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Enmerkar
Enmerkar () was an ancient Sumerian ruler to whom the construction of the city of Uruk and a 420-year reign was attributed. According to literary sources, he led various campaigns against the land of Aratta. He is credited in Sumerian legend as the inventor of writing. An excerpt of an ancient text states "Because the messenger's mouth was heavy and he couldn't repeat (the message), the Lord of Kulaba (Enmerkar) patted some clay and put words on it, like a tablet. Until then, there had been no putting words on clay." This is the earliest known story in history about the invention of writing. Historical king Late Uruk period The tradition of Enmerkar as the founder of Uruk seems to date from the Jemdet Nasr period (3100-2900 BC) as found in the ''Ad-gi4 list''. The lexical list mentions Enmerkar and his wife Enmerkarzi as the builders of a town and the bringers of agriculture. A bilingual edition of the list has been found at Nineveh, indicating that the tradition was trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enmerkar And The Lord Of Aratta
''Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta'' is a legendary Sumerian language, Sumerian account, preserved in early post-Sumerian copies, composed in the Neo-Sumerian period (ca. 21st century BC). It is one of a series of accounts describing the conflicts between Enmerkar, king of Uruk, Unug-Kulaba, and the unnamed king of Aratta. Because it gives a Sumerian account of the "confusion of tongues", and also involves Enmerkar constructing temples at Eridu and Uruk, it has, since the time of Samuel Kramer, been compared with the Tower of Babel narrative in the Book of Genesis. Synopsis Near the beginning of the account, the following background is provided: "In those days of yore, when the destinies were determined, the great princes allowed Unug Kulaba's ''E-ana'' to lift its head high. Plenty, and carp floods and the rain which brings forth dappled barley were then increased in Unug Kulaba. Before the land of Dilmun yet existed, the ''E-ana'' of Unug Kulaba was well founded." ''Eanna, E-an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aratta
Aratta is a land that appears in Sumerian myths surrounding Enmerkar and Lugalbanda, two early and possibly mythical kings of Uruk also mentioned on the Sumerian king list. Role in Sumerian literature Aratta is described as follows in Sumerian literature: *It is a fabulously wealthy place full of gold, silver, lapis lazuli and other precious materials, as well as the artisans to craft them. *It is remote and difficult to reach. *It is home to the goddess Inana, who transfers her allegiance from Aratta to Uruk. *It is conquered by Enmerkar of Uruk. Mentions in Sumerian literature ''Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta'' - The goddess Inanna resides in Aratta, but Enmerkar of Uruk pleases her more than does the lord of Aratta, who is not named in this epic. Enmerkar wants Aratta to submit to Uruk, bring stones down from the mountain, craft gold, silver and lapis lazuli, and send them, along with "kugmea" ore to Uruk to build a temple. Inana bids him send a messenger to Aratta, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilometers (58 miles) northwest of ancient Ur, 108 kilometers (67 miles) southeast of ancient Nippur, and 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of ancient Larsa. It is east of modern Samawah. Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period. Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. By the final phase of the Uruk period around 3100 BC, the city may have had 40,000 residents, with 80,000–90,000 people living in its environs, making it the largest urban area in the world at the time. Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the '' Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''), ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. After the end of the Early Dynastic period, with the rise of the Akkadian Empire, the ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inanna
Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadian Empire, Akkadians, Babylonian religion, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Her primary title is Queen of Heaven (antiquity), "the Queen of Heaven". She was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, her early main religious center. In archaic Uruk, she was worshipped in three forms: morning Inanna (Inana-UD/hud), evening Inanna (Inanna sig), and princely Inanna (Inanna NUN), the former two reflecting the phases of her associated planet Venus. Her most prominent symbols include the Lion of Babylon, lion and the Star of Ishtar, eight-pointed star. Her husband is the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz), and her (attendant) is the goddess Ninshubur, later conflated with the male deities Ilabrat and Papsukkal. Inanna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nimrod
Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Shinar (Lower Mesopotamia). The Bible states that he was "a mighty hunter before the Lord [and] ... began to be mighty in the earth". Biblical and non-biblical traditions identify Nimrod as the ruler who had commissioned the construction of the Tower of Babel, and that identification led to his reputation as a king who had been rebellious against God. There is no direct evidence that Nimrod was an actual historical person in any of the non-biblical historic records, registers, or king lists (including any of the Mesopotamian ones, which are considered older than the biblical record). Historians have failed to match Nimrod with any real historically attested figure, or to find any historical, linguistic or genetic link between the Sumer, Sume ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lugalbanda In The Mountain Cave
''Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave'' (or ''Lugalbanda I'', ''Lugalbanda in the Wilderness'') is a Sumerian mythological account. It is one of the four known stories that belong to the same cycle describing conflicts between Enmerkar, king of Unug (Uruk), and an unnamed king of Aratta. The story is followed by another known as Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird, together forming the two parts of one story. The stories, from the composer’s point of view, take place in the distant past. The accounts are believed to be composed during the Ur III Period (21st century BCE), although almost all extant copies come from Isin-Larsa period (20th-18th centuries BCE). Tablets containing these stories were found in various locations of southern Iraq, primarily in the city of Nippur, and were part of the curriculum of Sumerian scribal schools during the Old Babylonian period (20th-17th centuries BCE). Synopsis Sumerian king Enmerkar wants to conquer the land of Aratta. Rounding up his army, Enmer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamazi
Hamazi or Khamazi ( Sumerian: , ''ha-ma-zi''ki, or ''Ḫa-ma-zi2''ki) was an ancient kingdom or city-state which became prominent during the Early Dynastic period. Its exact location is unknown. History In the early days of archaeology two pottery fragments were found in Nippur which it was assumed were part of the same vessel (CBS 9571+CBS 9577). One referred to a Uhub/Utug ruler of Kish and the other to an unknown ruler defeating Hamazi. Subsequent analysis showed that the two fragments did not in fact belong to the same vessel. The relevant fragment (BM 129402) reads " o the deity DN Pssussu, vanquisher of Hamazi, dedi ated(this vessel).".Douglas Frayne, "Unattributed", in Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 441-444, 2008 One of the earliest references to Hamazi is found in the epic literary composition ''Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta'', where Enmerkar prays to Enki about the confusion of languages in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Of Babel
The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shinar (Lower Mesopotamia), where they agree to build a great city with a tower that would reach the sky. Yahweh, observing these efforts and remarking on humanity's power in unity, confounds their speech so that they can no longer understand each other and scatters them around the world, leaving the city unfinished. Some modern scholars have associated the Tower of Babel with known historical structures and accounts, particularly from ancient Mesopotamia. The most widely attributed inspiration is Etemenanki, a ziggurat dedicated to the god Marduk in Babylon, which in Hebrew was called ''Babel''. A similar story is also found in the ancient Sumerian legend, ''Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta'', which describes events and locations in southern M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enki
Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and is identified by some scholars with Ia in Canaanite religion. The name was rendered Aos within Greek sources (e.g. Damascius). He was originally the patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians. He was associated with the southern band of constellations called ''stars of Ea'', but also with the constellation AŠ-IKU, ''the Field'' ( Square of Pegasus). Beginning around the second millennium BCE, he was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for "40", occasionally referred to as his "sacred number". The planet Mercury, associated with Babylonian '' Nabu'' (the son of Marduk) was, in Sumerian times, identified with En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amorites
The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC. The Amorites established several prominent city-states in various locations, such as Isin, Kurda, Larsa, Mari, Syria, Mari, and Ebla, and later founded Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire. They also founded the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the fragmented era of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt, Second Intermediate Period in the Nile Delta, which was characterized by rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim Sekhaenre, and were likely part of the later Hyksos. The term in Akkadian and Sumerian texts refers to the Amorites, Amurru (god), their principal deity, and Amurru kingdom, an Amorite kingdom. The Amorites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lugalbanda And The Anzud Bird
''Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird'' (or ''Lugalbanda II'', ''The Return of Lugalbanda'', ''Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird'') is a Sumerian mythological account. The story is the second of two about the hero Lugalbanda. The first story is known as ''Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave'', or sometimes ''Lugalbanda in the Wilderness''. They are part of a four-story cycle that describes the conflicts between Enmerkar, king of Unug (Uruk), and the king of Aratta. The texts are believed to be composed during the Ur III Period (21st century BCE), but almost all of the extant copies come from Isin-Larsa period (20th-18th centuries BCE). Nevertheless, a few fragmentary bilingual copies (Sumerian and Akkadian) from Nineveh suggest that the texts were still known during the first millennium.''ibid.'' p.135 Synopsis This story starts with Lugalbanda alone in the highlands of Lullubi. He finds the chick of the giant Anzû (or Anzud) bird, which is described as a lion-headed eagle, and decides to feed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amorite
The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC. The Amorites established several prominent city-states in various locations, such as Isin, Kurda, Larsa, Mari, and Ebla, and later founded Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire. They also founded the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the fragmented era of the Second Intermediate Period in the Nile Delta, which was characterized by rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim Sekhaenre, and were likely part of the later Hyksos. The term in Akkadian and Sumerian texts refers to the Amorites, their principal deity, and an Amorite kingdom. The Amorites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Canaan both before and after the conquest of the land under Joshua.van Seters, John, "The Terms 'Amori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
