Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Igigi" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Religions of the ancient Near East Anatolia Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia Babylonia Sumer Iranian Semitic Arabia Canaan
Primordial beings Tiamat and Abzu Lahamu and Lahmu Kishar and Anshar Mummu
Seven gods who decree Four primary Anu Enlil Enki Ninhursag Three sky gods Inanna/Ishtar Nanna/Sin Utu/Shamash
Other major deities Adad Dumuzid Enkimdu Enmesharra Ereshkigal Ki Kingu Geshtinanna Lahar Marduk Nergal Ninurta Šulpae
Minor deities Agasaya Anunnaki Asaruludu Ashnan Ashgi Bel Dumuzi-abzu Enbilulu Erra Erragal Gibil Hendursaga Igigi Isimud Išum Kajamanu Lahar Laṣ Lisin Lugala'abba Mami/Nintu Mamitu Maštabba Nabu Namtar Nanshe Nindara Ninmarki Nisaba Ninazu Ningal Ningirida Ningirima Ninkasi Ninkilim Ninlil Ninmug Ninšar Ninsikila Ninšubur Ninsun Nuska Paniĝinĝarra Sarpanit Shul-utula Šubula Šulpae Tišpak Uttu
Demigods and heroes Adapa Enkidu Enmerkar Gilgamesh Lugalbanda Shamhat Siduri Atra-Hasis Ziusudra Apkallu (seven sages)
Spirits and monsters Udug Lamassu/Shedu Asag Edimmu Siris Anzû Ušum/Dragon Kuli-ana/Mermaid Bašmu Mušmaḫḫū Ušumgallu Seven-headed serpent Humbaba Hanbi Kur Lamashtu Lilu Pazuzu Rabisu
Tales Mythology An = Anum Atra-Hasis Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Enūma Eliš Epic of Gilgamesh
Terms Dingir Sukkal
v t e

Igigi are the mythological figures of heaven in the mythology of Mesopotamia. Though sometimes synonymous with the term "Anunnaki", in the Atrahasis myth the Igigi were the younger beings who were servants of the Annunaki, until they rebelled and were replaced by the creation of humans.

Etymology

The name has unknown origin. It was originally spelt i-gi₄-gi₄, but was later also written as í-gì-gì. This latter may have been a play on words, as in Sumerian, the combination can be interpreted as numerals adding to 7 (the number of Great Gods), or multiplying to 600 (which in some traditions was the total number of gods).

Atrahasis

Akkadian Paradise is described as a garden in the myth of Atrahasis where lower rank deities (the Igigi) are put to work digging a watercourse by the more senior deities (the Anunnaki).

When the gods, man-like,

Bore the labour, carried the load,

The gods' load was great,

The toil grievous, the trouble excessive.

The great Anunnaku, the Seven,

Were making the Igigu undertake the toil.

The Igigi then rebel against the dictatorship of Enlil, setting fire to their tools and surrounding Enlil's great house by night. On hearing that toil on the irrigation channel is the reason for the disquiet, the Anunnaki council decide to create man to carry out agricultural labour.

See also

• Seraphim
• Grigori
• Gana

References

1. Leick, Gwendolyn: A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology (New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 85
2. "igigi in §4". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
3. William P. Brown (June 1999). The ethos of the cosmos: the genesis of moral imagination in the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 140–. ISBN 978-0-8028-4539-9. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
4. ^ Millard, A. R., New Babylonian 'Genesis' Story, p. 8, The Tyndale Biblical Archaeology Lecture, 1966; Tyndale Bulletin 18, 3-18, 1967.

External links

• Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Igigi/Igigu (a group of gods)

This article relating to a myth or legend from the ancient Middle East is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Mesopotamian deities
• Middle East mythology stubs