A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Themes

City patron

100 gods of city patron, across eight rooms, in the order the rooms are walked.

The Cradle of Cities

34 works

Anu, plate
Anu ah-noo An — Lord of the Sky, head of the elder pantheon
Artemis of Ephesus, plate
Artemis of Ephesus ar-te-mis of e-phe-sus The Many-Breasted Mother of Ephesus
Ashur, plate
Ashur a-shur National God of Assyria
Astarte, plate
Astarte as-tar-te The Phoenician Queen of Heaven
Ba'Al Hammon, plate
Ba'Al Hammon ba-'al ham-mon Lord of the Brazier — chief god of Carthage
Baalat Gebal, plate
Baalat Gebal baa-lat ge-bal The Lady of Byblos — Mistress of the Cedar Coast
Bau, plate
Bau bau The Lady of the Sheepfold — Healer-Goddess of Lagash
Dagon, plate
Dagon da-gon The Grain — Father of Baal
Damgalnuna, plate
Damgalnuna dam-gal-nu-na Great Lady of the Princely Fresh Waters — Mother of Marduk
Enlil, plate
Enlil en-lil Lord Wind — King of the Gods, Lord of Nippur
Gilgamesh, plate
Gilgamesh gil-gah-mesh Two Parts God and One Part Man — King of Uruk and Seeker of Immortality
Gula, plate
Gula gu-la The Great Lady — goddess of healing
Hepat, plate
Hepat he-pat Queen of Heaven — Hurrian consort of Teshub
Inanna, plate
Inanna ee-nan-nah Queen of Heaven — Akkadian Ishtar; goddess of love, war, and the morning and evening star
Ishtar of Nineveh, plate
Ishtar of Nineveh ish-tar of ni-ne-veh The Lady of Nineveh — Assyrian Ishtar
Kuvava, plate
Kuvava ku-va-va Mother-Goddess of Carchemish — Ancestress of Cybele
Ma, plate
Ma ma The War-Goddess of Comana — Brought to Rome as Bellona
Marduk, plate
Marduk mar-dook Lord of Babylon — Bel
Melqart, plate
Melqart mel-qart King of the City — Tutelary God of Tyre, Whose Pyre Burned at His Festival
Mušḫuššu, plate
Mušḫuššu muš-ḫuš-šu The Furious Snake — Dragon of Marduk
Nabu, plate
Nabu na-bu Scribe of the Gods — Lord of Borsippa
Nanaya, plate
Nanaya na-naya The Sweet One — Goddess of Sensual Love and Music
Nanna, plate
Nanna nan-na The Moon — Akkadian Sin; god of Ur
Nergal, plate
Nergal ner-gal The Burning One — god of war, plague, and the underworld
Ninazu, plate
Ninazu ni-na-zu Lord of Healing and the Underworld — son of Ereshkigal
Ningal, plate
Ningal nin-gal Great Lady of the Moon — Consort of Nanna and Mother of Inanna
Ninlil, plate
Ninlil nin-lil Lady of the Open Field — wife of Enlil
Sandon, plate
Sandon san-don The Cilician Heracles — Whose Pyre Burned at Tarsus
Sarpanit, plate
Sarpanit sar-pa-nit The Silvery One — Queen of Babylon, Consort of Marduk
Tanit, plate
Tanit ta-nit The Face of Baal — Supreme Goddess of Carthage
Tashmetum, plate
Tashmetum tash-me-tum The Listening One — Wife of Nabu, Goddess of Intercession
The Sun Goddess of Arinna, plate
The Sun Goddess of Arinna the sun god-dess of a-rin-na Patroness of the Hittite King
Tishpak, plate
Tishpak tish-pak Lord of Eshnunna — slayer of the Labbu
Zababa, plate
Zababa za-ba-ba War-God of Hattusa — Sworn Witness of Hittite Treaties

The Gift of the Nile

21 works

Amun, plate
Amun ah-moon The Hidden God — Lord of Thebes
Apis, plate
Apis a-pis The Sacred Bull of Memphis
Atum, plate
Atum a-tum The Self-Created — first god of the Heliopolitan cosmogony
Banebdjedet, plate
Banebdjedet ba-nebd-je-det The Ram of Mendes — soul of Osiris in the Delta
Bata, plate
Bata ba-ta The Bull of Saka — hero of a folk-tale
Buchis, plate
Buchis bu-chis The Sacred Bull of Hermonthis
Hatmehit, plate
Hatmehit hat-me-hit First of the Fishes — fish-goddess of Mendes
Khentamentiu, plate
Khentamentiu khen-ta-men-tiu Foremost of the Westerners — older lord of the dead
Khonsu, plate
Khonsu khon-su The Theban Moon — son of Amun and Mut
Maahes, plate
Maahes maa-hes Lion of the Massacre — son of Bastet, wielder of the scimitar
Mnevis, plate
Mnevis mne-vis The Sacred Bull of Heliopolis
Montu, plate
Montu mon-tu The Falcon of Hermonthis — Theban war-god
Mut, plate
Mut mut The Great Mother of Thebes
Nefertum, plate
Nefertum ne-fer-tum The Lotus God — son of Ptah and Sekhmet
Neith, plate
Neith neith Lady of Sais — primordial weaver and warrior
Nekhbet, plate
Nekhbet nekh-bet The White Vulture of Upper Egypt
Ptah, plate
Ptah ptah The Memphite Creator — Lord of Craftsmen
Ra, plate
Ra ra The Sun — daily king of heaven
Sokar, plate
Sokar so-kar The Falcon of the Necropolis — lord of the Memphite cemetery
Wadjet, plate
Wadjet wad-jet The Cobra of Lower Egypt
Wosret, plate
Wosret wos-ret The Mighty One — old Theban consort of Amun

The Olympian Order

14 works

Aeneas, plate
Aeneas eh-nee-as Trojan prince and son of Aphrodite — survivor of Troy, ancestor of Rome
Athena, plate
Athena ah-thee-nah The Grey-Eyed — goddess of wisdom and crafts
Cadmus, plate
Cadmus kad-mus Founder of Thebes — sower of dragon's teeth
Hector, plate
Hector hek-tor Eldest son of Priam — defender of Troy, slain by Achilles
Helios, plate
Helios hee-lee-oss The Sun — driver of the daily chariot
Hephaestus, plate
Hephaestus heh-fes-tus The Lame Smith — divine craftsman
Hera, plate
Hera heer-ah Queen of the Gods — wife of Zeus, patroness of marriage
Hestia, plate
Hestia hess-tee-uh Goddess of the Hearth — the central flame
Leto, plate
Leto lee-toh Mother of Apollo and Artemis
Nike, plate
Nike nye-kee Victory — winged daughter of Pallas and Styx
Poseidon, plate
Poseidon poh-sye-don Lord of the Sea — earth-shaker
Sphinx, plate
Sphinx sfinks The Theban Riddler
Theseus, plate
Theseus thee-see-us Athenian Hero — slayer of the Minotaur
Tyche, plate
Tyche tye-kee Fortune — Hellenistic personification of luck

The Levantine Borderlands

7 works

Allat (Palmyrene), plate
Allat (Palmyrene) al-lat (palmyrene) The Palmyrene Goddess Identified with Athena — civic protector
Allat (the Aramaean goddess), plate
Allat (the Aramaean goddess) al-lat (the aramaean goddess) Sky-Mother of the Aramaeans and Northern Arabs — see also Book II below
Atargatis, plate
Atargatis ah-tar-gah-tis The Great Goddess of Syria — fish-tailed mother of Hierapolis
Bel, plate
Bel bel Chief God of Palmyra — equivalent to the Babylonian Marduk and the Greek Zeus
Dushara, plate
Dushara doo-shah-rah Chief God of the Nabataeans — patron of Petra, lord of the mountain
Hubal, plate
Hubal hu-bal The Oracular God of Mecca — divination by arrows at the Ka'ba
Qaus, plate
Qaus qaus The Edomite Bow-Bearer — national god of Edom and Nabataea

The Edges of Empire

6 works

Armazi, plate
Armazi ar-ma-zi Iranian-Influenced High God — patron of the ancient Georgian capital
Bandua, plate
Bandua ban-dua The Local Tutelary Deity — patron of the small Lusitanian community
Bonchor, plate
Bonchor bon-chor Numidian Local Deity — patron of a tribal sanctuary
Derzelas, plate
Derzelas der-ze-las The Great God of Odessos — Thracian deity of life-force and fertility
Eia, plate
Eia eia The Histrian Goddess — local protectress of Pula
Medauros, plate
Medauros me-dau-ros The Warrior-God of Risinium — patron of the Adriatic coast

The Etruscan World

4 works

Cel, plate
Cel cel The Etruscan Earth-Mother — patroness of the soil
Tinia, plate
Tinia tee-nee-ah The Etruscan Sky-King — wielder of three thunderbolts
Uni, plate
Uni u-ni The Etruscan Queen of Heaven — consort of Tinia, identified with Phoenician Astarte
Voltumna, plate
Voltumna vol-tum-na Chief God of the Etruscan League — at whose sanctuary the Twelve Cities met

The Roman Inheritance

12 works

Angerona, plate
Angerona an-ge-ro-na Goddess of Silence — kept the secret name of Rome
Bona Dea, plate
Bona Dea bo-na dea The Good Goddess — Women's Mystery
Cloacina, plate
Cloacina cloa-ci-na The Purifier — patroness of the Cloaca Maxima, the great drain of Rome
Concordia, plate
Concordia con-cor-dia The Goddess of Civic Harmony
Fortuna, plate
Fortuna for-tu-na Goddess of Chance — bringer of fortune both good and ill
Awaiting its plate
Pales pa-les Shepherd's Deity — Patron of Flocks
Penates, plate
Penates pe-na-tes Spirits of the Pantry — Guardians of Provisions
Quirinus, plate
Quirinus kwee-ree-nus Deified Romulus — Third God of the Archaic Roman Triad
Roma, plate
Roma ro-ma The Personified City — divine guardian of Rome herself
Romulus, plate
Romulus ro-mu-lus Founder of Rome — Deified as Quirinus
Salus, plate
Salus sa-lus Goddess of Health and the Public Welfare
Serapis, plate
Serapis se-ra-pis Hellenistic Egyptian-Greek God — see also Apis (Volume II)

The Northern Inheritance

2 works

Svetovid, plate
Svetovid sve-to-vid Western Slavic God of War — Of the Four-Faced Image
Teutates, plate
Teutates teu-ta-tes Gaulish Tribal God — God of the People

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