Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses

Anu - Sky God, chief God, Father of Ishtar. His wife is Antum. Their cult center city was Uruk.

Ishtar (Sumerian Inanna) Goddess of love, sex appeal and war. Is described in a Sumerian Text as "One whom not even 120 lovers could exhaust". She became the most important Goddess in Western Asia. Her sacred beast was a lion. Her cult center cities were Uruk, Kish, Agade and Arba'il.

Sin is the Moon God, and also is Ishtar's father. Sin governed the passing of the months. His symbol is the crescent moon. His cult center cities were Ur and Harran.

Ellil is Anu's son, later replaces his father and becomes King of the Gods. To Him belonged the "Tables of Destinies", by which the fates of men and Gods were decreed. His wife was Mulliltu or Mylitta (Ninlil) and his cult center city was Nippur.

Dumuzi (later Tammuz) is Ishtar's lover. He is the pastoral God and protected seasonal fertility.

Ea (Summerian Enki) Lord of Apsu, the domain of sweet water beneath the earth. He is the source of all secret magical knowledge and instructed mankind in the arts and creafts. His wife is Damkina and his cult center city was Eridu.

Marduk is the son of Ea. During the Kassite period, he was made the King of the Babylonian Pantheon. His cult center city was Babylon.

Nabu is Marduk's son. He is the patron of scribes and God of Wisdom. His cult center was Borsippa.

Shamash (Summerian Utu) is the Sun God. He is the judge of heaven and earth. His symbol is the Sun Disk. His cult center cities were Sippar and Larsa.

Adad is the weather God, who controlled storms and life giving rain. His symbol is forked lightning and his beast is a bull, which bellowed like thunder.

Ereshkigal is the Queen of the underworld.

Namtar is Ereshkigal's vizier, the feared god of the plague, who could unleash any of 60 diseases he had control of.

Erra or Nergal is also the God of plague and war.

Ninurta is the God of war and patron of the hunt, the hero of the epic Anzu.

Nin-hursag (Aruru and Mammi) The great Mother Goddess, wife of Nergal.

The Annunaki (anukki) were the old Summerian Gods of fertility and the underworld.

Igigi, paired with Annunaki was a Summerian group of Sky-gods headed by Ellil.