RE: Reading Genesis literally

Hi Phil, you wrote:
 
I have sometimes wondered if there is also a message in here about the
development (or enhancement) of polytheism. Could it be that, at some
distant time in the past, the Sumerians were essentially monotheists of
some sort -- maybe not overtly, but in their hearts there apprehended
that there is a God who is behind everything -- but then each community
eventually developed its own epithet to describe this one God? Perhaps
one group worshipped God according to the epithet "Anu", emphasizing his
heavenliness, while another worshipped the same God according to the
epithet "Ea", emphasizing his wisdom and his creation of mankind.
Perhaps each community, in vying for pre-eminence, eventually forgot
that "Anu" and "Ea" had originally been references that apprehend the
same being. In that sense, their speech became _confused_, and they
divided from one another, stopped cooperating, and began trying to make
their temples higher than that of their neighbors. This scattered them
so that they could not achieve what they _would_ have achieved had they
stayed united in the worship of one God. Hence, the Sumerians failed,
but the Semitic peoples continued following the truth.
 
Do you see any possible merit to this idea?
 
Let me try to clear some things up, remembering we are dealing with the
history of beyond 4,500 years ago.
 
There were two distinctly different cultures living in close proximity
in Southern Mesopotamia. One is Sumerian who were known as the
"blackheaded" people, and the Accadians who are the forerunners to the
Semites and Israelites. The Sumerians as far as anyone knows were
always polytheistic. They worshipped a pantheon of some 3,000 gods.
Then there were the Igiggi and Annunaki who were lower in status. The
father-god who was detached and above them all was "An."
 
Initially, the Accadian father-god (or "God" if you like) was "Ilu."
This became corrupted over time to "El" and "Allah." Babylon comes from
"bab-ilu" meaning "gate of god." Under pressure of the Sumerian An, the
Accadians changed the name to "Anu," and that's the name you see in
later Accadian writing.
 
"Ea" was second in the Accadian hierarchy. He was the god of wisdom,
lord of the earth, and he created Adapa. He was adopted by the Sumerians
as "Enki," and given fourth place in their hierarchy behind Ninharshag.
 
Second place in both cultures went to Enlil, god of the "air," "breath"
or "spirit."
 
I gather that the Accadians originally had three gods, but over time
developed their own pantheon patterned after the Sumerians. It is
likely that this rampant polytheism was the leading rationale for the
flood. However, polytheism persisted after the flood.
 
The tower of Babel incident probably occurred around 2300 BC plus or
minus. Babylon was largely a Semitic city in Accadian territory.
Apparently these Semites were monotheistic. And I presume that
Abraham's forefathers were among this group. All the ziggurats in
neighboring cities were dedicated to various gods. In Ur where Abraham
lived the reigning god was the moon god, the Sumerians called Nanna.
 
"Anu - Sumerian for "heaven", a sky god, father and king of the gods. He
is the son of
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Anshar#Anshar> Anshar
and <http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Kishar#Kishar>
Kishar. He lives in the third heaven. The Eanna in Uruk was dedicated
both to him and consort. His first consort was Antu. They produced the
Anunnaki - the underworld gods, and the utukki - the seven evil demons.
His second consort was Innina (
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Ishtar#Ishtar>
Ishtar). He is a god of monarchs and is not friendly to the common
people. He is a "King of the Igigi". He is assigned the sky as his
domain in 'Atrahasis'. His 'kishru's (shooting stars) have awesome
strength. He has the ability that anything he puts into words, becomes
reality. He is Niudimmud's (
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Ea#Ea> Ea's) father.
 
He calls
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Adapa>Adapa</a> to
account for breaking the wing of the South Wind, and offers him the food
and drink of eternal life after <a href=#Adapa>Adapa</a> to account for
breaking the wing of the South Wind, and> Dumuzi and Gizzida speak on
Adapa's behalf.
 
He agrees to send the Bull of Heaven after
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Gilgamesh#Gilgamesh>
Gilgamesh on Ishtar's behalf, if she has made sure that the people of
Uruk are properly provisioned for seven years. He decrees that either
Gilgamesh or <http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/Enkidu> Enkidu
must die for the slaying of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. He sends
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Kakka#Kakka> Kakka to
Kurnugi to tell
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Ereshkigal#Ereshkigal
> Ereshkigal to send a messenger to receive a gift from him.
 
When <http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Anzu#Anzu> Anzu
stole the Tablet of Destinies from
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Ellil>Ellil</a>, he
called for one of the gods to slay Anzu and thereby greatly increase his
reputation.He gave <a href=#Ellil>Ellil</a>, he called for one of the
gods to slay Anzu and thereby greatly incr> Marduk the four winds to
play with. He made a whirlwind and a flood wave and stirred up
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Tiamat#Tiamat> Tiamat
on purpose. When Tiamat's retaliation for
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/Apsu> Apsu's death was
discovered, Anshar sent him on a peace mission to her, but he returned
unsuccessfully. He helps form a princely shrine for Marduk prior to his
battle with Tiamat, and gives him the Anu-power of decreeing fates, such
that his word is law.
 
He and Earth father the Sebitti. He gives them fearsome fates and powers
and puts them at
<http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm#Nergal#Nergal> Erra's
command, to aid in killing noisy, over populous people and animals. (See
also the Hittite
<http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/hittite-ref.html#Anus> Anus) Symbol:
sacred shine surmounted by the divine horned cap. Sacred number: 60
Astrological region: heavenly equator Sacred animal: the heavenly Bull."
 
http://library.thinkquest.org/12865/mray/pbab.htm
 
Some of what I find interesting is that the sacred number for the
father-god was 60 - the base number for the sexagesimal system. Ea,
second god in importance, has a number also - 40. Can you see any
significance in that number?
 
Dick Fischer
Dick Fischer, Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
 <http://www.genesisproclaimed.org> www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Wed May 3 16:37:30 2006