....and all the other sumerian gods?
in other words, which was the first (known) god?
(sumeria is the olest known civilization btw)
2006-10-31 16:58:12 · 6 answers · asked by MM 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
marduk, ishtar, morning star (lucifer) and many more, were also his "creations" (according to sumerian myth)
2006-10-31 17:04:12 · update #1
Catalhoyuk is older, so is jerico, and some towns/cities in india ...but none of them fit the criteria for "civilization"
2006-10-31 17:31:21 · update #2
yahwey came from messopotamia. there's no proof that the sumerians invented the name, but they most likely did as they seemed to invent many gods ...yahwey is spelled YHWY ...or something like that. they have the whole flood and ark story ...but its a differnt god in their story, not yahwey, who floods the world, under orders from EL.
2006-10-31 17:38:13 · update #3
I'm not sure I agree that Sumer is the oldest civilization. It is certainly old, but I think it may only be the oldest Western civilization. And Catalhoyuk (in modern Turkey) may have been older.
Yahweh was probably a Midianite God. I have never heard that there was any mention of a Yahweh in Sumerian mythology. But the Bible indicates that Yahweh came from the region of Midian. And it is also significant that Moses was associated with the Midianites, and it was he who introduced the people to God under the name of Yahweh. The Bible even says that before Moses, God was not known as "Yahweh."
In the Bible, there is a statement, which if read in the original, seems to suggest a belief that there was a high God called El Elyon, and under this High God were the various Gods of nations. Yahweh was the God of the nation of Israel. It says that when El Elyon was dividing up the nations, he numbered them according to the sons of God. And Yahweh's portion is Israel.
This verse became problematic to later theologians of course, who had begun to believe that Yahweh was the only God in all of existence, not just the only God over Israel. There is decent evidence that the verse has been changed. (The "Sons of God" part has been changed to "sons of Israel." But the Dead Sea Scrolls says "Sons of God" and the Septuagint says "sons of God." Both the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint are older than the manuscripts which say "sons of Israel.")
2006-10-31 17:16:17 · answer #1 · answered by Heron By The Sea 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not that familiar with Sumerian religious doctrines or mythology and haven't come across that many books about them. But the closest [and oldest] form of religion I can think of would have been taught by the warrior/leader, Zoroaster.
He believed in two gods: the God of Good and the God of Evil. And that these two gods are in constant conflict until the very end of times when the God of Good will prevail and win the final battle.
Peace be with you.
2006-10-31 17:07:59 · answer #2 · answered by Arf Bee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read a theory that the God of the bible was one of the war gods of the herdsmen tribes that lived just out side Sumeria, and that the first cities worshiped Mother earth, or fertility goddess. Well the herdsmen, with their war god took over the cities and destroyed the goddess. Then the war god emerged with the sky god of the local city and that became the God written in the bible.
The idea of Yahweh might have come from the merging of the local war gods with local sky gods. It would explain why god is vengeful (war god) and distant (sky god)
2006-10-31 17:05:40 · answer #3 · answered by Just Wondering 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sumerian God named Gozer the Gozerian ....... In ghostbusters lol.
2006-10-31 17:02:17 · answer #4 · answered by Thumper 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you checked xfacts.com? There's a lot of info on that site...I'm still reading it. :)
2006-10-31 17:01:07 · answer #5 · answered by Ivyvine 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
wasn't it Inanna? I thought she was the oldest
2006-10-31 17:06:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋