THE WORLD OF THE GODS: The essential privilege of the gods was immortality. But they had the same needs and passions as mortals. They were subject to fear. During the deluge the gods were disquieted to see the waters rise. They climbed to the sky of Anu and there: "The gods crouched like dogs; on the wall they cowered." The gods were also greedy. When they forgathered they never failed to feast and drink themselves into a state of boisterous intoxication. The Epic of the Creation says: "They grow drunk with drinking, their bodies are joyful, They shout aloud, their hearts exult." They were equally fond of sacrifices. When Uta Napishtim was saved from the Deluge and, in gratitude, placed offerings on the summit of the mountain, 'the gods smelled the good odour, the gods swarmed like flies above him who offered them sacrifice'. Like men the gods had wives and families. They were celestial sovereigns and, like kings of earth, had their courts, servants and soldiers. They inhabited palaces situated either in regions above the sky, on the great Mountain of the East, or in the subterranean depths of the underworld. Although each had his own sphere of influence they would sometimes gather together to debate common problems. They would then assemble in a hall called the Upshukina. In particular they would congregate there at the beginning of each year, on the feast of Zagmuk, in order to determine men's destiny. The gods thus formed a thoroughly organised and hierarchical society. The divine hierarchy was not immediately established and was often modified. The great primordial principle of fertility and fecundity, at first worshipped by the Sumerians, was quickly dispersed into a crowd of divinities who had no precise connection with each other. Later, under the influence of national pride, the gods acquired rank, the dignity of which corresponded to the importance in the country as a whole of the city in which they were particularly venerated. Finally the official theologians of Babylon fixed the hierarchy of the gods more or less definitely, dividing them into triads. The two principal triads were those of the great gods Anu, Enlil and Ea, and of the astral gods Sin, Shamash and Ishtar. THE GREAT GODS: When the victory of Marduk over Tiamat had reestablished peace and order in the world of the gods each divinity received his owl' particular sphere of influence. The universe was divided into three regions each of which became the domain of a god. Anu's share was the sky. The earth ws given to Enlil. Ea became the ruler of the waters. Together they constituted the triad of Greed Gods. Anu: Anu was the son of Anshar and Kishar. His name signified ,sky' and he reigned over the heavens. There he resided in the upper-most region which was called the 'sky of Anu'. He was god in the highest sense, the supreme god. All the other deities honoured him as their 'father', that is to say, their chief. They came to him for refuge when danger threatened them, during the Deluge for example. It was to him they came when they had complaints to lodge. Thus the goddess Ishtar, harshly repelled by the hero Gilgamesh, goes to find Anu, her father. 'Oh my father,' she said to him, 'Gilgamesh has cursed me,' and she requested him to make .a celestial bull' to send against Gilgamesh. In the same way Anu summoned all cases of importance before his tribunal. When Adapa broke the wings of the South Wind Anu ordered him to appear before him. He combined power and justice, all the marks of sovereignty. Before the raised throne on which he sat were placed the insignia of royalty: 'the sceptre, the diadem, the crown and the staff of command.' On monuments Anu was represented by a tiara placed on a throne. He had, moreover, an army at his command: the stars which he had created to destroy the wicked were called 'the soldiers of Anu'. Anu never left the heavenly regions, never came down to earth. When he abandoned his majestic immobility it was to walk in that portion of the sky which was exclusively reserved for him, the name of which was 'Anu's Way'. In spite of his uncontested supremacy he was not, however, exempt from weaknesses. We have seen, that, for example, when he was sent to do battle against Tiamat he was unable to face the monster and left the glory of victory to Marduk. Aided by his companion, the goddess Antu, he presided from above over the fates of the universe and hardly occupied himself with human affairs. Thus, although he never ceased to be universally venerated, other gods finally supplanted him and took over certain of his prerogatives. But the great god's prestige remained such that the power of these usurper gods was never firmly established until they, too, assumed the name Anu. Enlil (Bel): Enlil was much more involved in the events which took place on earth. In the land of' Sumer, and particularly at Nippur, Enlil, Lord of the Air, had been worshipped from early times. Enlil was the god of the hurricane and his weapon was the amaru, that is, the deluge. Like the Greek Zeus he symbolised the forces of nature and again like Zeus he was soon considered to be the master of men's fates. When the people of Babylon took over the gods of Sumer, far from overlooking Enlil they made him the second element in their Supreme triad. They virtually assimilated Enfil to their god Marduk, to whom they applied the name Bel, which means 'Lord'. Bel then became Lord of the World and his rule extended throughout the earth. He was called 'King of the Land' or 'Lord of all Regions'. Enlil, like Anu, had a reserved promenade in the heavens -'Enlil's Way'- but he normally resided on the Great Mountain of the East. Like Anu, Enlil (Bel) held the insignia of royalty which he dispensed to the person of his choice. Earthly kings, then, were only the representatives or vicars of Enlil (or Bel). In order to raise them above other men it was enough that the god should pronounce their name, for the word of Bel was all-powerful. (Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, p 54-55)

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Written By Steve Rudd, Used by permission at: www.bible.ca