The changes that accompanied the second-phase activities of the Anunnaki involved more than a shift from an attempt to easily extract gold from seawater to the need of obtaining it by arduous deep mining. It also involved a change in mission policies, a change of commanders, and the unintended transfer to Earth of personal rivalries and clan clashes from the Anunnaki's home planet, Nibiru, to planet Earth. Varied texts, among them the Atra-Hasis Epic, detail the tale of the ensuing events; they were, as we shall see, the forerunners to the Creation of Man, the explanation for the circumstances of the Deluge, and the key to unlocking the enigmas of the demigods.
The Arrival, as described in Enki's autobiographical text, was not the Beginning of the chain of momentous events; for the Real Beginning we have to start with the tale of Creation itself, just as the people of Mesopotamia had done each New Year time. We have to read, re-read, and understand the Mesopotamian Enuma elish and the biblical tale of Genesis. The precise information they provide not only explains many of the phenomena in our Solar System and beyond—it sheds light on the Origins of Life, on Who we are, and How we came to be here, on Planet Earth.
ABODE OF GOLD AND FLOWING WATERS
The Abzu, a Sumerian text stated, was in the Ut.tu, "in the west"— west of Sumer (as southeast Africa is), reachable by seafaring boats that traversed "the distant sea." Its Arali, its mining zone, was reported in one text to have been "120 beru of waters away from the quay on the Euphrates"—a distance of traveling 120 "double hours"—ten days of traveling by sea. The mined ores were transported to the Edin by cargo ships called Magur Urnu Abzu (= 'ship for ore of Lower World'), for smelting, refining, and formation into portable ingots called Zag (= 'Purified Precious').
A Sumerian hymn in praise of the Abzu described the place where Enki established his new headquarters as one with water rapids or great waterfalls:
To thee, Abzu, pure land
where great waters rapidly flow,
To the 'Abode of Flowing Waters'
the lord [Enki] betook himself.
The 'Abode of Flowing Waters'
Enki among the pure waters established.
In the midst of the Abzu
a great sanctuary he established.
Sumerian-Akkadian syllabaries stated that "Abzu = Nikbu"—a deep and tunneled mine. The initial pictogram for Abzu (from which its cuneiform sign evolved) represented a mining shaft—variants of which stood for gold and other mined minerals, including precious stones:
Once the obtainment of gold from the Abzu was in full swing, Enki's autobiographical text extolled the region as Meluhha, "Black land of large trees . . . whose laden boats transport gold and silver." Later Assyrian inscriptions identified Meluhha as Kush, "land of the dark- skinned people" (= Ethiopia/Nubia). The syllabic components of the Sumerian term convey the meaning 'Fish-filled Waters'; the term may thus explain cylinder seal depictions of fish-filled waters flowing from Enki, who is flanked by workers holding typical gold ingots:
VI
A Planet Called Nibiru
The notion of space travel is no longer relegated to science-fiction alone. Serious scientists do not rule out that one day, some day, we Earthlings might send astronauts not just to our celestial satellite the Moon, but also to another planet farther out. Some savants even dare acknowledge that life, even like ours, might exist 'somewhere' in the vast universe with its countless galaxies and constellations and billions of stars ('suns') orbited by satellites called 'planets'. But such sentient beings, even if clever enough to have their own space program—so the argument goes—could never visit us (or we them) because the nearest possible place in the heavens where such life could exist is "light-years away"—a Light-Year being the ungraspable distance that light travels in one year.
But what if such a compatible planet were to exist much closer— say, in our own solar system? What if travel between it and Earth needs only so many 'normal' years, not Light-Years?
That is not a theoretical question, because that is precisely what we are told by the ancient texts—if only we stop treating them as myth and fantasy and consider them to be factual recollections and records of actual events. It was by doing that, that the trailblazing The 12th Planet book became possible.
Logically, for Eridu in Mesopotamia to be 'Home away from home', there had to be a Home from which Enki had come. For his crew of fifty to be called "Those who from Heaven to Earth came" (= Anunnaki), they had to come from a place, an actual place, in the heavens. Thus, there had to be a place, somewhere in the heavens, where the journey to Earth began—a place where intelligent beings, capable of space travel some 450,000 years ago, could live. We can call it 'Planet X' or 'Planet of the Anunnaki'; in ancient Mesopotamia it was called Nibiru; its ubiquitous symbol throughout the ancient world was the Winged Disc (see Fig. 10); its orbit was traced and observed most reverently; and it is beyond dispute that countless texts, starting with the Epic of Creation, refer to it by name repeatedly.
When, at the end of the 19th century, astronomical tablets from Mesopotamia were found and deciphered, the savants at the time— Franz Kugler and Ernst Weidner stand out to this day—debated whether Nibiru was just another name for Mars or for Jupiter; it was an accepted axiom that the ancients could not be aware of any planet beyond Saturn. It was a major breakthrough moment when it dawned on me, in the middle of one night, that Nibiru is neither Mars nor Jupiter— that it is the name of one more planet in our own Solar System.
One can start the chain of evidence where the Hebrew Bible has it, in verse 1 of chapter 1 of Genesis: "/« the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth." So begin virtually all the translations of the Hebrew Bible's first three words, Bereshit bara Elohim (for the moment, we shall treat such a translation as valid). Continuing with just 31 verses, the Hebrew Bible then encapsulates Creation, from how the Sky above with „the "Hammered Bracelet" and the Earth below were formed, to how life on Earth came to be—from grasses to marine to vertebrate and mammalian, and finally Man. The biblical sequence (including a dinosaur phase, in verse 21) matches modern scientific findings about Evolution, so that the notion that Bible and Science are in conflict is baseless.
The discoveries of the inscribed tablets of the Mesopotamian 'Epic of Creation' (as described in a previous chapter) leave no doubt that whoever had written the biblical rendering was well aware of the tale in Enuma elish, condensing its six tablets plus a laudatory seventh to six phases ("days") of Creation plus a sanctified seventh "day" of divine gratification.
Such awareness of the sequence rendered in Enuma elish was not only possible due to the proliferation and durability of the tablets containing the text; it was probably unavoidable, because the Epic of Creation was read in public as part of the annual New Year festival, first in Sumer and then in Babylon, Assyria, and beyond—throughout the ancient Near East. The reading started at evetime on the festival's fourth day, and lasted through the night, for Enuma elish (as the most complete Babylonian version of the epic is titled) is long and detailed. Its central religious-scientific aspect was a battle between a celestial goddess called "Tiamat" and a heavenly Avenger-cum-Savior god—the main reason why the text has been treated by modern scholars both as a myth and as an allegorical tale of Good vs. Evil, a kind of ancient 'St. George and the Dragon' tale.
In The 12th Planet I audaciously suggested instead that the Epic of Creation is at its core a great scientific text that starts with a cosmogony that embraces the whole Solar System, explains the origins of Earth, Moon, and the Asteroid Belt, reveals the existence of planet Nibiru, proceeds through the arrival of the Anunnaki gods on Earth, and describes the creation of Man and the rise of civilization; adapted to promote religious-political purposes, an appended ending hails the victorious assumption of supremacy by the relevant national god (Enlil in Sumer, Marduk in Babylon, Ashur in Assyria).
Irrespective of version, when the primeval events began, "Heaven above," and "firm Earth below" had yet to come into existence:
When in the above Heaven had not been named
Shaplitu ammatum shuma la zakrat
[And] below Firm Earth had not been called—
—at that primeval time, the ancient text states, the Solar System began to take shape with just three celestial actors: A primordial Apsu, its companion Mummu, and a female celestial entity called Ti.amat. (The three names in the Babylonian text have been retained unchanged from the undiscovered Sumerian original, and mean, respectively, 'One who exists from the beginning', 'One who was born', and 'Maiden who gives life'.)
Celestial gods—planets—then begin to be engendered as Tiamat, a watery planet, starts to "mingle the waters" with the male Apsu (the Sun). First, the pair Lahamu and Lahmu are formed in the space between them; then—"surpassing them in stature"—the larger pair Kishar and Anshar appear; and finally, the pair Anu and Nudimmud are formed farther out. These are Sumerian names (attesting to the Sumerian origin of the epic), except that Anu is Babylonian for the Sumerian An (= 'The Heavenly One').
The resulting Solar System (Fig. 46) accurately conforms to our solar system and its planetary layout as we know them (except for Tiamat, of which much more soon):
SUN—Apsu, "One who existed from the beginning."
MERCURY—Mummu, "The one who was born," the Sun's
companion.
VENUS—Lahamu, "Lady of battles."
MARS—Lahmu, "Deity of war."
—??—Tiamat, "Maiden who gives life."
JUPITER—Kishar, "Foremost of firm lands."
SATURN—Anshar, "Foremost of the heavens."
Gaga—Anshar's messenger, the future PLUTO
URANUS—Anu, "He of the heavens."
NEPTUNE—Ea/Nudimmud, "Artful creator."
Modern science holds that our Solar System was formed about 4.5 billion years ago when a whirling cloud of cosmic dust ringing the Sun began to coalesce, forming planets orbiting it—planets spaced out in the same orbital plane (called Ecliptic) and circling in the same direction (counterclockwise). The description in the ancient Mesopotamian epic is in accord with these modern findings but offers a different (and probably more accurate!) sequence of planet formation. The Sumerian names of the planets are meaningful and accurate descriptions of these celestial bodies—facts that modern astronomy keeps discovering, as for example a 2009 discovery that it is indeed Saturn (Anshar') and not the more massive Jupiter ('Kishar') that is "Foremost of the heavens" due to its system of rings that tremendously extend its reach.
The resulting Solar System, the epic relates, was unstable and chaotic at its start. The planetary orbits were not yet firmly set: "The divine brothers banded together"—getting in each other's way. "They disturbed Tiamat as they surged back and forth"—moving in unstable orbits, crowding toward Tiamat. Even the gravitational and magnetic forces of the Sun were ineffective—"Apsu could not lessen their clamor." Again, modern science too, discarding a longheld notion that once the Solar System was formed it was done, now finds that it was unstable for a long time after its formation, and that shiftings and collisions were taking place.
The unstable celestial gods, "by their antics in heaven," were now "troubling the belly of Tiamat," Enuma elish relates. They were causing her to sprout her own fearsome "assembly"—a group of her own satellite moons. This, in turn, brings more turmoil that endangers the other celestial gods. At this dangerous phase, the outermost celestial god
Nudimmud (our Neptune) takes matters into his hands: "Surpassing in wisdom, accomplished, resourceful," this celestial deity balances the wobbly Solar System by inviting in an outsider—one more large celestial god.
The newcomer was not formed with the others; it is a stranger coming from afar. It originated far out "in the heart of the Deep," and it is "filled with awesomeness"—
Alluring was his figure,
Flashing [was] the gaze of his eyes.
Lordly was his gait,
Commanding from the beginning.
Artfully arranged, beyond comprehension,
were his members—
beyond understanding, difficult to look upon . . .
Subjected to the gravitational pull of'Nudimmud' and coming under the influence of the other planets, the stranger from outer space curves its course toward the Solar System's center (Fig. 47). When it passes too
Figure 47
closely near Anu (our Uranus), the cumulative gravitational forces tear off it chunks of matter and the invader sprouts four "winds"—satellites, moons—that whirl around it.
One cannot be certain whether the original Sumerian text had already named this stranger from outer space 'Nibiru at this point; but it is certain that the Babylonian version changed it here to Marduk—the name of Babylon's national god. This transformation of Marduk from a god on Earth to a celestial deity by renaming Nibiru 'Marduk', was accompanied in the Babylonian text by the revelation that 'Nudimmud'—who "engendered" the newcomer by inviting him in—is none other than Ea/Enki, the real father of the Babylonians' god Marduk, and that Anu is Ea/Enki's father (as proclaimed, in fact, by Enki in his earlier- quoted autobiography). Thus, with a sleight of hand, the celestial tale became a religious-political legitimization of a dynasty: Anu > Ea/ Enki > Marduk . . .
As the ancient text describes the progression of the invading planet, it becomes clear that it is moving in a clockwise direction—the opposite or 'retrograde' of the other planets' counterclockwise orbital direction. It is a finding that offers the only explanation to varied otherwise inexplicable phenomena in our Solar System.
This 'retrograde' direction of Nibiru's path made an eventual collision with Tiamat inevitable; and the ensuing "Celestial Battle," as the ancient text calls the collision, was a basic tenet of ancient knowledge, reflected in countless references in the Bible's books of Psalms, Job, and the Prophets.
Disturbed by the new gravitational forces, "pacing about distraught," Tiamat gives rise to her own defensive host of eleven satellite-moons; the Babylonian text describes them as "roaring dragons, clothed with terror." The largest of them, Kingu, is Chief of her host: "Kingu she exalted, in their midst she made him great"; his task is to prepare for battle with the oncoming Marduk. As Kingu's reward, Tiamat readies him to join the "Assembly of the gods"—to become a planet in his own right—by granting him a Celestial "Destiny" (an orbital path). That alone was reason enough for the Sumerians (and their successors) to count this particular Moon as a member in its own right of our Solar System.
As the stage is set for the Celestial Battle, Tablet I of Enuma elish comes to an end; and the scribe of the best preserved version, one Nabu- mushetiq-umi, inscribes at its end the customary colophon: "First tablet of Enuma elish, like the original tablet [...], a copy from Babylon." He also identifies the scribe whose tablet he copied—a tablet "Written and collated by Nabu-balatsu-iqbi, the son of Na'id-Marduk." The copying scribe then dated his work: "The month of Iyyar, the ninth day, the twenty seventh year of Darius."
Discovered at Kish, this first tablet of Enuma elish is thus identified by its scribe as a copy made at the start of the 5th century B.C. during the reign of Darius I. By a twist of fate, it was the same Darius whose rock inscription in Behistun (see Fig. 17) enabled Rawlinson to crack open the mystery of cuneiform writing.
* * *
Tablet II of Enuma elish tracks the emergence of two opposing planetary camps headed for the inevitable collision.
Treating the celestial gods as living entities, the text tells that while Tiamat was forming her ferociously whirling satellites, in the Solar System's outer reaches Ea/Enki appealed to his 'grandfather' Anshar to organize the varied planets and have them anoint 'Marduk' as their leader in battling Tiamat and her host: "Let him who is potent be our Avenger, let Marduk, keen in battle, be the hero!"
A crucial stage is reached when 'Marduk' nears the colossal Anshar, for Anshar (Saturn) has "lips"—majestic rings—that extend out off the face of Anshar. Encountering them,
the approaching Marduk "kisses the lips of Anshar" (the rings of Saturn). The passage by and 'acceptance' by the dynastic great-grandfather encourages Marduk to voice his wishes: "If I, indeed, as your Avenger, am to vanquish Tiamat . . . convene an Assembly to proclaim my destiny supreme!" A celestial "destiny"—an orbit—greater than that of all the other planets is Marduk's demand.
It is here (by now Tablet III) that, according to Sumerian cosmogony, the future Pluto obtains its planetary status and unique orbit. A moon of Anshar/Saturn called Gaga, it is detached by the force of the oncoming Marduk and is thrust out as an emissary to Lahmu and Lahamu, purportedly to canvass their vote for the elevation of Marduk to leadership. When Gaga returns, it circles back all the way to the outermost Ea/Neptune; there it becomes the planet we call Pluto with its oddly inclined orbit that takes it at times beyond and sometimes inside the orbit of Neptune. (Aware of that unusual orbit, the Sumerians depicted the planet as a two-faced deity, seeing its master Ea/Enki/ Neptune once this way and once the other way, Fig. 48.)
With all the planets opposing Tiamat agreeing to Marduk's demands for supremacy (Tablet IV), the giant Kishar/Jupiter adds more weapons to Marduk's arsenal: In addition to the four satellites (named "South Wind, North Wind, East Wind, West Wind") that he had obtained from Anu/Uranus, three new awesome satellites ("Evil Wind, Whirlwind, Matchless Wind") are added, creating an awesome whirling battle entourage of "seven in all."
There Were Giants Upon the Earth Page 9
