Thank you for visiting. This article is one installment in a series that explains the “original texts” of the world’s myths and religions — an index page summarizing the original texts of “Mesopotamian mythology.”
Mesopotamia (the area around present-day Iraq) is the land where humanity’s oldest civilization flourished, and its mythology includes the world’s oldest literature. Said to have influenced later Greek mythology and the Bible, it is one of the wellsprings of all mythology.
The original texts of Mesopotamian mythology survived as documents inscribed on clay tablets in cuneiform. Long forgotten, they were deciphered by excavations from the 19th century onward and became known to the world again.
This series explains the myths these original texts convey in detail, divided into thematic articles. This page introduces the big picture and what each article covers.
The “strength” of the gods of Mesopotamian mythology has been introduced previously in ranking form, so please use that as a reference too.
You can also view the complete index of the world’s myths and religions, including others besides Mesopotamian mythology, from the page below.
The Big Picture of Mesopotamian Mythology’s Original Texts
Mesopotamian mythology has no single scripture; it is reconstructed from many clay-tablet documents. The central original texts are as follows.
Listing the major original texts gives the following.
| Original text | Content |
|---|---|
| Enūma Eliš | The Babylonian creation epic. The gods’ battle and the creation of the world and humans |
| Epic of Gilgamesh | 12 tablets. The world’s oldest literature, depicting a hero’s friendship and journey seeking immortality |
| Atrahasis | The story of the creation of humans and the great flood the gods raised |
| The Descent of Inanna (Ishtar) | A Sumerian myth depicting the goddess’s visit to the underworld |
This series explains the Mesopotamian mythology these original texts convey, divided into several articles.
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Myths and LegendsView on Amazon →
An Anatomical Illustrated Guide to Story-Making MythsView on Amazon →
Article 1: The Creation of the World and the Gods (Enūma Eliš)
The first part of the series explains the Babylonian creation epic “Enūma Eliš.”
It covers in detail the grand creation story: the conflict between the primeval sea goddess Tiamat and the young gods, and the hero god “Marduk” defeating Tiamat, who leads an army of monsters, and splitting her giant body to make heaven and earth.
Article 2: The Epic of Gilgamesh
The second part of the series explains the world’s oldest literary work, the “Epic of Gilgamesh.”
It explains richly, following the story’s flow, the friendship between the once-tyrannical hero-king Gilgamesh and the wild man Enkidu, the battles with the monster Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, the death of his friend, and the journey wandering in search of “eternal life” and the wisdom he gains beyond it.
Article 3: The Creation of Humans and the Great Flood (Atrahasis)
The third part of the series explains “Atrahasis,” which depicts how humans were made and why the great flood occurred.
It covers the story of humans being made to take over the gods’ labor, and the great flood also said to be the prototype of Noah’s Ark in the Bible.
Article 4: The Myths of Inanna (Ishtar)
The fourth part of the series (the finale) explains the myth cycle of Mesopotamia’s greatest goddess, Inanna (Ishtar).
It covers the “Descent to the Underworld,” in which she is stripped of her power at seven gates, and the cycle of the seasons; the seizure of the powers of civilization, the “me”; the proposal to Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven; and the hymns of Enheduanna, the world’s oldest named author.
How Were the Lost Myths Revived?
That we can read Mesopotamian mythology today is thanks to an almost miraculous story of discovery and decipherment.
The cuneiform in which these myths were recorded was completely forgotten in the common era and became, for nearly 2,000 years, a script no one could read. Then, in the 19th century, with clues like Persian inscriptions, it was deciphered little by little and regained its voice. Decisive was the discovery, from the great library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal excavated in the mid-19th century, of tens of thousands of clay tablets.
Especially famous is the event in which, in 1872, the British researcher George Smith deciphered the flood scene of the “Epic of Gilgamesh.” A story exactly like Noah’s flood in the Bible was inscribed on a clay tablet older than it — this discovery shocked society at the time and showed that the Bible’s great flood story had a source. The forgotten oldest myth of humankind, buried in the earth, was thus revived in the modern age.
To Learn More
Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.
World Mythology for Beginners (illustrated)View on Amazon →
An Illustrated Introduction to the World’s 5 Great MythologiesView on Amazon →
Conclusion
In this article, I introduced the big picture of Mesopotamian mythology’s original texts and what the four articles of the series cover. How was it?
Mesopotamian mythology is humanity’s oldest mythology, inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets, and is reconstructed from the Enūma Eliš, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, and others.
In particular, the great flood story and the theme of seeking eternal life are content that may be called the wellspring of all stories, connecting to the later Bible and Greek mythology.
Besides Mesopotamian mythology, I also explain the original texts of Greek, Japanese, Norse, and Egyptian mythology, and Christianity (the Bible). For the full list, see the complete index of the world’s myths and religions.
For the strength of the gods of Mesopotamian mythology, please use this ranking article as a reference too.
I hope you’ll read the next article too.
📚 Series: The Original Texts of Mesopotamian Mythology (1/5)
