Sumerian Religion: Did you mean...?

This map illustrates the rise of the Sumerian civilization in southern Mesopotamia, beginning around 6000 BCE. Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the region—later home to Akkad and Babylonia—saw the emergence of some of the...

Maya religion and culture is among the most advanced and sophisticated of the Pre-Colombian Americas as evidenced by the ruins of their great cities and what remains of their writings after most were burned by the Spanish in 1562. The Maya...

Government and religion in ancient Egypt were fully integrated beginning with the First Dynasty of Egypt (c. 3150 to c. 2890 BCE). The king was understood as a representative of a god, the specific deity sometimes changing with different...

The Ludlul-Bel-Nemeqi (c. 1700 BCE) is a Sumerian and later Babylonian poem on the theme of unjust suffering, which is thought to have influenced the biblical Book of Job. Also known as The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer, the title translates...

Carved stone cuneiform tablets in Sumerian. Left: Temple of Ningirsu, Girsu. Right: Temple of Nindara, Ur. Dating around 2141-2122 BCE.

It was a Sumerian tradition to deposit or bury objects bearing inscriptions within temples and important public buildings. These recorded the names of the persons who were responsible for the building and also ensured divine protection. The...

This fragment of a stone inlay was found in Kish. It depicts an incised design of a man wearing the typical Sumerian long robe, carrying a pole on his shoulder. This is probably from a battle scene. The overall depiction of this man is very...

Detail of a limestone statue of a Sumerian female in a gesture of prayer. The eye sockets were filled in with white shell set in bitumen. She wears a Sumerian garment with a bare right shoulder. Front view. From the Temple of Sin, Khafajah...

Limestone statue of a Sumerian male in a gesture of prayer. He wears the classical Sumerian flounced garment. The head/neck, right upper limb, and both feet are lost. Side view, right. From the Small Shrine at Khafajah (also Khafaje; ancient...

Limestone statue of a Sumerian female in a gesture of prayer. The head is lost. She wears the classical Sumerian flounced garment with a bare right shoulder. The feet stand on a semi-rectangular base with a back-pillar. Side view, right...