Lebedians

Swan - Civilization of Love. The planet of talking flowers and babbling paradise. Its beautiful inhabitants live as long as they want, without illness or old age. They voluntarily reincarnate in the body of a newly born Lebedian, and their previous bodily shell immediately burns away without a trace. This is how many couples are preserved from incarnation to incarnation. The Lebedians have long gone through all evolutionary circles and moved into the phase of ethereal Radiant Beings.

Humanoids Ursa Major

They live on the large planets Vam and Fin, revolving around the white and yellow star. These stars are called Alioth and Dubhe. The most highly spiritual representatives of the Big Dipper live on the planet Vam. They have already gone through the cycle of reincarnation and become Holograms of the Spirit, while possessing a bright personality and a powerful mind. Previously, on Earth, they supervised science and helped Atlantean scientists.

Maldek/Phaethon Civilization

Phaeton was once the most prosperous planet in the Solar System. But the peoples who lived on it were the Vegans and some other Civilizations of the Star Systems of the same Lyra. They constantly fought among themselves and could not fairly divide the planet. Territorial disputes were conducted using thermonuclear arguments. During one of these wars, another planet, a giant, came very close to Phaeton. This was Nibiru, whose period of revolution around the Sun is 3600 years. Under the influence of Nibiru's gravity, thermonuclear explosions caused chain reaction in the depths of Phaeton. The giant planet exploded loudly, leaving behind a belt of debris and asteroids.

Moon Civilization

The planet Moon is very densely populated by fantastic peoples on the physical, etheric, astral and mental levels. Moon people have cute white bodies with a height of 2m - 2.50m. Their skin shines, as if covered with fish scales. The facial features are similar to human ones, only the eyes are large and slanted. We do not see them with earthly vision due to the fact that the wavelength of the bodies of the lunar inhabitants is slightly shorter than ours. The cities of the moon people are located on the inner surface of the planet. They are divided into men and women and maintain close contacts with the population of Ketu, the center of the Earth and other planets.

Some land people at the right time full moon become sleepwalkers. This is explained by the fact that during sleep a person’s Astral Body leaves his Physical Body. The Astral Shell of a lunar man enters the empty body in order to wander a little around the Earth and gain a little experience of earthly life. By mutual agreement of the Soul, an earthling can also enter the body of a lunar man and wander around the city parks and neon streets of the Moon.

The Moon is also home to short people who look like frogs and walk on their hind legs. They have four webbed fingers and toes, blue shiny skin and bulging eyes. There are also elementals here that have the forms of beast lizards and birds. The people of the surface of the Earth also have their cities on the Moon. They are located in the vibration zone corresponding to the lower layers of the astral plane. The earthlings here are enslaved, their astral bodies work for no reason for the lunar race. Often, in order to enslave a good scientist or a talented inventor, UFOs of Ketuans or gray or lunar people shoot down earthlings' planes with invisible heat rays. And then, the insidious ones, capture the astral form of the talented specialist they need and take the kicking genius to their planet. During the full moon, when the Moon is at perigee, the astral auras of the two planets lovingly penetrate each other. At this time, all of the above peoples can visit each other without the use of technical means, only with the help of willpower. Silvery forms of flying saucers with food for thought often become visible to earthlings during strong magnetic storms or strong fasting.

Ketuanians

Chupacabra

According to some researchers, they began to visit Earth quite recently. However, their striking resemblance to chimeras, gargoyles and sirens in Gothic architecture suggests that they have been on Earth for a very long time. They are cautious and timid, but cruel, like wild predators. There is a theory that they are the result of some kind of genetic experiment gone wrong. alien civilization. Another theory, by the way, claims that Chupacabras are an earthly experiment. For the first time in modern history they are noted in Puerto Rico (located in the Caribbean Sea a little east of Cuba and Jamaica), in the area where a top-secret Pentagon military facility is located. The facility is rumored to specialize in conducting experiments in the field of biology. Probably, Chupacabras cannot be fully considered aliens (reasonable, meaningful actions, contacts with humans, movements on man-made devices). These are simply animal-like humanoids that appear from nowhere and disappear from nowhere.

The creature attacks wild and domestic animals and birds. Chupacabras mainly appear in Latin American countries. They hunt at night and attack defenseless animals, suck the blood and disappear. People have discovered completely bloodless corpses in the forest or paddock. A small round wound with perfectly smooth and round edges (mainly in the neck area) was found on the animals’ bodies, through which all the blood was presumably sucked out; There were no drops of blood at the scene. Sometimes the animals remained alive, but turned out to be severely maimed. There was a case when an entire herd of 70 heads of cattle was killed. Animals are often found missing some organs: entrails, brain, eyes, gonads, tail or paws. Many species of animals, from birds to cattle, have been victims of this creature. Their height: 1.20m - 1.80m. Weight 50 - 60 kg. The eyes are red, oval, with pointed edges. There is no hair. The skin is dark brown. There are two thin, sharp fangs; some eyewitnesses report that there is a pair of wings or sometimes a fish tail; on the back there is a comb that glows in the dark; webbed feet with three toes.

Men in Black

People in Black have received a lot of mentions in the press, since their visits are recorded by the “waking” consciousness of a person. These beings are allowed to make these visits because they are in the same density as humans and are not quarantined. They are not aliens at all, but live underground, in tunnels and caves. Their villages exist in isolation, since they very rarely travel from one village to another, without thus risking showing themselves to people again. They fear the Awakening because then people will become aware of their presence. And although the final result of the Transformation - the World of Those in Service to Others - does not scare them, they are afraid of this transition itself. When this Transformation occurs, this race will continue to remain in 3rd Density, underground. Then they will be in quarantine, and will not mix with those inhabitants who will eventually inhabit the world on the surface. Although they have stable food sources and reliable shelters that will fundamentally survive disasters, they still fear being flooded after disasters. These fears are unfounded, but they nevertheless made attempts to slow down the Awakening, in their own manner. The people in Black have built underground cities, multi-level structures, and transportation systems powered by electricity. But all this is done in natural caves and is not connected to one another unless there are natural passages. They do not generate their electricity in any of the ways familiar to people - with the help of streams of water, windmills, steam turbines rotated by steam from controlled nuclear reactions or burning natural fuel. The electrical energy that the Men in Black use is generated chemically - a method that they learned on their home Planet before they were transplanted to Earth. Their home planet did not have such an abundance of fossil fuels as the Earth provides, and there were no such changes there natural relief, which would allow the construction of hydroelectric power stations, there was not enough water there. So they worked with what they had. Their source of electricity is not abundant and is unlikely to be sufficient to power the average US housewife, whose home is filled with electrical appliances. The Men in Black, being unable to live on the surface, acclimatized underground when they first appeared on Earth in a technologically advanced state. Long before humans acquired the skills of caving, the Men in Black erected their defensive structures. Take a look at the key ways cavers know new passages exist - air currents, air quality, and sounds such as flowing water. When there is deathly silence all around and no breeze, it is assumed that there are only solid rocks here. The people in Black have developed and created means to test the degree of insulation of their caves and corridors. Before they build anything there, they do a control test where, essentially, air is sucked up into a vent on the roof. If there are air leaks into connecting channels leading to other underground corridors, then air flows inward, and this is detected. People in Black have not been discovered until now only because of the vulnerability and timidity of this race, which has neither bombs, nor tanks, nor bazookas. In fact, they don't even have dungeons or prisons. It is not necessary. They are not violent like humans by nature, but they are foolishly afraid of being discovered by humans. Being no less intelligent than humans, they spent a lot of time inventing ways to avoid detection. Like a rat in a hole with no back door. The issue to focus on is not whether they threaten humanity, but what they do. When you talk to your dog that you want to impress, what do you do? You act like a "top dog"! Dogs react to a strong person, someone they cannot subjugate, by affiliation and avoidance. And dogs react to the weak, whom they can subjugate, either by grabbing the throat of a resisting opponent, or by growling threateningly at someone who is already afraid. The People in Black studied their fellow inhabitants, and correctly understood what impressed them. Power without the ability to execute and destroy is ignored. Therefore, it is necessary to threaten. The "Men in Black" phenomenon, as well as some manifestations of the Illuminati structure, play out the characteristic need for control of Orion. The People in Black have several origins. Some of them are human incarnations from Orion and/or negatively oriented energies of Sirius. Others are truly Orions from the past who have moved “forward” in time to the present Earth. They perceive the Earth as a "threat". From their point of view, as humanity awakens and liberates itself, it "magnetizes" the oppressed beings of Orion to seek freedom here. They want to keep these windows of opportunity closed to Orion's victims, keep the Earth weakened, and remain able total control. The Men in Black are just one manifestation of this idea, although they this moment and do not have the strength to implement it. Generally speaking, it plays out on Earth in a much more subtle form. Those individuals who carry patterns of oppression from Orion act at the behest of the memory of their Soul, and are not necessarily aware of their desire for absolute control. When examining contacts with the Men in Black in the 20th century, one comes across an irony in the behavior of these creatures: they operate on a very autonomous level and never seem to lay claim to the power that they so purposefully try to wrest from people. It can be assumed that the Men in Black are just pawns in some even more sophisticated struggle.

Lumanians

Another highly developed civilization that exists on Earth in parallel with us. Their technological enterprises and civilization itself were located mainly underground. Similar tunnels and entire underground cities are located in South America, the Middle East, and China. Many of the caves, which are often considered the refuge of primitive people, were tunnels leading to the cities of the Lumanian civilization. They created protective energy fields around their cities and other habitats.

Lumania was a very high-tech civilization. The Lumanians used ultrasound to conduct military operations or create underground tunnels. They used sound everywhere: for healing, for moving mountain ranges, for creating artificial seas, in the construction of underground and above-ground cities, in creating new materials unknown to us, and so on. Sound, filled with mental images, was the conductor of matter from higher dimensions into the physical world.

The Lumanians also occupied lands in areas of Australia and Antarctica. This civilization did not seek to expand its inviolable borders and directed its efforts towards Spiritual Development. A long time ago, the Lumanians not only did not try to civilize the natives, but, on the contrary, did everything possible to stop the technical development of earthlings. Initially, they surrounded their above-ground cities and entrances to underground tunnels with impassable force fields, gamma radiation or infrasound waves that are lethal to low frequencies in humans.

One of the main goals of the Lumanian civilization was the task of forming a “new man” who would not accept any violence. The desire to “live in peace” among the people from the dungeons was brought to the level of instinct. The Lumanians made irreversible changes in the etheric double of man and in his genes. And when the mind signaled to the body about an aggressive mood of emotions, the physical flesh simply refused to carry out the orders of the logical mind and brain. In some peoples of southern Asia, rudiments of this mechanism remain. There are people on Earth now who, during an outburst of their aggressiveness, lose consciousness or cause harm own body to stop your aggression.

After the creation of the “new man,” the Lumanians began to come to the natives who lived on neighboring islands and continents. They built with them beautiful families and produced thin offspring, hoping in this way to pacify the aggressiveness of earthlings. The Lumanians taught people to put up with violence not only through sermons, but also at the genetic level. They physically eliminated the desire for aggression in their descendants, produced together with earthlings. However, this noble path led the underground civilizers to a dead end. Energy cannot be forcibly prevented from flowing freely - through the physical, etheric and astral body. Energy will always find a way out in the most unexpected place. The altered physiology of people has led to disruption of creative functions. After all, any aggression is also one of the types of creative energy, the desire to perform actions, the desire of the Soul to make mistakes and become wiser through future suffering. If a person’s crimson aggression is redirected spiritually into the mental channel, then non-standard ideas, great discoveries, grandiose deeds and cosmic pictures will appear.

The limitations built into the physiology of the body have led to the formation of unnatural rules of behavior in people. A body was born that was overly conscious, unemotional, with a muted survival instinct.

Mentally, the Lumanians developed rapidly. In order not to destroy living plants, they developed and introduced artificial food. To maintain a clean environment, underground emitters of ultra-fine vibrations were used.

Physically, the Lumanians were weak, frail and short creatures compared to the native population. The height of a person at that time reached 7m - 9m, and the Lumanians were half that size. Mentally they were divided into geniuses and mediocrities. Unfortunately, there was no middle ground. Half of the population of Lumanians worked brilliantly in the field of creativity, and the other half brilliantly enjoyed earthly existence in paradise gardens and underground resorts. At that time, all Lumanians had innate psychic abilities, they read knowledge from the “Akashic Chronicles” - energy vibrations of the subtle planes of existence. Over time, more and more civilizers realized that their experiment had failed. Many of them, after physical death, reunited with the Pleiadians and were born on their young Planets.

Hybrids

Earth is a very old planet. Many different species of humanity inhabited the Earth before us. Even before the advent of the Lemurians, there lived people who breathed carbon dioxide and exhaled oxygen. Over time, almost all carbon dioxide was absorbed by living beings. It turned into hydrocarbons and lay underground in the form of oil and coal deposits. The previous humanity died out due to a lack of carbon dioxide in the air. Then the Gardeners of the Earth from the constellation Sirius brought to Mars new model a person who inhaled poison - oxygen, and exhaled life-giving force - carbon dioxide. These people populated the old planet. The task of the new humanity is to remove hydrocarbons from the earth and saturate the planet’s atmosphere with carbon dioxide in order to enable the next race of people-gods to breathe carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen on Earth again. In order for us people not to kill each other and our Planet as a whole, the Sirians pledged to look after us, to direct their progress to the Venusian civilization of the Hathors and the Martian civilization of the “grays”. So that humanity does not die out from its stupidity and laziness, and does not kill itself with wars and chemistry, the “grays” every 200 years take several healthy women from earthlings and impregnate them on the bases of the Moon and Mars with the seed of superhuman beings. The euthanized women are then returned to Earth. Women have their memories erased and don't remember where they were. But young mothers give birth to amazing children - demigods who have cosmic knowledge, siddhis and an open Third Eye from birth. These people-demigods lead humanity to knowledge, enlightenment and direct them to the path of God. One of these demigods was Orpheus.

At that time, the Land was falling somewhere, and new seas and oceans were formed in place of the continents. When the ocean calmed down, a civilization of giants arose on new continents. Then again the death and again the birth of the great peoples who inhabited the Earth before Atlantis and Lemuria. Then there was a war on spaceships between aliens for spheres of influence on the Planet. Earthly civilizations took over thermonuclear weapons- and the world wars began. The earth was leaving its orbit. Then the Great Floods followed, and new continents were populated by new peoples. Then again the death of Atlantis, then the flourishing Ancient Egypt, the islands of Crete and the civilization of Sumer.

The Martian bases on the Moon and on the inner surface of the Earth monitor the development of our civilization and select peoples, breeding the hybrids needed at a given time.

Hybrids are a genetic mixture of humanoids from Earth and humanoids from other planets. They are very similar to us and the Grays. The color of their elastic skin can be anything from white to blue, from bronze to red. The length of their bodies ranges from 150 centimeters to 3 meters in height. Some hybrid aliens look just like non-humans. But still, upon closer examination, it is clear that these are earthly humanoids. Many of them have large compound eyes and such a “paved” forehead. Some have long noses and pointed ears. All of them are divided into individuals of both male and female. These hybrids reproduce sexually.

However, a quarter of all humanoids that are bred on the mother ships of Mars and the Moon are one hundred percent people without any genetic or ethical impurities. They look exactly the same as earthlings. Only a little taller, slimmer and smarter than the indigenous earthlings. The fact is that the aliens, who once upon a time founded their colonies on Earth, have always had sexual relations with earthly women. Women from such contacts could not give birth on Earth. They simply died because their fetus was born too big. Born children also died on Earth. Therefore, the Grays always kept an eye on such women - before giving birth, they were taken to their bases on the Moon and Mars, where the mothers successfully gave birth. Women don't remember anything when they are sent to Earth after giving birth. And the Grays kept the children for themselves. These children live either on orbital stations orbiting planets solar system, or suffer among human nations and make brilliant discoveries for earthlings. A common characteristic feature for such alien children is high growth - from 180 to 250 centimeters. The men are fair-haired, blue-eyed, slightly tanned, and well-shaven. And the women are slender and big-eyed, beautiful and kind. Such humanoids usually fly in on disk-shaped UFOs and come out to people in white robes to teach the peoples of earth to live peacefully and enlighten.

MERCURIANS

The etheric plane is home to a very unusual civilization of superintellectuals. The cult of Knowledge reigns on Mercury, and knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself, or more precisely, for the sake of the very process of obtaining it. The fact is that the inhabitants of Mercury experience incomparable pleasure from everything related to the acquisition of abstract knowledge, divorced from material life.

Description of Mercurians: high-brow intellectuals who can scan the entire experience and memory of the subconscious of any being, discarding and “rejecting” the sensual “female” intuitive experience and being interested only in factual data about abstract ideas and concepts. Outwardly, these superintellectuals are very similar to earthly people, only their height does not exceed 1.5 meters and their physique is more fragile. The arms and legs are small, there is no hair on the large round head, and there are three fingers on the palms. However, Mercurians do not like their etheric shell, considering it low, dirty and rough, and prefer to project themselves in the form of golden balls, especially when meeting strangers.

Residents of Mercury completely ignore material objects and issues related to the physical and etheric world. They direct all their remarkable mental power to comprehend the laws of the structure of the universe, its parallel worlds and various plans, its statutes, orders and forms of manifestation and government. Special interest represent for them objects of a magical and spiritual nature. But the Mercurians stop only at the process of acquiring and accumulating the actual component of the Unified Knowledge. They do not seek to apply their broad knowledge of abstract concepts in practice, considering this a matter of secondary importance.

It is interesting that, filled with abstract information, intellectuals do not find any desire to understand the essence of things and events. Questions that require reasoning or drawing conclusions from known facts perplex them and only cause irritation. Naked facts are what Mercurians really enjoy.

For some Mercurians, the possession of knowledge led to pride. The inhabitants of Mercury naively believed that there was no such thing in the Universe that they did not know. Therefore, the Mercurians constantly traveled throughout the galaxy, tirelessly replenishing their information bank.

There are no cities, no states, no tribes, no peoples on Mercury. Together, all Mercurians look like one mycelium. They are united only by an information database, that is, they voluntarily form certain communities that act as one organism. Any information acquired by each of them is available to everyone, and the total amount of knowledge becomes the property of each member of the community. Their knowledge of facts continually increases, but this does not lead to an increase in their wisdom.

When teaching in schools, it is also customary for them to adhere to the following methodology: teachers do not say anything directly and completely, do not reveal what the essence of the subject is, but only give a hint of the essence, thereby feeding and increasing the desire for research and knowledge. According to the logic of the Mercurians, if you answer all the questions, then this desire will disappear. Therefore, they always say the opposite in order to make the truth stand out more clearly.

CIVILIZATION OF JUPITER

(one of 13 varieties)

Thirteen different civilizations live on Jupiter, including eight of them humanoid. All of them populated various layers of the etheric and vital world.

Description of one of the civilizations of Jupiter: outwardly very similar to the Ancient Greek gods who lived on Olympus. Very wise and spiritual humanoids lived here. They created their bodies from the third and fourth layers of ether, so an ordinary person cannot see them with their eyes. These respectable natures are full of divine love, gentleness and meekness, they tall, approximately 3-4 meters. They were all relatives, since the people of this civilization lived on Jupiter by birth. All the people of Jupiter preferred to live outside the city, in nature. The Jovians lived on farms and villas amid lush vegetation of meadows and gardens. Therefore, the population of the capital did not reach even a thousand people. Thirteen Council priests and five hundred monks served their working hours in the stone city.

The Jovian villas stood at a respectful distance from each other. The average family consisted of a husband, his wife, two children, and grandparents. Five to seven such families formed a kinship village consisting of a dozen two- and three-story buildings and a central temple in the form of a pyramid. The houses were located around the perimeter of the circle and were surrounded by a beautiful green hedge fence. From the central temple, straight roads paved with polished stones ran in radii in all directions.

There were no old people among the Jupiterians, since older generation Having raised children, they usually left their homes and retired to special sacred forests and groves, holy places and mountains. Old people on Jupiter become ascetics and hermits in order to achieve their main goal in life - reunification with the One God. Having reached the Almighty in contemplation and meditation, Jupiterians either go to more elevated planets, for example, to the planetary system of Sirius or the Pleiades, or return to their villas, leading the education of the younger generation. There they became spiritual mentors to youth. Those. Jupiter is the Planet of yogis and hermits, ascetics and monks. Their needs and desires are reduced to a minimum. They even go without any clothes. Their food is pollen, juices and various herbal infusions.

Jupiter is not only the largest of the planets orbiting the Sun, but also the most populous and one of the most spiritually developed. The Jovian civilization chose the path of studying the inner world, rather than the external one, the path of self-knowledge, the path of spiritual development. Deeply understanding the purpose of every person’s life, Jupiterians completely ignore technical progress. There are no cities on Jupiter, no factories or factories, no rumbling Vehicle. Here limitation of desires and liberation from attachments is cultivated. Jupiterians prefer to live close to nature in two-story houses or three-story villas that look like pyramids.

Jupiterians live superconsciously, that is, all their thoughts are aimed at reunification with the One and Indivisible Lord. They pay special attention to raising children. Every child receives an education at a school attached to a village temple. Education in them is aimed at developing the spiritual abilities of students. "It's important to understand fundamental principle, according to which the entire Creation is built, - Having known this, you can create anything you want.” Jupiter's comprehensive schools are somewhat reminiscent of philosophical schools Ancient Greece. The Jovians had no writing, no radio, no television, since they all have clairvoyance, telepathy and proscopy. Education at school took place directly - from the enlightened teacher to the student.

The life of Jupiterians is approximately 800-1200 years. Typically, the average Jupiter resident would be educated, give back to society, and get married before the age of 50. They conceived children through sexual intercourse. After the birth of two or three children, the couple slept separately in different rooms. Then 20-30 years were spent raising children, and when the children grew up and matured, the Jupiterian either left the etheric world if he achieved enlightenment, or went into a monastery, into a hermit, in order to devote the rest of his life to getting closer to God.

Adult Jupiterians are between three and four meters tall. They are all slender, harmoniously built and very beautiful. Their faces are especially light and sublimely beautiful with slightly protruding lips. When communicating with each other, Jupiterians, in addition to telepathy, expressed their thoughts with the help of their faces. Mainly, they used for this purpose that part of it that is located around the lips. They never pretended and always said what they thought. Therefore, the Jupiterians did not strain the muscles of their faces and allowed their faces to freely express thoughts and feelings.

Jupiter is orbited by 16 terrestrial moons and more than 30 ethereal ones. Humanoids live on all the satellite planets of Jupiter. But the civilizations on these moons are man-made, similar to those on Mars.

Moon-Eyed

2.10m – 2.40m tall, pale blue skin, bulging eyes, possibly distant relatives of the Nordics from Lyra or Andromeda.

Bovvie

A very tall race from 2.5 – 3.5 meters in height.

Star Wanderers

Nomadic civilization. He has extensive knowledge and valuable resources, makes contact and willingly concludes deals, but these deals are unreliable. They can be extremely beneficial for earthlings, just as a gift. For example, they could trade the Mona Lisa for a three-year supply of resources for the entire Earth. But they can deceive using their developed skills.

Attention: Be careful because... There are Alien Races that are not just negative, but terribly negative. There are Hierarchies, both Positive and Negative, Clifonic (brown) and Demonic (black). There are also Alien Races working for the Negative Hierarchies. They are dangerous not only for your Physical Body, Psyche and Subtle Bodies, but also for the Soul. An example of such an alien Race....

Seedrills

The form of evil that a person must know about is something negative, something different, absolute evil, which Assef Satan represents and personifies. This is evil that happens from outside in relation to a person, regardless of his consciousness. What is it? And who is Satan?

Assef Satan is a living, really existing intelligent individual, Assef is a first name, Satan is a surname. He was born over 91000 earthly years back on Planet Urene, part of the Star System of a small Star not far from Sirius.

Since this information allows people to have a fairly complete understanding of Satan and his Empire, which he would not like at all, without naming the names of the subscribers: they want to stay alive, and they also have families... They are absolutely subordinate to Satan, they are mortally afraid of him, called "god" and, as he demands, "ifat". They consider themselves his “children,” because they are convinced that they themselves were created by Satan, who gave them not only life, but also reason.

As we managed to find out from Satan’s subordinates, he created from seven planets inhabited by intelligent beings – Seedrills – an entire Empire, which is located from us in the Star Cluster towards the sector of the Aries Constellation and exists in the Yellow Space with a population of about 200 billion. The inhabitants of this Empire, just as we call ourselves “humans”, call ourselves “sidril”, are intelligent beings who do not have a Soul in our minds, but have something else.

The first one large Planet is called Tmuzon, the second is Iso, the third is Sirui, the fourth is Uresirise, the fifth is called Iusi, the sixth is Yature and the seventh, the most important, remote and mysterious - Lui: there is the refuge of Satan himself. (The text of the description of the planets, populations and their Stars is abbreviated).

There are 28 civilizations in the Yellow Spectrum, some of which are part of the Commonwealth of God (Meaning the true Creator) and are subordinate to Him. Intelligent Beings of 21 civilizations recognize God and have a Soul, and Satan is despised by them as a traitor. Satan exists and lives in the space of the Yellow Spectrum; he physically cannot live in our space, but he can have a significant impact on living forms. Satan has a direct impact on animals - who do not have an implanted Impulse Ring of Reason and some energy developments and structures in their Soul (Higher Aspect), so it is easier for him to subjugate them. It has only an indirect effect on a person and is not scary to a person until the person begins to be afraid. And from fear you can make mistakes, which is what Satan needs.

Now the biggest problem for his Empire, a matter of life and death, is Energy. The enterprises of the seven planets and the ships of the space fleet need a lot of energy, and their sources have long been exhausted. The main source of energy for Satan's empire is Gray Energy, obtained by burning the Souls of Creatures (in particular the people of the Earth). To ensure this, Satan has created an entire system that currently produces about 80 Souls from the Earth every month, which is equivalent to almost 5,000 tons of uranium. Although this figure of abducted people and Souls from the Earth is too underestimated. Unofficial statistics on disappearances of people in Russia alone amount to more than 10,000 people annually, including “missing people.” The minus, apparently, is the number of deaths from the activities of our earthly Russian criminals, without the discovery of the bodies of the victims.

Before burning the Soul, all information is removed from it. It is important and priceless for Satan - it is a solution to strategic intelligence problems. Satan has a weak point; he doesn’t know people well. He needs scientific and technical information about our world. And this despite the fact that he has accumulated over tens of thousands of years scientific information, surpassing the earthly one in volume and quality. The use of earthly information is twofold: what can be useful for the world of the Seedrills is scientific discoveries, original technical and technological solutions, etc., suitable for use in the Yellow Space; and an assessment of the scientific and technical potential of the Earth in terms of forecasting possible resistance from earthlings.

The “heart” of this system is the structure of the Deep Space Communications Centers, the last of which was built 5 years ago and operates in Sirui. This is a new Center, the old ones are located on Tmuzon and Luya. The new Center is much closer to the Earth and provides high-quality two-way instant communication with any person. How does this happen? A communication channel has been created in Retrospace, the effect of zero - transition between the Center and the peripheral element of the system near the Earth is used. This is the principle of action. They themselves call the system “Retrobridge”, which in my opinion succinctly and accurately reflects its essence.

The main goal of the Retrobridge Center system is strategic reconnaissance of the space of the Universe to control the movement of ships of the Creator's civilizations and ensure the security of the empire; a parallel task is the search for knowledge and the corrupting influence on the civilization of the Earth to catch Souls to meet the energy needs of the Empire.

The Center itself has 37 workplaces for telecom operators “for catching Souls”, who work both with people - mediums conducting sessions of spiritualism, and control the behavior of ordinary people.

This is where the Retrobridge operators constantly “whisper” to our contactees all sorts of false and tempting theories, predictions and “horror stories”, mixed with true events on Earth. But, as a rule, there are much more lies in these “revelations” than truth.

September 21 is the International Day of Peace and the day of general ceasefire and renunciation of violence. But today there are almost four dozen hot spots recorded in the world. Where and for what humanity is fighting today - in the material TUT.BY.

Gradation of conflicts:

Low intensity armed conflict- confrontation for religious, ethnic, political and other reasons. It is characterized by a low level of attacks and victims - less than 50 per year.

Medium-intensity armed conflict- occasional terrorist attacks and military operations using weapons. It is characterized by an average level of victims - up to 500 per year.

High intensity armed conflict- constant hostilities using conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction (with the exception of nuclear weapons); involving foreign states and coalitions. Such conflicts are often accompanied by massive and numerous terrorist attacks. It is characterized by a high level of victims - from 500 per year or more.

Europe, Russia and Transcaucasia

Conflict in Donbass

Status: regular clashes between separatists and the Ukrainian military, despite the ceasefire

Start: year 2014

Death toll: from April 2014 to August 2017 - more than 10 thousand people

Debaltsevo city, Donbass, Ukraine. February 20, 2015. Photo: Reuters

The armed conflict in Donbass began in the spring of 2014. Pro-Russian activists, inspired by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and dissatisfied new government in Kyiv, proclaimed the creation of Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. After the new Ukrainian authorities attempted to suppress protests by force in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, a full-scale armed conflict began, which has been dragging on for three years.

The situation in Donbass is not off the world agenda, as Kyiv accuses Moscow of helping the self-proclaimed republics, including through direct military intervention. The West supports these accusations, Moscow consistently denies them.

The conflict moved from the active phase to the medium-intensity phase after the launch of "" and the beginning.

But in the east of Ukraine they are still shooting, people are dying on both sides.

Caucasus and Nagorno-Karabakh

There are two other pockets of instability in the region that are classified as armed conflicts.

The war in the early 1990s between Azerbaijan and Armenia led to the formation of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (). The last time large-scale military actions were recorded here, about 200 people died on both sides. But local armed clashes in which Azerbaijanis and Armenians die.

Despite all the efforts of Russia, the situation in the Caucasus remains extremely difficult: counter-terrorism operations are constantly being carried out in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, Russian special services report on the liquidation of gangs and terrorist cells, but the flow of reports does not decrease.

Middle East and North Africa

The entire region was shocked in 2011 by "". From then to the present, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Egypt have been hot spots in the region. In addition, the armed confrontation in Iraq and Turkey has been going on for many years.

War in Syria

Status: constant hostilities

Start: 2011

Death toll: from March 2011 to August 2017 - from 330,000 to

Panorama of eastern Mosul in Iraq, March 29, 2017. Fighting for this city continued for more than a year. Photo: Reuters

After the US invasion in 2003 and the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq began Civil War and rebellion against the coalition government. And in 2014, part of the country’s territory was captured by militants “ Islamic State" Now a motley company is fighting the terrorists: the Iraqi army with the support of US troops, the Kurds, local Sunni tribes and Shiite militias. This summer, the largest city that was under the control of ISIS, there is currently a struggle for control of Anbar province.

Radical Islamist groups are fighting Baghdad not only on the battlefield - in Iraq constantly with numerous casualties.

Libya

Status: regular clashes between different factions

Start: 2011

Exacerbation: year 2014

Death toll: from February 2011 to August 2017 - t 15,000 to 30,000

The conflict in Libya also began with the Arab Spring. In 2011, protesters against the Gaddafi regime were supported by airstrikes by the United States and NATO. The revolution won, Muammar Gaddafi was killed by a crowd, but the conflict did not die down. In 2014, a new civil war broke out in Libya, and since then dual power has reigned in the country - in the east of the country, in the city of Tobruk, a parliament elected by the people sits, and in the west, in the capital of Tripoli, the Government of National Accord, formed with the support of the UN and Europe, is ruled by Faez. Sarraj. In addition, there is a third force - Libyan national army, which is fighting the Islamic State militants and other radical groups. The situation is complicated by the civil strife of local tribes.

Yemen

Status: regular missile and air strikes, clashes between different factions

Start: year 2014

Death toll: from February 2011 to September 2017 - more than 10 thousand people

Yemen is another country whose conflict dates back to the Arab Spring in 2011. President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, transferred his powers to the country's Vice President Abd Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, who won early elections a year later. However, he failed to retain power in the country: in 2014, a civil war broke out between Shiite rebels (Houthis) and the Sunni government. Al-Hadi was supported by Saudi Arabia, which, together with other Sunni monarchies and with the consent of the United States, is helping both ground operations, and air strikes. Former President Saleh, who is supported by some Shiite rebels and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also joined the fight.

Double in Ankara on October 10, 2015, at the site of the trade union meeting “Labor. World. Democracy". Its participants advocated for an end to hostilities between the Turkish authorities and the Kurds. According to official data, the number of victims was 97 people. Photo: Reuters

The armed confrontation between the Turkish government and the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, who are fighting for the creation of Kurdish autonomy within Turkey, has continued from 1984 to the present. In the last two years, the conflict has escalated: Turkish authorities accused the Kurds of several crimes, after which they carried out purges.

The Knife Intifada and Lebanon

There are several other hot spots in the region that military experts classify as low-intensity “armed conflicts.”

First of all, this is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the next escalation of which was called “”. Between 2015 and 2016, there were more than 250 attacks by Islamic radicals armed with bladed weapons against Israelis. As a result, 36 Israelis, 5 foreigners and 246 Palestinians were killed. Attacks with knives and screwdrivers have died down this year, but armed attacks continue: in July, three Arabs attacked an Israeli police officer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Another smoldering hot spot is Lebanon. The smoldering conflict in Lebanon is at a low level of intensity only due to the authorities' emphasized neutrality regarding the civil war in Syria and the related conflict in Lebanon between Sunnis and Shiites. Lebanese Shiites and the Hezbollah group support the pro-Assad coalition, Sunnis oppose it, and radical Islamist groups oppose the Lebanese authorities. Armed clashes and terrorist attacks occur from time to time: the largest of them in recent times was the double terrorist attack in Beirut in 2015, which resulted in...

Asia and Pacific

Afghanistan

Status: constant terrorist attacks and armed clashes

Beginning of the conflict: 1978

Escalation of the conflict: year 2001

Death toll: from 2001 to August 2017 - more than 150,000 people

Doctors at a hospital in Kabul examine a boy injured in a terrorist attack on September 15, 2017. On this day in Kabul, a booby-trapped tanker was blown up at a checkpoint leading to the diplomatic quarter.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NATO and the United States military contingent entered Afghanistan. The Taliban regime was overthrown, but a military conflict began in the country: the Afghan government, with the support of NATO and US forces, is fighting the Taliban and Islamist groups associated with Al-Qaeda and IS.

Despite the fact that 13 thousand NATO and US troops still remain in Afghanistan and there are now discussions about whether to do so, terrorist activity in the country remains high: dozens of people die in the republic every month.

The smoldering Kashmir conflict and the internal problems of India and Pakistan

In 1947, two states were formed on the territory of former British India - India and Pakistan. The division took place along religious lines: provinces with a predominantly Muslim population went to Pakistan, and provinces with a Hindu majority to India. But not everywhere: despite the fact that the majority of the population of Kashmir were Muslims, this region was annexed to India.

Residents of Kashmir province stand on the rubble of three houses destroyed by an artillery strike by the Pakistani military. This strike was carried out in response to the shelling of Pakistani territories by Indian troops, who, in turn, responded to an attack by militants who, in their opinion, arrived from Pakistan. Photo: Reuters

Since then Kashmir- a disputed territory between the two countries and the cause of three Indo-Pakistani wars and several smaller military conflicts. According to various sources, over the past 70 years it has claimed about 50 thousand lives. In April 2017, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research published an annual report that identified the Kashmir conflict as one that could trigger a military conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons. Both India and Pakistan are members of the “club of nuclear powers” ​​with an arsenal of several dozen nuclear warheads.

In addition to the general conflict, each country has several hot spots with to varying degrees intensity, and all of them are recognized by the international community as military conflicts.

There are three of them in Pakistan: separatist movements in the western province Balochistan, the fight against the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan group in an unrecognized state Waziristan and clashes between Pakistani security forces and various militant groups in the semi-autonomous region " Federally Administered Tribal Areas"(FATA). Radicals from these regions attack government buildings, law enforcement officers and carry out terrorist attacks.

There are four hotspots in India. In three Indian states - Assam, Nagaland and Manipur Due to religious and ethnic clashes, nationalist and separatist movements are strong and do not disdain terrorist attacks and hostage-taking.

And in 20 out of 28 Indian states Naxalites are active - Maoist militant groups who demand the creation of free self-governing zones, where they (well, of course!) will build the most real and correct communism. Naxalites practice attacks on officials and government troops and carry out more than half of the terrorist attacks in India. The country's authorities have officially declared the Naxalites terrorists and call them the main internal threat to the country's security.

Myanmar

Recently, the media, which usually does not pay attention to third world countries, has focused attention.

In this country, in August, the religious-ethnic conflict between the residents of the Rakhine state - Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims - escalated. Hundreds of separatists from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ASRA) attacked 30 strong points police, 15 police and military were killed. After this, the troops began an anti-terrorist operation: in just one week, the military killed 370 Rohingya separatists, and 17 local residents were also reported accidentally killed. How many people died in Myanmar in September is still unknown. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, creating a humanitarian crisis.

Southern Thailand

A number of radical Islamic organizations advocate the independence of the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat from Thailand and demand either the creation of an independent Islamic state or the inclusion of the provinces in Malaysia.

Thai soldiers inspect the site of an explosion near a hotel in the resort area of ​​the southern province of Pattani. August 24, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Bangkok is responding to the demands of the Islamists, supported by attacks and attacks, with counter-terrorism operations and suppression of local unrest. Over 13 years of escalating conflict, more than 6,000 people have died.

Uyghur conflict

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR, abbreviated Chinese name for Xinjiang) is located in northwestern China. It occupies a sixth of the territory of all of China, and the majority of its inhabitants are Uyghurs - a Muslim people, whose representatives are not always delighted with national policy communist leadership of the country. In Beijing, Xinjiang is perceived as a region of “three hostile forces” - terrorism, religious extremism and separatism.

The Chinese authorities have reason for this - the active terrorist group “East Turkestan Islamic Movement,” whose goal is to create an Islamic state in China, is responsible for unrest and terrorist attacks in Xinjiang: over the past 10 years, more than 1,000 people have died in the region.

A military patrol walks past a building that was damaged in an explosion in Urumqi, the largest city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. On May 22, 2014, five suicide bombers carried out an attack that killed 31 people. Photo: Reuters

Now the conflict is characterized as sluggish, but Beijing has already been threatened with an escalation of the situation after the Chinese authorities introduced a ban on wearing beards, hijabs, and performing marriage and mourning ceremonies according to religious customs instead of secular ones. In addition, Uyghurs were urged to sell alcohol and tobacco in stores and not to publicly celebrate religious holidays.

Armed conflict in the Philippines

For more than four decades in the Philippines, the conflict has continued between Manila and armed groups of Muslim separatists in the south of the country, which traditionally advocate the creation of an independent Islamic state. The situation worsened after the position of the “Islamic State” in the Middle East significantly weakened: many Islamists rushed to Southeast Asia. Two major factions, Abu Sayyaf and Maute, pledged allegiance to IS and captured the city of Marawi on the Philippine island of Mindanao in May. Government troops still cannot drive the militants out of the city. Also, radical Islamists stage armed attacks not only in the south, but also.

According to the latest data, from May to September this year in the Philippines, a total of 45 civilians and 136 soldiers and police were killed as a result of terrorist actions.

North and South America

Mexico

In 2016, Mexico had the second highest death toll on the list of states where armed conflict continues, behind only Syria. The nuance is that officially there is no war on Mexican territory, but there have already been more than ten years go by battle between the country's authorities and drug cartels. The latter are still fighting among themselves, and for good reason—income from drug sales in the United States alone amounts to up to $64 billion a year. And drug cartels receive about $30 billion a year from selling drugs to Europe.

A forensic expert examines the crime scene. The body of a woman was found under a bridge in the city of Ciudad Juarez, murdered with extreme cruelty. A note was found on the body: “This is what will happen to informers and those who steal from their own.” Photo: Reuters

The international community calls this confrontation in Mexico an armed conflict with a high degree of intensity, and justifiably: even in the most “peaceful” year of 2014, more than 14 thousand people died, and in total since 2006, more than 106,000 people have become victims of the “drug war”.

"Northern Triangle"

Drugs come into Mexico from South America. All transit routes pass through the three countries of the Northern Triangle in Central America: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The Northern Triangle is one of the most violent regions in the world, where powerful transnational criminal organizations have flourished, many with ties to Mexican drug transit countries; local organized crime groups; gangs like the 18th Street Gang (M-18) and the Pandillas street gangs. All these groups and clans are constantly waging war among themselves for the redistribution of spheres of influence.

Members of MS-13 captured as a result of a special operation. Photo: Reuters

The governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have declared war on both organized and street crime. This decision was warmly supported in the United States, where 8.5% of the Northern Triangle population has immigrated in recent years due to high levels of violence and corruption.

The countries of the Northern Triangle are also recognized as participants in armed conflict with a high degree of intensity.

Colombia

The confrontation between the Colombian authorities and the left-wing extremist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) lasted more than 50 years. Over these years, about 220 thousand people died, about 7 million lost their homes. In 2016, an agreement was signed between the Colombian authorities and the FARC. Rebels from the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN) refused to join the agreement, which, together with the problem of large-scale drug trafficking, leaves the military conflict in the country at “medium intensity” status.

Africa: Sub-Saharan

IN Somalia Lawlessness has reigned for more than 20 years: neither the government, nor UN peacekeepers, nor the military intervention of neighboring countries can stop the anarchy. The radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab is active in Somalia, and the coastal areas have begun to make money from piracy.

Injured children in a Mogadishu hospital as a result of a terrorist attack carried out by radical Islamists in the Somali capital on August 4, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Radical Islamists terrorize and Nigeria. Boko Haram militants control approximately 20% of the territory in the north of the country. They are fought by the Nigerian army, which is assisted by military personnel from neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Besides the jihadists, there is another conflict zone in the country in the Niger Delta. Control over oil-bearing areas for more than 20 years with with varying success are trying to establish Nigerian government troops and mercenaries of oil companies on the one hand and ethnic groups of Ogoni, Igbo and Ijaw on the other.

In another country, the youngest recognized state in the world - South Sudan , — the civil war began two years after gaining independence, in 2013, and despite the presence of a 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping force. Formally, it is between government troops and the rebels, but in essence it is between representatives of the dominant Dinka ethnic group (President Salva Kiir is one of them) and the Nuer tribe, from which Vice President Riek Machar comes.

Uneasy in Sudan. In the Darfur region in the west of the country, an interethnic conflict has been ongoing since 2003, resulting in an armed confrontation between the central government, the informal pro-government Arab Janjaweed armed groups and local rebel groups. According to various estimates, as a result of the Darfur conflict, from 200 to 400 thousand people died, 2.5 million people became refugees.

Armed conflict in Mali erupted between government forces, Tuaregs, various separatist groups and radical Islamists in early 2012. The starting point of events was a military coup, as a result of which the then current head of state, Amadou Toure, was overthrown. To maintain order in the country, UN peacekeepers and a French contingent are present, but despite this, hostage-takings are constantly taking place in Mali.

In the eastern provinces Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite all the efforts of the authorities and peacekeepers, the situation has remained tense for many years. Various Islamist and Christian groups, armed formations of local tribes and gangs from neighboring states. All of them are attracted by colossal reserves of rich minerals: gold, diamonds, copper, tin, tantalum, tungsten, more than half of the world's proven reserves of uranium. According to the UN Panel of Experts on the DRC, illegal gold mining “clearly remains the main source of funding for armed groups.”

IN Central African Republic (CAR) Muslim rebels overthrew a Christian president in 2013, sparking sectarian strife in the country. Since 2014, there has been a UN peacekeeping mission in the country.

Plan. 1. The concept of myth and religion………………………………………..……3 2. “Ancient East”……………………………………………………………… ..……3 2.1. Ancient Sumer………………………………………………………4 2.2. Babylon……………………………………………………….….5 3. Religion and mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia………………….6 4. Mesopotamian mythological creatures and deities… ……….7 5. Priesthood……………………………………………………….….12 6. Demons…………………………………………………… ………………………….…..13 7. Magic and mantika……………………………………………………..13 8. Achievements of the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia… ……………..……14 9. Conclusion………………………………………………………..…..15 10. References……………… ………………………………....17 1. The concept of myth and religion. Myth and religion are forms of culture that reveal a deep relationship in the course of history. Religion, as such, presupposes the presence of a certain worldview and attitude, centered on belief in the incomprehensible, deities, the source of existence. The religious view of the world and the accompanying type of worldview initially develop within the boundaries of mythological consciousness. Different types of religion are accompanied by dissimilar mythological systems. Myth is the first form of rational comprehension of the world, its figurative and symbolic reproduction and explanation, resulting in a prescription for action. Myth transforms chaos into space, creates the possibility of comprehending the world as a kind of organized whole, expresses it in a simple and accessible scheme, which could be translated into a magical action as a means of conquering the incomprehensible. Mythological images are understood as really existing. Mythological images are highly symbolic, being the product of a combination of sensory-concrete and conceptual aspects. Myth is a means of removing sociocultural contradictions and overcoming them. Mythological ideas receive religious status not only through their focus on the incomprehensible, but also due to their connection with rituals and the individual lives of believers. Religion is one of the forms public consciousness, one of the forms of ideology. And any ideology is, ultimately, a reflection of the material existence of people, the economic structure of society. In this regard, religion can be placed on a par with such ideological forms as philosophy, morality, law, art, etc. Both in the primitive community and in class society there are general conditions that support belief in the supernatural world. This is the powerlessness of man: his helplessness in the fight against nature under the primitive communal system and the powerlessness of the exploited classes in the fight against the exploiters in a class society. It is this kind of powerlessness that inevitably gives rise to distorted reflections in the human mind of the social and natural environment in the form of certain forms of religious beliefs. Thus, religion is not only a reflection of any real phenomena of life, but also a replenishment of the strengths that a person lacks. 2. "Ancient East". The term "Ancient East" consists of two words, one of which is a historical characteristic, the second - a geographical one. Historically, the term “ancient” refers in this case to the very first civilizations known to mankind (starting from the 4th millennium BC). The term “East” in this case goes back to the ancient tradition: this is the name given to the former eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and the adjacent territories, that is, what was to the east of Rome. What we call the East today: Central and South Asia, Far East, etc. The concept of "Ancient East" is not included. In general, “oriental” refers to the cultures of peoples with non-antique cultural roots. In ancient times, powerful civilizations flourished in the Middle East: Sumer, Egypt, Babylon, Phenicia, Palestine. In socio-political terms, the general distinctive feature of all these civilizations was their belonging to the eastern despotisms, which to one degree or another are characterized by monopolization and centralization of power (features of totalitarianism), the personification of power in the figure of a despot (king, pharaoh), sacralization, that is, absolute subordination to religious norms of the entire life of society, the presence systems of permanent physical and psychological terror, brutal oppression of the masses. The state played a huge role here. This role was expressed in the implementation of irrigation, prestigious construction (pyramids, palaces, etc.), control over all aspects of the lives of subjects, and conducting external wars. “Mesopotamia” means “Land between the rivers” (between the Euphrates and the Tigris). Now Mesopotamia is understood mainly as the valley in the lower reaches of these rivers, and the lands east of the Tigris and west of the Euphrates are added to it. In general, this region coincides with the territory of modern Iraq, with the exception of mountainous areas along the country's borders with Iran and Turkey. Mesopotamia is the country where the world's oldest civilization arose, which existed for about 25 centuries, from the creation of writing to the conquest of Babylon by the Persians in 539 BC. 2.1. Ancient Sumer. To the east of Egypt, in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, starting from the 4th millennium BC. A number of state formations arise, replacing each other. These are Sumer, which is now considered the most ancient civilization known to mankind, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria. Unlike Egyptian culture, in Mesopotamia numerous peoples rapidly replaced each other, fought, mixed and disappeared, so the overall picture of culture appears extremely dynamic and complex. In the south of Mesopotamia, where agriculture was widely carried out, ancient city-states developed: Ur, Uruk (Erekh), Kish, Eridu, Larsa, Nippur, Umma, Lagash, Sippar, Akkad, etc. The heyday of these cities is called the golden age of the ancient state of the Sumerians . The Sumerians were the first of the peoples living on the territory of Ancient Mesopotamia to reach the level of civilization. Probably still around 4000 BC. The Sumerians came to the swampy plain (Ancient Sumer) in the upper reaches of the Persian Gulf from the east or descended from the mountains of Elam. They drained swamps, learned to regulate river floods, and mastered agriculture. With the development of trade, Sumerian settlements turned into prosperous city-states, which by 3500 BC. created a mature urban civilization with developed metalworking, textile crafts, monumental architecture and a writing system. The Sumerian states were theocracies, each of them considered the property of a local deity, whose representative on earth was a high priest (patesi), endowed with religious and administrative authority. Cities constantly fought among themselves, and if a city managed to capture several neighboring ones, then for a short time a state arose that had the character of a small empire. However, around the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Semitic tribes from the Arabian Peninsula who settled northern regions Babylonia and those who adopted the Sumerian culture became so strong that they began to pose a threat to the independence of the Sumerians. Around 2550 BC Sargon of Akkad conquered them and created a power that stretched from the Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea. After about 2500 BC The Akkadian power fell into decline, and a new period of independence and prosperity began for the Sumerians, this is the era of the third dynasty of Ur and the rise of Lagash. It ended around 2000 BC. with the strengthening of the Amorite kingdom - a new Semitic state with its capital in Babylon; The Sumerians lost their independence forever, and the territory of the former Sumer and Akkad was absorbed by the power of the ruler Hammurabi. Although the Sumerian people disappeared with historical scene, and in Babylonia the Sumerian language ceased to be spoken, the Sumerian writing system (cuneiform) and many elements of religion formed an integral part of Babylonian, and later Assyrian culture. The Sumerians laid the foundations of civilization for a large part of the Middle East, inherited from them the methods of organizing the economy, technical skills and scientific information played an extremely important role in the lives of their successors. At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Sumerians assimilated with the Babylonians. The ancient slave state of Babylon flourished, which lasted until the 6th century. BC e. The Babylonian, Chaldean and Assyrian civilizations took a lot from the Sumerian culture. 2. Babylon. Babylon in the ancient Semitic language was called “Bab-ilyu”, which meant “Gate of God”; in Hebrew this name was transformed into “Babel”, in Greek and Latin - into “Babilon”. The original name of the city has survived centuries, and to this day the northernmost of the hills on the site of ancient Babylon is called Babil. The ancient Babylonian kingdom united Sumer and Akkad, becoming the heir to the culture of the ancient Sumerians. The city of Babylon reached the pinnacle of greatness when King Hammurabi (reigned 1792-1750) made it the capital of his kingdom. Hammurabi became famous as the author of the world's first set of laws, from which the expression “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” has come down to us, for example. The political system of Babylon differed from the ancient Egyptian one in the lesser importance of the priesthood as an apparatus for managing state irrigation and agriculture in general. The Babylonian political regime was an example of theocracy - the unity of secular and religious power concentrated in the hands of a despot. This hierarchical structure of society is reflected in the Babylonian ideas about the structure of the world. The Assyro-Babylonian culture became the heir to the culture of Ancient Babylonia. Babylon, part of the mighty Assyrian state, was a huge (about one million inhabitants) eastern city, proudly calling itself the “navel of the earth.” It was in Mesopotamia that the first centers of civilization and statehood in history appeared. 3. Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia. The religion of Mesopotamia in all its main aspects was created by the Sumerians. Over time, Akkadian names of gods began to replace Sumerian ones, and personifications of the elements gave way to star deities. Local gods could also lead the pantheon of a particular region, as happened with Marduk in Babylon or Ashur in the Assyrian capital. But the religious system as a whole, the view of the world and the changes taking place in it were not much different from the original ideas of the Sumerians. None of the Mesopotamian deities were the exclusive source of power, none had supreme power. The full power belonged to the assembly of gods, which, according to tradition, elected a leader and approved all important decisions. Nothing was set in stone or taken for granted. But the instability of space led to intrigue among the gods, which meant it promised danger and created anxiety among mortals. The cult of a ruler-symbol, a mediator between the world of the living and the dead, people and gods, was closely connected not only with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe holiness of the ruler who had magical power, but also with the confidence that it is the leader’s prayers and requests that will most likely reach the deity and be most effective. The Mesopotamian rulers did not call themselves (and they were not called by others) sons of the gods, and their sacralization was practically limited to granting them the prerogatives of the high priest or the right recognized for him to have direct contact with God (for example, an obelisk with the image of the god Shamash handing Hammurabi a scroll of laws has been preserved) . The low degree of deification of the ruler and the centralization of political power contributed to the fact that in Mesopotamia many gods with the temples dedicated to them and the priests serving them got along with each other quite easily, without fierce rivalry. The Sumerian pantheon existed already at the early stages of civilization and statehood. Gods and goddesses entered into complex relationships with each other, the interpretation of which changed over time and depending on the change of dynasties and ethnic groups (the Semitic tribes of the Akkadians, who mixed with the ancient Sumerians, brought with them new gods, new mythological stories). The world of Sumerian spiritual culture is also based on mythology. The mythology of Mesopotamia includes stories about the creation of the earth and its inhabitants, including people sculpted from clay, in whom images of the gods were imprinted. The gods breathed life into man, i.e. created him to serve them. A complex cosmological system was developed of several heavens, a semi-vault covering the earth floating in the world's oceans. Heaven was the abode of the highest gods. Myths tell about the beginning of the world, about the gods and their struggle for the world order. It speaks of primeval chaos - Apsu. This may be the male personification of the underground abyss and underground waters. Tiamat is the female personification of the same abyss or primeval ocean, salt water, depicted as a four-legged monster with wings. There was a struggle between the newly born gods and the forces of chaos. The god Marduk becomes the head of the gods, but on the condition that the gods recognize his primacy over all others. After a fierce struggle, Marduk defeats and kills the monstrous Tiamat, dissecting her body and creating heaven and earth from its parts. There was also a story about a great flood. Famous Legend about the great flood, which subsequently spread so widely among different nations, was included in the Bible and accepted by Christian teaching, is not an idle invention. Residents of Mesopotamia could not perceive the catastrophic floods - the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - as anything other than a great flood. Some details of the Sumerian story about the great flood (the gods' message to the virtuous king about their intention to cause a flood and save him) are reminiscent of the biblical legend of Noah. In Sumerian mythology, there already exist myths about the golden age of humanity and heavenly life, which over time became part of the religious ideas of the peoples of Western Asia, and later - into biblical stories. Most of the Sumerian-Akkado-Babylonian gods had an anthropomorphic appearance, and only a few, such as Ea or Nergal, bore zoomorphic features, a kind of memory of totemistic ideas of the distant past. Among the sacred animals, the Mesopotamians included the bull, which personified power, and the snake, the personification of the feminine principle. 4. Mesopotamian deities and mythological creatures. Anu, the Akkadian form of the name of the Sumerian god An, is the king of the heavens, the supreme deity of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. He is the “father of the gods”, his domain is the sky. According to the Babylonian creation hymn Enuma Elish, Anu was descended from Apsu (originally fresh water) and Tiamat (sea). Although Anu was worshiped throughout Mesopotamia, he was especially revered in Uruk and Dera. Enki or Ea, one of the three great Sumerian gods (the other two being Anu and Enlil). Enki is closely associated with Apsu, the personification of fresh water. Because of the importance of fresh water in Mesopotamian religious rituals, Enki was also considered the god of magic and wisdom. He did not awaken fear in the hearts of people. Prayers and myths invariably emphasize his wisdom, benevolence and justice. In Enuma Elish he is the creator of man. As the god of wisdom, he ordered life on earth. The cult of Enki and his wife Damkina flourished in Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Uruk and Shuruppak. Enki received from his father An the divine laws - “me”, in order to transmit them to people. “Me” played a huge role in the religious and ethical system of views of the Sumerians. Modern researchers call “me” “divine rules”, “divine laws”, “factors that regulate the organization of the world”. “Me” were something like patterns established and controlled by Enki, prescribed for every phenomenon of nature or society, relating to both spiritual and material side life. These included a variety of concepts: justice, wisdom, heroism, kindness, fairness, lies, fear, fatigue, various crafts and arts, concepts associated with cult, etc. Enlil, along with Anu and Enki, is one of the gods of the main triad of the Sumerian pantheon. Initially, he is the god of storms (Sumerian “en” - “lord”; “lil” - “storm”). In Akkadian he was called Belom ("lord"). As the “lord of storms” he is closely connected with the mountains, and therefore with the earth. This god was truly feared. Perhaps they were even more afraid than they were honored and respected; he was considered a ferocious and destructive deity, rather than a kind and merciful god. In Sumerian-Babylonian theology, the Universe was divided into four main parts - heaven, earth, waters and the underworld. The gods who ruled over them were Anu, Enlil, Ea and Nergal, respectively. Enlil and his wife Ninlil (“nin” - “lady”) were especially revered in the religious center of Sumer, Nippur. Enlil was the god who commanded the “heavenly army” and was especially enthusiastically worshiped. Ashur, the main god of Assyria, like Marduk - the main god of Babylonia. Ashur was the deity of the city that bore his name from ancient times, and was considered the main god of the Assyrian Empire. The temples of Ashur were called, in particular, E-shara (“House of Omnipotence”) and E-hursag-gal-kurkura (“House of the Great Mountain of the Earth”). “Great Mountain” is one of the epithets of the god Enlil, which passed to Ashur when he turned into the main god of Assyria. Marduk is the main god of Babylon. The temple of Marduk was called E-sag-il. The temple tower, a ziggurat, served as the basis for the creation of the biblical legend of the Tower of Babel. It was actually called E-temen-an-ki (“House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth”). Marduk was the god of the planet Jupiter and the main god of Babylon, and therefore he absorbed the signs and functions of other gods of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. Since the rise of Babylon, from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, Marduk has come to the fore. He is placed at the head of the host of gods. The priests of the Babylonian temples invent myths about the primacy of Marduk over other gods. They are trying to create something like a monotheistic doctrine: there is only one god, Marduk, all other gods are just his different manifestations. This tendency towards monotheism reflected political centralization: the Babylonian kings just took over the entire Mesopotamia and became the most powerful rulers of Western Asia. But the attempt to introduce monotheism failed, probably due to the resistance of the priests of local cults, and the former gods continued to be revered. Dagan is a non-Mesopotamian deity by origin. Entered the pantheons of Babylonia and Assyria during the mass penetration of Western Semites into Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. The names of the kings of the north of Babylonia of the Issina dynasty Ishme-Dagan (“Dagan heard”) and Iddin-Dagan (“given by Dagan”) indicate the prevalence of his cult in Babylonia. One of the sons of the king of Assyria Shamshi-Adad (a contemporary of Hammurabi) was named Ishme-Dagan. This god was worshiped by the Philistines under the name Dagon. Ereshkigal, the cruel and vengeful goddess of the underworld of the dead. Only the god of war Nergal, who became her husband, could pacify her. The Sumerians called the land of the dead Kur. This is a haven for the shadows of the dead, wandering without any hope. Hell is not an abyss where only sinners are thrown, there are good and bad people , great and insignificant, pious and wicked. The humility and pessimism that permeate the pictures of hell are a natural result of ideas about the role and place of man in the world around him. After death, people found eternal refuge in the dark kingdom of Ereshkigal. The border of this kingdom was considered to be a river, through which the souls of the buried were transported to the kingdom of the dead by a special carrier (the souls of the unburied remained on earth and could cause a lot of trouble to people). In the “land of no return,” there are immutable laws that are binding on both people and gods. Life and death, the kingdom of heaven and earth and the underground kingdom of the dead - these principles were clearly opposed in the religious system of Mesopotamia. In the Sumerian culture, for the first time in history, man made an attempt to morally overcome death, to understand it as a moment of transition to eternity. The Sumerian paradise was not intended for people. It was a place where only gods could reside. Fear of death, fear of the inevitable transition to the country of Ereshkigal - all this gave rise not only to humility and submission, but also protest, longing for a different, better and more worthy fate for man. The Sumerians understood that eternal life, which is the destiny of the gods alone, was unattainable for mere mortals, and yet they dreamed of immortality. Gilgamesh, the mythical ruler of the city of Uruk and one of the most popular heroes of Mesopotamian folklore, is the son of the goddess Ninsun and a demon. His adventures are described in a long tale on twelve tablets; some of them, unfortunately, have not been completely preserved. The beautiful Ishtar, goddess of love and fertility, is the most significant goddess of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. Later she was also given the functions of the goddess of war. The most interesting figure in the host of Sumerian goddesses. Her Sumerian name is Inanna (“Mistress of Heaven”), the Akkadians called her Eshtar, and the Assyrians called her Istar. She is the sister of the Sun god Shamash and the daughter of the Moon god Sin. Identified with the planet Venus. Its symbol is a star in a circle. Like other similar female fertility deities, Ishtar also exhibited traits of an erotic goddess. As the goddess of physical love, she was the patroness of temple harlots. She was also considered a merciful mother, interceding for people before the gods. Throughout the history of Mesopotamia, she was revered under different names in different cities. One of the main centers of the cult of Ishtar was the city of Uruk. As a goddess of war, she was often depicted sitting on a lion. The god Damuzi (also known as Tammuz) was the male counterpart of the goddess Ishtar. This is the Sumerian-Akkadian god of vegetation. His name means "true son of Apsu". The cult of Damuzi was widespread in the Mediterranean. According to surviving myths, Tammuz died, descended into the World of the Dead, was resurrected and ascended to earth, and then ascended to heaven. During his absence the land remained barren and the herds died. Because of this god's closeness to the natural world, fields and animals, he was also called "The Shepherd." Damuzi is an agricultural deity, his death and resurrection are the personification of the agricultural process. The rituals dedicated to Damuzi undoubtedly bear the imprint of very ancient ceremonies associated with the mourning of everything that dies in the autumn-winter period and is reborn to life in the spring. The Thunderer Ishkur - the god of thunder and strong winds - originally represented the same forces as Ningirsu, Ninurta or Zababa. All of them personified the powerful forces of nature (thunder, thunderstorm, rain) and at the same time patronized animal husbandry, hunting, agriculture, military campaigns - depending on what their admirers were doing. As a thunder deity, he was usually depicted with lightning in his hand. Since agriculture in Mesopotamia was irrigated, Ishkur, who controlled the rains and annual floods, occupied an important place in the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. He and his wife Shala were especially revered in Assyria. Nabu, god of the planet Mercury, son of Marduk and divine patron of scribes. Its symbol was the "style" - a reed rod used to apply cuneiform marks to unfired clay tablets for writing texts. In Old Babylonian times it was known as Nabium; his veneration reached its highest point in the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire. The names Nabopolassar (Nabu-apla-ushur), Nebuchadnezzar (Nabu-kudurri-ushur) and Nabonidus (Nabu-naid) contain the name of the god Nabu. The main city of his cult was Borsippa near Babylon, where his temple of Ezid (“House of Firmness”) was located. His wife was the goddess Tashmetum. Shamash, Sumerian-Akkadian sun god, his name means "sun" in Akkadian. The Sumerian name of the god is Utu. Every day he made his journey from the eastern mountain towards the western mountain, and at night he retired to the “insides of heaven”. Shamash is the source of light and life, as well as the god of justice, whose rays highlight all the evil in man. The main centers of the cult of Shamash and his wife Aya were Larsa and Sippar. Nergal, in the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon, the god of the planet Mars and the underworld. His name in Sumerian means “Power of the Great Abode.” Nergal also took over the functions of Erra, originally the god of plague. According to Babylonian mythology, Nergal descended into the World of the Dead and took power over it from its queen Ereshkigal. Ningirsu, god of the Sumerian city of Lagash. Many of his attributes are the same as those of the common Sumerian god Ninurta. He is a god who does not tolerate injustice. His wife is the goddess Baba (or Bau). Ninhursag, the mother goddess in Sumerian mythology, also known as Ninmah ("Great Lady") and Nintu ("Lady Who Gives Birth"). Under the name Ki ("Earth"), she was originally the consort of An; from this divine couple all the gods were born. According to one myth, Ninmah helped Enki create the first man from clay. In another myth, she cursed Enki for eating the plants she created, but then repented and cured him of the diseases that resulted from the curse. Ninurta, Sumerian god of the hurricane, as well as war and hunting. Its emblem is a scepter topped with two lion heads. The wife is the goddess Gula. As the god of war, he was highly revered in Assyria. His cult especially flourished in the city of Kalhu. Sin, Sumerian-Akkadian deity of the moon. Its symbol is a crescent. Since the Moon was associated with the measurement of time, he was known as the "Lord of the Month." Sin was considered the father of Shamash, the sun god, and Ishtar, the goddess of love. The popularity of the god Sin throughout Mesopotamian history is evidenced by the large number of proper names of which his name is an element. The main center of the cult of Sin was the city of Ur. The functions of the Sumerian goddesses were even more similar than the gods. Having different names, the goddesses, in fact, represented one idea - the idea of ​​​​mother earth. Each of them was the mother of the gods, the goddess of the harvest and fertility, the adviser of her husband, the co-ruler and patroness of the city that belonged to the god-husband. All of them personified the feminine principle, the mythological symbol of which was Ki or Ninhursag. Ninlil, Nintu, Baba, Ninsun, Geshtinanna, in essence, were not particularly different from the mother of the gods Ki. In some cities, the cult of the patron goddess was older than the cult of the patron god. Fate, more precisely, the essence or something “determining destiny” among the Sumerians was called “namtar”; The name of the demon of death also sounded - Namtar. Perhaps it was he who made the decision on the death of a person, which even the gods could not cancel. For everything that happened on earth, we had to thank the gods. Above each city, temples “raised their hands” to the heavens, from where the gods watched over their servants. The gods had to be constantly prayed for help and assistance. Appeal to the gods took a variety of forms: the construction of temples and a network of canals, sacrifices and accumulation of temple wealth - “god's property”, prayers, spells, pilgrimages, participation in mysteries and much more. But even the most powerful gods could not escape the fate destined for them. Like people, they too suffered defeats. The Sumerians explained this by saying that the right to make the final decision belonged to the council of the gods, which none of its members could oppose. 5. Priesthood. Priests were considered intermediaries between people and supernatural forces. Priests - servants of temples, usually came from noble families, their title was hereditary. One of the ritual requirements for candidates for priesthood was the requirement not to have physical disabilities. Along with the priests, there were also priestesses, as well as temple servants. Many of them were associated with the cult of the goddess of love Ishtar. The same goddess was also served by eunuch priests who wore women's clothes and performed women's dances. The cult was generally strictly regulated. The Babylonian temples were a very impressive sight, they gave rise to the Jewish legend about the construction of the Tower of Babel. Only priests had access to temples - “the dwellings of the gods”. Inside, the temple was a labyrinth of utility, residential, and religious premises, decorated with extraordinary pomp, splendor and richness. The priests at the same time were scientists. They monopolized the knowledge that was necessary to conduct an organized irrigation and agricultural economy. In Babylonia, astronomical science developed very early, not inferior to that of Egypt. Observations were carried out by priests from the heights of their temple towers. The orientation of knowledge towards the sky, the need for continuous observations of the luminaries, as well as the concentration of these observations in the hands of priests - all this significantly affected the religion and mythology of the peoples of Mesopotamia. The process of astralization of deities began quite early. Gods and goddesses became associated with heavenly bodies. God Urasin was identified with the Moon, Nabu with Mercury, Ishtar with Venus, Nergal with Mars, Marduk with Jupiter, Ninurta with Saturn. It was from Babylonia that this custom of calling heavenly bodies, especially planets, by the names of gods passed on to the Greeks, from them to the Romans, and the Roman (Latin) names of gods were preserved in the names of these planets until the present day. The months of the year were also dedicated to the gods. The astral orientation of the Babylonian religion also influenced the creation of the calendar, the 12-ary system of time calculation, which was later inherited by Europeans. The Babylonian priests attributed sacred significance to the numerical relationships of periods of time and divisions of space. This is associated with the appearance of sacred numbers - 3, 7, 12, 60, etc. these sacred numbers were also inherited by European and other peoples. 6. Demons. In the religion of Mesopotamia, extremely ancient beliefs about numerous lower spirits, mostly evil and destructive, played a large role. These are the spirits of earth, air, water - Anunaki and Igigi, personifications of diseases and all sorts of misfortunes that strike a person. To combat them, the priests composed many spells. The spells list their names and "specialties". To protect against evil spirits, in addition to numerous spell formulas, apotropaic amulets (amulets) were widely used. As amulets, for example, an image of the evil spirit itself was used, so disgusting in appearance that, upon seeing it, the spirit had to run away in fear. The Sumerians attributed death and the illnesses that preceded it to the intervention of demons, who, according to them, were evil and cruel creatures. According to Sumerian beliefs, in the hierarchy of supernatural beings, demons stood one step below the most insignificant deities. Nevertheless, they managed to torment and torment not only people, but also powerful gods. True, there were also good demons, those who guarded the gates of temples, private houses, and protected a person’s peace, but there were few of them compared to the evil ones. Demons could cause various diseases. The more difficult it was to cure the disease, i.e. The more powerful the demons that caused the disease were, the more complex the spell formula was. Among the most cruel, invincible, bringing especially a lot of harm to people, were the Udug demons. There were seven of these powerful demons. They were called “spirits of death”, “skeletons”, “breath of death”, “persecutors of people”. Only the spells of priests initiated into the secrets of the most complex conspiracies, who knew the name of the deity suitable for the case, could drive away Udug. Demons were not limited to just destroying people's health. Through their fault, travelers lost their way in the desert, storms destroyed their homes, and tornadoes destroyed their crops. Demons were created to bring misfortune, create difficulties, torment people, and complicate their lives. 7. Magic and mantika. Magic and mantika, which had achieved considerable success, were put into the service of the gods. Descriptions of magical rituals, along with the texts of spells and conspiracies, have reached us in large quantities. Among them, rituals of healing and protective, harmful, and military magic are known. Healing magic was mixed, as is usually the case, with folk medicine, and in the surviving recipes it is not easy to separate one from the other; but in some the magic appears quite clearly. The system of mantics - various fortune telling - was extremely developed. Among the priests there were special fortune-telling specialists (baru); Not only private individuals, but also kings turned to them for predictions. Baru interpreted dreams, told fortunes by animals, by the flight of birds, by the shape of oil stains on water, etc. But the most characteristic technique of mantika was divination by the entrails of sacrificial animals, especially by the liver. The technique of this method (hepatoscopy) was developed to the point of virtuosity. The ritual of sacrifices was complex: there was the burning of incense, and the libation of sacrificial water, oil, beer, wine; Sheep and other animals were slaughtered on sacrificial tables. The priests in charge of these rituals knew what foods and drinks were pleasing to the gods, what could be considered “pure” and what was “unclean.” During the sacrifices, prayers were offered for the well-being of the donor. The more generous the gifts, the more solemn the ceremony. Specially trained priests accompanied the worshipers by playing lyres, harps, cymbals, tambourines, flutes and other instruments. 8. Achievements of the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia. Sumerian priests were engaged not only in theology, but also in the exact sciences, medicine, agriculture, and administration. Through the efforts of the priests, much was done in the field of astronomy, calendar, mathematics and writing. It should be noted that, although all this pre-scientific knowledge had completely independent cultural value, their connection with religion (and the connection is not only genetic, but also functional) is undeniable. Many sources testify to the high mathematical achievements of the Sumerians and their art of construction (it was the Sumerians who built the world's first step pyramid). Neither are the authors of the most ancient calendar, prescription reference book, or library catalogue. The Sumerians were responsible for important discoveries: they were the first to learn how to make colored glass and bronze, invented the wheel and cuneiform writing, formed the first professional army, compiled the first legal codes, and invented arithmetic, which was based on a positional calculation system (accounts). They learned to measure the area of ​​geometric shapes. The priests calculated the length of the year (365 days, 6 hours, 15 minutes, 41 seconds). This discovery was kept secret by the priests and was used to strengthen power over the people, compose religious and mystical rituals and organize the leadership of the state. They were the first to divide an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds. Priests and magicians used knowledge about the movement of the stars, the Moon, the Sun, the behavior of animals for fortune telling, and foresight of events in the state. They were subtle psychologists, skilled psychics, and hypnotists. They learned to distinguish stars from planets and dedicated each day of their “invented” seven-day week to a separate deity (traces of this tradition were preserved in the names of the days of the week in Romance languages). Quite highly developed art culture Sumerians. Their architecture and sculpture are distinguished by their beauty and artistic perfection. A complex of sacred zakkurat structures was built in Uruk, which became the center of spiritual culture. In Sumer, gold was first used in combination with silver, bronze and bone. In verbal art, the Sumerians were the first to use the method of continuous narration of events. This made it possible to create the first epic works, the most famous and attractive of which is the epic legend "Gilgamesh". The characters of the world of animals and plants that appeared in fables were very loved by the people, just like proverbs. Sometimes a philosophical note creeps into literature, especially in works devoted to the theme of innocent suffering, but the attention of the authors is focused not so much on suffering as on the miracle of liberation from it. The Babylonians also left to their descendants astrology, the science of the supposed connection of human destinies with the location of the heavenly bodies. 9. Conclusion. The Babylonian religious-mythological system, associated with the extensive knowledge of the Babylonian priests, especially in the field of astronomy, timekeeping, and metrology, spread beyond the country. It influenced the religious ideas of Jews, Neoplatonists, and early Christians. In ancient and early medieval times, Babylonian priests were considered the guardians of some unprecedented, deep wisdom. Demology especially left a lot: the entire medieval European phantasmagoria about evil spirits, which inspired the inquisitors in their wild persecution of “witches,” goes back mainly to this source. The ancient Jews widely used Sumerian legends, ideas about the world and human history, cosmogony, adapting them to new conditions, to their ethical principles. The results of such processing of Sumerian ideas sometimes turned out to be unexpected and very far from the prototype. Vivid evidence of Mesopotamian influence is also found in the Bible. The Jewish and Christian religions were invariably opposed to the spiritual direction that emerged in Mesopotamia, but the legislation and forms of government discussed in the Bible owe their influence to Mesopotamian prototypes. Like many of their neighbors, the Jews were subject to legal and social attitudes that were generally characteristic of the countries of the Fertile Crescent and largely derived from those of Mesopotamia. It should be noted that not all aspects of life, not the entire system of ideas and institutions of ancient Mesopotamia were determined by religious ideas. In the rich Babylonian literature one can find some glimpses of a critical view of religious traditions. In one philosophical text - about the “innocent sufferer” - its author raises the question of the injustice of an order in which a deity punishes a person without any guilt, and no religious rituals help him. Also, the texts of the laws of Hammurabi convince us that the rules of law were practically free from them. This very significant point indicates that the religious system of Mesopotamia, in the image and likeness of which similar systems of other Middle Eastern states were subsequently formed, was not total, i.e. did not monopolize the entire sphere of spiritual life. It is possible that this played a certain role in the emergence of free thought in antiquity. The history of the cultures of Mesopotamia provides an example of the opposite type of cultural process, namely: intense mutual influence, cultural inheritance, borrowing and continuity. 10. References: 1. Avdiev V.I. Story Ancient East. - M., 1970. 2. Afanasyeva V., Lukonin V., Pomerantseva N., The Art of the Ancient East: Small History of Arts. - M., 1977. 3. Belitsky M. The Forgotten World of the Sumerians. – M., 1980. 4. Vasiliev L.S. History of the religions of the East. – M., 1988. 5. History of the Ancient East. - M., 1979. 6. Culture of the peoples of the East: Old Babylonian culture. - M., 1988. 7. Lyubimov L.D. Art of the Ancient World: A Book to Read. - M., 1971. 8. Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. – M., 1987.

Where to look for cains?

I still couldn’t figure out where the Sumerian myths end and the Akkadian ones begin? Obviously, they will continue to do so in one connection. Simply taking into account the fact that among them there are earlier ones, and there are later ones. Simply taking into account the fact that even within their own “country” the cities constantly fought among themselves for hegemony, which was also reflected in the process of myth-making. A kind of jar with spiders...

Here's the Nippur version:

In the cosmic space filled with the waters of the daughter of the ocean, Nammu, there was a mountain of heaven and earth. Ana-sky gave birth to Nammu and settled him on the top of the mountain, and Ki-earth at its foot. Ki and An gave birth to Enlil, and then seven more elemental sons. And then the younger Anunnaki gods appeared. And they all began to unite with each other as men and women, and children and grandchildren were born to them. When the space of the mountain became small for the gods, An and Enlil tore the mountain apart: An took the top high into the sky, Enlil lowered its base down and created the earth beautiful. At the request of the gods, he built the city of Nippur, and he himself settled there.

The sister Ana Nunbarshegunu (if the sister is Ana, then it should be Ki) lived in Nippur with her daughter Ninlil, over whom the “fire-eyed bull” Enlil would commit violence. For which the elder gods will send him to the lower world. Ninlil, carrying her son Nannu under her heart, will go there together with Enlil. To return to heaven, they will leave other sons in the underworld (Nergal, the center of his cult was the Emeshlam temple in the city of Kutu, originally a “heavenly” god; Ninurta - noise. Ningirsu, god of Lagash; Namtar - messenger of the gods). By the way, is it not for this reason that subsequent kings and leaders will “go” to the next world accompanied? Additional information on the “underground” gods indicates that the version of the descent of Enlil is completely far-fetched.

The gods multiplied so much that they began to lack food and they turned to Nammu. She woke up Enki (in other myths, the eternally sleeping one is Enlil...) and instructed him, together with Ninmah, to mold people from her mother’s flesh-clay. After a copious “outpouring of beer,” Enki and Ninmah’s people turned out to be slanted, crooked and natural monsters. Moreover, this couple managed to quarrel, so much so that they “sent” Ninmah Enki straight to the underworld!

In Hebrew there are several words meaning "man", "person". One of them is “enoch” (the same root “beginning-end”), the root of which has the meaning “weak” or “sick”. Enoch? (So ​​appreciate the “origins” of Judaism).

The myth “Enki and the Universe” says that the god An created the sky, and the wise god Enki developed the earth (Enlil, it turns out, has nothing to do with it; but the shepherd god Dumuzi is born). In addition, the wise Enki will write down the tables of Me, which the adventurer Inanna will steal from him from the underworld. And in later versions, for some reason she will go to the mistress underworld Ereshkigal (this is instead of Enki) and will “substitute” the shepherd Dumuzi (Tammuz) in his place. In an even later version, Tammuz “gave up” his spirit while hunting and the inconsolable Ishtar (Inanna) will go after him to Ereshkigal. (Just as the Ugaritic war maiden Anatu (Atana-Athena) will descend to the kingdom of Mummu for her beloved Balu).

In another myth, Enlil and Enki get along quite well and even cooperate.

“Enlil is considered the creator of all vegetation, livestock, agricultural implements and objects of civilization, although he acted indirectly through the creation of lesser gods to carry out his tasks. To give the earth cattle and grain, at the suggestion of the god of wisdom Enki (among the Babylonians - Ea), Enlil created two lesser deities - Lahar, the god of cattle, and Ashnan, the goddess of grain, to give food and clothing to the gods. The myth describes the abundance created by the gods on earth. However, they drink wine, get drunk, argue, forget about their responsibilities and simply cannot get what they need. Man was created precisely to correct this situation. The following passage from Kramer's translations is part of the myth of Lahar and Ashnan:

In those days, in the home,
Where the gods worked
Born in Dulkug
There were Lahar and Ashnan.
And their creation is the Anunnaki
Everybody eats and eats, get enough
Can not.
From the purest pastures
Milk... and much more
Other
All the Anunnaki drinks -
Can't get enough.
To have milk and much more
And so that in the pastures
Healthy cattle were walking -
Man was created..."

The passage is interesting because here Anunnaki is used in singular. By the name Lahar (La Har), information was found that this common Semitic word means “sheep.” Ashnan, accordingly, is grain.

Using the example of Akkadian myths, we are for the first time confronted with the phenomenon that the “creation of the world” can be interpreted not only as an actual act of creation of the universe, but also as a “conclusion of a truce.”

The myth of Atrahasis.

“The myth is known in several versions. The main one is Old Babylonian, recorded by the younger scribe Ku-Aya in the middle of the 17th century. BC e.

Table I begins with a description of time immemorial, when the Anunnaki divided the world among themselves, and the Igigi were forced to dig rivers and canals, build palaces and dwellings. It went on like this long years, until one day the Igigi rebelled and started a rebellion. The leader of the Iggigs led them to Ekur, the palace of Enlil.

The Supreme God immediately convened a council, at which Anu proposed creating people in order to place the burden of hard work on them. The foremother, the great Nintu (Mami), agreed to take on this matter together with Eya. To create it, one of the gods had to be killed, perhaps the instigator of the uprising.

From the blood of the murdered god Ve-Ila (the mind of God), the clay of Apsu and the saliva of the Igigi, people were created - 7 men and 7 women. From now on the gods were free from heavy work. (By the way, Ve-Il is very consonant with Baal, isn’t this where such a contradictory situation with the god Baal and with the Phoenician-Semitic “balls” in general comes from?..)

Time passed, after 12 centuries people became more prolific, stopped honoring the gods and began to annoy Enlil with their hubbub. The Supreme God ordered Namtar to send a plague to humanity, which began to rage on earth. There lived then among the people a certain Atrahasis, the wisest of all. In his city, everyone worshiped Enlil, but Atrahasis put the wise Eya above all. He began to pray to his god to help people, and the kind Eya advised him to make a sacrifice to Namtar. Atrahasis listened to the advice, and pleased with Namtar's attention, he averted the plague from humanity.

Fragment from the Assyrian version:

Eya opened his mouth,
This is what he says to the gods, his brothers...
Let the Anunnaki sit before you,
Belet-Ili, the foremother of the gods will appear,
Let her create man...
They called the goddess, they called
Midwife of the gods, wisest Mami...
"I cannot create alone,
Only with Enki will I perform the work...
Enki opened his mouth,
This is what he says to the great gods:

I will perform a cleansing ritual.
Let one of the gods be overthrown,
May the gods be cleansed by immersing themselves in blood.
From his flesh, on his blood
Let Nintu mix the clay!..
In the first month, days seven and fifteen,
He performed a cleansing ritual.
The "Wise" God, who has reason,
They (the Anunnaki) killed in their congregation...
And Igigi, the great gods,
They moistened the clay with their saliva...

The epithet of the “Wise” god immediately recalls the Ugaritic “Beautiful and Wise” (Qatar-va-Khasis). This is not an accident. But for now let’s get acquainted with the contents of the remaining two tablets.

“The second tablet says that after some time people multiplied again, again stopped honoring the gods, and again disturbed Enlil. At the council of the gods, it was decided to send a drought to the earth. The terrible disasters of mankind are described, the features of people were distorted by hunger, in the sixth year parents began to eat their children. The wisest Atrahasis constantly prayed to his god, asking for help. Finally, the heart of the good Eya trembled and he advised Atrahasis to appease Adad with sacrifices. And so it happened - Adad “was ashamed of the gift” and sent rain to the earth. Enlil was angry that humanity managed to survive, he reproaches Enki, and he has to make excuses. Further, the text has hardly survived, but most likely, people multiplied again and again aroused Enlil’s displeasure. At the council of the gods, a unanimous decision was made to destroy the world with a flood. Only Enki refused to take this oath.

The third tablet says that Eya warns Atrahasis about the flood and commands him to build a ship with the name “saving lives.” The wise Atrahasis carried out the order exactly and at the appointed time loaded his family, animals and birds onto the ship. The myth describes an element that raged for seven days and nights, the fury of which makes even the gods themselves tremble. Foremother Nintu reproaches the Anunnaki for their unwise decision to destroy the world. However, when Enlil learned that Atrahasis managed to survive, he began to reproach Enki for aiding people. True, when the people who survived the flood made sacrifices to the gods, his heart softened. As a result, the foremother Nintu created “birth guards” for people, forbade the priestesses to have children and released the demon Pashita onto the earth. This reconciled Enlil with the existence of humanity..."

The situation with the Anunnaki is also not very clear. Then he is alone. Then there are the Anunnaki and the Igigi, the truce between whom was concluded in such a monstrous way.

Igigi (Akkadian) is a not very specific group of gods of a celestial nature. In the bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian texts of Middle Babylonian times, the Sumerian equivalent is the word "nungalene" (great princes). The Anunnaki in such cases are presented as underground or earthly gods. Sometimes the seven great gods Igigi are called: Anu, Enlil, Eya, Sin, Shamash, Marduk, Ishtar. But these same gods can also be referred to as Anunnaki. In general, there was a confrontation, and now go figure out who is who!

The Babylonian version is:

“The first tablet begins with a description of the ancient state of the universe, when nothing existed except Apsu, an ocean of pure, sweet (fresh) water, and Tiamat, an ocean of salty sea water. From their union the gods were born. The first pair of gods, Lahmu and Lahamu (Jacobsen interpreted these gods as silt deposited at the junction of the ocean and rivers), gave birth to Anshar and Kishar (the horizon line of the sea and sky - in the interpretation of the same scientist). In turn, Anshar and Kishar gave birth to Anu, the god of the sky, and Nudimmud or Ea, the god of earth and water. There is some difference here from the Sumerian tradition. Enlil, whose activities are already familiar to us from Sumerian mythology, is replaced by Ea, or Enki, who in Babylonian mythology is designated as the god of wisdom and the source of magic. Ea gives life to Marduk, the hero of the Babylonian version of the myth. However, even before the birth of Marduk, the first conflict arises between the progenitor gods and their offspring. Tiamat and Apsu are annoyed by the noise created by the lesser gods, and they confer with their vizier Mummu, considering how to destroy them. Tiamat is not particularly keen on destroying her own children, but Apsu and Mummu develop a plan. However, their intention becomes known to the younger gods, and this naturally worries them. However, the wise Ea comes up with own plan: He casts a sleeping spell on Apsu, kills him, blinds Mummu and puts a cord through his nose. He then builds a sacred monastery and names it "Apsu". Marduk is born there, followed by a description of his beauty and extraordinary strength. The first tablet ends with a description of preparations for a new conflict between the elder and lesser gods. The older children reproach Tiamat for being calm when Apsu was killed. They manage to “stir up” her and take measures to destroy Anu and his assistants. She forces Kinga, her first-born son, to lead the attack, arms him and gives him "tables of destiny". She then gives birth to a horde of terrible creatures, such as the scorpion man and the centaur, whose image we see on Babylonian seals and boundary stones. She places Kinga at the head of this horde and prepares to avenge Apsu.
The second table describes how the assembly of gods perceives the news of an impending attack. Anshar is alarmed and, lost in thought, tears his thigh. First, he reminds Ea of his past victory over Apsu and offers to deal with Tiamat in the same way; but Ea either refuses to do this, or he simply fails to defeat Tiamat; at this very point the text is interrupted, and it is not entirely clear what happened to Ea. The council of gods then sends the armed Anu to convince Tiamat to abandon her intentions, but he also fails to do this. Anshar suggests that this task be entrusted to the mighty Marduk. Marduk's father Ea advises him to agree to complete this task, and he agrees, but on the condition that he is given complete and unconditional “power on the council of the gods”, that in determining fate his word will be decisive. This ends the second table.

The third tablet once again reiterates the decision made by the gods and ends with a description of the feast where Marduk formally receives the power he demanded.
The fourth table begins with a description of the presentation of the symbol of royal power to Marduk. The gods demanded from him proof that he had sufficient strength to cope with the task entrusted to him. To do this, he, by his will, makes his mantle disappear and then reappear. The gods were pleased and proclaimed: “Marduk is king.” Marduk then arms himself for battle; his weapons are a bow and arrows, lightning and a net held at the corners by the four winds; he fills his body with flame and creates seven terrible hurricanes; he boards his storm-drawn cart and marches against Tiamat and her horde. He challenges Tiamat to a duel; he throws a net to capture her, and when she opens her mouth to swallow him, he rides into it on an evil wind and hits her with an arrow right in the heart. Her demon assistants flee but are caught in a net. Their leader Kingu is also captured and tied up. Marduk then takes the "tables of fate" from Kingu and ties them to his chest, thereby emphasizing his supremacy over the gods. Following this, he divides Tiamat's body in two; He places one half above the earth like the sky, strengthens it on poles, and places guards. He then builds Esharra, the abode of the great gods, modeled after that of Ea - Apsu, and forces Anu, Enlil and Ea to settle there. This ends the fourth table.

The fifth tablet is too fragmentary for us to glean information about the first steps in the structure of the universe, but its opening lines indicate that Marduk first of all created a calendar (this was always one of the primary duties of the king). He determined the months of the year and their sequence in accordance with the phases of the moon. He also defines three earthly "paths" - the path of Enlil in the northern heavens, the path of Anu in the zenith and the path of Ea in the south. The planet Jupiter must oversee the celestial order of things.

The sixth tablet tells about the creation of man. Marduk declares his intention to create man and make him serve the gods. On the advice of Ea, it was decided that the leader of the rebels, Kingu, should die in order to create people in his image and likeness. So, Kingu is executed, and from his blood people are created who must “free the gods,” that is, perform actions related to the implementation of temple rituals and obtain food for the gods. The gods then build the great temple of Esagila in Babylon with the famous “ziggurat” for Marduk. At the command of Anu they proclaim the fifty great names of Marduk. Their listing takes up the rest of the poem. This is the plot of the Babylonian creation myth. It clearly shows a Sumerian basis. However, those elements that are scattered across several Sumerian myths are brought together in the Enuma Elish to form a coherent whole. We have no evidence that the various Sumerian myths were ever part of the ritual. The poem "Enuma Elish" became a ritual myth, possessing magical powers and playing a vital role in the Babylonian New Year festival, in connection with the dramatic embodiment of the plot of the death and resurrection of the gods ... "

Marduk (Akkadian), Amarutu (noise) - originally the patron god of the community centered in the city of Babylon, one of the younger gods (igigs). With the rise of Babylon at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The importance of Marduk also increases.

Babylon (from Akkadian bаb-ilаni “gate of the gods”) is a city in Ancient Mesopotamia on the territory of the historical region of Akkad. Founded no later than the 3rd millennium BC. e.; in Sumerian sources known as Kadingirra. In the Early Dynastic period, an insignificant city, the center of a small region or nome within the Sumerian city-state system. In the XXIV-XXI centuries. BC e. - a provincial center as part of the Akkadian kingdom and the Power of the III dynasty of Ur. In the II-I millennium BC. e. - the capital of the Kingdom of Babylon, one of the great powers of antiquity, and the most important city of the region of the same name.

The Sumerian analogue of the toponym Babili(m) was the logogram KA.DINGIR(KI) or KA.DINGIR.RA(KI), where KA is “gate”, DINGIR is “god”, RA is a dative indicator, KI is the determinant of a populated area. In addition, in the Old Babylonian period there was a mixed spelling: Ba-ab-DINGIR(KI). It is believed that the toponym babil(a) is of non-Semitic origin and is associated with some more ancient, unknown language

Excavations at the site of the ancient city of Ashur, the first capital of the Assyrian Empire, discovered tablets with the text of the Assyrian version of Enuma Elish, in which the place of the Babylonian god Marduk was taken by Ashur, the main god of Assyria.

Ashur or Assur (consonant with the Asura gods from the Vedas) - the capital of ancient Assyria, the first city built by the Assyrians and named after the Assyrian Supreme God Ashura. Probably located on the site of a Subarean settlement.

Subar (Sumerian: Su-bir/Subar/Subur) or Subartu is a country mentioned in Akkadian and Assyrian texts. It was located on the Tigris River, north of Babylonia. The name of the country also takes the form Subari in documents from the Amarna Archive, or Sbr (vowels omitted) in Ugaritic inscriptions.

“According to most historians, Subartu is early name Assyria itself on the Tigris, although according to a number of other theories, Subartu could be located somewhat to the east, north or west. According to I.M. Dyakonov, Subartu - apparently, the region along the middle and upper reaches of the Tigris and its tributaries, where, under Sargon I, speakers of the “banana” language could still live, as well as Hurrians, whom the Akkadians called Subareans...”

The Hurrians apparently had a similar story. It has survived to this day in a free translation: the Hittite “Poem of the Reign in Heaven.” Since Eya appears in it again, one can only guess what the original was like. Let me remind you that the Hittites themselves (self-name Nesili or Kanesili - from the city of Nes (Kanish), known at least from the beginning of the 19th century BC) were an Indo-European tribe that gained power later than the Sumerians (ca. 1800 -1180 BC AD), and they adopted cuneiform from the Babylonians.

"Poem about Reign in Heaven":

In former times, the god Alalu reigned in the sky, and even the mighty god Anu had to serve him. After nine eras, Anu expelled him and himself reigned in heaven. His son Kumarbi is forced to serve him, but after nine eras the son rebelled against his father. Anu fled to the sky in fear, but Kumarbi overtook him, pulled him down and, in the heat of battle, bit off Anu’s manhood. Kumarbi rejoiced, and Anu predicted to him the birth of three formidable gods: Teshub, his assistant Tasmisu and the Aranzakh River (the Hurrian name for the Tigris). Hearing this, Kumarbi spat out Anu’s sperm, but not all of it, since three great gods were still born from his head. The earth, from the seed spat out by Kumarbi, became pregnant and gave birth to two children.

“The messenger comes with news.
God Ea, sitting on the throne,
He listens to him with approval:
"I hear good news:
The earth gave birth to twins."
Having heard the good news,
King Ea sent gifts,
He sends them clothes
He gave them silver
Magic spindle
He sends them as a gift.
End of the first song table.

Copied from a damaged tablet by the scribe Askhapal.”

I wonder where the Greeks “borrowed” the story about Uranus and Kronos?

The Hittites themselves preserved the myth of the dragon Illuyanka in two versions. The preface to an earlier version of the myth states that it is a cult legend associated with the festival of Purulli in honor of the heavenly storm god, and that this version of the myth is no longer told. The mentioned holiday is most likely the New Year holiday.

"In more ancient version myth, the dragon Illuyanka defeats the storm god. When the dragon defeated the storm god, he took out his heart and eyes. A similar detail is found in the Egyptian myth about the battle between Horus and Set, in which Horus lost an eye. To take revenge on the dragon, the storm god took the daughter of a poor man as his wife, and she bore him a son. When his son grew up, he married Illuyanka’s daughter. The storm god told the son that when he entered his wife's house, he would have to ask for his father's heart and eyes to be returned to him. The son did so, and his father's eyes and heart were given to him, which he returned to the storm god. When the storm god received the body parts that had once been lost, he took up a weapon and went to battle the dragon. When he was close to victory, his son exclaimed: “Better kill me, do not spare me!” Then the storm god killed both: the dragon and his own son, taking revenge on the dragon. Here the text is interrupted, and when the next passage begins, it already concerns a certain ritual, which is a competition or race, the results of which determine the rank and importance of the gods.

Commentaries on Babylonian New Year rituals also mention a running competition in which Marduk's son Nabu kills the god Zu, an episode also associated with the resurrection of a dead god. Thus, both options suggest that the Babylonian myth of the victory over the dragon Tiamat, which was recited during the New Year celebrations, largely influenced the formation of the Hittite ritual myth of Purulli ... "

In the second version of the Hittite myth, “...the dragon Illuyanka defeats the storm god. And he turns to the assembly of gods for help, and the goddess Inara makes a trap for the serpent. She fills many vessels with wine and other drinks and asks a man named Hupasia to help her. He agrees to this on the condition that she shares his bed. She agrees, after which she hides it not far from the snake’s home. She preens herself and lures the dragon out of the house along with the children. They drink the wine from the vessels to the last drop and cannot return to their cave. After this, Hupasia emerges from the ambush and ties the dragon with a rope. The storm god and the other gods appear and kill the dragon Illuyanka. The following describes a scene that is not entirely connected with the main plot of the myth and is a purely folklore work. Inara builds herself a house on a rock, on the land of Tarukka, and settles Hupasia there. She warns him that in her absence he should not look out the window, because there he will see his wife and children. When she had not been home for twenty whole days, he looked out of the window and saw his wife and children. When Inara returns, Hupasia begs her to allow him to return to his family, after which the goddess kills him for disobeying..."

Speaking about the Hittites, it should be mentioned that they came to the lands of the Hatti people, who, according to one hypothesis, are related to the Adygs. The Hutts may have been related in language and origin to the Khalda people. Khaldi (Khaldi) - a people who inhabited the era Bronze Age southeastern Black Sea coast (now part of Turkey). During the same period, the Hutts lived near them, perhaps similar in language to them. The question of kinship with the Chaldean people in Mesopotamia remains open. But the Chaldeans lived even later.

Khaldei - Semitic tribes that lived in the south of Mesopotamia, in the area of ​​​​the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers on the northwestern shore of the Persian Gulf in the first half of the 1st millennium. They fought with Assyria for the possession of Babylon. In 626–536 BC e. Babylon was ruled by the Chaldean dynasty, which founded the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. They spoke Aramaic. Chaldeans were called sorcerers, magicians, wise men, fortune-tellers, and astrologers. According to one version, the Chaldean magicians were magicians who came to worship the born Jesus.

To complete the picture, it remains to include the Turks here. Taken from O. Zhanaidarov “Tengrianism: myths and legends of the ancient Turks”:

“...This myth was recorded by Verbitsky among the Altai people. Here is its content:

When there was neither earth nor sky, there was only a great ocean, without borders, without end or edge. Over all this, God - Tengri - named Ulken - that is, big, huge - flew tirelessly above all this. In some sources, even Kazakh ones, the name of this god is written Ulgen, which seems incorrect to me. Ulgen is the same as dead, Olgen. God, who is destined to give birth to life and create the universe, cannot be dead or bear the name “Dead”...

So, the Big God - Tengri Ulken - flew and flew tirelessly over the ocean of water, until some voice ordered him to grab onto a rock-rock that looked out of the water. Having sat down on this cliff by order from above, Tengri Ulken began to think:

“I want to create the World, the universe. But what should it be like? Who and how should I create?” At that moment, Ak Ana, the White Mother, living in the water, came to the surface and said to Tengri Ulken:

“If you want to create, then say the following sacred words: “I created, that’s it!” Basta, I mean, it’s over, since I said it! But the trick is that Turkic language the word "Basta, Bastau" means "Start, Beginning." The White Mother said so and disappeared. (But the trick is that in Sanskrit there is also Basta - this is a ram or a goat. And the Egyptians have Khnum. Khnum (the god of fertility, the son of Nun) is the creator god, sculpting a man from clay on a pottery disk, the guardian of the Nile ; a man with the head of a ram with spirally twisted horns. But the most famous is the Egyptian Creator Amon, whose symbols are the white goose and the ram.).

Tengri Ulken remembered these words. He turned to the Earth and said: “Let the Earth arise!” and the Earth came into being.

Tengri Ulken turned to Heaven and said: “Let Heaven arise,” and Heaven arose.

Tengri Ulken created three fish and placed the World he created on the backs of these three fish. At the same time, the World was motionless, standing firmly in one place. After Tengri Ulken had thus created the World, he climbed the highest Golden Mountain reaching to heaven and sat there, watching.

The world was created in six days, on the seventh Tengri Ulken went to bed. Waking up, he looked around and examined what he had created. He, it turns out, created everything except the Sun and Moon.

One day he saw a lump of clay in the water, grabbed it, and said: “Let him be a man!” The clay turned into a man, to whom Tengri Ulken gave the name “Erlik”, and began to consider him his brother.

But Erlik turned out to be envious person, he was jealous of Ulken that he himself was not like Erlik, that he was not the creator of the whole World.

Tengri Ulken created seven people, made their bones from reeds, and their muscles from earth and mud, and breathed life into them through their ears, and breathed intelligence into their heads through their noses. To lead people, Tengri Ulken created a man named Maytore and made him khan..."

Have you noticed that the ancient Turkic concept of Tengri very accurately corresponds to the Sumerian concept of Din-Gir (gods)?

And now I propose to move away from mythology in a slightly different direction. Have you heard of kashrut?

Kashrut (in Ashkenazi pronunciation "kashrus") is a term in Judaism meaning the permissibility or suitability of something from the point of view of Halakha, Jewish Law. I paid attention to this word only because behind the letter “w” there may well be another one hidden (by analogy with Ruth-Ruth, Python-Python, Cathar-Caesar).

The term kashrut is usually used to refer to a set of religious injunctions related to food, but it is also used in other aspects of traditional life.

Only the meat of animals that are both ruminants (strictly herbivores) and artiodactyls (having cloven hooves) is allowed for food.

The laws of kashrut also apply to the process of slaughtering an animal. For meat to be completely kosher, it must meet several requirements:
1. Only meat from kosher animals listed above should be used.
2. The animal must be slaughtered in accordance with all requirements of Halakha. This process is called shechita. According to Halacha, one of the necessary conditions for kosher shechita is shechita with one smooth movement of the knife, cutting simultaneously a large part (diameter) of the trachea and a large part of the esophagus. Ragged movement of the knife, delay in the movement of the knife, puncture of the tissues of the animal with the sharp end of the knife make shechita non-kosher, and the animal is forbidden to be eaten by Jews.

The Torah prohibits eating blood. Therefore, the meat is soaked in water at room temperature, and then placed on a special salting board and sprinkled with coarse salt. Salt absorbs blood. After this, the meat is thoroughly washed.

Products that are not related to either dairy or meat foods (fish, vegetables, fruits) are called parve (I assume “parve” - Pa Ra Va, what Ra ate).

Jewish law views kashrut as “chok” - a commandment that has no logical explanation, but is performed solely as a sign of submission to the will of God. In the light of the Sumerian-Akkadian-Babylonian myths, which are clearly related to the formation of Judaism, I assume that the concept of “kosher” should be associated with the name of the “Wise One”. But who then should the name Eya be associated with?

Do you think I'm wrong? No, everything is duplicated here. Do you know what "halal" is?

Halal is permitted actions in Shariah. Acceptability varies from desirable (sunnah) through neutral (mubah) to undesirable (makruh tanzihi). In Muslim life, halal usually means animal meat, the consumption of which does not violate Islamic food prohibitions, but in general, halal applies to almost any area of ​​human life.

Muslims also do not eat pork and use approximately the same rules for slaughtering livestock. But in Islam there is no special person whose functions would include monitoring compliance with religious restrictions. There is only one restriction that is in Islam, but it is not in Judaism: Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and from the point of view of kashrut there is nothing reprehensible in this. It can be noted that kashrut is generally stricter than halal. Despite the fact that both Islam and Judaism prohibit eating animal blood (it is believed that the soul is in the blood), Islam has its own ritual of slaughtering an animal, which differs from the ritual in Judaism.

And if kashrut reminds us of Katar-va-Hasis (the morning sun) from the Ugaritic myths, then halal reminds us of Astara, the prototype of Heylel (the morning star).

There is Allah. And there is Halakha or Alakha. In a narrower sense, the body of laws contained in the Torah, Talmud and later rabbinic literature.

Torah (Hebrew “teaching, law”) - in Ashkenazi pronunciation: Toiro (southeastern dialect - Poland, Ukraine), Teiro (northeastern dialect - Belarus, Lithuania) and Torra (Sephardic dialect). Tor-Ra - “teaching, law.” I think I have found the equivalent of the Torah in Sanskrit - it is "Karana", which means "document, written knowledge, body." Why this double meaning? Obviously, the answer lies in the very roots of the word: Kar-An. http://marichin.narod.ru/Sanscrit/VEDRO/10_k.htm. And in Dahl’s dictionary I found another equivalent: gibberish writing - digital, encrypted, which requires a special key.

I would like to finish this part with a little food for thought. Compare: Din-Gear and money, money; Ra-Pa and ruble, rupee, chop; Heilel and halal are the monetary unit of exchange of Saudi Arabia, equal to 1/100 of the riyal (riyal and Ra-Al); Lars - Roman-Etruscan house deities and the Georgian lari - the main monetary unit of Georgia, as well as the Maldivian lari (laari, larin) - the exchange monetary unit of the Republic of Maldives, equal to 1/100 of the rufiyaa; Peso (Spanish peso “weight”, from Latin pensum pensum, i.e. “weighted”, Pa An Su) - a silver coin of medieval Spain and its colonies, as well as the name of a series monetary units some former states spanish colonies; Da-La (Giver, Dazh, Dalai Lama) and the dollar... Is it possible to turn the name of God into a bargaining chip?

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Religion and mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia (Sumer, Babylon)

Plan.

1. The concept of myth and religion………………………………………..……3

2. “Ancient East”…………………………………………………………..……3

2.1. Ancient Sumer………………………………………………………4

2.2. Babylon…………………………………………………….….5

3. Religion and mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia…………………….6

4. Mesopotamian mythological creatures and deities………….7

5. Priesthood………………………………………………………….….12

6. Demons…………………………………………………………….…..13

7. Magic and mantika……………………………………………………..13

8. Achievements of the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia………………..……14

9. Conclusion………………………………………………………..…..15

10. References………………………………………………………………....17

1. The concept of myth and religion.

Myth and religion are forms of culture that reveal a deep relationship in the course of history. Religion, as such, presupposes the presence of a certain worldview and attitude, centered on belief in the incomprehensible, deities, the source of existence. The religious view of the world and the accompanying type of worldview initially develop within the boundaries of mythological consciousness. Different types of religion are accompanied by dissimilar mythological systems.

Myth is the first form of rational comprehension of the world, its figurative and symbolic reproduction and explanation, resulting in a prescription for action. Myth transforms chaos into space, creates the possibility of comprehending the world as a kind of organized whole, expresses it in a simple and accessible scheme, which could be translated into a magical action as a means of conquering the incomprehensible.

Mythological images are understood as really existing. Mythological images are highly symbolic, being the product of a combination of sensory-concrete and conceptual aspects. Myth is a means of removing sociocultural contradictions and overcoming them. Mythological ideas receive religious status not only through their focus on the incomprehensible, but also due to their connection with rituals and the individual lives of believers.

Religion is one of the forms of social consciousness, one of the forms of ideology. And any ideology is, ultimately, a reflection of the material existence of people, the economic structure of society. In this regard, religion can be placed on a par with such ideological forms as philosophy, morality, law, art, etc.

Both in the primitive community and in class society there are general conditions that support belief in the supernatural world. This is the powerlessness of man: his helplessness in the fight against nature under the primitive communal system and the powerlessness of the exploited classes in the fight against the exploiters in a class society. It is this kind of powerlessness that inevitably gives rise to distorted reflections in the human mind of the social and natural environment in the form of certain forms of religious beliefs.

Thus, religion is not only a reflection of any real phenomena of life, but also a replenishment of the strengths that a person lacks.

1. "The Ancient East".

The term "Ancient East" consists of two words, one of which is a historical characteristic, the second - a geographical one. Historically, the term “ancient” refers in this case to the very first civilizations known to mankind (starting from the 4th millennium BC). The term “East” in this case goes back to the ancient tradition: this is the name given to the former eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and the adjacent territories, that is, what was to the east of Rome. What we call the East today: Central and South Asia, Far East, etc. The concept of "Ancient East" is not included. In general, “oriental” refers to the cultures of peoples with non-antique cultural roots.

In ancient times, powerful civilizations flourished in the Middle East: Sumer, Egypt, Babylon, Phenicia, Palestine . In socio-political terms, the common distinguishing feature of all these civilizations was their belonging to eastern despotisms, which to one degree or another are characterized by monopolization and centralization of power (features of totalitarianism), personification of power in the figure of a despot (king, pharaoh), sacralization, that is, absolute subordination to religious norms of the entire life of society, the presence of systems of permanent physical and psychological terror, brutal oppression of the masses. The state played a huge role here. This role was expressed in the implementation of irrigation, prestigious construction (pyramids, palaces, etc.), control over all aspects of the lives of subjects, and conducting external wars.

“Mesopotamia” means “Land between the rivers” (between the Euphrates and the Tigris). Now Mesopotamia is understood mainly as the valley in the lower reaches of these rivers, and the lands east of the Tigris and west of the Euphrates are added to it. In general, this region coincides with the territory of modern Iraq, with the exception of mountainous areas along the country's borders with Iran and Turkey.

Mesopotamia is the country where the world's oldest civilization arose, which existed for about 25 centuries, from the creation of writing to the conquest of Babylon by the Persians in 539 BC.

2.1. Ancient Sumer.

To the east of Egypt, in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, starting from the 4th millennium BC. A number of state formations arise, replacing each other. These are Sumer, which is now considered the most ancient civilization known to mankind, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria. Unlike Egyptian culture, in Mesopotamia numerous peoples rapidly replaced each other, fought, mixed and disappeared, so the overall picture of culture appears extremely dynamic and complex.

In the south of Mesopotamia, where agriculture was widely carried out, ancient city-states developed: Ur, Uruk (Erekh), Kish, Eridu, Larsa, Nippur, Umma, Lagash, Sippar, Akkad, etc. The heyday of these cities is called the golden age of the ancient state of the Sumerians .

Sumerians - the first of the peoples living on the territory of Ancient Mesopotamia to reach the level of civilization. Probably still around 4000 BC. The Sumerians came to the swampy plain (Ancient Sumer) in the upper reaches of the Persian Gulf from the east or descended from the mountains of Elam. They drained swamps, learned to regulate river floods, and mastered agriculture. With the development of trade, Sumerian settlements turned into prosperous city-states, which by 3500 BC. created a mature urban civilization with developed metalworking, textile crafts, monumental architecture and a writing system.

The Sumerian states were theocracies, each of them considered the property of a local deity, whose representative on earth was a high priest (patesi), endowed with religious and administrative authority.

Cities constantly fought among themselves, and if a city managed to capture several neighboring ones, then for a short time a state arose that had the character of a small empire. However, around the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Semitic tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, who settled in the northern regions of Babylonia and adopted Sumerian culture, became so strong that they began to pose a threat to the independence of the Sumerians. Around 2550 BC Sargon of Akkad conquered them and created a power that stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. After about 2500 BC The Akkadian power fell into decline, and a new period of independence and prosperity began for the Sumerians, this is the era of the third dynasty of Ur and the rise of Lagash. It ended around 2000 BC. with the strengthening of the Amorite kingdom - a new Semitic state with its capital in Babylon; The Sumerians lost their independence forever, and the territory of the former Sumer and Akkad was absorbed by the power of the ruler Hammurabi.

Although the Sumerian people disappeared from the historical scene, and the Sumerian language ceased to be spoken in Babylonia, the Sumerian writing system (cuneiform) and many elements of religion formed an integral part of Babylonian and later Assyrian culture. The Sumerians laid the foundations for the civilization of a large part of the Middle East, and the methods of organizing the economy, technical skills and scientific information inherited from them played an extremely important role in the lives of their successors.

At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Sumerians assimilated with the Babylonians. The ancient slave state of Babylon flourished, which lasted until the 6th century. BC e. The Babylonian, Chaldean and Assyrian civilizations took a lot from the Sumerian culture.

1. Babylon.

Babylon in the ancient Semitic language was called “Bab-iliu”, which meant “Gate of God”, in Hebrew this name was transformed into “Babel”, in Greek and Latin - into “Babilon”. The original name of the city has survived centuries, and to this day the northernmost of the hills on the site of ancient Babylon is called Babil.

The ancient Babylonian kingdom united Sumer and Akkad, becoming the heir to the culture of the ancient Sumerians. The city of Babylon reached the pinnacle of greatness when King Hammurabi (reigned 1792-1750) made it the capital of his kingdom. Hammurabi became famous as the author of the world's first set of laws, from which the expression “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” has come down to us, for example.

The political system of Babylon differed from the ancient Egyptian one in the lesser importance of the priesthood as an apparatus for managing state irrigation and agriculture in general. The Babylonian political regime was an example of theocracy - the unity of secular and religious power concentrated in the hands of a despot. This hierarchical structure of society is reflected in the Babylonian ideas about the structure of the world.

The Assyro-Babylonian culture became the heir to the culture of Ancient Babylonia. Babylon, part of the mighty Assyrian state, was a huge (about one million inhabitants) eastern city, proudly calling itself the “navel of the earth.”

It was in Mesopotamia that the first centers of civilization and statehood in history appeared.

1. Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia.

The religion of Mesopotamia in all its main aspects was created by the Sumerians. Over time, Akkadian names of gods began to replace Sumerian ones, and personifications of the elements gave way to star deities. Local gods could also lead the pantheon of a particular region, as happened with Marduk in Babylon or Ashur in the Assyrian capital. But the religious system as a whole, the view of the world and the changes taking place in it were not much different from the original ideas of the Sumerians.

None of the Mesopotamian deities were the exclusive source of power, none had supreme power. The full power belonged to the assembly of gods, which, according to tradition, elected a leader and approved all important decisions. Nothing was set in stone or taken for granted. But the instability of space led to intrigue among the gods, which meant it promised danger and created anxiety among mortals.

The cult of the ruler-symbol, a mediator between the world of the living and the dead, people and gods, was closely connected not only with the idea of ​​the holiness of the ruler who possessed magical powers, but also with the confidence that it was the prayers and requests of the leader that would most likely reach the deity and will be most effective.

The Mesopotamian rulers did not call themselves (and they were not called by others) sons of the gods, and their sacralization was practically limited to granting them the prerogatives of the high priest or the right recognized for him to have direct contact with God (for example, an obelisk with the image of the god Shamash handing Hammurabi a scroll of laws has been preserved) . The low degree of deification of the ruler and the centralization of political power contributed to the fact that in Mesopotamia many gods with the temples dedicated to them and the priests serving them got along with each other quite easily, without fierce rivalry.

The Sumerian pantheon existed already at the early stages of civilization and statehood. Gods and goddesses entered into complex relationships with each other, the interpretation of which changed over time and depending on the change of dynasties and ethnic groups (the Semitic tribes of the Akkadians, who mixed with the ancient Sumerians, brought with them new gods, new mythological stories).

The world of Sumerian spiritual culture is also based on mythology.

The mythology of Mesopotamia includes stories about the creation of the earth and its inhabitants, including people sculpted from clay, in whom images of the gods were imprinted. The gods breathed life into man, i.e. created him to serve them. A complex cosmological system was developed of several heavens, a semi-vault covering the earth floating in the world's oceans. Heaven was the abode of the highest gods. Myths tell about the beginning of the world, about the gods and their struggle for the world order. It speaks of primeval chaos - Apsu. This may be the male personification of the underground abyss and underground waters. Tiamat is the female personification of the same abyss or primeval ocean, salt water, depicted as a four-legged monster with wings. There was a struggle between the newly born gods and the forces of chaos. The god Marduk becomes the head of the gods, but on the condition that the gods recognize his primacy over all others. After a fierce struggle, Marduk defeats and kills the monstrous Tiamat, dissecting her body and creating heaven and earth from its parts.

There was also a story about a great flood. The famous legend about the great flood, which subsequently spread so widely among different nations, was included in the Bible and accepted by Christian teaching, is not an idle invention. Residents of Mesopotamia could not perceive the catastrophic floods - the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - as anything other than a great flood. Some details of the Sumerian story about the great flood (the gods' message to the virtuous king about their intention to cause a flood and save him) are reminiscent of the biblical legend of Noah.

In Sumerian mythology, there already exist myths about the golden age of humanity and heavenly life, which over time became part of the religious ideas of the peoples of Western Asia, and later - into biblical stories.

Most of the Sumerian-Akkado-Babylonian gods had an anthropomorphic appearance, and only a few, such as Ea or Nergal, bore zoomorphic features, a kind of memory of totemistic ideas of the distant past. Among the sacred animals, the Mesopotamians included the bull, which personified power, and the snake, the personification of the feminine principle.

Mesopotamian deities and mythological creatures.

Anu, Akkadian form of the name of the Sumerian god An, the king of heaven, the supreme deity of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. He is the “father of the gods”, his domain is the sky. According to the Babylonian creation hymn Enuma Elish, Anu came from Apsu (originally fresh water) and Tiamat (sea). Although Anu was worshiped throughout Mesopotamia, he was especially revered in Uruk and Dera.

Enki or Ea, one of the three great Sumerian gods (the other two being Anu and Enlil). Enki is closely associated with Apsu, the personification of fresh water. Because of the importance of fresh water in Mesopotamian religious rituals, Enki was also considered the god of magic and wisdom. He did not awaken fear in the hearts of people. Prayers and myths invariably emphasize his wisdom, benevolence and justice. In Enuma Elish he is the creator of man. As the god of wisdom, he ordered life on earth. The cult of Enki and his wife Damkina flourished in Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Uruk and Shuruppak. Enki received from his father An the divine laws - “me”, in order to transmit them to people. “Me” played a huge role in the religious and ethical system of views of the Sumerians. Modern researchers call “me” “divine rules”, “divine laws”, “factors that regulate the organization of the world”. “Me” were something like patterns established and controlled by Enki, prescribed for every phenomenon of nature or society, relating to both the spiritual and material aspects of life. These included a variety of concepts: justice, wisdom, heroism, kindness, fairness, lies, fear, fatigue, various crafts and arts, concepts associated with cult, etc.

Enlil, together with Anu and Enki, one of the gods of the main triad of the Sumerian pantheon. Initially, he is the god of storms (Sumerian “en” - “lord”; “lil” - “storm”). In Akkadian he was called Belom ("lord"). As the “lord of storms” he is closely connected with the mountains, and therefore with the earth. This god was truly feared. Perhaps they were even more afraid than they were honored and respected; he was considered a ferocious and destructive deity, rather than a kind and merciful god. In Sumerian-Babylonian theology, the Universe was divided into four main parts - heaven, earth, waters and the underworld. The gods who ruled over them were Anu, Enlil, Ea and Nergal, respectively. Enlil and his wife Ninlil (“nin” - “lady”) were especially revered in the religious center of Sumer, Nippur. Enlil was the god who commanded the “heavenly army” and was especially enthusiastically worshiped.

Ashur, the main god of Assyria, just as Marduk is the main god of Babylonia. Ashur was the deity of the city that bore his name from ancient times, and was considered the main god of the Assyrian Empire. The temples of Ashur were called, in particular, E-shara (“House of Omnipotence”) and E-hursag-gal-kurkura (“House of the Great Mountain of the Earth”). “Great Mountain” is one of the epithets of the god Enlil, which passed to Ashur when he turned into the main god of Assyria.

Marduk - main god of Babylon. The temple of Marduk was called E-sag-il. The temple tower, a ziggurat, served as the basis for the creation of the biblical legend of the Tower of Babel. It was actually called E-temen-an-ki (“House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth”). Marduk was the god of the planet Jupiter and the main god of Babylon, and therefore he absorbed the signs and functions of other gods of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. Since the rise of Babylon, from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, Marduk has come to the fore. He is placed at the head of the host of gods. The priests of the Babylonian temples invent myths about the primacy of Marduk over other gods. They are trying to create something like a monotheistic doctrine: there is only one god, Marduk, all other gods are just his different manifestations. This tendency towards monotheism reflected political centralization: the Babylonian kings just took over the entire Mesopotamia and became the most powerful rulers of Western Asia. But the attempt to introduce monotheism failed, probably due to the resistance of the priests of local cults, and the former gods continued to be revered.

Dagan by origin - a non-Mesopotamian deity. Entered the pantheons of Babylonia and Assyria during the mass penetration of Western Semites into Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. The names of the kings of the north of Babylonia of the Issina dynasty Ishme-Dagan (“Dagan heard”) and Iddin-Dagan (“given by Dagan”) indicate the prevalence of his cult in Babylonia. One of the sons of the king of Assyria Shamshi-Adad (a contemporary of Hammurabi) was named Ishme-Dagan. This god was worshiped by the Philistines under the name Dagon.

Ereshkigal, cruel and vengeful goddess of the underworld of the dead. Only the god of war Nergal, who became her husband, could pacify her.

The Sumerians called the land of the dead Kur. This is a haven for the shadows of the dead, wandering without any hope.

Hell is not an abyss where only sinners are thrown, there are good and bad people, great and insignificant, pious and wicked. The humility and pessimism that permeate the pictures of hell are a natural result of ideas about the role and place of man in the world around him.

After death, people found eternal refuge in the dark kingdom of Ereshkigal. The border of this kingdom was considered to be a river, through which the souls of the buried were transported to the kingdom of the dead by a special carrier (the souls of the unburied remained on earth and could cause a lot of trouble to people). In the “land of no return,” there are immutable laws that are binding on both people and gods.

Life and death, the kingdom of heaven and earth and the underground kingdom of the dead - these principles were clearly opposed in the religious system of Mesopotamia.

In the Sumerian culture, for the first time in history, man made an attempt to morally overcome death, to understand it as a moment of transition to eternity. The Sumerian paradise was not intended for people. It was a place where only gods could reside.

Fear of death, fear of the inevitable transition to the country of Ereshkigal - all this gave rise not only to humility and submission, but also protest, longing for a different, better and more worthy fate for man. The Sumerians understood that eternal life, which is the destiny of the gods alone, was unattainable for mere mortals, and yet they dreamed of immortality.

Gilgamesh, the mythical ruler of the city of Uruk and one of the most popular heroes of Mesopotamian folklore, the son of the goddess Ninsun and a demon. His adventures are described in a long tale on twelve tablets; some of them, unfortunately, have not been completely preserved.

Gorgeous Ishtar, goddess of love and fertility, the most significant goddess of the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. Later she was also given the functions of the goddess of war. The most interesting figure in the host of Sumerian goddesses. Her Sumerian name is Inanna (“Mistress of Heaven”), the Akkadians called her Eshtar, and the Assyrians called her Istar. She is the sister of the Sun god Shamash and the daughter of the Moon god Sin. Identified with the planet Venus. Its symbol is a star in a circle. Like other similar female fertility deities, Ishtar also exhibited traits of an erotic goddess. As the goddess of physical love, she was the patroness of temple harlots. She was also considered a merciful mother, interceding for people before the gods. Throughout the history of Mesopotamia, she was revered under different names in different cities. One of the main centers of the cult of Ishtar was the city of Uruk. As a goddess of war, she was often depicted sitting on a lion.

God Damuzi(also known as Tammuz) was the male counterpart of the goddess Ishtar. This is the Sumerian-Akkadian god of vegetation. His name means "true son of Apsu". The cult of Damuzi was widespread in the Mediterranean. According to surviving myths, Tammuz died, descended into the World of the Dead, was resurrected and ascended to earth, and then ascended to heaven. During his absence the land remained barren and the herds died. Because of this god's closeness to the natural world, fields and animals, he was also called "The Shepherd." Damuzi is an agricultural deity, his death and resurrection are the personification of the agricultural process. The rituals dedicated to Damuzi undoubtedly bear the imprint of very ancient ceremonies associated with the mourning of everything that dies in the autumn-winter period and is reborn to life in the spring.

Thunderer Ishkur- the god of thunderstorms and strong winds - originally represented the same forces as Ningirsu, Ninurta or Zababa. All of them personified the powerful forces of nature (thunder, thunderstorm, rain) and at the same time patronized animal husbandry, hunting, agriculture, military campaigns - depending on what their admirers were doing. As a thunder deity, he was usually depicted with lightning in his hand. Since agriculture in Mesopotamia was irrigated, Ishkur, who controlled the rains and annual floods, occupied an important place in the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon. He and his wife Shala were especially revered in Assyria.

Naboo, god of the planet Mercury, son of Marduk and divine patron of scribes. Its symbol was the "style" - a reed rod used to apply cuneiform marks to unfired clay tablets for writing texts. In Old Babylonian times it was known as Nabium; his veneration reached its highest point in the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire. The names Nabopolassar (Nabu-apla-ushur), Nebuchadnezzar (Nabu-kudurri-ushur) and Nabonidus (Nabu-naid) contain the name of the god Nabu. The main city of his cult was Borsippa near Babylon, where his temple of E-zida (“House of Firmness”) was located. His wife was the goddess Tashmetum.

Shamash, Sumerian-Akkadian sun god, his name means “sun” in Akkadian. The Sumerian name of the god is Utu. Every day he made his way from the eastern mountain towards the western mountain, and at night he retired to the “insides of heaven.” Shamash is the source of light and life, as well as the god of justice, whose rays highlight all the evil in man. The main centers of the cult of Shamash and his wife Aya were Larsa and Sippar.

Nergal, in the Sumerian-Akkadian pantheon, the god of the planet Mars and the underworld. His name in Sumerian means “Power of the Great Abode.” Nergal also took over the functions of Erra, originally the god of plague. According to Babylonian mythology, Nergal descended into the World of the Dead and took power over it from its queen Ereshkigal.

Ningirsu, god of the Sumerian city of Lagash. Many of his attributes are the same as those of the common Sumerian god Ninurta. He is a god who does not tolerate injustice. His wife is the goddess Baba (or Bau).

Ninhursag, mother goddess in Sumerian mythology, also known as Ninmah ("Great Lady") and Nintu ("Lady Who Gives Birth"). Under the name Ki ("Earth"), she was originally the consort of An; from this divine couple all the gods were born. According to one myth, Ninmah helped Enki create the first man from clay. In another myth, she cursed Enki for eating the plants she created, but then repented and cured him of the diseases that resulted from the curse.

Ninurta, Sumerian god of the hurricane, as well as war and hunting. Its emblem is a scepter topped with two lion heads. The wife is the goddess Gula. As the god of war, he was highly revered in Assyria. His cult especially flourished in the city of Kalhu.

Syn, Sumerian-Akkadian deity of the Moon. Its symbol is a crescent. Since the Moon was associated with the measurement of time, he was known as the "Lord of the Month." Sin was considered the father of Shamash, the sun god, and Ishtar, the goddess of love. The popularity of the god Sin throughout Mesopotamian history is evidenced by the large number of proper names of which his name is an element. The main center of the cult of Sin was the city of Ur.

The functions of the Sumerian goddesses were even more similar than the gods. Having different names, the goddesses, in fact, represented one idea - the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bmother earth. Each of them was the mother of the gods, the goddess of the harvest and fertility, the adviser of her husband, the co-ruler and patroness of the city that belonged to the god-husband. All of them personified the feminine principle, the mythological symbol of which was Ki or Ninhursag. Ninlil, Nintu, Baba, Ninsun, Geshtinanna, in essence, were not particularly different from the mother of the gods Ki. In some cities, the cult of the patron goddess was older than the cult of the patron god.

Fate, more precisely, the essence or something “determining destiny” among the Sumerians was called “namtar”; The name of the demon of death also sounded - Namtar. Perhaps it was he who made the decision on the death of a person, which even the gods could not cancel.

For everything that happened on earth, we had to thank the gods. Above each city, temples “raised their hands” to the heavens, from where the gods watched over their servants. The gods had to be constantly prayed for help and assistance. Appeal to the gods took a variety of forms: the construction of temples and a network of canals, sacrifices and accumulation of temple wealth - “god's property”, prayers, spells, pilgrimages, participation in mysteries and much more.

But even the most powerful gods could not escape the fate destined for them. Like people, they too suffered defeats. The Sumerians explained this by saying that the right to make the final decision belonged to the council of the gods, which none of its members could oppose.

1. Priesthood.

Priests were considered intermediaries between people and supernatural forces. Priests - servants of temples, usually came from noble families, their title was hereditary. One of the ritual requirements for candidates for priesthood was the requirement not to have physical disabilities. Along with the priests, there were also priestesses, as well as temple servants. Many of them were associated with the cult of the goddess of love Ishtar. The same goddess was also served by eunuch priests who wore women's clothes and performed women's dances.

The cult was generally strictly regulated. The Babylonian temples were a very impressive sight, they gave rise to the Jewish legend about the construction of the Tower of Babel.

Only priests had access to temples - “the dwellings of the gods”. Inside, the temple was a labyrinth of utility, residential, and religious premises, decorated with extraordinary pomp, splendor and richness.

The priests at the same time were scientists. They monopolized the knowledge that was necessary to conduct an organized irrigation and agricultural economy. In Babylonia, astronomical science developed very early, not inferior to that of Egypt. Observations were carried out by priests from the heights of their temple towers. The orientation of knowledge towards the sky, the need for continuous observations of the luminaries, as well as the concentration of these observations in the hands of priests - all this significantly affected the religion and mythology of the peoples of Mesopotamia. The process of astralization of deities began quite early. Gods and goddesses became associated with heavenly bodies. The god Ur-Sin was identified with the Moon, Nabu with Mercury, Ishtar with Venus, Nergal with Mars, Marduk with Jupiter, Ninurta with Saturn. It was from Babylonia that this custom of calling heavenly bodies, especially planets, by the names of gods passed on to the Greeks, from them to the Romans, and the Roman (Latin) names of gods were preserved in the names of these planets until the present day. The months of the year were also dedicated to the gods.