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Sumer
Sumer and Sumerian civilization . The term Sumer is used today to designate the southern part of ancient Mesopotamia . From the earliest date of which there is any record, S Mesopotamia was occupied by a people, known as Sumerians, speaking a non-Semitic language. The questions concerning the...
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Anu
Anu , ancient sky god of Sumerian origin, worshiped in Babylonian religion. The son of Apsu (the underworld ocean) and Tiamat (primeval chaos), Anu was king of the great triad of gods, which included the earth god Enlil and the water god Ea.
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Marduk
Marduk , ancient god of Babylonia and chief god of the city of Babylon. His cult rose to prominence in the reign of Hammurabi, and Marduk became the omniscient king of the pantheon—the creator of mankind and the god of light and life. In his various aspects he was the successor of the Sumerian...
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Shamash
Shamash , sun god of Semitic origin, worshiped in Babylonia and Assyria. He was one of the great deities of ancient Middle Eastern religions, god of law, order, and justice. The chief center of his cult was Sippar. In Sumerian civilization he was called Utu.
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Enlil
Enlil , ancient earth god of Sumerian origin, worshiped in Babylonian religion. With the sky god Anu and the water god Ea, he formed the great divine triad. Enlil, also referred to as Bel, could be hostile or beneficent. He was responsible for the order and harmony in the universe, but as a god of s...
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Sargon
Sargon , king of Akkad in Mesopotamia (reigned c.2340-c.2305 BC). By conquest he established a great empire that included the whole of Mesopotamia and extended over Syria and Elam, and he controlled territories W to the Mediterranean and N to the Black Sea. Documents now support the theory that Sarg...
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Tammuz
Tammuz , ancient nature deity worshiped in Babylonia. A god of agriculture and flocks, he personified the creative powers of spring. He was loved by the fertility goddess Ishtar , who, according to one legend, was so grief-stricken at his death that she contrived to enter the underworld to get him ...
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Uruk
Uruk or Erech , ancient Sumerian city of Mesopotamia , on the Euphrates and NW of Ur (in present-day S Iraq). It is the modern Tall al Warka. Uruk, dating from the 5th millennium BC, was the largest city in S Mesopotamia and an important religious center. The sanctuaries of the goddess Inanna (...
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Hammurabi
Hammurabi , fl. 1792-1750 BC, king of Babylonia . He founded an empire that was eventually destroyed by raids from Asia Minor. Hammurabi may have begun building the tower of Babel (Gen. 11.4), which can now be identified with the temple-tower in Babylon called Etemenanki. His code of laws is one of...
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Ishtar
Ishtar , ancient fertility deity, the most widely worshiped goddess in Babylonian and Assyrian religion. She was worshiped under various names and forms. Most important as a mother goddess and as a goddess of love, Ishtar was the source of all the generative powers in nature and mankind. However, sh...
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