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SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - SUPREME GOD BABYLONIA
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LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY_______________________
NOVEMBER 17, 2006
THE SUPREME GOD OF BABYLONIA
ENKI AND NINHURSAG
How Enki surrendered to the Earth Mother and Queen
‘Enki and Ninhursag’ is perhaps one of the most difficult Mesopotamian myth for Judeo-Christian Westerners to understand, because it stands as the opposite of the myth of Adam and Eve in Paradise found in the Old Testament Bible. Indeed, ‘ the literature created by the Sumerians left its deep imprint on the Hebrews, and one of the thrilling aspects of reconstructing and translating Sumerian belles-lettres consists in tracing resemblances and parallels between Sumerian and Biblical motifs. To be sure, Sumerians could not have influenced the Hebrews directly, for they had ceased to exist long before the Hebrew people came into existence. But there is little doubt that the Sumerians deeply influenced the Canaanites, who preceded the Hebrews in the land later known as Palestine’ (Kramer, 1981:142). Some comparisons with the Bible paradise story: 1) the idea of a divine paradise, the garden of gods, is of Sumerian origin, and it was Dilmun, the land of immortals situated in southwestern Persia. It is the same Dilmun that, later, the Babylonians, the Semitic people who conquered the Sumerians, located their home of the immortals. There is a good indication that the Biblical paradise, which is described as a garden planted eastward in Eden, from whose waters flow the four world rivers including the Tigris and the Euphrates, may have been originally identical with Dilmun; 2) the watering of Dilmun by Enki and the Sun god Utu with fresh water brought up from the earth is suggestive of the Biblical ‘ But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground’ (Genesis 2:6); 3) the birth of goddesses without pain or travail illuminates the background of the curse against Eve that it shall be her lot to conceive and bear children in sorrow; 4) Enki’s greed to eat the eight sacred plants which gave birth to the Vegetal World resonates the eating of the Forbidden Fruit by Adam and Eve, and 6) most remarkably, this myth provides na explanation for one of the most puzzling motifs in the Biblical paradise story - the famous passage describing the fashioning of Eve, the mother of all living, from the rib of Adam. Why a rib instead of another organ to fashion the woman whose name Eve means according to the Bible, ‘she who makes live’? If we look at the Sumerian myth, we see that when Enki gets ill, cursed by Ninhursag, one of his body parts that start dying is the rib. The Sumerian word for rib is ‘ti’ . To heal each o Enki’s dying body parts, Ninhursag gives birth to eight goddesses. The goddess created for the healing of Enki’s rib is called ‘Nin-ti’, ‘the lady of the rib’. But the Sumerian word ‘ti’ also means ‘to make live’. The name ‘Nin-ti’ may therefore mean ‘the lady who makes live’ as well as ‘the lady of the rib’. Thus, a very ancient literary pun was carried over and perpetuated in the Bible, but without its original meaning, because the Hebrew word for ‘rib’ and that for ‘who makes live’ have nothing in common. Moreover, it is Ninhursag who gives her life essence to heal Enki, who is then reborn from her (Kramer, 1981:143-144).
Stone Tablet
For Adapa, my favorite experience of Enki, in deepest appreciation and respect
After Time had come into being and the holy seasons for growth and rest were finally known, Dilmun, the pure clean and bright land of the living, the garden of the Great Gods and Earthly paradise, located eastward in Eden, was the place where Ninhursag-Ki, the Earth Mother, Most Exalted Lady and Supreme Queen, could be found. There she lived for a season during the Wheel of the Year, when the Earth lay deep in slumber before the onset of Spring, in the land that knew neither sickness nor death or old age, where the raven uttered no cry, where lions and wolves killed not, and unknown were the sorrows of widowhood or the wailing of the sick. And it was in Dilmun, at that time that Enki, the wise god of Magic and the Sweet Waters, the Patron of Crafts and Skills, met, fell in love and lied with the Lady of the Stony Earth, Ninhursag-Ki.
The Earth Mother’s kiss did change the carefree and sexy Sweet Waters Lord: Ninhursag had wholly captivated him through the most profound of all bonds, the thread of enchantment and passion called Love. So profound the feeling was that the God of Sweet Waters, Magic and Crafts proposed to Ninhursag, with the enthusiasm of a young lover’s heart.
Ninhursag looked around the land, her stony body, and remembered the taste of the wondrous moisture of the Sweet Waters God within herself. She wondered whether the land should not feel the same loving touch without. She said then to Enki:
‘I heard your heart speak, Enki dearest. But if I feel your wondrous moisture within me, I look at the earth of Dilmun, also my body, and feel its longing for the gifts that you, dear heart, for sure can bring. Thus I ask you: what is a land, what is a city that has no river quay? A city that has no ponds of sweet water?’
Taken by surprise, Enki realized that indeed he had given his whole essence to the beloved, but forgotten to look after her Earthly Body, the land. He then rose to the challenge of providing water for the land with aplomb. He replied:
‘For Dilmun, the land of my lady’s heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench the thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives’
Enki then summoned Utu, the Sun God and Light of the Day. Together, they brought a mist from the depths of the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. Then Enki and Utu created waterways to surround the land with a never-ending source of fertile Sweet Waters, and Enki also devised basins and cisterns to store the waters for further needs. From these fertile sweet waters flow the four Great Rivers of the Ancient World, including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Thus, from that moment on, Dilmun was blessed by Enki with everlasting agricultural and trade superiority, for through its waterways and quays, fruits and grains were sold and exchanged by the people of Dilmun and beyond.
Ninhursag rejoiced in Enki’s mighty prowess and said to him:
‘Beloved, the powerful touch of your sweet waters, the essence of Mother Nammu that lies deep within you, transformed the land, my stony body. I feel the power of life throbbing within to be revealed without upon my surface as I give joyously birth and sustenance to the marshes and reed-beds, that from now on will shelter fish, plant, beasts and all that breathes. Thus I call myself Nintur, the lady who gives birth, the Womb of the Damp Lands by the riverbanks.’
Enki replied:
‘Ninhursag, dearest Nintur, beloved, how can anyone quite compare to you? I cannot resist your wild, sweet ways, so lie with me one more time and fill my body, heart, soul and mind with endless delights! For me you will forever be my fierce Damgalnunna, my Great Spouse, passionate and very much loved!’
Ninhursag laughed and welcomed the eagerness of the Sweet Waters Lord. Nine days later, the Great Goddess gave birth to a lovely girl without the slightest travail or pain. The girl was called Ninsar, Lady Verdure, the Mistress of Vegetation, the green carpet of grass, leaves and flower beds that cover the surface of the earth.
Enki was overjoyed with the birth of his and Ninhursag’s child:
' How perfect, how lovely is our Ninsar! I love already the woman in the girl-child, the young Anunnaki goddess and Mistress of Velvet Meadows and Green Fields. The ties that bind me to Ninsar are strong and tempered by an even greater love, for in her face I see also Ninhursag’s, the one and only to my wandering heart.’
The Great Lady, holding Ninsar in her arms, kissed Enki in the mouth, and said:
‘Soon my time to leave Dilmun will come, but to this holy land I will sure return at the beginning of the earth’s rest in the Middleworld. I need to leave, for without my loving touch Spring cannot come back, the winds to dismiss Winter won’t blow, all there is won’t sing or mate until I invite them to return. But before I go away, I endow Ninsar with the power to grow in record time, and in holy Dilmun I’ll leave my youngster daughter safe and sound from any illness, hatred or harm.’
As the Great Lady had declared, nine days later Ninsar was fully grown, charming and graceful, a sight to behold. Ninhursag then left for the Middleworld. Enki knew he would miss his beloved terribly, but while she was busy in the Middlearth giving her Essence for the land to grow happy and gay, equally busy was Enki in holy Dilmun. It was his sacred duty to oversee the rise and fall of all fertilizing waters that flowed from Dilmun to feed the rivers, lakes and ponds of the Middleworld to make the land ready to receive the Spring seeds. Thus, as much as he missed Ninhursag, Enki knew he could not leave Dilmun before all waterways were filled to ensure that the people would have plenty of water to grow their crops. Enki’s essence, the fertilizing power of the sweet waters, should reach every piece of land in the Middleworld that had been worked and ploughed.
It was at the end of a day he had spent totally absorbed by the mighty task of controlling the water flow to the Middleworld that Enki saw Ninsar walking on her own along the marshlands. Indeed, a lovely goddess she had become, and Enki’s eyes fell on the Maiden’s. Deep within the Sweet Waters Lord felt a longing he could not as yet define. He only knew that after Ninhursag’s departure, no other maiden had touched his heart the way this one did. Indeed, she who walked on her own along the marshlands was the closest version to Ninhursag his eyes had the luck to find. Enki did not lose time and immediately started wooing the young lady, encouraging her to love him wildly by the riverside.
Curious and eager as Ninsar was to experience the power of love in her body, mind, soul, and heart, she, the young goddess of Green Fields and Luscious Meadows, yielded to the Sweet Waters Lord, and together they made wild love.
But when morning came, Enki looked into Ninsar’s eyes and found her a loving, but pale portrait of Ninhursag.
‘What is in her that was so alluring last night, but now in the broad day light seems to have lost substance? Lovely as she is, she is not the one I surely miss’, thought Enki.
Despite the doubts he felt deep inside, Enki stayed with Ninsar for a while, because he knew his seed could be her womb. So he stayed with her until the ninth day, when Ninsar gave birth to Ninkurra, another girl-child, the future goddess of Mountain Pastures.
As before, Enki rejoiced at Ninkurra’s loveliness, at her cheerful smile and sweet face. Again, Enki saw in Ninkurra twice the mark of his beloved Ninhursag.
Sadly, Ninsar realized that although she had been passionately loved by Enki for a time, there was a longing in his eyes, his body, soul and mind she could not satisfy.
‘Bonded to him I for a time was,’ thought Ninsar,’ but he does not want me for myself, this I can tell. Mine is not the mind, body, soul and heart that holds his for a minute that means eternity, so I’ll let him go, now and forever. I need to be loved for who and what I am, and not to be a mere replacement for whom I know not he loves.’
Thus, when Enki left her and young Ninkurra, Ninsar grieved deeply, but found hope, meaning and sustenance in drawing from her all-one-ness, her inner and outer resources to heal and grow with the experience. She also kept a watchful eye on Ninkurra, who, like herself, grew in record time. Lovely, resourceful Ninkurra demonstrated enormous energy by climbing the highest heights, up to the mountain tops, but also keeping her essence tied to the ground. This way Ninkurra, the Goddess of Mountain Pastures grew safe from all hatred or harm.
Another nine days passed by, and as Ninkurra played at a mountain top, curiosity led her to explore a well that surfaced out of the blue to water the greens and wild flower beds she had just made grow. To her sheer surprise and delight, the well took the shape of a handsome god, who introduced himself to her as Enki the Sweet Waters Lord.
Again, Enki looked at Ninkurra’s young and cheerful face, and desired to dive into the maiden’s embrace, for she reminded him twice of Ninhursag, the one and only to Enki’s wandering heart. The maiden at the mountain top though had attracted the Sweet Waters’ Lord. Had he again fallen in love?
Ninkurra, who had lived a life so sheltered at the mountain heights, was fully bewitched by the easy charm of the older, more experienced god. Thus she joyously yielded to him and love they made for nine days and nine nights. But Enki soon realized that as lovely as Ninkurra was, she could not be compared to Ninhursag.
As before, the Sweet Waters Lord left Ninsar after nine days, when Ninkurra gave birth to another lovely girl-child called Uttu, the Spider, the Weaver of Patterns and Life Desires.
But Ninhursag, having kissed the earth to awaken for Spring to come, had returned to holy Dilmun. The Great Lady who saw and wisely judged all life forms, frowned at the sadness reflected in Ninsar’s and Ninkurra’s eyes, and frowned at Enki’s unbridled lust. Ninhursag knew how charming Enki could be, but no matter what, young Uttu the Weaver should be advised to avoid the riverbanks, or the places where Enki and herself could be found alone or unchaperoned:
‘Daughter Uttu, beware of the marshes and the riverbanks, where Enki, the Sweet Waters god, reigns as Sovereign. There he will see you, there he will desire you and want to make of you his own, only to leave you all alone later on!’, was Ninhursag’s stern advice to Uttu.
For a time young Uttu did follow the Great Lady’s advice and kept her distance from Enki’s lusty sight. But one day Enki’s desire won the young goddess’ heart, when he brought to her delicacies from the garden of delights: apples, cucumbers and grapes, all this and more Enki offered to the young goddess. Then Uttu, full of joy, opened herself to welcome Enki, the crafty god, and he embraced her with heartfelt glee, lying in her lap content and happy. Loving strokes, kisses and hugs they shared, until Enki’s seed found its way to Uttu’s young and yet untried womb.
Later, still lying on Enki’s powerful arms, doubt entered Uttu’s mind, body and heart:
‘Tonight you loved me so dearly, tonight I was your spouse, the one and only, your dearest, ‘ she thought . ‘ But will you love me in the morning, o lustiest of all gods? Will you stay in my arms and never let me go? And will you love for more than a holy night, and share with me happy and hard times?’
Bu
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