The “Cu Stone” was credited by Ninurta to have “attacked against my weapons.” The “Gasura Stone” is similarly accused of having “stood fiercely against me like bulls” and of “having tossed your horns in the dust at me like wild bulls.” These stones therefore had a clear weapons application. Ninurta, as has been seen, decrees that his own “terrifying splendour will cover” the stones and that they would be shaped by a “goldsmith” to “form a matrix for his creations.”
The “Cu” and “Gasura” Stones were thus to be subjected to intense heat, and molded or adapted to some other use, in spite of their original application as weapons.
The “Hactum Stone” was also clearly a weapon, having “cried out” against Ninurta from its place “in the Mountains.” Additional clues are given in the text that it “yelled fiercely with wild battle yells,” indicating that it was possibly a component in a weapon of an acoustical nature.434 Like the “Cu” and “Gasura” Stones, however, the “Hactum” Stone is apparently preserved, for Ninurta enigmatically states “Because of your digging, ditch shall be your name.” Apparently it was preserved because it was easily adaptable to uses that were not necessarily military, but which used its destructive potential in other practical ways.
Finally, the fate of the “Durul” Stone should be mentioned, for as the text indicates, it was a sought commodity of “connoisseurs” of precious metals. Ninurta thus decrees that “foreign nations shall pursue you,” suggesting that it was removed and sold.
2. Stones to be Destroyed
In addition to some special cases to be noted in the next section, there are stones that are obviously weapons and that could not be adapted to other uses. These were destroyed by various means.
a. The “Sajkal, Gulgul, and Sajjar” Stones
The “Sajkal” Stone is accused by Ninurta as having “flown up against me.” The “Sajjar” Stone “shook (its) head” and “ground (its) teeth” against Ninurta. But the most interesting and suggestive property of any of the stones is that associated with the “Gulgul” Stone,” which Ninurta states had “sparked lightning against me,” that is, it was capable of producing enormous electrostatic displays and somehow utilizing the same as a weapon, as was seen in chapter two.435
These three stones share a common and complex fate. Ninurta decrees that the “Sajjar” stone would be smashed and pulverized by the “Sajkal” stone and that the “Gulgul” stone would also be a part in its destruction. All three would then be “discarded as contemptible and valueless.” This would perhaps imply that there was some functional relationship between the three stones to begin with, and that a certain order had to be followed in the sequence of their destruction. Alternatively it might imply that the only things capable of destroying the “Sajjar” Stone was the “Sajkal” and “Gulgul” stones, and that all three stones are difficult to destroy.
b. The “U” Stone
The “U” Stone has earned Ninurta’s hostility by being the stone that “barred the way” (or, alternately, “seized me”) so as “to detain me.” Ninurta orders that its size “be diminished” and that a “mighty lion” should tear it to pieces. In other words, its size is somehow related to its power, and accordingly its size is to be “reduced” by breaking up the stone. The “U” Stone thus inhabits an ambiguous destiny, either being altogether destroyed, or merely broken up and preserved in other smaller forms.
The “Na” Stone appears to be similar in its functions, for it suffers a similar fate after having defied Ninurta and “bewitching (his) powers.” In one of the more colorful metaphors found in the various “destinies of the Stones,” Ninurta orders that it be “worked on like a pig,” be “used for nothing,” and both “reduced to tiny fragments,” and “reduced ... liquid.” The stone, on other words, appears to have been pulverized, liquefied, and then “discarded,” whatever terrifying powers it once enabled were to be poured out like water on the desert.
Of the “Algame” Stone not much is said. Ninurta notes it made no provision “to assist my progress,” and states simply that it should “be the first to go into my forge,” implying that it was melted down and destroyed, or perhaps adapted or molded for some other purpose.
The “Jir-Zu-Jal” Stone, noted for “duplicity” in the text, shares a similar fate. It is “ripped... like a sack” and smashed into “tiny pieces.”
Finally, the “Iman” and “Alliga” Stones are said by Ninurta to have “cried out against me” from within “the Mountains,” and of having “fiercly uttered bullet yells,” suggesting once again the primacy of acoustical phenomena to whatever weapon was deployed against Ninurta. To these, Ninurta decrees that he “shall enflame you like fire, like a storm I shall overturn you....I shall rip you like weeds.” These stones, too, in other words, were broken up and destroyed.
3. Special Cases
a. The “Cagara” Stone
The first special case is that of the “Cagara Stone.” Though it occurs later in the text than that of the second special case, it is treated first here because it would seem to be of lesser importance than that of the “Elel Stone” which preceded it. The “Cagara Stone” is accused of smashing its head “against anyone traveling in the desert.” Like the other stones, it was located “in the Mountains” where, when Ninurta was otherwise occupied, it had “tried to trample on me.” Ninurta’s decision concerning its “destiny” is somewhat peculiar, for he “discards it on the dais” of Ninhursag’s “resting place.”
What does one make of this? Clearly it departs from the pattern associated with the other stones that had been used against Ninurta, yet, it is preserved, although apparently hidden. This may be because it simply could not be destroyed without great difficulty. This possibility brings us to the second special case.
b. The “Elel” Stone
An even more special case is represented by the “Elel stone”. Let us recall Ninurta’s opening words: “Elel, intelligently you caused terror of me to descend on the Mountains where discord had broken out. In the rebel lands you proclaimed my name among my people who had banded together.” Thus far, the Elel Stone sounds like many others that were not used against Ninurta, and hence, its eventual preservation would seem to be motivated by that fact. But not so, if one reads carefully what later follows: “Nothing of your wholeness shall be diminished (?). It shall be difficult to reduce your mass to small pieces....You shall be greatly suited to the clash of weapons, when I have heroes to slay. You shall be set up on a pedestal in my great courtyard.” In other words, the “Elel Stone,” whatever it was, was difficult if not impossible to destroy, and its application as a weapon was clear and obvious to Ninurta. Hence, rather than letting it remain in its “Mountain,” pyramidal home, Ninurta removes it. It is safe to say that it was essential to the “Mountain’s” functioning as a weapon. Given what has been speculated and argued previously, that some scalar weaponry was involved in the destruction of the missing planet(s), the “Elel Stone” would appear to be a crucial component of this technology. Hence — and this is quite the crucial point — the “Elel Stone” was lost to history, secreted somewhere, and may, like the “Cagara Stone” therefore still exist. If the Sumerian origins of the text are any clue, then it may still exist in Iraq, buried beneath the shifting sands of the ages.436
C. The Immediate Legacy: Conclusions
What emerges from this examination is rather chilling, for it will be apparent that the “Story of the Stones” and Ninurta’s inventorying activity parallels another, though less ancient, myth: the Fall of Lucifer and the removal of the lapis exili, The “Stone of Exile” from his crown.
There is, however, a significant difference. Not only is there a clear indication that the function of many of the specifically weaponized stones is “acoustic” in nature, in keeping with a possible weapon based on scalar physics, but there is also an indication that two of these stones in particular were so powerful and impervious to destruction that they could only be removed and hidden, thu
s allowing the possibility that, while lost, they may still exist, and exist somewhere on the earth at that.
Equally important is the fact that the text seems to confirm our equation in a previous chapter that not only associates “Mountains” with “planets” in the formulary of catastrophists, but with the e-kurs of the Sumerians, the man-made mountains of the Pyramids and Ziggurats. Thus, if
Mountains ≈ Planets ≈ Pyramids,
then it is clear that an inventory is not only being taken of objects inside a pyramid, but it is equally clear that the best known example of a Pyramid from which there is clear evidence that something has been removed is the Great Pyramid.
This equation thus casts Zechariah Sitchin’s “Pyramid Wars” in a whole new light and context, for now, far from being events set merely on earth, the planetary component of the equation would indicate that these wars were cosmic in their scale, ferocity, and significance.
Clearly, if the inventory of the power stones that forms the bulk of the Exploits of Ninurta are identified with the Tablet(s) of Destinies stolen initially by Tiamat and later by Anzu, as there is evident reason to believe, then by the same token, it is also evident that at least some of this awesomely destructive technology survived the last known war for their possession.
And the clear association of these “stones of power” with the “ekurs” or artificial mountains of the pyramids and ziggurats would suggest where one with sufficient money and technology might look to find them again.
But exactly what were the original Tablets of Destinies? And why fight such a cosmically destructive war over, and with, them?
9.
THE ENIGMA OF THE TABLETS: WHAT WERE THE “TABLETS OF DESTINIES”?
“The ME ... has no equivalent in English and no translator has thus far been able to provide a satisfactory explanation of the term... Traditionally, scholars translate the term as ‘divine powers’ or ‘tablets of destiny’ for want of a better descriptive term. ”“437
R. A. Boulay.
The question that now inevitably occurs is what exactly were these “stones of power”? What exactly were the “Tablets of Destiny” or, following Dalley’s translation, “Tablet of Destinies”, or following Sitchin’s translation, “Tablets of Destinies”? This enigma, in any of its variants, is one of the central riddles to be solved for anyone taking the war scenario of the ancient texts at their word. After all, if a war were fought to possess or to regain them because they conferred “the power of the universe” then obviously their possession conferred tremendous power to their owner. Merely to assert that they were a primary cause of this war is not enough, one must understand why they were a cause of that war, and to understand why they were, one must understand what they were, with as much precision and exactitude as possible.
From the previous chapter it would seem obvious that Zu’s theft of the Tablets from Enlil challenged the latter’s hegemony. It would seem equally apparent that they were somehow used by Zu in his war against Ninurta, that is, it would seem that the Tablets of Destinies either were weapons of awesome power, or that they could be used as such. And finally, it would appear that Ninurta’s inventory of the “stones” after the recovery of the Tablets of Destinies is somehow related, i.e., the inventoried stones may be components of the Tablets of Destinies. But this really does not advance us much further toward solving the riddle of these enigmatic “stones of power.” And this situation is not aided by the fact that in some instances it appears that the Tablets of Destinies could be used for communications.
Part of the enigma lies in the fact that the term “Tablets of Destinies” itself is an uncertain translation, an academic convention that has become accepted merely through widespread use. R.A. Boulay points out the difficulty few mainstream Assyriologists are willing to admit: no one knows exactly what they were, and the translation of the word “me” (pronounced like the month May) as “stone” or “tablet” is simply at best an educated guess:
The story of (An)Zu must have had a strong impact on the minds of ancient peoples for it concerned a struggle for power within the pantheon itself. It actually concerns the theft of the ME or “power stones” from the possession of the chief god Enlil and their recovery by his champion, the god Ninurta. The ME ... has no equivalent in English and no translator has thus far been able to provide a satisfactory explanation of the term. It seemed to apply to anything composed of system, direction, ordered events, law, arts and crafts, even weapons and mechanical devices.
Traditionally, scholars translate the term as “divine powers” or “tablets of destiny” for want of a better descriptive term. But these names are grossly deficient, for in reality they were physical objects that could be carried about and upon which was engraved or transcribed instructions and standards of behavior. In this sense they seemed to be like our modern day computer storage disks and chips. The ME were actually the how-to-manuals of the ancients but embedded in “stone.”
Each ME provided the possessor full authority and power over a certain aspect of life, perhaps by providing essential information and instructions on controlling certain physical equipment. In this respect they may have been control modules use to operate certain pieces of equipment. Some of the ME were called ME-GAL-GAL or “great ME” and were associated with “divine” weapons of mass destruction.438
In yet another combination, MELAM or ME-LAM, meaning “brilliant ME,” the term suggests that the ME “were light-emitting crystals,”439 a significant clue, as we shall see.
Putting all these indications together, one may outline a preliminary answer to the riddle of what the ME or “power stones” or “Tablets of Destinies” were:
1. They were, first of all, information or objects containing information, that allowed one to tap into “the power of the universe;”
2. They were objects of technology that in use or conjunction with the “ekurs” or “mountains of stone” - the ziggurats and pyramids of the ancient world - allowed one to access that power, and thus wield a global hegemony by virtue of being able to manipulate that power in a variety of ways;
3. In the myths previously examined, these ME are almost always understood to be weapons. Their theft from Enlil by Anzu (or, earlier, by Tiamat!) thus implies something quite important about the civilization of the ancient “gods,” and that is, that the whole idea of “kingship” resided in the implicit ability and threat to make use of this force.
4. As was also seen in the previous chapter, the greatest of the MEs, the “Tablets of Destinies,” appear to be able to effect action at a distance.
5. Some MEs are also referred to as ME-LAM, or light emitting, suggesting a connection between the Tablets of Destinies and light, or electromagnetic radiation. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the texts indicate that after their theft, “radiance” disappeared.
6. And finally, it will be noted that these particular MEs, from their first theft by Tiamat to their their subsequent theft by Anzu, and their brief (?) period in the possession of Ninurta, exercises a peculiarly corrupting moral influence on their possessors, gradually sapping their will and consuming them with the obsessive desire to control and possess them. The MEs are like the “Ring” in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings that gradually consume and corrupt the will of their possessors with their godlike powers both for destruction and for communication. They were, for Tiamat, Kingu, and even Marduk himself, then Enlil, Zu, and Ninurta, and presumably others, as they were for Tolkien’s character Gollum, their “precious.”
But having said even all of this, we have merely rephrased what was known all along about them. We are still no nearer a solution to the riddle; we have merely outlined its complexity.
Clearly a more systematic approach is needed, one that pieces together a plausible picture of what the Tablets of Destinies were from the twin tracks of myth and of physics; the interdisciplinary approach of what I have termed “paleophysics” is tailor-made to answer precisely such questions. One
might even say it is tailor-made to answer this specific question.
A. The Mythological Components and The Possessors of The Tablets
1. Tiamat and Marduk
The entry into the solution of the riddle lies first in the possessors of the Tablets of Destinies. The reason why is simple: the possessors of the Tablets are the least ambiguous concepts in the whole textual and conceptual complex surrounding the mysterious objects. The texts are clear about who possessed them, and more or less clear about the order of their successive owners. These two things - the possessors and the order of the possessors - afford the key that will begin to unlock the riddle.
The first “illegal” owner of the Tablets, who had stolen them, is of course, Tiamat. It will be recalled that the Enuma Elish indicates she gave them at some point to Kingu, one of her allies in her revolt and war. As we noted in our interpretation of that epic, Tiamat begins to use weather weapons in her war against her enemies, the clear implication being that the mysterious Tablets gave her the power to manipulate weather.
Now recall the “unified intention of symbol” for a moment, and remember that Tiamat is a multi-leveled symbol operating on several different levels simultaneously. At the most prosaic level, we have argued that she is a real person of some sort, and the name “Tiamat” itself may be a titular usage for the ruler or even a succession of rulers of a particular “region”, a particular planet. We also saw that the name Tiamat can function as a symbol of the Milky Way. Finally, we recall that her name may also mean “primordial waters,” or “the ocean of the deep.” And following the paleophysical paradigm, this “primordial deep” or “ocean” in turn functions as a symbol of a transmutative aether or medium, of the materia prima. And it should be noted, we learn these things about her after her theft of the Tablets of Destiny. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that her possession of them in some sense conferred upon her the ability to influence all these things. Once again, to paraphrase the Lugal-e, they conferred upon her “the power of the universe.”
The Cosmic War: Interplanetary Warfare, Modern Physics and Ancient Texts Page 25
