Me (mythology)

In Sumerian mythology, a me (𒈨; Sumerian: me) is one of the decrees of the divine that is foundational to Sumerian religious and social institutions, technologies, behaviors, mores, and human conditions that made Mesopotamian civilization possible. They are fundamental to the Sumerian understanding of the relationship between humanity and the gods.

Quotes

• The Sumerian theologians, again no doubt taking their cue from the human world about them, adduced a significant metaphysical inference in answer to the problem as to what keeps the cosmic entities and phenomena, once created, operating continuously and harmoniously, without conflict and confusion; this is the concept designated by the Sumerian word me, whose exact rendering is still uncertain. In general it would seem to denote a set of rules and regulations assigned to each cosmic entity and phenomenon for the very purpose of keeping it operating forever in accordance with the plans laid down by the deities creating it.
  • Kramer (1950: 56) quoted in Levitt, S. H. (2012). Vedic-ancient Mesopotamian interconnections and the dating of the Indian tradition. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 93, 137-192.
  • Kramer, Samuel Noah. “Sumerian Religion”, In: Forgotten Religions (Including Some Living Primitive Religions), ed. V. Ferm. The Philosophical Library, New York. 1950: 47-62.