A middle babylonian sumerian fragment of the adapa myth from nippur and an overview of the middle babylonian sumerian literary corpus at nippur in the first ninety years. When they came to the earth, there was much work to be done and these gods toiled the soil, digging to make it habitable and mining its minerals. The ancient mesopotamian underworld, most often known in sumerian as kur, irkalla, kukku, arali, or kigal and in akkadian as er. Has nasa accidentally found an ancient sumerian statue on the.
Comparison of the sumerian gods and the greek pantheon essay. Oct 05, 2017 the sumerians, the worlds first documented civilization dates back 6,000 years. Enki in ancient literature ancient history encyclopedia. If you have been studying the ancient astronauts, there are likely a number of terms you have become familiar with. Pdf understanding planets in ancient mesopotamia researchgate. Another extremely mysterious discovery has apparently just been made on the surface of the red planet. Sumerian myth the sumerians developed one of the earliest civilizations on earth 35001750 b. Last week, around 30,000 people downloaded books from my site 8 people gave donations. We further define pantheons and talk about why theyre important. The origin of humans according to ancient sumerian texts. Sumerian mythology, free pdf, ebook, epub global grey. Now, if you say, im really impressed by the sumerian knowledge, and, maybe they knew what they were talking about regarding the anunnaki. The creation of earth enuma elish according to the sumerian tablets begins like this.
Kramer, 1998 when the mineralogical characteris tics of lapis lazuli are studied it is clear why the sumerians thought that the color of this blue stone resembled not only the sky but also the stars in the sky, due to traces of yellow pyrite. It is written in the sumerian language and dated to around 1600 bce. Deities in ancient mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. According to ufo hunters, what appears to be a head of a mysterious statue has been seen in one of the images captured by the curiosity rover currently exploring the red planet. Geography played a major role in the evolution and development of norse mythology, just as it did in sumeria and egypt. Apr 27, 2019 to the akkadians and babylonians, he was known as ea. The study of sumerian culture introduced by the present volume, sumerian mythology, is to be based largely on sumerian literary sources. Anu the supreme god of heaven, enlil god of water, and ea god of magic were among the gods most worshipped by the sumerians. When you use these names to translate, marduk eventually betrayed anu, his father, if you will, and took the power of the gods. Dec 20, 2017 the big myth is an animated learning app and website presenting a collection of 25 creation myths from around the. Reading akkadian prayers and hymns society of biblical literature.
The earliest record of a sumerian creation myth, called the eridu genesis by historian thorkild jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in nippur by the expedition of the university of pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized by arno poebel in 1912. Sumerian word is a loan from another language family. This term doesnt crop up a whole lot in sumerian and babylonian lore, but where. One of the few scholars able to read and interpret ancient sumerian and akkadian clay tablets, zecharia sitchin 19202010 based his bestselling the 12th planet on texts from the ancient civilizations of the near east. A tradition exists that abraham was a great sumerian astrologer who studied in the sumerian cities of ur and mari. Read the bunyip of berkeley creek by jenny wagner, about the truth in myths. The work of zecharia sitchin is an infamous name in ufology and ancient alien theory circles. The core of the book is eighteen essays, six each on the pantheon, on mythology, and on religion. D whose studied ancient semitic languages at the university of wisconsin.
Embedded in both ancient sumerian and ancient egyptian mythology is the tale of a stray comet that destroys a planet. In sumerian times, the greatest god was an, whose son was. She was called mami by the babylonians, the goddess who created mortals. Another is usually nergal mars, god of the underworld and ofplagues. The sumerians were a nonsemitic, nonindoeuropean people who lived in southern babylonia from 40003000 b. The main deities examined in this dissertation are nergal, meslamtaea, ninazu, and erra. She gave birth to anki, the universe at first they were heaven and earth in one, a vast mountain of soil and sky. A dissertation submitted to the university of wales. Ancient aliens, the anunnaki and mars ancient code. A logogram is a reading of a cuneiform sign which represents a word in the spoken language. These books can take me from 2 to 10 hours to create. There are, for instance, surviving sumerian texts that parallel the story of noah and the flood, including an episode in the epic of gilgamesh a huge flood did indeed inundate mesopotamia about 2900 b. The origins of human beings according to ancient sumerian. Comparison of the sumerian gods and the greek pantheon.
Pdf was eridu the first city in sumerian mythology. Sumerian, babylonian, and chaldean library at sacred. The first essay in the anthology is morals in ancient mesopotamia 1958. When in the height heaven was not named, and the earth beneath did not yet bear a name, and the primeval apsu, who begat them. The sumerian epic of creation and the egyptian myth of osiris are nearly complete identical. In the mythology, this occurred when enlil and ninlil gave him the underworld. According to zacharia sitchins interpretation of sumerian tablets, marduk was exiled from sumer by his uncle enlil and becomes the unseen god from the time of his exile until his return to. I believe this was needed in order to dictate the appropriate use of sumerian heka. Sumerian myth and the bible there are strong parallels between sumerian mythology and the stories in the biblical book of genesis. The reason marduk is so important to this story is simple, he is the sumerian god who with the aid of the igigi, transformed mars into a sacred book. Drawing both widespread interest and criticism, his controversial theories on the anunnaki origins of humanity have been translated into more than 20. It is usually called a lionhead, but looks as much like a. Nergal was also the deity who presides over the netherworld, and who stands at the head of the special pantheon assigned to the government of the dead supposed to be gathered in a large cave known as aralu or irkalla.
In ancient myth recorded by hesiods theogony, cronus envied the power of his father, the ruler of the universe, uranus. His narrative has been echoed by countless other researchers. A free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. This is similar to cronos in the greek myths, who was overthrown by his son and was rarely talked about after. In sumer, the secret and aquatic temple of enki is called abzu while in. In which mike rugnetta begins our unit on pantheons, which are families of gods. The sumerian gods personified local elements and natural forces. The selection is rounded off by three essays that study ancient mesopotamian religion and mythology in relation to the hebrew bible. Some researchers believe that extraterrestrial entities have influenced humans since the beginning of human history, creating cultural practices around their likeness. He is the son of nammu and father of inanna and is the third of the trinity anuenlilenki heading the. The rise of civilization mesopotamia and gilgamesh. Sumerian, 247 sumu, 249 swahili, 250 tahitian, 251 talmudic, 253 tantric, 254 tewa, 255. However, their lost civilization was not rediscovered until the. Sumerian mythology index internet sacred text archive.
Understanding planets in ancient mesopotamia enn kasak, raul veede this is a copy of the article from printed version of electronic journal folklore vol. Enki is a god of sumerian mythology and, later in time, known as ea in babylonian mythology. Utu also known as shamash, samas, babbar the sumerian god of the sun and justice, one of the oldest deities in the mesopotamian pantheon, dating from c. According to mythology, humanlike, extraterrestrial beings ruled over the earth. These beings were referred to as gods, and they had the power to travel through the sky. Enn kasak, raul veede understanding planets in ancient. Zecharia sitchin july 11, 1920 october 9, 20101 was an azerbaijaniborn american author of books proposing an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Ancient mesopotamian religion and mythology selected essays. Sumerian god later identified with isum the god is celebrated. In sumerian mythology and later for assyrians and babylonians, anu was a skygod, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. Halloran the following lexicon contains 1,255 sumerian logogram words and 2,511 sumerian compound words. Previously, nasas curiosity rover and its companion. The sumerians regarded their divinities as responsible for all matters pertaining to the natural and social orders.
The five subsequent volumes, as planned by the author, will consist. In light of the sumerian propensity for forming new words through compounding in the period after they invented cuneiform signs, it should not be surprising to find this same propensity in words dating from before their invention of written signs. Anu was a skygod, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. I think this question might be more helpful if you briefly summarised why you want to more about that symbol although the link a brief analysis of cylinder seal va 243 does explain this, it would be easier for most people reading this question if they didnt have to read the entire paper to understand the. A myth may also contain historical elements, especially the flood myths. Mercury, mars, was later replaced by the moon, the sun, jupiter. Martian metamorphoses the planet mars in ancient myth and religion, by ev cochrane. Short of manpower, the astronauts employed genetic engineering to fashion primitive workershomo. The ancient sumerians have the legend marduk and tiamat and the ancient egyptians have osiris and seth. Well before modern science fiction speculated about advanced civilizations upon mars and the dire threat of invasion by little green men, the red planet was regarded as a malevolent agent of war, pestilence, and apocalyptic disaster. I want to keep them free, but need some support to be able to do so. The son of anu, enki, proposed to create a species that would inhabit the planet and bear the labor and so the gods created man. Creation myths of the world an encyclopedia second edition volume i.
It was believed that he had the power to judge those who had committed crimes, and that he had created the stars as soldiers to destroy the wicked. Reynolds, unpropitious titles of mars in mesopotamian scholarly tradition, in. Both they are describing the same story of the origination of the solar system and the mankind in connection with the destruction of a former planet which became a risk for earth and mars. The sumerians held the belief that a sacred ritual marriage between the ruler and inanna, goddess of love and fertility, brought rich harvests. Polytheism belief in many gods most cultures in the ancient world believed in many gods it was revolutionary when people began to believe in one go monotheism the sumerians worshipped between 100 and 300 gods sumerian gods mixed with akkadian and babylonian gods, which is why there.
Jul 31, 2010 there were dragons in ancient sumer, and the only sumerian to fit the bill is anu. She was part of the creation of the first humans from blood and clay. The sumerians were clearly intelligent people with a value system, a set of laws, diversification of labor, a monetary system, marriage and divorce, and many of the attributes of a sophisticated. The sumerians associated enki with wisdom, magic and incantations, and was one of the three most powerful gods in the sumerian pantheon, the other two being ana and enlil. Enki is credited with the creation of mankind, and was also, according to sumerian mythology, its protector. According to the modern day translation of sumerian and babylonian origin myths, a cataclysmic event did, in fact, occur on the red planet, an event that sounds remarkably similar to ancient mesoamerican myths about a feathered serpent that devastated mars. But i dont think there is another planet with these advanced beings on it near earth. According to sitchins interpretation of the sumerian creation tale, our solar system originally consisted of the sun apsu and nine planets. Ancient astronaut theorists believe that the anunnaki colonized both mars and earth, and this belief could possibly be backed up by the fact that the sumerians had a number of myths about mars, including that the anunnaki colonized mars and used the red planet as a pit stop for earth. Readings on the origins, history and impact of patriarchy. There have been real floods and people have created stories to explain why they happened. Ed, the ancient sumerians knew about our solar system long ago. Pdf the god enki in sumerian royal ideology and mythology.
The legacy of the greek god, uranus, andor sumerian god. Buzur god of the deep mines god who solves secrets. For only now does the vast and profoundly important early sumerian lit erature begin to be accessible in a real sense. Sumerian, babylonian, and chaldean library at sacred magick. During the fourth and final phase, in the first millennium bc, the gods became. The shaping of the god mars in sumer, assyria, and babylon. Pdf a middle babylonian sumerian fragment of the adapa. Roman religion before christianity by the early empire, there was a strong need to reunite the romans culturally political solution. Zecharia stitchen believed that the anunnaki of sumerian mythology was an ancient et race, controlling humans and using them as slaves to do their bidding. The uniqueness of the lapis mine location in the hindu kush mountains and the unique fingerprint trace element and other physical characteristics of this metamorphic sacred blue stone of the sumerians are the primary points of focus. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient sumerian culture to the anunnaki, which he states was a race of extraterrestrials from a planet beyond neptune called. Second of two articles the successful landing by nasa of two robotic rovers on mars earlier this year was an occasion for joy and expectation joy because so many of the preceding attempts including by the japanese and the british have failed, and expectation of obtaining confirmation that mars was once a watery planet. But one word which you may not be as familiar with is igigi sometimes also spelled igigu. The sumerian creation myth can be found on a tablet in nippur, an ancient mesopotamian city founded in approximately 5000 bc.
Norse mythology was a major influence in the aggressive, violent lives the vikings led. Wellu another name for geshtu, the god who sacrifices himself to create humanity. According to the creation story, anu, the main god of the ancient sumerians saw that the labor on earth was too great. Before time began there was only darkness and the goddess nammu, the primordial sea. Tiamat supposedly is the name of a former planet in our solar system. The earliest record of the sumerian creation and flood is found on a single. Mama the mesopotamian especially sumerian and akkadian mother goddess. He was the deity of sweet water, crafts, creation, intelligence, the god of wisdom and of all magic, and was the patron god of the city of eridu before his cult spread throughout mesopotamia. A dissertation submitted to the university of wales trinity. Planets had an importantplace in babylonian astral religion, they were. The general idea was imported into hebrew mythology as lilith, demoness of desolation, obsession, and madness. Look at the image of the sun being circled by ten planets in the upper left of this ancient sumerian cylinder seal. Myths and realities of anunnaki, reptilians, planet nibiru.
As stated anton parks, the only heavenly place mentioned in the tablets as the anunnas one is the duku and, in the sumerian mythology, enki did not flee to nibiru, but to africa, specifically to egypt. Sumerian mythology claims that, in the beginning, humanlike gods ruled over earth. They created system of time, the calendar, writing, agriculture, and many other things. Collection of works on sumerian, babylonian, and chaldean. Has nasa accidentally found an ancient sumerian statue on. Mars, nergal was associated with the underworld and is usually the husband of ereshkigal. Mother of the gods and mother of men wife of enki in some myths lady of the mountain perhaps the original mother earth figure. Sumerian religion was the religion practiced and adhered to by the people of sumer, the first literate civilization of ancient mesopotamia. The mesopotamian pantheon ancient history encyclopedia. Moreover, the sumerian god ninurta and the greek herogod herakles. Easy reading series sumerian mythology a study of spiritual and literary achievement in the third millennium b. The book of genesis in the bible describes the life of abraham and sara, and the circumstances under which they emigrated from ur to the land of canaan. Kramer man and his god a sumerian variation of the job motif this lamentation to a mans god, as the ancient author himself describes it, is an edifying poetic essay composed, no doubt, for the purpose of prescribing the proper attitude and conduct. On our planet time flows evenly everywhere but the history as we know it has different length and depth in every place.
An started out as the king of all of the gods, but later diminished in importance. But what if sitchin was wrong in his translations of the sumerian cuneiform tablets. The sumerian alien theory can be traced back to a tablet found in nippur, which was an ancient city founded in 5000 bc. Earthlings have long been fascinated by the planet mars.
The present volume of important texts of sumerian epics and myths will be followed, therefore, almost immediately by another volume containing sumerian proverbs, incantations, lamentations. Maybe the deepest layer of history lies in the land between tigris and eufrat mesopotamia greek the land between two rivers. Norse mythology has some similarities but many differences from sumerian, egyptian, greek, and roman mythology. They invented cunieform writing, and their spiritual beliefs influenced all successive near eastern religions, including judaism, christianity and islam.
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