Mesopotamian mythology
Mesopotamian mythology encompasses the rich tapestry of myths and legends stemming from ancient Mesopotamia, a region known as the "cradle of civilization," which includes modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Iran. This area was home to various cultures such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians, each contributing to a collective mythological heritage. The mythology served not only to explain existence and human origins but also to reinforce societal structures and political power among the city-states, where each city typically had its own patron deity worshipped through grand ziggurats.
Key narratives include creation myths like the "Enuma Elish," which describes the struggle between the goddess Tiamat and the god Marduk, and the Sumerian tale of Enlil creating humanity from clay. The Epic of Gilgamesh stands out as one of the oldest surviving works of literature, chronicling the adventures of a semi-divine hero-king and exploring themes of friendship, mortality, and the quest for immortality. The influence of Mesopotamian mythology extends to various world religions and literature, with parallels found in biblical stories such as Noah's Flood and themes that resonate throughout history and culture. Despite the fragmentary nature of existing texts, the enduring impact of these ancient myths continues to be felt in contemporary narratives and ideas.
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Mesopotamian mythology
Mesopotamian mythology refers to the collected myths and legends of ancient Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamian region encompassed a variety of different cultures located in modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Mesopotamia is often called the "cradle of civilization," as it was where the first organized cities, codes of law, and written languages were developed.
Ancient civilizations in the Middle East date back eleven thousand to twelve thousand years, when an early people in the region first began to cultivate agricultural crops and settle into established communities. As part of the foundation of their society, they began to build a unified cultural mythos. While the term Mesopotamia encompasses a wide collection of diverse peoples over a broad period, these disparate groups strongly influenced one another and shared certain mythological elements.
Background
Mesopotamia means "the land between the rivers" in Greek, in reference to its development in the fertile region between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Mesopotamian is often used to describe a variety of early cultures located in this region, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. The oldest of these organized societies was Sumer, which developed at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around five thousand to six thousand years ago. The varied Mesopotamian civilizations lacked many of the same unified cultural links associated with other early societies such as those in ancient Egypt, Greece, and China. Instead, these Mesopotamian cultures existed as rival city-states that traded, intermarried, and battled one another for control of the region, and would often absorb the mythology of their rivals as their own.
Mesopotamian mythology was used as both a means of explaining the nature of existence while presenting a history of their culture. The Mesopotamian mythos offered stories of the creation of life, legendary heroes, and a pantheon of gods who oversaw most aspects of life. Cities typically had their own gods, with large, terraced structures called ziggurats dedicated to their worship.
Knowledge of Mesopotamian mythology is limited in comparison to other ancient cultures, both due to the great age of their civilization and the limited, fragmentary materials left for archaeologists to decipher. It appears that, unlike many other cultures, the Mesopotamians did not have a creation myth for the world; rather, they believed that the gods and the universe had always existed. However, there is a creation myth that dictates how the gods split the heavens, earth, and the underworld into separate parts. The gods then created humankind to toil on their behalf and provide for their needs. In the Sumerian poem "The Song of the Hoe," from the second or third millennium B.C.E., a god named Enlil first creates humanity from a brick mold to serve the gods.
Another creation myth called the "Enuma Elish" from the Babylonian mythos offers another version of the story in which Tiamat, a primeval goddess of the oceans, rises up against the chief god Ea and his son Marduk. Tiamat creates an army of monsters, but is opposed by Marduk, who becomes the new king of the gods. Marduk is triumphant in battle, and from Tiamat's body he creates the earth. Marduk later fashions human beings from the blood of Tiamat's defeated husband, Kingu. As in the Sumerian version, humankind is created expressly for doing work to offer the gods relief from their labors. As a successor to the Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Mesopotamian cultures that followed often repurposed older myths to justify the placement of their own gods—in this case Marduk, who was the patron god of the city of Babylon—as the supreme deity. In this way, Mesopotamian mythology was used to serve both a political and religious function. Similarly, the Assyrian god Ashur came to replace Enlil, and he came to be identified with many of Enlil's traits. The leaders of the various Mesopotamian city-states would often ascribe their strength to the will of the gods, thus making mythology an important source of power and early propaganda in the ancient world.
Among the most famous works of Mesopotamian mythology is the Epic of Gilgamesh, a series of related poems that chronicles the adventures of Gilgamesh, the semi-divine hero-king of Uruk. The incomplete remains of these poems were rediscovered in the nineteenth century and are regarded as among the oldest surviving works of written literature. The story relates how Gilgamesh is the leader of Uruk, one of the first Sumerian cities. Gilgamesh is an effective but harsh ruler, and his people appeal to the gods for relief. In response, the goddess Aruru creates a primitive wild man named Enkidu, who is made to be Gilgamesh's physical equal. After Enkidu becomes tamed by the sacred prostitute Shamhat, he is brought to Gilgamesh to challenge his leadership. After a ferocious battle, the two heroes recognize each other's strength and become friends and traveling companions. The two engage in great trials together, but they ultimately anger the gods. Enkidu is sentenced to die for his antagonism toward the gods. Before dying, he has a vision of Irkalla, a proto-underworld where the dead live as shades hidden from the living. Enkidu's death affects Gilgamesh greatly, and Gilgamesh goes in search of a way to gain immortality. This quest takes him to Utnapishtim, who was rewarded with immortality as the only survivor of a great flood—a gift that may only be given once. After gaining and losing a plant that might have offered him eternal youth, Gilgamesh comes to accept the advice that has been offered him throughout his quest: to enjoy his mortality through the pleasures of food, song, love, and merriment, and to accept the limitations of life.
Impact
The Mesopotamian mythology is thought to have had an influence on many world religions. For instance, the Epic of Gilgamesh contains an episode where Utnapishtim's descriptions of a great flood bear strong resemblances to the story of Noah and the flood in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. In these accounts, both Utnapishtim and Noah are told to build an ark that houses pairs of each animal, and after being adrift, they each send out doves to search for dry land. Similarly, tales with parallels to the biblical Tower of Babel and the Garden of Eden can be seen in Babylonian literature. Further, the god Enlil has equivalents in such later deities as the Greek god Zeus and the Roman Jupiter. The tales of the Arabian nights too can trace their origins to Mesopotamian works. Despite the pass of eons, the influence of ancient Mesopotamia can be seen in many enduring aspects of world culture.
Bibliography
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