Enlil

Enlil was the king of the gods, the supreme diety of the Sumerian Pantheon. When the gods took council in times of turmoil, it was his decision that held final weight.

He was the god of air, wind, and storms — the god of the Earth. While to his brother, Enki, was assigned the domain of the Abzu, Ocean, and deep places of the world. Anu was the father of all the Anuna (Akkadian: Anunnaki), and the king of heaven.

Enlil was the supreme leader of the Anunnaki, making him the leader of the Sumerian pantheon (even though the Anunnaki themselves are named for Anu, his father).

His name is written with the Sumerian glyphs for “Lord” and “Air” — the whole atmosphere in his dominion as lord of the Earth. He was often depicted as a wild, raging bull in religious iconography and myth.

In ancient times — more speicifically, in the memory of ancient times according to the Sumerians themselves — Enlil was a more natural storm god, but in later times (during the Akkadian Empire, Ur III Dynasty, for example) he took on more imperial tones — religion matching culture.

Enlil’s temple was the famous E-Kur found in the Sumerian City-State of Nippur. All kingship traces back to Enlil (the Descent of Kingship from Heaven being a significant theme in Sumerian Cosmology). In the Sumerian world, kingship was “Enlil-ship”.

Enlil In Sumerian Mythology

In some of the surviving Sumerian texts, Enlil takes the role of the creator of mankind. (In other Sumerian accounts, Enki, his brother, was more often depicted as the creator of humanity.)

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