Every myth carries a truth older than the civilization that told it.
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Anzu (Imdugud), the monstrous lion-headed storm-bird of Mesopotamian myth who stole the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil and seized the power of the cosmos,
Humbaba (Huwawa), the monstrous fire-breathing guardian of the sacred Cedar Forest in the Epic of Gilgamesh — an ogre-giant appointed by Enlil, slain by
Utnapishtim, “He Who Found Life” — the immortal flood-survivor of Mesopotamian myth who, warned by Enki, built a great boat and survived the deluge, was
Enkidu, the wild-man and beloved companion of Gilgamesh in the great Mesopotamian epic — created by the gods from clay as the hero-king’s equal, civilized
Gilgamesh, the great hero-king of Uruk and protagonist of the oldest great work of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh — the two-thirds divine king who slew
Nisaba, the Sumerian goddess of writing, scribes, grain and accounting — the patroness of literacy in whose honour the scribal schools were dedicated,
Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer and brewing — the divine brewer who transformed grain into the beer that gladdened gods and mortals, immortalized in
Nanshe, the Sumerian goddess of social justice, prophecy, fish and fertility — the compassionate champion of the poor, widow and orphan who weighed the
Ningishzida, a Sumerian god of the underworld, vegetation and serpents, “Lord of the Good Tree” — a chthonic deity of the roots of trees, bearer of the
Geshtinanna, the Sumerian goddess of the grape-vine, wine, dreams and autumn, “Lady of the Vine” — the devoted sister of the dying-god Dumuzi, whose love