Mesopotamia: Religion of gods and elements
Introduction
In many ways, the triad of the greatest religions today begin here on earth between the two rivers. The first stories, the first settlements, and the first places of worship appeared here.
In this essay, it will be explained to be able to see a bit of religion and the pantheon of gods in which Mesopotamics believed, and what that meant for them.
Temples or ziggurats have been found that honor the gods and that have been the center of their religion for a long time, as well as Ivory or Concha figurines. It is known that those of the ancient Mesopotamia were polytheistic, and the names of the gods and goddesses that left behind in their writings of the clay tablets, also of the records of several cultures that have encountered the Mesopotamian culture, especially theGreeks with the arrival of Alexander the Great.
Thanks to several excavations and investigations that have been done, they have been able to find tablets, molds, settlements, and with all that can now be seen how their gods practice and venerated.
We still have the legacy of Gilgamesh’s epic, and the stories of the legends and myths of the gods that formed this great and vast religion. Unfortunately, for political reasons, you cannot do as much archeology as many would like, and many of the lands where the first citizens of these civilizations populated are now mining fields or war zones.
As in every religion or myth, it has to have a creation story where it tells how the earth, heaven, and the seas was formed. The Mesopotamians said in the enuma Elish that the god and the goddess APsu and Tiamat were born from the seas, and from them, the young gods were born. The young and thiamat gods are then found in a fierce battle, and in the end, Marduk kills Tiamat, and from it the Tigris and Euphrates rivers arise, and from his body, Marduk creates the heavens and earth.
He says that later, Marduk created the first man, Lullu, and hence all humanity comes.
Of course, they explained the ancients as things were, and how the world was formed, and a great pantheon of gods begins to see from the beginning. And it also explains how and why Marduk is the patron god of Mesopotamia, even in the dynasties centuries later.
The religion of Mesopotamia emerged in Sumeria, and although in each city-stated the protective gods were different (not different of religion, but for example: Marduk was God the protective of Babylon, in other cities-states it was without, etc.), But religion itself was the same. These gods focus on the environment where they lived, some with the rivers, other crops and fertility, everything has an assignment and an order.
Some of the gods of which this essay is going to speak are the main or best known: Marduk, Ishtar, Enlil, and Enki (or EA).
We had already talked about Marduk, and how he helped create the Tigris and Euphrates, and as Marduk created the first human being. It was very important for several kings of Mesopotamia, they had it as a protective god of their cities. But as in the case of Nebonid when the patron god of Babylon changed, Marduk, for Sin, God of the Moon, a great uproar and anger arose for that. So it was great importance for them that their gods were revered.
Ishtar was the goddess of fertility, love, and war. A story of her is that she goes to the underworld to bring her lover back, and with her wanderings, it is almost like Persephone’s myth, since in the end Ishtar must remain in the underworld with her lover and for some time the world does not havefertility and stations change. She had a cult, especially that of fertility that Ishtar provided the world.
There is a great epic and I think the first one who talks about Inanna (another name for Ishtar), and the author was a woman, Enheduanna, a priestess of Inanna and daughter of Sargon of Akkad.
Enlil, not much can be said about him, but in the mysopotamia mythology, he is the God of creation (and sometimes he is replaced by Marduk), other times it is related to winds, earth, and storms.
Enki (or EA) was Eridu’s patron god, he was the God of wisdom among other things, and also represents fertility as Ishtar.
The temples and centers of worship were the Ziggurats, which they used to worship these gods, the high structure was high, and was used to communicate with these divine beings, and there was also the trade of a priest or priestess, who used the people or theKing to be able to communicate with the gods. This was to see if it was a good time to go to war, or to see if the crops were going to be good or bad.
conclusion
Although as mentioned, the circumstances of these lands are currently unfavorable and somewhat sad, there is no doubt that they have a great cultural and historical wealth. Mesopotamia has a great range of very unique gods, and a vast and incredible religion to try.
Also as mentioned, these gods were praised and assigned for the surroundings of the residents of these cities and settlements. Each has to do with the weather, heavens, earth, and you see how, while other kings and dynasties seized cities and regions for the centuries, the gods are changing, the names too, but theirattributes no.
There are still in several dynasties of the wind, goddesses of fertility, gods of wisdom. Their cults do not change drastically, they only modify around how things and people who adore them change.
Thanks to all this, to the records, the excavations, and the legacy that this great civilization left us, we know how they looked, and that mattered so much to the ancients. Now thanks to research not only see these people as people who existed and died, but for these gods and their myths, we can see what these people felt, and as they thought. This, also with the epic of Gilgamesh, and the stories gathered from the clay tablets engraved in cuneiform are a window to the past that we must recover, not only from the Middle East, but of the whole world, as honor to Mesopotamia, the cradle ofCivilization.
References
- Heaven, q. either. (November 10, 2019). The First Poet . Obtained from Queen of Heaven: https: // Thequeenofheaven.WordPress.com/2010/09/05/The-First-Poet/
- Mark, j. J. (November 10, 2019). ENUMA ELISH – The Babylonian Epic of Creation – Full Text. Obtained from Ancient History Encyclopedia: https: // www.ancient.EU/ARTICLE/225/ENUMA-Elish -The-Babylonian-EPIC-OF-CREATION-FU/
- Mark, j. J. (November 10, 2019). Ishtar. Obtained from Ancient History Encyclopedia: https: // www.ancient.EU/Ishtar/
- Mark, j. J. (November 10, 2019). Marduk. Obtained from Ancient History Encyclopedia: https: // www.ancient.EU/Marduk/
- Mark, j. J. (November 10, 2019). Religion of the Ancient World. Obtained from Ancient History Encyclopedia: https: // www.ancient.EU/Religion/
- Drafting. (November 10, 2019). Mesopotamian mythology. Obtained from mythology.Info: https: // www.mythology.Info/Mesopotamica/
- Mesopotamia religion and its influence on the Mediterranean world. (2019, November 10). Retrieved from religions.net: https: // www.Religions.Net/Mesopotamia/
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