Mesopotamian Deities

This list contains Akkadian, Babylonian, and Sumerian names, some of which refer to the same god in the other culture, and also over a number of time periods.

A-a
  • Sun goddess
  • Consort of the sun god Samas

Abu
  • Minor vegetation god
  • Sprung from head of Enki

Abzu
  • God of underground waters

Adad
  • Weather god
  • Giver of life in the fields
  • Son of Anu

Ama-arhus
  • Fertility goddess

Amasagnul
  • Fertility goddess

An (Anum)
  • Head of the pantheon
  • God of the sky
  • The ultimate source of all authority

Annedotus: See Oannes.

Anshar
  • Primordial deity linked with heaven

Antu
  • Creator goddess
  • Consort of Anu

Antum
  • Consort of An
  • Source of rain

Anu
  • Creator god
  • Consort of Antu

Anum: See An.

Anunitu: See Antu.

Apsu
  • God of underworld primeval waters

Aruru
  • Mother goddess

Aruzu
  • God of completed construction

Asalluha
  • Messenger and reporter to his father Enki

Ashnan
  • Goddess of grain

Asman
  • Minor vegetation goddess
  • Protectoress of the grains in the fields

Assur
  • Tutelary (guardian) god
  • National deity of Assyria

Aya
  • Mother goddess
  • Consort of sun god Samas

Baba
  • Fertility goddess

Belet-Seri
  • Underworld goddess

Birdu
  • Minor underworld god
  • Consort of Manungal

Dagon
  • God of vegetation
  • Fertility god
  • Half man and half fish

Damgalnuna
  • Mother goddess

Ea: See Enki.

Ellil: See Enlil.

Emesh
  • Vegetation god

Enbillulu
  • River god

Endursaga
  • Herald god

Enki (Ea)
  • God of Earth
  • God of the fresh waters
  • God of the air
  • God of wisdom
  • Source of all secret magical knowledge

Enkimdu
  • God of canals and ditches
  • Father of Marduk

Enlil (Ellil)
  • National god of Sumer
  • Held the Tablets of Destiny

Enmesarra
  • God of the law

Ennugi
  • God attendant and throne-bearer of Enlil

Enten
  • Guardian deity of farmers

Ereshkigal
  • Queen of the netherworld
  • Consort of Gugulanna

Erra
  • God of war

Erua: See Zarpanitu..

Gangir
  • Daughter of goddess Baba

Gatumdug
  • Fertility goddess
  • Daughter of god An

Gerra
  • God of fire

Geshtu
  • Minor god of intellect

Gibil
  • Fire god

Girru
  • God of fire and light
  • Messenger of the gods

Gugulanna
  • Minor underworld deity
  • Consort of Erishkigal

Gula (Nin Ezen)
  • Goddess of healing
  • Consort of Ninurta

Gusilim: See Ishtaran.

Hala
  • Goddess of healing

Hani
  • Minor god and attendant of Adad

Hendursaga
  • God of the law

Igigi
  • A group of younger sky gods

Ilabrat
  • Minor god and minister of state of chief god Anu

Im
  • Storm god

Inanna (Ishtar)
  • Sister of Utu
  • Goddess of several roles, including Morning Star and Evening Star

Ishara
  • Goddess of marriage and childbirth

Isimud
  • Messenger of the god Enki

Ishkur
  • Storm god

Ishtar: See Inanna.

Ishtaran
  • Tutelary god of the city of Dur

Ishum
  • Attendant of the god Erra
  • Brother of the god Samash

Kabta
  • God of artisans

Kakka
  • Minor god and minister of state to Anu and Anshar

Ki
  • Personified of the earth and the underworld
  • Consort of An

Kingu
  • Leader of the forces of the beginning and shaping of the world
  • Husband-son of Tiamat

Kishar
  • Creator of An and Ki
  • Consort of Anshar

Kulla
  • God who restores temples
  • God of builders

Kus
  • God of herdsmen

Kusag
  • Patron god of priests
  • High priest of the gods

Lahamu
  • Primordial deity
  • Created from the primeval ocean

Lahar
  • God of cattle
  • Carries a bow and a club

Lilith
  • Goddess of desolation

Lugal-Irra
  • Underworld god

Mami
  • Mother goddess who created mortals

Mandanu
  • God of divine judgment

Manungal
  • Underworld god

Marduk
  • Supreme god
  • God of the sun
  • Son of Enki and Damgalnuna

Martu
  • Tutelary god and patron god of the city of Ninab

Mullitu
  • Goddess of fertility and childbirth
  • Consort of Ellil

Nabu
  • God of writing and wisdom
  • Son of Marduk and Zarpanitu

Nammu
  • Birth goddess
  • Creator of heaven and earth
  • Mother of the gods

Namtar
  • Messenger god for the goddess Ereshkigal

Nanaja
  • Fertility goddess

Nanna
  • God of the full moon, the crescents, and the new moon

Nanshe
  • Goddess of justice

Negun
  • Minor goddess associated with the goddess Sirara

Nergal
  • God of war, of pestilence, of the chase, of the midsummer sun
  • King of the netherworld

Neti
  • Chthonic (underworld) god

Nimsimug
  • God who completes construction

Nin Ezen: See Gula.

Nin Ilda
  • God of carpenters

Nin Imma
  • Fertility goddess

Nin Shar
  • Minor mother goddess

Nindara
  • Consort of the goddess Nanshe

Ninegal
  • God of smiths

Nindurra
  • Mother of the goddess Utto by Enki

Ningal
  • Reed goddess

Ningikuga
  • Goddess of reeds and marshes

Ningirama
  • God of magic

Ningirsu
  • God of thundershowers
  • God of the plough

Ningis Zi Da
  • God of light coming from the horizon

Ninhursaga
  • High goddess
  • Goddess of mountains

Ninib
  • God of the spring sun
  • God of the morning sun

Ninkarnunna
  • Barber god
  • Attendant of the god Ninurta

Ninkhursaga
  • Goddess of birth for pregnant animals
  • Midwife of the gods

Ninkurra
  • Minor mother goddess

Ninlil
  • Goddess of grain
  • Consort of Enlil

Ninmena
  • Mother goddess

Ninmu
  • Mother of goddess Nindurra by Enki

Ninsikil
  • Patron goddess of the paradise land of Dilmun

Ninshubur
  • Messenger goddess of the goddess Inana

Ninsun
  • Cow goddess

Ninurta
  • God of thunderstorms
  • God of the plough

Nisaba
  • Goddess of writing
  • Goddess of grain and reeds

Nu Mus Da
  • Tutelary god
  • Patron of the city Kazallu

Nudimmud
  • God who created the first ocean

Nunbarsegunu
  • Obscure mother goddess

Nushku
  • God of light

Oannes (Annedotus)
  • God of the sea
  • Instructs humans in the arts and sciences during the day
  • Head and body of a fish and feet of a man

Pa-bil-sag
  • Tutelary god of Isin

Pap-nigin-gara
  • God of war

Papsukal
  • Messenger god

Samas
  • Sun god
  • Consort of A-a

Sebitti
  • A group of minor gods

Shakka
  • God of cattle

Shala
  • War goddess

Shamash
  • Sun god

Shara
  • Minor war god

Shara Itu
  • Fertility goddess

Sherida
  • Mother goddess

Shullat
  • Minor god
  • Attendant of the sun god Shamash

Shulman
  • Chthonic god
  • Fertility god

Shul-pa-e
  • Fertility god
  • Astral god

Shulsaga
  • Astral goddess

Shumugan
  • God of river plains

Siduri
  • Minor goddess of brewing

Sin
  • Moon god

Sirara
  • Goddess of the Persian Gulf

Sirsir
  • God of mariners

Tashmetu
  • Goddess consort of the god Nabu

Tiamat
  • Primordial creator goddess
  • Goddess of the sea

Tishpak
  • Tutelary god of the city of Eshnumma

Tutu
  • Tutelary god of Rorsippa

Ua-Ildak
  • Vegetation goddess

Urash
  • Chthonic earth goddess
  • A consort of the sky god An

Umunmutamku and Umunmutamnag
  • Dieties who present to the gods offerings made by humans

Utnapishtim
  • A human made a god after he built an ark and saved himself, his family, and the beasts because of the deluge

Uttu
  • Goddess of clothing
  • Vegetation goddess
  • Daughter of Enki and Nindurra

Utu
  • Sun god
  • God responsible for dispensing justice to gods and men
  • Son of the moon god Nanna and the goess Ninlil

Wer
  • Storm god
  • Linked with Adad and Amurru

Zababa
  • God of war

Zarpanitu (Erua)
  • Birth goddess
  • Consort of Marduk
  • Marriage celebrated annually at New Year in Babylon

Bibliography

  1. Jordan, Michael. Encyclopedia of the Gods. London: Kyle Cathie, 1992.
  2. Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea. Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
  3. Pollock, Susan. Ancient Mesopotamia. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.