7

According to this source, the gods had some numerical ranks as below:

  1. Anu (ranking #60)
  2. Antu (ranking #55)
  3. Enlil (ranking #50)
  4. Ninlil / Sud (ranking #45)
  5. Enki / EA (ranking #40)
  6. Ninki / Damkina (ranking #35)
  7. Nanna / Nannar / Sin / El (ranking #30)
  8. Ningal (ranking #25)
  9. Utu / Shamash / Allah (ranking #20)
  10. Inanna / Ishtar (ranking #15)
  11. Adad / Ishkur (ranking #10)
  12. Ninhursag / Ninmah / Ninti (ranking #5)

How did this system work?

1
  • That page, and the specified ranking system, look very dubious to me. Wish there were some citations somewhere in there, but I can't find it reproduced anywhere else.
    – femtoRgon
    May 1, 2015 at 20:51

2 Answers 2

5

The ranking system (which I believe to be a little off) seem to be how powerful the god was according to the people and priests.

Anu is the top dog while his wife Antu is 5 below symbolizing that man was considered higher than women.

As you can see the system is based on 5's with every male in the 10's and their spouses 5 below.

3

The ranking system was based on base 60 which was the basis of the Sumerian number system. The top god Anu or sky father was ranked 60 and his spouse Antu was ranked at 55--that pattern of husband-wife continues down the list. The other gods and goddesses were based off of that.

I'm surprised that greater goddess Inanna was ranked lower. The Greeks split Inanna into three goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis. Other civilizations called her Ishtar and Isis. After the Sumerians, other successor civilizations like the Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians elevated or added their gods to the list. Inanna went down in the power rankings. Inanna should be just below Enki and his wife Ninki which should give her a power ranking of 30 instead of 15.

Finally, the vast majority of Sumerian gods and goddesses were given a power ranking of 5. For instance, The mother of Gilgamesh, Ninsun "Lady of Wild Cows" and the patron goddess of Lagash, would have a power ranking of 5.

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