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Updated: June 22, 2025
At one time we may well suppose that the festival of En-lil at Nippur, which brought worshippers from all parts of Babylonia, was recognized as a 'New Year's Day, and we may some day find evidence that at a still earlier period the first day of a month sacred to some other god, Sin or Shamash or Nanâ-Ishtar of Erech, was recognized in some districts as the starting-point for the year; but to an agricultural community, the spring, when the seeds are sown, or the fall, after the harvest has been gathered, are the two most natural periods for reckoning the beginning of the year.
Even when En-lil is obliged to yield a modicum of his authority to the growing supremacy of the patron deity of the city of Babylon, the highest tribute that can be paid to the latter, is to combine with his real name, Marduk, the title of "Bel," which of right belongs to En-lil.
The latter holds in his possession the tablets of fate, by means of which he enjoys supreme authority over men and gods. Zu's jealousy is aroused, and he plans to tear these tablets from En-lil. The tablets of fate, it will be recalled, play an important part in the Marduk-Tiâmat episode.
Primarily, the ideograph Lil is used to designate a 'demon' in general, and En-lil is therefore the 'chief demon. Primitive as such a conception is, it points to some system of thought that transcends primitive Animism, which is characterized rather by the equality accorded to all spirits.
He looked at the father of the gods, the god of Dur-an-ki, Desire for rulership seizes hold of his heart. I will give all orders to all the Igigi. Zu proceeds to the dwelling-place of En-lil and waits for a favorable moment to make an attack. His heart was bent on the contest. With his gaze directed toward the entrance of the dwelling, he awaits for the beginning of day.
See p. 263. See p. 525. See p. 420, 428. See pp. 439 seq. I.e., En-lil's. I.e., 'the bond of heaven and earth, the name probably of a temple-tower in Nippur, sacred to En-lil. Zu's heart. These two lines are repeated. The word Kissu applies more especially to the dwelling places of the gods. Delitzsch, Assyr. Handwörterbuch, p. 349b. Zu.
A story has been found which illustrates an attempt made by the bird Zu to break loose from the control of the sun. A storm was viewed as a conflict between the clouds and the sun, much as an eclipse symbolized a revolt in the heavens. The myth represents the conflict as taking place between Zu and En-lil, the Bel of Nippur.
Again, at the beginning of one of his inscriptions, he appeals to Nin-girsu, En-lil, Ninâ, Bau, Ga-tum-dug, Gal-alim, and Dun-shagga. He recounts what he has done to promote the cults of these deities, and upon his conduct he grounds his hope that they will aid him in his undertakings. The lists, as will be observed, vary in the number and in the order of the gods enumerated.
Such are the endearing terms in which he speaks of his god, as to give one the impression that, when thinking of Marduk, the king for the moment loses sight of the existence of other gods. The most striking tribute, however, that is paid to Marduk in the period of Hammurabi is his gradual assumption of the rôle played by the old En-lil or Bel of Nippur, once the head of the Babylonian pantheon.
It will, therefore, form part of a delineation of the Babylonian pantheon to interpret the picture, as it were, under which each deity is viewed. En-lil or Bel. Taking up the gods in the order named, the first one, Bel, is also the one who appears on the oldest monuments as yet unearthed the inscriptions of Nippur. His name is, at this time, written invariably as En-lil.
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