7/27/2019 Anunna (Anunnaku, Anunnaki) (a group of gods)
1/2
Anunna (Anunnaku, Anunnaki) (a group ofgods)
The term Anunna indicates a group of gods in the Mesopotamian
pantheon. Later on, it issometimes used to describe the underworld
gods (as opposed to the gods of heaven, the Igigi).
Functions
A recent and comprehensive study of the term Anunna is still
lacking; such a study is made moredifficult by the term having
slightly different meanings in different time periods.
In the Sumerian textual corpus, Anunna (Akkadian: Anunnaki,
Anunnaku) describes the highestgods in the Mesopotamian pantheon,
but it can also be used to indicate the pantheon of aparticular
city or city-state, such as the Anunna of Eridu or the Anunna of
Laga (Falkenstein1965, see also Katz 2003: 403). It is not clear
how many gods and which particular gods this termincludes; one text
speaks of the 'fifty Anunna of Eridu' (Falkenstein 1965: 130;
Edzard 1965: 42).
One of the main functions of the Anunna gods was to decide the
fates (Falkenstein 1965: 131),as attested, for example, in the
Sumerian myth Enki and the World Order(ETCSL 1.1.3, l.
207).However, already in the Sumerian sources the Anunna are
sometimes associated with thenetherworld, as evidenced in the myth
Inana's Descent into the Netherworld(ETCSL 1.4.1, line167), where
the Anunna, the seven judges, pass judgement over Inana's
trespassing into thenetherworld.
The suggestion that in the Sumerian textual corpus, Anunna are
only mentioned in literary textsand that there is no evidence for
their worship (Falkenstein 1965) will have to be reconsidered
inlight of new textual evidence from the Ur III period, in which it
appears that offerings were made to
Anunna (Anunna on CDLI). However, as there are only three
attestations from administrativetexts, the evidence is still rather
meagre.
The meaning of the term Anunna changed after the Old Babylonian
period, when it was used todescribe the gods of the netherworld, in
opposition to the term Igigi (Black and Green 1998: 34).In some
cases, Igigi seems to have the same meaning that Anunna had in
Sumerian texts(Kienast 1965: 143). The so-called Babylonian
Creation Story, Enma eli TT (Tablet VI, lines39-44), narrates how
Marduk assigned 300 Anunna gods for duty in the heavens, and the
samenumber for duty in the netherworld, giving a total of 600
Anunna gods (Foster 2005: 470).
It appears that there was some confusion surrounding this terms
already in antiquity (Kienast
1965: 144). In the Poem ofErra (e.g., Tablets I, lines 62-63;
II, lines 8-9; V, line 3, see Foster2005: 880-911), the Igigi are
clearly separated from the Anunna.
The Anunnaku are sometimes invoked in curse formulas and also
appear in incantations, but areoverwhelmingly attested in literary
and mythological texts. In the Epic of Gilgame, the phrase"judge of
the Anunnaki" is mentioned as a title of Gilgame (Tablet VIII, line
210, unfortunately inbroken context, see George 2003: 663, 861-2).
This is possibly a reference to Gilgame'sfunction as a judge in the
netherworld.
Divine Genealogy and Syncretisms
Because this term encompasses the major deities of the
Mesopotamian pantheon, thegenealogical relationships were different
than those of the individual deities that are part of the
Anunna.An is sometimes mentioned as the father of the Anunna,
and some texts indicate thatthe relationship between the Anunna was
brotherly/sisterly (Falkenstein 1965: 129-30).
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#foster_2005http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/igigi/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#foster_2005http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#foster_2005http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/technicalterms/#enmaelihttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/igigi/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://tinyurl.com/6xdmytghttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/an/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#george_2003http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/igigi/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#foster_2005http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/erra/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#foster_2005http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/technicalterms/#enmaelihttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/igigi/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#black-green_1998http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/igigi/http://tinyurl.com/6bp8ztmhttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://tinyurl.com/6xdmytghttp://tinyurl.com/5wrwmywhttp://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#edzard_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#katz_2003http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/igigi/
7/27/2019 Anunna (Anunnaku, Anunnaki) (a group of gods)
2/2
Cult Place(s)
Currently, we have no knowledge of a sanctuary dedicated to the
Anunna gods, presumablybecause all the Anunna gods had their
individual temples in various cities across Mesopotamia.
Time Periods Attested
The term Anunna first appears in the Post-Akkadian period,
namely in some Gudea inscriptions,
and in a few Ur III texts. In its Akkadian forms Anunnaku and
Anunnaki continue to occur until theSeleucid period (see the link
to Anunnaku in CAMS below).
Iconography
There are no known depictions of Anunna or Anunnaku, only of
individual deities.
Name and Spellings
There has been some discussion as to the meaning of the name
Anunna (see Falkenstein 1965:
128-30). The most likely suggestions translate the term as
something like "Those of princelyseed," (Falkenstein 1965: 129;
Edzard 1965: 42).
Written forms:
Sumerian: da-nun, da-nun-na, da-nun-na-ke4-ne,da-nun-ke4-ne
Akkadian: da-nun-na-ki, e-nun-na-ki, e-nu-uk-ki,
de-nu-uk-ki;logographic: dA.NUN, dA.NUN.NA, dA.NUN.NA.KE.E.NE;
cryptographic: dg-u (also see Kienast 1965: 142-43).Normalized
forms:
Anuna(k), Anunna, Anunnaki, Anunnaku, Anunnakku
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#kienast_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#edzard_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/bibliography/#falkenstein_1965
