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1. SUMERIANS OR MIDDLE EAST PAGANISM

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Estimated year of creation: 6000 BC

Gods: An, Enlil, Enki and Ea

Prophet or Hero: Unknown.

World Headquarters / Capital: Nippur (now Iraq).

Number of faithful around the world: Tens of thousands.

The Sumerians had a polytheistic religion with numerous gods to whom they invoked their protection and thanked their well-being. There was a trinity of major gods (Enlil, Enki, Ea), and other minor gods who served as protectors of a certain city, Enliln, in Nipur; Nanna, goddess of the moon and knowledge, in Ur, Inanna, goddess of war and fertility, in Uruk, Ningirsu in Lagash and Shara in Umma. Some kings also had their protector gods (Ningishzidda and Lama - Gudea). The Akkadians adopted these same deities, changing their names, and the Semitic, Hebrew, and later traditions have their bases in Sumerian mythology:

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  • The creation of the Universe. Nammu created heaven and earth (who gave it to Ki and An), His son Enlil, created the atmosphere, the wind, the storm and separated the day from the night. Enlil with Ki created the animals, and the plants. Men were created by Enki and Ki to serve the gods.

  • The woman (Eva). Ki created with Enki's rib a goddess, Nin-ti, which means woman of the rib.

  • The Paradise. Enki created a place where man could live without fear of animals (snakes, hyenas, scorpions or lions) a place without terror, but Enki discovered inappropriate behavior in humans and drove them out.

  • Cain and Abel. Two gods, Emesh (summer) and Enter (winter), who were initially commissioned by Enlil so that one was in charge of crops and agriculture and the other of animals and livestock, but they had a great dispute. A similar problem existed between Ashnan (goddess of grain) and Lahar (goddess of cattle). After a drunkenness they were fighting and Enlili and Enki had to mediate.

  • The flood. For 7 days and 7 nights it rained non-stop, but Ziusudra, advised by the god Utu, created a ship, where he kept specimens of seeds and animals. When the rain stopped, and the sun appeared, Ziusudra sacrificed a sheep to the god Utu.

  • It is logical to think that Abraham, when he fled from Ur, at the end of the Third Dynasty, because of the Amorite invasion, was based on this tradition when he created the Hebrew religion.

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GREATER GODS. First Triad.

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An (Anu) The king of the gods, head of the family. God of paradise and earth. God of the starry sky, the monarch spirit of the upper sphere. His symbol was a star. According to the Sumerian tradition, he lived in Paradise and made visits to earth in times of crisis or during ceremonies. Temple in Uruk called E.ANNA (the house of AN). From his union with Nannu he had Enki, and from his union with Ki he had Enlil. Related to the Assyrian god Assur or the Philistine god Dagon. It is represented with a winged disc, emerging from a human bust with a royal taira, double horns and an eagle's tail, in the act of drawing a bow to shoot an arrow. His sons and followers were the Anunnaki or Annuna.

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Enlil: most important God of the Sumerians. Son of An (Heaven), and of the goddess Ki (earth). Lord of the "Lil". Father of gods and men. It reigns over the atmosphere, the air, the storms, the wind. God of force and violence. It came to earth before the arrival of men, it separated paradise from earth. In Paradise he stands behind his father, and on earth when the gods gather, they do so at his Ekur temple in Nippur. Nippur was the Holy city, inhabited only by priests. From his union with the goddess Ninlil he had his daughter Sin. Ningirsu's father.

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Enki (Ea): Sumerian God of Waters, fertility and wisdom. It arises from the humid chaos, from the marine waters, and permeates the Earth and gives life to the beings that populate it. Protector of sailors and sailors. Called Ea by the Akkadians. The Guardian of divine laws and ME (order without chaos, the great attribute of civilization, the power of the gods). His city was Eridu. Innana convinced him to hand over some of his responsibilities. He is often depicted as a being with the body of a fish from which a human head emerges and with human-like feet.

See the work: The Epic of Gilgamesh, 1,500 BC

Reference

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https://en.qaz.wiki/wiki/Sumerian_religion

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