Sumerian Deities And Spirits

"The destiny was fulfilled which the father of the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for Gilgamesh: "In nether-earth the darkness will show him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none will leave a monument for generations to come to compare with his. The heroes, the wise men, like the new moon have their waxing and waning. Men will say, 'Who has ever ruled with might and with power like him?' As in the dark month, the month of shadows, so without him there is no light. O Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream. You were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power to bind and to loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before the face of the Sun."

"[Indra] is chief of the pantheon just as Enlil is chief of the pantheon. He supersedes a higher moral god just as Enlil supersedes a higher moral god. He separated heaven from earth, just as Enlil separated heaven from earth. He is a god of storm, both literally and figuratively, just as Enlil is a god of storm literally and figuratively. He conquers the enemies of the Aryans, just as Enlil similarly conquers enemies. Viṣṇu, who is noted to stride widely to the side in the battle against Vṛtrá, is referred to as Índra’s younger brother (Epic period and on), while Enki, who represents fresh water and fertile earth, is referred to as the younger brother of Enlil. Índra uses a net as a snare (AV 8.8.8), he shakes ripe fruit from trees as if with a hook (RV 3.45.4), and he cannot be stopped by bird catchers (RV 3.45.1). Enlil catches both birds and fish with nets. In other words, similar specific imagery is shared... In short, we hereby have a synchronism."

"My king, lord Acimbabbar, you are on your throne because of Enlil. Youthful Suen, lord Acimbabbar, you are on your throne because of Enlil. I, the king, whose fate was already decreed in the true womb, who raises his head in authority, Ur-Namma, the youth who caught the eyes of the Great Mountain, Enlil, was chosen by Nunamnir in Sumer and Akkad. He decreed my fate in Nibru, in the mountain of life. He beamed at me approvingly and bestowed the kingship on me. In Urim, in the E-mud-kura, he made the foundation of my throne firm."

"August Nibru! No deity excels like your lord and lady! They are powerful princes; they are brilliantly revealed deities. No deity excels like Enlil or Ninlil! They are powerful princes; they are lords who can decide destinies. In your midst they have given divine powers to king Enki."

"Enlil, [...] first-born child of holy An, whose divine powers are untouchable"

"Say to Puzur-Culgi, the governor of : this is what Ibbi-Suen, your lord, says: [...] Today Enlil loathes and has elevated to the shepherdship of the Land an ape which has descended from those mountain lands. Now Enlil has given kingship to an idiot, a seller of -- to Icbi-Erra, who is not of Sumerian origin. [...] See, the assembly where the gods are and Sumer itself have been dispersed! Father Enlil, whose words prevail, said: "Until the enemy has been expelled from Urim, Icbi-Erra, the man from Mari, will tear out Urim's foundations. He will indeed measure out Sumer like grain." He has spoken just so."

"On that day when there is no snake, when there is no scorpion, when there is no hyena, when there is no lion, when there is neither dog nor wolf, when there is thus neither fear nor trembling, man has no rival! At such a time, may the lands of Šubur and Ḫamazi, the many-tongued, and , the great mountain of the me of magnificence, and , the land possessing all that is befitting, and the Martu land, resting in security -- the whole universe, the well-guarded people -- may they all address Enlil together in a single language! For at that time, for the ambitious lords, for the ambitious princes, for the ambitious kings, ... -- Enki, the lord of abundance and of steadfast decisions, the wise and knowing lord of the Land, the expert of the gods, chosen for wisdom, the lord of Eridug, shall change the speech in their mouths, as many as he had placed there, and so the speech of mankind is truly one."

"Enlil, your verdict is highly valued, your holy word is an exalted word. The verdict you pronounce is one which cannot be altered -- who can change it? There was quarrelling of brother with brother but now there is harmony. For as long as you are occupying the palace, the people will express awe. When it is your season, far be it from me to humiliate you -- in fact I shall praise you."

"I am father Enlil's great ."

"I am the prince who decides the destiny of rolling rivers. I keep on the straight and narrow path the righteous who follow Enlil's counsel. My father Enlil brought me here. He let me bar the entrance to the mountains as if with a great door. If I fix a fate, who shall alter it? If I but say the word, who shall change it?"

"Youthful Suen, as you move the Anuna gods stand in attendance. In the four quarters of the world the black-headed people raise their eyes to you, the first-born son of Enlil. Nanna, youthful Suen, as you move the Anuna gods stand in attendance. In the four quarters of the world the black-headed people raise their eyes to you, the first-born son of Enlil."

"Enten is controller of the life-giving waters of all the lands -- the farmer of the gods produces everything. Emesh, my son, how can you compare yourself to your brother Enten?"

"Hoe, do not start getting so mightily angry! Do not be so mightily scornful! Is not Nisaba the Hoe's inspector? Is not Nisaba its overseer? The scribe will register your work."

"He approaches the maiden Nisaba in prayer. He has organised pure food-offerings; he has opened up Nisaba's house of learning, and has placed the lapis-lazuli tablet on her knees, for her to consult the holy tablet of the heavenly stars. In Aratta he has placed E-zagina at her disposal. You have built up Erec in abundance, founded from little [...] bricks, you who are granted the most complex wisdom! In the abzu, the great crown of g, where sanctuaries are apportioned [...] -- when Enki, the great princely farmer of the awe-inspiring temple, the carpenter of Eridug, the master of purification rites, the lord of the great en priest's precinct, occupies E-engur, and when he builds up the abzu of Eridug; when he takes counsel in Hal-an-kug, when he splits with an axe the house of boxwood; when the sage's hair is allowed to hang loose, when he opens the house of learning, when he stands in the street of the door of learning; when he finishes the great dining-hall of cedar, when he grasps the date-palm mace, when he strikes the priestly garment with that mace, then he utters seven [words] to Nisaba, the supreme nursemaid: "O Nisaba, good woman, fair woman, woman born in the mountains! Nisaba, may you be the butter in the cattle-pen, may you be the cream in the sheepfold, may you be keeper of the seal in the treasury, may you be a good steward in the palace, may you be a heaper up of grain among the grain piles and in the grain stores!" Because the Prince Enki cherished Nisaba, O father Enki, it is sweet to praise you!"

"The life that you seek you never will find: when the gods created mankind, death they dispensed to mankind, life they kept for themselves."

"Father, let me have the Bull of Heaven To kill Gilgamesh and his city. For if you do not grant me the Bull of Heaven, I will pull down the Gates of Hell itself, Crush the doorposts and flatten the door, And I will let the dead leave And let the dead roam the earth And they shall eat the living. The dead will overwhelm all the living!"

"opened his mouth, saying to Gilgamesh: "where you've set your mind begin the journey, let your heart have no fear, keep your eyes on me!""

"Read out the travails of Gilgamesh, all that he went through!"

"What should I do and where should I go? A thief has taken hold of my flesh! For there in my bed-chamber Death does abide, and wherever I turn, there too will be Death."

"Unable to stand up, unable to sit down, he laments. Unable to eat, unable to drink, he laments. Held fast by the door-bolt of Namtar, he is unable to rise. [...] Like a gazelle caught in a trap."

"O Mighty King, remember now that only gods stay in eternal watch. Humans come then go, that is the way fate decreed on the Tablets of Destiny. So someday you will depart, but till that distant day Sing, and dance. Eat your fill of warm cooked food and cool jugs of beer. Cherish the children your love gave life. Bathe away life's dirt in warm drawn waters. Pass the time in joy with your chosen wife. On the Tablets of Destiny it is decreed For you to enjoy short pleasures for your short days."

"The great wild bull has lain down and is never to rise again. Lord Gilgamesh has lain down and is never to rise again. [...] The hero fitted out with a shoulder-belt has lain down and is never to rise again. He who was unique in strength has lain down and is never to rise again. He who diminished wickedness has lain down and is never to rise again. He who spoke most wisely has lain down and is never to rise again. The plunderer of many countries has lain down and is never to rise again. He who knew how to climb the mountains has lain down and is never to rise again. The lord of Kulaba has lain down and is never to rise again. He has lain down on his death-bed and is never to rise again. He has lain down on a couch of sighs and is never to rise again."

"The destiny was fulfilled which the father of the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for Gilgamesh: "In nether-earth the darkness will show him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none will leave a monument for generations to come to compare with his. The heroes, the wise men, like the new moon have their waxing and waning. Men will say, 'Who has ever ruled with might and with power like him?' As in the dark month, the month of shadows, so without him there is no light. O Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream. You were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power to bind and to loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before the face of the Sun."

"O man of Shurrupak, son of Ubara-Tutu; tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life, despise worldly goods and save your soul alive. Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat."

"When the seventh day dawned I loosed a dove and let her go. She flew away, but finding no resting-place she returned. Then I loosed a swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting-place she returned. I loosed a raven, she saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back."

"For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts. When the seventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided, the sea grew calm, the, flood was stilled; I looked at the face of the world and there was silence, all mankind was turned to clay."

"Who is there, my friend, can climb to the sky? Only the gods dwell forever in sunlight. As for man, his days are numbered, whatever he may do, it is but wind."

"The hoe buries people, but dead people are also brought up from the ground by the hoe. With the hoe, the hero honoured by An, the younger brother of , the warrior Gilgamesh – is as powerful as a hunting net. The sage son of Ninsumun is pre-eminent with s. With the hoe, he is the great barber of the watercourses. In the chamber of the shrine, with the hoe he is the minister."

"Because of your purity, youthful Utu has made everything abundant for you; may a sweet life be your lot, son of Ninsumun."

"The first recognized epic hero is a Sumerian, known as Bilgames in the earliest texts, but since accepted as Gilgamesh. Around , he was the fifth king of the land of Uruk, where Iraq now sits. He was said to have reigned for 126 years and to have lived longer than that. He became the main figure in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the best-known examples of early Mesopotamian literature. In this work, he is described as a demigod, son of the mortal Lugalbanda and the goddess Romat (also known as Ninsun)."

"I have a bit of an obsession with Gilgamesh, the earliest surviving work of literature, which comes to us in fragments. Not that people should be surprised if I owned a copy or two by different translators, but I have a whole shelf of adaptations and translations. There’s something I find compelling about the story: what makes a human(e) being, what constitutes bravery, how do we deal with loss, the transformative possibilities of love. I first got hooked with Herbert Mason’s adaptation, then found David Ferry’s excellent translation, Yusef Komunyakaa’s verse play, Gardner/Maier’s translation, Stephen Mitchell’s poetic interpretation. There’s even a graphic novel version by Kent and Kevin Dixon. The fact that the story has survived this long in so many renditions means I’m not the only one captivated by this ancient story."

"Oh Gilgamec! Enlil, the Great Mountain, the father of gods, has made kingship your destiny, but not eternal life -- lord Gilgamec, this is how to interpret the dream. [The end] of life should not make you feel sad, should not make you despair, should not make you feel depressed. You must have been told that this is what the bane of being human involves. You must have been told that this is what the cutting of your umbilical cord involved. The darkest day of humans awaits you now. The solitary place of humans awaits you now. The unstoppable flood-wave awaits you now. The unavoidable battle awaits you now. The unequal struggle awaits you now. The skirmish from which there is no escape awaits you now. But you should not go to the underworld with heart knotted in anger."

"Sisig (a god of dreams), the son of Utu, will provide light for him in the nether world, the place of darkness. When a funerary statue is made in honour of someone, whoever they may be, for future days, mighty youths [...] will form a semicircle at the door-jambs and perform wrestling and feats of strength before them. In the month Nenejar, at the festival of the ghosts, no light will be provided before them without him (i.e. Gilgamec)."

"You will be accounted a god. [...] Lord of Kulaba, [...] hero of the pristine mountain."