Sumerian Religion & Gods
Sumerians built temples at the centre of the city state for worshipping Gods and goddesses. The Sumerian temple was known as Ziggurat meaning “Hill of the Heaven”. These were multi-storeyed tower temples.
The top of the temple was a squared room partitioned into two. One room was meant for the presiding deity or the temple and the other room was used by the priest as his residence. The priest was known as ‘Patteshi’. Priests had a major role to play. They believed in dreams and omens and claimed to predict the future events. Sumerian priests composed many mythological stories like the ‘Story of Creation’, ‘Story of Flood’, ‘Story of the Fall of Man’, and ‘Story of the Tower of Babel’ etc.
Sumerians believed in anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form, which were specific to each city-state. The core pantheon consisted of An (heaven), Enki (a healer and friend to humans), Enlil (gave spells spirits must obey), Inanna (love and war), Utu (sun-god), and Sin (moon-god). The Sumerians were Polytheists. Most popular deity of the Sumerians was the Goddess ‘Ishtar’.
Sumerians were mostly known for their architecture. The farmers brought water in a pot, a goat or sheep and green palm leaf and kept all those things before the god or goddess. They prayed Gods for rain and grain. The priest sacrificed the animal and predicted the future by studying its liver and entrail.
Sumerians also believed in the theory of ‘life after death’ , that the soul enters into a dark place.
The Sumerians and Mesopotamia
Sumerians: Sumerian civilization was an ancient civilization located in the Mesopotamian region situated between the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Sumerians were popular for their contributions to the fields of language, governance, and architecture. The Sumerian civilization was from c. 5500 – c. 1800 B.C. It is said, that the Sumerians were there for 2,000 years before the Babylonians took charge in 2004 B.C.
In this article, Sumerians, their origin, Sumerian Language & Literature, Technology, Trade & Commerce, Art & Architecture, Religion, Science, Culture, Gilgamesh & the Decline of the Sumerians have been discussed.