AN - ANU
The head of the family of Gods of heaven and Earth was An - (or ANU in the Babaylonian / Assyrian yests). He was the Great Father of the Gods, the king of the Gods, the God of the Sun (Creation). His realm was the expanse of the heavens. His symbol was a star.
He lived in Heaven and - according to Sumerian texts came to Earth either at times of great crisis, or in ceremonial visitations - when he was accompanied by his spouse ANTU.

NINHURSAG
Ninhursag -Mother of The Gods - Queen of the mountainhead. She was the daughter of Anu but her mother was not Antu. She was on the heavens having come here before Mankind. Texts record that when the Gods divided Earth up - she was given Dilmon. In Egypt she was the Goddess Maat.

ENKI OR EA
Within his sacred precinct 'Mound of Creation' in Eridu, Enki unraveled the secrets of life and death. His emblem was two serpents entwined on a staff - the basis for the winged caduceus symbol used by modern Western medicine.

ENLIL
The second and most powerful god of the Sumerian pantheon was Enlil. He was God of Heaven and Earth, firstborn of the main God Anu (Heaven) in union with Ki (Earth), Dispenser of Kingship, Chief of the Assembly of the Gods, Father of Gods and men, Granter of Agriculture, Lord of Airspace,

Father of Anu and all the other gods. His consort is his sister, Kishu. Anshar is the male principle, Kishu the female principle. Anshar is the sky, Kishu the earth. Anshar led the gods in the war against Tiamat.

MINOR GODS AND GODDESSES

ERESHKIGAL
Goddess of the underworld, consort of Nergal. Some consider her a dark side or aspect of Ishtar. When Ishtar descended into the underworld to save Tammuz, Ereshkigal tricked her into leaving some part of her clothing or insignias at each of the underworld's seven gates as she passed through them. Standing naked at the seventh gate, Ishtar threw herself on Ereshkigal; but like Samson shorn of his hair she was powerless. Ereshkigal confined Ishtar in the underworld until the wily Ea contrived her release with a trick.

INANNA - aka INNIN – INNINI
The goddess Inanna (Innin, or Innini) was the patron and special god/goddess of the ancient Sumerian city of Erech (Uruk), the City of Gilgamesh. As Queen of heaven, she was associated with the Evening Star (the planet Venus), and sometimes with the Moon. She may also have been associated the brightest stars in the heavens, as she is sometimes symbolized by an eight-pointed star, a seven-pointed star, or a four pointed star. In the earliest traditions, Inanna was the daughter of An, the Sky, Ki, the Earth (both of Uruk, (Warka)). In later Sumerian traditions, she is the daughter of Nanna (Narrar), the Moon God and Ningal, the Moon Goddess (both of Ur). .

ISHTAR
She is Anu's second consort, daughter of Anu and Antum, (sometimes daughter of Sin), and sometimes the sister of Ereshkigal. She is the goddess of love, procreation, and war. She is armed with a quiver and bow. Her temples have special prostitutes of both genders. A lion often accompanies her, and she sometimes rides it. Symbol: an eight or sixteen-pointed star Sacred number: 15 Astrological region: Dibalt (Venus) and the Bowstar (Sirius) Sacred animal: lion, (dragon)

KINGU
Tiamat's general in the war against the gods. Keeper of the tablets of destiny, which hold the divine plan for all the cosmos. Ninhursag used Kingu's blood to make the first man, and from this comes the demonic, rebellious aspect of human nature.

NANNA
Nanna is another name for the moon god Sin. He is the product of Enlil's rape of Ninlil. Nanna was the tutelary deity of Ur (Kramer 1963 p. 66), appointed as king of that city by An and Enlil. He established Ur-Nammu as his mortal representative, establishing the third Ur dynasty. Nanna was married to Ningal and they produced Inanna and Utu. He rests in the Underworld every month, and there decrees the fate of the dead. He averts a flood of his city by visiting Enlil in Nippur on a boat loaded with gifts and pleading with him. He refuses to send aid to Inanna when she is trapped in the underworld.

NEBO - NABU
God of writing and speech, speaker for the gods. Nebo maintains records of men's deeds and produces them for judgment after death. His symbol is the stylus.

NERGAL
God of the underworld, mass destruction and plague, consort of Ereshkigal. Thrown out of heaven, he stormed the underworld with fourteen demons until Ereshkigal consented to marry him.

NIDABA
The goddess of writing and the patron deity of the edubba (palace archives).

NINGAL
Nanna's wife and the mother of Inanna and Utu. She begs and weeps before Enlil for them not to flood her city, Ur

NINISINNA
The patron goddess of the city Isin. She is the "hierodule of An".

NINKAS
Goddess of brewing

NINLIL
Ninlil was the intended bride of Enlil. Enlil raped her and was then banished to the nether world (kur). She follows him to the nether world, where she gives birth to the moon god Sin (also known as Nanna). They have three more children in the nether world who remain there so that Sin may be allowed to leave. (Kramer, Sumerians 1963: pp.146-7). In some texts she is Enlil's sister while Ninhursag is his bride. Her chief shrine was in the Tummal district of Nippur.

SIN
The moon god. Wise and secretive, the enemy of all evil spirits. An old man with a long beard who flies through the sky in his sailboat every night.

TIAMAT - LEVIATHAN
Goddess of the primeval depths, the chaos from which Marduk formed the world. She took the form of a dragon and swam in the primal waters. Tiamat warred on the gods, spawning a brood of dragons, sphinxes, scorpion-men and other demons and monsters for her army. Marduk slew her, defeating her with magic and powerful winds. Splitting her in two, Marduk cast one half of Tiamat into the sky to form the heavens and the other he cast down to form the Earth.

UTU - SHAMASH - BABBAR
Son of Nanna and Ningal, god of the Sun and of Justice, Utu goes to the underworld at the end of every day and while there, decrees the fate of the dead. When Inanna's huluppu tree is infested with unwelcome guests, he ignores her appeal for aid. He aided Dumuzi in his flight from the galla demons by helping him to transform into different creatures. He opened the "ablal" of the Underworld for Enkidu, to allow him to escape, at the behest of Enki. Through Enki's orders, he also brings water up from the earth in order to irrigate Dilmun, the garden paradise, the place where the sun rises. He is in charge of the 'Land of the Living' and, in sympathy for Gilgamesh, calls off the seven weather heroes who defend that land.