This page groups deities by whether their existence in belief is considered fully mythological, debated, or grounded in a historical cult that can be traced. Wikipedia defines historicity as "the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction." Browsing this way helps a visitor separate gods with a documented historical cult from ones known only through later literary retelling.
Facts
Attestation
Era of AttestationDivine names appear in the archaic tablets of Uruk from about 3200 BCE. God-lists and literary texts follow from the mid-third millennium, and Sumerian religious texts were still being copied on cuneiform tablets in the first century CE. 2 Veneration TodayThe cult ended with the cuneiform culture that carried it; no continuous worship survives. 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe gods of southern Mesopotamia in the third and early second millennia BCE, recorded in the oldest religious literature in the world. The Sumerian pantheon is the substrate of the later Babylonian and Assyrian one: many of the same powers recur under Akkadian names, and the entries record the correspondence rather than duplicating the god. 2 Learn More
The gods of Sumer
This group gathers the deities of Sumer, the earliest urban civilisation of southern Mesopotamia and the source of the oldest written religious literature in the world. The Sumerian pantheon underlies the later Babylonian and Assyrian gods, who often are the same powers under Akkadian names.
The browser will find the sky-god An, the air-god Enlil, the wisdom-god Enki, the great goddess Inanna (later Ishtar), the moon-god Nanna and the sun-god Utu. These figures appear in some of humanity's first recorded myths, including the descent of Inanna and the flood story that stands behind later versions. The entries note the Sumerian-to-Akkadian correspondences.
Historicity
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses
Nicole Brisch (ed.), Oracc / Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus, University of Pennsylvania, 2011IntroductionView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.