ENLIL. – Second god of the Mesopotamian divine triad, composed of Anu, god of the sky, of Enlil, and of Ea, god of the water. He was the principal god of the Sumerians, in whose land lay the city of Nippur with its famous sanctuary. He was worshipped as the god of the stormy earth: indeed his Sumerian name has the value of “lord of the wind.” His son was Ninurta, who was also greatly adored by the Sumerians and by the Babylonians and Assyrians. Many traits of the life of Enlil were narrated in mythological tales, which especially emphasize his character as the god who punishes the misdeeds of men: it was he who was said to have brought on the universal flood.
BIBL.: Giuseppe Furlani.