About this deity
The "Bull of Heaven" was a Sumerian beast oftentimes depicted in cylinder seals. In some traditions, the bull was killed by Gilgamesh.
Also known as
Parent belief system
Sumerian Religion · Polytheistic · 7 mythsSumerian religion refers to spiritual beliefs practiced from ca. 4500-1900 BCE in Mesopotamia, or modern-day southern Iraq. Many deities were diffused into other Mesopotamian cultures.
Top myths
Background
The Bull of Heaven was a mythical beast prominent in Sumerian mythological stories involving Gilgamesh. According to Jeremy Black, the Bull of Heaven was involved with conflicts with the deities Ishtar and Gilgamesh.
"The Bull of Heaven was a mythical beast demanded
by Ištar (Inana) from her father Anu
(An) so as to destroy the city of Uruk when her
amorous advances toward Gilgameš were repudiated
by the hero. The bull caused widespread
destruction but was eventually killed by
Gilgameš with the assistance of Enkidu. As a
taunt, Gilgameš dedicated the animal's horns
to his personal god Lugalbanda. The story is
told both in the Sumerian poem 'Gilgameš and
the Bull of Heaven' and in tablet VI of the
Babylonian Epic of Gilgameš." [1]
The Bull of Heaven is also prominent in iconography from Mesopotamia. However, the bull is a general motif, making its presence and identification confusing in some instances.
Cite this page
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Bull of Heaven." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 22 Jun. 2020, omnika.org/stable/698. Accessed 11 May. 2024.
OMNIKA (2020, June 22). Bull of Heaven. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/698
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Bull of Heaven." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created June 22, 2020. Accessed May 11, 2024. https://omnika.org/stable/698.
