Questions tagged [mesopotamia]
For questions linked to the area between Tigris and Euphrates, corresponding to modern-day Iraq. See also the sumeria tag.
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What are some actually evil gods around the world?
I mean gods that are truly evil, not ones who are reflecting the social norms of the era they were worshiped in. (Zeus for example, he wasn't evil, his actions were seen as acceptable and normal at ...
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Do any Mediterranean mythologies depict souls escaping from the Underworld without the help of a living rescuer?
Persephone was rescued from the Underworld (for a little while) by Hermes, who brought her back to Demeter.
Eurydice was (almost) rescued from the Underworld by Orpheus.
Semele was rescued from the ...
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Was there a concept of bringing about a perfect world in ancient pagan religions?
I was wondering whether there was a concept of bringing about a perfected world in ancient pagan religions, whether as something the gods were expected to do, something that mankind was expected to do,...
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Which 'Sea' does Tiamat represent, and why did she turn into a serpent?
There are many sources that mentioned about her being related to the sea, even the salt sea.
Tiamat is the Mesopotamian goddess associated with primordial chaos and the salt sea best known from the ...
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Significance of Enoch's age in the Hebrew Bible and identification with seventh antediluvian king/sage from Mesopotamian mythology
In the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 5:23 records Enoch's age as 365 years. As far as I can tell based on my review of the BHS and Göttingen LXX apparatus, there are no alternate readings of this number as ...
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Was Eannatum, the real historical figure that was characterised as Adam, in the Garden of Eden narrative?
Eannatum
Eannatum (Sumerian: 𒂍𒀭𒈾𒁺 É.AN.NA-tum2) was a Sumerian Ensi (ruler or king) of Lagash circa 2500–2400 BCE. He established one of the first verifiable empires in history: he subdued Elam ...
user7122
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Who are the deities of natural order, justice or wisdom?
I'm seeking names of deities who embody the values of natural order, justice, or wisdom/knowledge.
I've already gone through the ancient Greek ones, listed below, but I would like different sounding ...
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Literature for mesopotamian seven-tiered cosmos?
Reading up on the (excellent) Gilgamesh epic, I found a note for the 11th tablet (where Uta-Napishti - the 'original' Noah) describes the seven-tiered layout of the Ark. The author appended a note ...
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Anat and Ištar (west Semitic deity), did these deities derive from the same Semitic deity?
Apparently, Astarte/Athtart/Ashtart the Phoenician/Carthaginian goddess was a variation of (or that she simply derived from the same religious figure) the Babylonian Ishtar (who was herself a fusion ...
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What is a "house of Madanu" and a "gate of Madanu"?
The Hittite ritual CTH 432 ("The Ritual for Depression") mentions laying out certain patterns in flour, starting at §3.24:
namma-kan É dMADANI Ù É dṢAR[…
gulašzi nu-kan KÁ dMADANI IŠ[…
Next,...
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Who is the female figure in the Nirgul tablet?
The Nirgul tablet (also known as Cerberus relief) was a Parthian relief carving of the Mesopotamian god Nergal, a three-headed dog and a seated female figure:
According to Wikipedia, which cites ...
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What are the major interpretations of the Enuma Elish?
I'm reading Mesopotamian mythology and looking to get a comparison of the major interpretations of the 'meaning' (mythological, psychological or psychoanalytic, ecological, historical, etc.) of the ...
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Why does Inanna need a fruit to know of sex?
According to this link there is a myth where Inanna knows about sex from a tree fruit. She wants to know about sex and for that she has to go to the underworld and taste the fruit there.
But why ...
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Did the inhabitants of the ancient Near East believe in an ocean in the sky?
An ocean in the sky shows up quite a lot in depictions, for example Psalms 148:4:
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
But finding good evidence for it in Egyptian ...
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Babylonian, Sumerian or Mesopotamian
I was looking up the Babylonian creation myth(didn't find it) and clicked on one of their gods, Ereshkigal, Queen of the underworld, or Kur. The page says she is from Mesopotamian Mythology and the ...
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Why does Shamash help the trapper rather than Enkidu?
In episode I of The Epic of Gilgamesh, why does Shamash help the trapper rather than Enkidu, a creation of his peers who was created to help the people oppressed by Gilgamesh?
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What are the major branches of Mesopotamian mythology?
Mesopotamia refers to a group of civilizations inhabiting the regions of the Tigris and Euphrates. Most people know of the hero Gilgamesh, but many may be unclear as to the distinctions between the ...
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How did the Assyrians imagine the underworld?
There's an exhibit of two reconstructed Assyrian graves in the Pergamon Museum.
The description on the display vaguely mentioned the "Mesopotamians" thought the underworld was very similar to the ...
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How is the Borjgali related to Mesopotamian symbols of eternity?
The Borjgali is a Georgian solar symbol:
Borjgali (Georgian: ბორჯღალი; also Borjgala or Borjgalo) is a Georgian symbol of the Sun with seven rotating wings over the Christian Tree of Life and is ...
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Which myth says that Eve wasn't the first wife of Adam, but Lilith?
According to the Hebrew Bible and Islamic tradition, Eve is known as Adam's wife.
However some other works suggested something opposite.
Which myths suggest that Biblical Eve wasn't the first wife ...
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Was the story of Adam and Eve influenced by Sumerian Ninti and Enki?
Was the story of Adam and Eve from Book of Genesis influenced by the Sumerian story of Enki and Ninti?
On Wikipedia page about Ninti we can read:
Some scholars suggest that this served as the ...
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Are Noah and Ziusudra the same person?
There are similarities between the stories of Noah from the Bible and Ziusudra hero of the Sumerian flood epic.
Both stories describe a flood myth.
Based on what kind of information/similarities we ...
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What is the meaning of the star symbols appearing on seal VA 243?
Here is the picture of cylinder seal VA/243.
Image credits: Z. Sitchin
This seal was named like that because it is number 243 in the collection of the Vorderasiatische Museum in Berlin.
What is the ...
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How did the ranking system for the Sumerian pantheon work?
According to this source, the gods had some numerical ranks as below:
Anu (ranking #60)
Antu (ranking #55)
Enlil (ranking #50)
Ninlil / Sud (ranking #45)
Enki / EA (ranking #40)
Ninki / Damkina (...
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How many Annunaki were living on Earth at the peak of their time?
The Anunnaki were a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian culture.
How many of them were there at the peak time (which we know about)?
For example on Wikipedia page we can read:
In the Epic of ...
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Was the constellation named after the Bull of Heaven?
On the Wikipedia page we can read:
In Babylonian astronomy, the constellation was listed in the MUL.APIN as GU4.AN.NA, "The Bull of Heaven".
In the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of ...
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Who were the Anunnaki according to Sumerians' tales?
Who were the Anunnaki? Were they gods, demigods or different race? And what was their role?
How do we tell who they were?
I am looking for primary or canonical sources that explain about the ...
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How did Gilgamesh die?
Do we know how and in which circumstances Gilgamesh died?
According to these answers seems that The Epic of Gilgamesh doesn't mention that, however Wikipedia page mention something about Sumerian ...
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