A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

Chaos and monsters

73 gods of chaos and monsters, across nine rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

20 works

Anzu, plate
Anzu an-zu The Lion-Headed Bird — Thief of the Tablet of Destinies
Asag, plate
Asag a-sag The Stone Demon of the Mountains — Adversary of Ninurta
Erra, plate
Erra er-ra The Bringer of Plague — God of Indiscriminate Violence
Gallu, plate
Gallu gal-lu The Demons of the Underworld — pursuers of Inanna and of Dumuzi
Hedammu, plate
Hedammu he-dam-mu The Sea-Monster — Earlier Champion of Kumarbi
Humbaba, plate
Humbaba hum-ba-ba The Guardian of the Cedar Forest — Whose Face was Coiled Entrails
Illuyanka, plate
Illuyanka il-luyan-ka The Great Dragon — Adversary of Tarhunt
Inara, plate
Inara i-na-ra Daughter of Tarhunt — Lure of the Dragon Illuyanka
Kingu, plate
Kingu kin-gu General of Tiamat — slain to make mankind
Kumarbi, plate
Kumarbi koo-mar-bee Father of the Gods — the Hurrian elder god
Lamashtu, plate
Lamashtu la-mash-tu The Devourer — demoness of childbirth
Lilitu, plate
Lilitu li-li-tu The Night-Hag — demoness of the wind
Mot, plate
Mot mot Death — Devourer of Baal
Mušḫuššu, plate
Mušḫuššu muš-ḫuš-šu The Furious Snake — Dragon of Marduk
Pazuzu, plate
Pazuzu pa-zu-zu King of the Wind Demons — apotropaic against Lamashtu
Tarhunt, plate
Tarhunt tar-hunt Hittite Storm-God — Slayer of the Illuyanka
Tiamat, plate
Tiamat tee-ah-mat The Salt Sea — primordial chaos-mother, slain by Marduk
Tishpak, plate
Tishpak tish-pak Lord of Eshnunna — slayer of the Labbu
Ullikummi, plate
Ullikummi ul-li-kum-mi The Stone Giant — Kumarbi's Champion Against Teshub
Yam, plate
Yam yam Prince Sea — Judge River — defeated of Baal

The Gift of the Nile

5 works

Ammit, plate
Ammit am-mit The Devourer of the Dead — fate of the unjustified soul
Apep, plate
Apep a-pep The Chaos-Serpent — adversary of the sun
Nun, plate
Nun nun The Primordial Waters — formless deep before creation
Set, plate
Set set Lord of the Red Land — god of disorder
The Hermopolitan Ogdoad, plate
The Hermopolitan Ogdoad the her-mo-po-li-tan og-doad The eight primordial powers of Khemenu — the chaos before creation

The Olympian Order

26 works

Bellerophon, plate
Bellerophon buh-lair-uh-fon Tamer of Pegasus — slayer of the Chimera
Cadmus, plate
Cadmus kad-mus Founder of Thebes — sower of dragon's teeth
Cerberus, plate
Cerberus sur-buh-rus The Hound of Hades — three-headed guardian of the dead
Charybdis, plate
Charybdis kuh-rib-dis The Whirlpool of the Strait
Echidna, plate
Echidna eh-kid-nuh The Viper-Woman — mother of monsters
Empusa, plate
Empusa em-pyoo-suh Shape-Shifting Hag of Hecate
Heracles, plate
Heracles her-ah-kleez The Greatest of Heroes — performer of the Twelve Labors
Lamia, plate
Lamia lay-mee-uh The Child-Devouring Queen
Medusa, plate
Medusa meh-doo-suh The Gorgon — whose gaze turned men to stone
Minotaur, plate
Minotaur min-uh-tor The Bull of Minos — prisoner of the Labyrinth
Perseus, plate
Perseus pur-see-us Slayer of the Gorgon — founder of Mycenae
Pontus, plate
Pontus pon-tus The Sea — son of Earth, father of the sea-gods
Python, plate
Python pie-thon The Earth-Serpent of Delphi, slain by Apollo at the navel of the world
Scylla, plate
Scylla sil-uh The Six-Headed Monster of the Strait
Sphinx, plate
Sphinx sfinks The Theban Riddler
Tartarus, plate
Tartarus tar-tuh-rus The Pit — deepest place of the underworld
The Cyclopes, plate
The Cyclopes the sigh-kloh-peez The One-Eyed Smiths of Heaven — Brontes, Steropes, and Arges
The Erinyes, plate
The Erinyes the eh-rin-eez The Furies — Tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto
The Gigantes, plate
The Gigantes the jih-gan-teez The Earthborn — and the Gigantomachy that ended their kind
The Gorgons, plate
The Gorgons the gor-gons Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa — the daughters of the sea, whose gaze turned to stone
The Graeae, plate
The Graeae the gree-eye The Gray Sisters — old from their birth, sharing one eye and one tooth
The Harpies, plate
The Harpies the har-peez The Snatchers — winged daughters of Thaumas and Electra
The Hecatoncheires, plate
The Hecatoncheires the heh-kuh-ton-ky-reez The Hundred-Handed — Briareus, Cottus, and Gyges
The Sirens, plate
The Sirens the sy-rens The Singers of the Rocks, whose voices drew sailors to their death
Theseus, plate
Theseus thee-see-us Athenian Hero — slayer of the Minotaur
Typhon, plate
Typhon tye-fon The Great Serpent — last and worst adversary of Zeus

The Persian World

6 works

Aeshma, plate
Aeshma aesh-ma Demon of Wrath — chief of the daevas; ancestor of the biblical Asmodeus
Angra Mainyu, plate
Angra Mainyu ang-rah myn-yoo The Hostile Spirit — Ahriman in the later tradition; cosmic adversary of Ahura Mazda
Aži Dahāka, plate
Aži Dahāka a-ži da-hā-ka The Three-Headed Dragon — Zahhāk in the Persian tradition; cosmic adversary
Druj, plate
Druj druj The Lie — cosmic principle of falsehood and disorder
Thraetaona, plate
Thraetaona thrae-tao-na The Dragon-Slayer — Faridun in the Shahnameh; conqueror of Aži Dahāka
Tishtrya, plate
Tishtrya tisht-rya The Star Sirius — bringer of rain, slayer of the drought-demon

The Levantine Borderlands

1 work

Bel, plate
Bel bel Chief God of Palmyra — equivalent to the Babylonian Marduk and the Greek Zeus

The Edges of Empire

1 work

Sosryko, plate
Sosryko sos-ry-ko The Trickster-Hero of the Narts — fire-bringer, defeater of giants by guile

The Etruscan World

2 works

Charun, plate
Charun cha-run Hammer-Wielding Death-Demon — striker of the dying
Tuchulcha, plate
Tuchulcha tu-chul-cha The Etruscan Underworld Tormentor — snake-haired demon of the wicked dead

The Roman Inheritance

2 works

Lemures, plate
Lemures le-mu-res Restless Dead — the Unappeased Spirits
Orcus, plate
Orcus or-cus The Old Italic God of the Dead — taker of those who break their oaths

The Northern Inheritance

10 works

Baba Yaga, plate
Baba Yaga ba-ba ya-ga The Witch of the Forest — who lives in a hut on chicken legs
Fafnir, plate
Fafnir faf-nir The Dragon — son of Hreidmar, slain by Sigurd
Fenrir, plate
Fenrir fen-rir The Wolf — Devourer of Odin at Ragnarök
Grendel and Grendel's, plate
Grendel and Grendel's gren-del and gren-del's The Monsters of Heorot — slain by Beowulf
Awaiting its plate
Hiisi hii-si The Finnish Forest-Demon — and the place that is his haunt
Jörmungandr, plate
Jörmungandr jör-mun-gandr The World-Serpent
Koschei, plate
Koschei kos-chei The Deathless — whose soul is hidden in an egg in a duck on an island
Loki, plate
Loki lo-ki The Trickster — Companion and Betrayer of the Gods
Awaiting its plate
Louhi lou-hi Mistress of Pohjola — Witch-Queen of the North — Finnic
Ymir, plate
Ymir y-mir The Primordial Giant — from whose body the world was made

Floor plan

The rooms follow one another in the order their peoples first appear in the written record.

  1. The Cradle of Citiesc. 3400 BCE to 395 CE. 115 works
  2. The Gift of the Nilec. 4000 BCE to 395 CE. 73 works
  3. The Olympian Orderc. 1600 BCE to 750 CE. 152 works
  4. The Persian Worldc. 2000 BCE to 1010 CE. 30 works
  5. The Levantine Borderlandsc. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 20 works
  6. The Edges of Empirec. 2000 BCE to 1500 CE. 33 works
  7. The Etruscan Worldc. 900 BCE to 750 CE. 22 works
  8. The Roman Inheritancec. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 58 works
  9. The Northern Inheritancec. 2000 BCE to 1600 CE. 131 works