The God Enlil

Enlil occupies a central power position as supreme god of the Anunnaki on Earth. He belongs to the uppermost level of the Anunnaki and as presumably the first son of An is the legitimate successor to his father.

From the Ekur temple in Nippur, he plans and organizes the development of the land. His most important task here is the administration and control of income and expenditure as well as providing resources for the Anunnaki’s projects. In particular, he is responsible for carrying out the great infrastructure projects of the Anunnaki such as building the canal system. As supreme commander of the Igigi, he commissions them to work on these projects. In this way, Enlil tries to ensure that the balance between population growth and available resources is maintained. His other tasks include controlling the legitimation of rulers.

Enlil is portrayed as an authoritarian and strict ruler who tends to resort to drastic means when he sees his position in the pantheon or one of his projects threatened. In the Atrahasis Epic, his harshness is shown when he repeatedly tries to control population explosion through catastrophes. He does not hesitate to use natural disasters such as plagues, droughts, and floods to achieve his goals. Although Enlil is often described as a strict or even angry god, the myths upon closer inspection also show another side: He cares about the fundamental order and security of human society. Even the catastrophes he sends are not out of pure arbitrariness, but from a — albeit harsh — administrative logic.

As a mature ruler personality, he is usually portrayed at about 65 years old, with bright (probably blue) eyes and a full beard. His eyes are described as radiant in the myth “Enlil and Ninlil.” He radiates royal dignity and authority.

In important decisions, he listens to his advisor Enki, but can also be stubborn and intractable. This is particularly shown in the Atrahasis Epic, where he conjures up the deluge against Enki’s advice.

Enlil’s mythological history begins with a drastic intervention in cosmic order: As described in the myth “Enki and Ereshkigal,” Enlil causes the separation of his parents, the sky god An and the earth goddess Ninhursag (also called Ki), whereby heaven and earth also separated and the world as we know it came into being. Enlil explains that he thereby took over responsibility for the earth. This early action already shows Enlil’s characteristic readiness to take drastic measures when he considers them necessary. At the same time, however, he also takes responsibility for the consequences by committing himself to act as ‘protector and guardian of the earth.’

Due to Enlil’s close connection with Enki, which is revealed in the myth “Enki and Ninhursag,” he asks Enki to be at his side:

“I definitely need help. Would you be at my side to organize the middle world so that it is safe for everyone?”

The task that Enlil had set himself was to ensure that human life becomes more than mere existence:

“There is more to life and being than mere existence. Perhaps life should be organized in meaningful patterns.”

He finally came to the realization:

“Perhaps life should therefore be a kind of shaping and design that constantly develops and changes to allow countless possibilities. Not as a preconceived plan, but as process and goal while life unfolds.”

According to the myth “Enki and the World Order,” Enlil helped his companion Enki build the first city of Eridu by collecting all divine powers (the Me) and giving them to Enki. This enabled Enki to introduce the arts and crafts in Eridu.

Soon after, the city of Nippur was also built. The myth “Enlil and Ninlil” describes how Enlil as a young man lives in Nippur and falls in love with the girl Ninlil, who bathes in the canal. But Ninlil was still too young to become his wife. Ninlil was not a simple girl, but a young goddess. Since Enlil was able to change her fate, he decided to give her more maturity before he slept with her and thereby begot the later moon god Nanna. However, Enlil was forbidden to change the fates of other gods. Since he did it anyway, the other gods saw their power threatened and wanted to banish him to the underworld. While he was on his way to the underworld, however, he managed with the help of his wife Ninlil to determine his own fate and finally no longer had to visit the underworld. Through this, Enlil established his rule.

Enlil’s later rule is characterized by great projects such as building the canal system. He had his wife beget his son Ennugi, whom he later commissioned to supervise canal construction. As mentioned in the Atrahasis Epic, building the canal system that served to irrigate the fields was one of Enlil’s most important projects. For building the canals, Enlil initially employed the Igigi, which however led to a revolt among the Igigi a few thousand years later due to increasing workload. Later, humans themselves performed this work.

However, the construction of the canal system and the first settlements was overshadowed by a catastrophe. In the myth Enki and the World Order, it is mentioned that the cities of Eridu and Ur had been flooded, for which Enlil took responsibility. This flood, which can be dated to about 3500 BC, was not yet the deluge. Subsequently, Enlil commissioned the god Enki to increase or restore the prosperity of humans, while he himself administered the country’s income and expenditure in Nippur. This becomes clear in the myth “Enki and the World Order”:

“From Meluha Enki brought gold and silver and brought it to Nippur to Enlil, to him who watches over all lands. To him who has no more city, to him who has no more horse, he gave cattle of the Martu nomads.”

So Enki procured gold and silver for his land on Enlil’s behalf and brought it to Enlil, who had to monitor and approve all important financial transactions. The gold and silver was then used to buy cattle from the nomads, since the Sumerians had lost their own cattle due to a catastrophe.

In the Atrahasis Epic, the problem of population explosion is addressed, as well as the task of the gods to put a stop to it. To curb the population, Enlil first had a disease, then a drought, and finally the deluge conjured up. The deluge can be dated to about 2900 BC. Enlil was so annoyed by the reproductive zeal of humans that he wanted to exterminate humans with the deluge and start anew. Thanks to Enki’s intervention, however, this did not happen and humanity survived the deluge.

Enlil always saw his projects threatened by people who did not work for him as desired. As described in the myth Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird, Enlil therefore commissioned the eagle Anzu to keep humans on the straight and narrow path on which they would be advantageous for Enlil’s projects. He had therefore empowered Anzu to decree human fates in this way.

During this time, Enlil established a new system of rule: Kingship was now no longer exercised directly by the gods, but increasingly delegated to human rulers. However, these still had to be legitimized by him.

Enlil also planned together with Inanna to establish the kingdom of the gods on earth. As described in the Gilgamesh Epic, the residence of the gods was to be erected in a cedar forest and guarded by the giant Humbaba, whom Enlil had created for this purpose. From there, his granddaughter Inanna was to rule over all kingdoms. However, this project failed through Gilgamesh’s intervention.

As a Founder, Enlil’s central task was probably planning and organizing the development of Sumerian civilization. As a Founder, Enlil apparently pursued a systematic strategy of civilization development: First, the agricultural basis was created through the canal system, then the development of cities was made possible through resource management, and finally a stable political order was established through the introduction of kingship. Managing resources required building and administering the first complex financial system of humanity. This was one of his main tasks, since without a functioning financial system, the emergence of complex city-states would not have been possible.

His portrayal as a strict, angry god served to legitimize his decisions about resource distribution. Particularly interesting is his role in natural disasters: As a Founder, his possibilities were limited and he could not actively influence the weather. However, by having natural disasters portrayed as his conscious decisions, he could prevent humans from questioning the authority of the gods.

His actual methods of influence were probably based on telepathic guidance of the Igigi, who practically administered the financial system or realized one of his projects. This process is symbolically described in the myths through the use of the tablet of destinies with which he could determine the “rites” of the Igigi.

As a Founder, Enlil developed not only the financial system but also basic administrative structures. The administrative texts and economic documents later found in temples probably reflect the organizational principles he introduced. The historical significance of his activities can hardly be overestimated: Enlil’s system of centralized administration and legitimized rule became the model for many later cultures. Even when the direct influence of the Founders waned, the structures he established remained in the form of various state and religious systems.