The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

[Ronin Truth]

30 January, 2013 - 21:31 johnblack

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Sumer, or the ‘land of civilized kings’, flourished in Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 4500 BC. Sumerians created an advanced civilization with its own system of elaborate language and writing, architecture and arts, astronomy and mathematics. Their religious system was a complex one comprised of hundreds of gods. According to the ancient texts, each Sumerian city was guarded by its own god; and while humans and gods used to live together, the humans were servants to the gods.

The Sumerian creation myth can be found on a tablet in Nippur, an ancient Mesopotamian city founded in approximately 5000 BC.

The creation of Earth (Enuma Elish) according to the Sumerian tablets begins like this:

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,
And chaos, Tiamut, the mother of them both
Their waters were mingled together,
And no field was formed, no marsh was to be seen;
When of the gods none had been called into being,
And none bore a name, and no destinies were ordained;
Then were created the gods in the midst of heaven,
Lahmu and Lahamu were called into being...

Sumerian mythology claims that, in the beginning, human-like gods ruled over Earth. 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 texts mention that at some point the gods mutinied against their labour.

When the gods like men
Bore the work and suffered the toll
The toil of the gods was great,
The work was heavy, the distress was much.

Anu, the god of gods, agreed that their labour was too great. His son Enki, or Ea, proposed to create man to bear the labour, and so, with the help of his half-sister Ninki, he did. A god was put to death, and his body and blood was mixed with clay. From that material the first human being was created, in likeness to the gods.

You have slaughtered a god together
With his personality
I have removed your heavy work
I have imposed your toil on man.
…
In the clay, god and man
Shall be bound,
To a unity brought together;
So that to the end of days
The Flesh and the Soul
Which in a god have ripened –
That soul in a blood-kinship be bound.

This first man was created in Eden, a Sumerian word which means ‘flat terrain’. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Eden is mentioned as the garden of the gods and is located somewhere in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Initially human beings were unable to reproduce on their own, but were later modified with the help of Enki and Ninki. Thus, Adapa was created as a fully functional and independent human being. This ‘modification’ was done without the approval of Enki’s brother, Enlil, and a conflict between the gods began. Enlil became the adversary of man, and the Sumerian tablet mentions that men served gods and went through much hardship and suffering.

Adapa, with the help of Enki, ascended to Anu where he failed to answer a question about ‘the bread and water of life’. Opinions vary on the similarities between this creation story and the biblical story of Adam and Eve in Eden.

Note: Ancient Sumerian translations were taken from William Bramley’s book, The Gods of Eden.

Related Links

Adam and Adapa: Two Anthropological characters
Sumerian creation myth
Enuma Elish - The Epic of Creation
Sumerian Myths of Origins
Sumerian Deities

By John Black

http://www.ancient-origins.net/human...73fe6-93223965

[oyarde]

Somewhere I have some Sumerian beer recipe .

[Sola_Fide]

What's important to realize is that the ancient pagan myths gave rise to authoritarianism.

In the ancient pagan myths, it was always order arising out of the chaos. In this scenario, there is an unbroken chain of divinity and humanity. The gods created humanity out of themselves. God and man are the same material. In Egypt, Pharoah was not just the King, he was god on earth. There was an unbroken chain between the gods and man. The chaos of creation is ordered by the human-divine legislation.

Christianity was different in that there was a completely broken chain between divinity and humanity. At no point is there ever any admixture of the two. There is an infinite chasm between man and God. God created out of nothing, and did not create man out of Himself, unlike how the pagans taught.

Christianity destroyed the notion of authoritarianism in the ancient world. Man could never be God, and man could never attain to godhood through power.

[heavenlyboy34]

What's important to realize is that the ancient pagan myths gave rise to authoritarianism.

In the ancient pagan myths, it was always order arising out of the chaos. In this scemario, there is an unbroken chain of divinity and humanity. The gods created humanity out of themselves. God and man are the same material. In Egypt, Pharoah was not just the King, he was god on earth. There was an unbroken chain between the gods and man. The chaos of creation is ordered by the human-divine legislation.

Christianity was different in that there was a completely broken chain between divinity and humanity. At no point is there ever any admixture of the two. There is an infinite chasm between man and God. God created out of nothing, and did not create man out of Himself, unlike how the pagans taught.

Christianity destroyed the notion of authoritarianism in the ancient world. Man could never be God, and man could never attain to godhood through power.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Sola_Fide again.

[Sola_Fide]

One of the best books I ever read was The One and The Many by RJ Rushdoony. There are so many great insights like this in this book. Every person who who is interested in how Christianity intersects with political theory should read it.

[Ronin Truth]

human genome errors

https://www.google.com/search?q=huma...11.99BavrOFrjc

[Sola_Fide]

human genome errors

https://www.google.com/search?q=huma...11.99BavrOFrjc

Why did you post that?

[Ronin Truth]

Why did you post that?

How many genome errors do chimps and gorillas have?

Same Creator right?

[r3volution 3.0]

What's important to realize is that the ancient pagan myths gave rise to authoritarianism.

In the ancient pagan myths, it was always order arising out of the chaos. In this scemario, there is an unbroken chain of divinity and humanity. The gods created humanity out of themselves. God and man are the same material. In Egypt, Pharoah was not just the King, he was god on earth. There was an unbroken chain between the gods and man. The chaos of creation is ordered by the human-divine legislation.

Christianity was different in that there was a completely broken chain between divinity and humanity. At no point is there ever any admixture of the two. There is an infinite chasm between man and God. God created out of nothing, and did not create man out of Himself, unlike how the pagans taught.

Christianity destroyed the notion of authoritarianism in the ancient world. Man could never be God, and man could never attain to godhood through power.

I follow your reasoning, but I don't see it reflected in the historical facts.

Pagan societies were not more authoritarian than Christian ones.

E.G. If you compare pagan Rome with later, Christian Rome, the latter was much more authoritarian than the former.

That's not say that Christianity is inherently authoritarian either, mind you, it's to say that there's no clear correlation either way.

Some Christian societies have been more authoritarian than some pagan societies, and vice versa.

[Ronin Truth]

I follow your reasoning, but I don't see it reflected in the historical facts.

Pagan societies were not more authoritarian than Christian ones.

E.G. If you compare pagan Rome with later, Christian Rome, the latter was much more authoritarian than the former.

That's not say that Christianity is inherently authoritarian either, mind you, it's to say that there's no clear correlation either way.

Some Christian societies have been more authoritarian than some pagan societies, and vice versa.

"Christianity" (so-called) has ALWAYS been much more about Roman Empire than it has been about Jesus.

"By their fruits, ye shall know them."

[erowe1]

"Christianity" (so-called) has ALWAYS been much more about Roman Empire than it has been about Jesus.

You mean in the sense that Christianity opposed the Roman Empire?

[erowe1]

E.G. If you compare pagan Rome with later, Christian Rome, the latter was much more authoritarian than the former.

Why do you believe this?

[Sola_Fide]

I follow your reasoning, but I don't see it reflected in the historical facts.

Pagan societies were not more authoritarian than Christian ones.

E.G. If you compare pagan Rome with later, Christian Rome, the latter was much more authoritarian than the former.

That's not say that Christianity is inherently authoritarian either, mind you, it's to say that there's no clear correlation either way.

Some Christian societies have been more authoritarian than some pagan societies, and vice versa.

As a Reformed Christian and Bible believer, I don't consider Rome, any time in its history, Christian at all (in fact, the anti-Christ). Roman Catholicism is not Christianity, neither is any of the other state-subservient iterations before Rome became fully Catholicized.

[Ronin Truth]

You mean in the sense that Christianity opposed the Roman Empire?

No, I mean in the sense that I wrote it.

Just read the words.

[Sola_Fide]

Why do you believe this?

One important thing to realize about Constantine when he made a state-subservient, pseudo Christianity the official religion is that he merely continued the pagan notion of the state cult. It had always been this way in Rome, with paganism... and now with the new pseudo Christianity.

None of these are Christian ideas, and it was the official "Christian" state cult that continued to persecute true Christians and true Christianity.

[erowe1]

No, I mean in the sense that I wrote it.

Just read the words.

I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying "wrote" in some figurative way?

At any rate, you can't deny that for the first 3 centuries of its existence Christianity and the Roman Empire were entirely at odds with one another.

[Sola_Fide]

No, I mean in the sense that I wrote it.

Just read the words.

What you wrote was wrong.

[erowe1]

One important thing to realize about Constantine when he made a state-subservient, pseudo Christianity the official religion is that he merely continued the pagan notion of the state cult. It had always been this way in Rome, with paganism... and now with the new pseudo Christianity.

None of these are Christian ideas, and it was the official "Christian" state cult that continued to persecute true Christians and true Christianity.

I'm no fan of Constantine in particular. But I think he's usually made the boogey man by people who try to make him out to be worse than other emperors, when all things considered he wasn't.

[Ronin Truth]

I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying "wrote" in some figurative way?

Nope, literal.

At any rate, you can't deny that for the first 3 centuries of its existence Christianity and the Roman Empire were entirely at odds with one another.

Was the religion OF Jesus called "Christianity" for the first three centuries following the crucifixion of Jesus?

If so, I'm referring to the Roman hijack of "Christianity" from Constantine till now.

If not, same timeline.

//

[erowe1]

Was the religion OF Jesus called "Christianity" for the first three centuries following the crucifixion of Jesus?

Yes.

If so, I'm referring to the Roman hijack of "Christianity" from Constantine till now.

If not, same timeline.

Then you should have said that. It's not the same timeline. You said "always." But Constantine's rule came 3 centuries later than Jesus and Paul.

[Ronin Truth]

Yes.




Then you should have said that. It's not the same timeline. You said "always." But Constantine's rule came 3 centuries later than Jesus and Paul.

Read it again, for comprehension.

Whether called "Christianity" or not, the timeline is the same. From the Roman Empire hijack till now.

[Ronin Truth]

What you wrote was wrong.

Silly Sola_Fide post score +1.

[Sola_Fide]

Silly Sola_Fide post score +1.

Ronin rational or informed response score: -4,692,575,327

[Christian Liberty]

As a Reformed Christian and Bible believer, I don't consider Rome, any time in its history, Christian at all (in fact, the anti-Christ). Roman Catholicism is not Christianity, neither is any of the other state-subservient iterations before Rome became fully Catholicized.

Do you or anyone else here know if Constantine was Erastian? I know that the early Westminster Presbyterians (covenanters) were NOT erastians and were opposed to it yet they still wanted the State to establish the church and enforce both tables of the law.

[Ronin Truth]

Ronin rational or informed response score: -4,692,575,327

Silly Sola_Fide post score +1.

[Leaning Libertarian]

This was an interesting article, but a bit too politically correct. It states "... the text mentions at some point, the Gods mutinied against their labor." It goes into no further detail of this mutiny, or what god spurred it. The beginning of the Epic of Atrahasis describes Allah as how all of the gods labored endlessly in grueling work, under the rule of the patron deity Elil. But soon revolt of the gods had erupted, due to the deity of “violence and revolution” named Allah (spelled by the experts as Alla), as the following inscription recounts:

Then Alla made his voice heard and spoke to the gods his brothers,’ Come! Let us carry Elil, the counselor of gods, the warrior, from his dwelling. Now, cry battle! Let us mix fight with battle!’ The gods listened to his speech, set fire to their tools, put aside their spades for fire, their loads for the fire-god, they flared up.

This link sheds new light since for many years we have been hearing various ideas on where Allah came from. Christian and Muslim scholars, as well as secular professors, presented numerous arguments on just who Allah really is, not from an actual name reference but as to the attributes of this deity being similar to others in pre-Islamic times.

The article quickly draws comparative likeness between this pre-christian religion and Christianity as it relates to the creation of man, but completely ignores comparative likeness as it could relate to Islam.

[robert68]

...

Christianity destroyed the notion of authoritarianism in the ancient world. Man could never be God, and man could never attain to godhood through power.

A deity that ostensibly needs and uses humans to speak for him can achieve the same result. Those humans can simply claim to be speaking for him, or for others who supposedly spoke for him in the past or are presently doing so.

...

None of these are Christian ideas, and it was the official "Christian" state cult that continued to persecute true Christians and true Christianity.

The persecuting of non-trinitarian religious practices began with Constantine and was solidified and encoded in law by emperors that followed. If there were trinitarians of your stripe persecuted, it was done along with the persecuting of non-trinitarians.

[Ronin Truth]

This was an interesting article, but a bit too politically correct. It states "... the text mentions at some point, the Gods mutinied against their labor." It goes into no further detail of this mutiny, or what god spurred it. The beginning of the Epic of Atrahasis describes Allah as how all of the gods labored endlessly in grueling work, under the rule of the patron deity Elil. But soon revolt of the gods had erupted, due to the deity of “violence and revolution” named Allah (spelled by the experts as Alla), as the following inscription recounts:

Then Alla made his voice heard and spoke to the gods his brothers,’ Come! Let us carry Elil, the counselor of gods, the warrior, from his dwelling. Now, cry battle! Let us mix fight with battle!’ The gods listened to his speech, set fire to their tools, put aside their spades for fire, their loads for the fire-god, they flared up.

This link sheds new light since for many years we have been hearing various ideas on where Allah came from. Christian and Muslim scholars, as well as secular professors, presented numerous arguments on just who Allah really is, not from an actual name reference but as to the attributes of this deity being similar to others in pre-Islamic times.

The article quickly draws comparative likeness between this pre-christian religion and Christianity as it relates to the creation of man, but completely ignores comparative likeness as it could relate to Islam.

Problem: Mining is hard work and the Anunnaki got really tired of doing it.

Solution: Create a temporary good enough throw-away slave species to do their dirty work (us).

[erowe1]

This was an interesting article, but a bit too politically correct. It states "... the text mentions at some point, the Gods mutinied against their labor." It goes into no further detail of this mutiny, or what god spurred it. The beginning of the Epic of Atrahasis describes Allah as how all of the gods labored endlessly in grueling work, under the rule of the patron deity Elil. But soon revolt of the gods had erupted, due to the deity of “violence and revolution” named Allah (spelled by the experts as Alla), as the following inscription recounts:

Then Alla made his voice heard and spoke to the gods his brothers,’ Come! Let us carry Elil, the counselor of gods, the warrior, from his dwelling. Now, cry battle! Let us mix fight with battle!’ The gods listened to his speech, set fire to their tools, put aside their spades for fire, their loads for the fire-god, they flared up.

This link sheds new light since for many years we have been hearing various ideas on where Allah came from. Christian and Muslim scholars, as well as secular professors, presented numerous arguments on just who Allah really is, not from an actual name reference but as to the attributes of this deity being similar to others in pre-Islamic times.

The article quickly draws comparative likeness between this pre-christian religion and Christianity as it relates to the creation of man, but completely ignores comparative likeness as it could relate to Islam.

What's your source for that?

This translation doesn't mention any Alla, and instead says:

'Who is the instigator of this battle?
Who is the instigator of these hostilities?
Who declared war,
that battle has run up to the gate of Enlil?
In ...
[145] he transgressed the command of Enlil.'

"Everyone of us gods has declared war."

http://www.livius.org/as-at/atrahasis/atrahasis.html

[osan]

What's important to realize is that the ancient pagan myths gave rise to authoritarianism.

So did the people of Judaism and Christianity. Empire preceded them both, apparently. Empire is a disease and it has infected men of all stripe. None are immune.

In the ancient pagan myths, it was always order arising out of the chaos. In this scemario, there is an unbroken chain of divinity and humanity. The gods created humanity out of themselves. God and man are the same material. In Egypt, Pharoah was not just the King, he was god on earth. There was an unbroken chain between the gods and man. The chaos of creation is ordered by the human-divine legislation.

Meh... what is meant by "chaos" in any given instance of use? How do we know "chaos" in Sumer meant the same as "chaos" in 21st century America?

One cannot go by translated texts. Translation is betrayal. Time is betrayal. Every man must reinvent the wheel for himself precisely because of his individual human nature, which does not take to accepting things on faith, no matter what his religious indoctrinations may teach to the contrary.

Christianity was different in that there was a completely broken chain between divinity and humanity. At no point is there ever any admixture of the two. There is an infinite chasm between man and God. God created out of nothing, and did not create man out of Himself, unlike how the pagans taught.

And that is where both christianity, judaism, and islam fail with great fireworks and pomp.

Christianity destroyed the notion of authoritarianism in the ancient world. Man could never be God, and man could never attain to godhood through power.

Nonsense. It only shifted the authoritarian figure from men to "God". As with all things, this model has its advantages and its disadvantages. As this history of the Roman church demonstrates, the disadvantages to the many were great as all they recovered from their faith was poverty, disease, violence, and endless misery.

I would also point out that the schism you cite was effectively meaningless in many lands, what with "divine right of kings" and all that rot. In the end, Christianity worked out no better than the rest and far worse than many. It has little about which to crow on the whole. It shines in the individual in some instances, but that is not terribly different from many other systems of belief. God is what it is, regardless of what one chooses to believe. Therefore, my suggestion is to choose with great reticence because chances are you've got enough of it wrong to make it worth the mention.