CLT3378 01 Ancient Mythology East and West Fall 2015 Study Guide for Exam 1 Introduction to Myth god powerful important supernatural beings run parts of the universe ex sun love ocean hero figure in whom the gods take a special interest favored by gods receive gods attention this may be a good or bad thing trickster amoral own moral code shape shifting deceivers could be animals objects etc instigators culture heroes help humans build their culture civilization creation myth how the universe gods humans sky earth etc came into being succession myth how one god succeeds to the kingship of gods usually by deposing other god s combat myth how one god often the storm god OR a hero battles defeats a monstrous enemy hero vs villain divine council myth how two or more gods meet to discuss the fate of one or more humans i e whether the gods will help or harm that human apocalyptic myth how gods level destruction on humans because one or more humans have offended the god punish humans flood myth how one god angry at humans sends a flood to destroy all life on earth heroic quest myth how a hero makes a journey a gain experiences and achieve fame especially through battle katabasis myth how a hero makes a descent a katabasis to the underworld and returns to earth alive trickster myth how tricksters transform either themselves or the world around them often through trikery polytheism belief and worship of many gods anthropomorphism gods in shape of humans and having human emotions binaturalism conception of gods with two natures 1 Physical space god Sky Earth Sea Mother Earth 2 Abstract concept god Love Victory Envy 3 Thing god god of fire god of sacred drink Syncretism adaptation of one culture s mythic beliefs by another culture Greek Zeus Roman Jupiter Sumerian Inanna Akkadian Ishtar sphere of influence areas with which gods are associated have power 1 Ishtar goddess of sexual desire war morning evening star 2 Zeus god of rain lighting kingship hospitality Primordial waters waters that exist at the beginning or even before creation no on creates them they just exist in many creation myths usually precedes sea or other bodies of water Ancient Near East ANE includes Mesopotamia Canaan Israel Anatolia Asia Minor modern day Turkey Enuma Elish Mesopotamia land between rivers Tigris and Euphrates Sumerians earliest Mesopotamian civilization and earliest human civilization invited the idea of a city walls literature etc had their own unique language Akkadians later Mesopotamian people influenced by Sumerians later subdialects of Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian Semitic language related to Arabic and Hebrew syncretism adopted Sumerian beliefs Babylonians ancient Akkadian speaking Semitic people who lived in a cultural region based in central southern Mesopotamia Enuma Elish Babylonian creation epic means When on high first two words of the poem poem recited performed at new year festival akitu where people pledge allegiance to the Babylonian king and his right to rule is re established written by Babylonians in Akkadian cuneiform Creation myth creation of the universe beginning with Aspu Tiamat Sucession myth o Aspu Tiamat in charge first o Marduk in charge in the end Combat myth o Aspu vs Ea o Tiamat vs Marduk Akitu New Year Festival where Enima Elish is recited Marduk patron god of Babylon storm god not binatural protects city 4 eyes 4 ears breathes fire Cuneiform wedge cuneas shape forma wedge shaped writing invented by sumerians written on clay tablets Apsu husband to Tiamat fresh water binatural space god Tiamat wife to Aspu salt water later sea binatural space god Aspu and Tiamat together produce o Lahmu o Lahamu o Anshar o Kishar Anshar father of Anu Anu son of Anshar upper sky purest part of sky heaven one of the most important gods binatural physical space god Ea Enki Nuddimud son of Anu father of Marduk trickster god associated with human creation god of cleverness wisdom and fresh water spheres of influence finds out Aspu s plot to kill gods so he kills him and makes temple and reservoir of fresh water out of Aspu s body Mummu advisor vizier to Aspu tells Aspu to kill other gods who are annoying him Damkina goddess who is mother to Marduk and wife to Ea Qingu Kingu leader of Tiamat s 11 monster army against Marduk Given tablet of Destinies Kakka Gaga advisor vizier to Anshar Tablet of Destinies controls gods powers spheres of influence Background Reading 1 Semitic people who spoke a language related to hebrew Babylon important city state in the area known as Meopotamia Hammurapi issued a code of laws that still survives today on an inscribed pillar Ziggurat Stepped pyramids made from bricks that were found in most cities considered the home of the god or goddess while he she was staying in a particular city the interior of a temple therefore belonged to a god and was not a place of worship for humans like a modern day church mosque or synagogue Baal Cycle Baal Cycle group of poems about storm god Baal Ugarit ruined city in Syria Also known as Canaanite Canaan the ancient region lying between the Jordan the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Canaanite a member of a Semitic people that inhabited parts of ancient Palestine and were conquered by the Israelites and largely absorbed by them El means god creator god never declared king but very powerful father of the gods wise and eternal lived on mountain with two rivers where all fresh water came from Baal means lord storm god son of Dagon god of grain lived on mountain called Zaphon Zaphon mountain Baal lived on Asherah wife of El mother of gods Anat sister of Baal nubile sexual attractive and ready for marriage virgin goddess goddess of war and hunting Kothar wa Hasis craftsman god build s Baal s house Shapash sun goddess linked to both life and death summer drought Attanu Purlianni temple of chief priest Baal where the Baal Cycle poems were found Ilimilku scribe who wrote Baal cycle on tablet Niqmaddu II king of Ugarit when Baal cycle was written 1375 1345 Yam sea river dragon serpent binatural physical space god other gods afraid of him defeated by Baal Mot dwells in the underworld swamp muck binatural physical space god Background Reading 2 Ras Shamra what used to be Ugarit the ruins of an ancient port city Illuyanka Myths and Kumarbi Cycle Hittites indo European people languages related to each other oldest indo European people with legible script entered Anatolia Hattians indigenous pre Hittite people Hurrians people in northern Syria
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