List of Mesopotamian deities

[2] The deities typically wore melam, an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor"[3] and which could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons.

[13] The gods had boats, full-sized barges which were normally stored inside their temples[14] and were used to transport their cult statues along waterways during various religious festivals.

[16] During the first phase, starting in the fourth millennium BC, deities' domains mainly focused on basic needs for human survival.

[17] During the second phase, which occurred in the third millennium BC, the divine hierarchy became more structured[17] and deified kings began to enter the pantheon.

[17] During the fourth and final phase, in the first millennium BC, the gods became closely associated with specific human empires and rulers.

[23][24] This term usually referred to the major deities of heaven and earth,[25] endowed with immense powers,[26][23] who were believed to "decree the fates of mankind".

"[25] While it is common in modern literature to assume that in some contexts the term was instead applied to chthonic Underworld deities,[26] this view is regarded as unsubstantiated by assyriologist Dina Katz, who points out that it relies entirely on the myth of Inanna's Descent, which doesn't necessarily contradict the conventional definition of Anunnaki and doesn't explicitly identify them as gods of the Underworld.

[23] Similarly, no representations of the Anunnaki as a distinct group have yet been discovered,[23] although a few depictions of its frequent individual members have been identified.

[31] However, newer research shows that the arrangement of the top of the pantheon could vary depending on time period and location.

[41][42] In Sumerian religion, the most powerful and important deities in the pantheon were sometimes called the "seven gods who decree":[43] An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna.

[231][232] The earliest accounts of creation are simple narratives written in Sumerian dating to the late third millennium BC.

[233][234] These are mostly preserved as brief prologues to longer mythographic compositions dealing with other subjects, such as Inanna and the Huluppu Tree, The Creation of the Pickax, and Enki and Ninmah.

[238] Figures appearing in theogonies were generally regarded as ancient and no longer active (unlike the regular gods) by the Mesopotamians.