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Enūma Eliš
' ( Akkadian Cuneiform: , also spelled "Enuma Elish"), meaning "When on High", is a Babylonian creation myth ( named after its opening words) from the late 2nd millennium BCE and the only complete surviving account of ancient near eastern cosmology. It was recovered by English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard in 1849 (in fragmentary form) in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (Mosul, Iraq). A form of the myth was first published by English Assyriologist George Smith in 1876; active research and further excavations led to near completion of the texts and improved translation. ''Enūma Eliš'' has about a thousand lines and is recorded in Akkadian on seven clay tablets, each holding between 115 and 170 lines of Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform script. Most of Tablet V has never been recovered, but, aside from this lacuna, the text is almost complete. Over the seven tablets, it describes the creation of the world, a battle between gods focused on the offering to Marduk, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akkadian Language
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 was an East Semitic language that is attested in ancient Mesopotamia ( Akkad, Assyria, Isin, Larsa, Babylonia and perhaps Dilmun) from the mid- third millennium BC until its gradual replacement in common use by Old Aramaic among Assyrians and Babylonians from the 8th century BC. Akkadian, which is the earliest documented Semitic language, is named after the city of Akkad, a major centre of Mesopotamian civilization during the Akkadian Empire (–2154 BC). It was written using the cuneiform script, originally used for Sumerian, but also used to write multiple languages in the region including Eblaite, Hurrian, Elamite, Old Persian and Hittite. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian went beyond just the cuneiform script; owing to their close proximity, a lengthy span of con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesopotamian Deities
Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore ''melam'', an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor" and which could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons. The effect that seeing a deity's ''melam'' has on a human is described as ''ni'', a word for the "Paresthesia, physical creeping of the flesh". Both the Sumerian language, Sumerian and Akkadian languages contain many words to express the sensation of ''ni'', including the word ''puluhtu'', meaning "fear". Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps, consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns. They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damascius
Damascius (; ; 462 – after 538), known as "the last of the Athenian Neoplatonists", was the last scholarch of the neoplatonic Athenian school. He was one of the neoplatonic philosophers who left Athens after laws confirmed by emperor Justinian I forced the closure of the Athenian school in c. 529 AD. After he left Athens, he may have sought refuge in the court of the Persian King Chrosroes, before being allowed back into the Byzantine Empire. His surviving works consist of three commentaries on the works of Plato, and a metaphysical text entitled ''Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles''. Life Much of what is known about Damascius' life comes from his semi-autobiographical work called ''The Philosophical History'', or ''Life of Isidore'', and from a work called ''Vita Severi'' written by the 6th-century bishop and historian Zacharias Scholasticus. Damascius, as his name suggests, was born in Damascus in c. 462 AD, and travelled to Alexandria in the 480s AD to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oannes (mythology)
Apkallu or and Abgal (; Akkadian and Sumerian, respectively) are terms found in cuneiform inscriptions that in general mean either "wise" or "sage". In several contexts the ''Apkallu'' are seven demigods, sometimes described as part man and part fish or bird, associated with human wisdom; these creatures are often referred to in scholarly literature as the Seven Sages. Sometimes the sages are associated with a specific primeval king. After the Great Flood (see ''Epic of Gilgamesh''), further sages and kings are listed. Post-deluge, the sages are considered human, and in some texts are distinguished by being referred to as ''Ummanu'', not Apkallu. Another use of the term Apkallu is when referring to figurines used in apotropaic rituals; these figurines include fish-man hybrids representing the seven sages, but also include bird-headed and other figures. In a later work by Berossus describing Babylonia, the Apkallu appear again, also described as fish-men who are sent by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiamat
In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, and has—at various points in the epic—a number of anthropomorphic features (such as breasts) and theriomorphic features (such as a tail). In the ''Enûma Elish'', the Babylonian epic of creation, Tiamat bears the first generation of deities after mingling her waters with those of Apsu, her consort. The gods continue to reproduce, forming a noisy new mass of divine children. Apsu, driven to violence by the noise they make, seeks to destroy them and is killed. Enraged, Tiamat also wars upon those of her own and Apsu's children who killed her consort, bringing forth a series of monsters as weapons. She also takes a new consort, Qingu, and bestows on him the Tablet of Destinies, which represents legitimate divine rulership. She is ulti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esagila
The Ésagila or Esangil ( , ''"temple whose top is lofty"'') was a temple dedicated to Marduk, the protector god of Babylon. It lay south of the ziggurat Etemenanki. Description In this temple was the statue of Marduk, surrounded by cult images of the cities that had fallen under the hegemony of the Babylonian Empire from the 18th century BC; there was also a little lake which was named '' Abzu'' by the Babylonian priests. This ''Abzu'' was a representation of Marduk's father, Enki, who was god of the waters and lived in the ''Abzu'' that was the source of all the fresh waters. Esarhaddon, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (681 – 669 BC), reconstructed the temple. He claimed that he built the temple from the foundation to the battlements, a claim corroborated by dedicatory inscriptions found on the stones of the temple's walls on the site. The Esagila complex, completed in its final form by Nebuchadnezzar II (604–562 BC) encasing earlier cores, was the center of Babylon. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronicon (Eusebius)
The ''Chronicon'' or ''Chronicle'' (Ancient Greek, Greek: Παντοδαπὴ ἱστορία ''Pantodape historia'', "Universal history (genre), Universal history") was a work in two books by Eusebius, Eusebius of Caesarea. It seems to have been compiled in the early 4th century. It contained a world chronicle from Abraham until the vicennalia of Constantine I in A.D. 325. Book 1 contained sets of extracts from earlier writers; book 2 contained a technically innovative list of dates and events in tabular format. The original Koine Greek, Greek text is lost, although substantial quotations exist in later chronographers. Both books are mostly preserved in an Armenian language, Armenian translation. Book 2 is entirely preserved in the Latin translation by Jerome. Portions also exist in quotation in later Syriac writers such as the fragments by James of Edessa and, following him, Michael the Syrian. The ''Chronicle'' as preserved extends to the year 325, and was written befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. Together with Pamphilus, Eusebius was a scholar of the biblical canon and is regarded as one of the most learned Christians during late antiquity. He wrote the ''Demonstrations of the Gospel'', '' Preparations for the Gospel'' and ''On Discrepancies between the Gospels'', studies of the biblical text. His work '' Onomasticon'' is an early geographical lexicon of places in the Holy Land mentioned in the Bible. As "Father of Church History" (not to be confused with the title of Church Father), he produced the ''Ecclesiastical History'', ''On the Life of Pamphilus'', the ''Chronicle'' and ''On the Martyrs''. He also produced a biographical work on Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, who was ''Augustus'' between A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Polyhistor
Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor (; flourished in the first half of the 1st century BC; also called Alexander of Miletus) was a Greek scholar who was enslaved by the Romans during the Mithridatic War and taken to Rome as a tutor. After his release, he continued to live in Italy as a Roman citizen. He was so productive as a writer that he earned the surname '' Polyhistor'' (very learned). The majority of his writings are now lost, but the fragments that remain shed valuable light on antiquarian and eastern Mediterranean subjects. Among his works were historical and geographical accounts of nearly all the countries of the ancient world, and the book ''Upon the Jews'' () which excerpted many works which might otherwise be unknown. Life The Suda is the main source of information about Alexander's life. He was born in Miletus, Asia Minor, between 110 and 105 BC and educated by Crates of Mallus in Pergamon, before being captured in the Mithridatic War and brought to Rome as a sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babyloniaca (Berossus)
The ''Babyloniaca'' is a text written in the Greek language by the Babylonian priest and historian Berossus in the 3rd century BCE. The ''Babyloniaca'' is structured into three books. The first recounts Babylonian geography and a variant of the cosmogony of the Enūma Eliš, as well as the transition of the existence of man prior to the divine law and after it had been revealed. The second and third books largely concern kingly genealogies and an account of the Mesopotamian flood myth. An English edition of the text was first published by Burstein in 1978. A detailed study on the sources Berossus consulted for the third and final book of the ''Babyloniaca'' has been produced as well as one on his conception of the creation story ( Eridu Genesis). Although the work is now lost, it survives in substantial fragments from subsequent authors, especially in the works of the fourth-century CE Christian author and bishop Eusebius, and was known to a limited extent in learned circles a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berossus
Berossus () or Berosus (; ; possibly derived from ) was an early-3rd-century BCE Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic-era Babylonia, Babylonian writer, priest of Bel (mythology) , Bel Marduk, and Babylonian astronomy, astronomer who wrote in the Koine Greek language. His original works, including the ''Babyloniaca (Berossus), Babyloniaca'' (, are Lost literary work, lost, but Literary fragment, fragments survive in some quotations, largely in the writings of the fourth-century CE Early Christianity, early Christian writer Eusebius. Berossus has recently been identified with Bēl-reʾû-šunu, a high priest of the Esagila, Esagila Temple in the city of Babylon, as mentioned in a document from 258 BCE. Name The name "Berossus" likely originates from a theophoric name whose first component was Bel (mythology), Bel, meaning "Lord," which was a common title for Marduk. The original name was either either Bēl-rē’ûšunu, meaning "the god Bel is their shepherd," or Bēl- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashur (god)
Ashur, Ashshur, also spelled Ašur, Aššur (, Assyrian cuneiform: , ) was the national god of the Assyrians in ancient times until their gradual conversion to Christianity between the 1st and 5th centuries AD. Name The name of the god Ashur is spelled exactly the same as that of the city of Assur. In modern scholarship, some Assyriologists choose to employ different spellings for the god vis-a-vis the city as a means to differentiate between them. In the Old Assyrian Period, both the city and the god were commonly spelled as A-šùr. The god Ashur was spelled as dA-šur, A-šur, dA-šùr or A-šùr, and from the comparative data there seems to be a bigger general reluctance to use the divine determinative in Anatolia in comparison to data from the city of Assur itself. From the Middle Assyrian period onwards, Aššur was generally spelled as Aš-šur, for the god, the city and the state (māt Aššur = Assyria). Ashur's name was written once as AN.ŠÁR on a bead of Tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
