Enki

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4 primary: Anu Enlil Ki Enki	3 sky: Ishtar Sin Sama

Enki (𒀭 𒂗 𒆠 ^DEN.KI "lord of the earth") was a deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology.

The name Enki is misleading because he was god of the sea and not of earth. The exact meaning of his name is not sure: the common translation is "Lord of the Earth": the Sumerian en is translated as "lord", was originally a title given to the High Priest; ki means "earth"; but there are theories that ki in this name has another origin, possibly kig of unknown meaning. The name Ea is of Sumerian origin and was written by means of two signs signifying "house" and "water".

1 His attributes
2 Enki, the creator of Humankind
3 Enki, restorer of balance
4 Enki, Confuses Earth's Languages
5 Enki, Champion of Humankind
6 His portrayal
7 Enki's Influence
8 Enki in popular culture
9 References
10 See also
11 External links

[edit] His attributes

Image:Enki4.jpg

Enki was the deity of crafts, water, intelligence and creation.

The main temple of Enki was called é-engur-a, the "house of deep waters"; or é-abzu, the "house of Abzu", the under ground area of sweet waters. It was in Eridu, which was then located in the wetlands of the Euphrates valley not far from the Persian Gulf. He was the keeper of the holy powers called Me, the gifts of civilised living.

Enki is also the master shaper of the world, God of wisdom and of all magic. He is the lord of the Apsu (Akkadian, Abzu in Sumerian, hence Greek and English Abyss) , the fresh-water ocean of groundwater under the earth.

His symbols included a goat and a fish, symbols at the opposite ends of the year (Pisces and Capricorn) which later combined into a single beast, the Capricorn, which became one of the signs of the zodiac. Enki in Sumerian astronomy also represented the planet Mercury, known for its ability to shift rapidly, and its proximity to the Sun, Sumerian Utu, Akkadian Shamash, the God of Justice.

Enki's symbol is the caduceus (2 serpents on a eagle winged stick) is one of the most ancient of symbols. The symbolism in the caduceus reflects the Kabbalah Tree of Life.

The caduceus connects Enki with Moses (Numbers 21:8, 9) and Jesus Christ (who becomes The Caduceus - anyone who looks upon Him is healed, John 3:14).

[edit] Enki, the creator of Humankind

In Sumerian myth, Enki lay asleep in the depths of the primeval ocean, unable to hear the lament of the gods as they complained about the difficulty of cultivating wheat and making bread. Eventually the primeval sea, Nammu brought the gods' tears to Enki. Enki, as the god of wisdom, was expected to devise a solution, so he solicited Nammu and the birth-goddess Ninmah to use clay to form the first men, who would toil and farm so that the gods could relax. [1]

In later Akkadian or Babylonian Cosmology there were six generations of Gods that led to the creation of the Younger (Igigi) divinities of the Anunaki (Anu = heaven, Na = And, Ki = Earth). In the seventh generation (Akkadian "Shappatu" hence the Hebrew Shabbath => English Sabbath), the younger Gods went on strike, put down their tools and refused to keep the creation working. In the Babylonian creation myth the Enuma Elish, Abzu, the water lord, threatens to take back the creation with a universal flood, but Enki averts the threat by imprisoning Abzu beneath the Earth. Kingu, his son, informs his mother, Abzu's wife, the serpentine Tiamat (Ti = Life, Ama = mother, Biblical tehwom = the deeps), and in anger she threatens to take back the whole of creation. The Gods gather in terror, but Enlil (his place in the Enuma Elish is later taken by Enki's son Marduk) subdues and slays Tiamat with the arrows of his winds which he shoots down her throat.

But the problem created by the "strike of the Gods" remains, how is creation to continue? Enki proposes that the Gods make humankind as their servant, and give humans the task of keeping creation going. It is agreed, and Enki forms humanity out of the red earth (Hebrew Adamah), mingled with the red blood of the God Kingu, slain for his part in Tiamat's attack. Enlil fills his lungs with air (Hebrew ruach, Greek pneuma, Latin spiritus), and humans are alive. In this way, Humanity is given the task of maintaining the balance of nature and keeping the created order in place.

Another myth, "Enki and Adapa", tells of how humanity loses the chance at immortality. Adapa, who is Abgallu (Ab = Water, Gal = Great, Lu = Man) (Akkadian Apkallu), Enki's advisor, to the first king of Eridu, Allulim, inadvertently breaks the wings of the South Wind, Ninlil (See Lilith) (Nin = Lady, Lil = Air), daughter of Anu (the Heavens) and wife to Enlil, King of the Gods. In terror at the thought of their retribution, Adapa seeks the advice of Enki. Enki advises that Adapa make a deep and sincere atonement, but advises Adapa to eat nothing given to him by the Gods, as he will probably be given the food of death, out of their anger at his deeds. Adapa takes Enki's advice, but the Gods, so impressed by the sincerity of Adapa's sorrow and grief as to what he did, offered instead the fruit of immortality. Adapa remembering Enki's words, refuses, and so misses out on the chance of eternal life.

[edit] Enki, restorer of balance

Enki was not perfect, as god of water he had a penchant for beer and as god of semen he had a string of incestuous affairs. In the epic Enki and Ninhursag, he and his consort Ninhursag had a daughter Ninsar. When Ninhursag left him he came upon and then had intercourse with Ninsar (Lady Greenery) who gave birth to Ninkurra (Lady Fruitfulness or Lady Pasture).

A second time, he had intercourse with Ninkurra, who gave birth to Uttu (= Weaver or Spider).

A third time Enki succumbs to temptation, and attempts seduction of Uttu. Upset about Enki's reputation, Uttu consults Ninhursag, who, upset at the promiscuous nature of her spouse, advises Uttu to avoid the riverbanks. In another version of this myth Ninhursag takes Enki's semen and plants it in the earth where seven plants rapidly germinate. With his two-faced servant and steward Isimud, Enki finds the plants and immediately starts consuming their fruit. Unaccountably he falls ill in his jaw, his teeth, his mouth, his throat, his limbs and his rib. The Gods are at a loss to know what to do, until Ninhursag's sacred fox fetches the Goddess.

Ninhursag relents and takes Enki's Ab (water, or semen) into her body, and gives birth to Gods of healing of each part of the body. The last one - Ninti, Sumerian = Lady Rib, is also a pun on Lady Life, a title of Ninhursag herself. The story symbolically reflects the way in which life is brought forth through the addition of water to the land, and once it grows, water is required to bring plants to fruit. It also counsels balance and responsibility, nothing to excess.

Ninti, is given the title of the mother of all living, and was a title given to the later Hurrian Goddess Kheba. This is also the title given to Eve (= Hebrew Chavvah), the Aramaic Hawwah, who was supposedly made from the Rib of Adam, in a strange reflection of the Sumerian myth.

[edit] Enki, Confuses Earth's Languages

From the Sumerian epic entitled "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta." There, in a speech of Enmerkar, an incantation is pronounced that has a mythical introduction. Kramer's translation is as follows:

Once upon a time there was no snake, there was no scorpion,
There was no hyena, there was no lion,
There was no wild dog, no wolf,
There was no fear, no terror,
Man had no rival.<p> In those days, the lands of Subur (and) Hamazi,
Harmony-tongued Sumer, the great land of the decrees of princeship,
Uri, the land having all that is appropriate,
The land Martu, resting in security,
The whole universe, the people in unison
To Enlil in one tongue [spoke]. <P> (Then) Enki, the lord of abundance (whose) commands are trustworthy,
The lord of wisdom, who understands the land,
The leader of the gods,
Endowed with wisdom, the lord of Eridu
Changed the speech in their mouths, [brought] contention into it,
Into the speech of man that (until then) had been one.

[edit] Enki, Champion of Humankind

According to Sumerian mythology, Enki also assisted humanity to survive the Deluge designed to kill them. In the Legend of Atrahasis Enlil, the jealous king of the Gods sets out to eliminate humanity, whose noise is offensive to his ears. He successively sends drought, famine and plague to eliminate humanity, but Enki thwarts his half-brother's plans by teaching Atrahasis irrigation, granaries and medicine. Humans again proliferate a fourth time. Enraged Enlil, convenes a Council of Deities and gets them to promise not to tell humankind that he plans their total annihilation. Enki, doesn't tell Atrahasis, but tells of Enlil's plan to the walls of Atrahasis' reed hut, thus covertly rescuing the man Atrahasis, or Ziusudra by either instructing him to build some kind of a boat for his family, or by bringing him into the heavens in a magic boat. After the seven day Deluge, the flood hero, Utnapishtim, Atrahasis or Ziusudra frees a swallow, a raven and a dove in an effort to find if the flood waters have receded. On the boat landing, a sacrifice is organized to the Gods. Enlil is angry his will has been thwarted yet again, and Enki is named as the culprit. As God of what we would call ecology, Enki explains that Enlil is unfair to punish the guiltless Atrahasis for the sins of his fellows, and secures a promise that the Gods will not eliminate humankind if they practice birth control and live within the means of the natural world. The threat is made, however, that if humans do not honour their side of the covenant the Gods will be free to wreak havoc once again. This is apparently the oldest surviving source of the Noah's Ark biblical tale and other parallel Middle Eastern Deluge myths.

[edit] His portrayal

Enki was considered a god of life and replenishment, and was often depicted with two streams of water emanating from his shoulders, one the Tigris, the other the Euphrates. Alongside him were trees symbolising the male and female aspects of nature, each holding the male and female aspects of the 'Life Essence', which he, as apparent alchemist of the gods, would masterfully mix to create several beings that would live upon the face of the earth.

Eridu, (Uru = City, Idug = Good) meaning "the good city", was the oldest settlement in the Euphrates valley, and is now represented by the mounds known as Abu Shahrein. In the absence of inscriptions from excavations on that site, we are dependent for our knowledge of Ea on material found elsewhere. This is, however, sufficient to enable us to state definitely that Ea was a water-deity lord, especially of the water under the earth, the Apsu. Whether Ea (or A-e as some scholars prefer) represents the real pronunciation of his name we do not know.

Older accounts sometimes suppose that by reason of the constant accumulation of soil in the Euphrates valley, Eridu was formerly situated on the Persian Gulf itself (as indicated by mention in Sumerian texts of its being on the Apsu), but for a long time it was thought that the opposite is true, that the waters of the Persian Gulf have been eroding the land and that the Apsu must refer to the fresh water of the marshes surrounding the city. Today it is known that during the Ubaid period the waters of the world were between 1.5 and 5 metres higher than their current level, with the result that Eridu was a port city with a quai, and shipping from Dilmun (Bahrein), Makan (Oman), and Meluhha (the Indus).

[edit] Enki's Influence

Enki and later Ea were apparently depicted, sometimes, like Adapa, as a man covered with the skin of a fish, and this representation, as likewise the name of his temple E-apsu, "house of the watery deep", points decidedly to his original character as a god of the waters (see Oannes). Of his cult at Eridu, which goes back to the oldest period of Mesopotamian history, nothing definite is known except that his temple was also associated with Ninhursag's temple which was called Esaggila = "the lofty sacred house" (E = house, Sag = sacred, Ila = High (or (Akkadian) = Ila (Goddess))), a name shared with Marduk's temple in Babylon, pointing to a staged tower or Ziggurat (as with the temple of Enlil at Nippur, which was known as Ekur ("Kur" = mountain "E" = house), and that incantations, involving ceremonial rites in which water as a sacred element played a prominent part, formed a feature of his worship. The pool of the Abzu at the front of his temple, was adopted also at the temple to Nanna (Akkadian Sin) the Moon, at Ur, and spread throughout the Middle East. It remains, as the sacred pool at Mosques, and as the Baptismal font in Christian Churches.

[edit] Enki in popular culture

In the science fiction book Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, Enki is portrayed as a proto-hacker or as Stephenson puts it "a neurolinguistic hacker"; his ability to manipulate people through language culminated in him introducing sentience to mankind.
According to Zecharia Sitchin (q.v.), Enki was an alien genetic engineer responsible for the creation of mankind. His theories are not accepted by the majority of historians, mythologists and scientists.
Norwegian black metal band Burzum wrote a song called "Ea, Lord of the Depths".
In the Outlanders series novel Dragoneye by Mark Ellis aka James Axler, Enki appears as a crippled reptilian, the last of the Anunnaki.
In the show and book Talking Cock, comedian Richard Herring describes Enki in detail, and repeatedly refers to him throughout.
The largest Plumbing & Irrigation store in Australia, Reece ,have introduced a range of irrigation products called "Enki", with the outlook of water saving.

In the Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures novel Timewyrm: Genesys by John Peel, the Doctor takes the identity of Enki after being mistaken for the god by Gilgamesh.

[edit] References

Jacobsen, Thorkild (1976) "Treasures of Darkness; A History of Mesopotamian Religion", (Yale University Press, London, New Heaven) ISBN 0-300-02291-3
Bottero, Jean (2004) "Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia" (University Of Chicago Press) ISBN 0-226-06718-1
Kramer, Samuel Noah (1998) "Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C." (University of Pennsylvania Press; Revised edition) ISBN 0-8122-1047-6
Kramer, S.N. and Maier, J.R. (1989) "Mayths of Enki, the Crafty God" (Oxford)
Galter, H.D. (1981) "Der Gott Ea/Enki in der akkadischen Überlieferung" (Graz)