Sumerian Religion

Sumerian Religion is the oldest-recorded religion in the world, and the oldest ancestor of a number of ancient religions of the Near East.

Basics

To first simplify and deconstruct, the Essentials of Sumerian Religion are:

• Cosmology — the Sumerians had a tale of creation explicitly stated, the birth of the world, the shaping of it, and the creation of humanity.
• Mythology — contains a number of stories.
• Gods & Goddesses — The stories of mythology are the source for the descriptions and tales of the Sumerian deities: known also as the Anuna (later Anunnaki). The “great gods” of Sumerian myth and legend, to whom are attributed many important deeds.
• Legends, Heroes, and Kings — There is a class of

The Historical Context

Sumerian religion was practiced by the Sumerians, the first literate civilization in recorded history, located in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) .

The Sumerians viewed their divinities as responsible for all aspects of the natural and social orders.

Initially, Sumerian city-states were ruled by theocratic priests before kingship emerged, with priests maintaining significant influence.

It was the duty of Sumerian priests to work in the temple which, in addition to caring for their gods, would also organize the state. It was their job to take in all the goods from the peripheral territories of the city-state, to take care of long-distance trade, and also oversee building projects — and pay workers no less — dealing with all the affairs of state.

It was only later, with the descent of kingship, that priests began to shift into a slightly different role (training future scribes, for example, and still doing all they did before) maintain significant public influence.

Early temples were simple structures, evolving into ziggurats, which were tall, pyramidal temples.

Sumerian Cosmology

Creation Myths

The Sumerians believed in a cosmic birth narrative, where the universe originated from primordial waters, with key deities like Nammu, Ki, and An involved in creation.

Humans were created by AnKi or Enki, the son of An and Ki .

The afterlife was perceived as Kur, a dark underworld ruled by Ereshkigal, where all souls went regardless of their earthly behaviour .

Sumerian Mythology

Major Sumerian Gods & Goddesses

[Read Full Article: Major Gods and Goddesses of Sumer]

The Gods and Goddesses of Sumerian Religion were the archetype of the ancient pantheons that existed in the region for thousands of years. A few of these key deities are: An, Enlil, Enki, Inanna, and Shamash. There truly are an extensive number of gods and goddesses in Sumerian Religion, once you count in minor deities and the like.

• An — God of the heavens. He was the patriarch of the tribe of gods, and the eponymous founder. He had two prominent sons, Enlil and Enki.
• Enlil — God of wind and storm, chief deity. Enlil was the leader of the Anunnaki, the king of the gods. His city-state of patronage was Nippur, where the gods held council in the temple, the House of Enlil. This was the religious centre of Sumerian Religion (and of later Mesopotamia for millennia).
• Enki — God of water, science, technology, and culture. Enki was the patron deity of the city-state of Eridu. He probably helped humanity more than any other god (not least by having created us, according to the Sumerians).
• Inanna — goddess of love and war, known in many myths.
• Utu — God of the Sun.
• Ninurta —

Worship Practices

Cuneiform writing eventually became used for religion, and is the reason why we know about Sumerian Religion in the detail that we do. The gods were spoken of in the works of the Sumerian scribes. To call their documents “works” is misleading. Eventually there was original writing in the form of lengthy poems or stories. But much of what we have recovered can be described as administerial in nature, in addition to a few surviving practice tablets (telling us that school then is not so different from school now).

on clay tablets, pressed into wet clay, which become extremely durable when fired.

Cuneiform writing was initially used for record-keeping. That is what writing invented for beginning around 3200 BCE. (It should be noted that at this time, it is likely that the Sumerians had a rich oral tradition already for the preservation of their religious beliefs. Like in other cultures with a sophisticated oral tradition that we know of (The Druids of Ireland and Western Europe, Brahmins carrying the Vedic-Hindu Oral Tradition, and so on).

That is how it was invented around 3100 BCE. It took centuries for the language to evolve, and for the scribal community became an institution, to eventually include religious texts in their corpus. Until then their religion would have been oral, which in those days was more trustworthy.

Temples served as cultural and political centers until military kings emerged around 2500 BC. [cn]

Burial Practices

Afterlife Beliefs

The Sumerian afterlife was bleak, with souls in Kur living a shadowy existence .

Rituals included pouring libations into graves to provide for the deceased .

The Legacy of Sumerian Religion

Sumerian Religion had a massive impact on religion and culture in the Near East, and a legacy that continues to this day. Nearly every religion that has descended in the land since to the modern-day has been influenced by Sumerian Religion.

The myths and legends of Sumerian Religion appear to have been shared by the Semitic Akkadian people (the ancestors of the Jews). Some scholars suggest that the Akkadians adopted Sumerian Religion. Maybe both the Akkadian and Sumerian traditions extant, are later versions from an older, singular source. After Akkadian conquest of Sumer, we see the usage of the new Semitic language for the names of the gods.

Through the Sumerian and Akkadian ancestors, who were the first documented practitioners of these ancient ways, religion, and mythology, they were passed on to the Babylonian peoples, and then to the Assyrians.

Sumerian Religion shows is influence on Judaism — and all Abrahamic Religion — as well. It influenced essential tenets, themes, and narrative of the Hebrew people, which was written down. The Flood Myth, the War In Heaven, Genesis/Bereshit, the Identity of the Angels, and many more. There are Extensive Parallels Between Sumerian Religion and the Hebrew Bible which extends to all of the Abrahamic Religions (including Christianity and Islam).

We also see extensive parallels within Greek Religion as well, and Vedic, Norse, and more west of the Himalayas.

Elements of Sumerian beliefs — and Sumerian culture — can be seen in all later cultures. Everywhen with written English traces a connection that goes write back to the Sumerian writing system, scribal practice, and institutions. Everywhere with a Christian cross, or symbols of Jewish, Islamic, Vedic, Hindu, or Buddhist faith can draw a connection to Sumerian religion.

It really is hard to underestimate just how powerful Sumerian Religion has been, in terms of its impact on humanity. Especially when you consider everything that goes with it (wars, conflict over religion in later times). But also consider the positive benefits too (science, religion, schools, writing).

Similarities Between Sumerian Religion and Other Ancient Religions

There were expected relationships, and then there were the unexpected ones.

The many similarities between the original ancient Sumerian traditions, and those that emerged later in Mesopotamia, were expected. We see evolutions in Babylonian and Assyrian traditions from Sumerian roots, but this is expected because centuries and eventually millennia have passed since the nation of Sumer specifically has ceased to be. This makes sense.

Extensive Greek-Sumer, Rome-Sumer, Anatolian-Sumer, and Bible-Sumer connections were equally as expected.

What I was not expecting, were the significant Norse-Sumer, Celtic-Sumer, and Vedic-Sumer Connections, and especially not the Maya-Sumer Connections. These all surprised me, and set me on a path studying the Indo-European Connection, and in their traditions too.

There are also extensive Norse-Sumer Similarities in terms of their mythologies. For example, Odin had two prominent sons (Thor and Loki) just as An/Anu did (Enlil and Enki). Their names are even seem similar. There are other resonances between Norse Religion — even as late as c.1200 CE when it was recorded — and the religion of Sumer and then all Mesopotamia for millennia. This connection is not fully explained.

(Full Articles: Similarities Between Sumerian Religion and Mesopotamian Religion, The Norse-Sumer Connection)

Chapter Contents

• Sumerian Religion

Notes