Igigu

The igigu are part of Sumerian and Akkadian mythology . The Igigu are a small group of Semitic deities who were initially subordinated to the Anunna deities in the Sumerian pantheon . In the Atraḫasis epic , it is reported how the Igigu carried out coronary labor until their uprising , which the Anunna heavenly deities imposed on them. After long negotiations, the Igigu rebellion ended with the creation of the people who took over the Igigu's work:

In the Gilgamesh epic , a conflict between the Igigu gods and the Anunna , especially Enlil , was suggested. An important Igigu was Ištar , which enjoyed a priority over other deities, especially in Babylonia . In the Assyrian religion , both the Igigu and the Anunna voluntarily step back from Marduk after he had rearranged the world as described in the Enûma elîsch .

literature

• Helmut Freydank among others: Lexicon Alter Orient. Egypt, India, China, the Middle East. VMA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-928127-40-3 .
• Brigitte Groneberg : The gods of the Mesopotamia. Cults, myths, epics. Artemis & Winkler, Stuttgart et al. 2004, ISBN 3-7608-2306-8 .