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Do not fill this in! ====Mesopotamian==== {{multiple image | align = right | direction = horizontal | header = | total_width = 450 <!-- Image 1 -->| image1 = Seal of Inanna, 2350-2150 BCE.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = Akkadian [[cylinder seal]] impression showing [[Inanna]], the Sumerian goddess of love, sex, and war <!-- Image 2 -->| image2 = Wall relief depicting the God Ashur (Assur) from Nimrud..JPG | alt2 = | caption2 = Wall relief of the Assyrian [[national god]] Aššur in a "winged male" hybrid iconography }} {{Main|List of Mesopotamian deities|Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Sumerian religion}} Ancient [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian culture]] in southern [[Iraq]] had numerous ''[[dingir]]'' (deities, gods and goddesses).<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref name="Encyclopedia of Linguistics"/> Mesopotamian deities were almost exclusively anthropomorphic.<ref name="Black">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|last2=Green|first2=Anthony|last3=Rickards|first3=Tessa|title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary|date=1998|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120094829/https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|93}}<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Masson|first1=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich|title=Altyn-Depe|date=1988|publisher=University Museum, University of Pennsylvania|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-934718-54-7|pages=77–78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQMzQ_k3ty0C|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215081839/https://books.google.com/books?id=QQMzQ_k3ty0C|url-status=live}}</ref> They were thought to possess extraordinary powers<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} They were generally immortal,<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} but a few of them, particularly [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]], [[Geshtinanna]], and [[Gugalanna]] were said to have either died or visited the underworld.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} Both male and female deities were widely venerated.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} In the Sumerian pantheon, deities had multiple functions, which included presiding over procreation, rains, irrigation, agriculture, destiny, and justice.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}} The gods were fed, clothed, entertained, and worshipped to prevent natural catastrophes as well as to prevent social chaos such as pillaging, rape, or atrocities.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref name="Nemet"/>{{rp|186}}<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} Many of the Sumerian deities were [[Tutelary deity|patron guardians]] of [[city-state]]s.<ref name="Nemet">{{cite book|last1=Nemet-Nejat|first1=Karen Rhea|author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|date=1998|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CN|isbn=978-0-313-29497-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/179 179]|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/179}}</ref> The most important deities in the Sumerian pantheon were known as the [[Anunnaki]],<ref name="Kramer1963">{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/122 122–123]}}</ref> and included deities known as the "seven gods who decree": [[Anu|An]], [[Enlil]], [[Enki]], [[Ninhursag]], [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]], [[Utu]] and [[Inanna]].<ref name="Kramer1963"/> After the conquest of Sumer by [[Sargon of Akkad]], many Sumerian deities were [[syncretism|syncretized]] with [[East Semitic]] ones.<ref name="Nemet"/> The goddess Inanna, syncretized with the East Semitic Ishtar, became popular,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leick|first1=Gwendolyn|author-link=Gwendolyn Leick|title=A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-19811-0|page=87|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=c52EAgAAQBAJ|page=91}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Wolkstein"/>{{rp|xviii, xv}}<ref name="Nemet"/>{{rp|182}}<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|106–09}} with temples across Mesopotamia.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=Rivkah|title=Inanna-Ishtar as Paradox and a Coincidence of Opposites|journal=History of Religions|date=February 1991|volume=30|issue=3|pages=261–78|doi=10.1086/463228|s2cid=162322517}}</ref><ref name="Black"/>{{rp|106–09}} The Mesopotamian mythology of the first millennium BCE treated [[Anshar|Anšar]] (later [[Ashur (god)|Aššur]]) and [[Kishar|Kišar]] as primordial deities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/anarandkiar/ |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses – Anšar and Kišar (god and goddess) |publisher=Oracc |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116000951/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/anarandkiar/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Marduk]] was a significant god among the Babylonians. He rose from an obscure deity of the third millennium BCE to become one of the most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon of the first millennium BCE. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk as creator of heaven, earth and humankind, and as their [[national god]].<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|62, 73}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leeming|first1=David|title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028888-4|pages=122–124|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iPrhBwAAQBAJ|page=122}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Marduk's iconography is zoomorphic and is most often found in Middle Eastern archaeological remains depicted as a "snake-dragon" or a "human-animal hybrid".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/ |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses – Marduk (god) |publisher=Oracc |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126050252/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="VDT"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bienkowski|first1=Piotr|last2=Millard|first2=Alan|title=Dictionary of the ancient Near East|date=2000|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=978-0-8122-2115-2|page=246|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=V9QrPMN1C4EC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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