Astrology was born in Babylon, where the planets were watched under the names of these gods. Babylon's creation epic Enuma Elish begins with the fresh water Apsu and the salt water Tiamat. From the lineage of Anu, Enlil and Enki come the Moon (Nanna), the Sun (Utu), Venus (Inanna), Jupiter (Marduk), Mercury (Nabu), Mars (Nergal) and Saturn (Ninurta).
Tap a name and its parents, partners, children and the chain running back to the primordial waters open up. The roots of several constellations are here too, among them the Bull of Heaven, the scorpion-man and the bow-man Pabilsag.
102 figures7 planetary gods11 monsters of Tiamat13 lineages and groups
Key facts
In Enuma Elish the first beings are the fresh water Apsu and the salt water Tiamat, and Lahmu, Anshar and Anu descend from them, while in Sumer the primordial sea is Nammu.
Anu's sons are Enlil and Enki. From Enlil come Nanna (Moon), Nergal (Mars) and Ninurta (Saturn), from Nanna Utu (Sun) and Inanna (Venus), from Enki Marduk (Jupiter), and from Marduk Nabu (Mercury).
Inanna is the daughter of Nanna in Sumer and of Anu in Akkad.
Marduk defeats Tiamat and her eleven monsters and builds the world from her body, and mankind is made from Kingu's blood.
The planet Saturn is the star of Ninurta, while Berossus equates Ea with Cronus. The chart covers 102 figures in all.
Main line: from the primordial waters to the planetary gods
The chart runs left to right: Apsu, Tiamat and Sumer's Nammu, the first generation (Lahmu, Anshar), Anu, the generation of Enlil and Enki, the generation of Nanna and Marduk, and finally Utu, Inanna and Nabu. The Babylonian account of Enuma Elish and the Sumerian account share one tree. Anu is the son of Anshar in Babylon and of Nammu in Sumer. Large clans appear as dashed group boxes. Tap a box to open its list below. Drag to pan, Ctrl/⌘ + wheel or the buttons to zoom.
Inanna is the daughter of Nanna in Sumer and of Anu in Akkad, and the same duality holds for Ereshkigal. Ninhursag is Enlil's sister, and in some lists she is Ki herself. The planetary correspondences are given on the figure cards.
Lineage explorer: who is whose child?
Type a name or tap a box in the chart. The card that opens shows the parent, partner and child links recorded on the tablets. "Not recorded" means no link is drawn for that figure in this chart, not that none exists in the sources.
Close kin: grandparents · parents and partners · figure and siblings · children
Lineages and groups
All 102 figures in the chart are listed here by lineage and group. The chips above filter by type. Tap a name and the explorer opens that figure.
According to Babylon's Enuma Elish, in the beginning there are the fresh water Apsu and the salt water Tiamat. When their waters mingle, Lahmu and Lahamu are born, from them Anshar and Kishar, and from them the sky god Anu. In the Sumerian account the primordial sea Nammu bears sky (An) and earth (Ki), and Enlil is the son of this pair.
Which god is which planet?
Nanna/Sin is the Moon, Utu/Shamash the Sun, Inanna/Ishtar Venus, Nabu Mercury, Nergal Mars, Marduk Jupiter and Ninurta Saturn. These seven are the source of the planetary week and of the planetary characters in classical astrology. The Greeks matched Ishtar with Aphrodite, Nergal with Ares, Marduk with Zeus, Nabu with Hermes and Ninurta with Cronus. There is also a link between Ea and Saturn, but it comes from the matching of god-figures rather than from observation of the planet. Berossus calls the god who warns of the flood Cronus, that is, he identifies Ea with Cronus. In Babylonian observation of the sky, however, Saturn is called 'the star of Ninurta'.
Whose daughter is Inanna?
In the Sumerian texts Inanna is the daughter of the Moon god Nanna and Ningal. She is the twin of the Sun god Utu and the sister of the underworld queen Ereshkigal. In the Akkadian tradition, under the name Ishtar, she is counted the daughter of Anu and Antu. The chart follows the Sumerian tie and notes the Akkadian account on her card.
How does Marduk defeat Tiamat?
To avenge Apsu, Tiamat bears eleven monsters and makes Kingu their commander. The gods commission Enki's son Marduk in exchange for kingship. Marduk catches Tiamat in his net, inflates her with the storm and splits her in two with an arrow. He builds sky and earth from her body, creates mankind from Kingu's blood and has Esagila built in Babylon.
What sources is this family tree based on?
The main source is Enuma Elish. To it are added the Sumerian myths (Enki and Ninhursag, Enlil and Ninlil, Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, Enki and the World Order), the Epic of Gilgamesh and the god list An = Anum. The modern reference is Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. Kinships that changed from city to city over three thousand years are noted.
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Explore Further
Astrology began with the observation of these gods
The omen series Enuma Anu Enlil of the 2nd millennium BC tracked the Moon as Sin, Venus as Ishtar, Jupiter as Marduk. The zodiac, the planetary week and the horoscope were born in Babylon. The Planet Mythology pages follow these roots planet by planet.