The Gods. In Mesopotamian thought the gods were represented in terms of human stereotypes. Their personalities, instincts, needs, minds, morality, feelings, weaknesses, and powers were as diverse as those of humankind. Unlike humans, however, they possessed eternal life and superhuman powers. While not coterminous with astral phenomena —the stars, sun, and moon are not themselves gods—the gods were conceived as animators and controllers of the heavens and the forces of nature. They brought heat and light through command of the sun, and they established the seasons through power over the moon. In addition, hidden divine forces with no perceptible image were assumed to make the grain grow and multiply and to cause animals to mate and reproduce. A Sumerian hymn to the god Enlil describes the great powers that the god possessed.

Without the Great Mountain Enlil . . . the carp would not...