Who Were The Annunaki? Ancient Sumerian Gods? or Fallen Angels?

If you know the story of the Ancient Sumerians, then you already know who the Annunaki are or at the least who they were believed to be by the Sumerians.

The Anunnaki (also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki) were a group of deities who appear in the mythological traditions of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians.

Akkadian cylinder seal dating to c. 2300 BC depicting the deities Inanna, Utu, and Enki, three members of the Anunnaki

In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which come from the Post-Akkadian period, the Anunnaki were described as the most powerful deities in the pantheon, and descendants of An and Ki, the god of the heavens and the goddess of earth, and their primary function is to enslave and decree the fate of Sumerians.

Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers (c. 2350–2150 BC)

In Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld, the Anunnaki are portrayed as seven judges who sit before the throne of Ereshkigal in the Underworld. Later mentioned again in Akkadian texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh. During the Old Babylonian period, the Anunnaki were believed to be the chthonic deities of the Underworld, while the gods of the heavens were known as the Igigi.

The ancient Hittites identified the Anunnaki as the oldest generation of gods, who had been overthrown and banished to the Underworld by the younger gods. The Anunnaki have featured prominently in modern pseudoarchaeological works, such as the books of Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin.