Sumerian Mythology: Did you mean...?

The Hymn to Ninkasi is at once a song of praise to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer, and an ancient recipe for brewing (though this claim has been challenged). Written down circa 1800 BCE, the hymn is no doubt much older, as evidenced...

Assur (also Ashur, Anshar) is the god of the Assyrians who was elevated from a local deity of the city of Ashur to the supreme god of the Assyrian pantheon. His attributes were drawn from earlier Sumerian and Babylonian deities and so he...

Uruk was one of the most important cities (at one time, the most important) in ancient Mesopotamia. According to the Sumerian King List, it was founded by King Enmerkar circa 5000/4500 BCE. Uruk is best known as the birthplace of writing...

Ur-Nammu (circa 2112-2094 BCE) was the founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur in Sumer, who initiated the so-called Ur III period (circa 2112 to circa 2004 BCE), also known as the Sumerian Renaissance. He is best known as the king who composed...

A ziggurat is a form of monumental architecture originating in ancient Mesopotamia, which usually had a rectangular base and was built in a series of steps up to a flat platform upon which a temple was raised. The ziggurat was an artificial...

The Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia is the modern-day archaeological term for the era in Mesopotamian history — 2900-2334 BCE — during which some of the most significant cultural advances were made including the rise of the cities, the...

Beer is one of the oldest intoxicating beverages consumed by human beings. Even a cursory survey of history makes clear that, after human beings have taken care of the essential needs of food, shelter, and rudimentary laws for the community...

The Nine Muses of Greek mythology were divine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory), revered as patrons of poetry, song, history, and the arts. Early Greek tradition sometimes spoke of an earlier triad—Mneme (Memory), Melete (Practice...

Local trade in ancient Mesopotamia began in the Ubaid period (circa 6500-4000 BCE), had developed into long-distance trade by the Uruk period (circa 4000-3100 BCE), and was flourishing by the time of the Early Dynastic period in Mesopotamia...

Utu (also known as Shamash, Samas, and Babbar) is the Sumerian god of the sun and divine justice. He is the son of the moon god Nanna and the fertility goddess Ningal in the Sumerian tradition but was known as Shamash (Samas) to the Akkadians...