Who's Who in the Mesopotamian Pantheon Quiz

Answer: Inanna

As well as being the goddess of love, Inanna has also been associated with concepts as diverse as justice, war and fertility. Although the Sumerians originally referred to her as Inanna, a similar goddess was worshipped under the name Ishtar by subsequent groups such as the Akkadians and the Assyrians. Two different versions of the story of Inanna's descent into the underworld have survived, both of which include her sister Ereshkigal.

Answer: Marduk

Not anywhere near as important during earlier periods, the rise in popularity and importance of Marduk in Babylon took place at the same time as the city itself was becoming more powerful. Marduk features prominently in the Babylonian creation story 'Enuma Elish', in which he uses a weapon called 'imhullu' to attack the goddess Tiamat.

Answer: An

Part of the so-called Triad of Heaven with Enki and Enlil, An (also known as Anu) was the most ancient god of the Mesopotamian pantheon, and the origin of all other gods and human rulers. Many of the other major deities, including Enlil, Enki and Nidaba, are described as children of An.

Answer: Ninurta

As well as his association with agriculture Ninurta also has strong ties to war, and developed from a more passive god into a warrior-like deity as time progressed. By the time of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (9th Century BCE) he was very much a war god, and the king built a temple in his honour at Kalhu.

Answer: Enlil

The temple or 'ekur' in the city of Nippur (modern-day Iraq) was believed by the Sumerians to have been built by Enlil himself, and was thus the centre of his worship. When the city was sacked around 1230 BCE, his cult declined and he lost some of his prominence in the pantheon. In later writings, Enlil is more commonly called 'Ellil' or 'Elil'.

Answer: Tiamat

For the Babylonians, Tiamat was a primordial being identified with the salt sea. This was convenient given that her consort, Abzu, was the primordial god of fresh water. In the Babylonian creation epic 'Enuma Elish', she gives birth to a succession of other deities, though she is ultimately killed by Marduk.

Answer: Nabu

More popular in the later period of Mesopotamia that encompasses the Babylonians and Assyrians, Nabu is believed to have developed from the more ancient deity Nisaba. Only 17 km from Babylon, the city of Borsippa was associated with Nabu, and it is thought that the prominent ziggurat at the site was built in his honour.

Answer: Enki

Also one of the Triad of Heaven, Enki was the ruler of the southern sky. Enki was the patron god of the ancient city of Eridu in southwest Iraq, one of the oldest cities in the world.

Answer: Ashur

Ashur takes his name from a city of the same name that was founded in the third millennium BCE and is considered the birthplace of the Assyrian Empire. As the Assyrians conquered land (they spread comfortably into modern-day Turkey and Egypt) they promoted the worship of Ashur in favour of the local deities.

Answer: Gilgamesh

Although Gilgamesh probably was an actual king of the city of Uruk, he can also very much be considered mythological given his deification and the construction of legends around his exploits. Many such exploits are collected in the 'Epic of Gilgamesh', one of the earliest surviving works of literature.

In the epic, Gilgamesh travels with his friend Enkidu to accomplish a series of adventures such as killing both the forest guardian Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.