
ISBN: 0415198119
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology covers sources from Mesopotamia, Syro-Palestine and Anatolia, from around 2800 to 300 BC. It contains entries on gods and goddesses, giving evidence of their worship in temples, describing their 'character', as documented by the texts, and defining their roles within the body of mythological narratives; synoptic entries on myths, giving the place of origin of main texts and a brief history of their transmission through the ages; and entries explaining the use of specialist terminology, for such things as categories of Sumerian texts or types of mythological figures.
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Burstein 1978 25 C Canaanite mythology see Ugaritic mythology Cosmogonies Although the considerable amount of secondary literature on this topic seems to suggest otherwise, cosmogony was not in itself a literary genre. Most ‘cosmogonies’ are to be found in Mesopotamian sources in connection with a variety of subjects, such as incantations, rituals or other literary compositions. The reference to a primordial state of affairs lent weight and authority to the text and it also connected the
(Nammu, Ninmah) or more schematically with Antum, the ‘female sky’. Several royal texts from the Sargonic period describe the elevation of Inanna to the rank of An’s consort. In the Enuma eliš An is the offspring of Anšar and Kišar (the two aspects of the horizon according to Jacobsen); he is said to be the ‘father of the gods’ as well as the host of Demons. An’s function in the mythological and theological texts is primarily one of authority (his Sumerian classic epithet is an gal, ‘the great
ready built, rich in animal and plant life but devoid of people. Nanna decides to visit his father’s city by boat. He loads it with trees, plants and animals. On the way he stops several times and is greeted by the local gods. Eventually he reaches Nippur, where he enumerates all his presents to the gate-keeper. The delighted Enlil prepares a feast and they sit down together. Finally Nanna comes to the point and asks for favours in return: ‘In the river give me overflow, in the field give me much
importance in favour of the nearby Adab. Many Mesopotamian kings (from the Old Sumerian period to Nebukadzrezzar I) called themselves ‘beloved of Ninhursag’ and claim to have built temples and chapels for her. Eannatum, Entemena and Uruinimgina say in their inscriptions that they had been suckled by the goddess. In the literary texts, Ninhursag is the female creative counterpart to Enki in Enki and Ninhursag. She is associated with several male gods apart from Enki; as the mother of Ninurta she
has to approach this powerful being with great caution and proceeds to feed and actually venerate its young. He also promises to instigate a cult of Anzu in Sumer. In return, the bird rewards Lugalbanda with supernatural powers. A similar theme occurs in the JOURNEY OF NINURTA TO ERIDU where the god is led to the Apsu by the young Anzu, who offers his friendship and decrees his fate in return for the promise to fashion a statue and a cult. In other traditions the evil aspect of Anzu is dominant,
