17 Facts About Sumerian religion

Sumerian religion was the religion practiced by the people of Sumer, the first literate civilization of ancient Mesopotamia.

In early times, Sumerian religion temples were simple, one-room structures, sometimes built on elevated platforms.

Major deities in the Sumerian religion pantheon included An, the god of the heavens, Enlil, the god of wind and storm, Enki, the god of water and human culture, Ninhursag, the goddess of fertility and the earth, Utu, the god of the sun and justice, and his father Nanna, the god of the moon.

Sumerian religion heavily influenced the religious beliefs of later Mesopotamian peoples; elements of it are retained in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other Middle Eastern culture groups.

Sumerian religion myths were passed down through the oral tradition until the invention of writing.

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Early Sumerian religion cuneiform was used primarily as a record-keeping tool; it was not until the late Early Dynastic period that religious writings first became prevalent as temple praise hymns and as a form of "incantation" called the nam-sub.

Until the advent of the Lugal, Sumerian religion city-states were under a virtually theocratic government controlled by various En or Ensi, who served as the high priests of the cults of the city gods.

Sumerian religion afterlife was a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground, where inhabitants were believed to continue "a shadowy version of life on earth".

Each Sumerian religion city-state had its own specific patron deity, who was believed to protect the city and defend its interests.

Sumerian religion was the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon and the patron deity of the city of Nippur.

Sumerian religion was worshipped as the god of war, agriculture, and one of the Sumerian wind gods.

Sumerian religion was the patron deity of Girsu and one of the patron deities of Lagash.

Sumerian religion was the patron and creator of humanity and the sponsor of human culture.

Sumerian religion was the divine personification of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star.

Sumerian religion was the father of Utu and one of the patron deities of Ur.

Sumerian religion was the ancestor of all the other major deities and the original patron deity of Uruk.

The Judaic underworld Sheol is very similar in description with the Sumerian religion Kur, ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal, as well as the Babylonian underworld Irkalla.