The Great Gods, Creating Gods

The 4 Primary Deities (the chief Gods)

Red = SUMERIAN name
Blue = ACADIAN name
Green = BABYLONIAN name

 

The were named "The Great Gods of the younger generation", headed by Enlil.

These gods were :

  • Anu, the god of heaven

  • Ki (Kiki), the goddess of earth

  • Enlil, the god of air

  • Enki (who later became Ea by the Babylonians), the god of water

It is notable that the Sumerians themselves may not have grouped these four as a set and that the grouping has been made because of the observations of Scholars.

Three of the four Great Gods were part of the, so called "Triad" of Gods, they were the leaders of ALL Gods and were the most powerful of all.

They Were:


Anu - Anu - Anu
One of the "triad" of Gods

The ancient Sumerian-Babylonian god of the firmament, the 'great above', and the son of the first pair of gods, An and Ki, "descendant" of Abzu and Tiamat.

His first consort was Antu (Anatum), a goddess of creation, They produced the Anunnaki - the "underworld" gods, and the Utukki (the seven evil demons who he often sends to humans to plague them), Antu was later replaced by Inanna / Ishtar after she left Earth.

About these seven evil spirits, we can read more in a Babylonian poem called "The seven evil spirits". He is a "King of the Igigi". He is a god of monarchs and is not friendly to the common people. He is assigned the sky as his domain in 'Atrahasis' (our solar system, their home planet Nibiru?).

He is referred to as,

  • "the Father" and "King of the Gods", which signifies his importance in the Mesopotamian pantheon and in the Bible as "

  • the Lord, the most High God".

When An and Ki were separated by Enlil, Anu carried off the heavens, and Enlil carried off the earth.

His 'kishru's (shooting stars) have awesome strength. He has the ability that anything he puts into words, becomes reality.

He agrees to send the Bull of Heaven after Gilgamesh on Ishtar's behalf, if she has made sure that the people of Uruk (Erech) are properly provisioned for seven years. He decrees that either Gilgamesh or Enkidu must die for the slaying of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.

He sends Kakka to Kurnugi (Kur, Africa) to tell Ereshkigal to send a messenger to receive a gift from him.

When Anzu stole the Tablet of Destinies from Enlil, he called for one of the gods to slay Anzu and thereby greatly increase his reputation.

He gave Marduk the four winds to play with.

He made a whirlwind and a flood wave and stirred up Tiamat on purpose. When Tiamat's retaliation for Abzu's death was discovered, An sent Anu on a peace mission to her, but he returned unsuccessfully.

Anu helps to form a princely shrine for Marduk prior to his battle with Tiamat, and gives him the Anu-power of decreeing fates, such that his word is law.

Anu later retreated more and more into the background. He retires to the "upper heavens" and leaves the affairs of the universe to Marduk and a younger generation of gods. Anu lives in the "third heaven" (Paradise?).

The E-ana in Unug (Uruk Erech) was dedicated both to him and his consort Antu, a temple dedicated to Anu could also be found in Assur.

In the bible we can read about the God Anu in the story of Ur :

Gn:14:18: And Melchizedek (#) king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

Gn:14:19: And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

Gn:14:20: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

 

(#) note: Melchizedek was the same as Shem, the son of Noah, see the Pseudepigrapha book "The Writings of Abraham"

It is notable that Anu went more and more in the background later on, possibly because he retired and leaves Earth and went back to the third heaven (his home planet? "Paradise"?), together with several other Gods like,

  • An (his father)

  • Nammu and Antu

  • Ki stayed on Earth as we can read clearly in the story of the Gods

  • Anu was succeeded by Enlil as the "new" king of the Gods on Earth

Anu came often back to Earth, to see the progress of the work of the other Gods. We will see in chapter 12 that he came back for the last time when his temple in E-ana in Unug (Erech in the Bible) was build by King Mec-ki-aj-gacer (the son of Utu) in 6,850 BCE.

Anu is the same as "The Lord, the most high God", The God as mentioned in Genesis during the lifetime of Abraham (Melchizedek the King of Salem was a priest of the most high God).

Antu - Antum - Anatum
"the earth", A Sumerian goddess of creation, the feminine counterpart and first consort of the sky-god Anu.

Anu and Antu also produced the Anunnaki - the underworld gods, and the Utukki - the seven evil demons.

Anu and Antu also created evil monsters, so at that time it seems to be normal that the God's where working on experiments to create all kinds of creatures, at first mostly wrong beings.

She was later replaced by Inanna / Ishtar


Enlil - Ellil - Ellil
One of the "triad" of Gods

Together with Anu and Enki/Ea he forms a powerful triad of gods in the ancient Mesopotamian religion. In later times he supplanted Anu as chief god.

Enlil ("lord wind") is the god of air, wind and storms, Also called Lord of 'lil'. He is the foremost god of the Mesopotamian pantheon, and is sometimes referred to as Kur-Gal ("great mountain").

The most important God of Mesopotamia, leader of the Igigi and "King" of the Anunnaki.

He separated An and Ki (his grand-parents), and he carried off the earth as his portion. He assumed most of An's powers.

He was also god of the lands and of the earth. He and his people receive the earth in 'Atrahasis' (their "home planet Nibiru"?). He is glorified as "'the father of the gods,' 'the king of heaven and earth,' ' the king of all the lands'".

He is also banished to the "nether world" (Kur, Africa) for his rape of Ninlil, his intended bride, but returns with the first product of their union, the moon god Sin (better known as Nanna).

His consort is Ninlil with whom he has at least four children:

  • Nanna

  • Nergal

  • Ninurta

  • Nisaba

Enlil effectuates the dawn, the growth of plants, and bounty. He also invents agricultural tools such as the plow.

The Me were assembled by Enlil in E-kur (his temple) and given to Enki to guard and impart to the world, beginning with Eridu, Enki's centre of worship. He helps Enki when he was cursed by his consort Ninhursag, Enlil and a fox entreat her to return and undo her curse.

Enlil holds possession of the "Tablets of Destiny" which gives him power over the entire cosmos and the affairs of man. He guards the "Tablets of Destiny", which allow him to determines the fate of all things animate or inanimate. He appointed Anzu, a Zu, a storm-bird (a bird with some human qualities) (1) as the guardian of his bath chamber, but while bathing, Anzu stole from him the "Tablet of Destinies", and his Ellil-power.

(1) Again another evil creation of the God's, Enlil was unhappy with all these creatures as we will see later.

Ninurta, with Enki's advise and Belet-ili's urgings slew Anzu and recovered the "Tablets of Destinies" (2).

(2) What were the tablets of Destinies?. Could they be the stones of Wisdom or maybe the "Ten Commandments" covered in the "Ark of the Covenant" from the bible?.

His chief-minister is Nusku, possible slayer of Enmesharra and avenger of his father Anu. He found a throne for Etana to rule from in Kish.

When the Igigi rebelled against him, and surrounded his house He called for Anu.

After man was created in response to the Igigi's grievances, he grew weary of their noise and released several disasters upon them, after each one, man recovered and then he released a new one. The disasters included disease, flood, drought, and the great flood. (3)

(3) Enlil was responsible for many disasters at that time, In my theory Enlil was the God who destroyed several races of monsters and demons from the face of the Earth by spreading diseases and finally the Flood to be sure that all evil creations from other God's were destroyed. Enlil (the leader of the God's) was angry with the other God's who experimented on Earth with all kind of creations who were most evil and wrong.

In the bible we can read :

Gn:6:4: There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Gn:6:5: And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gn:6:6: And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Gn:6:7: And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repented me that I have made them.

Gn:6:8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Gn:6:11: The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Gn:6:12: And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

Gn:6:13: And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

He appointed Humbaba to guard the cedar forest and terrify mankind (4).

(4) Is Humbaba the same as one of the "Cherubim's" and Gugulana (the Bull of Heaven) the same as "a flaming sword" , the guards of the garden of Eden from Genesis 3 in the Bible?.

In the bible we can read :

Gn:3:24: So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim's, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

  • He is sometimes friendly towards mankind, but can also be a stern and even cruel god who punishes man and sends forth disasters

  • He is a short-tempered god who was responsible for the great flood which wiped out humanity with the exception of Atrahasis

  • He decreed that Enkidu must die for the slaying of the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba. He does not answer Gilgamesh's plea to restore Enkidu to life

  • His role in this was supplanted by Marduk by the Babylonians

  • Enlil is portrayed with a white beard, wearing a crown with horns, symbol of his power

  • His most prestigious temple was "Duranki" in the city Nippur, and he was the patron of that city

  • Bel was originally the chief spirit (in Sumerian En-lil, the older designation of Bel, which is Semitic for "chief" or "lord")

Some historians believe that Enlil is the same God as Marduk but I think that's impossible because Marduk is the son of Enki/Ea and Ninhursag and not the son of Anu, I mentioned already that I belief that Marduk was the same as Enki/Ea, nevertheless it's still uncertain and possible that the same God's have several names, as you could see above by Ki and others other Gods, see later.

See also the original Sumerian tablets called Enlil and Ninlil, Enlil and Sud and Enlil in the E-kur

Enlil is the same as

  • "The Lord God" or "EL" mentioned in Genesis

  •  the God who expelled Adam and Eve from the garden of Edin (Eden)

  •  the patron God of Cain when he slew his "brother" Abel

  •  the God who caused the Flood to destroy Mankind

  •  the God who was furious to the Sons of God in Genesis 6 because they mingled with Mankind

EL became ALLAH by the Moslems.

Ninlil - Mullita - Myllita
An ancient Sumerian-Babylonian goddess of heaven, earth, and air and in one aspect of the underworld. She is also a goddess of grain and is called 'queen wind'. She shows compassion to the unfortunate.

She is the consort of Enlil, the 'lord wind'.

It is likely that Enlil raped her and was then banished to the "nether world" (Kur, Africa). She follows him to the nether world, where she gives birth to the moon god Sin (also known as Nanna).

They have three more children in the nether world who remain there so that Sin may be allowed to leave.

She and Enlil were worshipped in Nippur.


Enki - Ea - Nudimmud Ea
One of the "triad" of Gods

Enki, the god of wisdom who ruled over the fresh waters of the earth. He fashioned a great platter that floated on the chaotic waters of the Great Deep and covered it with the dome of the sky below the waters above the earth.

Enki was the son of An and Nammu, his twin sister was Ereshkigal. (1)

(1) Enki was in my opinion a son of AN and NAMMU, in the Sumerian story of creation he is the son of AN and KI and finally in the Babylonian story Ea (Enki) is the son of Anu and Antum, so there are several parents for the same God ENKI.

He is the Sumerian high god of water and intellect, creation, wisdom and medicine who could restore the dead to life. (see the books of Adam and Eve, book 1 and book 2)

Contrary to the translation of his name, Enki is not the lord of the earth, but of the Abzu (the watery abyss and also semen) and of wisdom.

He was called Ea in Babylonia, King of Apsu.

His consort is the mother goddess Ninhursag or Damkina, with whom he is theand Nanche.

Enki was one of the foremost gods of the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon and formed with Anu and Enlil an important and powerful "triad" of gods. (2)

(2) Keep in mind the "triad" of the "Christian" New Testament called "The Father (Anu?), The Son (Enlil?) and The Holy Spirit" (Enki / Ea ?), is that a coincidence ?. As I mentioned already there is a possibility that Enki / Ea is the same as Marduk, his son. Furthermore Enki is often described as a "floating" God (Spirit).

He was the source of all secret and magical knowledge of life and immortality. Enki possessed the secret of me, 'culture, civilization', which is the genius of progress in knowledge to lead humanity. He invented civilization for the people and assigned to each his destiny.

He created order in the cosmos. He filled the rivers with fish. He invented the plough and the yoke so that farmers could till the earth with oxen. He made the grain grow. He is the father of all plants. God of the waters. He is in charge of the bolt which bars the sea. He knows everything. He is the "Lord of Wisdom" and "Lord of Incantations". When he speaks, of a thing, it will be made.

It was Enki who discovered Tiamat's designs to kill her offspring, and managed to kill her consort Abzu.

He learned that Tiamat was planning a war of revenge against the gods. His father An tries to spur him into making the first attack against Tiamat, but he rebuffs him. When Anu's peace mission fails, he urges Marduk into action.

He discovered the plot of Abzu and Mummu, put Apsu under a sleeping spell, and slew him and put Mummu into a daze, tied him up, and slew him.

He created Zaltu (a Goddess of Strife) as a complement to Inanna/Ishtar.

He suggests the method of creating man (towards whom he is usually well-disposed and he is their instructor and taught them arts and crafts) in response to the heavy workload of the Igigi. As mankind's patron, he is the instructor of all crafts, writing, building, farming, and magic.

He is shown on the seals with streams of water and fish flowing from his shoulders, attended by a two-faced minister, the bird Anzu, and Ishtar as Venus rising (3)

(3) Is it a coincidence that Christians have the fish sign as the symbol of their belief?

He blessed the paradisiacal land of Dilmun, to have plentiful water and palm trees. With Ninhursag, he created eight new types of trees there, se the whole story in the Sumerian poem Enki and Ninhursag. (Dilmun was "Paradise" or "The Garden of Eden" as mentioned in the bible, see also Dilmun in the section Places)

He then consumed these "children" and was cursed by his consort Ninhursag, with one wound for each plant consumed. Enlil and a fox act on Enki's behalf to call back Ninhursag in order to undo the damage. She joins with Enki again and bears eight new children, one to cure each of the wounds.

At the direction of his mother Nammu and with some constructive criticism from Ninhursag, he created man from the heart of the clay over the Abzu, see the whole story in the Sumerian poem Enki and Ninmah.

This sounds familiar when we read in the bible :

Gn:2:7: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gn:2:9: And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Gn:2:16: And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gn:2:17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

He advises mankind when other gods would do them harm.

He granted Adapa (Adam) understanding, to teach mankind. When Adapa used this knowledge to break the wing of the South Wind, he cursed him and told him to complain of Dumuzi and Gizzida's absence to Anu. While in Anu's court, he advises Adapa not to eat the bread of eternal life (lest he forfeit his life on earth, see the whole story in The tablet of Adapa).

In the bible is written :

Gn:2:15: And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Gn:2:16: And the Lord God (!) commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gn:2:17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Gn:2:19: And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Gn:2:20: And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Eve tells the serpent what the Lord God said :

Gn:3:3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

As I mentioned already in earlier chapters there seems to be a difference between "God", the Lord, the most High and the "Lord God", this explains that there were more then one God, also in the Christian Bible (even without the Apocryphal story of creation in the Jewish Bible).

Enki, who was friendly to man, also revealed Enlil's design of destroying mankind by a flood to Uta-Napishtim, the Babylonian version of Noah. (4)

(4) See also the story of Noah and the Flood in the Bible (see chapter 6).

Enki is depicted on a relief holding Zu, the storm-bird.

He did struggle with Kur (Africa) as mentioned in the prelude to "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld", and presumably was victorious and thereby able to claim the title "Lord of Kur" (the realm, Africa).

He is a god of water, creation, and fertility. He also holds dominion over the land. He is the keeper of the Me, the divine laws. The Me were assembled by Enlil in E-kur and given to Enki to guard and impart to the world, beginning with Eridu, his centre of worship. From there, he guards the Me and imparts them on the people. He directs the Me towards Ur and Meluhha and Dilmun, organizing the world with his decrees. (5)

(5) Enki was the keeper of the Me (at least 49), the divine laws and later on some were given to Moses on mount Sinai as the "Ten Commandments".

Inanna comes to Enki and complains at having been given too little power from his decrees. In a different text, she gets Enki drunk and he grants her more powers, arts, crafts, and attributes -

a total of ninety-four Me. Inanna parts company with Enki to deliver the Me to her cult center at Erech (E-ana). Enki recovers his wits and tries to recover the Me from her, but she arrives safely in Erech with them. Enki "sails" to Kur (Africa), presumably to rescue Ereshkigal (his twin-sister) after she was given over to Kur. He is assailed by creatures with stones. These creatures may have been an extension of Kur itself (see the original Sumerian tablet called Inana and Enki).

He is friendly to Inanna and rescued her from Kur by sending two sexless beings to negotiate with, and flatter Ereshkigal. They gave her the Bread of Life and the Water of Life, which restored her.

When Enki is informed of Inanna's imprisonment in the "Underworld", he creates 'His appearance is bright' to stand at Ereshkigal's gate and mellow her mood and have her swear an oath by the great gods (see the original Sumerian tablet called Inanna's descent to the Nether world).

He instructs Nergal on how to build the gift throne for Ereshkigal, and hides him with spring water to hide him from Namtar after he returned from the "underworld".

He tells Nergal to allow Enkidu's spirit to visit Gilgamesh.

When Anu and the gods could not locate a volunteer to kill Anzu, he told the Igigi that he would pick one. He instructs Ki/Belet-Ili/Mami to send Ninurta to slay Anzu and, through Sharur advises Ninurta on how to defeat the creature.

His main cult center was Eridu in ancient Sumer, one of the first cities in the world )see the original Sumerian tablet called Enki builds the E-engurra).

Enki refuses to flood mankind for Enlil (6).

(6) Enki refuses to destroy whole mankind, even he was ordered to do so by Enlil leader of the "triad" of God's. Finally he accedes Enlil's order and flooded the Earth after he instructed Atrahasis to build a boat.

He accedes, but only after advising Atrahasis to build a boat in which to weather the flood. (7)

(7) Atrahasis or Uta-Napishtim, like the Sumerian Ziusudra are all the same as Noah in the Bible,

there is written :

Gn:6:14: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Gn:6:17: And, behold, I, even I (8), do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Gn:6:18: But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Gn:6:19: And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Gn:7:4: For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

Gn:7:11: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

(8) What was the reason that the Lord God said to Noah "EVEN I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth" ?, thus even the Lord God must confess that He must obey the orders of the God Enlil and must do what him has been ordered.

See also the Sumerian tablets called Enki and the World order.

Enki/Ea is the same as the God who created Adam and Eve (with the help of his wife Ninhursag) as slaves for the Gods, the God who instructed Noah to build an Ark, the God who preserved and protected Mankind against other Gods and the God who was responsible for the final creation of Homo Sapiens (modern men).

The God Enki / Ea, or Ya, the oldest god of the Babylonian Pantheon, is connected with the name Jahve, Jahu, or Ja, The God who created man.

As mentioned already it's possible and in my opinion nearly sure that EA and MARDUK (his son) are one and the same God because we can read in the Babylonian poem ENUMA ELISH, tablet VII, after the great Gods had given MARDUK 50 names to honor him for the creation of Man :

"Now too Ea having heard rejoiced, 'The Great Gods have glorified my son,
he is Ea, names by my name, he will execute my will and direct my rites.'"

See also the description of the Babylonian God Marduk and you'll see the similarity between EA and Marduk yourself.

The Father and the Son doctrine in the New Testament of Christianity.

Think also about the Christian Triad "The "Father" ANU, The "Son" (ENLIL) and the "Holy Spirit" (ENKI/EA). Sounds familiar isn't !!!

Ninhursag - Damgalnunna Damkina - Dumkina
Also called Nintud

She is the consort of the supreme god Enki (and is as such identified with Damgalnunna). Ninhursag is one of the oldest members of the Sumerian pantheon and has prestigious titles such as 'mother of the gods' and 'mother of all children'.

Mother of Bel and Marduk (note Bel is likely to be another title for Marduk), Nanche and Geshtinanna.

"Queen of the Mountain". The Sumerian earth and mother-goddess, and a goddess of fertility who created all vegetation.

She was the tutelary deity of the Sumerian rulers, who styled themselves "children of Ninhursag".

She is the mother goddess and assists Enki in the creation of man, and as specially the Black headed people". (see the poem "Enki and Ninhursag").

In Dilmun, she bore eight new trees from Enki. When he then ate her children, she cursed him with eight wounds.

After being persuaded by Enlil to undo her curse, she bore Enki eight new children which undid the wounds of the first ones.

There she added constructive criticism to Enki as he shaped several versions of man from the heart of the clay over the Abzu (Watery abyss).

Ninhursag ensures fertile fields, but when she cursed her husband for his incestuous affairs (with the plants she gave birth to) and his descend into the underworld, the earth became barren. Only when the hastily assembled gods managed to mollify her, the earth became fertile again and the cycle of the seasons was instituted.

A temple of Ninhursag was excavated near Tell Harriri (the ancient Mari) in Syria, near the Iraqi border.

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