Editing Enlil (section)

===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}}