Enlil
/ˈɛn.lɪl/noun
An ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, authority, and cosmic order.
Did you know?Enlil was one of Mesopotamia’s supreme gods, and in the Atrahasis myth he sends a devastating flood because humanity’s noise disturbs his rest.
Etymological Timeline
Early 3rd Millennium BCE
Sumerian
Enlil
“The name of a major Sumerian god; traditionally analyzed as en, “lord,” plus lil, “wind” or “air.””
Early Dynastic Period
Sumerian
𒀭𒂗𒆤
“The cuneiform divine name of Enlil, whose principal sanctuary was the Ekur temple at Nippur.”
c. 2100 BCE
Sumerian
Enlil
“A supreme deity invoked in royal ideology as the divine source of kingship and authority.”
2nd Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Ellil
“The Akkadian form of the name, used for the same powerful Mesopotamian god.”
1st Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Ellil
“A chief god in Babylonian and Assyrian religious texts, associated with rule, decrees, wind, and destructive storms.”
Modern English
English
Enlil
“The conventional English transliteration of the Sumerian and Akkadian divine name.”