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Xisuthros
Ziusudra (Old Babylonian: , Neo-Assyrian: , grc-gre, Ξίσουθρος, Xísouthros) of Shuruppak (c. 2900 BC) is listed in the WB-62 Sumerian King List recension as the last king of Sumer prior to the Great Flood. He is subsequently recorded as the hero of the Sumerian creation myth and appears in the writings of Berossus as Xisuthros. Ziusudra is one of several mythic characters who are protagonists of Near Eastern flood myths, including Atrahasis, Utnapishtim and the biblical Noah. Although each story displays its own distinctive features, many key story elements are common to two, three, or all four versions. Literary and archaeological evidence King Ziusudra of Shuruppak In the WB-62 Sumerian king list recension, Ziusudra, or Zin-Suddu of Shuruppak, is listed as son of the last king of Sumer before a great flood. He is recorded as having reigned as both king and ''gudug'' priest for ten ''sars'' (periods of 3,600 years), although this figure is probably a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumerian Creation Myth
The earliest record of a Sumerian creation myth, called The Eridu Genesis by historian Thorkild Jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur by the Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized by Arno Poebel in 1912. It is written in the Sumerian language and dated to around 1600 BCE. Other Sumerian creation myths from around this date are called the Barton Cylinder, the Debate between sheep and grain and the Debate between Winter and Summer, also found at Nippur. Summary The beginning of the tablet is lost, but the surviving portion begins by recounting how the gods An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursanga created the Sumerians and comfortable conditions for the animals to live and procreate. Kingship then descends from heaven, and the first cities are founded: Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larak, Sippar, and Shuruppak. After a missing section, we learn that the gods have decided not to save mankind from an impending flood. Zi-ud-sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sippar
Sippar ( Sumerian: , Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its '' tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, some north of Babylon and southwest of Baghdad. The city's ancient name, Sippar, could also refer to its sister city, Sippar-Amnanum (located at the modern site of Tell ed-Der); a more specific designation for the city here referred to as Sippar was Sippar-Yahrurum. History Despite the fact that thousands of cuneiform clay tablets have been recovered at the site, relatively little is known about the history of Sippar. As was often the case in Mesopotamia, it was part of a pair of cities, separated by a river. Sippar was on the east side of the Euphrates, while its sister city, Sippar-Amnanum (modern Tell ed-Der), was on the west. While pottery finds indicate that the site of Sippar was in use as early as the Uruk period, substantial occupat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utnapishtim
Ut-napishtim or Uta-na’ishtim (in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''), Atra-Hasis, Ziusudra ( Sumerian), Xisuthros (''Ξίσουθρος'', in Berossus) ( akk, ) is a character in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. He is tasked by the god Enki (Akkadian: Ea) to create a giant ship to be called ''Preserver of Life'' in preparation of a giant flood that would wipe out all life. The character appears in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' and is recognized as the inspiration for Noah in the Book of Genesis. Story Ut-napishtim is tasked by the god Enki to abandon his worldly possessions and create a giant ship to be called ''Preserver of Life''. In ''Erra and Išum'', Marduk is said to have been the originator of the flood and the Seven Sages. The ''Preserver of Life'' was made of solid timber, so that the rays of Shamash (the sun) would not shine in, and of equal dimensions in length and width. The design of the ship was supposedly drawn on the ground by Enki, and the frame of the ark, which was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( sux, , "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. Shuruppak was dedicated to Ninlil, also called Sud, the goddess of grain and the air. Shuruppak and its environment Shuruppak is located in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, approximately 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur. The site of extends about a kilometer from north to south. The total area is about 120 hectares, with about 35 hectares of the mound being more than 3 meters above the surrounding plain, with a maximum of 9 meters. Archaeology After a brief survey by Hermann Volrath Hilprecht in 1900, it was first excavated in 1902 by Robert Koldewey and Friedrich Delitzsch of the German Oriental Society for eight months. Among other finds, hundreds of Early Dynastic tablets were collected, which ended up in the Berlin Museum and the Istanbul Museum. In Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)
The Early Dynastic period (abbreviated ED period or ED) is an archaeological culture in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that is generally dated to c. 2900–2350 BC and was preceded by the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods. It saw the development of writing and the formation of the first cities and states. The ED itself was characterized by the existence of multiple city-states: small states with a relatively simple structure that developed and solidified over time. This development ultimately led to the unification of much of Mesopotamia under the rule of Sargon, the first monarch of the Akkadian Empire. Despite this political fragmentation, the ED city-states shared a relatively homogeneous material culture. Sumerian cities such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Umma, and Nippur located in Lower Mesopotamia were very powerful and influential. To the north and west stretched states centered on cities such as Kish, Mari, Nagar, and Ebla. The study of Central and Lower Mesopotamia has long b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An (mythology)
, image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg , caption=Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE , deity_of= Sky Father, King of the Gods , abode= heaven , symbol= horned crown on a pedestal , number= 60 , parents= , children= , consort= , Greek_equivalent= Zeus (disputed), Uranus , equivalent1_type= Elamite , equivalent1= Jabru , equivalent2_type= Hurrian , equivalent2= Hamurnu , equivalent3_type= Achaemenid , equivalent3= Ahura Mazda (disputed) Anu ( akk, , from 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the deities in ancient Mesopotamian religion. He was regarded as a source of both divine and human kingship, and opens the enumerations of deities in many Mesopotamian texts. At the same time, his role was large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enki
, image = Enki(Ea).jpg , caption = Detail of Enki from the Adda Seal, an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC , deity_of = God of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, seawater, lakewater, fertility, semen, magic, mischief , symbol = Goat, fish, goat-fish, chimera , consort = Ninhursag, Damkina , children = Marduk, Dumuzid, Ninsar, Ninkurra, Uttu, Ninti , parents = An and Nammu , Greek_equivalent = Poseidon, PrometheusStephanie West. "Prometheus Orientalized" page 147 Museum Helveticum Vol. 51, No. 3 (1994), pp. 129–149 (21 pages) Enki ( sux, ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea ( akk, ) or Ae in Akkadian (Assyrian- Babylonian) religion, and is identified by some scholars with Ia in Canaanite religion. The name was rendered Aos in Greek sources (e.g. Damascius). He was originally the patron god of the city of Eridu, but la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larak (Sumer)
Larak (or Larag, Sumerian:, LA-RA-AKKI) was a city in Sumer (modern Iraq) that appears in some versions of the '' Sumerian King List'' as the third of five cities to exercise kingship in the antediluvian era. The only king of Larak to be mentioned in the ''SKL'' is En-sipad-zid-ana. The city is also mentioned in the Lament for Ur. The city has not yet been identified archaeologically, but a location to the east of Kish and near Isin has been suggested. Its patron deity was Pabilsag, a Ninurta-like warrior god additionally associated with judgment, medicine and the underworld, usually portrayed as the husband of Ninisina. A Larak is mentioned in writings of Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian times but it is not certain if this is the same city. References See also *Cities of the Ancient Near East The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bad-tibira
Bad-tibira ( Sumerian: , bad3-tibiraki), "Wall of the Copper Worker(s)", or "Fortress of the Smiths", identified as modern Tell al-Madineh (also Tell Madineh), between Ash Shatrah and Tell as-Senkereh (ancient Larsa) in southern Iraq, was an ancient Sumerian city, which appears among antediluvian cities in the Sumerian King List. Its Akkadian name was Dûr-gurgurri. It was also called (Pantibiblos) by Greek authors such as Berossus, transmitted by Abydenus and Apollodorus. This may reflect another version of the city's name, Patibira, "Canal of the Smiths". Bad-tibira in Sumerian literature According to the '' Sumerian King List'', Bad-tibira was the second city to "exercise kingship" in Sumer before the flood, following Eridu. These kings were said to be En-men-lu-ana, En-men-gal-ana and Dumuzid the Shepherd. The early Sumerian text '' Inanna's descent to the netherworld'' mentions the city's temple, E-mush-kalamma. In this tale, Inanna dissuades demons from the netherworld ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eridu
Eridu ( Sumerian: , NUN.KI/eridugki; Akkadian: ''irîtu''; modern Arabic: Tell Abu Shahrain) is an archaeological site in southern Mesopotamia (modern Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq). Eridu was long considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia.Leick, Gwendolyn,Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, (Penguin UK). Google Books 2002 ISBN 9780141927114 Located 12 kilometers southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew around temples, almost in sight of one another. These buildings were made of mud brick and built on top of one another. With the temples growing upward and the village growing outward, a larger city was built. In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was originally the home of Enki, later known by the Akkadians as Ea, who was considered to have founded the city. His temple was called E-Abzu, as Enki was believed to live in Abzu, an aquifer from which all life was believed to stem. Archaeology The site contains 8 mounds: *Mound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Babylonian Empire
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babylonia is debated, since there is a Babylonian King List A and also a Babylonian King List B. In this chronology, the regnal years of List A are used due to their wide usage. The reign lengths given in List B are longer, generally speaking. Hardship of searching for origins of the First Dynasty The actual origins of the First Babylonian dynasty are rather hard to pinpoint with great certainty — simply because Babylon itself, due to a high water table, yields very few archaeological materials intact. Thus, the evidence that survived throughout the years includes written records such as royal and votive inscriptions, literary texts, and lists of year-names. The minimal amount of evidence in economic and legal documents makes it diff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akkadian Language
Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia ( Akkad, Assyria, Isin, Larsa and Babylonia) from the third millennium BC until its gradual replacement by Akkadian-influenced Old Aramaic among Mesopotamians by the 8th century BC. It is the earliest documented Semitic language. It used the cuneiform script, which was originally used to write the unrelated, and also extinct, Sumerian (which is a language isolate). Akkadian is named after the city of Akkad, a major centre of Mesopotamian civilization during the Akkadian Empire (c. 2334–2154 BC). The mutual influence between Sumerian and Akkadian had led scholars to describe the languages as a '' Sprachbund''. Akkadian proper names were first attested in Sumerian texts from around the mid 3rd-mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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