Enlil

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Redirect Template:Good article Template:Infobox deity Template:SpecialChars Enlil,Template:Efn later known as Elil and Ellil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms.Template:Snf He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon,Template:Snf but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hurrians. Enlil's primary center of worship was the Ekur temple in the city of Nippur, which was believed to have been built by Enlil himself and was regarded as the "mooring-rope" of heaven and earth. He is also sometimes referred to in Sumerian texts as Nunamnir. According to one Sumerian hymn, Enlil himself was so holy that not even the other gods could look upon him. Enlil rose to prominence during the twenty-fourth century BC with the rise of Nippur. His cult fell into decline after Nippur was sacked by the Elamites in 1230 BC and he was eventually supplanted as the chief god of the Mesopotamian pantheon by the Babylonian national god Marduk.

Enlil plays a vital role in the ancient near eastern cosmology; he separates An (heaven) from Ki (earth), thus making the world habitable for humans. In the Sumerian flood myth Eridu Genesis, Enlil rewards Ziusudra with immortality for having survived the flood and, in the Babylonian flood myth, Enlil is the cause of the flood himself, having sent the flood to exterminate the human race, who made too much noise and prevented him from sleeping; the cuneiform tablets of Atra-Hasis report on this connections in a comparatively well-preserved state. The myth of Enlil and Ninlil is about Enlil's serial seduction of the goddess Ninlil in various guises, resulting in the conception of the moon-god Nanna and the Underworld deities Nergal, Ninazu, and Enbilulu. Enlil was regarded as the inventor of the mattock and the patron of agriculture. Enlil also features prominently in several myths involving his son Ninurta, including Anzû and the Tablet of Destinies and Lugale.

EtymologyEdit

Enlil's name comes from ancient Sumerian EN (𒂗), meaning "lord" and LÍL (𒆤), the meaning of which is contentious,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and which has sometimes been interpreted as meaning winds as a weather phenomenon (making Enlil a weather and sky god, "Lord Wind" or "Lord Storm"),<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>Template:Sfn Template:Sfn or alternatively as signifying a spirit or phantom whose presence may be felt as stirring of the air, or possibly as representing a partial Semitic loanword rather than a Sumerian word at all.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Enlil's name is not a genitive construction,Template:Snf suggesting that Enlil was seen as the personification of LÍL rather than merely the cause of LÍL.Template:Snf

Piotr Steinkeller has written that the meaning of LÍL may not actually be a clue to a specific divine domain of Enlil's, whether storms, spirits, or otherwise, since Enlil may have been "a typical universal god [...] without any specific domain."<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Piotr Steinkeller and Piotr Michalowski have doubts about the Sumerian origin of Enlil.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> They have questioned the true meaning of the name, and identified Enlil with the Eblaite word I-li-lu.<ref name=":0" /> As noted by Manfred Krebernik and M. P. Streck; Enlil being referred to as Kur-gal (the Great Mountain) in Sumerian texts suggests he might have originated in eastern Mesopotamia.<ref name=":0" />

WorshipEdit

File:Ruins from a temple in Naffur.jpg

Modern photograph of the ruins of the Ekur temple at Nippur

File:Ekur plan.svg

Floor plan of the Ekur temple in Nippur

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File:Cuneiform inscription on a diorite mortar stating that this was an offering from Gudea to Enlil. From Nippur, Iraq. 2144-2124 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.jpg

Cuneiform inscription on a diorite mortar from Nippur stating that this was an offering from Gudea to Enlil (Template:Circa 2144–2124 BC)

Enlil was the patron god of the Sumerian city-state of Nippur Template:Snf and his main center of worship was the Ekur temple located there.Template:Snf The name of the temple literally means "Mountain House" in ancient Sumerian.Template:Snf The Ekur was believed to have been built and established by Enlil himself.Template:Snf It was believed to be the "mooring-rope" of heaven and earth,Template:Snf meaning that it was seen as "a channel of communication between earth and heaven".Template:Snf A hymn written during the reign of Ur-Nammu, the founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur, describes the E-kur in great detail, stating that its gates were carved with scenes of Imdugud, a lesser deity sometimes shown as a giant bird, slaying a lion and an eagle snatching up a sinner.Template:Snf

The Sumerians believed that the sole purpose of humanity's existence was to serve the gods.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn They thought that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn As such, cult statues were given constant care and attentionTemplate:Sfn Template:Sfn and a set of priests were assigned to tend to them.Template:Sfn People worshipped Enlil by offering food and other human necessities to him.Template:Sfn The food, which was ritually laid out before the god's cult statue in the form of a feast,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn was believed to be Enlil's daily meal,Template:Sfn but, after the ritual, it would be distributed among his priests.Template:Sfn These priests were also responsible for changing the cult statue's clothing.Template:Sfn

The Sumerians envisioned Enlil as a benevolent, fatherly deity, who watches over humanity and cares for their well-being.Template:Sfn One Sumerian hymn describes Enlil as so glorious that even the other gods could not look upon him.Template:Snf Template:Sfn The same hymn also states that, without Enlil, civilization could not exist.Template:Sfn Enlil's epithets include titles such as "the Great Mountain" and "King of the Foreign Lands".Template:Snf Enlil is also sometimes described as a "raging storm", a "wild bull", and a "merchant".Template:Snf The Mesopotamians envisioned him as a creator, a father, a king, and the supreme lord of the universe.Template:Snf Template:Sfn He was also known as "Nunamnir"Template:Snf and is referred to in at least one text as the "East Wind and North Wind".Template:Snf

Kings regarded Enlil as a model ruler and sought to emulate his example.Template:Snf Enlil was said to be supremely justTemplate:Sfn and intolerant towards evil.Template:Sfn Rulers from all over Sumer would travel to Enlil's temple in Nippur to be legitimized.Template:Snf They would return Enlil's favor by devoting lands and precious objects to his temple as offerings.Template:Snf Nippur was the only Sumerian city-state that never built a palace;Template:Sfn this was intended to symbolize the city's importance as the center of the cult of Enlil by showing that Enlil himself was the city's king.Template:Sfn Even during the Babylonian Period, when Marduk had superseded Enlil as the supreme god, Babylonian kings still traveled to the holy city of Nippur to seek recognition of their right to rule.Template:Snf

Enlil first rose to prominence during the twenty-fourth century BC, when the importance of the god An began to wane.Template:Snf Template:Sfn During this time period, Enlil and An are frequently invoked together in inscriptions.Template:Snf Enlil remained the supreme god in Mesopotamia throughout the Amorite Period,Template:Snf with Amorite monarchs proclaiming Enlil as the source of their legitimacy.Template:Snf Enlil's importance began to wane after the Babylonian king Hammurabi conquered Sumer.Template:Snf The Babylonians worshipped Enlil under the name "Elil"Template:Snf and the Hurrians syncretized him with their own god Kumarbi.Template:Snf In one Hurrian ritual, Enlil and Apantu are invoked as "the father and mother of Išḫara".Template:Sfn Enlil is also invoked alongside Ninlil as a member of "the mighty and firmly established gods".Template:Sfn

During the Kassite Period (Template:Circa 1592–1155 BC), Nippur briefly managed to regain influence in the region and Enlil rose to prominence once again.Template:Snf From around 1300 BC onwards, Enlil was syncretized with the Assyrian national god Aššur,Template:Snf who was the most important deity in the Assyrian pantheon.Template:Snf Then, in 1230 BC, the Elamites attacked Nippur and the city fell into decline, taking the cult of Enlil along with it.Template:Snf Approximately one hundred years later, Enlil's role as the head of the pantheon was given to Marduk, the national god of the Babylonians.Template:Snf

IconographyEdit

File:Gudea dedication tablet to Ningirsu.jpg

Gudea dedication tablet to God Ningirsu: "For Ningirsu, Enlil's mighty warrior, his Master, Gudea, ensi of Lagash"

Enlil was represented by the symbol of a horned cap, which consisted of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns.Template:Sfn Such crowns were an important symbol of divinity;Template:Snf Template:Sfn gods had been shown wearing them ever since the third millennium BC.Template:Sfn The horned cap remained consistent in form and meaning from the earliest days of Sumerian prehistory up until the time of the Persian conquest and beyond.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

The Sumerians had a complex numerological system, in which certain numbers were believed to hold special ritual significance.Template:Sfn Within this system, Enlil was associated with the number fifty, which was considered sacred to him.Template:Snf Enlil was part of a triad of deities, which also included An and Enki.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn These three deities together were the embodiment of all the fixed stars in the night sky.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn An was identified with all the stars of the equatorial sky, Enlil with those of the northern sky, and Enki with those of the southern sky.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The path of Enlil's celestial orbit was a continuous, symmetrical circle around the north celestial pole,Template:Sfn but those of An and Enki were believed to intersect at various points.Template:Sfn Enlil was associated with the constellation Boötes.Template:Sfn

MythologyEdit

Origins mythsEdit

The main source of information about Sumerian creation mythology is the prologue to the epic poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld (ETCSL 1.8.1.4),Template:Snf which briefly describes the process of creation: originally, there was only Nammu, the primeval sea.Template:Sfn Then, Nammu gave birth to An, the sky, and Ki, the earth.Template:Snf An and Ki mated with each other, causing Ki to give birth to Enlil.Template:Snf Enlil separated An from Ki and carried off the earth as his domain, while An carried off the sky.Template:Snf Enlil marries his mother, Ki, and from this union all the plant and animal life on earth is produced.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Enlil and Ninlil (ETCSL 1.2.1) is a nearly complete 152-line Sumerian poem describing the affair between Enlil and the goddess Ninlil.Template:Snf Template:Snf First, Ninlil's mother Nunbarshegunu instructs Ninlil to go bathe in the river.Template:Snf Ninlil goes to the river, where Enlil seduces her and impregnates her with their son, the moon-god Nanna.Template:Snf Because of this, Enlil is banished to Kur, the Sumerian underworld.Template:Snf Ninlil follows Enlil to the underworld, where he impersonates the "man of the gate".Template:Snf Ninlil demands to know where Enlil has gone, but Enlil, still impersonating the gatekeeper, refuses to answer.Template:Snf He then seduces Ninlil and impregnates her with Nergal, the god of death.Template:Snf The same scenario repeats, only this time Enlil instead impersonates the "man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river"; once again, he seduces Ninlil and impregnates her with the god Ninazu.Template:Snf Finally, Enlil impersonates the "man of the boat"; once again, he seduces Ninlil and impregnates her with Enbilulu, the "inspector of the canals".Template:Snf

The story of Enlil's courtship with Ninlil is primarily a genealogical myth invented to explain the origins of the moon-god Nanna, as well as the various gods of the Underworld,Template:Snf but it is also, to some extent, a coming-of-age story describing Enlil and Ninlil's emergence from adolescence into adulthood.Template:Sfn The story also explains Ninlil's role as Enlil's consort; in the poem, Ninlil declares, "As Enlil is your master, so am I also your mistress!"Template:Sfn The story is also historically significant because, if the current interpretation of it is correct, it is the oldest known myth in which a god changes shape.Template:Snf

Flood mythEdit

In the Sumerian version of the flood story (ETCSL 1.7.4), the causes of the flood are unclear because the portion of the tablet recording the beginning of the story has been destroyed.Template:Snf Somehow, a mortal known as Ziusudra manages to survive the flood, likely through the help of the god Enki.Template:Snf The tablet begins in the middle of the description of the flood.Template:Snf The flood lasts for seven days and seven nights before it subsides.Template:Snf Then, Utu, the god of the Sun, emerges.Template:Snf Ziusudra opens a window in the side of the boat and falls down prostrate before the god.Template:Snf Next, he sacrifices an ox and a sheep in honor of Utu.Template:Snf At this point, the text breaks off again.Template:Snf When it picks back up, Enlil and An are in the midst of declaring Ziusudra immortal as an honor for having managed to survive the flood. The remaining portion of the tablet after this point is destroyed.Template:Snf

In the later Akkadian version of the flood story, recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enlil actually causes the flood,Template:Snf seeking to annihilate every living thing on earth because the humans, who are vastly overpopulated, make too much noise and prevent him from sleeping.Template:Snf In this version of the story, the hero is Utnapishtim,Template:Snf who is warned ahead of time by Ea, the Babylonian equivalent of Enki, that the flood is coming.Template:Snf The flood lasts for seven days; when it ends, Ishtar, who had mourned the destruction of humanity,Template:Snf promises Utnapishtim that Enlil will never cause a flood again.Template:Snf When Enlil sees that Utnapishtim and his family have survived, he is outraged,Template:Snf but his son Ninurta speaks up in favor of humanity, arguing that, instead of causing floods, Enlil should simply ensure that humans never become overpopulated by reducing their numbers using wild animals and famines.Template:Snf Enlil goes into the boat; Utnapishtim and his wife bow before him.Template:Snf Enlil, now appeased, grants Utnapishtim immortality as a reward for his loyalty to the gods.Template:Snf

Chief god and arbitratorEdit

Template:Rquote A nearly complete 108-line poem from the Early Dynastic Period (Template:Circa 2900–2350 BC) describes Enlil's invention of the mattock,Template:Snf Template:Sfn a key agricultural pick, hoe, ax, or digging tool of the Sumerians.Template:Snf Template:Sfn In the poem, Enlil conjures the mattock into existence and decrees its fate.Template:Snf The mattock is described as gloriously beautiful; it is made of pure gold and its head is carved from lapis lazuli.Template:Snf Enlil gives the tool over to the humans, who use it to build cities,Template:Snf subjugate their people,Template:Snf and pull up weeds.Template:Snf Enlil was believed to aid in the growth of plants.Template:Snf

The Sumerian poem Enlil Chooses the Farmer–God (ETCSL 5.3.3) describes how Enlil, hoping "to establish abundance and prosperity", creates two gods Emesh and Enten, a shepherd and a farmer, respectively.Template:Snf The two gods argue and Emesh lays claim to Enten's position.Template:Snf They take the dispute before Enlil, who rules in favor of Enten;Template:Snf the two gods rejoice and reconcile.Template:Snf

Ninurta mythsEdit

File:Chaos Monster and Sun God.png

Ninurta with his thunderbolts pursues Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil's sanctuary (Austen Henry Layard Monuments of Nineveh, 2nd Series, 1853)

In the Sumerian poem Lugale (ETCSL 1.6.2), Enlil gives advice to his son, the god Ninurta, advising him on a strategy to slay the demon Asag.Template:Snf This advice is relayed to Ninurta by way of Sharur, his enchanted talking mace, which had been sent by Ninurta to the realm of the gods to seek counsel from Enlil directly.Template:Snf

In the Old, Middle, and Late Babylonian myth of Anzû and the Tablet of Destinies, the Anzû, a giant, monstrous bird,Template:Snf betrays Enlil and steals the Tablet of Destinies,Template:Snf a sacred clay tablet belonging to Enlil that grants him his authority,Template:Snf while Enlil is preparing for a bath.Template:Snf The rivers dry up and the gods are stripped of their powers.Template:Snf The gods send Adad, Girra, and Shara to defeat the Anzû,Template:Snf but all of them fail.Template:Snf Finally, Ea proposes that the gods should send Ninurta, Enlil's son.Template:Snf Ninurta successfully defeats the Anzû and returns the Tablet of Destinies to his father.Template:Snf As a reward, Ninurta is granted a prominent seat on the council of the gods.Template:Snf

War of the godsEdit

A badly damaged text from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911–612 BC) describes Marduk leading his army of Anunnaki into the sacred city of Nippur and causing a disturbance.Template:Sfn The disturbance causes a flood,Template:Sfn which forces the resident gods of Nippur under the leadership of Enlil to take shelter in the Eshumesha temple to Ninurta.Template:Sfn Enlil is enraged at Marduk's transgression and orders the gods of Eshumesha to take Marduk and the other Anunnaki as prisoners.Template:Sfn The Anunnaki are captured,Template:Sfn but Marduk appoints his front-runner Mushteshirhablim to lead a revolt against the gods of EshumeshaTemplate:Sfn and sends his messenger Neretagmil to alert Nabu, the god of literacy.Template:Sfn When the Eshumesha gods hear Nabu speak, they come out of their temple to search for him.Template:Sfn Marduk defeats the Eshumesha gods and takes 360 of them as prisoners of war, including Enlil himself.Template:Sfn Enlil protests that the Eshumesha gods are innocent,Template:Sfn so Marduk puts them on trial before the Anunnaki.Template:Sfn The text ends with a warning from Damkianna (another name for Ninhursag) to the gods and to humanity, pleading them not to repeat the war between the Anunnaki and the gods of Eshumesha.Template:Sfn

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

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