Gods
The Mesopotamians were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods, not just one. The Mesopotamians worshipped thousands of gods, and of those there were only a few major ones, such as those in the list below:
- Adad: God of storms
- Ashur: God of the wind
- Anu: God of heaven and the sky
- Enki: God of war, weapons and intelligence
- Ereshkigal: Goddess of the underworld
- Inanna: Goddess of fertility, love and war
- Nabu: God of wisdom and writing
- Nanshe: God of social justice, prophecy, fertility and fishing
- Nergal: God of plague
- Ninhursag: Mother Goddess
- Ninurta: God of agriculture
- Shamash: God of the sun
- Sin: God of the moon
- Tammuz: God of food and vegetation
Adad, en.wikipedia.org
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Ninhursag, www.ancient-origins.net
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Ninurta, forgetfuldepths.tumblr.com
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Temples
Each city in Mesopotamia, there was a patron god or goddess. The city would have one large temple right in the centre of the city for this god or goddess, as well as a surrounding cluster of smaller ones, intended for other less significant gods. It is said that the people of the cities believed that the gods and goddesses did in fact live in their allocated temples, but they were invisible and intangible. Because of this, the people decorated the temples like houses with beautiful ornaments and decorations. In the centre of the temples there was always a statue of the god(dess) known to live there.
Temples and palaces were the pride and joy of architecture in Ancient Mesopotamia. They were always magnificent, and a huge task for those who built them.They varied from small one room structures to breathtaking buildings, built over hundreds or even thousands of years. They absolutely had to be beautiful, given that it was believed that they were to be the homes of the gods and goddesses of the city.
When a temple becomes old and decayed, or is simply too outdated, it is destroyed and a new one is built right back onto the old one's foundations.
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Most ancient temples were done in a triangular design with a series of layers made to resemble steps, known as a Ziggurat. This design was originally the work of the Sumerians, but it developed and adapted to many different cultures over time. Generally, a shrine for the city's god or goddess would be situated on the top most layer of the pyramid like shape, taken care of by one or more of the priests working at that temple.
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It is said that Ziggurats were built to resemble a mountain, but no one knows why or whether this is true.