Editing Sumer (section)

====Deities====
[[File:Ea (Babilonian) - EnKi (Sumerian).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Akkadian cylinder seal from sometime around 2300 BC or thereabouts depicting the deities [[Inanna]], [[Utu]], [[Enki]], and [[Isimud]]]]
Sumerians believed in an anthropomorphic polytheism, or the belief in many gods in human form. There was no common set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. Nonetheless, these were not exclusive; the gods of one city were often acknowledged elsewhere. Sumerian speakers were among the earliest people to record their beliefs in writing, and were a major inspiration in later [[Mesopotamian mythology]], [[religion]], and [[astrology]].

The Sumerians worshiped:
* [[Anu|An]] as the full-time god equivalent to heaven; indeed, the word ''an'' in Sumerian means sky and his consort [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]], means earth.
* [[Enki]] in the south at the temple in Eridu. Enki was the god of beneficence and of wisdom, ruler of the freshwater depths beneath the earth, a healer and friend to humanity who in Sumerian myth was thought to have given humans the arts and sciences, the industries and manners of civilization; the first law book was considered his creation.
* [[Enlil]] was the god of storm, wind, and rain.<ref name="ColemanDavidson2015">{{citation |last1=Coleman |first1=J. A. |title=The Dictionary of Mythology: An A–Z of Themes, Legends, and Heroes |date=2015 |location=London, England |publisher=Arcturus Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-78404-478-7 |last2=Davidson |first2=George}}.</ref>{{rp|108}} He was the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon<ref name=ColemanDavidson2015 />{{rp|108}}<ref>{{citation |last=Kramer |first=Samuel Noah |title=The Sumerian Deluge Myth: Reviewed and Revised |date=1983 |journal=Anatolian Studies |volume=33 |pages=115–121 |doi=10.2307/3642699 |jstor=3642699 |s2cid=163489322}}.</ref>{{rp|115–121}} and the patron god of Nippur.<ref>{{citation|last=Hallo|first=William W.|article=Review: Enki and the Theology of Eridu|title=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=116|issue=2|date=1996}}</ref>{{rp|231–234}} His consort was [[Ninlil]], the goddess of the south wind.<ref>{{citation|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy A.|last2=Cunningham|first2=Graham|last3=Robson|first3=Eleanor|title=The Literature of Ancient Sumer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1W2mTtGVV4C&pg=PA106|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929633-0}}</ref>{{rp|106}}
* [[Inanna]] was the goddess of love, sexuality, and war;<ref name="Black">Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992), ''[[iarchive:gods-demons-and-symbols-of-ancient-mesopotamia-an-illustrated-dictionary 202012|Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary]]'', University of Texas Press, {{ISBN|0-292-70794-0}}.</ref>{{rp|109}} the deification of Venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star, at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk. Deified kings may have re-enacted the marriage of Inanna and [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]] with priestesses.<ref name=Black/>{{rp|151, 157–158}}
* The sun-god [[Utu]] at [[Larsa]] in the south and [[Sippar]] in the north,
* The moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] at Ur.

[[File:Genealogy of Sumero-Akkadian Gods.jpg|thumb|upright=2.05|Sumero-early Akkadian [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]]]]

These [[deity|deities]] formed the main pantheon, and in addition to this there were hundreds of other minor gods. Sumerian gods were often associated with different cities, and their religious importance often waxed and waned with those cities' political power. The gods were said to have created human beings from clay for the purpose of serving them. The temples organized the mass labour projects needed for irrigation agriculture. Citizens had a labor duty to the temple, though they could avoid it by a payment of silver.