Many of the gods found in Semitic mythology are known by several names. Over time, the Sumerian goddess Inanna (pronounced ee-NAH-nah) became known by her Akkadian name, Ishtar (pronounced ISH-tahr). Dumuzi (pronounced DOO-moo-zee), Inanna’s husband, also acquired other names; the people of early Israel called him Tammuz (pronounced TAH-mooz). Although there was significant overlap with main figures such as these, different Semitic cultures also had unique gods and goddesses.
Mesopotamian Deities All Mesopotamian peoples honored a fertility goddess, such as Inanna or Ishtar. They also recognized three creator gods, called An, Enlil (pronounced EN-lil), and Enki (pronounced EN-kee) by the Sumerians, and Anu (pronounced AH-noo), Enlil, and Ea (pronounced AY-ah) by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. An was the chief of the gods. Enlil was a god of wind and land who could be destructive, and Enki was usually associated with water, wisdom, and the arts of civilization. The moon god, known as Sin or Nanna, appeared in a myth in which demons tried to devour him. The powerful god Marduk (pronounced MAHR-dook) stopped the demons before they could finish the job. The moon god grew to his former size and repeated that growth every month, marking the passage of time.
Mythology was closely interwoven with political power in ancient Mesopotamia. Monarchs were believed to rule by the will of the gods and were responsible for maintaining good relations between the heavenly world and their kingdoms. Each of the early city-states had one of the deities of the pantheon—the collection of recognized gods and goddesses—as its patron, who was worshipped by the people and viewed as a protector. The importance of the deity rose and fell with the fortunes of its city. A main theme of Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic, is the rise of Marduk, the god associated with Babylon. Marduk became a leader of the gods, just as Babylon rose to power in the region.
Canaanite Deities The chief of the Ugaritic pantheon was El, the father of the gods, who was generally portrayed as a wise old man. Baal (pronounced BAY-uhl), an active and powerful deity, was associated with fertility and sometimes identified with the storm god Adad. Asherah (pronounced ASH-er-ah), the mother of the gods, was the wife of El.
Jewish Deities and Characters Over the years the Jews produced sacred books, some of which form the Tanach (pronounced tah-NAHK), a set of documents known to Christians as the Old Testament of the Bible. These books include myths and legends about the history of the early Israelites, as well as information about their religious beliefs. Traditional Jewish stories were influenced by ancient Semitic mythology. Connections are clearly seen in such stories as the fight between Cain and Abel and the great flood survived by Noah in his ark. In the same way, the story of creation in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament contains parallels to Mesopotamian myths about how Marduk organized the universe. One major difference between Jewish tradition and earlier Semitic mythology, however, is that Judaism was and is monotheistic: instead of a pantheon of deities, it referred to a single, all-powerful deity, sometimes called Yahweh.
World History
