Hursag ( sux, 𒄯𒊕 ''ḫarsang''; ''ḪAR.SAG̃'') is a Sumerian term variously translated as meaning "mountain", "hill", "foothills" or "piedmont".

Thorkild Jacobsen Thorkild Peter Rudolph Jacobsen (; 7 June 1904 – 2 May 1993) was a renowned Danish historian specializing in Assyriology and Sumerian literature. He was one of the foremost scholars on the ancient Near East. Biography Thorkild Peter Rudolph Ja ...

extrapolated the translation in his later career to mean literally, "head of the valleys".Biggs, Robert D., Studies presented to Robert D. Biggs, June 4, 2004, , Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, p.223, 30 Jan 2008 Mountains play a certain role in

Mesopotamian mythology Mesopotamian mythology refers to the myths, religious texts, and other literature that comes from the region of ancient Mesopotamia which is a historical region of Western Asia, situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system that occupi ...

and

Assyro-Babylonian religion Mesopotamian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 6000 BC and 400 AD, after which they largely gave way to Syriac C ...

, associated with deities such as Anu,

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babyl ...

Enki , image = Enki(Ea).jpg , caption = Detail of Enki from the Adda Seal, an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC , deity_of = God of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, seawater, lakewater, fertility, semen, magic, mischief ...

and

Ninhursag , deity_of=Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers , image= Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg , caption= Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sittin ...

. Some scholars also identify hursag with an undefined mountain range or strip of raised land outside the plain of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

. Dating to the third millennium BCE, tablets found at the ancient Sumerian city of Nippur, are very clear about where the ancient Sumerian God spawned. According to the tablets , on the mountain of heaven and earth , Anu spawned the Anunnaki God's. 'Hursag' meaning ''Mountain'' or ''Hill'' is the very first word on the tablet , Making it possibly the oldest surviving written word in the world .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kharsag Mesopotamian mythology Mythological mountains Sumerian words and phrases