While these events had great bearing on divine affairs, other tales pertaining to Enki and Ninhursag have great bearing on human affairs; for, according to the Sumerian texts, Man was created by Ninhursag following processes and formulas devised by Enki. She was the chief nurse, the one in charge of medical facilities; it was in that role that the goddess was called NIN.TI ("lady-life"). (Fig. 47)
Some scholars read in Adapa (the "model man" of Enki) the biblical Adama, or Adam. The double meaning of the Sumerian TI also raises biblical parallels. For ti could mean both "life" and "rib," so that Ninti's name meant both "lady of life" and "lady of the rib." The biblical Eve—whose name meant "life"—was created out of Adam's rib, so Eve, too, was in a way a "lady of life" and a "lady of the rib."
As giver of life to gods and Man alike, Ninhursag was spoken of as the Mother Goddess. She was nicknamed "Mammu"—the forerunner of our "mom" or "mamma"—and her symbol was the "cutter"—the tool used in antiquity by midwives to cut the umbilical cord after birth. (Fig. 48)
•
Enlil, Enki's brother and rival, did have the good fortune to achieve such a "rightful heir" by his sister Ninhursag. The youngest of the gods upon Earth who were born in the heavens, his name was NIN.UR.TA ("lord who completes the foundation"). He was "the heroic son of Enlil who went forth with net and rays of light" to battle for his father; "the avenging son ... who launched bolts of light." (Fig. 49) His spouse BA.U was also a nurse or a doctor; her epithet was "lady who the dead brings back to life."
The ancient portraits of Ninurta showed him holding a unique weapon—no doubt the very one that could shoot "bolts of light." The ancient texts hailed him as a mighty hunter, a fighting god renowned for his martial abilities. But his greatest heroic fight was not in behalf of his father but for his own sake. It was a wide-ranging battle with an evil god named ZU ("wise"), and it involved no less a prize than the leadership of the gods on Earth; for Zu had illegally captured the insignia and objects Enlil had held as Chief of the Gods.
The texts describing these events are broken at the beginning, and the story becomes legible only from the point when Zu arrives at the E-Kur, the temple of Enlil. He is apparently known, and of some rank, for Enlil welcomes him, "entrusting to him the guarding of the entrance to his shrine." But the "evil Zu" was to repay trust with betrayal, for it was "the removal of the Enlilship"—the seizing of the divine powers—that "he conceived in his heart."
To do so, Zu had to take possession of certain objects, including the magical Tablet of Destinies. The wily Zu seized his opportunity when Enlil undressed and went into the pool for his daily swim, leaving his paraphernalia unattended.
At the entrance of the sanctuary,
which he had been viewing,
Zu awaits the start of day.
As Enlil was washing with pure water
his crown having been removed
and deposited on the throne-
Zu seized the Tablet of Destinies in his hands,
took away the Enlilship.
Fig. 47
Fig. 48
Fig. 49
As Zu fled in his MU (translated "name," but indicating a flying machine) to a faraway hideaway, the consequences of his bold act were beginning to take effect.
Suspended were the Divine Formulas;
Stillness spread all over; silence prevailed....
The Sanctuary's brilliance was taken off.
"Father Enlil was speechless." "The gods of the land gathered one by one at the news." The matter was so grave that even Anu was informed at his Heavenly Abode. He reviewed the situation and concluded that Zu must be apprehended so that the "formulas" could be restored. Turning "to the gods, his children," Anu asked, "Which of the gods will smite Zu? His name shall be greatest of all!"
Several gods known for their valor were called in. But they all pointed out that having taken the Tablet of Destinies, Zu now possessed the same powers as Enlil, so that "he who opposes him becomes like clay." At this point, Ea had a great idea: Why not call upon Ninurta to take up the hopeless fight?
The assembled gods could not have missed Ea's ingenious mischief. Clearly, the chances of the succession falling to his own offspring stood to increase if Zu were defeated; likewise, he could benefit if Ninurta were killed in the process. To the amazement of the gods, Ninhursag (in this text called NIN.MAH—"great lady"), agreed. Turning to her son Ninurta, she explained to him that Zu robbed not only Enlil but Ninurta, too, of the Enlilship. "With shrieks of pain I gave birth," she shouted, and it was srhe who "made certain for my brother and for Anu" the continued "Kingship of Heaven." So that her pains not be in vain, she instructed Ninurta to go out and fight to win:
Launch thy offensive ... capture the fugitive Zu....
Let thy terrifying offensive rage against him....
Slit his throat! Vanquish Zu! ...
Let thy seven ill Winds go against him.
Cause the entire Whirlwind to attack him.
Let thy Radiance go against him....
Let thy Winds carry his Wings to a secret place....
Let sovereignty return to Ekur;
Let the Divine Formulas return
to the father who begot thee.
The various versions of the epic then provide thrilling descriptions of the battle that ensued. Ninurta shot "arrows" at Zu, but "the arrows could not approach Zu's body ... while he bore the Tablet of Destinies of the gods in his hand." The launched "weapons were stopped in the midst" of their flight. As the inconclusive battle wore on, Ea advised Ninurta to add a til-lum to his weapons, and shoot it into the "pinions," or small cog-wheels, of Zu's "wings." Following this advice, and shouting "Wing to wing," Ninurta shot the til-lum at Zu's pinions. Thus hit, the pinions began to scatter, and the "wings" of Zu fell in a swirl. Zu was vanquished, and the Tablets of Destiny returned to Enlil.
•
Who was Zu? Was he, as some scholars hold, a "mythological bird"?
Evidently he could fly. But so can any man today who takes a plane, or any astronaut who goes up in a spaceship. Ninurta, too, could fly, as skillfully as Zu (and perhaps better). But he himself was not a bird of any kind, as his many depictions, by himself or with his consort BA.U (also called GU.LA), make abundantly clear. Rather, he did his flying with the aid of a remarkable "bird," which was kept at his sacred precinct (the GIR.SU) in the city of Lagash.
Nor was Zu a "bird"; apparently he had at his disposal a "bird" in which he could flyaway into hiding. It was from within such "birds" that the sky battle took place between the two gods. And there can be no doubt regarding the nature of the weapon that finally smote Zu's "bird." Called TIL in Sumerian and til-lum in Assyrian, it was written pictorially thus: , and it must have meant then what til means nowadays in Hebrew: "missile."
Zu, then, was a god—one of the gods who had reason to scheme at usurpation of the Enlilship; a god whom Ninurta, as the legitimate successor, had every reason to fight.
Was he perhaps MAR.DUK ("son of the pure mound"), Enki's firstborn by his wife DAM.KI.NA, impatient to seize by a ruse what was not legally his?
There is reason to believe that, having failed to achieve a son by his sister and thus produce a legal contender for the Enlilship, Enki relied on his son Marduk. Indeed, when the ancient Near East was seized with great social and military upheavals at the beginning of the second millennium B.C., Marduk was elevated in Babylon to the status of national god of Sumer and Akkad. Marduk was proclaimed King of the Gods, replacing Enlil, and the other gods were required to pledge allegiance to him and to come to reside in Babylon, where their activities could easily be supervised. (Fig. 50)
This usurpation of the Enlilship (long after the incident with Zu) was accompanied by an extensive Babylonian effort to forge the ancient texts. The most important texts were rewritten and altered so as to make Marduk appear as the Lord of Heavens, the Creator, the Benefactor, the Hero, instead of Anu or Enlil or even Ninurta. Among the texts altered was the "Tale of Zu"; and a
ccording to the Babylonian version it was Marduk (not Ninurta) who fought Zu. In this version, Marduk boasted: "Mahasti moh il Zu" ("I have crushed the skull of the god Zu"). Clearly, then, Zu could not have been Marduk.
Fig. 50
Nor would it stand to reason that Enki, "God of Sciences," would have coached Ninurta regarding the choice and use of the successful weapons against his own son Marduk. Enki, to judge by his behavior as well as by his urging Ninurta to "cut the throat of Zu," expected to gain from the fight, no matter who lost. The only logical conclusion is that Zu, too, was in some way a legal contender to the Enlilship.
This suggests only one god: Nanna, the firstborn of Enlil by his official consort Ninlil. For if Ninurta were eliminated, Nanna would be in the unobstructed line of succession.
Nanna (short for NAN.NAR-"bright one") has come down to us through the ages better known by his Akkadian (or "Semitic") name Sin.
As firstborn of Enlil, he was granted sovereignty over Sumer's best known city-state, UR ("The City"). His temple there was called E.GISH.NU.GAL ("house of the seed of the throne"). From that abode, Nanna and his consort NIN.GAL ("great lady") conducted the affairs of the city and its people with great benevolence. The people of Ur reciprocated with great affection for their divine rulers, lovingly calling their god "Father Nanna" and other affectionate nicknames.
The prosperity of Ur was attributed by its people directly to Nanna. Shulgi, a ruler of Ur (by the god's grace) at the end of the third millennium B.C., described the "house" of Nanna as "a great stall filled with abundance," a "bountiful place of bread offerings," where sheep multiplied and oxen were slaughtered, a place of sweet music where the drum and timbrel sounded.
Under the administration of its god-protector Nanna, Ur became the granary of Sumer, the supplier of grains as well as of sheep and cattle to other temples elsewhere. A "Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur" informs us, in a negative way, of what Ur was like before its demise:
In the granaries of Nanna there was no grain.
The evening meals of the gods were suppressed;
in their great dining halls, wine and honey ended....
In his temple's lofty oven, oxen and sheep are not prepared;
The hum has ceased at Nanna's great Place of Shackles:
that house where commands for the ox were shouted–
its silence is overwhelming....
Its grinding mortar and pestle lie inert....
The offering boats carried no offerings....
Did not bring offering bread to Enlil in Nippur.
Ur's river is empty, no barge moves on it....
No foot trods its banks; long grasses grow there.
Another lamentation, bewailing the "sheepfolds that have been delivered to the wind," the abandoned stables, the shepherds and herdsmen that were gone, is most unusual: It was not written by the people of Ur, but by the god Nanna and his spouse Ningal themselves. These and other lamentations over the fall of Ur disclose the trauma of some unusual event. The Sumerian texts inform us that Nanna and Ningal left the city before its demise became complete. It was a hasty departure, touchingly described.
Nanna, who loved his city,
departed from the city.
Sin, who loved Ur,
no longer stayed in his House.
Ningal ...
fleeing her city through enemy territory,
hastily put on a garment,
departed from her House.
The fall of Ur and the exile of its gods have been depicted in the lamentations as the results of a deliberate decision by Anu and Enlil. It was to the two of them that Nanna appealed to call off the punishment.
May Anu, the king of the gods,
utter: "It is enough";
May Enlil, the king of the lands,
decree a favorable fate!
Appealing directly to Enlil, "Sin brought his suffering heart to his father; curtsied before Enlil, the father who begot him," and begged him:
O my father who begot me,
Until when will you look inimically
upon my atonement?
Until when?...
On the oppressed heart that you have made
flicker like a flame–
please cast a friendly eye.
Nowhere do the lamentations disclose the cause of Anu's and Enlil's wrath. But if Nanna were Zu, the punishment would have justified his crime of usurpation. Was he Zu?
He certainly could have been Zu because Zu was in possession of some kind of flying machine—the "bird" in which he escaped and from which he fought Ninurta. Sumerian psalms spoke in adoration of his "Boat of Heaven."
Father Nannar, Lord of Ur ...
Whose glory in the sacred Boat of Heaven is ...
Lord, firstborn son of Enlil.
When in the Boat of Heaven thou ascendeth,
Thou art glorious.
Enlil hath adorned thy hand
With a scepter everlasting
When over Ur in the Sacred Boat thou mountest.
There is additional evidence. Nanna's other name, Sin, derived from SU.EN, which was another way of pronouncing ZU.EN. The same complex meaning of a two-syllable word could be obtained by placing the syllables in any order: ZU.EN and EN.ZU were "mirror" words of each other. Nanna/Sin as ZU.EN was none other than EN.ZU ("lord Zu'). It was he, we must conclude, who tried to seize the Enlilship.
We can now understand why, in spite of Ea's suggestion, the lord Zu (Sin) was punished, not by execution, but by exile. Both Sumerian texts, as well as archaeological evidence, indicate that Sin and his spouse fled to Haran, the Hurrian city protected by several rivers and mountainous terrain. It is noteworthy that when Abraham's clan, led by his father Terah, left Ur, they also set their course to Haran, where they stayed for many years en route to the Promised Land.
Though Ur remained for all time a city dedicated to Nanna/Sin, Haran must have been his residence for a very long time, for it was made to resemble Ur-its temples, buildings, and streets-almost exactly. Andre Parrot (Abraham et son temps) sums up the similarities by saying that "there is every evidence that the cult of Harran was nothing but an exact replica of that of Ur."
When the temple of Sin at Haran—built and rebuilt over the millennia—was uncovered during excavations that lasted more than fifty years, the finds included two stelae (memorial stone pillars) on which a unique record was inscribed. It was a record dictated by Adadguppi, a high priestess of Sin, of how she prayed and planned for the return of Sin, for, at some unknown prior time,
Sin, the king of all the gods,
became angry with his city and his temple,
and went up to Heaven.
That Sin, disgusted or despairing, just "packed up" and "went up to Heaven" is corroborated by other inscriptions. These tell us that the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal retrieved from certain enemies a sacred "cylinder seal of the costliest jasper" and "had it improved by drawing upon it a picture of Sin." He further inscribed upon the sacred stone "a eulogy of Sin, and hung it around the neck of the image of Sin." That stone seal of Sin must have been a relic of olden times, for it is further stated that "it is the one whose face had been damaged in those days, during the destruction wrought by the enemy."
The high priestess, who was born during the reign of Ashurbanipal, is assumed to have been of royal blood herself. In her appeals to Sin, she proposed a practical "deal": the restoration of his powers over his adversaries in return for helping her son Nabunaid become ruler of Sumer and Akkad. Historical records confirm that in the year 555 B.C. Nabunaid, then commander of the Babylonian armies, was named by his fellow officers to the throne. In this he was stated to have been directly helped by Sin. It was, the inscriptions by Nabunaid inform us, "on the first day of his appearance" that Sin, using "the weapon of Anu"—was able to "touch with a beam of light" the skies and crush the enemies down on Earth below.
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