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Anunna / Anunnaki

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Collective designation for gods in Mesopotamian texts, with variable scope and membership; earliest known attestations belong to the late third millennium BCE.

Two textual uses of Anuna: the land of Lagash in Gudea’s cylinder, and seven judges in Inanna’s Descent. Modern diagram, not divine images or a fixed membership count
Two textual uses of Anuna: the land of Lagash in Gudea’s cylinder, and seven judges in Inanna’s Descent. Modern diagram, not divine images or a fixed membership countTeaching diagram by IL Archive · CC BY 4.0 · CC BYLicense · Image source

Text

Name and context

Anunna is Sumerian, with related AkkadianAkkadianAn ancient East Semitic language written in cuneiform in Mesopotamia.Glossary · Click to read the explanation Anunnaku/Anunnaki forms. GudeaGudeaRuler of Lagash in the late third millennium BCE, whose inscriptions document temple construction and the name Anunna.Glossary · Click to read the explanation’s Cylinder A names Anuna of Lagash during Ningirsu’s temple construction; InannaInanna / IshtarProminent Mesopotamian goddess with a major centre at Uruk, whose parentage and cult traditions vary rather than forming one fixed genealogy.Glossary · Click to read the explanation’s Descent presents seven judges. Different contexts do not establish one fixed roster, nor does earliest attestation date the first conception. No securely known collective ancient image is identified; this image is a modern diagram. [1][2][3]

References and notes

  1. Nicole Brisch. Anunna / Anunnaku (a group of gods). Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, ORACC (updated entry 2024). Indexed passages: Functions, Cult Places, Time Periods, Iconography and Name. Direct access failed; full direct page inspection is not claimed. Return to the text ↑
  2. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, University of Oxford. The building of Ningirsu’s temple (Gudea cylinders), ETCSL 2.1.7. Translation, Cylinder A lines 353–364: Anuna of the land of Lagash; also 551–561. Direct witness to the name in temple construction. Return to the text ↑
  3. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, University of Oxford. Inana’s descent to the nether world, ETCSL 1.4.1. Translation lines 164–172: seven Anuna as judges. The story’s date is not inferred from its underworld setting. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Anunna / Anunnaki», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/anunna