Mesopotamian religion –

The mesopotamian religion it is not a simple set of anecdotal ideas in history. The Semitic peoples (Assyrians, Syrians, Hebrews, Phoenicians, etc.) preserved, with nuances, much of the Sumerian religious background: the names, attributes, and myths of the great divinities.

Marduk chases Anzu (Wikimedia Commons)

the mesopotamian gods

There were, no doubt, many gods in the mesopotamian pantheon. It is even difficult to know if the same god was not named in different ways depending, for example, on the city in which he was worshipped.

However, in that endless number of divinities that the classical texts subsequently cite, some figures stand out that are the result of the fusion of sumerian gods and of other Semitic peoples: Anu: God of heaven, Enlilgod of the earth, and eagod of the waters and the underground world.

Other gods corresponded to the great natural phenomena, also universal for these peoples. For example, Withoutwas the god of the moon, Abbotthe god of storm and rain who brought abundance, and shamash the sun god, with a central role for life, truth and justice.

But in Mesopotamia Some gods stood out with an exceptional destiny: the goddess Ishtar and the god Marduk.

Ishtar (or Ishtar) the goddess of love and fertility, was at the same time the goddess of war, which speaks of a divinity that is actually the product of two different original beliefs: one Sumerian, and one Semitic.

In the first millennium, Ishtar she was practically the central divinity, and was sometimes referred to as “chief of the gods, mistress of the peoples, ruler of heaven and earth.”

Ancient depiction of Ishtar ( Wikimedia Commons )

The popularity it achieved Marduk due to other reasons: god of Babylon, he became the first of the gods when Hammurabiking of Babylon, prevailed in all Mesopotamia.

However, when the political preponderance of Babylon collapsed, the cult of Marduk it did not decline, and continued to be respected in the temples of the Mesopotamian cities.

The mesopotamian religion it was therefore fundamentally polytheistic. But over the centuries it evolved enough for order and clarity to assert itself. The scribes and the priests organized the pantheon of godssimplifying and hierarchizing it, although never arriving at a monotheistic way of thinking.

The Mesopotamians definitely conceived of a polytheistic system whose coherence would not exist until the arrival of the Greeks.

Although these gods were represented with anthropomorphic figures, the mesopotamian religion It was always characterized by emphasizing the abysmal distance that separated the nature of the gods from that of men.

temples and rites

The gods lived far from the world of men. However, they also resided in the statues that had been dedicated to them. These representations were treated like the gods themselves.

As the most powerful sovereigns could only live in palaces, the word that designates the temple simply meant “House«. The temples (the ziggurat) were the houses par excellence, the most beautiful and richest that could exist.

Reconstructed facade of a ziggurat in Iraq ( Wikimedia Commons )

The mesopotamian templebuilt and maintained by the sovereign himself, was a gigantic institution, which not only dealt with the religious aspects of the city.

Rich, and abundantly provided with goods, the temple effortlessly supported a large clergy and ensured the development of knowledge, preserving the most precious texts of the mesopotamian culture.

There the god was kept, and treated like a living being: he was offered food, jewels, clothing, and sacrifices. As a sovereign, he would sometimes leave his abode to appear among men during the great celebrations. Tradition has left us the memory of dazzling parties which were held in Babylon in honor of Marduk, at New Years.

This religious world, infinitely complex in its representations, a vehicle in addition to politics, was interpreted in a very diverse way. It did not mean the same thing to simple men as it did to the restricted circle of temple theologians.

For the vast majority, the Religious life it represented a set of rites and acts that allowed them to live safely and in peace. The gods were too powerful and too far away. Satisfied the gods in everything possible, men then made an effort to enjoy the only good of which they were sure: the present life with its material joys.

The legendary hero Gilgamesh

As was the case with the vast majority of their contemporaries, the inhabitants of the region of Mesopotamia used Myths and legends to explain the creation of the world, natural phenomena and some main aspects of its social organization. The stories related to gods, goddesses and heroes of Mesopotamian mythology that have come down to us are very significant, but none of them has reached the importance of the great legendary hero Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh’s adventures have survived to the present day through what is known as ‘Gilgamesh poem‘, the first epic poem in the history of mankind that is known so far. This poem was found in the spectacular library of Nineveh, where more than 20,000 tablets in cuneiform writing were found that presented information of all kinds, including stories of a religious nature. The vast majority of the tablets found there are now in the British Museum, including the tablets recounting the adventures of Gilgamesh.

According to this epic, Gilgamesh was a king of Uruk who was born from the union of the goddess Ninsun and the priest Lillah. In the beginning, Gilgamesh was a tyrannical king who oppressed his people and who was disregarded for his lustful and violent behavior. The inhabitants of Uruk prayed to the gods to free them from their yoke and, in response to their pleas, the goddess Aruru created Enkidu from clay, a creature capable of challenging Gilgamesh in combat and defeating him. However, after starting the fight, both characters become close friends. Together, they begin a journey in search of glory, living various adventures until, after the murder of the Bull of Heaven, the gods decide that Gilgamesh has to pay for his death and decide to kill Enkidu.

Broken with grief and fearing his own mortality, Gilgamesh embarks on a journey to find answers to the idea of ​​death and seeks immortality in the far reaches of the world. Having what he wanted in his hands (a plant that restored youth to those who consumed it), he is attacked by a snake that steals it and plose forever the chance to achieve immortality that I longed for so much. Thus, as the last of the many teachings that appear in this epic, immortality appears as the exclusive patrimony of the gods.

The Epic of Gilgamesh It deals with topics of great importance such as the fear of death, the constant search for immortality, love, friendship and the qualities of good government, among other topics. Thus, Gilgamesh and Enkidu appear as heroes who perform a great number of deeds and who move in a world in which gods and humans coexist. The Gilgamesh myth survived and we find other references to it in later cultures. Thus, for example, in the Qumran scroll known as the ‘Book of Giants’ the names of Gilgamesh and Humbaba are mentioned, who are identified as two giants before the Deluge and the name of Gilgamesh has also survived in some cultures of the Middle East as a reference to a demon before time, among other examples.

Lastly, the influence of the great “Epic of Gilgamesh” can be seen in other great written works, such as those of Homer or himself. Old Testament, which has important similarities with the episode of the Epic where the facts related to the Universal Deluge are recounted. Once the myth was rediscovered in the contemporary age, the events related therein have inspired a large number of films, books, plays and even songs, such as Philip Roth’s work ‘The Great American Novel’ or Robert Silverberg’s books. ‘King Gilgamesh’ and ‘The Land of the Living’, among many other examples that reveal his influence today.