Nammu
Nammu (also Namma ) is the Sumerian goddess of creation . If the Babylonian creation myth Enûma elîsch is based on a Sumerian myth, as is assumed, Nammu is the Sumerian deity of the primordial sea who gave birth to the gods An (heaven) and Ki (earth) and the first gods. Probably the first personification of what the Babylonians later called Tiamat and the Greeks called Keto , she embodied Apsu , the freshwater sea that the Sumerians suspected to be beneath the surface of the earth, the source of life-giving water and fertility in a land with almost no rainfall. She had seven lower goddesses by her side.
Nammu gave birth to a son, Enki . She and Enki created humans as assistants of the gods. Nammu formed man out of clay , which she brought to life.
According to Tannahill, "Sex in history", Nammu is the only significant female force in the ancient myths of creation, of which the Sumerian is the earliest.
literature
- Michael Jordan: Encyclopedia of Gods: Over 2500 Deities of the World , Kyle Cathie Limited, London 2002 ISBN 1-85626-453-X
- Reay Tannahill: Sex in History . Revised and updated edition. Abacus, London 1992, ISBN 0-349-10486-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) ( Memento of the original from December 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
