The Sumerians were polytheistic and believed various gods controlled natural phenomena they could not explain like weather, night and day, and seasons. The gods established rules called "Mes" that governed both good aspects like honesty and justice as well as bad aspects like pain, lies, and wars. While the gods planned for both good and evil, their will was never fully understood by humans who could only plead with the gods. Major gods included An the god of heaven, Enlil the god of air who became chief god, Enki the god of wisdom and lifegiving waters, and Ninhursag the mother of all living things.

1. Sumerian Mythology

2. Major Beliefs
There were many things that the
Sumerians could not understand.
Natural occurrences like the weather,
night and day or the seasons. Therefore
the Sumerians believed in a set of gods
who controlled the inexplicable.
They were polytheistic. They believed
in many gods.

3. The Me s
The gods had established a list of rules called
"Mes" with which they ruled the universe.
There were MEs for the good world
Honesty
Justice
Kindness
Peace
There were MEs for the bad world
Pain
Lies
Wars
Fear

6. • No one knows why the gods planned for evil
as well as good, but Sumerians said the will
of the gods was never completely
understood by man.
• At best, man would only plead his case
with the gods.
• Kings in Sumer claimed to receive their
kingship from Enlil.
* Legend tells how he was sent (temporarily) to
the underworld for mistreating Ninlil.
* Many Sumerian myths have the theme of
man's helplessness and pleading with the
gods to solve a problem.

7. Ask yourself:
How might these beliefs affect
Sumerian culture?

8. Who were the Sumerian Gods?
AN - God of Heaven, Father of gods
ENLIL - God of the Air
(later took over as chief god)
* In a story Enlil separates heaven and earth
and makes vegetation grow. He also
creates the pickax and plow which he gives
to the Sumerians. He is pictured as a kind
father who watches over Sumer and as a
destroyer whose job it is to carry out the
orders of the gods.

9. An Enlil

10. ENKI - God of Wisdom and Lifegiving Waters.
He organized the earth according to An's and Enlil's
plan. Things he did:
• filled the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers with water
• placed fish there
• placed reeds in the marshes
• ordered rain to fall
• planted seeds for crops
• appointed minor gods to supervise all that he
created
• gave kings their wisdom and gave craftsmen their
skills

11. Enki

12. NINHURSAG: (also known as Nintu or Ki) - The
Mother of All Living Things, source of fertile
soil.
*A story tells of how she created man from clay so
that the gods would not have to work for their
food.
NANNA ( or Sin) - The Moon God. He had a son
and daughter
UTU - The Sun God was Nanna's son
ISHTAR (or Inanna)- The Goddess of Love was
Nanna's daughter

13. Ninhursag
Utu
Nanna
Inanna

14. * There were also 50 other gods known as the
ANNUNNAKI - they were the children of
AN.
* Since the major gods were busy with
important things, each Sumerian had a
personal god he used to please for him in
time of trouble.