God, Gods and Half a God

Here's an excerpt from my newest e-book on the subject of the etymologies of the various ancient gods. It isn't referenced yet, meaning there are no footnotes at this time and no reference links. Still, I thought you might enjoy reading it, although I'm only providing the first portion. I should also mention, even though it is well researched, some of my theories and hypotheses have changed ever so slightly since these pages were written, particularly as regards Enki-Ea. But that's for another post. Anyway, without further ado (hope you like it and it isn't confusing!):

GOD, GODS AND HALF A GOD
by E. Vegh © 2009

Introduction

Heartily know, When half-gods go, The gods arrive.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

....Many a theory has been proposed as to the identity of the ancient gods. Some believe them to be nothing but metaphors for the stars and planets. Others see them as isolated, cultural phenomenon, more related to blind acts of nature than intelligent forces. And yet more view them as extra-terrestrials or supernatural entities beyond our comprehension.

....Of the myriad ways in which the gods can be defined, even amongst believers, the definitions vary. However, this book will attempt to prove that not one, but all of the previous theories are true! It will do so with the help of etymologies, concordances, archaeology and ancient translations. You will discover the gods of almost every era of the ancient past are related, etymologically and archaeologically, to the gods of the oldest known written records. The path is clearly marked, if you know where to look, how to look, and what to do with the information once you have it.

....What that means for us today is quite profound! We have the benefit of thousands of years of research, ancient texts and archaeology to draw from, with more hard and fast data than ever before. And what the evidence is telling objective researchers is nothing short of astounding.

....So, without further ado, I offer the reader this book of my forays into the etymology of the divine, "God, Gods and Half a God: Unravelling the God Word."

Chapter 1
A God by Any Other Name

“Great gods who are standing here! Anuna, who have lined up in the place of assembly!” - Enlil


....During the time of ancient Babylon, the planet Jupiter was known as the god Marduk. The ancient text entitled, "The Enuma Elish", declares the elevation of Marduk to godhood and, as a result, his assimilation of the planet Jupiter. Although it was not called Jupiter prior to or during Marduk's reign, it is understood today, that Marduk was indeed the name of Jupiter during ancient Babylon. So did anyone hold the title of the planetary god, Jupiter, prior to Marduk? Just how far back does it go?

....The answer can be found in the earliest texts known to man, the ancient texts of the sumerians. In fact, the sumerian god Enlil was the first holder of the planetary title of Jupiter. At that time, however, it was called Nibru, the planet or place of the crossing. As Nibru would cross the river of the sky, it was thought to also cross the Euphrates River on the Earth. Thus Enlil's temple city in ancient Sumer was called "Nibru" and built on a crossing place of the Euphrates, in commemoration.

....Enlil's position as leader of the planetary gods was a fitting tribute, as he was also considered to be the leader of the sumerian gods. He presided over the Divine Council from his sumerian temple city of Nibru. Although some later texts claim he had a father known as An or Anu, it would appear to be a title of authority, later misconstrued to be a separate entity. The most logical reason for this interpretation is the lack of a planetary body to associate An/Anu with and the direct reference to Enlil as the leader of the gods, a title of authority also associated with An/Anu. In addition, the word An and even Anu, are both words translated to mean LORD HEAVEN, which is also the translation of "Enlil", who is Lord Sky and Lord of the Heavens, as the god of the largest planetary body, Nibru (Jupiter). In short, the etymology would be An=En(lil).

....Enlil wasn't alone in Sumer, however, as he doled out the tasks of overseeing the affairs of men to his son, the god, Enki, who was Lord Earth and god of the sweet waters and waters of chaos (a precursor to the babylonian Tiamat). Enki resided in the sumerian temple city of Eridu and was famous for bringing the arts of civilization to the human race. You can see his tracks throughout ancient history, as the great dragon, the god of water, the serpent lord and he who brings enlightenment (civilization) to man.

....So now that we've established the planetary god, Jupiter (Enlil) and his son, Lord Earth (Enki), were in residence in ancient Sumer, let's follow their etymological footsteps through history to see just how far they go!

Chapter 2
Enlil's Etymology

Enlil in heaven, Enlil is king!
- excerpt from "Enlil and Ninlil"

ENLIL
LIL
ILU
IL
ILAH
EL
AL

....The Mesopotamian etymology of Enlil's name was the foundation for nearly every god word for thousands of years and not just in Mesopotamia. Even many god words attributed to Enki after Sumer, are directly or indirectly traceable back to Enlil. By the time of late Akkad/early Babylon, the ILU form of Enlil's name had become the generic, one-size-fits-all, god word. As a result, prior and latter forms of LIL would continue to follow this trend.

....For example, the phonecian Ba'al was the same etymology as B'el, although they were different aspects of the god. In the words of language expert, Dr. Michael S. Heiser:

"Baal was rendered into Greek as Bel (the "e" being the long "e" - the "eta" in Greek - as opposed to the short "e" the epsilon)..."

The addition of the "B" or "BA" or "BAB" to the god word (in this case "AL" or "EL") seems to indicate an Enki etymology, a subject covered in the next chapter.

....Another such example is "Bab-ILU", otherwise known as "Bab-EL," as in the Tower of Babel. Again we see the BAB prefix, and therefore should recognize it is a tower associated with the god Enki, not Enlil, even though Enlil's name has been assimilated into it in a generic fashion. The word Bab-ilu essentially means "The Chaos Gate of the Water Gods", which is clearly not Enlil, as he was not associated with water. Another way to say it would be "The Gate of the Gods of the Nun," Nun being the primordial waters of creation and chaos, the Abyss, the Abzu. It's important to realize the placement of the word "chaos" in the title, connects it directly to Babel as "confusion". So Bab-ilu and Bab-el, are indeed the same word, showing once again that EL is IL who is LIL who is ENLIL.

....With the advent of the babylonian Tiamat, as the goddess of primordial chaos, we see a host of other goddess names connected to Enlil and in some cases, absconding his title entirely. Thus a female goddess of primoridal waters of chaos (an Enki title, see "EA") becomes the leader of the gods, creator of the gods and Queen of Heaven - Enlil's female counterpart! And true to form, Marduk as Enki's representative, steps up to the plate and and defeats Tiamat, thus ideologically defeating Enlil and ending the authority of the god(dess) of creation! It is clearly evident this replacement of Enlil with the babylonian Tiamat was due almost entirely to Enki's priests adopting the LIL god word, making it female, and incorporating it into words associated with Enki, a fact not known until thousands of years later. Essentially, Enki had successfully swapped places with Enlil in the mainstream texts, redefining him into near non-existence.

....We can find similar examples in ancient Egypt as well, although the etymology is a bit more precarious. For example, the egyptian god, Amen:

YMN
AMUN
AMEN
AMON
MONTU
MENTU
ENTU
ENU
EN
ANU
AN

....Amen had the same titles as Enlil and Anu, et.al, the leader of the gods, creator, Lord Heaven, associated with the planet Jupiter. Although "Mentu" is an egyptian word and "Entu" an Akkadian word, they are etymologically connected. However, modern egyptologists avoid references to mesopotamian root words in egyptian texts, primarily because the intergration into Egypt by mesopotamian rulers, presents an unwelcome and politically-charged challenge to the mainstream interpretation of egyptian events. Greek words replaced the original egyptian words, further hiding the mesopotamian connections. This book isn't saddled with such politically correct notions, but seeks to simply provide the etymological trail of the ancient god words.

....Anyway, by the time of Babylon, Enlil had been almost entirely phased out of mesopotamian texts. His name had been so carefully absorbed, that were it not for the hebrew and ugaritic texts, he might've vanished from ancient written history, entirely. Thankfully, with the advent of archaeology, the sumerian and akkadian texts were eventually uncovered, revealing the connections between this most ancient and foundational leader of the sumerian gods and the oldest texts of the hebrews.

....Later versions of Enlil as the jovian planetary god were interwoven with the history of Enki rather than Enlil, creating a great deal of theological and historical confusion. Thus we see the Greek Jupiter and Roman Zeus bearing little similarity to Enlil or his history. In addition, the role most common to Enlil was personified in the god URANUS, who had been instituted into the pantheon as an etymological descendant of Anu!

UR + ANU

Recalling that Enlil was in fact, Anu, and that Anu was a title of authority, the implications become quite clear. Someone wanted to erase Enlil's name from history and memory, not only depriving him of his title and proper place in the Divine Council but also assigning his authority to someone else.

continued in next post....

....The first place this attempt to erase and redefine Enlil is seen in late Akkadian and early Babylonian texts. Many of the early babylonian texts show signs of tampering primarily where Enki is inserted into the text as a heroic, caring yet deceptively cunning figure while Enlil is depicted as cruel, impatient and unreasonable. Such is the case in a passage from "ENMERKAR AND THE LORD OF ARRATA" called "THE NAMSHUB OF ENKI", which is supposed to be depicting the confusion of the languages at the "Tower of Babel" (Babilu):

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.
In those days, the land Shubur-Hamazi,
Harmony-tongued Sumer, the great land of the me of princeship,
Uri, the land having all that is appropriate,
The land Martu, resting in security,
The whole universe, the people well cared for,
To Enlil in one tongue gave speech.
Then the lord defiant, the prince defiant, the king defiant,
Enki, the lord of abundance, whose commands are trustworthy,
The lord of wisdom, who scans the land,
The leader of the gods,
The lord of Eridu, endowed with wisdom,
Changed the speech in their mouths, put contention into it,
Into the speech of man that had been one.

Note how nearly everything is turned on its head: The people are all giving praise in one language to Enlil, something Enlil doesn't appear to mind. There's no fear. It's peaceful. Then Enki, leader of the gods(!), defiant yet trustworthy, put contention into their speech so that they no longer gave praise in one language to Enlil, nor enjoyed a peaceful co-existence with each other and nature. Compare that to the Tower of Babel story in the Bible. Something is clearly wrong. It might be significant to mention here that THE NAMSHUB OF ENKI is meant to be confusing. It was written for the sole purpose of confusing the reader. It was said to be a magical spell and once read, would confuse your language (and now you know why)! It was the first, clear cut case of deliberate disinformation.

....Even when present in the text, Anu doesn't do or say much of anything but is said to be Enlil's father and Lord Heaven, leader of the gods, clearly demoting Enlil at his presence. Although An/Anu may be a real figure, the implications thus far, do not readily lend him to many of the ancient texts other than those few sumerian texts that cast him in the light of the otiose god - without planet, without place, without interaction, a title occupying a seat of authority. In fact, he doesn't show up again until Greece, where he is depicted as the god URANUS and Egypt as the god AMEN, both of which are suspiciously Enlil-like.

....The rise of the babylonian god Marduk (Dumuzi), who was a son of Enki, completed the deed. Marduk absorbed all the feats of the gods before him in "THE ENUMA ELISH", changing them into something barely recognizable and paying homage only to Enki. Marduk's highjacking of history was a success, primarily attributed to the fact the older sumerian texts had been buried under eight feet of flood silt during the Black Sea Flood. He, or rather Enki's priests, had free reign to redefine history and so they did! It would be nearly six thousand years before the oldest sumerian records would be found again, re-establishing Enlil's place in history, however negatively portrayed it may be.

....It would also appear that Enlil is the biblical Jehovah or Yahweh, even though the root word, HAY-YAH sounds a great deal like "EA" (see Enki, next chapter). Such an example is seen in the EPIC OF GILGAMESH, where Enlil plays the role of Jehovah when he pronounces a flood judgement on the inhabitants of the Earth, the ark lands and a Noah-type figure (Utanapishtim) emerges, builds an altar and sacrifices to the gods. Enlil arrives and eventually blesses Utanapishtim with eternal life. Oddly enough, it is Enki who warns Utanapishtim of the approaching flood, and he does so against the wishes of Enlil, who the text claims, wanted no flesh left alive on the Earth. It's a puzzle, in which Enki flits in and out of Enlil's stories or vice-a-versa, in a way that confounds its biblical equivalent and frequently makes no sense, whatsoever.

Although I disagree with you on many key points in this piece, I applaud the clear and well-written composition.

reply to post by DaisyAnne


If you feel i've made errors, don't be afraid to point them out. As I mentioned in the op, there are a few things i'm wavering on as regards Enki-Ea.

I really believe that god's were ET's - nothing more, nothing less...
Just my interpretation.

I like your approach, in that you're not trying to instill your beliefs into your thesis. There's a lot of dialog out there on the Abrahamic religions origin of the name/word for god (El, Elohim, etc.). I say Abrahamic since Abraham is the one who brought the Sumerian beliefs with him out of Ur.

You might want to factcheck some of your assertions though against the Sumerian Mythology database, for instance Marduk is not Dumuzi (Tummuz) they were brothers (Dumuzi was Inanna/Ishtar's lover).

See: Sumer Mythology FAQ

Good luck with your ebook!

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


One of the issues i've stumbled upon, begrudgingly, is that it appears both Enki and Enlil are called jehovah in the old testament. I don't know if this was the translators fault or the fault of the record keepers. The word elohiym is very flexible and in the original languages of the old testament, has been applied to Jehovah, the angels, the other gods, and even the dearly departed. As a result we see Enki in the role of Jehovah, confusing the languages as per the akkadian NAMSHUB OF ENKI.

Further references from Dr. Heiser:


What is an Elohiym?
www.thedivinecouncil.com...

Introduction to the Divine Council
tiny.cc...

The Divine Council
www.thedivinecouncil.com...

As I mentioned earlier, I believe this is because the "god word" was applied to all and sundry, blurring the line between this god and that god and the god over yonder.


[edit on 1-12-2009 by undo]

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by DaisyAnne

 

If you feel i've made errors, don't be afraid to point them out. As I mentioned in the op, there are a few things i'm wavering on as regards Enki-Ea.

I'm happy that you're open to debate! Can I take the points one at a time?

The first one that I wanted to address is the idea that An is merely a title of authority applied to Enlil, and not a deity in himself.

If we look at the texts themselves, as fragmentary as they are, we see that it is the union between An and Ki that creates Enlil. An then carries off heaven and Enlil carries off his mother Ki, thus heaven and earth are separated. An and Ki themselves having been born of the primeval ocean herself, Nammu.

The Lord of heaven would be An, the Lord of air would be Enlil, his son.

reply to post by DaisyAnne


how far back are you golng in the texts because babylonian versions are, well you can tell the babylonian priests took advantage of the fact the sumerian records were buried under 8ft of flood silt

reply to post by impaired


YEP...I agree. Those that still worship a god are really praying to ETs, or just a man made myth!

Very well articulated piece and i'll be glad to read the full and final version once it's complete.

I agree with DaisyAnne:

If we look at the texts themselves, as fragmentary as they are, we see that it is the union between An and Ki that creates Enlil. An then carries off heaven and Enlil carries off his mother Ki, thus heaven and earth are separated. An and Ki themselves having been born of the primeval ocean herself, Nammu.

Nammu=Primordial mother goddess
An=Heaven
Ki=Earth
Enlil=the offspring of heaven and earth

reply to post by Nammu


I'm having problems finding any references to the primoridal mother goddess of chaos, prior to Babylon. as i mentioned in the op, it seems to me that tiamat in the enuma elish, replaces aspects of both enlil and enki, and one other thing, the nun or abzu. so does nammu predate tiamat and if so, by how much?

martu is a son of an

he is a peerless dragon

gibil is also said to be a son of an but i have never seen the passage that says it.

reply to post by Parta


dragon. i really do need to do an etymology study of that word further back than babylon

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by Parta

 

dragon. i really do need to do an etymology study of that word further back than babylon

The word 'dragon' itself comes from the Greek 'drakon', which means serpent. But you're looking at something much older. You would have to find the Mesopotamian root of the word, perhaps looking for 'serpent' will give you you're answer as they were interchangeable.

reply to post by serbsta


so heiser's paper on why the nachash in genesis 3 wasn't a serpent would be a good jumping off place and then work backwards from there.

THE NACHASH AND HIS SEED: SOME EXPLANATORY NOTES ON WHY THE SERPENT IN GENESIS 3 WASN'T A SERPENT
www.thedivinecouncil.com...

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by serbsta

 

so heiser's paper on why the nachash in genesis 3 wasn't a serpent would be a good jumping off place and then work backwards from there.

THE NACHASH AND HIS SEED: SOME EXPLANATORY NOTES ON WHY THE SERPENT IN GENESIS 3 WASN'T A SERPENT
www.thedivinecouncil.com...

It would be a good start, but im not sure, you may want to go back earlier. Nahash refers to 'a shining one', this was always a property of dragons, especially the brightness exuding from their eyes. I think you should explore that connection.

Nahash (Hebrew) [from nahash to whisper, hiss, prognosticate, practice divination] Serpent; a constellation -- the serpent or dragon in the northern quarter of the heavens; also a city. In the Bible, the name of two Ammonite kings (1, 2 Sam).

Originally posted by undo

I'm having problems finding any references to the primoridal mother goddess of chaos, prior to Babylon. as i mentioned in the op, it seems to me that tiamat in the enuma elish, replaces aspects of both enlil and enki, and one other thing, the nun or abzu. so does nammu predate tiamat and if so, by how much?

Well Tiamat being Babylonian puts her at a later date than Nammu who was the first personoficiation, giver of life to An. So if you're looking at the chronology, here are your boundaries.

Babylonia established C18 B.C.E, but there were references to it pre C20 B.C.E. The Akkadians who came before and may have coexisted with the Babylonians started no earlier than the C24 B.C.E.

So if you're looking at by how much Nammu predates Tiamat you have to look at Sumer aswell. They arose roughly 5400 B.C.E., it ends with the rise of the Akkadian empire in the C24.

So it's safe to say you've got a couple of thousand years, give or take, between the myths of Nammu and Tiamat. Notice aswell that Nammu was the goddess of the water abyss, much like all dragons of history, she was associated with water. The transition process between the two is probably interesting, but maybe difficult to research.

Good luck.

reply to post by serbsta


the problem is, IS THE TEXT that mentions nammu as the mother of enlil or what have you, does THAT text predate babylon? and if so, by how much. i'm aware of the timeline. i'm working with how far back does the chaos goddess enter the picture. this is starting to sound like later in the timeline where the abzu was personified as a female who gave birth to the gods.

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by serbsta

 

the problem is, IS THE TEXT that mentions nammu as the mother of enlil or what have you, does THAT text predate babylon? and if so, by how much. i'm aware of the timeline. i'm working with how far back does the chaos goddess enter the picture. this is starting to sound like later in the timeline where the abzu was personified as a female who gave birth to the gods.

I see, i see. Well I'm having difficulty finding ANY references at all to Nammu within texts. I've consulted the trusty ETCSL and only found mentions of Ur-Namma(u) who was a king. I don't have time to continue searching for now, but let me know if you make any findings.

Hey there!

Nammu does predate Tiamat. She is mentioned in these Sumerian tablets:

TRS 10.36-37 where she is given the epithet ama.tu.an.ki "mother who gave birth to heaven and earth".

TRS 71 i 16 where she is described as ama.palil.u.tu.dingir.sar.ra.ke.ne "the mother, the ancestress who gave birth to all the gods".