Editing Enlil (section)

==Mythology==
===Origins myths===
The main source of information about Sumerian creation mythology is the prologue to the epic poem ''[[Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld]]'' ([[Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature|ETCSL]] [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1814.htm 1.8.1.4]),{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=30–33}} which briefly describes the process of creation: originally, there was only [[Nammu]], the primeval sea.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pp=37–40}} Then, Nammu gave birth to [[Anu|An]], the sky, and [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]], the earth.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=37–40}} An and Ki mated with each other, causing Ki to give birth to Enlil.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=37–40}} Enlil separated An from Ki and carried off the earth as his domain, while An carried off the sky.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=37–41}} Enlil marries his mother, Ki, and from this union all the plant and animal life on earth is produced.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kramer|first=Samuel Noah|url=|title=Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.|date=2020-03-05|publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing|isbn=978-1-83974-294-1|language=en}}</ref>

''[[Enlil and Ninlil]]'' (ETCSL [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr121.htm 1.2.1]) is a nearly complete 152-line Sumerian poem describing the affair between Enlil and the goddess [[Ninlil]].{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=43}}{{snf|Jacobsen|1946|pages=128–152}} First, Ninlil's mother [[Nunbarsegunu|Nunbarshegunu]] instructs Ninlil to go bathe in the river.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=44}} Ninlil goes to the river, where Enlil seduces her and impregnates her with their son, the moon-god [[Sin (god)|Nanna]].{{snf|Jacobsen|1946|pages=128–152}} Because of this, Enlil is banished to [[Kur]], the Sumerian underworld.{{snf|Jacobsen|1946|pages=128–152}} Ninlil follows Enlil to the underworld, where he impersonates the "man of the gate".{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=44–45}} Ninlil demands to know where Enlil has gone, but Enlil, still impersonating the gatekeeper, refuses to answer.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=44–45}} He then seduces Ninlil and impregnates her with [[Nergal]], the god of death.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=45}} The same scenario repeats, only this time Enlil instead impersonates the "man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river"; once again, he seduces Ninlil and impregnates her with the god [[Ninazu]].{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=46}} Finally, Enlil impersonates the "[[Urshanabi|man of the boat]]"; once again, he seduces Ninlil and impregnates her with [[Enbilulu]], the "inspector of the canals".{{snf|Black|Cunningham|Robson|2006|page=106}}

The story of Enlil's courtship with Ninlil is primarily a genealogical myth invented to explain the origins of the moon-god Nanna, as well as the various gods of the Underworld,{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=43}} but it is also, to some extent, a [[coming-of-age story]] describing Enlil and Ninlil's emergence from adolescence into adulthood.{{sfn|Leick|2013|page=66}} The story also explains Ninlil's role as Enlil's consort; in the poem, Ninlil declares, "As Enlil is your master, so am I also your mistress!"{{sfn|Leick|2013|page=67}} The story is also historically significant because, if the current interpretation of it is correct, it is the oldest known myth in which a god changes shape.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=43}}

===Flood myth===
In the Sumerian version of the [[flood story]] (ETCSL [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.7.4# 1.7.4]), the causes of the flood are unclear because the portion of the tablet recording the beginning of the story has been destroyed.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=97}} Somehow, a mortal known as [[Ziusudra]] manages to survive the flood, likely through the help of the god [[Enki]].{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=97–98}} The tablet begins in the middle of the description of the flood.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=97–98}} The flood lasts for seven days and seven nights before it subsides.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=98}} Then, [[Utu]], the god of the Sun, emerges.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=98}} Ziusudra opens a window in the side of the boat and falls down prostrate before the god.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=98}} Next, he sacrifices an ox and a sheep in honor of Utu.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=98}} At this point, the text breaks off again.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=98}} When it picks back up, Enlil and An are in the midst of declaring Ziusudra immortal as an honor for having managed to survive the flood. The remaining portion of the tablet after this point is destroyed.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=98}}

In the later Akkadian version of the flood story, recorded in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', Enlil actually causes the flood,{{snf|Dalley|1989|page=109}} seeking to annihilate every living thing on earth because the humans, who are vastly overpopulated, make too much noise and prevent him from sleeping.{{snf|Dalley|1989|pages=109–111}} In this version of the story, the hero is [[Utnapishtim]],{{snf|Dalley|1989|pages=109–110}} who is warned ahead of time by [[Enki|Ea]], the Babylonian equivalent of Enki, that the flood is coming.{{snf|Dalley|1989|pages=110–111}} The flood lasts for seven days; when it ends, [[Ishtar]], who had mourned the destruction of humanity,{{snf|Dalley|1989|page=113}} promises Utnapishtim that Enlil will never cause a flood again.{{snf|Dalley|1989|pages=114–115}} When Enlil sees that Utnapishtim and his family have survived, he is outraged,{{snf|Dalley|1989|page=115}} but his son [[Ninurta]] speaks up in favor of humanity, arguing that, instead of causing floods, Enlil should simply ensure that humans never become overpopulated by reducing their numbers using wild animals and famines.{{snf|Dalley|1989|pages=115–116}} Enlil goes into the boat; Utnapishtim and his wife bow before him.{{snf|Dalley|1989|pages=115–116}} Enlil, now appeased, grants Utnapishtim immortality as a reward for his loyalty to the gods.{{snf|Dalley|1989|page=116}}

===Chief god and arbitrator===
{{rquote|right|Plucks at the roots, tears at the crown, the pickax ''spares'' the... plants; the pickax, its fate is decreed by father Enlil, the pickax is exalted.|''Enlil's Invention of the Pickax'', translated by Samuel Noah Kramer{{sfn|Kramer|1961|page=53}}}}
A nearly complete 108-line poem from the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic Period]] ({{circa}} 2900–2350 BC) describes Enlil's invention of the [[mattock]],{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=51–53}}{{sfn|Green|2003|page=37}} a key agricultural pick, hoe, ax, or digging tool of the Sumerians.{{snf|Hooke|2004|page=}}{{sfn|Green|2003|page=37}} In the poem, Enlil conjures the mattock into existence and decrees its fate.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=52}} The mattock is described as gloriously beautiful; it is made of pure gold and its head is carved from [[lapis lazuli]].{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=52}} Enlil gives the tool over to the humans, who use it to build cities,{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=53}} subjugate their people,{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=53}} and pull up weeds.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=53}} Enlil was believed to aid in the growth of plants.{{snf|Hooke|2004|page=}}

The Sumerian poem ''[[Debate between Winter and Summer|Enlil Chooses the Farmer–God]]'' (ETCSL [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr533.htm 5.3.3]) describes how Enlil, hoping "to establish abundance and prosperity", creates two gods [[Emesh]] and [[Enten]], a shepherd and a farmer, respectively.{{snf|Kramer|1961|pages=49–50}} The two gods argue and Emesh lays claim to Enten's position.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=50}} They take the dispute before Enlil, who rules in favor of Enten;{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=51}} the two gods rejoice and reconcile.{{snf|Kramer|1961|page=51}}

===Ninurta myths===
[[File:Chaos Monster and Sun God.png|thumb|[[Ninurta]] with his thunderbolts pursues [[Anzû]], who has stolen the [[Tablet of Destinies (mythic item)|Tablet of Destinies]] from Enlil's sanctuary ([[Austen Henry Layard]] ''Monuments of Nineveh'', 2nd Series, 1853)]]

In the Sumerian poem ''Lugale'' (ETCSL [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.6.2# 1.6.2]), Enlil gives advice to his son, the god [[Ninurta]], advising him on a strategy to slay the [[utukku|demon]] [[Asag]].{{snf|Penglase|1994|page=68}} This advice is relayed to Ninurta by way of [[Sharur (mythological weapon)|Sharur]], his enchanted talking mace, which had been sent by Ninurta to the [[Dilmun|realm of the gods]] to seek counsel from Enlil directly.{{snf|Penglase|1994|page=68}}

In the Old, Middle, and Late Babylonian myth of ''Anzû and the Tablet of Destinies'', the [[Anzû]], a giant, monstrous bird,{{snf|Leick|1991|page=9}} betrays Enlil and steals the [[Tablet of Destinies (mythic item)|Tablet of Destinies]],{{snf|Leick|1991|pages=9–10}} a sacred clay tablet belonging to Enlil that grants him his authority,{{snf|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} while Enlil is preparing for a bath.{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}} The rivers dry up and the gods are stripped of their powers.{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}} The gods send [[Adad]], [[Girra]], and [[Shara (god)|Shara]] to defeat the Anzû,{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}} but all of them fail.{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}} Finally, Ea proposes that the gods should send Ninurta, Enlil's son.{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}} Ninurta successfully defeats the Anzû and returns the Tablet of Destinies to his father.{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}} As a reward, Ninurta is granted a prominent seat on the council of the gods.{{snf|Leick|1991|page=10}}

===War of the gods===
A badly damaged text from the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian Period]] (911–612 BC) describes Marduk leading his army of [[Anunnaki]] into the sacred city of [[Nippur]] and causing a disturbance.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=145}} The disturbance causes a flood,{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=145}} which forces the resident gods of Nippur under the leadership of Enlil to take shelter in the Eshumesha temple to [[Ninurta]].{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=145}} Enlil is enraged at Marduk's transgression and orders the gods of Eshumesha to take Marduk and the other Anunnaki as prisoners.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=145}} The Anunnaki are captured,{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=145}} but Marduk appoints his front-runner Mushteshirhablim to lead a revolt against the gods of Eshumesha{{sfn|Oshima|2010|pages=145–146}} and sends his messenger Neretagmil to alert [[Nabu]], the god of literacy.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|pages=145–146}} When the Eshumesha gods hear Nabu speak, they come out of their temple to search for him.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=146}} Marduk defeats the Eshumesha gods and takes 360 of them as prisoners of war, including Enlil himself.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=146}} Enlil protests that the Eshumesha gods are innocent,{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=146}} so Marduk puts them on trial before the Anunnaki.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=146}} The text ends with a warning from Damkianna (another name for Ninhursag) to the gods and to humanity, pleading them not to repeat the war between the Anunnaki and the gods of Eshumesha.{{sfn|Oshima|2010|page=146}}