Sumerian Religion: Did you mean...?

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...

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...

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...

This hymn to the goddess Ishtar is written in Sumerian; after every line in Sumerian, the text is translated in Akkadian. Such translations have been invaluable to modern scholars. They reflect how the Sumerian language had become difficult...

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...

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 (also Khafaje...

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, left. From...

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. Front view. From the...