GODDESSES

Damkina: The Earth Mother Goddess.

Dazimus: Goddess of Healing.

Duttur: Mother of Dumuzi, and Goddess of Ewes.

Gestinanna: Sister of Dumuzi. The dying Dumuzi, tortured by nightmares, brought the dreams to his sister for interpretation. Gestinanna realized her brother was under attack by demons. She tells him this and advises him to flee. Dumuzi flees, swearing Gestinanna to secrecy as to where he is going into hiding. The demons attacked Gestinanna to force her to reveal her brother's whereabouts, but she remained silent. The demons, however, soon found Dumuzi, hiding in the form of a Gazelle in his sister's sheepfold. He was carried off to the underworld by them. Gestinanna then set out to rescue him. They were eventually reunited after many adventures. The Goddess then persuaded the Underworld Divinities to grant Dumuzi half her own life; thus each was allowed to live on Earth six months of each year.

Inanna: The Goddess of Love, Procreation, and War. She is the Queen of Heaven. She later became known as Ishtar.

Ki (Kiki): The Goddess of Earth.

Nammu: Early Goddess of the Formless Waters of Creation.

Nidaba: Goddess of Writing.

Ninhursag or Nintu: Sumerian Goddess of the Earth and Creator of Humans. Her husband is Enki.

Ninsar: Goddess of Plants.

Sadarnuna: Goddess of the New Moon.

GODS

Dilmun: God of Fresh Water.

Dumuzi: Shepherd God. Dumuzi was originally a mortal ruler whose marriage to Inanna ensured the fertility of the land and the fecundity of the womb. This marriage, however, ended in stark tragedy when the Goddess, offended by her husband's unfeeling behavior toward her, decreed that he be carried off to the netherworld for six months of each year. This is the barren, sterile months of the hot summer. At the Autumnal Equinox, which marks the beginning of the Sumerian New Year, Dumuzi returns to the Earth. His reunion with his wife causes all animal and plant life to be revitalized and made fertile once again. This is according to a myth whose denouement has only recently come to light.

Endukugga: God of the Underworld.

Enki: A Creator God in Mesopotamia, later called Ea. The Sumerian God of Water.

Enlil: The God of Air and Weather.

Kabta: God of Bricks.

Nanna: The God of the Moon, and the Father of Utu and Inanna.

Ninlil: God of Air and Grain.

Ninurta: The Deity in charge of the violent and destructive south wind.

Tammuz: The Harvest God and husband of Ishtar, whose violent love sessions sent him comatose to the underworld, where she would go yearly to revive him; thus accounting for the seasons.

Utu: The Sun God.

Ziusudra: The survivor in the Sumerian flood myth, which was probably the source of the later Babylonian flood myth (he becomes Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh), which was probably the source of the biblical flood myth (where he is now Noah).