#Ninshubur

[yamayuandadu]

Ninshubur(s), Ilabrat, Papsukkal and the gala: another inquiry into ambiguity and fluidity of gender of Mesopotamian deities

Yesterday I’ve mentioned in passing that despite recommending Dahlia Shehata’s Musiker und ihr vokales Repertoire: Untersuchungen zu Inhalt und Organisation von Musikerberufen und Liedgattungen in altbabylonischer Zeit overall, I have a minor issue with the coverage of Ninshubur in this monograph - specifically with the arguments about the gender of this deity. I figured my problem warrants a more in depth explanation, not just because I’m the self-proclaimed “biggest Ninshubur fan not counting Rim-Sin I of Larsa”. 

Note that while this is functionally a followup to my recent Inanna’s article, it is not the followup I’ve promised previously; that one will be released at a later date.

To begin with, in a cursory  survey of figures who speak in emesal in literary texts, Shehata introduces Ninshubur as a deity equally firmly masculine as Dumuzi (Musiker…, p. 83). This is in itself a problem - when Ninshubur’s gender is specified in sources from the third millennium BCE, the name clearly designates a goddess, not a god (can’t get more feminine than being called ama); and even later on she remains a goddess in a variety of sources - including many emesal texts, which is the context most relevant here (Frans Wiggermann, Nin-šubur, p. 491).

Occasionally arguments are made that a male Ninshubur - explicitly a separate deity from “Inanna’s Ninshubur” as Manfred Krebernik and Jan Lisman recently called her - already existed in the third millennium BCE (The Sumerian Zame Hymns from Tell Abū Ṣalābīḫ, p. 151), though this is ultimately conjectural.

It is true that the Abu Salabikh god list includes at least two Ninshuburs, but in contrast with later, more informative lists it provides no theological glosses, so we can’t be sure that gender is what differentiates them. For all we know it might be a geographic distinction instead - “Inanna’s Ninshubur” from Akkil and the Lagashite Ninshubur associated with Mesmaltaea, perhaps. The one case where we have a text involving two Ninshuburs which we can differentiate has the “great” (gula) Ninshubur from Uruk - “Inanna’s Ninshubur” - and the “small” (banda) Ninshubur from Enegi (Nin-šubur, p. 500; Ur III period) . The fact that there might be a third Ninshubur entry between the two certain ones in the Abu Salabikh list (The Sumerian…, p. 151) doesn’t help, either.

This is not to deny the existence of a male Ninshubur altogether. However, this is actually a fairly straightforward phenomenon, with no real ambiguity involved  - possibly as early as in the Old Akkadian period, Ninshubur came to be associated with a male messenger deity, Ilabrat, and later on with equally, if not more firmly masculine Papsukkal; at first her name was used as a logogram to write Ilabrat’s, and later Papsukkal’s, but eventually it became possible to essentially speak of full replacement (or absorption) of both Ninshubur and Ilabrat by Papsukkal (Nin-šubur, p. 491-493; Julia M. Asher-Greve, Joan Goodnick Westenholz, Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources, p. 93). Papsukkal even replaces Ninshubur up in the Neo-Assyrian derivative of Inanna’s Descent, written in Akkadian; but he is addressed as a servant of the divine assembly, not the eponymous protagonist of the myth, and the entire mourning and mediation sequence is cut (Wilfred G. Lambert, Introductory Considerations, p. 13). I feel it’s important to stress that in most cases where Ninshubur’s gender cannot be determined this is not due to intentional ambiguity, but rather due to lack of grammatical forms which would make it possible for us - in antiquity all the context needed was presumably available to the reader. Furthermore, in many such cases the ambiguity isn’t quite “what is Ninshubur’s gender?” but rather “does this theophoric name use Ninshubur as a logogram for Ilabrat or Papsukkal?” Thus, Ninshubur’s gender was not ambiguous innately and did not become ambiguous, but rather she was replaced by an originally distinct male deity - her case is thus more comparable to absorption of both male and female deities of specific professions by Enki in god lists form the first millennium BCE, if anything. Even if a separate male Ninshubur existed alongside feminine Ninshubur (or Ninshuburs) even before the entire Ilabrat/Papsukkal situation, we’d still be dealing with a similar phenomenon.

Back to Shehata’s monograph, later on she acknowledges that Ninshubur possessed “a male and female aspect” (“einen männlichen wie auch weiblichen Aspekt”) and on this basis suggests a parallel between Ninshubur and the gala (p. 85). The process of conflation of messenger deities is not discussed, instead this interpretation relies on Uri Gabbay’s The Akkadian Word for “Third Gender”: The kalû (gala) Once Again, which at the time was the most recent treatment of the matter. I won’t go into the details of that article here, since it’s for the most part not relevant (it focuses on the possible etymology of the term gala). What matters here is Gabbay’s novel proposal that Ninshubur was perceived as having the same gender identity as the gala, largely just based on her portrayal as a mourner in Inanna’s Descent and her ability to appease other deities, which was also the purpose of the performances of the gala (The Akkadian Word…, p. 53). The supporting evidence is that some of Ninshubur’s titles use the term lagar, and a single lexical list explains lagar as gala (The Akkadian Word…, p. 54) This is rather vague, and it needs to be pointed out that it has been since established with certainty that in Ninshubur’s case lagar/SAL.ḪUB2 seems to be a rare, old title with similar meaning to sukkal, and it also could be applied to other deities - ones whose gender never showed any ambiguity -  in a similar way (see full discussion in Antoine Cavigneaux, Frans Wiggermann, "Vizir, concubine, entonnoir... Comment lire et comprendre le signe SAL.ḪUB2? and a brief commentary in The Sumerian…, p. 130). Furthermore, earlier in the article Gabbay recognizes the supposed connection between the terms as an error himself (The Akkadian Word…, p. 49). 

I haven’t really seen any authors other than Shehata agreeing with Gabbay’s arguments about Ninshubur; in fact, while I try to keep up with relevant publications, I’ve only seen his points regarding this deity addressed at all otherwise, and quite critically at that. Joan Goodnick Westenholz disagreed with him and pointed out that in addition to Gabbay contradicting himself regarding the term lagar, a fundamental weakness of his proposal is that Ninshubur is never described as a gala (Goddesses in Context…, p. 93). As a matter of fact no deity is, though you can make a sound case for Lumha, who was a (sparsely attested) divine representation of this profession. 

A further problem with Gabbay’s argument is that while it’s true gala were first and foremost professional lamenters (and I think any paper which acknowledges this deserves some credit), lamenting was hardly an activity exclusive to them. Paul Delnero considers Ninshubur’s actions in Inanna’s Descent to be a standard over the top portrayal of grief common in Mesopotamian literary texts. In other myths, as well as in laments mourning the destruction of cities or death of deities Geshtinanna, Inanna, Ninisina and other goddesses engage in similar behaviors. He assumes the detailed descriptions of deities wailing, tearing out hair, lacerating and so on were meant to inspire a sense of discomfort and grief in the audience (How to Do Things with Tears, p. 210-214). If Delnero is right - and I see no reason to undermine his argument - Ninshubur’s mourning would have more to do with what sort of story Inanna’s Descent is, not with her character. I suppose Ninshubur’s mourning is unique in one regard, though. She acts about Inanna’s death in the way sisters, mothers or spouses do in the case of Damu, Dumuzi, Lulil etc., despite not actually being her relative. I think there are some interesting implications to explore here, but so far I’ve seen no publications pursuing this topic.

Gabbay is right that Ninshubur and the gala are described as capable of appeasing deities, and especially Inanna, though I also think Westenholz was right to argue that a single shared function is not enough to warrant identification  (Goddesses in Context…, p. 93-94). It’s also worth noting that similar abilities could be ascribed to multiple types of servant deities, and that Ninshubur was just the most popular member of this category - a veritable major minor deity, if you will - and as a result is much better represented in literary texts. But the likes of Ishum or Nuska appease their respective superiors too, and it’s hard to make a similar case for their gender.

It should also be noted that while Ninshubur ultimately is the main mourner in Inanna’s Descent, Lulal and Shara mourn too (whether equally intensely as Ninshubur is up for debate, but that’s beside the point); and Dumuzi is expected to, and dies precisely because he doesn’t. And the gender of none of these three is ever ambivalent. Furthermore, Gabbay’s argument about Ninshubur’s gender resembling the gala in part rests on treating a single unique source as perhaps more important than in reality - and it’s not necessarily a source relevant to the gala at all. There is only one source where Ninshubur's gender might be intentionally ambiguous. An Old Babylonian hymn describes Ninshubur as a figure dressed in masculine clothing on the right side and feminine on the left (Nin-šubur, p. 491). This does mirror the description of an unspecified type of cultic performer of unspecified gender mentioned in the famous Iddin-Dagan hymn (“Dressed with men's clothing on the right side (...) Adorned (?) with women's clothing on the left side”); however, there’s no indication that a gala is meant in this context. Gabbay doesn’t bring up this passage, and assumes that since Ninshubur’s clothing includes both masculine and feminine elements, it is automatically a situation analogous to the unclear gender identity of the gala (The Akkadian Word…, p. 54), though. It might be worth noting that the unique text still uses the feminine emesal form of Ninshubur’s name, Gashanshubur, with no masculine Umunshubur anywhere in sight (Åke W. Sjöberg, Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts, III, p. 72); as far as grammar is concerned, Ninshubur, even if dressed partially masculinely, remains feminine. Perhaps the context is just unclear for us, and the unusual outfit was tied to a specific performance as opposed to a specific gender identity, let alone specifically to ambiguity of gender? Perhaps it would make more sense to assume the text describes Ninshubur (partially) crossdressing (and we do have clear evidence for at least one festival which involved crossdressing from the Old Babylonian period), instead of dealing with gender identity? This is of course entirely speculative, though I think further inquiries are warranted.  It’s also important to stress that however we interpret the identity of the gala - gender nonconforming men, men with some specific uncommon physical feature, nonbinary people (all three have valid arguments behind them, and it’s also not impossible the exact meaning varied across time and space) - they pretty clearly did not alternate between a firmly feminine identity and a firmly masculine one. Even if we were to incorrectly treat Ninshubur as a single deity whose gender alternates between male and female, I don’t think there would be a strong reason to draw parallels - unless you want to lump together what might very well been a specific nonbinary identity, and an instance of genderfluidity involving two firmly binary genders. I don’t really think these are phenomena which can be lumped together; and neither necessarily has much to do with presentation. And all we ultimately have in Ninshubur’s case is an isolated case of unusual presentation - nothing more, nothing less.

Once again, this short article is not intended as a warning against using Shehata’s book - it’s very rigorous overall, and a treasure trove of interesting information. It’s also not supposed to discredit Gabbay’s studies of the gala - I don’t necessarily fully agree with his conclusions, but I’ve depended on his articles in the past myself, after all.

The article also isn’t intended as an argument against inquiries into the gender of deities, Ninshubur included, or the gala, or any other religious specialists whose gender is unclear. However, it is vital to approach the evidence rigorously and put it into a broader context.

This is particularly significant since the gender of deities is not necessarily fully identical with the gender of humans, and its changes could be brought by processes which hardly have real life parallels - this requires both additional caution, and a careful case by case approach. It would be difficult for a woman to be conflated into one being with two men in the same profession, which is essentially what happened to Ninshubur, just like it would be hard for someone’s gender to be defined by the fact they were viewed as the personification of a specific astral body, as in the case of Ninsianna and Pinikir, who I discussed previously. And, of course, these two cases have little in common with each other. In the final article in this mini-series, I will look into some yet more esoteric cases of shifts in gender of Mesopotamian deities, to hopefully strengthen my point.

[lostpeace]

Inanna, Mesopotamian goddess of love and war.

Ninshubur, Inanna's divine attendant.

Dumuzi, god of shepherds, and Inanna's husband.

[magerywrites]

Can I pretend that Ishtar really likes Haruri because she looks like Ninshubur?

It depends on how attached you are to Fate canon!

As you likely already know if you're asking me this question, but which I shall explain for the more general audience, in Strange Fake Ishtar has two main reasons for liking Haruri and deciding to protect her.

One of them is that, despite using magecraft, Haruri's values, opinions, and beliefs mean she's still "human", rather than a "mage", concepts Ishtar draws an important distinction between.

(There's honestly a lot to talk about in Strange Fake about Ishtar's relationship with humanity. It's not just in her big declarations about watching over them and ruling them, or how she can "find something to enjoy even in the most awkward of dances, as long as you never abandon your humanity", but also in the little things like how Enkidu notes that all the gods "except Ishtar and Ereshkigal" thought Humbaba was a "complete human being". But that's beyond the scope of this ask.)

The other, which I was alluding to in my initial response, is that Haruri's name "was kinda similar" to Siduri's name—that's the "deep reason" Ishtar has for naming Haruri her high priestess. Ishtar's instincts "couldn't possibly choose the wrong person", so that similarity was enough.

But it means that Ishtar's first association with Haruri is Siduri, not Ninshubur. If she had thought of Ninshubur first, she probably would have said something to that effect.

However, if you're willing to step beyond Fate canon, you arrive at a space far more rife with possibility.

By that, I mean it's an even bet if Fate even genuinely knows Ninshubur exists, so go wild, comrade.

Spread the Haruri-Ninshubur word!

Hell, go above and beyond and make it a little fruity: see this speculative essay by someone whose Mespotamian expertise makes me look like a flailing child.

[forgedivinity]

My three most perfect girls

[thescarlettbitch]

Inanna / Ishtar masterpost

Inanna / Ishtar is the deity that I am devoted to, and there is a lot of misinformation out there about her, so this is a masterpost about her and her mythology, which does involve sex and rape, and revenge. Read with care.

Edit: I forgot certain points I wanted to add, so instead of editing and adding them in as an after thought, find them here :)

Lineage

Sources disagree on who her parents are. Some say Enki or Nanna, both male presenting, but most often she is depicted as the granddaughter of Enlil, and the niece of Enki. Her mother, as stated in Inanna Prefers The Farmer, is Ningal, as it is the only story that discusses her mother. Perhaps she is the daughter of Enki, Nanna, and Ningal. Regardless of who her parents are, she is the twin sister of Utu, and the sister of Ereshkigal. In the story of Gilgamesh and a few others, she is also portrayed as Gilgamesh's sister. She is married to Dumuzid.

Myths

Inanna and the Huluppu Tree: "A young woman who walked in fear of no man, and would not be owned, Plucked the tree from the river and spoke: “I shall bring this tree to Uruk. I shall plant this tree in my holy garden.”"

Enki, God of wisdom, planted a tree by the Euphrates at the beginning of time. Eventually, the tree was taken by the Euphrates. Inanna came, picked the tree, and decided she would nurture it so she could carve her throne and bed from it. Many years passed, and a serpent who couldn't be charmed made it's home in the tree. Then the Anzu-bird raised his family in the tree. And the dark maid Lilith made her home in the trunk. No matter how much Inanna wept, the creatures would not leave the tree. Inanna called to her brother, Utu, God of the sun, for help. He refused. She went to her brother, the great hero Gilgamesh, and he helped. He struck the serpent who couldn't be charmed and the birds flew away and Lilith fled to the wild uninhabited places. From the trunk, he carved her throne and her bed. From the roots, Inanna fashioned a pukku for her brother, and from the crown a mikku for Gilgamesh.

Inanna Prefers The Farmer: "No, brother!

The man of my heart works the hoe.

The farmer! He is the man of my heart!

He gathers the grain into great heaps.

He brings the grain regularly into my storehouses."

Inanna asks her brother, Utu, who she will marry. He tells her to marry Dumuzi, the shepherd. She responds that her heart is with the farmer Enkimdu. Utu tells her no, Dumuzi is the better choice, but she says no, Enkimdu is. Dumuzi and Enkimdu fight over this, but eventually Inanna is swayed and marries Dumuzi, in a rather erotic scene.

Inanna's Descent: "Then Erishkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death.

She spoke against her the word of wrath.

She uttered against her the cry of guilt.

She struck her.

Inanna was turned into a corpse,

A piece of rotting meat,

And was hung from a hook on the wall."

Inanna goes to the underworld for her sister Ereshkigal's husband's funeral, having been the cause of his death. Inanna tells her priestess Ninshubur what to do should she not return. Dress in a single cloth like a begger, go to the temple of Enlil and beg for his help. If he does not help, go to Nanna. If he does not help, go to Enki. Inanna arrives at the gates, and as she passes through each of the seven gates, a garment is removed until she stands naked. The Anunna pass judgement, and Ereshkigal turns Inanna into a rotting corpse with the Eye of Death, and hangs her on a hook on the wall. On the third day, Ninshubur follows instruction. She dresses in a single cloth like a begger and goes to Enlil. Enlil denies. She goes to Nanna. Nanna denies. She goes to Enki. Enki creates the Kurgarra and the Galatur, neither male nor female, and gives them each the food of life and water of life. He tells them how to get on Ereshkigal's good side and to take the corpse from the wall and give it the food and water. They do, and Inanna rises, but the Annuna prohibit her from leaving. She must put someone else in her place. The Galla, demons from Ereshkigal, try to take Ninshubur, Shara, and Lulal, but Inanna spares them, as they mourned her. Then they find Dumuzi, dressed beautifully, with women around him. Inanna was betrayed, her own husband did not mourn her. The Galla take him away. Eventually, Inanna misses him, and sets a deal. For half of the year, Dumuzi will be on the wall in the underworld. For the other half, his sister.

Inanna and the God of Wisdom: "“In the name of my power! In the name of my holy shrine! Let the me you have taken with you remain in the holy shrine of your city. Let the high priest spend his days at the holy shrine in song. Let the citizens of your city prosper, Let the children of Uruk rejoice!”"

Inanna goes to Enki, and Enki treats her with butter cake and water and beer, lots of beer. Enki, while intoxicated, gives Inanna the Meh, the various humanities. She takes them and flees with Ninshubur. Enki, now sober, sends his servants to get the Meh back. Ninshubur protects the Meh for Inanna. They go back and forth six times, until Inanna gives the gifts to her people, and Enki resigns himself.

Inanna and Utu: "She makes perfect the great divine powers, she holds a shepherd's crook, and she is their magnificent pre-eminent one."

Inanna is given reign over fertility and sex, but she knows nothing about that subject. Utu and her go to the underworld and Inanna eats the fruit from the tree of knowledge, gaining that information.

Inanna and Su-Kale-Tuda: "He recognised a solitary god by her appearance. He saw someone who fully possesses the divine powers. He was looking at someone whose destiny was decided by the gods."

Inanna had had a long journey, so she rests on earth beneath the shade of a tree in a garden. The farmer Su-Kale-Tuda sees her sleeping and rapes her, then flees to his father. Inanna wakes up, seeing what had been do to her, and vows to find the man who did this. Su-Kale-Tuda confesses to his father, who tells him to hide. Inanna turns the water of the realm to blood, she sits on a storm cloud and drowns the world, then sends a dust storm, then stopped trade entirely within the world. Unable to find him she cries to her father, Enki, demanding his help. Enki turns her to a rainbow so that she stretched across the sky, and saw everything. Su-Kale-Tuda still tried to hide, but he could not hide from her any longer. She found him, and her first words are lost to time (some words translated to "How ......? ...... dog ......! ...... ass ......! ...... pig ......!") Su-Kale-Tuda tried to defend himself but Inanna told him "You will die, but the world will remember your name. Rapist."

Symbols:

Lions - she is often depicted with lions harnessed, to symbolize her power over the king of beasts

Roses - roses are symbols of beauty and sex, and their thorns represent the war side of her. At one point, the rose/rosette eclipsed the eight pointed star as her main symbol

Doves - another symbol of beauty and sex, in one of her temples was a mural of a dove emerging from a large palm tree, leading many to believe she was able to take the form of a dove.

Lapis Lazuli - the only precious stone I have seen be named as something she wears, specifically referenced in The Descent Of Inanna

Eight pointed star - the symbolic meaning is lost to time, but it shows up frequently in her depictions

Hook shaped twist of reeds - a symbol of fertility, and was her cuneiform ideogram

The planet Venus - many hymns credit her as being the personification of the planet

Carnelian - one of her epithets means "precious carnelian"

Thank you for reading, and I hope to make a similar masterpost detailing Mesopotamian mythology as a whole.

Edit: I did, you can find it here.

[bye-bye-bees]

I dunno what Ninshubur and Mab are on about. It only gave me a bit of a headache.

[loxosceleslolo]

HERE THERE BE MILD SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE SPOILERS SO IF YOU FORGOT TO FILTER OUT THE SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE TAG TURN BACK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE

“From the great heaven she set her mind on the great below. From the great heaven the goddess set her mind on the great below. From the great heaven Inanna set her mind on the great below. My mistress abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, and descended to the underworld. Inanna abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, and descended to the underworld.”

Here I am with some Elden Ring musings that I am not about to post on Reddit because I learned my lesson last time (I made a post regarding the first DLC trailer's use of the word "shrive" and 90% of the replies were dudes being like "well no shit they used an old word for the dialogue" which was not even the point but anyway)

We're probably not going to see or learn anything about the Gloam-Eyed Queen, but the more I think about her the more I'm reminded of an old Sumerian myth.

The Cliff's Notes version goes like this:

Once upon a time, there were two sister goddesses: Inanna the Queen of Heaven, and Ereshkigal the Queen of the Dead.

Ereshkigal was recently widowed, so Inanna journeyed to the underworld to attend the funeral (or, in some tellings, to expand her own power). At each of its seven gates, she was made to remove an article of clothing. By the time Inanna reached her sister's throne she was naked and laid low.

Ereshkigal overpowered her sister, killing her and hanging the corpse from a hook. (In some tellings, Inanna is flayed).

When Inanna did not return at the expected time, her servant Ninshubur went to the god Enki for help.

Enki sent a pair of servants to rescue Inanna, but she couldn't leave the Underworld as easily as she entered it.

Inanna would have to find a substitute if she wanted to leave. As her followers were mourning her "death", she would not take any of them.

Her husband Dumuzid, however, was found clad in magnificent garments and lounging on a throne, clearly unbothered by his wife's supposed death.

So it was he that was taken to the Underworld to take Inanna's place.

I hesitate to say that the story of Inanna's descent might have inspired Miquella’s character arc because a lot of lorehounds will immediately jump in and insist that a 1:1 retelling of the myth is taking place--and that's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that there are some clear parallels between the myth and what we know about Miquella’s arc and it's enough to make me think that the latter drew inspiration from the former.

The Land of Shadows is a place where all manner of death washes up.

Miquella had to shed everything that he is to go there. Furthermore, there are six or seven points between where we enter the Land of Shadows and the Gate of Divinity where Miquella has given up parts of his body. (Don’t ask me how it works I have no idea)

I think it's safe to assume that Miquella may well be naked and laid low when we finally find him. He may even be a corpse!

Are we to be Miquella’s rescuers or his get out of Hell free card, I wonder...

[comparativetarot]

Boat of Heaven. Art by Rubi Do Trinh, from the Star of Inanna Tarot.

𒐌 Boat of Heaven 𒈣𒀭𒈾 For this card we decided to use the same myth as the one we used for Wisdom (The Hierophant) but a later scene. In the card, Enki gives Inanna the Me, which are divine gifts which create civilization and humanity. Some examples of Me are: Music, Weapons, Truth, Fear, Sex, Prostitution, Art, Law, Lamentations, Rejoicing, Scribeship, Metalworking and many more. After the fact, however, Enki seems to regret it and actually sends out a variety of monsters to stop Inanna from leaving with them, as he was entrusted with the Me by Enlil. Inanna, on her quest to becoming Queen of Heaven, accepts the Me and refuses to give them back. She rides the Boat of Heaven back towards Uruk, which is where her temple and people are, because the real reason she took the Me was to share them with us. This is the scene we see in this card. She is completely in control & focused on her destination. Not even magical monsters can stop her. Inanna is not worried by his attempts, because she knows that she has the Power to move towards her Truth. Plus, her vizier and friend Ninshubur helps to defeat the monsters every time Enki sends them, as we see here. What ends up happening in the myth is that more Me that weren’t there began to manifest once she achieves her goal of sharing the Me with humanity, an example of how one can manifest the unexpected if we follow our truth. This is a core aspect of this archetype. We decided to change the name of this card to Boat of Heaven because that is what she rides in this myth, where, in our opinion, she aligns with this archetype the most. The Cuneiform is: 𒈣𒀭𒈾 “Ma2” boat + An-na  “of heaven”.

[artifacts-archive]

Male Worshiper

Sumerian, 2500-2250 BCE (Early Dynastic IIIb)

The shaven head, a sign of ritual purity, may identify this figure as a priest. A partially preserved inscription on one shoulder states that he prays to Ninshubur, the goddess associated with the planet Mercury.

[yamayuandadu]

New Ninshubur myth (sort of)

Kamran V. Zand's article Mesopotamia and the East: The Perspective from the Literary Texts from Fāra and Tell Abū Ṣalābīḫ is interesting in general but it caught my attention first and foremost because it adds another myth to the repertoire of literary texts in which Ninshubur appears. The composition in mention is an example of UD.GAL.NUN, a notoriously difficult to decipher form of cryptography used in the Early Dynastic period for uncertain reasons. The plot is not particularly complex: the gods gather and decide to entrust Utu with traveling to a variety of places outside Mesopotamia to bring various wares, animals and in some cases deities from over there. The very first journey described involves bringing Ninshubur from her original residence, the "mountain lands of Subartu" (kur šubur). Technically this doesn't say much that we wouldn't know already - Ninshubur's association with Subartu is reflected by her very name - but as far as I am aware this is the only literary text to explicitly depict her as a former resident of a foreign land brought to Mesopotamia. Interestingly, the same myth also states that Utu's wife Sherida (better known under her Akkadian name Aya, though Sherida might ultimately be an Akkadian loanword in Sumerian too) was brought to Mesopotamia from the west ("Amurru"). As far as I am aware this is the closest to an origin myth she has.

[lostpeace]

Inanna.

Took me a very long while to settle on a design that I liked for her, but finally I think I got it.

[thylionheart]

Yes, yes the Achilles-Patroclus archetype as a twin/brother/lover symbol of Venus, each either the falling or rising star. One who dies before their time as the other is deified (or gives up their divinity to save their brother). BUT have we considered the hero-brother who dies prematurely as an ATTENDANT DIETY archetype. The closest being in Mesopotamian mythos to a deity besides their spouse- sometimes listed higher than their spouse, who is their “pure brother,” travel companion, who walks before them and protects them. Like Inanna’s attendant Ninshubur going down to the Netherworld to save her and protect her as they journey back out. wow

I’m on galaxy-brain hyperfixation Wikipedia rabbit hole 25 tabs open hyperfixation mode and I desperately need to eat s omething for lunch

[paint-lady]

🖊 + Maru!

Send me a “🖊+an OC“ and I will talk about that OC! It can be a headcanon, a fun fact, a small paragraph of backstory- anything! Alternatively, send in just a “🖊“ and I will talk about any one of my OCs at random!

Oh, Maru my beloved.

Maru "Maru-Maru" Maru is my character in Secret World Legends and my NPC (and eventual PC) for the Secret World ttrpg. They are the current OC im constantly rotating in my brain like a rotisserie chicken.

I had attempted to write a longer form comic for them and even finished a first chapter. Unfortunately, life got busy and started taking more spoons to other tasks and I am not able to dedicate the time and energy I want to the comic. And thats okay. In the year I have been cold, I have expanded upon the Maru-verse even further, and discovered even more interesting loops and details to incorporate. And I cannot wait to illustrate them one day.

So without further ado, please enjoy this extensive lore breakdown on Maru-Maru:

For your convenience this post has a keep reading <3

Name Significance: Of course Maru is not their given name. Its partially a joke, partially an echo of a long-lost memory, partially a misheard role to fulfill, and their first grasp on their identity.

The name Maru firstly comes from my Exalted Zenith character. My partner and I wanted to name our bees after them, as a way to honor the fun we had with such a short campaign. Little did we know how smoothly Exalted and SWL can blend together- the transition from one age to the next, apocalypses rising, and powerful beings beyond comprehension changing Creation. The tone is certainly different though: an Exalted chronicle is uplifting and with epic heroes to save the world, whereas SWL is riddled with uncertainty about how long the collective will of reality can hold.

The SWL version of Maru can barely remember their previous incarnation, it's more like a weird dream than anything else. If they look to closely, the memory vanishes; like the people of the Third Age trying to grasp their memory of the Second, and their predecessors before them. The golden light within them feels different, yet can still vanquish monsters with their touch, and aid people plagued by nightmares seeping through cracks in reality.

A more recent discovery has played nicely into my friends headcanons and names of their characters. SWL Maru was discovered by experienced agents of names Inanna and Ninshubur in Kingsmouth. While the name Maru is not a Sumerian/Assyrian deity, Mamu is. There is not a lot written about Mamu. They are most notable for being a god of dreams and having both male and female depictions. We love a lil gender fuckery in the pantheon. There was temple built in Imgur-Enlil (modern Balawat) to them. Dreams were not seen as depictions of the subconscious (thanks Freud) but rather true portents of the future. This is all over the epic of Gilgamesh as a literary device to keep that long ass story going. Regardless, the Assyrian King who had dreams of Inanna vanquishing his enemies felt the portents were significant enough to build that temple to the messenger: Mamu. Additionally, there are oodles of accounts of death-dreams and glimpses into other worlds (namely the Underworld) across several sites, whether its recorded dreams from priests and priestesses- or more Enki myths.

And this is what Maru does- even by accident. They catch glimpses into the other worlds, talk to other versions of themselves to relay messages and warnings, and make sure Inanna and Ninshubur are aware of whatever weird shit is out there. In the SWL ttrpg, I intend to have Maru explore this role to fulfill more, as a messenger and a dreamer. Funnily enough, the surname I gave Maru is 夢宮: Yumemiya, which can translate to Yume: dream, and Miya: a shrine, or place for gods. Don't you love it when the narrative falls into place like that? (But in truth, I borrowed the surname from Kanae Yumemiya, an actress who portrayed Usagi in a Sailor Moon Live production...)

Lastly on name significance, we have the japanese translation that Maru means ◯, and is literally a circle. Depending on the characters used to spell Maru, it can also mean truth, and expanded to mean a complete unending cycle. Putting two ◯◯ together is like censoring a name or word, similarly to how $#%&#! is used in English. In a way, Maru-Maru is saying their name is Redacted, or blankety blank or So-and-so. This was incredibly hilarious in the SWL game when QBL labels the player a terrorist after climbing Orochi Tower. Ah yes, you've definitely found the ringleader who set off the Tokyo bomb: It was ◯◯! Excellent journalism, QBL, no notes.

But in truth, its a clever and funny way to hide themself. Searching Maru on google is gonna get you a stardew valley villager and a cute, chubby cat youtube sensation. And they like it that way.

So whether it's Maru, Mamu, Redacted, ◯◯, or some other weird fifth thing, they'll always be that one odd baby bee who reaches across dimensions to keep reality running just a little longer. They won't have to face the end alone, in fact, its statistically improbable.

And if you survive. If you are still you. Think on the questions. Remember when you were a bright little thing, so full of questions?

THE LIFE CYCLE:

Time is a funny thing when dealing with several versions of the same individual. The smallest changes completely alter a course of events. Many Marus recall gaining their bee not long after the Tokyo Filth bomb around 2012, and being swept up by whichever agency got to them first. Many recall their parents working tirelessly at their jobs at the Orochi Group. They learned how to cook for themself at a young age because Mom and Dad wouldn't be home til late. Many recall the first time they heard the buzzing static was as young as 6, following the sweet whispers through a soon-to-be park and a newly planted flowering tree. There are a few that never receive a bee, or receive their power through other means. These timelines are the strangest ones.

A riddle to kill a sphinx: What's one, then three, and then one again? Wait- that's not how it goes...

The Lumie, Templar, and Dragon Maru all share the same origin. Depending on where an outsider glances, the three realities are so close, they are nearly one. Nearly. They grew up in Kaidan with their parents. They did attend the Orochi-sponsored schools and attended several programs, but flew right under the radar for "gifted abilities" that Orochi was seeking. Little Maru was aware of whispers in tv static, rattles in old pipes, the shrieks of summer cicadas Evangelion style. As a young child, they marched to the beat of their own drum, ignoring or indulging the whispered warnings as they saw fit. The dreams were harder to ignore, but when they told their parents about the big scary monsters that couldn't get out- it was written off as their overly active imagination. After all, they had failed an aptitude test to get into the nearby elementary school near their work. Its uncertain whether or not Maru's parents knew what that test was truly analyzing- and whether or not they were relieved to see they failed. Decent Orochi employees have excellent poker faces.

Sometimes one is born special. Sometimes specialness is genetically modified into one. Not every child is equal.

As they grew older, the supernatural continued to burrow into their eardrums. Maru was an average student, but occasionally received top marks on answers whispered to them. They earned a reputation for being a little bit of a tech whiz, and had an observant eye for finding errors in codes. Not really a "super power" but troubleshooting tech is an immensely useful skill. Maru was exceptional at the ol' percussive maintenance with old printers, punchcards, and fax machines. When things went to digital interfaces, Maru found the tried and true "have you tried turning it off and back on again," to be a real winner.

When they didn't want to hear the whispers, they'd make use of bulky, noise-cancelling headphones. Maru would often be seen wearing them outside of class and in their home, enjoying the peace and quiet. Maybe the headphones were a placebo. It only worked because they believed it worked. However, at night, their mind would be plagued with vivid dreams and even louder whispers and messages. Headphones can't keep hide the noise if its already in their head. Frustratingly, they'd always wake up and immediately forget what they dreamt. This was their normal. Caffeine to keep themself up during the day, wear headphones to keep out the messages, and TV to drown out the static at night.

And there wasn't really anyone to talk about it with. Last time some Orochi kid fessed up to their weird dreams and whispers, he'd definitely vanished. Teachers said the student moved away, but Maru knew his parents still worked in Faust upper management. Another girl said she could hear thoughts before you could finish thinking them. Maru thought that one was bullshit- but she disappeared too. Lesson learned. Keep the static to yourself.

Don't fear It. Fear Nothing. Fear the Foundation. It's no wonder; they say once you hit four, it's all downhill from here.

When it came time to apply for highschool, a few of their peers found this "Clubhouse" and despite its messaging, were blabbermouths about it. Maru always felt uneasy about the place. If there were whispers saying they had nothing to fear, they didn't trust it. They couldn't believe the claims that were coming from this place. Free drinks? Can play games as long as you want? You can be yourself without any fear? Maru especially didn't trust the last one. None of their classmates knew how they felt wearing the girls uniform. None of them knew how exhausting it was to shut out the whispers, keep the eyes on them sated with just the right expectations, and then complete their coursework on top of it all. Maru absolutely did not want to "perform" there either.

Upon finishing highschool, Maru was presented with an opportunity. They'd complete a university comp-sci degree and then immediately dive into a job at the company. Orochi is not devoid of nepotism. At first, this seemed ideal. They'd attend university in New York, and take their summer internships with the American branch of Orochi. Should everything go well, which... it was going to go well that was the expectation... they'd be looking at a substantial salary and generous benefits while working in the Tower.

America was loud. America is loud. But the sheer volume of everything drowned out the buzzing whispers. They still needed the headphones to drown out the rest of the noise though. They could focus a lot more on themself outside of the Orochi bubble, even if their presence was just a few streets away.

Maru figured out a lot about themself in the four years at Uni, especially the gender thing. They enjoyed building weird robots and programming them to do silly things- in addition to their assigned tasks. They enjoyed the few college parties they attended. They even had a steady, long term relationship with a classmate named Caesura (nods back to Exalted). As graduation loomed, they dreaded going back home. They realized how much time they spent alone and really did not want to go back to that solitude at Orochi. So they avoided it. They delayed their graduation by a year and a half by swapping majors, making absurd connections and promises with subdivisions of Faust and Anansi, and prolonging which classes they needed to graduate.

What was the cause of all this, sweetling? Where is the zero point?

Everything changed sometime in 2012. Maru couldn't get anyone on the phone back home when the bomb went off. Even the work lines in Faust were gunked up. They have zero clue if a letter they wrote made it through security and into Orochi's headquarters. Caesura had also vanished. (Unbeknownst at the time, the man was abducted by the Dragon. In most timelines, he does analog calculations for the faction, figuring out where pieces need to move rather than doing field work himself). And then they get their bee, freak out and wreck their apartment, get nabbed by one of the big three, and then get sent out to Kingsmouth.

Things start to break and differ sometime after this for our Red, Blue, and Green iterations of Maru. They all admit to being unaware of their prowess for chaos magic before meeting two other big bees: Ninshubur and Inanna. It was Ninshubur who gifted the confused baby bee a chaos focus, and Inanna gifted a them an empowering gadget. Receiving these items are one of the more prominent cracks on the flickering timelines on the Reality Engine.

Though the most prominent tears in their time are when the Dreamers made themselves known to Maru. The first, a gift. The second, worship. The third, freedom.

Templar!Maru, believes they were tricked by the gift. They swear they would have never have listened to the bubbling voices, but deep down they know that they fell for their sweet words. Whenever the Dreamers approached them, they were certain to make sure they'd never be fooled twice. Their choices are marked with unbound Blue wings.

Dragon!Maru had already begun developing their philosophy on the cyclic end of the world: however messy and destructive it was going to be, whatever was going to rise out of the ashes was going to be just as magnificent. Decay is a form of life. They morbidly want to see what the world will look like at the end, but have to be strong enough to make it there. Accepting the gift, begrudgingly worshipping, and freeing the Dreaming Ones is all part of their dream. Their wings drip with filth. Unease sits in their stomach, they do not know if they'll get their wish.

Lastly, Lumie!Maru was keen on not listening to more voices in their heads. They are the only iteration to refuse the gift. Their wings gleam gold. What is done cannot be undone, and they loathe that their defiance to one set of voices is obedience to another.

Go ahead, glance back. Don't sweat it, sweetling. You won't turn to salt and you can't make yourself impossible. History will conserve itself. The continuities will hold.

Again, time is funny when dealing with several iterations of the same individual. The slightest changes make immense impacts on their lives. There are Maru's who graduated on time. There are Maru's who never left Kaidan. These individuals work with Orochi, whether they want to or not. There are Maru's who's last memory is the filth exploding from within that guy's jacket. There are Maru's still sleeping. There are Maru's who joined the Council of Venice, there are Maru's who hacked the Swarm's game back, and fled their factions. There are Maru's who want nothing to do with the secret world and just want a peaceful goddamn life with their wife and accounting job. There's a Maru who is just really into boats...

But they are all connected, tethered to one another. Like a rat king on reality, fated to meet and tangle.

FUN and STRANGE DETAILS:

BLOODY VALENTINES: Uta, the rabbit killer in Kaidan, is three separate individuals who used to inhabit the same body. Lilith is responsible for splitting her like a worm and separating the sibling souls into new bodies. Maru is an anomaly: they are physical duplicates of the same individual existing simultaneously. Both Maru and Uta fight with unprecedented coordination, switching aggro and balancing their buffs between the three of them. The showdown at the top of Orochi tower was certainly a spectacle... And a vocabulary lesson for swears in several languages. Some agents have noticed the similarities between Maru and Uta, but Maru is quick to squash any speculations. This is not because the two actually know each other, but more Maru does not want anyone to know their Orochi background if they can help it.

The buzzing on Uta reveals some interesting clues about Maru and their existence. Uta was not plagued with insanity but rather hypersanity for the new age- and with new software there are bound to be bugs. While Maru didn't absorb their twin in the womb or was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia; Maru was also sensitive to whispers just outside reality. And so were other children born around the same time. Maybe Maru and that generation of kids got the patched version.

A LUCID DREAM: The Black Signal, or John, tells the Chuck's who will listen that he's no longer singular, he is plural- but remembers what it was like being a sole individual. To Maru, this is so old news. In fact, Maru loves to snark back at him saying that he is not special and they're plural too. There are many Maru's. The Black Signal doesn't really tend to listen to this. Maru may be many, but Maru is still meat. If they would hatch, then they'd have a new conversation. Again, Maru disregards this, and says they've spent enough time being an egg.

They don't want to think too hard about what it means to have "hatched." They know John's not talking about them being nonbinary. Maru is an adept and experienced enough chaos user at this point to recognize when a timeline is too different for them to safely pull on. There's a phantom pain in their outreached hands and fingers when they try to go too far. They are aware that there are some selves they used to be able to call upon and cannot anymore. Something about them has changed. They are aware they can become "out of sync" with their doppelgangers or even be "out of phase," and get stuck somewhere overlapping two or more timelines. But to not be able to call themself at all is terrifying. If only they had the ability to glance at all it all from the outside ... oh.

At least, Maru can't do this consciously. Some versions of Maru have swapped places with their doppelgangers in their sleep or had rude awakenings of being pried from bed to be used as a meat-shield for another. While dreaming, they can go anywhere- so long as they don't forget how to wake up. These ones don't know how close they get to bleeding out of reality.

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES:

In my SWL playthrough, I of course ran into a whole bunch of bugs and glitches. And I love them. But, there were times that it made the game do absolutely weird things- which provides some very fun stories to weave into the glitch. The most notable was at the Second Choice in the City of the Sun God. At this point, my partner had played ahead and was almost through Translylvania when I had finally defeated Aten. He knew there was an Ultimate Move behind the choices and spoiled a little (with my permission). I didn't know what "Blue Wings" meant but I understood to get them I would need to, against my better judgement, listen to the Dreamer's at least once. So after defeating Aten and being greeted by the Filth bird saying "hey you should do the worship emote" I then obliged and typed /worship.

And the game crashed. No worries- this happened all the time for me. My laptop would get obscenely hot running this game and would shut itself down so it wouldn't fry itself. Upon reloading, I had to do the Aten fight again but found myself having trouble with some of the UI interface. Reloadui did not solve the issue, and I found myself in front of the Filth bird again. I typed /worship and Maru did nothing. I opened the emote tab, and clicked, and Maru would do nothing. In fact, all of my emotes were not functioning- except the dances.

I laughed as I watched Maru dance and devour tacos in front of the Dreamer, not knowing how frustrating it must have been for the cosmic entity to watch some small, nascent angelic thought just proceed to do anything but what it requested. How much longer? Out of frustration, I eventually attacked the creature, triggering the next cutscene. The Dreamer's were angry, and I laughed and laughed.

Now the strangest thing is in game play, Maru sometimes has golden wings. I have had friends say they see blue wings and I will see gold on my screen. I've also had the opposite. In all cutscenes, they are blue. Considering the overlapping timelines, it seems like Lumie!Maru's almost choice bleeds through onto their timeline sometimes.

INITIATE THE D20 SYSTEM:

I have been very fortunate to be the storyteller for some very avid fans of the Secret World and have presented an alternative timeline to the world they know and love. Maru of course, is no exception to this. Everyone is operating with different times and circumstances. Eventually, I will get the chance to play Maru in the game. But for now, Maru has only made one appearance: to Olivia, the newest bee of the group. Of course, Olivia has zero idea what implications she has encountered by merely interacting with this version of Maru, untethered to their doppelgangers. The TTRPG timeline is indeed one of the strangest.

Thank you for reading this absurdly long OC lore post, I have spent easily 3 week writing and editing and rewriting and adding. I hope you enjoyed and it sparks some fun thoughts about SWL and maybe a lil Exalted. As a treat.

[iincantatorum]

Ulysses was numb to everything except the wailing of his child. The child was so small, he could hardly believe he still existed. But the sound of his cries felt louder than anything and it made him feel helpless. If only he can get something to nourish his son, to soothe his empty belly, then he would be grateful. On a ship, his resources were limited, but maybe someone might be so kind, like that woman.

When she offered, he hesitated because ever since he made a run from the attack to his village, the child was tucked away in his arms and he had yet to part. But exhaustion overwhelmed him, so he nodded and carefully handed over his son to her, remaining protectively nearby. "I was wondering if I can get some warm milk from the kitchens, he is hungry, his mother didn't even get a chance before-" he looked down, unable to speak it, or even fathom it. His love was gone, and now Ulysses only lived for this child's sake. A child he had yet to even name. "Please hold him, I promise I will be right back."

It was not often that Ninshubur would travel by mortal means, preferring flight if need be, but the goddess enjoyed being amongst the people when she had the time. At this moment she was glad she boarded this ship, having watched the man for quite some time, interested in the magic within him at first; but the presence of the babe kept her from approaching, not wanting to overstep any boundaries (she knew how protective parents could be over their young).

“There’s no need to apologize, infants are fragile,” the Anunnaki offered a sympathetic smile, rising from her place on the deck to make way to the stranger. “May I help?” While her experience with children was limited to the offspring of her pantheon, Ninshubur was certain she’d be of some assistance at least.

[forgedivinity]

Best girl update because I decided I was gonna add Artio last night and I didn’t wanna leave her out <3

[thescarlettbitch]

Mesopotamian Pantheon Explained

Hello! My name is Red, I am a devotee of the Mesopotamian Goddess Inanna, and it makes me sad to see that not a lot of people know about her, let alone the rest of her pantheon, so I thought I'd make a post about everyone, or at least, everyone I can. I've made a masterpost about her, and I really enjoyed it, as it gave me an "excuse" to learn about her, and this is the same. In this post I will be naming the gods and their domains and their relations with each other. If prompted, I would love to do a deep dive on every deity in this pantheon I can. Unfortunately, there are over a thousand deities across all Mesopotamian cultures, so this is by no means a complete list or anything similar.

So, first, what is Mesopotamia? Mesopotamia means "land between the rivers", the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and it is the term to define the whole region and the various cultures that lived there. This includes Sumer, Akkadia, and Babylon. Despite culture being different, they shared similarities in written language, religion, and attitude towards women. The gods may have had different names at different points, but they were the same deity to all, often referred to interchangeably. This region gave birth to about 50 firsts of man.

But, on to the Gods!

The first thing to know about the Pantheon and how people worked with them, is that mortals believed them to be coworkers with the deities, and that they worked together to maintain order. (*edit: this fact is disputed, the idea that humans were seen mostly as servants seems to be more popular*) Due to differences in cultures, each civilization viewed the deities differently, so Marduk might have been king of the Gods in Babylon, Enlil was king of the Gods in Sumer. The heavenly Gods were referred to as Igigi, and occasionally Anunnaki, though in some sources Anunnaki was the older or "major" Gods, and the Igigi were the lower ranking Gods.

We are going to start with the Seven Divine Powers, the oldest Sumerian deities. (*edit: largely thought to have been manufactured later in history*)

Anu - sky god

Enki - god of wisdom

Enlil - lord of the air, sumerian king of the Gods.

Inanna - goddess of love, fertility, and war, queen of the heavens

Nanna - goddess of the moon

Ninhursag - mother goddess

Utu/Shamash - god of the sun

Other popular deities include

Assur/Ashur - supreme god of the Assyrians

Ereshkigal - goddess of the underworld

Gula - goddess of health and healing

Marduk - babylonian king of the gods

Nabu - god of writing

Nanshe - goddess of social justice

Nergal - god of war

Ninkasi - goddess of beer and brewing

Nisaba - goddess of agriculture, turned to writing and accounts

Dumuzid/Tammuz - god of shepherds

Enkimdu - god of farmers, seen as the personification of the irrigation system

Geshtinanna - goddess of scribal arts and dream interpretation (theorized)

Bau - mother goddess, healing

Ishkur - god of storms and rain

Ištaran - god of divine justice

Nanaya - goddess of love

Nanshe - goddess of divination

Ninazu - associated with the underworld, though his role is disputed

Ninlil - wife of Enlil, thought to be "artificially created" as Enlil's equal

Ninshubur - god(dess) attendant of Inanna (in some sources she is masculine, and others feminine)

Zababa - war god

Alammush - god attendant of Nanna

Sherida - goddess of dawn

Apsu - primeval freshwater

Tiamat - primeval sea

Creation-

The Mesopotamians had many different tellings of the creation of the world, most likely due to the cultural differences. Atra-Hasis, Eridu Genesis, and Enuma Elish are the most common, as we have physical copies of them today. They, among other sources, depict a different family tree, but with key similarities.

Atra-Hasis: Anu, Enlil, and Enki cast lots to determine who rules what. Anu the sky, Enlil the earth, and Enki the sea. Enlil assigned minor gods to farm, but after many years the minor divines refused. Enki suggested to make humans to do the labor. Mother goddess Mami fashions humans out of clay, flesh, and blood of a slain god, and all the gods spit on the clay. After ten months, humans emerged from a specifically made womb. After many years, humans have overpopulated, so Enlil sends famine and drought every 1200 years. Enlil decides to destroy humanity by flood. Enki goes to hero Atra-Hasis and tells him of the plan, instructing him to demolish his house and build a boat. He does, and he brings his family and his animals and seals the door. When the flood comes it stays for seven days and even the gods are afraid. It ends and Enlil is furious with Enki for breaking the vow of silence but eventually the two agree to find other means of controlling the human population.

Eridu Genesis: the beginning of this has been lost to time. The surviving portion starts with Nintur, the goddess who birthed humanity, where she calls for them to he sedentary and civilized. Then more is missing. It resumes with humanity still being nomadic and barbaric. Nintur is stilling planning to provide kingship to the mortals. Then cities emerge, are named, and become distributional economies. Humans begin to annoy the gods, Enlil was unable to sleep, and made the brash decision to destroy humanity with a flood. Enki tells Ziusudra, a human, and tells him to build a boat to save himself and one couple of every animal. Ziusudra does as he is told and the flood comes. Humanity survives, but the rest is lost to time.

Enuma Elish: at the beginning, Apsu and Tiamet existed, co-mingled. From them came Lahmu and Lahamu. Then Anshar and Kishar, and from Anshar came the god Anu and from Anu came Nudimmumd/Ea. These new gods made noise that annoyed Apsu, who called to Mummu to speak with Tiamat, who proposed to destroy them, but Tiamat was reluctant. Mummu advised Apsu to destroy them. The new gods were worried, but Ea crafted a spell to lull Apsu to sleep. Mummu couldn't wake him. Ea took the halo from Apsu and wore it, slew Apsu and chained Mummu, living in Apsu with his wife, Damkina. Together, in Apsu, they created Marduk. Other gods made fun of Tiamat for not doing anything as Apsu was killed. Tiamat made monsters to fight the gods, eleven chimeric monsters with weapons, lead by her new consort Kingu, and gave him the tablets of destinies. Ea heard of the plan and went to his grandfather Anshar, who proposed Marduk as their champion. Marduk said he would win against Tiamat but that he would need to be king of the Gods if he did so. The others were wary but eventually relented. Marduk was given a throne and many supplies to fight Tiamat. He won and split her body in two, fashioning the sky from one half, places for Anu, Enlil, and Ea in it. He made likenesses of the gods in the stars, and from that he made the days of the year. He made night and day and the moon, he made storms and wind and rain, and gave the tablet of destinies to Anu. Marduk told Ea that he was going to use his blood to create man to serve the Gods, but Ea said that another should be chosen as sacrifice. Kingu was chosen, so man was made using his blood.

So... where do these other gods fit into the family tree?

Great question.

An and Ki had Enlil and Enki.

Enlil and Ninlil had Nanna, Nergal, Ninazu, and Enbilulu.

Enlil and Ninhursag had Ninurta.

Nanna and Ningal (in some sources) had Ereshkigal, Inanna, and Utu. In other sources, Enlil, An, or Enki were their parents.

Ereshkigal and Anu had Nungal.

Ereshkigal and Gugalanna had Ninazu. In other sources, Enlil and Ninlil, or Nanna were his parents.

Utu and Aya had Mamu, Kittum, Ishum, and Sisig.

Enki and Duttur had Dumuzid and Geshtinanna.

Either Sin, Urash, or Anu, and Inanna, had Nanaya.

Dumuzid and Inanna were married, but bore no children together.

Thank you for reading this major info-dump and lmk if you guys want any specifics or deep dives on someone! <3