This book includes tales of gods and goddesses, both major and minor, as well as kings and heroes, both historical and mythical. One such king is the hero of what many scholars believe to be the first written epic: Gilgamesh.

In addition to creating connections between the human world and the divine, Sumerian myths explain how the world came to be in the first place. These myths establish the cosmic order, which places the greater gods, or Annunaki, at the top of the hierarchy, with the lesser gods, or Igigi, below them.

Heroic strength capable of bringing mountains to their knees is the province of both male and female deities in Sumerian myth. The god Ninurta does battle with the evil Asag and rearranges the mountains to allow the Tigris and Euphrates to flow, while the goddess Inanna brings down Mount Ebih in revenge for the mountain's refusal to do the goddess reverence.

The original Sumerian texts of these stories are poetic in nature and often contain a significant number of repeated phrases. For the purposes of this book, the stories have been rendered in prose and the repetitions have been smoothed out in order to make the language flow as such. A glossary of names and places for modern readers who may not be familiar with Sumerian mythography is included. But however these stories are transmitted, they will always tell us how this ancient people understood their world and their place in it, as well as about the customs and relationships they found to be most important.

In Sumerian Mythology: Captivating Myths of Gods, Goddesses, and Legendary Creatures of Ancient Sumer and Their Importance to the Sumerians, you'll find the following Sumerian myths and topics covered

• Tales of Gods and Goddesses
• Tales of Kings and Heroes
• Inanna and the Huluppu Tree
• Enkidu in the Underworld
• Gilgamesh and Huwawa
• Gilgamesh and Aga
• And much, much more