Enlil

Enlil (Sumerian:𒀭𒂗𒆤 ^dEN.LÍL, "Lord Storm") was the ancient Mesopotamian god of wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon and plays a vital role in the Sumerian creation myth, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians. He is also sometimes referred to in Sumerian texts as Nunamnir.

• Hoe, do not start getting so mightily angry!
  Do not be so mightily scornful!
  Is not Nisaba the Hoe's inspector?
  Is not Nisaba its overseer?
  The scribe will register your work.
  • In Debate between the Hoe and the Plough (middle to late 3rd millennium BC). [1]

• Enten is controller of the life-giving waters of all the lands -- the farmer of the gods produces everything. Emesh, my son, how can you compare yourself to your brother Enten?
  • In Debate between Winter and Summer, mid to late 3rd millennium BC. [2]

• I am the prince who decides the destiny of rolling rivers. I keep on the straight and narrow path the righteous who follow Enlil's counsel. My father Enlil brought me here. He let me bar the entrance to the mountains as if with a great door. If I fix a fate, who shall alter it? If I but say the word, who shall change it?
  • Anzud in Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird, Ur III Period (21st century BC). [3]

• I am father Enlil's great comptroller.
  • Emesh in Debate between Winter and Summer, mid to late 3rd millennium BC. [4]

• Enlil, your verdict is highly valued, your holy word is an exalted word. The verdict you pronounce is one which cannot be altered -- who can change it? There was quarrelling of brother with brother but now there is harmony. For as long as you are occupying the palace, the people will express awe. When it is your season, far be it from me to humiliate you -- in fact I shall praise you.
  • Emesh in Debate between Winter and Summer, mid to late 3rd millennium BC. [5]

• On that day when there is no snake, when there is no scorpion, when there is no hyena, when there is no lion, when there is neither dog nor wolf, when there is thus neither fear nor trembling, man has no rival! At such a time, may the lands of Šubur and Ḫamazi, the many-tongued, and Sumer, the great mountain of the me of magnificence, and Akkad, the land possessing all that is befitting, and the Martu land, resting in security -- the whole universe, the well-guarded people -- may they all address Enlil together in a single language! For at that time, for the ambitious lords, for the ambitious princes, for the ambitious kings, ... -- Enki, the lord of abundance and of steadfast decisions, the wise and knowing lord of the Land, the expert of the gods, chosen for wisdom, the lord of Eridug, shall change the speech in their mouths, as many as he had placed there, and so the speech of mankind is truly one.
  • Enmerkar in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, Neo-Sumerian period (ca. 21st century BC). Text online at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

• Say to Puzur-Culgi, the governor of Kazallu: this is what Ibbi-Suen, your lord, says: [...] Today Enlil loathes Sumer and has elevated to the shepherdship of the Land an ape which has descended from those mountain lands. Now Enlil has given kingship to an idiot, a seller of asafoetida -- to Icbi-Erra, who is not of Sumerian origin. [...] See, the assembly where the gods are and Sumer itself have been dispersed! Father Enlil, whose words prevail, said: "Until the enemy has been expelled from Urim, Icbi-Erra, the man from Mari, will tear out Urim's foundations. He will indeed measure out Sumer like grain." He has spoken just so.
  • Ibbi-Sin, Letter Letter from Ibbi-Suen to Puzur-Shulgi hoping for Ishbi-Erra's downfall, Correspondence of the Kings of Ur, Old Babylonian period, ca. 1800-1600 BC, at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature; their original date of composition and their historical accuracy are debated.

• Enlil, [...] first-born child of holy An, whose divine powers are untouchable
  • Ishme-Dagan, A subscript (balbale) to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan E), at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

• August Nibru! No deity excels like your lord and lady!
  They are powerful princes; they are brilliantly revealed deities.
  No deity excels like Enlil or Ninlil!
  They are powerful princes; they are lords who can decide destinies.
  In your midst they have given divine powers to king Enki.
  • Ishme-Dagan, A hymn to Enki for Ishme-Dagan, at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

• My king, lord Acimbabbar, you are on your throne because of Enlil. Youthful Suen, lord Acimbabbar, you are on your throne because of Enlil. I, the king, whose fate was already decreed in the true womb, who raises his head in authority, Ur-Namma, the youth who caught the eyes of the Great Mountain, Enlil, was chosen by Nunamnir in Sumer and Akkad. He decreed my fate in Nibru, in the mountain of life. He beamed at me approvingly and bestowed the kingship on me. In Urim, in the E-mud-kura, he made the foundation of my throne firm.
  • Variant from Ur: I, the king, whose fate was already decreed in the true womb, who raises his head in authority, Ur-Namma, the youth who caught the eyes of the Great Mountain, Enlil, was chosen by Nunamnir in Sumer and Akkad. He decreed my fate in Nibru, in the mountain of life. In Urim, in the E-mud-kura, he made the foundation of my throne firm. He placed the awesome crown, the adornment of kingship, on my head. He put the holy staff to guide the numerous people in my hand. [...] The shepherd's crook into my hand, and the nose-rope to lead the living.
  • Ur-Nammu, Ur-Namma the canal-digger (late 3rd millennium BC to early 2nd millennium BC), at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

• [Indra] is chief of the pantheon just as Enlil is chief of the pantheon. He supersedes a higher moral god just as Enlil supersedes a higher moral god. He separated heaven from earth, just as Enlil separated heaven from earth. He is a god of storm, both literally and figuratively, just as Enlil is a god of storm literally and figuratively. He conquers the enemies of the Aryans, just as Enlil similarly conquers enemies. Viṣṇu, who is noted to stride widely to the side in the battle against Vṛtrá, is referred to as Índra’s younger brother (Epic period and on), while Enki, who represents fresh water and fertile earth, is referred to as the younger brother of Enlil. Índra uses a net as a snare (AV 8.8.8), he shakes ripe fruit from trees as if with a hook (RV 3.45.4), and he cannot be stopped by bird catchers (RV 3.45.1). Enlil catches both birds and fish with nets. In other words, similar specific imagery is shared... In short, we hereby have a synchronism.
  • Levitt, S. H. (2012). Vedic-ancient Mesopotamian interconnections and the dating of the Indian tradition. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 93, 137-192.

Anonymous

• The destiny was fulfilled which the father of the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for Gilgamesh: "In nether-earth the darkness will show him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none will leave a monument for generations to come to compare with his. The heroes, the wise men, like the new moon have their waxing and waning. Men will say, 'Who has ever ruled with might and with power like him?' As in the dark month, the month of shadows, so without him there is no light. O Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream. You were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power to bind and to loose, to be the darkness and the light of mankind. He has given unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before the face of the Sun.
  • Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Nancy Sandars, 1960, Penguin Classics, Third edition, 1972

• Nunamnir, the Great Mountain, the lord who embraces heaven and earth. [...] My king, the shepherd of the black-headed people already in the womb.
  • Excerpt of a royal praise poem, at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

• Lord Nunamnir; who perfects the divine powers of E-kur
  • Letter by Nanna-manshum, 3rd millennium BC, at the electronic text corpus of sumerian literature.

• Not only did the lord make the world appear in its correct form, the lord who never changes the destinies which he determines – Enlil – who will make the human seed of the Land come forth from the earth – and not only did he hasten to separate heaven from earth, and hasten to separate earth from heaven, but, in order to make it possible for humans to grow in "where flesh came forth" (𒍜𒌓𒁺𒀀) [the name of a cosmic location], he first raised the axis of the world at Dur-an-ki. He did this with the help of the hoe -- and so daylight broke forth. By distributing the shares of duty he established daily tasks, and for the hoe and the carrying-basket wages were even established. Then Enlil praised his hoe, his hoe wrought in gold, its top inlaid with lapis lazuli, his hoe whose blade was tied on with a cord, which was adorned with silver and gold. ... The lord evaluated the hoe, determined its future destiny and placed a holy crown on its head. [...] Here, in 'Where Flesh Came Forth', he set this very hoe to work; he had it place the first model of mankind in the brick mould. His Land started to break through the soil towards Enlil. He looked with favour at his black-headed people. Now the Anuna gods stepped forward to him, and did obeisance to him. They calmed Enlil with a prayer, for they wanted to demand the black-headed people from him. Ninmena, the lady who had given birth to the ruler, who had given birth to the king, now set human reproduction going.
  • Song of the Hoe, 3rd millennium BC. Text online at the electronic text corpus of sumerian literature.

• Oh Gilgamec! Enlil, the Great Mountain, the father of gods, has made kingship your destiny, but not eternal life.
  • The Death of Gilgamesh, version from Nibru, the electronic text corpus of sumerian literature.

• Enlil has perfected for you your great and noble filial status and lordship. Enlil has made majestic divinity manifest for you. Determining a destiny for your flowing waters, the majestic lower waters, Enki from within the sacred bathing chamber has placed the good earth, the good mother, at your feet. Enlil has sired you in majesty and lordship.
  
  O Nanna, your crescent moon is called "the crescent moon of the seventh day". Enlil has made known throughout heaven and earth your name, which is a sacred name. Princely son, he has made your greatness manifest throughout heaven and earth. The majestic assembly has bestowed on you his status as Enlil.
  • About Nanna, A hymn to Nanna (Nanna E), late 3rd millennium BC, at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

• Father Enlil, lord of all the lands.
  • A hymn to Ninshubur (Ninshubur B), late 3rd millennium BC, at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

Sumerian disputations

• The shepherd adorns the plain with his ewes and lambs. After the heavens had been turned upside down, after bitter lament had been imposed on Sumer, after, as houses were overwhelmed by the rivers and Enlil frowned in anger upon the land, Enlil had flooded the harvest, after Enlil had acted mightily thus, Enlil did not abandon us.
  • Referring to the Sumerian flood myth in Debate between the Hoe and the Plough (middle to late 3rd millennium BC). [6]

• I am the Plough, fashioned by great strength, assembled by great hands, the mighty registrar of father Enlil. ... I pile up stacks and mounds for Enlil. I amass emmer and wheat for him.
  • Debate between the Hoe and the Plough (middle to late 3rd millennium BC). [7]

• An lifted his head in pride and brought forth a good day. ... Enlil set his foot upon the earth like a great bull. Enlil, the king of all lands, set his mind to increasing the good day of abundance, to making the night resplendent in celebration, to making flax grow, to making barley proliferate, to guaranteeing the spring floods at the quay, to making lengthen their days in abundance, to making Emesh (Summer) close the sluices of heaven, and to making Enten (Winter) guarantee plentiful water at the quay.
  • Debate between Winter and Summer, mid to late 3rd millennium BC. [8]

• The harvest, the great festival of Enlil, rose heavenward.
  • Debate between Winter and Summer, mid to late 3rd millennium BC. [9]

Sumerian proverbs

• Enlil's temple is a summation of accounts. The temple manager is its overseer.
  • Collection III at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, 3rd millennium BC.

• Enlil's greatest punishment is hunger.
  • Collection III at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, 3rd millennium BC.

• You shouldn't give a lame man a staff. Enlil is his helper.
  • Collection XV at The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, 3rd millennium BC.

• Paganism
• Mythology

• Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Enlil/Ellil (god)
• Gateway to Babylon: "Enlil and Ninlil", trans. Thorkild Jacobsen.
• Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature: "Enlil and Ninlil" (original Sumerian) and English translation
• Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature: Sumerian Flood myth (original Sumerian) and English translation