Stone relief depicting Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BCE) tending the Tree of Life.Ģ334 BCE – Akkadians (Semetic culture) lived in central Mesopotamia, north of the Sumerians. His twin sister Inanna was the heavenly queen who held Shamash in place among the stars. The light of the sun was thought to be able to penetrate and pierce every level of the earth, even to the underworld, and illuminate the human heart. Most of the myths featuring Shamash emphasize his kindness and generosity. Nanna was his counterpart as God of the Moon and wisdom. Shamash as An/Anu/Utu was not only the bringer of light but the arbiter of justice. Sumerian cylinder seals.Ģ600 BCE – Shamash – is the combination of (An/Sky & Utu/Sun) His symbol of the solar disc shows a circle with four points protruding toward the cardinal directions and four wavy lines emanating diagonally outward from between them, representing the power, light, warmth, and reach of the sun.
Tended by Enki (Lord of Water) and Enlil (Lord of Air) along with the eagle-headed Apkallu. Shamash (Sun God) is depicted as a flying solar disc above the cedar tree. The Cedars of Lebanon were highly prized by surrounding cultures including Egypt. The Cedars of Lebanon – were seen as the “home of the gods” that were protected by Enlil (god of wind/air). Astarte is the root of the word “star.” Pinecone from the Cedars of Lebanon. They worshipped Astarte/Asherah (Inanna/Ishtar) as the queen of heaven and her son, Baal. The word Anunna or Anunnaki may translate into “seed.”Ģ750 BCE – Phoenicians (Lebanon) the city Usher was founded as a port along the Mediterranean Sea. Later these seven “gods” also took on the form of fish, eagles and angels as the Apkulla or wise sages as well as versions of themselves in other cultures. The seven gods of the Anunnaki were: An/Anu (Father Sky), Ki/Ninhursag (Mother Earth), Enlil (air/wind), Enki/Ea (water/earth), Nanna/Sin (moon), Utu (sun) and Inanna/Ishtar (venus/star). The Sumerians believed that until Enlil was born, An/Anu (sky) and Ki (earth) were inseparable. Then Enlil (air/wind) separated sky from earth and carried away his mother to the cosmos while his father held the sky. The eldest child of the Anunnaki was Enlil/El, the god of air/wind and chief god of the Sumerian pantheon. The Anunna/Anunnaki were the primordial Gods of Mesopotamia, who were believed to be the offspring of An/Anu the father god and Ki, the earth goddess. They invented cuneiform, which are wedge-like impressions in wet clay that dried into tablets. Mesopotamia was dominated by six primary cultures: Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians, Phoenicians and Babylonians.ģ800 BCE – Sumerians were the first ever civilization that formed in the area now known as Iraq. Little is known of them, but they are credited with laying the foundation for the first civilization of Sumerians. One of the earliest cultures to live here were the Ubaidian people from 5000 BCE – 4100 BCE. Today its area includes modern day Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Syria and Turkey. The “Tree of Life” is a common motif throughout Mesopotamian mythology.ĥ000 BCE – Mesopotamia is a broader geographical term for ‘the land between the rivers’, referring to the ancient civilizations that lived between the Tigris and Euphrates river.