| Fertile Crescent myth series |
|
|---|---|
| Mesopotamian | |
| Levantine | |
| Arabian | |
| Mesopotamia | |
| Primordial beings | |
| The great gods | |
| Demigods & heroes | |
| Spirits & monsters | |
| Tales from Babylon | |
| 7 Gods who Decree | |
|
4 primary: |
3 sky: |
Igigi was a term used to refer to the gods of heaven in Sumerian mythology. Though sometimes synonymous with the term "Annunaki," in one myth the Igigi were the younger gods who were servants of the Annunaki, until they rebelled and were replaced by the creation of humans.[1]
Sumerian 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 Annanuki).[2]
When the gods, like man. Bore the labour, carried the load. The gods' load was great, the toil greivous, the trouble excessive. The great Annanuki, the Seven, Were making the Igigu undertake the toil.[3]
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 Annanuki council decide to create man to carry out agricultural labour.[3]