Enki and Enlil
According to the ancient Sumerian texts, the Sumerian god, Anu, the “supreme Lord of the Sky”, the currently reigning titular head of theSumerian Family Tree, had two sons. They were Enki (Ea), Lord of the Earth and Waters (whose mother was Antu), and Enlil (Ilu), Lord of the Air and Lord of the Command (whose mother was Ki). These two half-brothers -- surprise, surprise -- did not get along.
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Critical to their rivalry -- particularly from Earth’s viewpoint -- was the fact that Enki had been the first of the Anunnaki to hazard a trip to Earth to begin a mining operation for gold. When this effort did not apparently produce gold in sufficient quantities, Enlil was brought in, given command, and armed with a new plan (an early version of the New Deal). The revised program was to mine gold from deep mines in the Earth.
According to Sumerian texts (as detailed in Genesis of the Grail Kings [1]), during a visit by their father, Anu (the archetypal absentee landlord), the Anunnaki made a decision:
“The gods had clasped their hands together,
Had cast lots and had divided.
Anu then went up to heaven.
To Enlil the Earth was made subject.
The seas, enclosed as with a loop,
They had given to Enki, the Prince of Earth.”
Sounds fair. However. As Laurence Gardner points out: “Enki was not happy about his brother’s promotion because, although Enlil was the elder of the two, his mother (Ki) was Anu’s junior sister, whereas Enki’s mother (Antu) was the senior sister. True kingship, claimed Enki, progressed as a matrilineal institution through the female line, and by this right of descent Enki maintained that he was the first born of the royal succession.”
“I am the great brother of the gods.
I am he who has been born as the first son of the divine Anu.”
If there is a philosophy of Enki, it manifests and explains itself in early Mesopotamian and Egyptian thought, where the true creator of the universe was manifest within nature, and that nature enveloped both the Anunnaki, and the humans. Nature, as the Great Mother, was still supreme, despite any patriarchal scheme to the contrary. Admittedly, Enki’s claim of his birthright, the one being based on a matrilineal succession -- essentially the mitochondria DNA link, which is wholly passed through the female line -- was in Enki’s best interests. But Enki was also the maternal grandfather who came to the aid of Inanna when things went badly during her Descent into the Underworld.
With the arrival of Enlil, however, who in his best interests must demean the matriarchal line of succession, and thus nature itself -- everything changed. The Great Mother was dethroned and replaced by a supreme male (as opposed to a male consort for the Queen). The idea of cooperation -- as exemplified by the council of Anunnaki making cooperative decisions -- was quickly replaced by competition, and harmony was forsaken in favor of subservience. The supreme god became abstract, and any physical connection with human or nature was lost -- and thus the link between nature and human also destroyed. When Enlil hit town, there was a whole new deal put into effect.
According to Laurence Gardner [1], “The dominant tenet of the new thought was based wholly on the utmost fear of Enlil, who was known to have instigated the great Flood [or else acquiesced in not warning the humans, or making any attempt to save them], and to have facilitated the invasion and destruction of civilized Sumer. Here was a deity who spared no mercy for those who did not comply with his dictatorial authority.
“Abraham had experienced the vengeful Enlil first hand at the fall of Ur, and he was not about to take any chances with his own survival. He was even prepared to sacrifice the life of his young son, Isaac, to appease the implacable God (Genesis 32:9).” “The oriental scholar Henri Frankfort summarized the situation by making the point that... ‘Those who served Jehovah must forego the richness, the fulfillment, and the consolation of a life which moves in tune with the great rhythms of the earth and sky.”
Bramley [3] has noted that, “We therefore find Ea [Enki] as the reputed culprit who tried to teach early man (Adam) the way to spiritual freedom. This suggests that Ea intended his creation, Homo sapiens, to be suited for Earth labor, but at some point he changed his mind about using spiritual enslavement as a means.”