Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

90 Enkimdu(Tigris and Euphrates) springing from his shouldersor from a vase and including leaping fish. He mayalso hold the eagle-like Imdugud (thunder) bird,thus signifying clouds rising from the waters. Hisfoot may rest on an ibex. Among his offspring areAŠALLUHA, NIN-SAR (by NINHURSAG˜ A), NIN-IMMA(by NINKURRA) and UTTU (by NINMAH).Enki is a complex and, at times, Machiavelliancharacter. The running of day-to-day affairs isleft to him and in the creation mythology heorganized the earth and established law and order.He is also seen in a heroic light, having been oneof three principal deities engaged in the primordialbattle between good and evil, the latter personifiedin the dragon Kur. In the Sumeriancreation epic Enki set out in a boat to avenge theabduction by Kur of the goddess EREŠKIGAL. Kurfought back with huge stones.Enki is perceived to fill the Tigris and Euphrateswith sacred sweet water. He also appoints variousother minor deities to their duties in connectionwith the well-being of the natural world. Additionallyhe is god of artists and craftsmen.According to one legend, Enki generated theplants from his semen and inside his body until itmade him ill, whereupon Ninhursag˜a placed himin her own vagina and gave birth to his progeny.INANA, Ninhursag˜a and ENLIL are variouslydrawn, at times, as serious adversaries.EnkimduGod of canals and ditches. Mesopotamian(Sumerian). In creation mythology he is given histask by the god ENKI.See also ENBILULU.ENLIL (lord wind?)ORIGIN Mesopotamian (Sumerian) [Iraq]. Godof the air.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 3500 BC orearlier to circa 1750 BC.SYNONYMS ELLIL; Illil; Ilu; Nunamnir.CENTER(S) OF CULT Nippur, Dur Kurigalzu, butalso at Eridu and Ur.ART REFERENCES plaques, votive stelae and glyptics.LITERARY SOURCES creation texts, particularlythe Lament of Ur and Creation of the Hoe; templehymns including the Hymn to Enlil, etc.Enlil is the son of the primordial AN and KI. Thetutelary deity of Nippur where, in his honor, theEkur sanctuary was built (not re-discovered), hewas the most important god of southernMesopotamia during the third millennium BC.His consort is NINLIL who was impregnated bythe “waters of Enlil” to create the moon godNANNA. (In the Akkadian pantheon his consortbecomes MULLILTU.) He is depicted in hornedheaddress and tiered skirt, or by a horned crownon a pedestal. According to the “Hymn to Enlil”he works alone and unaided. He is said to havemade the pick-ax, “caused the good day to comeforth” and “brought forth seed from the earth.”He was invoked to bless his cities and ensureprosperity and abundance. His importance wassuch that the tutelary gods of other cities “traveled”to Nippur with offerings to Enlil. Enlil createdseveral deities concerned with overseeingthe natural world. In his more destructive aspecthe allowed the birth goddess to kill at birth andwas responsible for miscarriage in cows and ewes.He was seen as manifesting himself in bothbenevolence and destructive violence. Because ofhis peculiarly national status he became downgradedin the Babylonian and Assyrian pantheons,being superseded respectively byMARDUK and ASSUR.EnmesarraChthonic god of the law. Mesopotamian (Sumerianand Babylonian-Akkadian). According to textshe controls the me’s or divine rules.