Sumerian religion facts for kids
The Sumerian religion was the way people in Sumer worshipped their gods. Sumer was the first civilization in ancient Mesopotamia where people learned to write. The Sumerians believed their gods were in charge of everything that happened in their lives.
In early Sumer, priests and religious leaders mostly ruled the city-states. Later, kings took over, but priests still had a lot of power. At first, Sumerian temples were simple, one-room buildings, sometimes on raised platforms. Over time, these temples grew into huge, pyramid-shaped structures called ziggurats. These ziggurats had special shrines at their very tops.
The Sumerians thought the universe began with a series of "cosmic births." First, Nammu, the original waters, gave birth to Ki (the earth) and An (the sky). Ki and An then had a son named Enlil. Enlil separated the sky from the earth and claimed the earth for himself. The Sumerians believed that Enki, another son of Nammu and An, created humans. Heaven was only for the gods. When people died, their spirits went to Kur, a cold, dark place deep under the earth. The goddess Ereshkigal ruled Kur, and the only food there was dry dust. Later, people believed Ereshkigal ruled with her husband Nergal, the god of death.
Some of the most important Sumerian gods were An, the sky god; Enlil, the god of wind and storms; Enki, the god of water and human culture; Ninhursag, the goddess of fertility and earth; Utu, the god of the sun and justice; and his father Nanna, the moon god. During the Akkadian Period, Inanna, the goddess of beauty and war, became very popular. She appeared in many stories, including her famous journey to the Underworld.
Sumerian religion greatly influenced the beliefs of later people in Mesopotamia. Parts of their myths and religions can be seen in the stories of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Scholars have even found similarities between ancient Sumerian stories and some early parts of the Hebrew Bible.
Contents
How Did Sumerians Worship?
Writing Down Myths
Sumerian myths were first told by people speaking them. They were not written down until writing was invented. Early Sumerian cuneiform writing was mostly used for keeping records. It was only later that religious writings became common. These included hymns praising temples and special chants called nam-šub.
Temple Buildings
In Sumerian cities, temple complexes started as small, raised buildings with one room. Over time, temples grew to have raised terraces and many rooms. By the end of the Sumerian civilization, ziggurats became the main type of temple in Mesopotamia.
Temples were important centers for culture, religion, and government until about 2500 BCE. After that, military kings, called Lu-gals (meaning "big man"), rose to power. Then, political and military leaders often lived in separate "palace" buildings.
The Priests and Priestesses
Before the kings, Sumerian city-states were mostly ruled by priests and priestesses. These leaders were called En or Ensí (for men) and Nin (for women). They were the high priests and priestesses for the city gods. Priests were in charge of keeping the city's religious traditions alive. They were seen as messengers between humans and the gods. Priests lived in the temple complexes. They also managed important state matters, like the large irrigation systems needed for the civilization to survive.
Religious Events
During the Third Dynasty of Ur, the Sumerian city of Lagash was said to have 62 "lamentation priests." These priests were joined by 180 singers and musicians during ceremonies.
What Did Sumerians Believe About the Universe?
The Sumerians imagined the universe as a closed dome. This dome was surrounded by a huge saltwater sea. Underneath the earth, which was the base of the dome, there was an underworld and a freshwater ocean called the Apsû. The god of the dome-shaped sky was An. The earth was named Ki. At first, the underworld was thought to be part of the goddess Ki. But later, it became known as Kigal. The original saltwater sea was named Nammu. She later became known as Tiamat during and after the Third Dynasty of Ur.
How Humans Were Created
According to Sumerian stories, the gods first created humans to be their servants. But the gods later set them free when they became too much to handle.
The gods An and Ki had a son named Enlil. Enlil became the leader of the Sumerian gods. Other gods later sent Enlil away from Dilmun (the "home of the gods") because he upset the air goddess Ninlil. Ninlil then had a child with Enlil, Nanna, the moon god. Nanna and Ningal then had two children: Inanna, the goddess of war and fertility, and Utu, the sun god.
Who Were the Sumerian Gods?
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The Sumerians believed in many gods, which is called polytheism. Their gods were anthropomorphic, meaning they looked and acted like humans. These gods represented forces of nature and the world. Around the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE, Sumerian gods became more focused on humans. They changed from "nature gods" into "city gods."
Gods like Enki and Inanna were believed to get their power and knowledge from An, the sky god, or Enlil, the head of the gods. This change in beliefs might have happened because of the growing influence of the nearby Akkadian religion. It could also be due to more wars between Sumerian city-states. Giving certain powers to gods might have mirrored how kings (Lugals) were given power by the city and its priests.
Important Gods
The earliest records of Sumer, from around 2900 BC, mention four main gods: Anu, Enlil, Ninhursag, and Enki. These most important gods sometimes played tricks on each other, but they usually worked together to create order.
Many lists of Sumerian gods have been found. Scholars have studied these cuneiform tablets to understand how important each god was and how they were related.
The Main Group of Gods
Most Sumerian gods belonged to a group called the Anunna (meaning "children of An"). Seven gods, including Enlil and Inanna, were part of a special group of "underworld judges" called the Anunnaki (meaning "children of An and Ki," or "those from heaven who came to earth"). During the Third Dynasty of Ur, people believed there were 3600 Sumerian gods!
Here are some of the main Sumerian gods:
- Anu: God of the sky.
- Enlil: God of the air and storms; the main god of Nippur.
- Enki: God of freshwater, male fertility, and wisdom; the main god of Eridu.
- Ereshkigal: Goddess of the underworld, Kigal or Irkalla.
- Inanna: Goddess of war and female fertility; the main goddess of Uruk.
- Nammu: The original sea, who gave birth to An (sky) and Ki (earth) and the first gods; later known as the goddess Tiamat.
- Ninhursag: Goddess of the earth.
- Nanna: God of the moon; one of the main gods of Ur.
- Ningal: Wife of Nanna.
- Ninlil: An air goddess and wife of Enlil; one of the main goddesses of Nippur. She was believed to live in the same temple as Enlil.
- Ninurta: God of war and farming; one of the Sumerian wind gods; the main god of Girsu and Lagash.
- Utu: God of the sun at the E-babbar temple in Sippar.
What is the Legacy of Sumerian Religion?
Influence on Akkadians
The Sumerians and the Akkadian people in northern Mesopotamia shared language and culture for many years. This was before Sargon of Akkad took over their lands in 2340 BCE. Sumerian myths and religious practices quickly became part of Akkadian culture. They likely mixed with the original Akkadian beliefs, which are mostly lost now. Sumerian gods got Akkadian versions. For example, the Sumerian god An became the Akkadian god Anu. The Sumerian god Enki became Ea. The Sumerian gods Ninurta and Enlil stayed very similar in the Akkadian religion.
Influence on Babylonians
The Amorite Babylonians became powerful in southern Mesopotamia by the mid-17th century BCE. During the Old Babylonian Period, Sumerian and Akkadian languages were still used for religious purposes. Most of the Sumerian myths we know today come from this time. They are either Sumerian texts that were copied (like the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh) or Babylonian myths that show Sumerian and Akkadian influences (like the Enûma Eliš). The Sumerian-Akkadian gods changed, especially with the introduction of a new main god, Marduk. The Sumerian goddess Inanna also became known as Ishtar during this time.
Influence on Hittites
The Hurrians adopted the Akkadian god Anu into their religion by 1200 BCE. Other gods from the region that the Hurrians adopted include Ayas, who was like Ea; Shaushka, who was like Ishtar; and the goddess Ninlil, whose story had grown much larger with the Babylonians.
Similar Stories in Other Religions
Some Sumerian stories are similar to those in other Middle-Eastern religions. For example, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, there is a flood story that has parts similar to the biblical story of Noah and the flood. The Jewish underworld Sheol is described very much like the Sumerian and Babylonian Kigal. Kigal was ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and, in Babylonian religion, by her husband Nergal, the god of death. Scholar Samuel Noah Kramer also noticed similarities between many Sumerian and Akkadian "proverbs" and later Hebrew proverbs, which are found in the Book of Proverbs.
Images for kids
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Sumerian Worshiper
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Cuneiform temple hymn from the 19th century BCE; the hymn is addressed to the Lugal Iddin-Dagan of Larsa
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Statue of a Sumerian deity, ca. 2550 and 2520 BC
See also
In Spanish: Religión sumeria para niños
