The Mysteries of Sumer
We find ourselves at the mouth of the Euphrates River. To our east lies the azure waters of the Persian Gulf and to the west lies the land of the nation of Iraq. The Euphrates River winds to the northwest and is a ribbon of life in the arid regions of what is now southern Iraq. This area has changed quite a bit over the past 450,000 years. If we were to turn back the hands of time to the period of the last ice age we would see a rather lush environment… a very attractive environment. In fact the entire area we now refer to as ‘Mesopotamia’ would have been some of the most desirable and fertile land available during the last Ice Age. This last Ice Age ended about 13,000 years ago and it was after this point in time that the fertile lands of Mesopotamia began their more rapid decline into the less hospitable vistas that we see evident today. What characteristics would have made this area so ‘attractive’ during this fertile period? Well now… that is a very good question indeed. And another good question would be ‘from what perspective’? Now what do I mean by that? What I mean is… by what peoples’ standards and needs would this land be viewed as the object of settlement? Who would want it? When was it wanted? And, for what purposes was it wanted? Let’s see…
Mesopotamia was perfect for growing things and for the grazing of herds. The Euphrates was a source of fresh water and a natural medium for water-transportation. In fact, it was along and / or near the banks of this river that the Sumerian People built (or, as the evidence found within the historic record of these people indicates, …re-built ) their cities. There were also many other natural resources… primarily ‘bitumen’… more commonly referred to as crude oil and / or the derivatives or manifestations thereof. There was ore for the taking in the surrounding areas and at the mouth of the river was the bountiful harvest of the gulf. It was a haven. It was a perfect place in which to settle.
So then, who were this people and what did they do that made them so special and …different?
The Sumerian People, who ‘migrated’(?) (from where?) to the fertile area of the river (or seemed rather to ‘suddenly appear’ in the area) and then immediately proceeded to established the first known and quite grand ‘Civilization’. They built wonderful cities, complete with schools, ziggurats (step-pyramid-temples), grand houses, and industrial facilities. They had an odd ‘religion’ that seemed more like ‘a code of homage’ (that one might pay to a group of lords or kings) rather than the mystical worship of ‘God(s)’ that we currently think of when speaking of ‘religion’. In fact, it seems that this relationship with the gods (lower case intended) was the driving force in the rise of this most incredible civilization. The very reason for the existence of Sumer and her people seemed to lie with these strange and mortal ‘deities’. And… the very reason for existence… the reason for ‘being’ for every Sumerian person was to worship the appropriate deity.
Now what did this worship mean? Nothing more or less than complete servitude… the very purpose for which ‘mankind’ was ‘created’ by the Sumerian gods… the Annunaki (the Nefilim of the Judeo / Christian Bible). This divine servitude was the driving force for the rise of this civilization and for the achievements and activities of Sumerian civilization. So then, it should be evident to the researcher of Sumer that in order to properly understand Sumerian History and the Sumerians themselves, the researcher must understand, in proper context and perspective, the gods that ruled and motivated the Sumerian People. But, before we look at the gods of Sumer, we need to understand what it is that makes it so important for us to understand these ‘deities’… we need to examine the mysterious ‘anomalous’ data that is associated with this ancient society.
There are just too many things that the Sumerians knew and did that just don’t fit the nice pat picture that the mainstream historians paint of these people. It is simply impossible for me to understand how it is that the majority of historians who have studied these people have simply overlooked the incredible knowledge of these people. They just should not have known the things that they knew. What do I mean? Well, lets ignore most of their incredible achievements and just look at one anomalous area. Let’s look at their knowledge of the Cosmos.
Now what could such a primitive people like these possibly know about the cosmos? Funny you should ask about that. Hold on to your hats… this will shock you. We were just catching up with their level of cosmological knowledge in the last decade of this last century. Let me rephrase that. We are just now learning what the gods of Sumer taught the Sumerian people about the cosmos. That’s not my opinion folks… that’s what the Sumerians themselves tell us in their own histories. What knowledge of science and astronomy they held was given to them by their gods… the Nefilim… the Annunaki.
Now, are we supposed to accept this at face value and run with this little tidbit of odd data? Do we just take the Sumerian’s word for it? No. We must first examine this statement in a little more detail. We need to know: 1.) What kind of cosmological data they learned from these ‘gods’ and: 2.) What other possible source for this data was available.
Now, mainstream historians refuse to analyze this information for what it is. This is the case because this data is so unbelievable… and it’s so unbelievable because the paradigm upon which they base their interpretation of this data is so erroneous. This stuff just wont fit into the pattern that they have set for this period of our history. Nevertheless, the data exists in spite of their disbelief. It is a fact that the early Sumerians knew of the solar system. They knew that the solar system was made up of the Sun –a sphere- (Apsu) at its center and was circled by spherical celestial bodies. They knew of Mercury (Mummu), Venus (Lahamu), Earth (Ki), the Moon (Kingu), Mars (Lahmu), Jupiter (Kishar), Saturn (Anshar), Uranus (Anu), Neptune (Ea), Pluto (Gaga) and a mysterious celestial body known as Marduk or Nibiru. The Sumerians assigned to these celestial bodies (as is the case to this day) the names of some of the very gods who had imparted to them this celestial knowledge. They knew and understood that these celestial orbs were not those gods. They were in no way confused. Nor did they believe that the stars in the night sky were deities. Depictions of the solar system as they understood it have been found in various works of art from that period. It should be impossible to view these depictions and not see them for what they obviously are. If one goes by the current paradigm, one can see quite clearly that this knowledge would be impossible.
Why?
Because the technology for them to have obtained this knowledge simply did not exist… and as archaeological evidence still tends to indicate, it did not. And yet… the data is still there. Keep in mind as you ponder this information that "modern" man did not acknowledge that our world was a sphere until just after the time of Columbus. Nor did we even know of the planet Pluto (Gaga)’s existence until this last century! So how could this data be possible? How Indeed! There is some archaeological evidence that indicates that the early Sumerians did possess a high degree of technology for that time… but no where near the degree of technology required to have gained such cosmological knowledge on their own. So then, from where did such knowledge come?
What was it that the Sumerians claimed? Did they not credit their gods with having given them their knowledge?
Once again the answer is… yes.
So, where does that leave us? It leaves us in the same uncomfortable position that the mainstream historians found and still find themselves in… it leaves us considering the possibility that the Sumerian "gods" may have been much more than mere myths. And that is a very uncomfortable position in which to be. We could react in the same way as the mainstream historians did (and still do)… we can reject the data, we can ignore the data, we can find pat answers that only explain-away rather than explain… or, we can choose to pursue "the path not taken". Let’s be bold… let’s examine these ‘gods’ of Sumer. Let’s find out just who and what these ‘mythical’ beings were.
What exactly do we mean by the "gods" of Sumer? First of all, let’s de-mystify the word ‘gods’. This is necessary due to the fact that the very source of the concept of Gods that we currently (in general) hold is NOT the concept held by the early Sumerian People. Our concept is the result of thousands of years of multi-cultural influences and superstitious infusions. Why is this so? Mostly due to a loss of knowledge that was, in the beginning, common knowledge of the Sumerian People. The historical data available to us regarding this mysterious civilization tends to support the concept of Sumer as the source for the customs, languages, politics, the arts and ‘religions’ of those more familiar civilizations that followed on her heels.
So, it would seem logical to study the data from her earliest period in order to obtain the most accurate idea of how these people first understood these "gods". The view of these gods that is indicated by the earliest data tends to portray them as merely very intelligent, long-lived and very mortal beings. These beings were referred to as the ‘Annunaki’. Biblical accounts (which are but paraphrased mirrors of the earlier Sumerian accounts) refer to them as the ‘Nephilim’ a term that in many translations of the Bible has been erroneously translated as "giants". According to the Sumerian accounts, these beings came from the ‘heavens’ to the earth (Ki) long before the ‘coming’ of mankind. They came to earth as exploiters and colonizers… and they kept coming for some time. The Annunaki established a home upon the earth and built grand cities… cities that were associated with specific ‘functions’. These cities were ruled and peopled exclusively by the Annunaki. The data indicates that the colonies of the ‘gods’ spread northwestward along the Euphrates with settlements in far off and mysterious places such as Magan (possibly the lands of Egypt) and the Abzu (possibly southern Africa).
NOTE: I have no intention of detailing the vast amount of data that seems to detail this supposedly ‘mythological’ colonization within the confines of this work. Excellent research has already been accomplished by more knowledgeable researchers than myself. I would be doing their works a great injustice by duplicating their superb efforts. Researchers such as Zecharia Sitchin, Alan Alford and Neil Freer have presented the available data in numerous works. These works are priceless collections that deserve to be carefully considered in the search for answers regarding the mystery of our origins. These volumes were inspired by the same search as the one we are now undertaking… by the very questions that we have analyzed thus far in this work.
It is odd to think of these beings in any other way than as characters of mythology. However, one must take into consideration the fact that the Sumerians seemed to do just that. One such piece of evidence that demonstrates their view of these so-called ‘Gods’ as ‘real’ beings (independent of humanity) can be seen within the "King-Lists". This odd document is a supposed record of the kings of early Sumer. This document is ‘odd’ due to the fact that it includes both easily acceptable and historically verifiable information and information that can be nothing more (when analyzed under the guiding pattern of the accepted paradigm) than fantastic myth.
The "King-Lists" is divided into dynastic periods that are city-state oriented as apparently regards the seat of central power. The most startling of these sections is the list dealing with the pre-deluge Kings (Larsa list No.1). Eight Annunaki Kings are listed, as are five city-states where centralized rule apparently was held. Length of rule is given in what is known as a "sar". All of the remaining King-Lists sections have the length of rule measured by years. The ‘sar’ was apparently the period of time required for the "heavenly abode" of the Annunaki to complete one revolution around its (our?) Sun. This ‘sar’ was equivalent in length to 3,600 years. (NOTE: some researchers believe that the sar was equivalent to 2,160 years… this point remains in debate. However, the evidence does, in my opinion tend to favor a 3,600 year sar.) The incredible thing about the pre-deluge list is directly associated with this sar unit of time-measurement. Let’s take a look at the list to get an idea of the impact that this information has when it is viewed as anything other than pure mythology.
Annunaki King City of Rule Length of Rule Sars Years
A-lu-lim NUN 8 28,800
A-la(l)-gar NUN 10 36,000
En-me-en-lu-an-na Bad-tabira 12 43,200
En-me-en-gal-an-na Bad-tabira 8 28,800
Dumuzi Bad-tabira 10 36,000
En-Sib-zi-an-na Larak 8 28,800
En-me-en-dur-an-na Sippar 5 (5 ner) 21,000
(?) du-du Suruppak 5 (1 ner) 18,600
And here ends the Kingship of the Annunaki. Now it is important to note that during this incredible span of years only two Annunaki held overall reign. First was Enki (later known as Ea) (‘En’ meaning ‘Lord’) and the second was Enlil, a half-brother of Enki. And the event that ended this first list was, as ‘myth’ would have it, the legendary ‘deluge’. It was also, as ‘myth’ would have it, during the latter part of this first period of the King-Lists that ‘modern humanity’ appeared. So when did these ‘gods’ arrive on our world… and from where did these gods originate? Well that depends on one’s interpretation of the sar’s length in years. At 3,600 years it would place the Annunaki arrival at about 450,000 years ago. If one accepts the 2,160 year sar, then it places the Annunaki arrival at about 272,000 years ago. In either case it was a very long time ago and well before the accepted date of modern civilization of any kind. And in either case the Annunaki had extremely long life-spans!
So then, taking into account the theoretical date of the ‘deluge’ (an event which, although obviously not ‘global’ in scope, did apparently occur on a rather large scale) approximately 13,000 to 10,000 years ago, one can surmise that these Annunaki reigned without native challenge or competition for quite some time. That is, if one does not dismiss the data as myth outright.
Now let’s be very careful to not allow our cultural and educational conditioning to get in the way of our analysis. A lot of us will be tempted to scoff at this point (the author included) due to the fact that we are considering the ‘reality’ of an event which is related to us in The Bible. Some of us simply do not accept this book as an infallible source of information. But, we are not talking about an event that was an original Biblical account. We are talking about events that The Bible only paraphrased from much earlier and much more detailed accounts. The Bible’s book of Genesis is not the source of the account of ‘the flood’. Once again the source is Sumer. In fact, when the book of Genesis is read in the light of the Sumerian accounts and in the light of Annunaki and Sumerian customs, it is so much less mystical and even somewhat understandable. We will look at some examples of this in the next part of this work.
Let’s return to the date of this cataclysmic deluge for just a moment. The approximate date was between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago (give or take). Now, let’s just think about the significance of that date.
Q. What ‘anomalous’ dating of an ancient structure is currently raging as a hotly debated issue?
A. The Sphinx.
Q. What is the ‘new’ age of the Sphinx that is being set at by some researchers?
A. About 10 to 13 thousand BCE (give or take).
Q. And upon what do these researchers base this new date for the Sphinx?
A. Signs of erosion that is caused by a heavy flow of water (not possible from mere periodic flooding of the Nile).
Hmmm? Sounds like something to ponder. Sounds like perhaps we should dig just a bit deeper into this strange source of information that is Sumer. We need to go much deeper. We need to know more about these ‘gods’. We need to know more about these ‘myths’ that might very well be much more than silly fairy tales. We have a long way yet to travel. So, we’ll rest a bit before we go onward. We need some time to review our note… to read the volumes of data that are available to us.
Our journey will be long and arduous. I encourage all of you who decide to continue on this path with me to read the available material that will provide us with the appropriate clues to find our way to our ultimate goal. And, that goal is the truth… no matter how incredible, or how mundane it may prove to be.
So rest and study. And when we continue on our way we will dig deeper into the mysteries of Sumer. We will move deeper into that flow of information that has issued from what may very well be ‘the source’ of what we seek.
(An excerpt from "Ki-umun") COPYRIGHT: Mark Brock-Farrington