Sumerian Origins

Sumerian Origins and Ancient Mesopotamia

A MYSTERIOUS GROUP of People came to settle in southern Mesopotamia, sometime around 5400BC. What is now the modern state of Iraq, the first city of Mesopotamia was founded named Eridu.

Although historians have generally regarded this as the world’s first city, we have seen this challenged on numerous occasions by recent discoveries too numerous to mention here. Eridu had all the things we ordinarily associate with an ancient city: temples, administrative buildings, housing, agriculture, markets, art, and, of course, walls to keep out unsavoury characters.

The elusive aspect is we have absolutely no idea where they acquired their language, and bizarre language it is, we have no idea what they originally looked like. Their language, which we call Sumerian, and the subsequent Akkadian derivative were linguistic isolates. Sumerian is the oldest known written language on Earth, and any languages it might have derived from or developed alongside have been lost to time.

Figuring out what their baffling ethnic identity based on their art is a doomed effort, because their art was so stylized that a good case could be made that it portrays people of any ethnicity, or the people they encountered. The Sumerian language was not Semitic, and the Akkadian conquests of 2334 BCE disrupted the ethnic and cultural isolation of the Sumerian people. By about 2000 BCE, the Sumerians were speaking Akkadian and the Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations were regarded as a single enterprise.

Does this mean that we’ll never know how the Sumerian language developed, or where the Sumerians originally came from? Well if any reasonably well-preserved Sumerian bones can be found DNA testing could tell us their ethnic origin. Although this all sounds murky, we have literature left in the form if cuneiform writing that speaks volumes on their day to day life and their highly unusual gods. The Sumerian pantheon reads like wild science fiction at times and although they often speak of their own origins in terms of their gods and family ties many have chosen to label this as mythology, ignore it, or merely treat it in a literature aspect.

PART ONE ANU MYTHOLOGY

Anu the Sky God, Ancestor of All Deities

ANU AND THE FAMED MESOPOTAMIAN sky god who has given the Anunnaki Pantheon such notoriety in modern times has a history that reads like a science fiction movie. Many now believe the Greek Pantheon is just a rendition of the older Mesopotamian pantheon with Anu at the helm. It wasn’t until much later that Anu was viewed as the Father of the Gods and ruler of the heavens. His position as ruler of the heavens passed to is first born Enlil, with dire consequences and it’s where we get a lot of the history form. Anu is the son of Anshar and Kishar (literally meaning heaven and earth) who in turn were the second-born of the primordial couple Apsu and Tiamat at the beginning of the world. Scholars don’t know what to make of the ruler of the heavens being a second born. It doesn’t sound like an all supreme being, sounding more like a European royal dynasty. He was originally a Sumerian sky deity known as An (which translates as 'sky') the Akkadians later adopted him circa 2375 BCE as Anu ('heaven') the all-mighty, all-powerful

Sargon the Great of Akkad (2334-2279 BCE) speaks of Anu and Inanna in his writings, mostly as legitimizing his rule or assisting him in the conquest. As so many people revered Anu, you cannot understand anything about the Anunnaki or the Sumerian pantheon without understanding him, and of course his offspring. Anu is most often represented in symbolism simply by a crown or crown on a throne. This iconography symbolizes his status as King of the Gods, an honour and responsibility later conferred upon Enlil, Marduk (son of Enki/Ea, the god of wisdom), and Assur of the Assyrians, all of which were profoundly elevated by Anu and thus associated with him. His consort is Antu (also known as Uras, goddess of the earth), and they produce many offspring which are more commonly known as the Anunnaki, lesser known is their offspring the Utukki which permeate the entire Mesopotamian Mythology. The impact of the Anunnaki and Utukki is vast and complex affecting most ancient religions and tying in with so many ancient civilizations. Although Anu is not featured prominently in many myths, he is often mentioned as a background figure. This is because, as veneration of the god progressed, he became more and more distant. Anu the sky god was one of the many younger gods born of Apsu and Tiamat, gradually becoming the lord of the heavens above, he was the god who maintained all aspects of existence. Alongside Enlil and Enki, Anu formed a trio which ruled the heavens, earth, and underworld (in one version) or, in another, heaven, the sky, and the earth. Anu rarely makes an appearance as the main character in mythology, but when he is

mentioned, it’s always a significant role.

Th Enuma Elish and Anu the Sky God

The Babylonian epic of creation more famously known as the Enuma Elish (circa 1100 BCE) is the epic regarding the birth of the gods and the formation of the world and subsequently human beings. Initially, there was only the swirling waters of chaos which divided into a male principle (Apsu, symbolized by fresh water) and a female principle (Tiamat, saltwater). These two deities gave birth to Lahmu and Lahamu, known as protective deities, and Anshar and Kishar who sired the younger

gods. Anu belongs to this younger group, and it’s in this Epic we get his background or place in origins of it all. The group is problematic and has little to do and so amuse themselves in various ways which come to anger Apsu; he cannot sleep at night for the noise and they distract him during the day. He eventually decides, after conferring with his vizier, that he must destroy them. Although the Epic of Creation focusses Tiamat and Creation, we get an amazing backdrop to the Anu’s place in the world.

Tiamat overhears her husband's deliberation and warns her grandson Enki of the peril. After pondering all his options carefully, Enki puts Apsu into a deep sleep and slays him. Tiamat is shocked and disowns all the younger gods, she quickly assembles an army of monsters to eliminate them.

The two armies thus clash and the younger gods are defeated and retreat again and again. At this difficult position, Anu tries diplomacy with Tiamat and tries to resolve the problem. The younger gods seem to have every faith in Anu's ability, but when Anu faces Tiamat, he falls apart and returns to the others to report his failure in the mission. Anu's diplomatic failure, nonetheless, contributes to the younger gods' ultimate victory. The gods were so confident of Anu's success, and when their hope was disappointed, they come to realize they must change their habits; the old paradigm must go, and they must accept change or find a new way of attaining their goal. Marduk, son of Enki, comes forward to offer himself as their saviour only if they will elect him their king. Marduk defeats the champion of Tiamat and slays her, but he would not have risen to the challenge if Anu had not failed in his diplomacy. Anu, then, ushers in the new era which allows for the ultimate victory of the gods. Once peace has been re-established, Marduk and his father set about the business of creation and the world and subsequently human beings are established.

The Enuma Elish is sometimes called The Seven Tablets of Creation, the many versions always describe the creation of human beings from a Mesopotamian perspective. This story was found on multiple tablets that dated back to approximately 1100 BCE, although indications show that the stories themselves existed much earlier than that. Archaeologists discovered them at the Nineveh libraries. Although the creation myth follows the same basic path no matter which part of Mesopotamia it comes from, the names for the gods and other players differ whether the precise recording was from Babylon or Sumer. The copies discovered and well researched came from Babylon, which makes Marduk, who is considered the patron god of that civilization, one of the important characters in the story. If a Sumerian copy was found, for example, he may not have been mentioned quite as much. The Enuma Elish is the best depiction we have of the dynamic interactions of the Enki Vs Enlil saga, it tells the story of how Enki and Enlil, the divine brothers, who first decided to create humankind as a labour force or servant class. It also deals with how the gods came to be, the creation of the universe and the world, and every other detail that any classic creation myth would include.

The Creation of Everything

This Babylonian creation myth is often considered the oldest story that exists in the entire world. It tells a tale of creation that has echoed through the millennia even religions still practiced in this current time. In the beginning, there was nothing but a fast swirl of water flowing through chaotic nothingness. The first thing that happened was that saltwater, characterized by Tiamat the dragon goddess, and freshwater, characterized by the god Apsu, divided. As soon as they split apart, they came back together again to become the parents of additional gods. Apsu apparently enjoyed sleeping peacefully and found that younger gods were too noisy and boisterous, decided to eliminate them all. Tiamat warns Enki, their eldest son, who lulls his father to sleep and eliminates him instead. Tiamat, who did not expect this type of outcome, gets very angry with the younger gods and begins a battle against them. She hands over the Tablets of Destiny to her top advisor Kingu who champions her in battle. She also creates monsters to attack her sons and other rebellious gods.

Finally, Marduk shows up, bargains for ultimate power if he stops Kingu and Tiamat and ends up defeating both. The story goes that he shot the dragon goddess with an arrow, and when she cried out in pain, her tears formed the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Her body becomes the earth and heavens surrounding it. When the conflict is over, Marduk enslaves the 11 monsters, directs various younger gods to take care of certain responsibilities, and seizes the Tablets of Destiny for himself. As a final act of payback, Marduk and the high god EA/ENKI decide to create humankind from Kingu's body and clay of the earth.

Parallels with Judeo-Christian Stories

As may seem obvious, this creation myth influenced the Judeo-Christian one to some degree. Hebrew scribes used the concept of a void without form and a god that created the earth, waters, heavens, and finally humankind in turn. When Mesopotamian archaeology increased in the 19th century, historians quickly discovered that the Book of Genesis was not the oldest creation story in existence. Other biblical stories such as Noah and the flood and the fall of man existed in Mesopotamian times, too. They first appeared in Sumer, were translated into ancient Babylonian, transferred to the Assyrians, and finally fell into the hands of Hebrews. The passage of folklore through time and across locations has long been common event throughout history. Of course, many differences exist between the story of a dragon queen and the blood of a conquered god and the tales