Enlil, the Sumerian holder of destiny. After the sky and earth, An and ki, were manifested by Nammu they came together and produced a child: Enlil. Upon Enlil’s birth he separated An and Ki divorcing heaven and earth, Enlil took his mother Ki while An took the sky. Enlil laid with his mother Ki, his seed birthing the flora and fauna of the earth. Unbeknownst to Enlil there was a goddess that pined for him, another descendant of An, Ninlil. However, Ninlil was ordered by her mother Nisaba to not seduce Enlil and to resist against his advances. As Ninlil went to the local river she followed her mother’s instructions, ignoring Enlil. However as the god crossed the river the two met each other’s gaze, falling for each other the two embraced each other on the shore. The moon god Nanna was born from the intimacy. But because of this, Enlil was judged as ritually impure by the other gods, causing them to exile him to Kur, the Sumerian underworld. Ninlil secretly followed Enlil to Kur, despite how many times he changed forms to lose her. Each form she caught up to she would make love with, birthing Nergal, Enbilulu, and Ninazu. When Enlil finally escaped to the surface he proposed to Ninlil, however he had accidentally insulted her, causing her to leave. Feeling remorse he asked for his sukkal’s help in remedying the situation. With their help Enlil was able to apologize to Ninlil and secure her hand in marriage from her mother, Enlil promised to make her the highest goddess in the pantheon and shared with her the tablet of destiny. The tablet of destiny is a group of cuneiform tablets that connotes Enlil’s position as the king of the gods, with it he controls the fate of the universe itself. At one point Enlil thought that humanity had become too numerous, disturbing the gods with their loud rambunctiousness. To solve this Enlil sent a flood to wipe out humanity, however another god, Enki, warned Ziusudra about the flood behind Enlil’s back. Enlil’s advises Ziusudra to take his family and village and build a great boat to house them, he also instructs him to take the infant animals of the earth on the ship. In the vessel Ziusudra weathers the great flood. The goddess Inanna weeped for the humans who died in the flood, forcing Enlil to promise to never send another flood. However Enlil spots the surviving Ziusudra’s vessel and boards it, showing himself to the surviving humans. Ziusudra bows to Enlil, showing him the upmost respect. Enlil, greatly moved by the loyalty of Ziusudra grants him immortality. Enlil holds dominion over the wind, storms, and air, bringing life and peace to the world.
Originally in older Sumerian and Mesopotamian beliefs Enlil’s father, An, held the position of king of the gods. It wasn’t until later when Enlil usurped that position, his cult rising in prominence and overtaking An’s, who was relegated to a senior god. In some texts Enlil was described as the main voice of An’s will, further bridging this connection. Though Enlil was conflated with the Levantine El, his original role was more akin to El’s son Baal. It wasn’t until after he assumed An’s throne did Enlil take on more El-like traits, likely absorbing them from An. Enlil developmentally corresponds with a number of other gods as well, such as the Syrian Dagan, the Hurrian Kumarbi, the Palmyrian Baalshamin, and the Hittite Tarhunna. Enlil, like his father before him, was kicked out of the chief god role by his Babylonian successor Marduk. In the Babylonian myth of Marduk ascending the throne, Enlil gives the throne to Marduk despite Enlil not being mentioned before hand. The Myth of Enlil and Ninlil is the subject of debate among scholars, in specific whether or not the first encounter between Enlil and Ninlil was consensual. Some have interpreted Enlil’s ritual impurity being a result of his assault of Ninlil, others have countered saying that the impurity was from the act being premarital despite it being consensual. Ultimately the text is too vague to come to a definitive conclusion. Sumerian’s credited the creation of the mattock to Enlil, the mattock was praised for this reason by Sumerians. Enlil was greatly connected to the government and agriculture, with tablets stating that all of civilization rose from him and his aid helped the growth of crops.
