The Lost Book of Enki

by Zecharia Sitchin

  Only Gibil and Ninagal their father’s call heeded; Ningishzidda was opposed,

  Nergal was hesitant: Only if in mortal danger he will be will I help! he said.

  It was after that that a war, of ferocity unknown, between the two clans erupted.

  Unlike the contending of Horon and Satu, of Earthlings descended, it was:

  A battle between Anunnaki, Nibiruan-born among them, on another planet was loosed.

  By Inanna was the warfare begun, in her skyship to the domains of Enki’s sons she crossed over;

  Marduk to battle she challenged, to the domains of Ninagal and Gibil she him pursued.

  To assist her Ninurta from his Storm Bird withering beams at the enemy’s strongholds shot,

  Ishkur from the skies with scorching lightnings and smashing thunders attacked.

  In the Abzu from the rivers fish he washed away, cattle in the fields he dispersed.

  To the north, the place of the artificed mounts, Marduk then retreated;

  Pursuing him, Ninurta on the habitations poison-bearing missiles rained.

  His Weapon That Tears Apart the people in those lands robbed of their senses,

  The canals that the river’s waters bore, red from blood became;

  Ishkur’s brilliances the nights’ darkness into flaming days converted.

  As the devastating battles northward advanced, Marduk in the Ekur himself ensconced,

  Gibil for it an unseen shield devised, Nergal to heaven its all-seeing eye raised.

  With a Weapon of Brilliance, by a horn directed, Inanna the hiding place attacked;

  Horon to defend his grandfather came; by her Brilliance was his right eye damaged.

  While Utu the Igigi and their horde of Earthlings beyond Tilmun held off,

  At the foot of the artificed mounts Anunnaki, this and that clan supporting, in battle clashed.

  Let Marduk surrender, let the bloodshed end! So did Enlil to Enki words convey;

  Let brother talk to brother! to Enki Ninharsag a message sent.

  In his hideout, within the Ekur, Marduk his pursuers to defy continued,

  Within the House Which Like a Mountain Is his final stand he made.

  Inanna the massive stone structure could not surmount, its smooth sides her weapons deflected.

  Then Ninurta of the secret entrance learned, the swivel stone on the north side he found!

  Through a dark corridor Ninurta passed, the grand gallery he reached,

  Its vault by the many-hued emissions of the crystals like a rainbow was aglitter.

  Inside, by the intrusion alerted, Marduk with ready weapons Ninurta awaited;

  With weapons responding, smashing the wonder crystals, Ninurta up the gallery kept going.

  Into the upper chamber, the place of the Great Pulsating Stone, Marduk retreated,

  At its entrance Marduk the sliding stone locks lowered; from one and all admission they barred.

  Into the Ekur Inanna and Ishkur Ninurta followed; what next to do they contemplated.

  Let the encased hiding chamber be Marduk’s stone coffin! to them Ishkur said.

  To three blocking stones, ready for down gliding, Ishkur their attention drew.

  Let slow death, by alive being buried, be Marduk’s sentence! Inanna her consent gave.

  At the end of the gallery, the three the blocking stones let loose,

  Each one of them one stone for plugging slid down, Marduk as in a tomb to seal.

  Now this is the account of how Marduk was saved and to exile departed,

  And how the Ekur was dismantled and lordship over the lands rearranged.

  Away from the Sun and light, without food or water, Marduk within the Ekur alive was entombed;

  By his imprisonment and punishment without trial Sarpanit, his spouse, a wailing raised.

  To Enki her father-in-law she hurried, with the young son Nabu to him she came.

  To be among the living Marduk must be returned! to Enki Sarpanit said.

  He sent her to Utu and Nannar, who with Inanna can intercede.

  Wearing a garment of atonement, To the lord Marduk give life! she pleaded.

  Let him humbly life continue, rulership he will lay aside!

  Appeased was not Inanna. For the death of my beloved, the Instigator must die! Inanna retorted.

  Ninharsag, the peacemaker, the brothers Enki and Enlil summoned,

  Punishment to Marduk must come, death is not warranted! to them she said.

  Let Marduk in exile live, the succession on Earth to Ninurta submit!

  Enlil by her words was pleased and smiled: Ninurta was his son, of Ninurta she was the mother!

  If between succession and life the choice is, what can I, a father, say?

  So did Enki with heavy heart answer. In my lands widespread is the desolation,

  Warfare must end, for Dumuzi I am still in mourning; let Marduk live in exile!

  If peace is to be returned and Marduk shall live, binding arrangements must be made! Enlil to Enki said.

  All facilities that heaven and Earth bond, to my hands alone must be entrusted,

  The mastery over the Land of the Two Narrows to another son of yours you must give.

  The Igigi who Marduk follow, the Landing Place must give up and abandon,

  To a Land of No Return, by no descendant of Ziusudra inhabited, must Marduk in exile go!

  So did Enlil forcefully declare, to be foremost among the brothers he meant.

  The hand of fate Enki in his heart acknowledged: Let it so be! with bowed head he said.

  Ningishzidda alone the Ekur innards knows; let him over its land the master be!

  After the decisions by the Great Anunnaki were announced, Ningishzidda for the rescue they summoned.

  How Marduk from the blocked and sealed innards to extricate was his challenge;

  To let free the one who alive is buried, a task beyond conceiving to him they gave.

  Ningishzidda the Ekur’s secret designs contemplated, how to circumvent the blockings he planned:

  Through a chiseled upper opening Marduk will be rescued! to the leaders he said.

  At a place which I will show them, a doorway in the stones they will cut,

  From it upward a twisting passageway they shall bore, a rescue shaft creating.

  Through hidden hollowings to the Ekur’s midst they will continue,

  At the vortex of the hollowings through the stones they will break through.

  A doorway to the insides they will blow open, thereby the blockings circumventing;

  Up the grand gallery they will continue, the three stone bars they will raise,

  The uppermost chamber, Marduk’s death prison, they will reach!

  Anunnaki, by Ningishzidda guided, his outlined plan then followed,

  With tools that crack the stones the opening they made, the rescue shaft they fashioned,

  The insides of the artificed mount they reached, an exit they blew open.

  Circumventing the three blocking stones, the uppermost chamber they reached,

  On a small platform the portcullises they raised; Marduk, fainted, they rescued.

  Carefully through the twisting shaft they the lord lowered, to fresh air they him brought;

  Outside Sarpanit and Nabu spouse and father were awaiting; a joyful reunion it was.

  When to Marduk his father Enki the terms of release conveyed,

  Marduk was enraged: I would rather die than my birthright forfeit! he shouted.

  Sarpanit into his arms Nabu thrust. We are part of your future! she softly said.

  Marduk was angered, Marduk was humbled. To Fate I yield! he inaudibly said.

  With Sarpanit and Nabu to a Land of No Return he departed,

  To a place where horned beasts are hunted with wife and son he went.

  After Marduk had departed, Ninurta the Ekur through the shaft reentered,

  Through a horizontal corridor to the Ekur’s vulva he went.

  In its east wall, in a niche ar
tfully fashioned, the Destiny Stone a red radiance was emitting.

  Its power to kill me grabs, with a killing tracking it me seizes! Ninurta inside the chamber cried.

  Take it away! To obliteration destroy it! to his lieutenants Ninurta shouted.

  Retracing his steps, through the grand gallery to the topmost chamber Ninurta went,

  In a hollowed-out chest the heart of the Ekur pulsated, its netforce by five compartments was enhanced.

  With his baton Ninurta the stone chest struck; with a resonating sound it responded.

  Its Gug Stone, that directions determined, Ninurta ordered to be taken out, to a place of his choice carried.

  Coming down the grand gallery, Ninurta the twenty-seven pairs of Nibiru crystals examined.

  Many in his fight with Marduk were damaged; some the struggle intact survived.

  To remove the whole ones from their grooves Ninurta ordered, the others with his beam he pulverized.

  Outside the House Which Like a Mountain Is Ninurta in his Black Bird soared,

  To the Apex Stone his attention he turned; his enemy’s epitome it represented.

  With his weapons he shook it loose, to the ground in pieces it toppled.

  By this the fear of Marduk is forever ended! Ninurta, victorious, declared.

  On the battleground the assembled Anunnaki the praise of Ninurta announced:

  Like Anu you are made! to their hero and leader they shouted.

  To replace the incapacitated beacon a mount near the Place of the Celestial Chariots was chosen,

  Within its innards the salvaged crystals were rearranged.

  Upon its peak the Gug Stone, the Stone of Directing, was installed;

  Mount Mashu, Mount of the Supreme Celestial Barque, the mount was called.

  At that time Enlil his three sons summoned; Ninlil and Ninharsag also attended.

  Commands over olden lands to confirm, lordships over new lands to assign they met.

  To Ninurta, who Anzu and Marduk had vanquished, the Enlilship powers were granted,

  In all the lands his father’s surrogate to be.

  Of the Landing Place in the Cedar Mountains, lordship to Ishkur was granted,

  To his domain northward thereof was the Landing Place joined.

  The lands south and east thereof, where the Igigi and their offspring had spread,

  To Nannar as an everlasting endowment were given, by his descendants and followers to keep and to hold.

  The peninsula wherein the Place of the Chariots was, in Nannar’s lands was included,

  Utu as commander of the Place and of the Navel of the Earth was confirmed.

  In the Land of the Two Narrows, as agreed, Enki to Ningishzidda the lordship did assign.

  To that none of Enki’s other sons objected; to that Inanna was opposed!

  To the heritage of Dumuzi, her deceased bridegroom, did Inanna claim lay,

  A dominion of her own she of Enki and Enlil demanded.

  How Inanna’s demands to satisfy the leaders contemplated,

  About the lands and the peoples the Great Anunnaki who the fates decree counsel took,

  Regarding the Earth and its resettling words with Anu they exchanged.

  From the time of the Deluge, the Great Calamity, almost two Shars have passed,

  The Earthlings have proliferated, from mountainlands to dried lowlands they went.

  Of Civilized Mankind by Ziusudra there were descendants, with Anunnaki seed they were intermixed.

  Offspring of Igigi who intermarried roamed about, in the distant lands Ka-in’s kinfolk survived.

  Few and lofty were the Anunnaki who from Nibiru had come, few were their perfect descendants.

  How settlements for themselves and for Earthlings to establish the Great Anunnaki considered,

  How over Mankind lofty to remain, how to make the many the few obey and serve.

  About all that, about the future the leaders with Anu words exchanged.

  To come to Earth one more time Anu decided; with Antu his spouse he wished to come.

  THE TWELFTH TABLET

  Synopsis of the Twelfth Tablet

  The soil dries, plains and river valleys are resettled

  Plentiful gold comes from the Lands Beyond the Seas

  Anu and his spouse Antu arrive for a memorable visit

  Reminiscing, the leaders realize they are Destiny’s pawns

  They allocate three regions of civilization to Mankind

  Pardoned by the departing Anu, Marduk remains rebellious

  The First Region and space facilities are Enlilite lands

  Man’s first civilization begins in the First Region (Sumer)

  Marduk usurps a site to build an illicit launch tower

  Frustrated by the Enlilites, Marduk seizes the Second Region

  He deposes and exiles Ningishzidda (Thoth) to distant lands

  He declares himself Ra, supreme god, in a new religion

  He introduces Pharaonic reigns to mark a new civilization

  Enlil assigns his son Ishkur to protect the metal sources

  Inanna is granted dominion in the Third Region (Indus Valley)

  The gods grant kingship, wars begin

  To come to Earth one more time Anu decided, with Antu his spouse he wished to come.

  While his arrival they awaited, the Anunnaki abodes in the Edin to reestablish began.

  From the mountainlands where descendants of Shem dwelt, to the olden land the black-headed people migrated.

  Upon the newly dried soil the Anunnaki let them settle, food for all to provide.

  Where Eridu, Enki’s first city, before the Deluge had stood,

  On top of the myriads of mud and silt a new Eridu was marked out.

  In its center, upon a raised platform, an abode for Enki and Ninki was built,

  House of the Lord Whose Return Is Triumphant it was called;

  With gold and silver and precious metals by Enki’s sons provided it was adorned.

  Above, in a circle skyward pointing, the twelve constellations by their signs were marked out.

  Below, as in the Abzu, waters with swimming fishes flowed.

  In a sanctuary, a place that no uninvited can enter, Enki the ME formulas kept.

  For Enlil and Ninlil, a new Nibru-ki atop the mud and silt was established;

  Amid its people’s dwellings and cattlefolds and stalls a sacred precinct was walled off.

  An abode for Enlil and Ninlil therein was built, in seven stages it arose;

  A stairway, rising as to heaven, to the topmost platform led.

  His Tablets of Destinies did Enlil there keep, with his weapons it was protected:

  The Lifted Eye that scans the lands, the Lifted Beam that penetrates all.

  In the courtyard, in its own enclosure, Enlil’s fast-stepping Skybird was kept.

  As the time for the arrival of Anu and Antu neared,

  For their stay in the Edin a new place was selected, neither Enlil’s nor Enki’s to be.

  Unug-ki, the Delightful Place, it was named. Shade trees in it were planted,

  A pure white structure, the House of Anu, in its midst was built.

  Its exterior in seven stages rose; its interior like a king’s quarters was.

  When the celestial chariot of Anu at Earth arrived, Anunnaki skyships toward it soared;

  For a safe landing at the Place of the Chariots, in Tilmun, it was guided.

  Utu, the Place’s commander, his great-grandparents to Planet Earth welcomed.

  The three children of Anu, Enlil and Enki and Ninharsag, stood there to greet them.

  They embraced and kissed, they laughed and cried. So long, so long has the separation been!

  They to each other kept saying. At each other they looked, aging to examine:

  Though greater in Shars were the parents, younger than the children they looked!

  The two sons looked old and bearded; Ninharsag, once a beauty, was bent and wrinkled.

  All five of t
hem with tears were filled; tears of joy with sorrowed tears were mingled.

  In skyships were the guests and their hosts to the Edin taken,

  In a prepared place beside Unug-ki the skyships landed.

  All the Anunnaki that on Earth had stayed as an honor guard were standing.

  Hail and welcome! Hail and welcome! in unison to Anu and Antu they were shouting.

  Then in a procession, singing and music playing, the Anunnaki to the House of Anu the guests accompanied.

  In the House of Anu, Anu washed and rested, then he was perfumed and clothed;

  Antu by female Anunnaki to the House of the Golden Bed was escorted;

  There she too washed and rested, then she was perfumed and clothed.

  In the open courtyard, as an evening breeze the tree leaves rustled,

  Anu and Antu on thrones were seated. Flanking them were Enlil and Enki and Ninharsag.

  Attendants, Earthlings who were completely naked, wine and good oil served;

  Others, in a corner of the courtyard, a bull and a ram, gifts of Enlil and Enki, on a fire were roasting.

  A great banquet was for Anu and Antu prepared, for the sign in the heavens its start was awaiting.

  On Enlil’s instructions Zumul, who in matters of stars and planets was learned,

  The steps of the House of Anu ascended, the rising of the planets at evetime to announce.

  On the first step Kishar in the eastern skies appeared, Lahamu on the second step was seen,

  Mummu on the third step was announced, Anshar by the fourth step rose,

  Lahmu on the fifth step was seen, the Moon from the sixth step was announced.

  Then, on a signal from Zumul, the hymn The Planet of Anu in the Skies Rises began to be sung,

  For from the topmost step, the seventh, the red-haloed Nibiru into view came.

  To music the Anunnaki clapped and danced, to music they danced and sang;

  To the one who grows bright, the heavenly planet of the lord Anu, they sang.

  On the signal a bonfire was lit, seen from place to place were the bonfires started:

  Before the night was over, the whole land of Edin was with bonfires lit!

  After a meal of bull meat and ram meat, of fish and fowl, with wine and beer accompanied,

  Anu and Antu to their overnight quarters were accompanied; by Anu and Antu were all the Anunnaki thanked.

  For several Earth days and nights Anu and Antu slept; on the sixth day his two sons and daughter Anu summoned.