One of the most interesting mythologies to me is that of the peoples of Mesopotamia, chief among them being the peoples of Sumer and Akkad. The Sumerians pioneered writing, and as such their language persisted as a liturgical tongue throughout the region as their religion persisted in the descendants of the region, Assyria and Babylon. One of the strange things in the early D&D material is the splitting of the Sumerian and Babylonian mythoi, which are not truly separate faiths, just temporally separated versions of the same religion. Of course, like all religions that span centuries or millennia, significant divergences occur at various points, especially as cities with their own take on the faith rose and fell; this is the reason the Babylonian and Assyrian versions of the Enuma Elish creation myth place their primary gods Marduk and Assur in the leading roles respectively. As with the Egyptian pantheon, describing different ways of setting up the pantheon would be integral to properly describing the pantheon.
I have a large number of sources for this mythos, but I have misplaced some of them right now, so this list is based on some of my old notes. There are literally thousands of known deities, many of which have little solid information, or are local versions of other gods, or deified concepts of minor locations or things. I’ll just be listing major ones here. There are other culturally related or influenced mythologies that I will mention in a later post, that may be most appropriately integrated into this mythos.
Babylonian:
—Anshar (1e DD), actually Sumerian, a primordial deity along with Kishar (An- and Ki- meaning sky and earth, as in the deities An and Ki)
—Anu (1e DD), originally An in Sumerian
—Druaga (1e DD), not actually a Mesopotamian figure, possibly derived from the Zoroastrian concept of “Druj;” regardless, should either be excluded or put in as a specifically-D&D interloper.
—Gilgamesh (1e DD, P&P), in Powers & Pantheons as a corrupted form known as Gilgeam; a deified king of the Sumerian city Uruk.
—Girru (1e DD), originally Gibil in Sumerian
—Ishtar (1e DD), same deity as Innana
—Marduk (1e DD), patron of the city of Babylon
—Nergal (1e DD), originally Sumerian, Akkadian name was Erra
—Ramman (1e DD), more commonly Adad and Ishkur in Sumerian
Sumerian:
—Enki (1e DD), also Ea in Akkadian
—Enlil (1e DD), also Ellil in Akkadian, often referred to “Bel” in Akkadian which means “Lord” (similar to Baal)
—Inanna (1e DD), also Ishtar in Akkadian
—Ki (1e DD), a primordial goddess of the earth
—Nanna-Sin (1e DD), Nanna is the Sumerian name and Sin/Suen is the Akkadian
—Nin-Hursag (1e DD), Belet-ili and Aruru in Akkadian
—Utu (1e DD), Shamash in Akkadian
Other extant deities:
—Abzu/Apsu, the primordial fresh water beneath the earth, sometimes seen as a deity and a place.
—Alala, a god of harvest songs
—Annunitum, an Akkadian goddess similar to Inanna/Ishtar
—Aruru, a Babylonian mother goddess
—Asag/Asakku, a monster defeated by Ninurta
—Asarluhi, son of Enki and connected to incantations
—Ashnan, a goddess of grain
—Assuran/Hoar (P&P), based on the tutelary deity of the capital of Assyria, Assur/Ashshur, for whom there is little mythological information.
—Baba, a goddess of abundance and fertility
—Belet-ekallim, a goddess known as Lady of the Great House and protector of the royal household
—Belet-seri, wife of Martu/Amurru, scribe in the netherworld
—Damgalnuna/Damkina, mother goddess and eventually seen as mother of Marduk
—Damu, a god of healing with his sister Gunura
—Dumuzi/Tammuz, a major god of shepherds and their flocks, consort of Inanna
—Dumuziabzu, a goddess of freshwater
—Enbililu and Enkimdu, son of Enki and inspector of canals
—Enmesharra, a primordial god of the underworld
—Ennugi, a god associated with the dead and the irrigation of fertile land
—Ereshkigal, a major goddess who was queen of the underworld and sister of Inanna. Nergal was often her consort.
—Galla, an underworld creature who hunts down victims, such as Dumuzi, and takes them to the underworld; possibly a monster rather than a deity
—Gatumdug, a daughter of An
—Geshtinanna, sister of Dumuzi, connected with viniculture and sentenced to spend half the year in the underworld as a scribe
—Gishbare, a god worshipped in Girsu
—Gula, the Babylonian goddess of healing with a close association with dogs
—Gushkin-banda, Sumerian god of goldsmiths
—Hendursanga/Ishum, a divine herald, guardian, and counsellor
—Huwawa/Humbaba, a horrifically ugly gorgon-like figure that Gilgamesh slew
—Ilaba, patron god of the city of Agade (capital of Sargon’s Akkadian Empire)
—Imdugud/Anzu, a vicious bird-monster with the head of a lion and opponent of Ninurta
—Inzak, chief god of nearby Dilmun that was both trading partner and mythologically paradisical.
—Ishhara, a counterpart of Inanna/Ishtar among the Hurrians
—Ishtatan, associated with justice
—Isimud/Usmu, a two-face minister of Enki
—Iter-Mer, possibly a rain god
—Kingu or Qingu, a servant of Tiamat in the Enuma Elish, slain by Marduk and his blood was used to create humanity
—Kulla, a god of brick-laying
—Lahmu and Lahamu, a pair of primordial deities who exist primarily to create a divine family tree
—Lama/Lamassu, a female protector deity, the name eventually used for the winged bull statues
—Lamashtu, a demonic creature who took the lives of fetuses and newborns
—La-tarak and Lulal, protector deities of doorways and guardians against sorcery
—Lisin, a Sumerian mother goddess
—Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea, twin guardians of doorways and the entrance to the underworld
—Mamitu, an Akkadian goddess who stood for the sanctity of oaths and punished those who committed perjury
—Martu/Amurru, patron god of the nomadic Amorites, who represented the threat to cities but also the civilizing nature of cities
—Nabu, a major Babylonian god of scribes and the scribal arts.
—Nammu, a primordial Sumerian mother goddess
—Namtar/Namtaru, an underworld demon and minister of Ereshkigal
—Nana, a Sumerian goddess eventually seen as wife of Marduk or Nabu
—Nanaya, a Sumerian goddess similar to Inanna/Ishtar, invoked in incantations by those wishing to be more sexually appealing
—Nanshe, a goddess of fishing and divination
—Ninazu, an underworld deity of healing and who brought humanity the gift of grain
—Ningal, wife of Nanna, she and her priestesses were said to be able to interpret dreams
—Ningirin, a goddess associated with incantations
—Ningirsu, eventually associated with Ninurta
—Ningishzida, son of Ninazu, and called “Lord of the Steadfast Tree” and thus may have had an association with trees and their roots
—Ninildu, patron of carpentry
—Ninisina, a healing goddess
—Ninmah, a midwifery goddess who helped Nammu create mankind, then had a drunken bet wherein all of the flaws of mankind are created
—Ninshubur/Papsukkal, divine messenger and servant of An or Inanna, and the deity’s gender matched the master
—Ninsun, deified or mythological mother of Gilgamesh
—Nintu or Nintur, Sumerian goddess of childbirth
—Ninurta, originally a god of agriculture, but became a god of war and fought the Anzu bird as his prominence rose
—Nisaba, Sumerian scribal goddess, eventually associated with the Babylonian Nabu as his wife
—Numushda, son of Nanna; his daughter married and civilized the god Martu
—Nungal, an underworld goddess who pursued the wicked
—Nusku, Sumerian god of fire, Gibil/Girru was his son
—Pabilsag, son of Enlil and husband to Ninisina
—Pazuzu (the tanar’ri Pazrael in AD&D 2e), a demon who could also protect against Lamashtu
—Samana, a demon like Pazuzu that preyed on men and women and especially infants and prostitutes
—Sarpanitum, wife of Marduk and goddess of pregnancy and childbirth
—Shara, Sumerian warrior god
—Shulpae, consort of Ninhursag and associated with her fertility powers
—Sherida/Aya, wife of Utu and goddess of light and fecundity
—Sud or Ninlil, wife of Enlil
—Tashmetu, wife of Nabu and interceded with other gods on behalf of those who prayed to her
—Tiamat, very different from the draconic goddess; goddess of salt water and counterpart to Abzu in the Akkadian Enuma Elish.
—Tishpak, warrior god and possibly the same as the Hurrian god Teshub
—Tutu, a Sumerian god of creation
—Urash, wife of An, possibly the same as Ki
—Uttu, Sumerian goddess of weaving and spiders
—Zababa, warrior god of Kish and consort to Inanna/Ishtar