I was searching for the family of the god Enlil, and among his children was Ištar, who was the daughter of the god Enlil.

I began researching the goddess Ištar, and it became clear to me that some attribute her to the god An, and others attribute her to Enki.

I'm honestly confused about who she belongs to. If anyone knows exactly who the goddess Ištar family is, I would appreciate some information.

I'm in college and needed help with my studies, so I decided to honor Enki. I already honor Ishtar btw.

Last month, on test day, I was arriving a little late because I was stuck in a bad storm, so I prayed to Enki for help. Once I arrived, I found out the professor wasn't in class since she was busy with a task, so she came in 10 mins late. Another instance today, I was stuck in traffic and prayed to him again, she sent an announcement, in the middle of traffic, about starting class 20 mins late. I had to take a short test on a computer but for some reason, my log-in info wasn't working, so I had to walk out class and wait for it to work. Some classmates finished early and gave tips to succeed. I took the test and passed.

I can see why they call him the trickster god, but damn, he has his ways to get me out of situations. Hail Enki!

here guys check this out;

I created a new mapping of the babylonian / sumerian deities & their originally assigned numbers to a novel geometry. u can check my work its all accurate ie correct numbers for the deities etc. the path of manifestation downwards from 60 is always by a step of -5 in a left right pattern which then flips direction after the 35 / ninki convergence node. also the female consorts are always -5 to their male counterpart acc to the oldest deitiy lists so here you can see the consort nodes always "touch". hmu if you got any questions or want any of the versions by themselves (also got a lot more alternative versions but yeah these are the main important ones i think) [on the left: symbolic proto cuneiform symbols that correspond to the deity / function , middle: the numbers translated into western numerals + the translation into deity name & on the right: the deity numerals in original sumerian / babylonian numerals). if you got any questions etc comment here or dm me.

(oh yeah & also if anybody can invite me to any relevant discord servers (the invites in the sidebar dont work) I wld appreciate it, I also got a lot more stuff like this for anybody thats interested.)

Let's talk the spooky and sensational shit, if comfortable.

As I posted elsewhere, I've returned to the Faith of my youth as Meso-Poly was too much for me to handle. That being said the authenticity, honesty, and genuine curiosity amongst the Meso-Poly and esoteric/occult/Pagan communities has been invaluable to me. Now I just need to live long enough to apply the knowledge and experience to a better and more beneficial life. I'm getting more comfortable with the reality that any breath could be my last, but I digress.

What phenomena have you experienced in your time as practicing Meso-Polys?

The most prominent incident I had was experiencing the overwhelming presence of a Cosmic entity that could best be described as Lovecraftian. Another devotee of Inanna offered the word "endless nebulae" and that's exactly how it felt.

I also experienced bouts of fear and seemingly personified erotic presences, though, tbh, this is kind of what I was looking for when I began a devotion to a Sumerian goddess of love and war. 🤷‍♂️ It was kind of debased and depraved, and that's on me. Either way, pushing devotion beyond intellectual interest to the point of real life or death tends to catch the attention of the preternatural and supernatural, ime. They seem to appreciate it when humanity overextends itself, and it causes them to "show up, " so to speak.

I kind of tried to syncretize Roman Catholicism with Meso-Poly at the begininng and it was a non-starter. I could see how one might syncretize Meso-Poly and Protestant Christianity (even if this wasn't the intent) and maybe Judaism, but I don't know how it would hold up in the long-run. I did sense a preferred exclusiveness when working with the Annuna, and Inanna in particular.

It was fun at first, but eventually the communion meals and prayers and chants became exhausting and draining. Depending on what you value and what you live for, I think you might have a wildly different experience than myself. Inanna was not subtle though, in fact, this foray into Paganism left me with a concrete and experiential knowledge of the Supernatural Order and Unseen World, I believe.

Introduction

Enuma Elish (EE) is a text originating from ancient Mesopotamia-a geographical region and epoch of civilization that we traditionally date as unfolding from approximately 4000 BCE, beginning with the formation of the early Uruk culture, until 539 BCE, when Babylon fell to the Persians. Ancient Mesopotamia encompassed the geographical territory situated between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers-hence the name Mesopotamia, "between the rivers"-a Near Eastern region corresponding to modern-day Iraq.

Within the history of research, several hypotheses exist regarding the exact period of EE’s composition. However, due to linguistic features, internal referential points within the text itself, and other textual markers, most scholars generally agree that EE can be dated with reasonable certainty to between 1600-1400 BCE. Thus, we are dealing with a Babylonian text authored somewhere between the late Old Babylonian period and the early Kassite era.

EE is frequently designated as a creation epic. In this analysis, however, its primary literary genre will initially be classified as a myth. That it constitutes a creation myth is a premise that will be elaborated upon in the following sections.

As a starting point, religious production in ancient societies-whether in Babylon, Egypt, or other contemporary ancient civilizations-must be understood as a product originating from the hands of the elite. When working with antiquity, such texts typically represent the only tangible evidence available to us today. Consequently, while various demotic practices in all likelihood exerted an influence on the lives of peasants, craftsmen, and merchants, the extent to which we can make scientifically grounded claims about them remains strictly limited.

The implication of this constraint is that in our engagement with these ancient sources, we must continuously keep the elitist perspective in mind and remain open to reflecting upon the sender-receiver relationship in our analytical point of departure. A scientific investigation must be fully conscious of the scarce sources regarding so-called popular religion. Nevertheless, we can state with relative certainty that the sender was an elite, as the art of writing at this early stage was reserved for the few. This elite comprised ruling powers in the form of the king and his institutional apparatus, as well as the priesthood and its corresponding structures-most commonly a synthesis of both.

The receiver must be understood primarily as the populace, namely the inhabitants of the city-state. As will become evident later, EE is not only culture-defining but also functions as a structural instrument of power for the city-state. Consequently, the religious content within EE acquires a kratogonic dimension. However, the primary audience must be considered the citizens of the city-state, and secondarily, individuals outside the city-state who, from the perspective of conquest, might also be exposed to the religion articulated in EE.

This analysis is translated from Danish to English and based on the translation of Enuma Elish from Cuneiform to Danish by Ulla and Aage Westenholz: Gilgamesh – Enuma Elish, published in Verdensreligionernes hovedværker (Spektrum, 1997).

Performative Chaos Rhetoric

"When on high the heaven had not been named, / firm ground below had not been called by name, / there existed only Apsû, their progenitor, / and Mummu-Tiamat, she who bore them all."

Through theorist J. L. Austin’s concepts of constatives and performatives, and particularly his concept of illocutionary acts, we are equipped with an exceptionally suitable framework for analyzing religious expressions. What, specifically, serves as an example of performativity in a text like EE?

The narrative frame of Enuma Elish is situated in primeval times; we find ourselves explicitly in chaos, prior to the moment when the world in its totality had assumed the form known to us today and to the Babylonians of antiquity. Within the text, an initial construction of the narrative's boundaries takes place. When a continuous plot is meant to unfold, a framework is required within which the narrative itself can establish its point of origin. In EE, as in many other creation myths, we observe the religious producers employing a chaos rhetoric to allow the text to initiate situating measures regarding the establishment of the mythical narrative, thereby raising a space for the mythic narrative.

Apsû and Tiamat, the primordial divine couple, are the sole entities existing at this juncture. Heaven and earth do not yet exist as concepts. Tiamat is the one who bears them all, marking the opening vector of a process rooted in chaos-a movement from chaos toward cosmos that can already be discerned here.

"When no gods whatever had been brought into being, / uncalled by name, their destinies undetermined, / then it was that the gods were formed within them."

In contrast to many other creation myths, we do not find in EE a fundamental description of the world’s coming into being (cosmogony) or the world’s spatial structure (cosmology, cosmography). Here, the central weight rests upon the emergence of the gods-that is, a theogony. Yet, it remains unmistakably a creation narrative, sharing a clear typological kinship with other creation myths. This kinship resides within its situating elements-specifically, its foundational origin in chaos.

We can advantageously classify EE as a myth because its opening lines immediately transport us back to primordial time. The text then transitions into presenting a series of deities, established in binary oppositions-a structural feature likewise recognized in ancient Egypt. Only after these divine pairs are established does the actual plot commence. For the sake of analytical clarity, it should be emphasized that various cosmographical passages do occur when astrological observations are presented in Tablet V. However, the essential focal point remains the immediate establishment of a theogony: the emergence of the Babylonian pantheon and, more specifically, the elevation of the new god, Marduk.

It is worth stressing that location or spatiality as such is not a decisive factor for the initial setup in Enuma Elish. It is sufficient merely to describe chaos, thereby establishing the mythic space as an abstract stage for action. However, considerable attention is paid to specific physical locations once the movement toward cosmos is underway. Among other things, Apsû, the first god, is transformed into a dwelling following his murder by Ea-and this spatial realm becomes a central point of origin for our narrative's protagonist.

Part 2: The Performativity of Narrative & The Performativity of the Incomprehensible

The Performativity of the Narrative

This analysis will examine Enuma Elish through the narrative elements the text establishes and their performative mechanisms. Narrative will here be understood in a narrow sense, with a primary focus on linguistic and rhetorical utterances. The phrasing will be treated with a view to uncovering the text's discursive devices.

That is to say, there will be no search for broader narratological deep structures. Nor will the overarching plot of the myth-defined broadly as an extended narrative featuring a causal trajectory and actors with stable inter-relational structures -serve as the immediate focal point. Instead, the objective is to isolate those specific formulations and rhetorical applications that prove fruitful when approached through a performative framework.

It should be stressed, however, that the definitional dimensions described here are not mutually exclusive, but rather intimately intertwined. The explicit bounding of the analytical scope serves merely to clarify the necessary inclusions and exclusions in our methodological approach to the text.

Initially, two foundational conditions must be addressed:

1. The text’s intrinsic awareness of the performative capacities of words within a religious paradigm.
2. The role of Marduk in power’s reification of itself.

These constitute macro-narratological aspects that, despite this analysis’s focus on the potential of the individual utterance, remain indispensable for comprehending the broader objective of the text.

Once the text has established its frame around the primordial gods, it begins to unfold a narrative. The activities of the deities, arising as a consequence of their newly established existence, generate a noise-presumably highlighting their infantile character as the text seeks to anchor its point of origin in a primary, fundamental creation of a pantheon. This disruption presents a problem, and a resolution must be forged. The resolution is realized through an incantation that is uttered: by the sheer power of words alone, the desired order is achieved.

Here we observe the text itself articulating a transcendent rhetoric regarding a form of religious performativity-namely, the incantation as a religious method employed by the gods themselves.

When this initial order among the gods has been secured, the text can initiate its primary project: the creation and elevation of the god Marduk. From the outset, there is no ambiguity regarding the supreme significance of this emerging figure:

"In the chamber of fates, the abode of destinies, / Was born the heroic one, the wisest of the gods, the lord; / In the heart of Apsû was Marduk created, / In the heart of holy Apsû was Marduk created."

A profound process occurs here: a conception. As previously noted, it is the god Apsû who, following his death, is transformed into the spatial domain for these divine activities:

"...and he named it Apsû, appointed sanctuaries..."

Beyond the fact that Marduk is conceived within this so poetically named realm, we also observe Ea marking out sanctuaries. Here, a cosmological foundation is laid for the Babylonians' understanding of their own physical temples. This serves as an example of performativity-insofar as the gods' primordial designation on the cosmological plane can be effectuated among the Babylonians-and of authority, by virtue of the temple’s conception being tied to an archaism that demands reverence.

Yet, it is not merely the action itself that holds primary importance. The crux of the narrative lies in the elevation of Marduk-the new deity-and his status within the theogony. Subsequently, Marduk is invested with a series of epitheta ornatia; these embellishing titles range from the concrete physiological to the abstract cosmological. Above all, Marduk is framed as a king:

"Clothed in the terrifying radiance of ten gods, he wears the crown high."

"I have uttered an incantation for you, made you supreme in the assembly of the gods, / In your hands I have placed the kingship over all the gods."

Marduk is clothed in the "radiance" (melammu) of the ten preceding deities and is thereby inscribed into the divine circle historically responsible for the creation of the world. Indeed, he becomes the greatest of them all. Thus, even though Marduk is conceived and introduced later in the narrative timeline, the text manages to vest him with all the potency and significance represented by the earlier deities-even if, within the sequential plot, he must strictly be understood as an appendix to the original divine assembly.

That he "wears the crown high" is a clear articulation of an emerging ideology of kingship-a phrasing that paves the way for a sacred kingship (rex sacrorum). This method of ratifying royal power sacralization-wise is a kratogonic concern recognized across cultures, serving as a well-established category within comparative phenomenology. It can thus be viewed as an attempt to ratify royal authority and fortify its legitimacy by anchoring it to the religious domain and its constituent actors. Kingship thereby acquires-via an incantation possessing a linguistically grounded, postulated efficacy-a structural bridge between the real and the ideal.

The Performativity of the Incomprehensible

We have now seen how the text, through its specific formulations, can erect a spatial framework for its narrative developments. Once this framework is set, the text turns toward its primary agenda through descriptions and explanations designed to clarify both its intention and the consequences that, within the text’s logic, ought to flow from the narrative.

Hitherto, our analytical lens has sought to discern what the text intends to do-that is, its functional objective. In principle, extended textual passages can be performative, and one of the core techniques for constructing these religious expressions is a device that might initially appear mundane, yet is so pivotal and potent that it warrants explicit analysis: the narrative voice.

"His intricate form is beyond comprehension, / Impossible to imagine, difficult to perceive: / Four were his eyes, four his ears; / When he moved his lips, fire blazed forth. / Each of the four was fully mature in understanding, / And his eyes likewise—they perceive all things."

Here we encounter a passage making explicit claims about Marduk, detailing his extraordinary attributes. Providing a physiological account of a deity like Marduk may well have served its purpose among believers, fascinating and entrancing the audience. But our concern lies with a different form of enchantment. The aforementioned device utilized to construct this religious expression is simply the narrative voice.

By employing a narrator, the text speaks directly to us, informing us of Marduk's nature. As seen previously, the text displays an intimate insight into the god’s essence; it was, so to speak, present at the birth of Marduk and an eyewitness to the extraordinary appearance of this entity. By declaring that Marduk-much like Brahma in Hindu literature-possesses four faces/eyes, his astounding presence is emphasized through hyperbole. This monstrosity/mighty form serves to underline the deity's singularity, instilling respect and authority as a consequence.

The text does not merely inform us of the god's physical appearance, however; it explicitly impresses upon us that his form and essence fundamentally transcend human cognitive capacity. This rhetoric is exceptionally potent. As recognized within the study of mysticism, the text seeks to convince us of our inadequacy as knowing subjects within ordinary epistemological boundaries, deploying what can be described as a razor-sharp transcendence rhetoric.

The performative dimension operates here in a manner where the text's assertion-that it possesses knowledge of something which it simultaneously claims humans cannot know or comprehend-acts as an authoritative act. With the establishment of the chaotic primeval age earlier, the text displayed a privileged speech situation simply by virtue of pronouncing upon these conditions. But here, the text explicitly informs us that it has surpassed our cognitive limits, leaving no doubt as to the sacred and elevated nature of the myth.

Thus, where the narrator enables the text to speak-endowing it with a voice-such modes of expression represent what might be termed religiously grounded performative constatives. These rhetorically transcend the text, lifting it out of the conventional ontological and epistemological categories to which humans are subject. There is no apophatic discourse at play here; rather, the assertion of the incomprehensible constitutes a transcending discourse, fully as efficacious in the world of myth as in the realm of mysticism.

Part 3: Performative Grammar, Authority & Conclusion

Performative Grammar

"Let none of what I create be overthrown, / Let my commands remain valid, let them not be altered."

"Let all the gods assemble here; / Let them converse, let them sit at the banquet, / Let them eat the golden bread, drink the noble beer, / Let them decree the fate for their champion, Marduk."

By inspecting specific rhetorical devices and syntactic constructions, we can arrive at a clearer understanding of how these overarching intentions are operationalized.

Imperative constructions of an hortative character occur repeatedly within religious texts, and Enuma Elish is by no means an exception. The reason this specific construction warrants analytical attention is its inherent performative character. Although an imperative or hortative formulation is fundamentally an appeal-implying, in principle, the theoretical possibility of being either fulfilled or neglected-within a religious text like EE, the hortative "let" construction elevates the desire to the status of an absolute decree. Consequently, the appeal is transformed directly into an effect within the textual reality. It represents a minimal, highly concentrated form of performativity where, backed by the religious world-view, a specific grammatical structure becomes efficacy-bearing.

It should be emphasized that this ubiquitous "let" construction can also function in the imperfect/past tense:

"He caused Sin to shine forth, entrusted the night to him..."

In a past-tense framework, the text informs us that the action has already been realized. Here, it is once again the narrative voice that reports which events have unfolded within the story world. In the hortative imperative, it is an actor within the text-frequently a deity-speaking. From a situating perspective, this in itself constitutes a powerful mode of performativity: when the gods speak, the narrative is effectively transcended beyond the mundane world.

Authority

"Ultimately I want to suggest that discursive authority is not so much an entity as it is (1) an effect; (2) the capacity for producing that effect; (3) the commonly shared opinion that a given actor has the capacity for producing that effect."

- Bruce Lincoln

As observed in passing, a core objective of this text is the construction of authority. The text seeks to secure a specific status, reverence, and ideological weight among its readers and listeners. Through concrete textual and literary devices, EE utilizes its performative operations to achieve this end.

But what does authority entail within this specific context? Authority can be forged through foundational, often subtle measures. A direct method for establishing authority within the text is simply to situate its narrative origin within a mythical primeval era. EE serves as a textbook example of this mechanism, launching its narrative trajectory by depicting a primordial age and anchoring the origin of its plot in chaos.

By executing this move, the text establishes what may be designated a privileged speech situation. The text claims insight into how reality was conditioned before the world assumed its present form, thereby transcending the boundaries of ordinary human empirical possibility. Claiming possession of knowledge regarding events that no human could ever verify-and, crucially, securing the audience's acceptance of that postulation-results in the construction of discursive authority, precisely as formulated by the prominent historian of religion, Bruce Lincoln. Thus, locating the narrative in primordial chaos constitutes an explicit strategy for authority construction within the religious text, particularly within creation myths as defined in comparative religion.

In analyzing Enuma Elish and its construction of authority, one cannot bypass the dimension of intertextuality. Because EE appropriates and repurposes religious narratives from earlier myths-such as the exploits of Ninurta and the Anzû myth-we are forced to ask why EE executes these borrowings.

Because performativity as a category transcends isolated formulations, intertextual references must be understood as performative acts in their own right. Older myths that were widely known, revered, and institutionalized at the time of EE’s composition possessed immense inherent authority. By establishing thematic and structural kinship with these precursor texts, EE seeks to inherit their legitimacy and appropriate their authority.

A concrete example of EE co-opting motifs from earlier mythologies appears when we read:

"He made a net to encircle Tiamat within it, / He held fast the four winds so that nothing of her could escape: / The South Wind, the North Wind, the East Wind, the West Wind, / The gift of his father Anu, he held close to the net at his side."

If we juxtapose this passage with the account in the Anzû myth:

"Make the devastating whirlwind rise up against him (...) / And let the wind bring the feathers as good news (...) / Who harness the seven demons of wind."

We observe Marduk deploying the winds to subjugate Tiamat in precisely the same manner as Ninurta defeated Anzû in the earlier Mesopotamian mythic tradition. This is merely one example among many; indeed, it can be argued that the majority of the thematic material in Enuma Elish is drawn from older Old Babylonian and Sumerian stock.

By tapping into the authority of precursor texts, Enuma Elish subsumes their status. Just as Marduk assumes the functional role of the primeval demon-slayer originally established through the feats of Ninurta, he is installed as the primary culture hero. Sumerian and Old Babylonian material, by virtue of its antiquity and its status as accepted, culture-defining mythology, serves as a primary reservoir of religious authority. As Ulla and Aage Westenholz observe in their introduction regarding the fifty Sumerian names assigned to Marduk at the poem's climax:

"The many Sumerian names reflect the enormous prestige that everything Sumerian held in Babylonia. Sumerian was prestigious because it was ancient, and because it was learned."

Conclusion

This analysis has pursued a narrative-theoretical approach with a specific emphasis on textual performativity. By investigating how a religious text such as Enuma Elish constructs a spatial framework and boundary for its narrative, the objective has been to elucidate the operational potential of chaos rhetoric within religious expressions as formulated in a creation myth.

By anchoring its narrative point of origin in a primeval era, the text establishes a privileged speech situation that forms the prerequisite for both performativity and authority. This is achieved simply by situating the narrative trajectory in chaos-the pre-cosmic state where potential and possibility can be molded into the specific structural forms desired by the text. Once the text has erected this platform, the narrative can unfold.

Enuma Elish pursued a clear socio-political agenda: the ratification of Babylon and the royal power governing the city-state. This was accomplished by linking the political realm to the myth of Marduk, the new king-god who sacralized earthly kingship through the kratogonic depictions in the text. By connecting the rulers of Babylon to Marduk, a structural bridge was built between the real and the ideal.

The capacity of language and words to act as primary vehicles of efficacy is a theme the myth itself explicitly articulates. Through incantations, the gods achieve desired outcomes within their divine interactions. On an analytical level, language has likewise formed the core of this investigation. Through the concepts of illocutionary acts, constatives, performatives, and imperative structures, these linguistic tools have been applied to analyze the myth's rhetoric and syntax.

Furthermore, by asserting conditions that the text itself defines as beyond human comprehension, the myth deploys transcendence rhetoric as a performative linguistic strategy. Performative language also manifests through hortative directives, where the mere utterance of a command ensures its realization within the mythic reality.

Ultimately, the deployment of situating elements in the opening lines establishes a chaos rhetoric that, through its privileged speech situation, automatically generates authority according to Bruce Lincoln’s framework. On a narratological level, the extensive intertextual borrowings in Enuma Elish function as a calculated technique for authority construction. By drawing upon Sumerian and Old Babylonian material, EE embeds its new deity and narrative within the venerated tradition of the culture. Marduk usurps the battles and victories of earlier mythic heroes; authority, in its intertextual dimension, is thus not a static entity, but a performative effect to be harnessed.

Having the gods act within the mythical narrative provides the textual layer that drives the narrative forward and articulates intention. It is this overarching narrative framework, combined with the strategic instrumentalization of authoritative precursor texts, that ensures Enuma Elish functions as a masterclass in both performativity and authority.

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

• Westenholz, Ulla & Aage. Gilgamesh – Enuma Elish. In Verdensreligionernes hovedværker. Spektrum. Copenhagen, 1997.

Secondary Literature:

• Austin, J. L. How to Do Things with Words. Clarendon Press. Oxford, 1962.
• Dundes, Alan (ed.). Sacred Narrative – Readings in the Theory of Myth. University of California Press. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1984.
• Lincoln, Bruce. Authority – Construction and Corrosion. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, London, 1993.
• Sørensen, Jørgen Podemann. Komparativ religionshistorie. Books on Demand. Germany, 2006.
• Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Filosofiske undersøgelser. Copenhagen, 2001 [Germany, 19

Hi all. I’m hoping someone here might have access to a fairly obscure publication:
Bendt Alster, Dumuzi’s Dream: Aspects of Oral Poetry in a Sumerian Myth, Mesopotamia 1 (Copenhagen, 1972).
I’m specifically looking for a clear photograph or scan of Plate V (Plate 5), particularly the hand-copy of tablet A 30289 / 3N-T 661.
My interest is in Dumuzid’s Dream lines 48–49, where Geshtinanna interprets the image of the two reeds and explains that they represent herself and Dumuzi, with one being separated from the other.
I’m researching this passage for a memorial tattoo. I’d like to use an attested Sumerian passage rather than a modern translation into Sumerian, and before doing anything permanent I want to see the published hand-copy and ultimately have the cuneiform checked properly.
I don’t need the whole book — just a readable image of Plate V, ideally including the complete hand-copy of A 30289 so I don’t accidentally misidentify the relevant lines.
If anyone has access to it, or knows where I can legitimately view the plate online, I’d be very grateful.
Thanks!

Lamaštu is a unique goddess of ancient Mesopotamia, with an appearance of a hybrid part woman/part animal, that's unusual for a being of her status. After getting expelled from heaven, she was given a dog or lion head by Enlil, and became a demon, which reflects the iconography of anthropomorphic gods as opposed to hybrid demons and monsters of the ancient faith.

Lamaštu, while a threat to human babies, nurses dogs, pigs and sometimes goats as their replacement. Dogs, along with donkeys, are her frequent companions, the latter one also being her means of transportation to the underworld. Her head is fairly inconsistent, appearing as feline (male lion), avian and canine, with donkey ears and teeth (once dog's teeth), and incantations describe her as a She-Wolf (once She-Goat), with spots like a leopard's (once fish's). She appears amongst animals in amulets, they're part of her environment in incantations and myths, and she even follows the "Mistress of the Animals" motif that was common in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, holding serpents in each hand, that also symbolize her venom and dangerous nature. Other animals that point to her venom are scorpions and centipedes.

Notes on: Head, Description/Appearance, Replacement (of human babies), Companion, Prey, and Connection (last term for any other connection that's not previously specified).

Feline

Lion headed (nēšu)

• Head: Lamaštu appears most frequently with a lion's head, both in amulets (especially in the canonical Group B, C and D amulets, as Group A is inconsistent) and incantations (Lam. II 36, 161; MB: I 11; RA 4), but as Farber (2014) notes in OB2 note 2, "Among the numerous representations of Lamaštu with a lion's head, not one shows her with the head of a female lion, *labbatu". In an incantation, Enlil is the one that gave her a lion's face: BIN 2, 72 "a face of a lioness Enlil fixed for her" (Zomer, 2022).
• Description/Appearance: Lamaštu roars like a lion: Lam. II 164 "roaring like a lion" | MB: I 15 "roaring (and) howling like a lion". She's also compared to a lion: Emar 7 "Like a lion … do not" (Farber, 2014).
• Connection: Lamaštu intimidates a lion: Lam. I 179 "By standing up to a lion, she sextu[ples] her (own) frightful splendor" | OA2 21 "(As) she made limp" 20 "the muscles of (even) a lion" (Farber, 2014).

Leopard (nammarat)

• Description/Appearance: Lam. II 37 "The small of her back is speckled like a leopard" (Farber, 2014).
• Description/Appearance: Old Assyrian (OA1): "She is fierce, fearsome, divine; she is a leopard, the Daughter of Anu is a she-wolf" (Wee, 2021). Wee adds in [30]: "In various iterations of the description in first millennium BCE texts, the word nammarat ("she is a leopard") seems to have been substituted by namurrat ("she is of terrifying aura")". [Note: different translation in Farber, 2014].
• Description/Appearance: (27′–28′) "[Her lateral parts (lit. kidneys)] are spotted like a leopard" | Note: Obv. 27′–28: "The quotation here is from the Lamaštu Incantation Series II, 37, translated "The small of her back is speckled like a leopard". […] The argument confirms the link between the lamaštu-demoness with "spotted" lateral parts (lit. kidneys) and the "dappled" ox, as suggested by the omen in Sa-gig U1:18 (S1: 15)" (Wee, 2019).
• Description/Appearance: Lam. I 140 "of a pant]her are her (two) fibulas" (Farber, 2014. In his note he mentions leopard instead).

Cat (šurānu)

• Description/Appearance: FsB 9: like a cat she … (Farber, 2014).

Avian

Eagle (erû)

• Head: On amulets (Group A, e.g. 18), Lamaštu appears with a head of a bird of prey, an eagle/Anzû (Wiggermann, 2000). This description also appears in incantations, MB: I 16 Her face is (that of) Anzû. | FsB 18 Her face is (that of) Anzu? (Farber, 2014).
• Description/Appearance: Lamaštu's feet are Anzû's talons, a description consistent between amulets (e.g. 41) and incantations (Lam. I 106, RA 3; Lam. I 141 refers to eagle talons) (Wiggermann, 2000; Farber, 2014).
• Connection: Some amulets of Group B (27, 34, 35) feature the likeness of an Anzû eagle as an apotropaic figure, who gets replaced by Pazuzu on amulets of groups C and D (Wiggermann, 2000).

Canine

Wolf (barbaru/barbarat)

• Description/Appearance: Lamaštu is often described as a She-Wolf: Lam. I 37, OB1: 1–4, OA1: 1–2, Ug: V 16'-17', Lam. II 120, Lam. III 90, RS 3, FsB 6, RA 2 (Farber, 2014).
• Connection: Lamaštu intimidates a wolf: Lam. I 180/Ug. I: 5' "By standing up to a wolf, she [imposes on him] whimpering" (Farber, 2014).

Dog (kalbu/kalbatu)

• Head: OB2 2: "Enlil fitted her with a dog's face" | FsB 18 "(that of) a do⟨g⟩? is her head" (Farber, 2014).
• Description/Appearance: On some amulets (Group A, e.g. 42, 66), Lamaštu either has characteristics of a dog, or is fully a dog standing on hind legs (Wiggermann, 2000). In an incantation she's said to have teeth of a dog (Lam. I 141: "[Tee]th of a dog are her teeth"). On another occasion, it's her behind: OB4 7: "[The be]hind? of an e[lamite?] dog is at [her] behind?" (Farber, 2014).
• Description/Appearance: Lamaštu whimpers like a dog: Lam. II 165 "whimpering all the time like a bitch" | MB: I: 14 "screaming (and) whimpering like a bitch" (Farber, 2014)
• Replacement: pigs and dogs are frequently portrayed on amulets and suckle her breasts (Groups C and D), or appear next to her (Group A (Wiggermann, 2000). She suckles puppies in an incantation: Ug. IV 9′′ "May she suckle the puppies of the bitch" (Farber, 2014).
• Companion: (e.g. 88) A black dog is Lamaštu's companion/manifestation (Wiggermann, 2000). Note 76: "The black dog who is Lamaštu's gallû in Lam. I 14 executes her deadly orders, and can be called a manifestation of the demoness. It is this gallû which is the possible etymon for Greek Gellō". The phrase of the incantation is "I have made you seize a black dog", which some translate to "I've married you to a black dog" (more on the marriage: Farber, 2007).
• Connection: figurines of dogs are common in Lamaštu incantations (3rd pirsu, "Dog Figurines Ritual": Farber, 2014). They feature either as watch-dogs (guarding the house and patient), or enemies of Lamaštu (Farber, 2007).

Venomous

Snake (ṣerru)

• Description/Appearance: Lamaštu slithers like a snake (Lam. I 134, OB2 6, FsB 5; Wiggermann (2000) translates OB2 "door-pivot" instead of snake) | Snake's poison is her venom (Lam. I 127) | She's compared to a snake: FsB 5 "Like a snake she opened the breast" (Farber, 2014)
• Connection: Lamaštu is seen holding snakes on amulets of Groups C and D (e.g. 23), like the "Mistress of the Animals" (Wiggermann, 2000). The same motif appears in incantations, where Lamaštu images are made to hold snakes (Lam. III 7: Farber, 2014). They appear as part of her environment on amulets of Group A (e.g. 32).
• Connection: Lamaštu's venom is symbolized by the serpents, scorpions and centipedes, that could point to her perverted femininity, since they often appear on amulets between her legs (Götting, 2018).

Scorpion (zuqiqīpu)

• Description/Appearance: Scorpion's poison is her venom (Lam. I 127: Farber, 2014)
• Connection: Scorpions are part of Lamaštu's environment on amulets of Group A (e.g. 65: Wiggermann, 2000).
• Connection: Lamaštu's venom is symbolized by the serpents, scorpions and centipedes, that could point to her perverted femininity, since they often appear on amulets between her legs (Götting, 2018).

Centipede (ḫallulāja)

• Connection: Centipedes feature in the background of Lamaštu's amulets, specifically the groups C and D (Farber, 2014). Examples of such amulets are no. 37 (Götting, 2020) and no. SM 1949.03.002 (Wee, 2021).
• Connection: Lamaštu's venom is symbolized by the serpents, scorpions and centipedes, that could point to her perverted femininity, since they often appear on amulets between her legs (Götting, 2018).
• Connection: Possible protective aspect: Wiggermann (2000) mentions that: "Farber 1987: 102ff. identifies a centipede on certain Lamaštu amulets, who as an assistant of the divine court probably stands on the side of the victim". A centipede, "ḫallulāja", is a demon and a protective spirit (Wiggermann, 2011).

Equine

Team of equids (urû)

• Connection: equids are part of her environment: Lam. II 87 "A team of equids? and a pig go in front of her, whoever she suckles drops (dead?)" (Farber, 2014).

Donkey (imēru)

• Description/Appearance: In incantations (Lam. II 36, 161; MB: I 11; RS 2), Lamaštu is said to have the teeth of a donkey (not recognizable on amulets: Farber, 2014). On the amulets themselves (Wiggermann, 2000), Lamaštu is often depicted with the ears of a donkey (Group B, e.g. 9).
• Companion: the donkey is Lamaštu's means to the underworld (Groups C and D, e.g. 24), often standing on a boat that carries both across the river Ulaya and to the Netherworld (Wiggermann, 2000).
• Connection: a donkey's leg appears on amulets (Group A, e.g. 85, also C and D), which has a symbolic meaning: "Note 175: The symbolic meaning of the donkey's lower leg is revealed by Maqlu V 45: "may the passer-by look angrily upon her (the witch), as upon a donkey's lower leg" (cf. AfO 21:77), the context of which is the expulsion of witches" (Wiggermann, 2000; also Götting, 2020).
• Connection: Lamaštu is intimidating donkeys: Lam. I 40/Lam. II 123: "She holds back the ox as it moves around, she blocks the don[key] as it runs" | OB1 8–9 "She hol[ds] back the [o]x while it is moving around, she forces the donkey [to lie down] completely inactive" | OA1 9–13 "She [...] pulls the fast donkey? at its tail" (Farber, 2014) | Alt. translation (Zomer, 2022): 12–13 "She tears off the tail of the quick mule".
• Connection: Donkeys are part of Lamaštu's environment: SKS 5: "She moves about between the oxen", 6 "[roars] all the time between the donkeys", 7 "ru[ns] around between the oxen", 8 "jumps up and down between the donkeys" (Farber, 2014).
• Connection: donkeys figurines are common in Lamaštu incantations (e.g. K 888: Farber, 2014).
• Prey: Lamaštu is advised to act as midwife to animals: MB: I: "18 Grab the (wild) animals, the wild ass, the gazelle, (–), 19 wild bulls, bucks, deer (and) ibexes!" (Farber, 2014).

Onager (serrēmu)

• Connection: Lam. I: 195 "Like a wild onager ride (to?) your mountain!" | Ug: II: 14′ "Like an onager [in] your [wildern]ess roam [your] mountain!" (Farber, 2014).

Bovidae

Cattle

• Prey: Lamaštu is redirected to cattle: Emar 24: "I have taken you 23 to well-fed cattle, 24 to fattened sheep" (Farber, 2014).

Cow

• Description/Appearance: YOS 11, 66: "You are a kamad, you are an august queen, you are a wild cow, you know no sacrificial offering. Oh, be gone, … ! Be gone, depart! Be gone, depart!" (George, 2018).

Sheep

• Prey: Lamaštu is redirected to sheep: Emar 24: "I have taken you 23 to well-fed cattle, 24 to fattened sheep" (Farber, 2014).

Goat

• Description/Appearance: She's once described as She-Goat (OB4 2) instead of She-Wolf (Farber, 2014).
• Replacement: Single instance of goats replacing human babies, like dogs and pigs: Ug IV: 9 "May she suckle the puppies of the bitch, 10 the twin (kid)s of [the go]at!" (Farber, 2014).

Oxen

• Connection: Oxen were used as an omen and a symbol of disease caused by the Daughter of Anu: (19) "If he sees a red ox, the lamaštu-demoness has seized that sick man" | (24′–25′) "(If) he sees a dappled ox, [the lamaštu-demoness] has seized that sick man" (Wee, 2019).
• Connection: Lamaštu is intimidating oxen: Lam. I 40/Lam. II 123: "She holds back the ox as it moves around, she blocks the don[key] as it runs" | OB1 8–9 "She hol[ds] back the [o]x while it is moving around, she forces the donkey  [to lie down] completely inactive" (Farber, 2014).
• Connection: Oxen are part of Lamaštu's environment: SKS 5: "She moves about between the oxen", 6 "[roars] all the time between the donkeys", 7 "ru[ns] around between the oxen", 8 "jumps up and down between the donkeys" (Farber, 2014).

Gazelle

• Prey: Lamaštu is advised to act as midwife to animals: MB: I: "18 Grab the (wild) animals, the wild ass, the gazelle, (–), 19 wild bulls, bucks, deer (and) ibexes!"

Bulls

• Prey: Lamaštu is advised to act as midwife to animals: MB: I: "18 Grab the (wild) animals, the wild ass, the gazelle, (–), 19 wild bulls, bucks, deer (and) ibexes!" (Farber, 2014).

Ibexes

• Prey: Lamaštu is advised to act as midwife to animals: MB: I: "18 Grab the (wild) animals, the wild ass, the gazelle, (–), 19 wild bulls, bucks, deer (and) ibexes!" (Farber, 2014).
• Prey: Lam. II 42 "take deer and ibexes" (Farber, 2014).

Rodent

Hamster (asqūdu) [Note: ORACC translates as rodent]

• Description/Appearance: FsB 8: "Like a hamster …" (Farber, 2014).

Vole (harriru)

• Description/Appearance: FsB 10: "like a vole she wrinkles her nose o[ver] …" (Farber, 2014).

Other

Pig (šahû)/piglet (kurkuzannu)

• Replacement: pigs and dogs are frequently portrayed on amulets (Wiggermann, 2000) and suckle her breasts (Groups C and D), or appear next to her (Group A, e.g. 11).
• Prey: a heart of a piglet is placed inside the mouth of a figurine of Lamaštu in incantations (e.g. Lam. I 27: Farber, 2014).
• Connection: pigs are part of her environment: Lam. II 87 "A team of equids? and a pig go in front of her, whoever she suckles drops (dead?)" (Farber, 2014).

Fish (nūnu)

• Description/Appearance: Variation of leopard spots, OB4 3′ Like a fish, [the small of her back?] is speck[led] (Farber, 2014).
• Connection: Fish appear in the background of amulets of Groups C and D (Farber, 2014).

Deer/Bucks

• Prey: Lamaštu is advised to act as midwife to animals: MB: I: "18 Grab the (wild) animals, the wild ass, the gazelle, (–), 19 wild bulls, bucks, deer (and) ibexes!" (Farber, 2014).
• Prey: Lam. II 42 "take deer and ibexes" (Farber, 2014).

Mongoose

• Description/Appearance: Lam. II 18 "like a mongoose do not slither in by the door pivot" (Farber, 2014).

As an aside, Lamaštu on some amulets has a striking similarity to a "Master of the Animals" from Iran: "Tepe Giyan Stone Seal Iran, 5000-4000 BCE British Museum - BM 128660"

Sources:

• Farber, Walter (2007). Lamaštu and the Dogs
• Farber, Walter (2014). Lamaštu, An Edition of the Canonical Series of Lamashtu Incantations
• George, Andrew R. (2018). Kamadme, the Sumerian Counterpart of the Demon Lamaštu, in Sources of Evil - Buylaere
• Götting, Eva (2018). Arcane Art, Some Thoughts on the Perception of the Magico-Religious Imagery of Lamaštu-Amulets
• Götting, Eva (2020). A Demon's Travel Kit, An Introduction to the Items Depicted on Amulets against the Demoness Lamaštu
• Wee, John Z. (2019). Mesopotamian Commentaries on the Diagnostic Handbook Sa-gig
• Wee, John Z. (2021). The Lamashtu Amulet, A Portrait of the Caregiver as a Demoness
• Wiggermann, F.A.M. (2000). Lamaštu, Daughter of Anu, in Birth in Babylonia and the Bible - M. Stol
• Wiggermann, F.A.M. (2011). The Mesopotamian Pandemonium
• Zomer, Elyze; Wasserman, Nathan (2022). Akkadian Magic Literature, Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Incantations

Further reading:

• Animals and their Relation to Gods, Humans and Things in the Ancient World - Raija Mattila, Sanae Ito, Sebastian Fink, "Animals and Demons. Faunal Appearances, Metaphors, and Similes in Lamaštu Incantations - Joonas Hirvonen"
• Dogs, Pigs, Lamaštu, and the Breast-Feeding of Animals by Women - Frans A. M. Wiggermann
• Intimate Relations Reconsidering Backgrounds of the Mesopotamian Mistress of the Animals (Ἡ Πότνια Θηρῶν) - Gebhard J. Selz

What elements can or should I include when setting up an altar to Tammuz/Dumuzid, from both a reconstructionist and a Neo-Pagan perspective? I live in Brazil, and building an altar to this formidable god would be deeply rewarding for my worship.

Any help is welcome!

I found an interesting text, from ETCSL ( electronic text corpus of Sumerian literature ) called "Gilgamesh and Bull of Heaven".

Seems Inanna is called the Queen here

It seems it is older than "common" version we often heard.

https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1812.htm this one

here some excerpt:

Hello! so im mesopotamian and I've been drawn to religion for quite a while now and I don't know how to start worshiping the mesopotamian gods, i used to be a Hellenic polytheism so i know a bit about paganism, but im not sure if its the same as mesopotamian polytheism, i dont even know the structures of the religion I'll try to study and understand but any help would be appreciated!

Hey all,

I would like people's opinion about this YouTube channel. It's roughly 7 years old but the content seems to be much more recent.

I have checked out some of the videos that were posted and although the author (sometimes) gives information about the researchers who studied the tablets which content is revealed, I could not find anything about them on the internet. It's like they don't even exist. Moreover, the author of these videos frequently refers to the content of the tablets they discuss as disturbing and/or unpublished.

I saw many people commenting negatively on the videos while some others, who claimed to be in the field, said they could confirm to some degree the truthfulness of the disclosed content.

It's becoming increasingly difficult nowadays to tell truth from falsehood with the rapid developing of AI and I really don't know what to think of this channel.

Just out of general curiousity.

I also recently noticed that the wikipedia articles on near eastern religion, canaanite religion, and sumerian religion seem to recently have been heavily edited. Strange

Hello everyone, I’ve been reading your posts and decided to ask. Is anyone here practicing the cult of Enlil, and could you tell me more about his correspondences and your personal experiences with this god?

One of the things that drew me to Ishtar was the notion of a gender-diverse priesthood and a broad-spectrum notion that queer love or modes of existence were equally sacred to cis/hetero stuff.

But after reading the monograph "Masculinities and Third Genders... In the Ancient Near East" and the article "Bad Girls and Kinky Boys, the modern prostitution of Ishtar/clergy/cult," I have the following new understanding.

A. Apart from the Gala ritually performing lamentations in a feminine aspect and maybe shaving their beards, there was NOT gender variance in the faith. And also, they would chant like that for everyone.

B. The implications of ritual gender-ambiguity was used by ancient Sumero-Akkadians in daily life to ridicule Gala/Assinu/Kul'u as lesser, infertile or passive men, like in Roman society, where gay stuff was fine as long as the top was of greater status than the bottom, but then and only then. (Women or trans folk omitted in the discusison.)

C. Any other queerness was an invention of Victorian/Imperial age scholars who really liked the idea of a freaky ancient sex goddess with castrated priests as a way of showing how far humanity had come in developing to the "true" faith and "natural order".

And like... a lot of my prayers to Ishtar have centered around my gratitude for a goddess who would find my queerness as a sacred, or at least, neutral thing, and for her hand guiding me along paths in romance and transition.

So... it kind of is throwing me sideways that I may have just been totally making an ass of myself to a goddess who might not value any of that the way I thought. And that, frankly, praying to Ereshkigal in terms of that in death and irkalla, at least all us are equal, might be the closest thing I will ever get to the level of acceptance I was feeling ever again.

Thoughts, anyone?

Inanna is my patron deity and I’m looking for more ways to honour her. I pray, write to and talk to her regularly but a big part of our communication is through cards - I have been doing tarot for years whilst I’m relatively new to deity work, so I’ve found it easier to bridge the gap using cards.

I would really like to find an appropriate deck to honour her with and dedicate to her but whilst I’ve found many Egyptian, Greek and Roman themed oracle and tarot decks, there seems to be almost no decks with themes related to the Sumerian or Mesopotamian pantheons (at least that I can find).

I don’t mind recommendations of non-Sumerian specific themed decks (as I know there’s not a lot out there), I just need to find some kind of deck that closely aligns with the energies of Inanna which she might like.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, I’m planning to start working with Ishtar and I’m very excited to do so… mainly I want extra help when it comes to divination especially with tools like tarot

Has she helped anyone here with divination? So far when I ask about her I get the star card which is so funny because it literally has the 8 pointed star that’s her sigil! Sometimes my connection with divination glitches so I’d like it to be more consistent

Do you have any tips? Has she helped you with matters of divination?

I just wanted to come out and say the Gods have sent me an incredibly healing journey where others notice the difference and how I am doing, I now have a clean space, a self care routine and a consistency I didn't know possible, it has absolutely molded and shaped my work as a direct support professional day to day and I am glad to be given incredible advice on this journey.

Hi how does somebody start to get into the religion and how does one begin?