The Mesopotamians Feared Their Gods — Their Gods Were Not All Good
This post is a edited copy of a section of an older reblog post where I confront the constant neo-pagan idea that fear of the Gods is "Christian Baggage." I wanted this as a separate info post
We have knowledge going back at least 4000 years for the Sumerians back to 2100 BCE [Link]. By the time Assyria was being Christianized there wasn’t much left of Ancient Mesopotamian Religion that Christianity could influence, thus its fundamentally impossible for these ideas to be from Christianity.
Fearing the Gods existed in various ancient cultures because they were not 100% good and beneficial— you would not fear Gods if they were incapable of punishment, abandonment, or anger. Gods could be appeased by proper piety, rituals, and offerings.
In order to avoid link limit I am giving one link to the ETCSL — Link . The entries quoted here will be a number 1.1.1, take the first number and click on Unicode of corresponding category, then you can scroll to find it.
The following is showing how the ancients viewed their Gods, religion, and universe — this is not meant to be adapted to modern practice as it is showcased; though it should inform it which I will mention at the end.
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The Mesopotamians considered it necessary to continuously retain a Gods favor for their communities by preforming all proper religious requirements AND maintaining a just and orderly society — which fell on the King to enforce.
“each city saw the occasion as a reenactment of the original entry of its own chief god into the city. It was a spectacular opportunity to welcome its god and show him the respect he deserved, for which in turn the god would administer his city justly and decree a good fate for it.” — The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East by Mark Cohen page 406 — Link
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The people were deemed to be in the service of the gods to keep them at ease […] The king governed according to a code which was supposed to have been revealed to him by the chief deity […] Of course the god could be consulted for guidance on immediate problems by way of temple omens - a system that vested tremendous power in the temple priesthood. The temple functioned much in the manner of a modern city hall, and was the centre for the administration of justice. Violations of divinely revealed codes were interpreted as offences against the gods. Cases were heard at the temple gate but when opponents or witnesses were required to swear oaths in the name of the Gods, the case was moved indoors to the temple proper. ethics — Ancient Ethics by Gerald Larue page 30 — Link
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After An and Enlil had turned over the Kingship of Ur to Nanna, at that time did Ur-Nammu […] king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad, by the might of Nanna, lord of the city, and in accordance with the true word of Utu, establish equity in the land.” — Legal Code Ur Nammu — Link
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At that time, the gods An and Enlil called Lipit-Ishtar to the princeship of the land— Lipit-Ishtar, the wise shepherd, whose name has been pronounced by the god Nunamnir — in order to establish justice in the land, to eliminate cries for justice, to eradicate enmity and armed violence, to bring well-being to the lands of Sumer and Akkad. At that time, I, Lipit-Ishtar, […] king of the lands of Sumer and Akkad, the heart’s desire of the goddess Inanna, by the command of the god Enlil, I established justice in the lands — Legal Code of Lipit Ishtar — Link
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The Gods participated in what humans would not describe as good. Because what humans deem “good” may not match what the Gods deem good.
That which is good to oneself may be a sacrilege to the god, That which is wretched to one’s heart may be good to one’s god. Who can learn the plan of the gods in the heavens? Who understands the counsel of the deep? Where did humanity learn the way of the gods? — From Ludlul Bel Nemeqi Tablet II — Link
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Both Nungal and Nintinuga, the first of whom is primarily associated with imprisonment or the death penalty, the second with healing, both of which could have mortal implications Sumerian Texts Involving The Netherworld and Funerary Offerings by Jeremiah Peterson page 234 — Link
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“Day(-Spirit)” gets its good or evil character from the day it personifies, and, since what happens in history can be represented as depending on divine decisions, a day-spirit can be represented as an instrument of divine rule; “days” are imagined as roaring leonine monsters, which as demonic powers bring evil, and as frightening apotropaic figures protect against supernatural intruders; the element umu in the names of the propituous seven sages denotes the well-being, health, and prosperity which marked their time on earth; as executioner of divine will “the day(-demon) is the heart of Anu (Sum. Enlil) that has become angry” — Mesopotamian Pandemonium by Frans Wiggermann page 315-316 — Link
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“…demons, who differed among themselves in various ways: some were evil by nature, others feared only because of the functions they fulfilled in the divinely ordered cosmos” — Mesopotamian Pandemonium by Frans Wiggermann page 322
We see here a God who causes misfortune but also relents and helps humans.
“[Marduk] who in his anger is irresistible, his fury a flood, But his mind is merciful, his mood relenting. Marduk, the brunt of whose hands the heavens cannot bear, But whose palm is so gentle it rescues the dying. On account of whose wrath, graves are dug, Through his mercy he raises up the fallen from disaster.” — From Ludlul Bel Nemeqi Tablet II — Link
We also see that Marduk grants and Bel gave punishment. The Gods listen to pleas for favor or forgiveness:
“[Marduk] quickly bestowed favor on me, just as he revived the dead. I will teach the people their plea for favor is near, May his favorable invocation carry off their sin. From the day Bel punished me” — Ludlul Bel Nemeqi Tablet II
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“I am the neck-stock of the Land which grips mankind. I am she who hastens like a north wind storm into the midst of the people! I am she who hears prayer and pleading!” Praise be to holy Ninisina.“ ETCSL 4.22.1 A Šir-gida to Ninisina
They also give their help to humans acting properly, a reward:
Conversely, one inscription suggests that obedience perhaps meaning the proper performance of rituals–would result in rewards. […] "O Rodaw, may he be rewarded for obedience.” In a newly discovered inscription from Wädi al-Abyad in the Northeaster Harrah, which shall be published in the near future […] brings all of the aforementioned elements together. […] “O Allat, help with that which he desires, as he was obedient and subservient (or: supplicated).” — The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia by Ahmad Al-Jallad Chapter 3 page 70 — Link | (Arabian, southwest of Mesopotamia)
But give no favor to those acting improperly:
“it nevertheless ties divine assistance to obedience, which conversely implies that failure to obey the gods, i.e. the failure to carry out prescribed rituals, would lead to divine neglect if not worse. — The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia by Ahmad Al-Jallad page 69-70 (Arabian)
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For Mesopotamia (and many adjacent ANE cultures) The Gods abandoned people, places, cities, and empires. This was entirely possible. It was stopped by proper rites and maintaining order, but sometimes the abandonment’s cause wasn’t always clear. It happened on both a community scale and an individual scale. Often attributed to bad circumstances, war, or other destruction.
“… And the hero Marduk’ was angry with me, My god rejected me, he disappeared, My goddess left, she departed from my side.” — Ludlul Bel Nemeqi Tablet II
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Several texts imply the absence of divine favor through verbs need— drk and 'yz - with the deity as the direct object. “and he was in need of Roday” Another term that may indicate a state of having been abandoned by the gods and deprived of divine favor is ytm, the basic meaning of which is “to be an orphan.” — Al Jallad page 70
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“… where the gods are responsible for the natural phenomena upon which humans are dependent, ytm may refer to situations in which they fail to provide, resulting in drought, scarcity, disease, or whatever other misfortune that might be attributed to cosmic negligence.” — Al Jallad page 70
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…Enlil has abandoned the shrine Nibru and has let the breezes haunt his sheepfold. His wife Ninlil has abandoned it and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. Ninlil has abandoned that house, the Ki-ur, and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. […] Ninmaḫ has abandoned that house Keš and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. […] Ninisina has abandoned the shrine Egal-maḫ and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. […] Inana has abandoned that house Unug and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. Nanna has abandoned Urim and has let the breezes haunt his sheepfold. Suen has abandoned E-kiš-nu-ĝal and has let the breezes haunt his sheepfold. His wife Ningal has abandoned it and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. Ningal has abandoned her Agrun-kug and has let the breezes haunt her sheepfold. […] Enki has abandoned that house Eridug and has let the breezes haunt his sheepfold — Lament for Urim ETCSL 2.2.2 in lines 1-18 | Sheepfold naturally meaning the city/people under their care
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“… records the destruction of Babylon at the hands of the Elamites reads: "the lord (Marduk) became angry and full of wrath. He commanded and the land was abandoned by its gods …the guardians of peace became angry and went up to the dome of heaven; the protective spirit of justice stood aside. The god …, who guards living creatures, abandoned the people; they all became like those who have no god.” The text continues with demons filling the cult centers and with the conquest of Babylon by the Elamite king, who is said to have deported the gods and destroyed the temples.“ — State-Sponsored Sacrilege: "Godnapping” and Omission in Neo-Assyrian Inscriptions by Shana Zaia page 24 — Link
Gods also utilized curses
After An had frowned upon the land after Enlil had looked favorably on an enemy land, after Nintur had scattered the creatures that she had created, after Enki had altered the course of the Tigris and Euphrates, after Utu had cast his curse on the roads and highways — Lament of Sumer and Urim ETCSL 2.2.3 in lines 22-26
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“Defying, neglecting, or causing harm to a god put one at risk of facing the god’s wrath, which would manifest in curses that would include misfortune, illness, or even death for the offender. Considering that perpetrators of god-napping would fear divine retribution, this pattern of omission may be read as a deliberate strategy to suppress the sacrilegious implications of forcibly removing gods from their patron cities. Thus, the absence of divine names in the textual record indicates at least deliberate caution, if not outright anxiety, in how the Assyrians chose to portray acts of godnapping in their sources.” — State-Sponsored Sacrilege: “Godnapping” and Omission in Neo-Assyrian Inscriptions by Shana Zaia page 22-23
Individuals could lament to their personal Gods or intercessor Gods and “sooth their hearts” towards the worshipers restoring favor. An angry personal God could mean ruin for an individual
“The Elamites believed that a man must die if a god removed from him his protective kiden” — Theology and Worship in Elam and Achaemenid Iran by Kochpage page 6 — Link | (Elamite Culture, direct east of Mesopotamia)
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“his mouth shaping a lament soothe the heart of his god, for a man without a god does not obtain food.” A Man and His God in lines 1-9 ETCSL 5.2.4
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Looking at the Akkadian Suillas collectively, one sees that these prayers are generally offered by individuals to high gods in the pantheon […] the Suillas are quite often prayed for the purpose of resecuring the protection of the supplicant’s personal god and goddess, who are not named. There are of course other elements, such as lament, confession (often of ignorance), and petition for healing included in the prayer. But the named, high god’s intervention with the supplicants unnamed, angry personal deities is a very important component in many of these prayers. […] Schematically presented, the supplicant sets out an offering of various items, lifts the hands in a gesture of greeting, bows to the ground, rises up again, and then speaks the prayer (usually multiple times). All of this is intended to move the beseeched superior— whether human or divine— to be obligated to the supplicant and extend a helping hand.“ — Invoking the God: Interpreting Invocations in Mesopotamian Prayers and Biblical Laments of the Individual by Alan Lenzi page 311 — Link
In A Man and His God, a man who is suffering explains his suffering to his personal God, he laments for his situation and requests divine intervention.
A man’s god heard his bitter weeping. After his lamentation and prolonged wailing had soothed the heart of his god towards the young man, his god accepted the righteous words, the holy words he had spoken. The words of supplication which the young man had mastered, the holy prayers, delighted his god like fine oil. in Line 120-129
His personal good being moved by the lamentation responds and grants him relief. And the man will continue to praise his God.
”[His God] turned the young man’s suffering into joy. He set by him as guardian a benevolent protective demon that keeps guard at the mouth. He gave him kindly protective goddesses. The young man steadfastly proclaims the exaltedness of his god.“ In lines 130-136
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"How long, known and unknown god, until the anger of thy heart be pacified ? How long, known and unknown goddess, until thy unfriendly heart be pacified ?” Babylonian Penitential Psalms - Link | It should be noted that these laments may have been the duty of the King to preform on behalf of his people
Sometimes the reason is unknown, and it is marked as being the will of An or Enlil (or a council) and cannot be changed— even when other Gods are pleading for the safety of their city and people the will of the highest God could not be changed. The Gods do not necessarily have humanity as their concern in all matters. When disaster strikes divine action does not necessarily fall in the favor or humans.
How does this new view account for historical disasters of such magnitude as the fall of Ur? Does it look for sins or faults in the victims that justify their fate? Apparently not. The question of guilt on the part of Ur is raised in another long lament in which the city god Nanna/Suen appeals to his father Enlil on its behalf. He says:
O my father who engendered me! What has my city done to you? Why have you turned away from it? O Enlil! What has my city done to you? Why have you turned away from it? The ship of first fruits no longer brings first fruits to the engendering father, no longer goes in to Enlil in Nippur with your bread and food-portions! O my father who engendered mel Fold again into your arms my city from its loneliness! O Enlil! Fold again my Ur into your arms from its loneliness! Fold again my (temple) Ekishnugal into your arms from its loneliness! Let renown emerge for you in Ur! Let the people expand for you: let the ways of Sumer, which have been destroyed, be restored for you
Enlil, in his answer, has no fault to find with Ur, but merely points to the fact that their has always been violent change and the Gods had not guaranteed that things would last: Enlil answered his son Suen (saying):
The heart of the wasted city is weeping, reeds (for flutes) of lament grow therein, its heart is weeping, reeds (for flutes) of lament grow therein, its people spend the day in weeping. O noble Nanna, be thou (concerned) about yourself, what truck have you with tears? There is no revoking a verdict, a decree of the assembly, a command of An and Enlil is not known ever to have been changed. Ur was verily granted kingship a lasting term it was not granted. From days of yore when the country was first settled, to where it has now proceeded, Who ever saw a term of royal office completed? Its kingship, its term of office, has been uprooted. It must worry. (You) my Nanna, do you not worry! Leave your city!“
In reality, then, justice - that is to say, human justice - quails before the absolute authority of the unanimous will of the gods; they are not to be challenged.”
— All of that one passage with translated quotes by Thorkild Jacobsen in Treasures of Darkness
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As stated above breaking the divine order is an offense. The Gods judged humans and determined destinies, it is fundamental.
“[Enlil] the mighty lord, the greatest in heaven and earth, the knowledgeable judge, the wise one of wide-ranging wisdom, has taken his seat in the Dur-an-ki, and made the Ki-ur, the great place, resplendent with majesty” — ETCSL 4.05.1 Enlil in the E-kur
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“Utu who decrees judgments for all countries, the lord, the son of Ningal, who renders decisions for all countries, the lord who is highly skilled at verdicts, the son of Enlil, highly knowledgeable and majestic Utu” — ETCSL 4.32.2 A Hymn to Utu
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(In Lines 83-81): “The king discriminates between the good and the evil deeds, Ḫendursaĝa discriminates between the good and the evil deeds”. (In Lines 181-192) “Lord Ḫendursaĝa, tears them apart. He can discriminate between the just and the wicked, and he can bring justice to the orphan as well as to the widow.” (In Lines 212-221) “and in anger, then the king who hates violence, Ḫendursaĝa, will treat such a person like water in a filthy place” — ETCSL 4.14.1 Hymn to Nanše
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“[Martu] with hands pure from purification rites, whose divine powers are resplendent divine powers, annihilates evil and violence, and sets justice in their place. His father who inspired him, his own father, the lord of the gods, the prince who decides destinies, handed the distant sky and the broad earth to this savage god who gives just verdicts, who is knowledgeable in decision-making, an adviser; and he let him have no rivals. — ETCSL 4.12.1 A Šir-Gida to Martu
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”[Nungal is speaking] Mercy and compassion are mine. I frighten no one. I keep an eye upon the black-headed people: they are under my surveillance. I hold the tablet of life in my hand and I register the just ones on it. The evildoers cannot escape my arm; I learn their deeds. All countries look to me as to their divine mother. I temper severe punishments; I am a compassionate mother. I cool down even the angriest heart, sprinkling it with cool water. I calm down the wounded heart; I snatch men from the jaws of destruction.“ ETCSL 4.28.1 A hymn to Nungal | When reading the text it seems to be that she cleanses the evil doers in her house, a jail in the netherworld. The house itself appears to be very harsh with Nungal "tempering” it.
The Gods determined destines both good and bad and with proper rituals an omen of bad things to come could be avoided.
The idea that the gods had the ability to change “destinies” is already attested in Sumerian literature, for example, in the “Death of Ur-Nammu,” in which An “changed his holy word” and Enlil “altered his decree of fate deceitfully(?).” In later Akkadian literature, a prayer to the sky god Anu calls that god “dispeller of evil, wicked and terrifying dreams, oil signs and portents.” Within such a cosmology, signs in nature, produced by gods, cannot be viewed as occurring out of deterministic necessity. But the most compelling evidence against determinism (or necessity) in Babylonian divination and cosmology was the viability of apotropaic ritual action for dispelling bad omens. This further dimension of Mesopotamian divination, the human response to an omen’s meaning, seems wholly consistent with a system conceived of as fundamentally one of communication between divine and human.
“Rituals termed NAM.BÚRBI (Akkadian namburbi), meaning its undoing, could be performed by priests, or even by gods, to ward off the evil portended by an omen. The gods Ea, Šamaš, and Marduk (Asalluhi) are said to "perform apotropaic rituals wherever there are portentous happenings and signs,” and the sun god is extolled as the one “who averts the (bad) signs and portents by means of namburbi rituals.” The reports from the scholars to Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal reveal the use of such rituals, as in the following selected lines: “Let them perform a namburbi ritual; the halo was not a closed one”; “This is a bad sign for al lands. Let the king my lord perform a namburbi ritual and so make its evil pass by.”; “Mars remained four fingers distant from Saturn, it did not come close. It did not reach it. I have copied (the omen from Enuma Anu Enlil). What is the harm in it? Let the pertinent namburbi ritual be performed.” The protection of the king was paramount, because the celestial omens (especially the lunar) most directly affected him as the representative of the state". — The Heavenly Writing by Francesca Rochberg page 200-201 (no link sorry)
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Much of Mesopotamian discussion about how the Gods treated humans who transgressed used the same terminology that they would use in a normal criminal or civil case among humans. The Gods did so on a cosmic scale. Humans “sinned” or “transgressed” when they went against divine order. This was an offense to the Gods. Law Codes were written in the name of the Gods showcase that they were set up in accordance with divine will or design as shown in prior quotes.
A broad distinction can be suggest between roles and incantations of deities with judicial associations, that is primarily Utu, and deities with aqueous associations, that is Enki, Nanše, and Ningirim. In the case of the former it is envisaged that suffering in the sense of divine punishment of transgression will be avoided by release through legal acquittal, in the case of the latter through the use of purification. However, as is shown in the hymn to Nanše this distinction is not absolute — Deliver Me from Evil Mesopotamian incantations 2500-1500 BC hy Graham Cunningham pp. 55 (no link sorry)
Humans are imperfect by nature, Mesopotamians (or at least Babylonians & Assyrians) believed all humans will transgress the order even if they do not mean to.
It is up to the individual to purify themselves, with the help of priests and doctors, from that— usually by asking personal Gods to do so. Already shown multiple laments above that showcase this. We don’t know how often they did this, or when and why, but we know it happened.
The various words in Sumerian and Akkadian which are translated as 'sin’ (offences against moral or divine law) are equally used to refer to 'crime’ (infringement of civil or criminal law) or to social ills, such as the prevalence of crime in a country. […] Nonetheless, a distinction was recognised between offences that had to be dealt with by the courts and offences of a more social nature. Such 'sins’ might be deliberate, but one whole magical rite is devoted to relieving the patient of the numerous sins which might be committed by negligence unwittingly. The patient might not even know which god or goddess he or she had offended. Such sin could be 'undone’, 'expelled’ or 'annulled by a god, and it is stressed that 'prayer can undo sin’. The use of the word 'patient’ in this context emphasises the Babylonian view of sin as comparable with disease. Sin could be transmitted by relatives or inherited from parents; it could be 'caught by, for example, sitting on the same chair as had been sat on by a tabooed person. Like disease, it too could be cured by magic rituals involving potions and herbal ointments accompanied by incantations. In this we can recognise as 'sin’ a conscious feeling of sin and guilt, a conscience, which can be salved by magical practices or by prayer. Looking at it another way, we can say that manifestations of psychological disturbance were interpreted as evidence of 'sin’ and may well have been cured by rituals in which the patient had faith. The Babylonians did not have a doctrine of original sin, but they believed that we are all very prone to sin.“ — Gods Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green page 164
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"38-40. Fear of god creates good fortune. Lamentation absolves sin. Offerings extend life” — ETCSL 6.1.26 Proverbs Collection 26
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“A child without sin was never born by his mother. The idea was never conceived that there was anyone who was not a sinner. Such a situation never existed. For him who walks, the day lasts. For him who dances, the sun shines. For the hero whose strength is enormous, moonlight is given.” ETCSL 6.2.3 Proverbs from Urim, UET 6/2 368
⚫️ Wrap Up & Modern ⚫️
To summarize: Mesopotamians believed the Gods determined destinies; they were not 100% good by our standards; they regularly judged humans that was a fundamental role they had; the gods could abandon humans and civilizations; and any transgression against the order was an offense against the Gods. Proper behavior, ritual, prayer, offerings, and lamentations could impact all of these things.
How everything I summarized effects the modern worship of Mesopotamian Gods is complicated we live in a modern world and all modern traditions have to be adapted from their ancient counterparts not followed to the letter.
In my belief, the Gods (or Diĝirene in this conversation) know what you can and cannot do, and they will take all of it into account in their actions towards you. If all I can do sip water for them, or just say their name, then they know that. However, denying their agency to act negatively towards me, if they see fit, is to insult who the Diĝirene are. If I cannot accept that I would not worship Diĝirene out of respect for their tradition’s reverence towards them and why they had that reverence.
They have the ability to bless me, protect me, show me favor. They also have the ability to curse me, punish me, or abandon me if they so choose; I simply believe they don’t. If for some reason I think they have, I will simply pray and light a candle or incense or give a water libation because—to sum the ancient’s ideas up—"fear of god(s) creates good fortune, lamentation absolves sin, offerings extend life". I have every reason to fear my Gods and every reason to love my Gods.
