The Babylonian pantheon is modeled on the old Sumero-Akkadian pantheon with some significant modifications in terms of names and certain narrative traditions.

In Babylon, Apsu (Sumerian Abzu), the fresh waters, mated with Tiamat (Nammu), the salt waters, to form the first great deities. The most important of these deities and their offspring were Anu (An), the sky god; Ea (Enki), the god of wisdom and water; Sin (Nanna), the moon god; Ellil (Enlil), the storm god; Shamash (Utu), the sun god; and Ishtar (Inanna), goddess of love and fertility. Ishtar’s husband was Tammuz (Dumuzi). Her Underworld sister remained Ereshkigal. The new leader of the pantheon was Marduk, the city god of Babylon, the son of Ea, and the hero of the Enuma Elish.