A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology

by Gwendolyn Leick

The Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology covers sources from Mesopotamia, Syro-Palestine and Anatolia, from around 2800 to 300 BC. It contains entries on gods and goddesses, giving evidence of their worship in temples, describing their 'character', as documented by the texts, and defining their roles within the body of mythological narratives; synoptic entries on myths, giving the place of origin of main texts and a brief history of their transmission through the ages; and entries explaining the use of specialist terminology, for such things as categories of Sumerian texts or types of mythological figures.

Genres: Mythology, History

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 22, 1988

About the author

Gwendolyn Leick is an anthropologist and Assyriologist. She is the author of various publications on the Ancient Near East, including A Dictionary of Near Eastern Mythology and Sex & Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature. She also acts as a cultural tour guide in the Middle East, lecturing on history, archaeology and anthropology.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is called a Dictionary it is not how it should be treated. Read it cover to cover like any other book and your treated to some of the very interesting stories and facts about ancient mythology from the Near East. Pick it up occasionally and use it like a dictionary, looking up this or that and it's likely to go largely unread when it's actually interesting and enjoyable as a whole and much can be gained by reading it in it's entirety.

Since this book was written in 1991, I think we are due for an update. Much has been uncovered since but this book will remain good for a long time to come, much as SN Kramer's books have, along with many others, as Ms Leick's is a fabulous writer with a great command of the subject area. I first came across her with her "Mesopotamia, Invention of the City: which was another great read and will certainly consider reading anything else she writes.

I think this is the only book where I read the entire Bibliography trying to squeeze out everything I could before shelving it. Much enjoyed after I quit treating it as just a dictionary.

[Apocryphal Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leick is another prolific author of ancient Mesopotamian history and one of my favourites. I think her book on the Mesopotamian city is a brilliant piece of history, covering 3000 years of history by looking a ten or so different cities in detail. I've love to see a second volume of that one.

This book is similar to Black & Green's Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, and has many of the same gods and creatures listed, but contains some that aren't listed in the other book (especially gods and creatures from Syrian/Canaanite, Hurrian, Hattian, and Hittite myth). It also briefly describes several of the more interesting myths. Like the Black and Green book, it's not comprehensive, and some of the omissions are odd. There's no entry for the later demon, Pazuzu, for example, one of the more common entities to enter into modern culture in the form of heavy metal band names. There isn't even an index entry. And yet, in the image plates at the back of the book, there's a captioned image of a clay model of Pazuzu's head dating from the Old Babylonian period (a time before which most sources say Pazuzu was first attested.) So there's a little mystery - did Pazuzu exist in the Old Babylonian time period or not? Sadly, the book says nothing about him.

It also has some entries I haven't seen elsewhere, like this one:

Šeri and Hurri Anatolian divine bulls:
Their names are of Hurrian origin and mean "Day and Night." In the Hittite imperial pantheon they are the bulls of the great Weather-god and pull his chariot. They were said to graze on destroyed cities... They were invoked in treaties and oaths, but also in prayers, where they were asked to intercede with their master as well as other deities.

Both books (this one and the one y Black & Green) are recommended if you enjoy the subject matter. Both are excellent, and work better if taken together, even though they slightly contradict one another in places. And don't stop with these, either. Lay your hands on The Mesopotamian Pandemonium by Frans Wiggermann, as well, available for free from Academia.edu, as comprehensive a look at Mesopotamian demons as you'll find anywhere.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this soon after restarting the Old Testament and I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. The pairing was excellent. The similarities are at times striking, and I really appreciated that the author pointed most of them out. The names were different, but there were often similarities there as well when using the ancient Hebrew rather than an English translation. A great flood, a prophet being carried up to heaven, creation involving people being formed from clay, the highest god fighting and banishing a lower god to the underworld, a child being placed in a river in a reed basket. Another very interesting point was that in cuneiform texts the phrase "6 days 7 nights" was used to denote a very long passage of time. I wonder how some young earth creationists would react to that... The only reason it lost points was due to inconsistencies in the entries. There are of course more inscriptions and evidences for some gods or myths than others, so this wasn't entirely the author's fault. But there were times when Old Testament parallels or astronomical connections weren't mentioned and it would have been nice to have those included.

[Gavin White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good guide to the mythology, gods and goddesses of the Ancient Near East. There are sections on all the major gods and goddesses as well as individual articles on each of the major myths associated with the deities.
I'd recommend getting this alongside Black & Green's 'Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia'.

[Artur · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really is magnificent material to prepare to my upcoming exam on religions of ancient near east. Well written and easy to approach.