APIFantasy | Myth and Folklore Anthology

Babylonian Mythology

Babylonia was based in central-southern Mesopotamia (present day Iraq and Syria) during the 23rd century BC. It was a small cultural state in the larger Akkadian Empire. The primary language spoken in the area was Akkadian, but there were influences of Sumerian and Aramaic in the region as well.

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DEITIES

Anu: god of the highest heaven.

Sarpanit: mother goddess.

Marduk: national god of the Babylonians.

Tiamet: dragon goddess.

Kingu: god of darkness. Husband of Tiamet.

Enlil: god of weather and storms.

Ishtar: goddess of fertility and war.

Utu (also Shamash): sun god, god justice, morality, and truth. Twin of Ishtar.

Ea: god of wisdom.

Enurta: god of war.

Hadad: god of storms and rain.

Lakhmu: protective god.

Suen (also Syn and Nannar): god of the moon and planet.

Mylitta: moon goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and childbirth.

Nabu: god of writing and scribes.

Namtar: god of death.

Nintinugga: goddess of healing.

Nusku: god of light and fire.

Anshar: father of heaven.

Kishar: father of earth.

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CREATURES

Kulullû: one of the eleven monstrous spawns of Tiamet. Described as having the head, arms, and torso of a human and the lower body and tail of a fish.

Labbu: a leonine/serpentine monster, fifty feet/sixty leagues long. It was either birthed by the sea or drawn from the sky by Enlil.

Mušhuššu: a scaly animal with the hind legs like the talons of an eagle, forelimbs like a lion, a long neck and tail, a horned head, and a tongue like a snake with a crest.

Rabisu: evil vampiric spirit or demon that lurk in dark corners or at entrances to houses, waiting to attack.

Girtablilu: the scorpion men with the head, torso, and arms of a man while the body resembles a scorpion's.

Ugalla: a demon with the head of a wolf and the feet of a bird.

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LEGENDS, MYTHS, AND FOLKTALES

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but unlike the rest on this list, their location was never confirmed. One legend says that the Hanging Gardens were built by the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II for his Median wife, Amytis, who missed the green hills and valleys found in her homeland.

The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel, a narrative from Genesis, is an origin myth which describes how the people of the world came to speak different languages.

According to the myth, the human race was united and spoke one language. After the Great Flood, they migrated to Shinar (Babylon) where they agreed to build a city and a tower tall enough to reach heaven. When God saw this, He considered the tower to be blasphemous as it had been built to avoid a second flood. He confounded the people so they could not understand each other. Then He scattered them around the world.

Myth of Etana

There was once a tree that housed an eagle in its branches and a serpent at its base. Both the eagle and the serpent promised Utu (the sun god) to coexist peacefully. One day, the eagle eats the serpent's children. In retaliation, the serpent throws the eagle in a pit to die. Utu sends a man named Etana to save the eagle. In exchange for saving him, Etana asks if the eagle can find him a plant of birth. After a few attempts, the plant is located and Etana has a son named Balih. 

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