Gods Ruled These Cities

Mesopotamian cities were literally owned by patron gods. The god Marduk owned Babylon, Enlil owned Nippur, and Inanna owned Uruk. Citizens were tenants on divine property. This was not metaphor — temple records show the god's estate managed land, collected rents, and employed thousands of workers.

Each Mesopotamian city-state had its own patron deity, and inter-city rivalries were understood as conflicts between gods as much as humans. When Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumer around 2334 BCE, he was seen as his god defeating rival city gods. Theology and politics were the same subject.