The Anunnaki are a group of deities worshipped by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians in ancient Mesopotamia.
History
They are descendants of Anu (the god of the heavens) and Ki (the goddess of earth), and their primary function was to decree the fates of humanity. The name Anunnaki means "offspring of Anu".
Because the pantheon of Mesopotamian gods and goddesses was organized from different peoples and different times, they may be known by different names and have a variety of attributes that may be shared by more than one deity.
Enlil, the oldest of the Anunnaki, is the god of air and chief god of the Mesopotamian pantheon, a role he inherited from his father, Anu, the sky father and king of the gods. Ninurta, son of Enlil, is the god of hunting and war, and is the brother of another war god, Nergal, who also presides over death, and reigns in the Mesopotamian underworld called Irkalla/Kurnugi/Kur alongside his sister/wife Ereshkigal.
Enlil's brother Enki, god of water and fertility and son of Anu and the sea goddess Namma, is the father of Tammuz, god of agriculture and fertility and consort of Ishtar/Inanna, goddess of love and war whose father may be either Anu or Enlil. Another son of Enki, Marduk, the slayer of Tiamat, the primordial goddess of the sea, was the patron god of Babylon and presides over justice and magic. The sun god is called Utu among the Sumerians and Shamash among the Akkadians, and is considered a twin brother of Ishtar/Inanna.
The home reserved for the Mesopotamian gods in the sky is called the Hightower.
The gods have always interfered in human affairs, sometimes as their helpers and sometimes as their opponents, as in the story of the demigod hero Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who traveled to the Underworld and faced countless dangers to try to bring his beloved friend Enkidu back to life; and also that of King Utnapishtim, who was tasked by the god Enki with building an ark to save living beings from the Great Flood sent by Marduk.[1]
Mesopotamian mythology is thought to have been an influence on subsequent mythologies, including Canaanite and ancient Greek.
New Earth
The Mesopotamian gods are said to be descendants of ancient Oans called Controllers who were opponents of the Guardians and spread throughout the universe, seeding countless worlds. One group arrived here on Earth millennia ago, landing in Mesopotamia, where they were worshipped as gods.
Some of these so-called gods, Tiamat and her children Nergal and Ereshkigal, made the mistake of killing their cousin Istar's husband, causing her to rebel against them, and with the help of the human hero Ninurta, empowered with a primitive version of the Guardians' rings just as she had her own ringstaff, she defeated them and imprisoned them, along with their horde of monsters and demons created by Tiamat, such as Humbaba and Pazuzu, in the underworld known as Kurnugi.[2][3]
Prime Earth
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Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Godly Physiology
- Immortality
- Power Distribution
- Additionally, the Gods have some power related to his/her individual sphere of influence.
Weaknesses
- Power Loss: Similar to other pantheons, the Mesopotamian gods draw greater power from the act of worship. When the number of worshippers diminishes, the gods within the Mesopotamian pantheon, along with their power, gradually decline as well.
Miscellaneous
Representatives:
- Anu
- Enki
- Enkimdu
- Enlil
- Ereshkigal
- Ishtar/Inanna
- Ki[4]
- Kingu
- Lugal-Irra
- Mammitu
- Marduk
- Meslamta-Ea
- Namma
- Nergal
- Nuska[4]
- Shamash/Utu[4][5]
- Tammuz
- Tiamat
Associates
- Assag
- Bull of Heaven[1]
- Humbaba
- Kulullu
- Neti
- Samana
- Scorpion People[1][6]
- Siduri[1][7]
Champions
Notes
- These characters or objects are an adaptation of the Anunnaki, characters or objects in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
See Also