The oldest stories ever told
Mesopotamia gave the world some of its very first myths, written on clay thousands of years ago, and this word search gathers them. You'll be finding the great hero GILGAMESH, the champion god MARDUK, the sea-dragon TIAMAT, and the powerful goddess ISHTAR, also known as INANNA.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the list, so the legends change every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a longer-word challenge once the diagonals and backwards words appear on Hard.
Gods of Sumer and Babylon
The gods of Mesopotamia ruled the sky, earth and underworld, and the words are here. There's the wise ENKI, the air god ENLIL, the sun god SHAMASH (also called UTU), the moon god SIN, the storm god ADAD, and the mother goddess NINHURSAG. The whole family of gods were the ANUNNAKI, born from APSU. In the underworld ruled ERESHKIGAL and NERGAL, while the shepherd DUMUZI, the monster HUMBABA and the creature KINGU all play their part — and the LAMASSU guarded the gates. Many of these tales were pressed onto a clay TABLET beside a great ZIGGURAT.
Myths written before the alphabet
These really are the oldest written stories on Earth. Over 4,000 years ago, the people of ancient Sumer and Babylon pressed their tales into wet clay using wedge-shaped 'cuneiform' marks, baking the TABLET hard — and because clay survives so well, we can still read them today. The greatest is the Epic of GILGAMESH, the story of a hero-king's quest for everlasting life, often called the world's first great work of literature.
Many ideas here feel surprisingly familiar, because they shaped the myths that came after. The Babylonian creation story has the young god MARDUK battle the sea-dragon TIAMAT and build the world from her — an early version of the 'hero versus monster' tale told ever since. There's even a great-flood story, with a man building a boat to survive, written long before similar tales appeared elsewhere. Set beside the ZIGGURAT temples of the world's first cities, these legends make a brilliant crossover between a mythology and an ancient-history topic.
Great for an ancient-history topic
It's a great fit for a mythology or ancient-history lesson — Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words, though some names are long, a fun challenge for older students. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own Mesopotamian names.
Frequently asked questions
What's in the Mesopotamian mythology word search?
The gods and legends of ancient Sumer and Babylon — the hero Gilgamesh, the gods Marduk, Enki, Enlil, Ishtar and Shamash, the sea-dragon Tiamat, the Anunnaki, and monsters like Humbaba. Each puzzle uses a fresh mix.
Which Mesopotamian figures can you find?
The hero GILGAMESH, the champion MARDUK, the sea-dragon TIAMAT and goddess ISHTAR (INANNA), the gods ENKI, ENLIL, SHAMASH and SIN, the ANUNNAKI, plus monsters HUMBABA and KINGU and the guardian LAMASSU.
Is it good for an ancient-history topic?
Great fit for a mythology or ancient-history lesson. Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words, though some names are long — a fun challenge for older students.