Sumer



Tradition title rus: 
Шумеры
Areal ID: 
5.3.1.3
Language: 
Tradition analysis result motif count all: 
51.00
Tradition analysis result motif count cosmo: 
40.00

Linked Motifs

MotifNameDescription
a19cThe sun horse The Sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a cart driven by horses (equids)
a19c1The sun cartThe sun or the moon moves in a cart or sledge
a5The Sun and the Moon are malesThe Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
b16aSea from the urineThe sea is produced from urine or blood
b1aThree worlds: the universe divided between godsAnthropomorphic persons agree to divide between them levels of universe (upper world, earth, lower world)
b2aThe female earthThe earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
b2dMarriage of the sky and the earthThe male Sky (the Sun, the Thunder, the creator of the sky) marries the female Earth (or its female creator) or the female Sky marries the male Earth
b3aPrimeval watersWater is the original element, the dry earth appears later
b40aMissed opportunity to have hornsAnimal who has no horns now had them before or missed opportunity to get them
b42nOrion is one personConstellation of Orion or the Belt of Orion is identified with only one male person, usually with a warrior or hunter
b42qUrsa major is a carriageUrsa major is identified with a carriage, a cart
b77Primeval sky close to earthOriginally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
b85Wind pacifiedWind is too strong, hero makes it to blow more calmly
b87AlcorAlcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
e4Creation from dirt of the skinSupernatural person creates the entire earth, human or other beings of dirt taken from his or her skin, from under the nails, etc.
e5aMankind ascends from the underworldThe first people (or only the first men or the first women) are not created but come to earth from the underworld (from a cave) or from a small enclosure under the earth or on its surface (tree trunk, rock, gourd, etc.). Many people of both sexes and of different ages or people and different species of animals come out together
e5aaPeople grew like a grassThe first people grew or crawled out of the earth like a grass, mushrooms, worms, etc.
f5bArtificial bridePerson suffests another a woman but does not have any or does not want to give her. He makes artificial girl (of wood, snow, etc.), sends servant girl instead of his daughter, turns into a woman himself, or recognizes his fault when he feels that it is save to do so
f98God and a cowAnthropomorphic god descends from the sky and copulates with a cow
g2The return of PersephonePerson who is the incarnation of fertility and life first disappears and then (reriodically) returns
g24Food from the skyFirst seeds (sprouts, tubors) of cultivated plants or of important edible wild plants are brought from the sky (received from the sky-dwellers)
g6Primeval treeOne of the trees is the principal, original one (emerged before all the other; ancestor of wild or cultivated plants; ocean or rivers inside it; world axis; higher than all the others; overshadows sky)
g8gBig oak and its denizens There is a tree, one of its kind, that should be cut or bended down. Particular creatures or beings live in its different parts and/or special objects of top significance are made from its wood
h16aRivers of bloodRivers (lakes) of blood (also of puss, bones, sweat or water used for washing of corpses) are mentioned in narratives (in different context)
h25To choose life or deathPeople are suggested to choose one of two objects, associated with life and death. They choose the object with death
h7The personified DeathDeath (also Old Age, Disease, etc.) is a particular person not identical with the Master of the Dead. He kills people usually carrying away their souls
h7The personified DeathDeath (also Old Age, Disease, etc.) is a particular person not identical with the Master of the Dead. He kills people usually carrying away their souls
i1The thunderbirdsCreatures that produce rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or anthropomorphic beings with wings; or (rare) some or all birds are connected with thunder, lightning or rain though Thunder is not a bird
i100bThe Pleiades are a group of peopleThe Pleiades are any people (of any ages and sex, combined data of i99-i100a)
i110Night sky agriculturalistsConstellation are interpreted as agricultural tools or people occupied with agricultural works (mostly ploughing and haymaking)
i110aThe star ploughOrion (rare: other constellation) is a plough
i121Twin constellationsTwo constellations (usually Ursa major and Ursa minor) are interpreted as twin objects of the same type (two animals, two carts, etc.)
i40Rainbow bowRainbow is a bow
i4cStorm-god as a prisonerThunder-god is temporarily overcome and imprisoned by his enemy
i82bVenus is femaleMorning and/or Evening Star is a female personage
i99The Pleiades are boys or menThe Pleiades are a group of boys or men, or a group of different people but predominantly males
k27o1Head used as ballSevered human heads are compared with balls or used as balls
k33fBasin of honey and basin of oilTwo or more different kinds of valuable edible liquids like oil, honey, milk, etc. are available or imaginable. Cf. motif n34
k38Hero helps the nestlingsFor helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
k38b3Hero takes care of nestlingsMighty bird or other flying creature helps a man because he took care of its youngs feeding them, warming, decorating, etc.
k38b3aHero feeds the nestlingsMighty bird helps a man because he had given food to its nestlings
k38cBird brings the hero to his destinationAfter the hero helps a powerful bird (usually does good to her nestlings), the grateful bird brings him to the place where he is eager to get or tells to do it one of her nestlings. (It is not the vertical movement between layers of the world. According to the Sumerian variant, the bird endows the hero with capability to move with extraordinary speed and directs him to his destination)
l19bBeings with odd number of headsBeing (any besides birds) with more than ten heads or with odd (but more than one) number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. If beings with ever more number of heads are named, the row ends with a being that has odd (or more than ten) number of heads
l19b1The seven-headed monsterОписывается или изображается чудовище (обычно змей) о семи головах. При перечисления существ по мере возрастания у них числа голов ряд заканчивается на семи
l93aHelpful foxCunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
m106Meaningful namePerson lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
m138aThe lifespan of one hundred twenty yearsAt the beginning of time, a supreme deity or his messengers decided that the human lifespan would be limited to one hundred and twenty years
m29bTrickster-fox, jackal or coyoteIn episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
m29w3The lion is a failure Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m7a1Celestial bodies move above the hero Person gets to a place from which he is unable to come out. Several (more than two) different celestial bodies rise and move near him or above him. He puts attention to them (and asks their help)
n39The three-ply ropeThe image of a three-ply rope is used to describe the invincibility of two close-knit friends


Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Ancient Greece
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Hittite, Hurrit
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Armenians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Lithuanians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Latvians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Šah-nāmeh, Marzbān-nāmeh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Serbs, Monte Negro,

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition:
Anatolia Turks
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition:
Setu
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Estonians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Ancient Greece
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Maltese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Germans: Northeast (Brandenburg, Meklenburg, Rügen, Pommern, Silesia, Posen)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Bretagne
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Northern Khanty (Ostyaks)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Russian Pomors (“seasiders): Arkhangelsk province without its southern part (Shengur district and Konosha dstrict), Karelia White Sea coast