Babylonian Mythology Gods list and myths date from 700 B.C

Most records of Babylonian myths date from 700 B.C., when they were transcribed in cuneiform on clay tablets and stored in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. However, the two major Babylonian epics probably originated around 2000 B.C. The Epic of Creation justifies Marduk's rule over gods and men; and it reflects the political supremacy of Babylon in Mesopotamia, since Marduk was the chief god of that city. The Gilgamesh Epic shows the failure of man's quest to overcome death.

Generally Babylonian mythology lacks the transcendental quality of the myth of Osiris. It is more earth-bound and more materialistic. Death puts an end to the sensual pleasures of life, and the underworld of the dead is the most dismal place imaginable. The Babylonian gods themselves indulge in eroticism, feasting, and fighting. But if the values are coarser and more masculine, the Babylonians produced a literary triumph in the Gilgamesh Epic.

Major Babylonian Gods

Anu, the head of the gods, reigned in the uppermost part of heaven and had an army of stars to destroy evildoers.

Anu-God of the sky - Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses Google Sites

Enlil, god of the hurricane and deluge, was also the source of royal power and dealt out good and evil to men.

Ea, a god of the waters, was a benefactor to nature and men by virtue of his all-encompassing wisdom.

Marduk was a fertility god and the principal deity of Babylon. He established lordship over all the other gods by killing the malevolent and chaotic Tiamat and by creating the world out of Tiamat's body.
              

Sin, the moon god, was an enemy to the wicked, shining his nightly light upon their deeds. His children were Shamash, the sun, and Ishtar, the planet Venus.

Shamash was the sun god, a dispenser of light and justice to the world, but also the god of prophecy.

Shamash Definition, Symbol, & Facts photo: Britannica

Ishtar or Inanna, one of the most popular Babylonian deities, was the goddess of sexuality, a potent force among beasts and men. She sanctified temple prostitution. Lustful herself, Ishtar had numerous lovers, most of whom had dreadful fates.

Animation Color Drawing: Magical Winged Lioness. Ishtar, Astarta, Inanna. Stock Vector - Illustration of akkad photo: Dreamstime.com

                      Isthar

One of Ishtar's lovers was the harvest god Tammuz. When he died of her love Ishtar wailed bitterly. Thinking to retrieve Tammuz from the kingdom of death, Ishtar entered the seven portals to the underworld. At each portal she left one of her garments or pieces of jewelry until at last she stood naked before Ereshkigal, the queen of the dead. Ereshkigal had Ishtar imprisoned and assaulted her with sixty illnesses. During this incarceration the earth withered and became desolate, and the gods of heaven mourned.

Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian AMAR.UTU "solar calf"; Biblical Merodach) was the name of a late generation god from ancient Mesopotamia

Finally Ea, the god of wisdom, took matters in hand and through his magical intervention Ishtar was released. Allowed to leave, she gathered up her garments and jewelry, accompanied by Tammuz, who was allowed to stand guard at the gates of heaven. Upon Ishtar's return the earth changed from winter to spring.

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4,000-Year-Old Ancient Babylonian Tablet is Oldest Customer Service Complaint Ever Discovered

A clay tablet from ancient Babylon reveals that no matter where (or when) you go, good customer service can be hard find. So it was revealed by the irate copper merchant, Nanni, in 1750 B.C. The merchant’s aggravation is evident, spelled out in cuneiform on a clay tablet now displayed in The British Museum.

In what is said to be the oldest customer service complaint discovered, Babylonian copper merchant Nanni details at length his anger at a sour deal, and his dissatisfaction with the quality assurance and service of Ea-nasir.


The translation lays out Nanni’s displeasure:

“Tell Ea-nasir: Nanni sends the following message:
When you came, you said to me as follows : “I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.” You left then but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”

What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt? I have sent as messengers gentlemen like ourselves to collect the bag with my money (deposited with you) but you have treated me with contempt by sending them back to me empty-handed several times, and that through enemy territory. Is there anyone among the merchants who trade with Telmun who has treated me in this way? You alone treat my messenger with contempt! On account of that one (trifling) mina of silver which I owe(?) you, you feel free to speak in such a way, while I have given to the palace on your behalf 1,080 pounds of copper, and umi-abum has likewise given 1,080 pounds of copper, apart from what we both have had written on a sealed tablet to be kept in the temple of Samas.

One of the world's oldest known letters is a customer complaint Imgur

How have you treated me for that copper? You have withheld my money bag from me in enemy territory; it is now up to you to restore (my money) to me in full.

Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.”

The complaint letter, written 3,750 years ago was found at the city of Ur. Ur (present day southern Iraq) was one of the most important Sumerian city-states in ancient Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C. Mesopotamian society was an advanced culture. They had knowledge of medicine, astronomy and agriculture, and had invented technologies such as glass-making, irrigation, textile weaving and metal working, notes ABC Science.

The ancient system of writing called cuneiform involved pressing patterns into soft clay tablets by means of a stylus, generally a blunt reed or stick. The scribe would use the stylus to create wedge-shaped markings in the clay, and the soft tablet was then fired to preserve the message. Cuneiform writing died out as it was replaced with the Phoenician alphabet around 200 A.D, and it became a lost written language. It was deciphered by modern researchers in the 19 th century.

A sample of cuneiform from an extract from the Cyrus Cylinder (lines 15–21), giving the genealogy of Cyrus the Great and an account of his capture of Babylon in 539 B.C.E.

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Chaotic Orbit Of Halley's Comet Explained

In the wonderful world of astronomy, you can have perfectly regular events that happen in quite a chaotic way. And Halley’s Comet is one these happenings.

The most famous comet of all returns to our skies every 75 years, but its orbit is so strongly influenced by other bodies in the Solar System that, until now, astronomers couldn't predict its trajectory.

A team of Dutch and Scottish researchers has shown that the comet keeps the same orbit for about 300 years before slowly shifting, which contrasts with the traditional view that the comet has perturbations every 70 years.

"We did the most accurate calculations of Halley and the planets ever," said researcher Tjarda Boekholt from Leiden University in a statement. "To our surprise, Halley's orbit was most strongly influenced by the planet Venus and not by Jupiter, the planet that was always pointed to as the biggest spoiler."

According to the study, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Venus won’t always be the major player. In about 3,000 years, Halley’s comet will have a close encounter with Jupiter, which will give it a jolt and take back the role of the main perturber of the comet.




"After that, predictions of the orbit become less accurate, because the precise effect of Jupiter's gravity introduces a relatively large error in our calculations," added fellow researcher Inti Pelupessy.

Halley’s comet has been known of for thousands of years, named after Edmond Halley who first worked out that this comet regularly returned. The oldest surviving record of the comet is a Babylonian tablet from 164 BCE.

The comet was last in our neighborhood in 1986, when it was intercepted by the ESA spacecraft Giotto. This took the first close-up pictures of a comet, reaching 596 kilometers (370 miles) from Halley’s nucleus. No matter its shaky orbit, Halley’s Comet will grace us with its presence again in 2061.