Mesopotamian Literature

Mesopotamian creation-myths are derived mostly from a handful of cuneiform literature:-

● "Instructions of Shuruppak" Sumerian c.2600 BC,

● "Enuma Elish" Babylonian c.1750 BC [1] [2] [3],

● "Atra-Hasis" Akkadian c.1700 BC [1] [2] [3] [4] [5],

● "Eridu Genesis" Sumerian c.1600 BC [1] [2],

● "Epic of Gilgamesh" Sumerian c.1700 BC,

● "Adapa & the Food of Life" various c.1300 BC [1] [2] [3],

● "Enki & Ninhursag" various [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The ancient Mesopotamians had many gods but the council of elite gods were called the Anunnaki. They consist of the following gods:-

● An, Anu - (male) God of the sky; ruler the heavenly realm of the gods. [1] [2] [3] [4]

● EnLil, Elil - (male) God of the wind, air; ruled the earth's surface and weather [1] [2] [3]

● EnKi, Ea - (male) God of water, knowledge, creation, craft & mischief. [1] [2] [3]

EnKi is the provider & ruled the "sweet waters" (Abzu) within the earth, just below the surface.

● NinHursag, NinMah, NunTu - (female) Goddess of the nature, mountains & fertility. [1], [2], [3], [4]

NinHursag was the "Mother of all things"; in nature, plants and animal life.

● Ianna, Ishtar - (female) Goddess of love, desire, beauty, sex, politics, war as well as fertility and justice. [1], [2] [3]

● Utu, Shamash - (male) God of the sun, truth, justice & morality. [1], [2] [3]

● Nana, Suen, Sin - (male) God of the moon. [1], [2] [3]

Their names varied depending on the language; whether Sumer, Akkad, Babylon or Assyria. The gods' family tree was quite complex and evolved over time. A second tier of junior gods was called Igigi.

Origin of the Gods - from "Enuma Elish" - summary

Abzu (male) is spirit deity of fresh water.

Tiamat (female) is spirt deity of the salt sea.

The primordial waters churn; the chaos creates other deities which then begets all the gods

The younger gods are noisy which upsets Abzu, who then considers their genocide.

The younger gods' react and kill Abzu; Tiamat is enraged.

Tiamat produces 11 monsters to fight for her: Bašmu {Hydra}, Mušḫuššu {Griffin}, Mušmaḫḫū {Phoenix}, Ušumgallu {Chimera}, Uridimmu {Manticore}, Kusarikku {Minotaur}, Girtablullû (“Scorpion-Man"), Kulullû {Triton}, Laḫmu {Satyr}, Ugallu {Narasimha} and Umū dabrūtu (“Violent Storms")

while Tiamat transforms herself into a monstrous sea-serpent, to battle the gods, supported by her consort Kingu.

In the battle, Marduk destroys Tiamat and slices her.

From Tiamat's ribs, Marduk creates the vault of heaven and earth,

From her eyes become the Tigris and Euphrates,

From her tail becomes the Milky Way.

The victorious gods sacrificed Kingu & used his blood to create a Lullû-man (created-man).

Note : Lullû-man is not mankind. Lullû-man was custom-engineered to do the work of the gods. This first created-man becomes Adapa (see story below), the first of the seven divinely created Abgallu (or Apkallu), sage-magi of great wisdom who would also be sage-visirs for the human Kings.

Adapa & the Food of Life - summary

To Adapa, a diligent priest, the god Ea bestowed wisdom & some supernatural ability.

Whilst fishing, the sea splits in half, the South Wind blows,

Adapa's boat is struck, capsizes and Adapa is drowning.

Adapa curses the South Wind deity damaging it's Wing, which stops the wind blowing.

Adapa is to be summoned to an inquest by god Anu up in the "realm of the gods".

Adapa is pre-instructed by Ea to; favour praise to a few lower guardian-deities;

also when offered, do not eat the Food of Death, do not drink the Water of Death,

but do dress up in the garment, and do anoint himself with the oil.

At Anu's inquest, Adapa adeptly complies with Ea's instructions:

They offered and he did not eat the Food of Life; and he did not drink the Water of Life.

Anu actually offered immortality, but obedient Adapa declined.

Adapa is sent back to earth {remaining a mortal}.

Note : EnKi (Ea) and NinMah (NinHurSag) are asked to fashion more variations of created-men after Lullû-man. NinMah mixes "heart of clay over the abyss" making 6 more; including 1 barren woman & 1 asexual human (which EnKi assigns jobs as house-maid and eunuch respectively). EnKi's poor attempt at the clay creates a crippled mess whereupon NinMah becomes angry and leaves.

Creation of Mankind - from "Atra-Hasis" - summary

The gods Anu, EnLil & EnKi were assigned to rule the air, earth and water respectively.

The lower gods, the Igigi, are tired of their divine chores and refuse to work.

Under pressure, the Anunnaki's solution is to create humans.

To do so, they kill their brother god Ilawela (Geshtu-e, god of intelligence) in a sacrifice

and mix his flesh & blood with clay and with their spit.

The gods create a womb, and 10 months later, the humans are born.

Thus humans are created to be labourers working with the gods toward a mutually beneficial purpose.

Note: The sacrificial death of a god to benefit mankind is a recurring theme in mythology.

Note: Creation of man using clay is a recurring idea in mythology.

Mother of all Living Things - from "Enki & Ninhursag - summary

Dilmun is the garden of paradise at the beginning of the world.

Dilmun is a pure, holy, and pristine place.

In Dilmun, NinHursag rests during the winter.

EnKi goes to Dilmun and falls in love with NinHursag

EnKi & NinHursag beget a daughter named NinSar (Lady Greenery) who matures in 9 days.

While NinHursag returns to her duties, EnKi mistakes NinSar for her.

EnKi & NinSar beget a daughter named NinKurra (Lady Pasture) who matures in 9 days.

While NinHursag continues her duties, EnKi mistakes NinKurra for her.

EnKi & NinKurra beget a daughter named Uttu who matures in 9 days.

EnKi inseminates Uttu, realises she is not NinHursag and wanders away.

Uttu asks NinHursag to remedy the mistake of EnKi's insemination.

NinHursag tells Uttu to remove the seed in her womb and plant it at Dilmun.

9 days later, 8 new plants have grown there.

EnKi unknowingly passes by and eats the 8 plants.

NinHursag is exasperated, curses EnKi & leaves Dilmun.

EnKi falls ill from the plants, slowly dying & cannot be cured. He desperately sends for NinHursag.

NinHursag comes to heal EnKi; for every pain she extracts from EnKi, it becomes a new deity.

8 deities are made: Abu ("Lord of plants", growth), NinSikila ("Lord of hair", metal), then NinKirutu ("Lady of nose", healing), NinKasi ("Lady of mouth", beer), NanZi ("Lady of throat", morality), then Azimua ("Lady of arm", healing), NinTi ("Lady of Rib", giver of life) and EnSag ("Lord of side", fertility).

EnKi is healed, repents & is forgiven. Praise be to EnKi.

Note: The contamination of plants by a God's seed appears also in ancient Egyptian mythology. In the contest between Horus and Set, Horus contaminates some lettuce with his semen which Set unknowingly eats; consequently Horus wins.

Beliefs in Mesopotamia

The Gods in general had a wide variety of characteristic. While some gods were caring and kind, others were vengeful and petty. For example: EnLil wanted to destroy mankind because they were making to much noise. The gods were sometimes fighting with each other and wanting to take over each other's territories.

The ruling kings strived to do great deeds in the hope that, upon their death, they would be granted immortality and whisked away to live in paradise. For the mere mortals, expectations were different.

Most people (not nobility) would be buried below their house. Mesopotamians believed that, after death, they would continue to live a shadowy existence eating dust & dirt in the netherworld which was below the ground's surface, generally dark & dismal. The netherworld is called Kur (or Irkala or Aralu or Kigal) and was ruled by goddess Ereshkigal. Every dead person had their names recorded by goddess Geshtinanna. The netherworld was home to many gods, including Nergal, but was also where demons lived; for example Pazuzu and Lamashtu.

The Ark of Noah

The Tanakh is the main collection of Judaism's religious texts. The first part is the Torah, of which the first Book is named Genesis. Herein is the story of Noah whom the god Yahweh told of the coming Flood and to build an Ark to save the animals and some worthy humans. The earliest known Book of Genesis is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls called Genesis Apocryphon 1Q20 dated to c.100BC.

In this story, the earth had become corrupted and violent; so Yahweh would destroy it all in a great Flood. Yahweh instructed the righteous Noah on the design of the Ark; built of wood, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide & 30 cubits tall {137m x 23m x 14m}; 4 decks {storeys} with rooms, window and door; pitched (bitumen) throughout. The Ark would carry Noah, his 3 sons, and their wives, together with male and female of all living creatures, plus food for all of them.

Noah entered the ark in his 600th year, 2nd month, 17th day. The great flood came from underground fountains and rain for 40 days and 40 nights, the highest mountains were covered 15 cubits, and all life on earth perished except for Noah and those in the Ark. After 150 days of high-water, Yahweh remembered Noah, and, after 150 days more, the underground fountains stopped, the water subsided; & after 40 days, Noah freed a raven and dove, which returned; 7 days later, freed the dove, which returned; 7 days later, freed the dove. As the dove (finding land) did not return & so he dispersed out his family and livestock.

Noah built an altar dedicated to Yahweh & made sacrificial offerings of animals. Smelling this, Yahweh promised that the seasons would continue uninterrupted; & not to smite mankind again, no more floods; by the token symbol of the rainbow.

The Vara of Yima

In the Zoroastrian religion, the religious texts are collectively called Avesta. Vendidad is a part of the Avesta and tells the story of the winter storm. The oldest Avesta is dated 1323 AD and was created from a Sassanid (224 - 651 AD) archetype master-copy, now lost.

In this story, the world that god Ahura Mazda had created was a utopia where mankind was immortal. As the population grew, the world became overcrowded. At the request of king Yima [son of Vivanghat], the world was swelled & expanded three times by Ahura Mazda to fit the overpopulation. But the world size limit was reached and Ahura Mazda would obliterate everything in a great winter freeze.

At the behest of Ahura Mazda, king Yima built a Vara, a very large fortress in the ground. The cavernous enclosure would be have 2 square sections; 3km by 3km each; 1 for mankind and 1 for the animals & plants. The Vara was built by stomping the earth and forming that clay. Yima also added flowing water to create evergreen fields and endless food supply. He also built streets with houses. Into the Vara, Yima brought the best pairs (male & female) of every species and type of humans (1000 pairs), animals and plants. The Vara is sealed with gold while self-lighting windows were added. Within the Vara, the sun would rise and set but once a year. The great frost came and the world was destroyed, all except for Yima's fortress and its inhabitants who lived there happily.

Karna in Mahabharata

From Ancient India, the story of the warrior Karna is found in the sanskrit epic story, the Mahabharata, which earliest copies date back to circa 400 BC. The Mahabharata story is about 2 rival royal families named as Pandava and Kaurava who, despite being cousins, are eventually drawn into a terrible war.

In this story, the teenage Lady Kunti, using a secret mantra, mistakenly summons Surya, god of the Sun. As part of the intercourse, Kunti is impregnated by Surya. She hides her pregnancy and eventually gives birth to Karna. As avowed by Surya, Kunti regains back her virginity and Karna is bestowed with divine armour & earrings, making him immortal. Kunti puts baby Karna into a padded sealed basket and floats him on the river and down to the Ganges. After a lengthy journey, the basket is found by Rhada and Adhiratha, a charioteer (and poet); and they adopt Karna as their son.

Kunti marries king Pandu and, again using the secret mantra, queen Kunti becomes mother of the Pandava princes Yudhishthira (by god Yama), Bhima (by god Vayu) and Arjuna (by god Indra) as well as step-mother to the princes Nakula and Sahadeva.

Karna is portrayed as the righteous hero who fights for the wrong side. Karna grows up, befriends prince Duryodhana and Karna becomes a great archer & warrior for the Kaurava. Due to his loyalty to Duryodhana, in a gambling argument with princess Draupadi, Karna repulsively insults her modesty despite himself loathing this action. With the war becoming imminent, lord Krishna (an avatar of god Vishnu) reveals to Karna of his real mother, Kunti, with the offer for Karna to join the Pandava and lead them (thus protecting Arjuna by avoiding the conflict). But Karna declines Krishna's offer as Karna was deeply devoted to his humble adoptive parents. Later, Karna is warned by Surya of Indra's planned deceit to negate Karna's immortality by removing his divine armour & earrings. Indra incognito begs Karna to donate away his divine armour & earrings and Karna, aware of the deceit, still complies to "win the glory" of the situation. Indra is impressed and awards Karna a single-use projectile weapon called Vasavi-shakti.

In the ensuing Kurukshetra war, both sides take heavy losses. At the height of a battle, Abhimanyu (Arjuna's son) is killed by Karna's arrow while Abhimanyu was trying to dislodge his stuck chariot wheel. Although saving the Vasavi-shakti to kill Arjuna, Karna is ordered to use it on Ghatotkacha (Bhima's son) who is wreaking massive damage on the Kaurava forces. Karna reluctantly but dutifully obeys using the single-use Vasavi-shakti to kill Ghatotkacha. Arjuna is enraged and enters the battle with his arsenal of divine weaponry with Krishna as his charioteer. Karna's charioteer is the unfriendly king Shalya. As they battle incessantly, Karna's deadly volleys are deflected by Krishna's magic. Then Karna's chariot wheel becomes stuck, he signals a ceasefire and proceeds to dislodge the wheel. Krishna commands Arjuna to shoot his divine weapon called Anjalika which then beheads Karna.

The Birth of Moses

...insert Moses' Birth story here...

Romulus & Remus

The myth of Romulus & Remus [1] [2] [3] [4] tells of the legendary founding of Rome and the Roman Kingdom. Rome ws founded c. 750 BC and the earliest known written account of is c. 250 BC.

King Numitor of Alba Longa in Latium had a daughter, Rhea Silvia. His brother, Amulius, deposed of Numitor and forced Rhea Silvia to be a vestal virgin. Later Rhea Silvia, through a relationship with the god Mars, gives birth to the twins, Romulus & Remus. King Amulius imprisons Rhea Silvia and orders the twins to be put into a basket to be floated down the Tiber river to kill them.

The basket floated down the Tiber river but the twins did not die as the god Tibernus intervened by landing the basket ashore under a fig-tree. The god Mars sends a she-wolf and a woodpecker to rescue, to suckle and to feed the twins. They are later found by shepherd Faustulus and raised by him and his wife, Acca Larentia.

As the twins became young adults, they became embroiled in the politics of Alba Longa; Remus is arrested; Romulus rescues Remus; they kill Amulius and restore the rightful king Numitor.

Later, the twins venture off to build their own city. The find a suitable area but disagree on location. Romulus builds on Palatine Hill; Remus builds on Aventine Hill. Romulus builds a separation wall; Remus jumps over the wall.The dispute escalates and Romulus kills Remus.

Note: A twin brother murdering the other is a recurring theme in mythology

Oedipus Rex

The story of Oedipus Rex [1] [2] [3] was a theatrical play written by Sophocles and first performed c. 429 BC.

King Laius and queen Jocasta of Thebes beget a son, Oedipus. An oracle foretells that Laius will be kill by his own son. To circumvent the oracle, Laius orders that baby Oedipus is to be killed by binding his legs and being left on a mountain to die. He is found and rescued by a shepherd, who brings baby Oedipus to Corinth; where king Polybus and queen Merope adopt Oedipus as their son.

Later, as an adult, Oedipus meets the oracle who then foretells that he will mate with his own mother and kill his father. To circumvent the oracle, Oedipus leaves Corinth and travels to Thebes. On the way, Oedipus bumps into king Laius who is incognito; both on their chariots, an altercation ensues; Laius tries to hit Oedipus but instead Oedipus kills Laius. Further along the way nearing Thebes, Oedipus meets the Sphinx which blocks the road challenging travellers with an unsolved riddle, "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?"; to which Oedipus answers correctly, "Man"; besting the Sphinx, which jumps off a cliff, thereby liberating the road to Thebes. The Thebans celebrate this victory by making Oedipus the king and giving him the hand of newly widowed queen Jocasta.

Many years later, as the fates would have it, the story unravels; Jocasta hangs herself; Oedipus pokes his eyes and blinds himself.

Negative Confessions of Ma'at

From Ancient Egypt, the goddess Ma'at personifies truth, morality, law and judgement. Ma'at's earliest mention is in the Pyramid Texts of Unas from c.2360 BC but Ma'at is better known from the Book of the Dead from c.1550 BC.

The Book of the Dead refers to a compendium of papyrus literature called funerary texts which are instructions to guide the souls of eminent dead persons so that they may enter the realm of the Gods. In this collection, the Papyrus of Ani (c.1250 BC) reveals the process of afterlife assessment.

In the spirit realm called Duat, the soul of the eminent dead person (usually accompanied by his wife) has to pass 2 major tests to be allowed into the realm of the Gods: (1) the weighing of the heart, and (2) the Assessors of Ma'at.

The Assessors of Ma'at is made up of the 42 district-deities of the main 42 nomes (important districts) of the ancient egyptian empire; examples Heliopolis and Memphis. For each district-deity, the dead eminent person has to declare "Hail {name of deity} coming from {name of nome-district}, I have not {description of transgression}". Although there are 42 negative confessions to be made, there are really only a handful of transgressions because much of it is re-worded each time.

Examples of Negative Confessions:

3. Hail, Fenti, who comest forth from Khemenu, I have not stolen.

4. Hail, Am-khaibit, who comest forth from Qernet, I have not slain men and women.

21. Hail, Uamenti, who comest forth from the Khebt chamber, I have not debauched the wives of other men.

27. Hail, Kenemti, who comest forth from Kenmet, I have not blasphemed.

The Connection to India

The story of Enki & the World Order, mentions assignments to 3 places:-

Meluha, Magan & Dilmun.

"I will admire its green cedars. Let the lands of Meluha, Magan and Dilmun look upon me, upon Enki. Let the Dilmun boats be loaded with timber. Let the Magan boats be loaded sky-high. Let the magilum boats of Meluha transport gold and silver and bring them to Nibru for Enlil, king of all the lands."

It is thought that Meluḫḫa or Melukhkha was part of the Indus Valley civilisation (in India).

The ancient Mesopotamian and ancient Indian civilisations would have existed around the same time. There would have been trade routes between the two by land and by sea. It is likely that the "gold and silver" was referring to "tin" (which, with copper, is used to make the alloy bronze) and Meluhha was a source of tin was in the somewhere around Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Unfortunately, we currently know very little about the Indus Valley civilisation.

City-States and City-Temples

The Epic of Gilgamesh reveals much about ancient Mesopotamian society. The story revolves around how Gilgamesh befriends Enkidu and welcomes Enkidu from the primitive backwoods to join the civilised utopian life in a city-state. This story alludes to encourage the inviting of rural folk to join the city community; enticing them to the benefits and treating them as brethren.

From the epic story, we can glean that every citizen is designated a work-occupation, a dwelling and even a spouse. Every civilian has a role to contribute and, in exchange, the city-state will care and provide for them. The success of this system means the city's expansion needs more and more inhabitants.

The epic tale also gives insight into the relationship between the city-authority and its main temple. There are many gods and they each have their representative temples of worship. However, every city has its own patron-deity with its central temple of paramount importance. The city-state and it's patron-deity are symbiotic. The patron-god's temple reflects the city's economic and political stature.

Whereas the city-authority provides for its citizens' material needs, the city-temple provides for their social and spiritual well-being. The city-temple is a place of gathering for many things including food, drink (beer) and sex (meditational?). In the epic story, the lady Shamhat from the city-temple provided sexual services to Enkidu.

Political Evolution of the Gods

Although the gods Abzu (fresh water) and Tiamat (salt water) created all the other gods, they were not highly worshipped. This is similar in Hinduism to the god Brahma, who is the creator (and is important) but is less worshipped (compared to the other gods).

During the Sumerian and Akkadian eras, the gods An (heaven/ sky), EnLil (air/water), EnKi (water) and NinHursag (sacred mountain) were the top gods and commanders of the Annunaki. Gods were also patron deities of cities: Anu (An) for Uruk city; Elil (EnLil) for Nippur city, and; Ea (EnKi) for Eridu city.

During the Babylonian era, the patron deity of Babylon city, Marduk (storms), became elevated in the divine pantheon. As apparent in “Enuma Elish”, the gods Ea and Belit-ili (NinHursag) bore parental roles for Marduk. The god Elil was conceptually absorbed into another name, “Bel”.

Similarly, during the Assyrian era, the popularity of Ishtar / Inanna (lust), patron deity of Uruk city, blossomed as she was favoured by the cities of Assur, Nineveh and Arbela; the political centres for the Assyrians. Ishtar would eventually even take over the temple of An (her father).

“Bel” evolved to become a title for Marduk, which alters the blessing from the Code of Hammurabi, “The gods Anu, Bel, Marduk, Ea & the Igigi bless the dominion of Babylon”. Eventually, the deities Elil and Dumuzid (Inanna's consort) became merged with Marduk into a single deity, Bel.

Gnosis in Mesopotamian Religion

However little we know about early gnosis, we do know that Mesopotamian religion predates it by 2,000 years; and had profound influence on religions like Hinduism and Judaism.

Syrian Gnosis as told by Irenaeus (c.130–202 AD) describes a great Mother-principle of the universe -or- First woman -or- the Holy Spirit (rūha d'qudshā) moving over the waters -or- the mother of all living, who controls the elements of water, darkness, abyss, and chaos. Was Irenaeus unknowingly referring to goddess Tiamat from Enuma Elish? Assuming Tiamat was the original Demuirge, that role was later taken over by the trinity of An (sky), Enlil (earth) and Enki (freshwater).

Gnosis mentions a concept of seven archons called Hebdomad. Just as Hinduism has 7 sages in the Sapta-Rishi; Abrahamic religions have 7 holy angels in the Book of Enoch; Mesopotamia has the 7 original Apkallu. In contrast, Zoroastrianism has 6 (plus 1) spenta-immortals in the Amesha Spenta; while Chinese mythology has the 8 immortals.

The archons represented whatever their society treasures the most. In Judaism, the angels & nephilim represent power; in hellenistic religions, the titans represent strength; in mesopotamian religion, the apkallu represent wisdom.

Among Monad's mentioned emanations are wisdom, thought, profundity, grace and the elusive idea of "silence". The mesopotamian gods needed to have silence. In Enuma Elish, it was the noise of the lower gods that upset Tiamat such that Apsu considered their murder. In the great flood from Gilgamesh et al, it is the noise of mankind that upset Enlil to the extent of implementing mankind's destruction.

Throughout the mesopotamian religious myths, the gods were very busy, having so many jobs and chores to do. In Atra-Hasis, the Igigi actually revolt and threaten to overthrow the Anunnaki because of too much work. For whom was all this work being done? Nowhere does it tell us. Perhaps that was too ineffable to mention.