Mesopotamian Myth Trivia

1. The chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon was the god Enlil. What city was home to his main temple?

From Quiz Myths of Mesopotamia

Answer: Nippur

Enlil's temple, the Ekur ("Mountain House"), was the focal point of the city of Nippur. Interestingly, despite its religious importance, Nippur was never the capital city of any major Mesopotamian state.

From Quiz Inanna, Sumerian Goddess

Answer: Love, Fertility, and War

Inanna was the goddess of love and fertility, and also the goddess of war. She represented the undomesticated woman, wild and free, both masculine and feminine. She took any man she pleased, and when she didn't get one she wanted, she took her revenge instead, as was the case with Gilgamesh.

From Quiz The World of the Enuma Elish

Answer: The first words of the poem

"When up high, the heavens had not been named; and down below, the Earth was not given a name" is how the poem begins. It refers to the absence of the world in which we now live. In much the same way as art, ancient stories generally did not have a title or author, so scholars simply named this story after its beginning lines.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses

Answer: the sky/heavens

He was a chief god in earlier times, the father of Ea and Enlil. His main cult city was Uruk. Cult centers for the gods were like sports franchises. Every major city had one. Most people who are not even from the U.S. would know where I grew up based on the local "gods" Michael Jordan and Walter Peyton...Chicago.

From Quiz Babylonian Creation Myth

Answer: Enuma Elish & enuma elis

Enuma Elish, the Babylonian Creation Myth.

From Quiz Babylonian Myth Review

Answer: When on high

From Quiz Enuma Elish

Answer: Babylonian

The Babylonian culture was centered in Babylon. Babylon's rise corresponded with Sumeria's fall. There are similar myths to the Babylonian one in other Mesopotamian cultures such as the Sumerians and Assyrians. Their stories differ slightly from the ones described in this quiz.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Mythology - The Creation and Beyond

Answer: Salt water and fresh water

The idea of a vastness of water pre-existing anything else was, again, a notion commonly held in the ancient myths of Egypt. Another similarity with Egyptian mythology is that the first mating (which in Mesopotamian mythology occurred when the salt waters of Tiamat mingled with the fresh waters of Apsu) resulted in several deities which came as pairs. Where the similarity falls apart is in the vicious behaviour of the primordial water gods of Mesopotamian mythology. One version of the story tells of how Apsu was so sick of the noise created by his offspring that he killed them all.

From Quiz Inanna, Sumerian Goddess

Answer: Dumuzi

Dumuzi was Inanna's primary partner, but they had a very complicated relationship. When Inanna decended to the underworld she was turned into a corpse, but then rescued by Enki, but she wasn't allowed to leave the underworld until she found someone to take her place. When Inanna found out that Dumuzi did not mourn her death, but instead seemed to relish in her absence, she insisted that he take her place.

From Quiz The World of the Enuma Elish

Answer: The Library of Ashurbanipal

Ashurbanipal, a late, powerful king of the Neo-Assyrian empire collected many great works of writing and kept them in a library, much the same as the Ptolemys of Egypt would do in Alexandria. This library was discovered in the mid-19th century in the ancient city of Nineveh (upstream from Babylon), the later Assyrian capital. In it, archaeologists have discovered the first few tablets of the Babylonian version of the Enuma Elish, a complete form of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a story of Adapa, and many other short stories.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses

Answer: the moon

He governed the passing of the months. His sacred city was Ur, and his symbol was the crescent moon.

From Quiz Babylonian Creation Myth

Answer: When On High

Enuma Elish means 'When On High' or 'When Above'.

From Quiz Babylonian Myth Review

Answer: Marduk

From Quiz Enuma Elish

Answer: When above

Enuma Elish means either 'when above' or 'when on high'.

From Quiz Myths of Mesopotamia

Answer: Dumuzi

An interesting story with parallels in other myths comes from the tale "Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld" which says that, after some drama with her lover Dumuzi, the goddess agreed to have him stay in the netherworld for half the year, and then switch places with his sister, helping to explain the cycle of seasons in Mesopotamia. Dumuzi lives on, as the Arabic name for the month of July is Tammuz, derived from the Sumerian god's name.

From Quiz Inanna, Sumerian Goddess

Answer: Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal, Inanna's sister, seemed very threatened by Inanna's arrival and instructed the gate keepers to make Inanna remove a piece of armor/clothing/jewelery to pass each of the seven gates, leaving her completely stripped of clothing and power when she arrived in front of her sister.

From Quiz Babylonian Creation Myth

Answer: Apsu

Tiamat and Apsu were the first creatures, the personifications of salt and fresh waters, before heaven and earth were created, and when their waters mixed, the first gods were born.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Myth Menagerie

Answer: a flood

Many Mesopotamian texts refer to grand, disastrous floods brought upon by vengeful gods. One such flood exists in "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Historians can draw direct parallels from this event in Mesopotamian mythology to the stories in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In fact, one can often look to Mesopotamian mythology for parallels in many of history's religious traditions. Greek and Roman mythology often draw their own pantheons from sources from this region. Monotheistic religions that began in the Middle East region also find strong parallels in many of their stories. It's no huge surprise that much of human tradition finds its earliest roots in the cradle of civilization.

From Quiz Babylonian Myth Review

Answer: Ishtar

From Quiz Enuma Elish

Answer: Tiamat

Tiamat is sometimes respresented as a sea dragon in art and sculpture.

From Quiz Myths of Mesopotamia

Answer: Ishtar

In the story, Gilgamesh doesn't just reject her advances, he recites a litany of her past lovers who have all ended up worse for wear by being with her. Angry and humiliated, she goes to her father, the sky god Anu, and demands that he release the Bull of Heaven to attack Gilgamesh and his friend. When he refuses, she threatens to open the gates of the netherworld to unleash a zombie apocalypse on the world and so her dad relents. The resulting battle with Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven is epic.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Mythology - The Creation and Beyond

Answer: Marduk

This story is similar to one of Norse mythology, when the brothers Odin, Vili, and Ve kill the frost giant Ymir and use his carcass to create the Earth. Marduk kills the evil Tiamat, who had terrorised the other gods, and used her body to form the heaven and the Earth. Her skin was supposedly stretched above the sky as a barrier, which explained the droughts of Mesopotamia. The story of Marduk's role in the creation of Earth is described in the Enuma Elish, but an alternative version of the myth credits the Earth's creation to his father, Enki. Enki is one of the most ancient Mesopotamian gods, and some believed him to have adorned the Earth with crops, mountains and metals. It is also believed that he created the two rivers which give Mesopotamia its name (literally "between two rivers") using his sperm. These rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates.

From Quiz Inanna, Sumerian Goddess

Answer: Tricked Enki to get them

Inanna went to visit Enki in a guise of merry-making and got him drunk. He gave them to her in his inebriated state, but in the morning he realized what had happened and sent sea monsters or demons after her ship to stop her, but she escaped and returned to her city with the valuable information.

From Quiz The World of the Enuma Elish

Answer: The New Year

This poem describes the creation of the world and the new year marks this event. The celebration is also known as the Akitu Festival. Though not much is known about what occurred during this festival, scholars believe this poem was recited in front of the entire city at least in Babylon, though likely in other cities as well. It may also have been acted out similarly to an Athenian drama.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses

Answer: fresh water and rain

He was the Lord Earth and also the god of wisdom, magic and semen. He instructed mankind in arts and crafts. His main cult center was in Eridu.

From Quiz Babylonian Creation Myth

Answer: Salt Water Oceans

Apsu was fresh water; Marduk was Sky; Tiamat's body later becomes Earth.

From Quiz Mesopotamian Myth Menagerie

Answer: Abzu

The relationship between Abzu and Tiamat resulted in the creation of the other Mesopotamian gods, though Abzu and Tiamat regretted their creation. Abzu was later slain by the younger gods so that they could take over his rule of the universe.

From Quiz Babylonian Myth Review

Answer: Lahmu and Lahamu

This is a bit of a trick question...Apsu and Tiamat weren't 'created' per se, they were the primordial beings.

From Quiz Enuma Elish

Answer: Ea

The figure Ea probably best corresponds with Zeus of Greek myth.

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