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Sumerian Gods and Goddess: Enmerkar

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Introduction

He was a mythical king credited with the founding and building the ancient city of Uruk, he reigned for either 420, or 900 years, of course these figures are based on astrological knowledge and have nothing to do with his lifespan, or actual kingship. Let us explore.

Who or what was he?

According to the Sumerian kings list he was the son of Mesh-Ki-Ang- Gasher, who was the son of Utu, the Sun god. And for some ungiven reason, his father entered, or drowned or became the sea, or ocean, thus he succeeded to the throne. Other stories say Enmerkar was the son of Utu directly. The roots of this myth are very ancient, and there are two main parts, one part involves an ongoing dispute with the king of Aratta, the other seems similar to the episode on the Old Testament, when the Lord confused the language of the people who were attempting to build the Tower of Babel, or does it?

Part one

Apparently, we are told that the events occur before the Garden of Eden was formed, called Dilmun by the Sumerians, Enmerkar was said to be the king of Uruk (Unug-Kulaba) where he had built, E-ana, the temple of Anu, the god of the heavens. The goddess Inanna, wanted the temple for herself, and after finding her way there, something that should have been impossible for her to do, she persuades Anu the king of heaven to give over to her authority. But it seems she had already authorised the building of a temple at Aratta, which for some reason Inanna was displeased with, preferring the temple of Anu at Uruk. It would seem that Enmerkar was as ambitious and cunning, as his Mistress, and knowing he was the very apple of her eye, he asked her if he could subjugate the people and king of Aratta and make them by tributes of gems and precious metals, that he would use to construct a high Abzu temple at Eridu in honour of Enki, and also to further embellish her newly acquired temple at Uruk. This idea was obviously appealing to Inanna whose advised Enmerkar to send messengers over the mountains to Aratta, to demand their subjugation and exact tribute.

Insight

To construct a high temple in Abzu, is as to say, build a temple in the high heavens, that is impossible as such, but it would seem, that by Inanna usurping the temple of the heavenly god Anu, and authorising the building of a heavenly temple to Enki in Eridu, they were making their heavenly domain on earth. I would be tempted to think that Aratta, was a place below earth, for the temple of Uruk was built of brick, and that was more pleasing to Inanna, which indicates that her first temple in Aratta was made of mud. Indeed, it would appear that asking the people of Aratta to supply precious stones and metals, was like asking the earth, to supply them, for that is where they buried. We should also remember Abzu was originally god of the heavenly sea, who was defeated by Enki, and Astrologically Enki was stationed in Aquarius, and the rivers that flowed in and out of him, better known to us as the heavenly Eridanus, were considered the earthly equivalent of the Tigris and Euphrates. And also, the four rivers that supposedly flowed from the Garden of Eden, were also allotted to rivers in that area of the world,

‘And a river went out of Eden to water the garden;
And from there it was parted, and became (was divided) into four heads.
The name of the first is Pishon (Wadi Al -Batin or Karun):
That is, it (the one) which encompasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good, and bdellium (sweet resin) and onyx.
And the name of the second river is Gihon (Karkheh or Karun): it winds throughout the entire land of Aethopia.
And the third river is Hiddekel, (called Indigna by the Sumerians and Aranzah by the Hurrians, and the Tigris by the Armenians) and that is the one that goeth toward the east of Assyria.
And the fourth river is the Euphrates.’

[Gen-2-10]

Story continued

Enmerkar then sent messengers to Aratta threatening to destroy it and its people if they did not agree to pay tribute, Inanna says she will help with the destruction, and tells him to recite a prayer to Enki asking him to make the spoken words in the regions of Shubur, Hamazi, Sumer, Uri-ki and Martu the same, for at that time they all spoke with different tongues making unity harder.

The herald arrives gives the message, (at the start of his message the herald refers to his master as the offspring of him with the glistening beard, and implies his mother was the cow of heaven, and he who is suited to hold the office of Kulaba) which upsets the king of Aratta, who replies that if they want a war then they can have it, or, if they will send great quantities of barley, and Inanna will confirm her change of mind they will send Enmerkar precious gems and metals in return. Enmerkar sends the barley but also a request for even more tribute. Aratta refuses saying that Enmerkar can come and get the tribute himself. Enmerkar learning of his reply, spends ten years making an ornate sceptre, which he sends his herald to deliver, on seeing it the Lord of Aratta realises Inanna has abandoned him, but offers to have the matter solved by a single combat of each’s chosen champions. Enmerkar agrees to the idea but demands even more tribute, or destruction if he wins. But the worn-out herald can no longer remember all the messages he is given to recite, so Enmerkar invents writing on clay tablets for him to take. The herald then carries the tablets over the seven mountains to Aratta, and when the lord of Aratta reads them the storm god Ishkur causes a great rain which causes wild wheat and chickpeas to grow, which are brought before him. This causes him to believe that Inanna has not forsaken Aratta after all, and he summons his champion.

Unfortunately, the tablets which conclude the story are so corrupted so it is difficult to know, exactly what happened, but we have another text that seems to part of the same story, in this case the Lord of Aratta is given the name Ensuhkeshdanna (previously read as Ensuhgiranna) and his herald or chief minister is named Ansigaria, and Enmerkars’ chief minister and herald is called Namena-tuma, Enmerkar himself is said to be the lord of Unug=Uruk and Kulaba, (the script also describes Enmerkar as a man born to be and manifest as a god) which is described as a city that rises from earth to heaven, or vice versa. In this version it is Ensuhkeshdanna who initially requires Enmerkar to bow down to him as he is better acquainted with Inanna then he is, but Enmerkar replies that Inanna has set up home in the temple with him, and taunts him, saying she is not a duckling but shrieks like one, as if to imply the intimacy of their relationship, and that Inanna will not come to Aratta for five to ten years.

At this time Urgrinuna the sorcerer arrives in Aratta after his homeland Hamazi has been conquered, he speaks to Ansigaria herald of Aratta and tells him that for a price he came force Enmerkar to submit to his lord Ensuhkeshdanna. The deal done the sorcerer goes to a city of Eresh (Uruk) of Nisaba and causes the dairy herds of Enmerkar to dry up, stop giving milk that is. The herdsmen Mashgula and Uredina see Urgrinuna and pray to the sun god Utu for help, a sorceress of the same city called Sagburu appears and in the competition that follows she outclasses him every time, for both cast fish eggs into the river and causes animals to come forth, but each time she brings forth a greater one which devours them, and when he is defeated she casts him into the river Euphrates where he drowns. Once again, we are scuttled as the rest of the tablet is to corrupted to get a full story, but the king of Aratta accepts Enmerkar superiority.

Notes

Some confusion arises over whether Eresh was an older or alternative name of Uruk, or of Abu Salabikh, but it would seem odd if a sorcerer would go to Abu Salabikh, to interfere with herds belonging to Enmerkar who was lord of Uruk; I have another reason for believing that the title Eresh was used for Uruk, but we will come to that in due time.

Nisaba was a goddess of wisdom, writing and harvest, but while we might be tempted to think of the moon or Virgo, in this case I would say Nisaba and Inanna are both personifications of Venus.

The sorcery that Urgrinuna used to stop the herds producing milk could in reality only be drought, for he did not cause them to die, the fish and animals both sorcerers brought forth were.

UrgrinunaSagburu.
1. A giant carp. An eagle.
2. A lamb and a ewe.A wolf.
3. A cow and it’s calf.A lion.
4. An ibex and a wild sheep.A mountain leopard.
5. A gazelle and it’s kid.A lion and a tiger.

While I can find these animals in the astrology of the Sumerians and Akkadians, I am not sure at this point, why the order was chosen, it maybe that those eaten were related to the moon, the eaters to the Sun, or vice versa?

I am also inclined to think that Enmerkar was the god- personification of Barley, but all will be revealed soon enough, the script also implies that he is a man born to be a god, which I would take to suggest that he was perhaps the male version of Inanna, as Venus, who was trying to take over the power of the gods. But there is another interesting point in the script, where Ensuhkeshdanna lord of Aratta says that Enmerkar may see dreams with Inanna at night, and that he will talk with her in the day, implies that Enmerkar is the lover or consort of Venus as the evening star, while Ensuhkeshdanna who will speak to her during the day, is her lover, consort of the morning star; this could also imply that the lord of Aratta is a Spring and summer deity, and that Enmerkar is an Autumn and winter god. Ensuhkeshdanna also threatens to eat all Enmerkar geese, eggs, goslings, and all, and certainly geese or ducks appear around the zodiac area of Libra and Scorpio.

Considerations

While the story seems complicated so far, it cannot be beyond understanding, myths were contrived for good reasons, we might consider them in a few various ways, one as guide, or teaching aid, two as newspapers, three as records of occurrences, such as conquests or migrations, fiction was not intentional as a rule, as fictitious as they might seem to us.

I also feel there are undercurrents, of the Egyptian myths surrounding Osiris and Horus and the Old Testament story of Jonah and the Whale (Cetus), for these stories all have their backbone in Astrology, rather than any being that lived.

Part two, Lugalbanda

Short introduction

Enmerkar story continues with the introduction of a new character called Lugalbanda, it comes in two parts, but is still part of the original story, and concerns Enmerkar decision to raise an army and attack the kingdom of Aratta, it is rightly considered by previous authors as one of the most complex myths found so far, the complicated Astrological illusions have rendered the true nature of the story beyond reach so far.

The story

The story starts with what appears to be a recap on the founding of the city of Uruk, and the removal of the holy An, which implies that it perhaps Inanna has already taken over An’s temple at Uruk? we are told the powers of En were then in force, and En was the god of the solar fire, or simply put the sun god, and the sceptre and staff of Kulaba was held high in battle, in Inanna’s game. And that the dark headed ones who had been granted long lives were settled, going about the business of creation, giving antlers to stags and strong hooves to mountain goats.

Now Kulaba is generally thought of as another city, but the Kulaba it seems is a sceptre, indeed, a Caduceus as we know such things.

The forging of the sceptre

In a great many of the depictions of various goddess’ who are connected to the earth, moon, Virgo or Venus, the figures hair forms what has been called the omega sign, it is sometimes shown as a separate entity next to, or on both sides of the figure, but almost always upside down, except when it is depicted on a staff when it shown the right way up, the hair then becomes two snakes, forming a circle, which is broken where they face each other, this soon develops into a pair of snakes entwined around the staff, which has been likened to the structure of DNA, but that is not without merit, for it a representation of the tree of life; Moses of the Old Testament made a sceptre of the later kind to heal venomous snake bits,

‘And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole, and it shall come to pass, that everyone that looks at it, shall live.’ (numbers 22-8-9.) And oddly enough the Egyptians had a sceptre in Aries, the very sign Moses was trying to get the Hebrews to worship, in place of Taurus.

Insight

After considering the first part again, I am inclined to think Inanna’s game-plan, that being how to take over the temple of An, is occurring at that point of the story not over, and she has locked horns in battle with Sun king who still holds the sceptre of power. The dark headed ones were like the Titans of the Greeks, the old primordial gods of the constellations.

Preparation for war

The next part of the story involves Enmerkar raising an army to attack the holy mountain at, in Aratta, he soon raises a horrendous force and they set off, with Enmerkar apparently at their head. The way this raising of a host, and the way it moves is describes sounds to me that he is calling together all the forces of the earth, rather than actual men, a battle of the gods, rather like the forces Tiamat and Enki raised against each other. The section that follows pretty much confirms my previous thought describing Enmerkar as a typical storm god, having weapons like arrows of lightning and a bronze axe.

Meanwhile

We are told seven great ones were born to Inanna, in Kulaba, who were brought up like princes of An, the sky god, and they are described as being elite beings, who became over-all leaders of on seventh of the army each. I think they are the seven sages mentioned in other Sumerian, Akkadian myths, and I vaguely remember, the Chinese had a myth of the seven wise gods, but that was in my Bonsai days. Once again, I inclined to think they were talking about constellations, but from here on we get nearer the point of the myth.

The Eighth one

Lugalbanda, (king, or lord- Banda) is said to be the eighth one born, like literal kings he was ritually washed at his coronation, indeed this was a general practice, many of the Egyptian and Greek idols, were annually stripped of their clothes, ritually washed then redressed in new finery by the priests or priestesses.

Anyway, Lugalbanda has arrived and marches with the troops, it seems the army is great awe of this latest arrival, but half way on their march to Aratta Lugalbanda becomes sick, it also sounds from the description like he had a fit or even a stroke, his teeth chatter, is if frozen, or fever id setting in, either way he is in no fit state to go further.

Quite a number of verses are then taken up by what can only realistically be preparations for Lugalbanda death and burial, they had taken him to a cave, they had provided him with all the things he needed to survive, both if possible in this world, or if not, in the next, they had considered whether they could take him back to Uruk, or even Kulaba but could fathom no way of doing it, so they, even his brothers abandoned him, to let the gods to decide his fate.

Understanding

Firstly, as I have said so many times and will say so many more times, this story, this myth, is based, like all the best myths on Astrology, on the movements of the stars, constellation, and their relationship with the seasons on earth. Let us ask,

Why could not such a vast army, not even his own brothers, if they thought and believed that returning Lugalbanda’s body to Uruk or Kulaba, would cure his illness, why could they not spare a few men, a few hundred, even a thousand, to take him there, according to them this army was at the least 25, 200 strong? Now depending on how many and which books I have so far deemed fit to release, you might realise that seasons, therefore months cannot go backwards, as each month will pass, as each season will come, it will come to pass again, but only in its due course of time; let me put it this way, if you went into a field of wheat that was golden and ready for harvest, you would think it impossible that you could return the next day and the same wheat to be green, and it’s seed un-ripened, as if it had been dead and then instantly reborn.

Fate turned

We are then told that Lugalbanda’ illness is in full swing for two and a half days, and as the evening of the third day closes in his body was anointed with oil, but the sickness remains, he then looks up to Utu, the sun, whom he also refers to as Ningal’ son? And weeping recites a long prayer for relief. Apparently, Utu is moved by his pleadings and sends the goddess Inanna, the daughter of Suen, to sort the situation. Soon after she appears before the cave where he is lying and he weeps and pleads for release from his illness, she accepts his pleas and puts him into sleep, he wakes to see Suen, the son of Enlil and once again, he weeps and prays to him, Suen heeds his pleas and gives him the strength to stand, then Utu appears again a similar situation is played out and then strengthened by life giving plants and water Lugalbanda is revived, and leaves.

Insight

The astrological allusions in this part of the original are very revealing, besides Lugalbanda, several other deities are referred to, including Utu, Ningal, Inanna, Suen, Sara, E-ana and Enlil.

Inanna

In Lugalbanda’ prayer she is compared to a bull rising at dawn, a maker of beer or barley, a huntress of sweet game, and a prostitute, the pearly queen, she is the personification of Venus, and as Immoral as Dionysus and Bacchus.

Suen

He is thought to be a moon god, later more commonly recognised under the name Nanna, or the Akkadian Sin, and consort of Ningal, the great illuminator, or lamp the great lady of the Moon, they were considered to be the parents of Utu, the sun, Ishkur the storm god, and Ishtar (Inanna- Venus.) both Suen and Ningal were known for their wisdom and teaching, which stems from the times when the moon was considered the father and mother of all things. One important thing this verses relate to us about Suen is he reached the zenith in great splendour (full moon) and that he is the son of Enlil, another point is that the verses concerned state that the poplar tree is his staff, in tree mythology the poplar is associated with Pluto, which rules Scorpio, but as it of the willow family it may also connect to the sign of Cancer and the moon.

Utu

He was the personification of the Sun, supposed son of Suen-Sin, and Ningal, the dual moon god, he was thought to ride a chariot across the sky, (which may be helpful in historical terms, for the Egyptians, had the sun god ride on a barge, and also being pushed by a scarab beetle long before they introduced the chariot under the influence of the Greeks) Utu was also considered the brother of Inanna, Venus who was apparently his twin? and his consort was called Sherida. They do not appear to have had any offspring, but later the sun god would become the father of them all. Utu was associated with justice, morality and truth, and was considered to be long bearded, and long armed, even today we reference justice with the ‘long arm of the law.’

Another point of interest is that his two main known temples were called ‘the White House’ one in Larsa, and the other in Sippar, both sites have been excavated. Funny then might it seem that the greatest Pharaohs house in upper Egypt, was called the White House, and that America would call the president’s residence of power the White House, also, just goes to show that fact is stranger than fiction.

Sara

This is the name given to Abram wife of the Old Testament, which signifies, Sar, the Sun, and Ai, Sarai= a pile of stones, or boundary marker, in her case she could not cross that borderline, so Sara may have also been a female version of the Spring and Summer Sun, but in this case Sara, is said to be the son of Inanna, which would more likely make the dawn son, or the rays of light that shatter the sky just before the sun appears on the eastern horizon.

Ningal

She was the consort of the moon god Nanna, and daughter of Enki- Ea, and Ningikurga, by Nanna she conceived and gave birth to the Sun god Utu. Her mother Ningikurga [lady of the pure reed] was the daughter of An and Nammu.

Enlil

In general Enlil seems to be a god of atmosphere, of rains, storms, winds, it was said that he so holy that the other gods could not look upon him, but that makes sense if he is atmosphere for the gods of the heavens only look upon the earth at night. His parents were said to be An, the heavens and Ki, the earth, and his consort was Ninlil, who was a type of Eve and a personification of the moon.

The sacrifice and offerings

Lugalbanda now revived sets about preparing to make the appropriate offerings and gathers goats and a bull, he bakes seven cakes without yeast, he has drinks and all sorts of things with him, and he builds two altars, decorated with Lapis Lazuli, one to Utu, one to Suen. He then apparently sacrifices the bull to the rising sun, then sacrifices the goats pouring their blood into a pit, to let the smell rise like incense into the air, then he starts to burn some of sacrifices, or part of them, the liver is mentioned, he pours out libations of the drink offering and pours cooling water onto the ground, and four gods arrive and consume the things or parts they wish, the gods mentioned are An, Enlil, Enki and Ninhursag, it seems he then washes what I assume is the representation of Suen, and sets the cakes before it.

What happens next is difficult to understand, while it seems there is some sort of celestial battle, it is described like a great thunder storm, it seems as if the world is being turned upside down, but it would be wrong to say further for many words and lines are missing, and the storm appears to affecting the earth as well as the heavens.

But as all myths of worth are repeated in all religions, it is likely that greater insight will avail itself sooner or later. However, Enmerkar’ march against Aratta has not yet made much headway, while Lugalbanda was ill. Lugalbanda himself wanders alone then in the mountains.

Part three, Lugalbanda and the Anzu bird

Insight to Anzu

Anzu was considered the son of Siris, goddess of beer, or born from the wide earth and the waters of Abzu, or Apsu, he was depicted as a giant bird demon, having lionlike claws for hands and the feet of an eagle or vulture, his head was similar to that of a lioness, yet the mouth appears to have only two teeth, one upper the other on the lower jaw as if a snake, but others say he had sharks teeth, the eye socket looks hollow and the flesh seems missing from upper jaw, I suspect he is demon of drought and starvation, who is often portrayed be chased or attacked by the god of storms and thunder, which brought lifesaving rain. Some authors mistakenly think, he is a personification of the southern wind and storm clouds, but then why would the storm god chase him? We are told in one myth he steals the tablet-s of destiny from Enlil, and hides them on a mountain top, or that he steals the crown of the top, or father god, in the first instance he as a demon of death through starvation, and disease is seen as taking control of men’s destiny by causing their untimely deaths, in the later he acts like Herakles-Hercules, killing the king- lion of Summer, and pretending to be him, brings death instead of life.

Lugalbanda’ encounter with Anzu

While wandering Lugalbanda comes across the nest and chick of the Anzu bird, apparently, he decides to treat it with great care and pays great attention to its every comfort and need; the Anzu was away at the time rounding up bulls in the mountains, and apparently had a dead bull on its shoulders and another in its claws. Meanwhile, Lugalbanda seeks the help of Ninkasi, the goddess of alcohol to prepare some fine wine for the Anzu bird and his wife; then waits for his return. Anzu, somewhat worried as his chick or chicks had not replied to his call, calls to his mate and they fear the worse, but as they approach the nest it seems to have been fitted out as if for a king or god, and the Anzu bird vows to give the one who has done this his heart’s desire, stating that he has the power over destiny and fate, and what he decides cannot be changed. There follows a lavish greeting by Lugalbanda to Anzu that would have brought a smile to even the harshest of Assyrian kings, which ends with Lugalbanda leaving his destiny in the Anzu bird’s hands.

Anzu then offers him several options for his future life, anyone of which would have pleased any man, but as each one is made, each one is turned down, then Lugalbanda puts forward his own preference, which basically amounts to him being the greatest and most powerful god ever, combining the powers of the sun, the moon, of Venus, for him to be all powerfully, for all creation to be under his feet. Anzu then tries to reason with him, but knows he is wasting his breath, but his words are wise, (these are not the words written, but the intent is exactly the same, if a man walks the along the wrong path, is it not rightful that one should lead him back to the right one, or if a stubborn mule should refuse to move, should one not goad it forward?) but Lugalbanda is intent and Anzu was bound by his own words.

And the first step requires that he re-join Enmerkar army and presumably lead them to victory. Anzu having given his word is bound to grant him his desires, and they both set out towards Enmerkar army, Lugalbanda on foot, Anzu flying above; Anzu soon spots them, from his high place and Lugalbanda sees the dust rising from their marching, Anzu speaks again to Lugalbanda, asking him to consider and remember his words, hells him not to tell his comrades what has happened and he warns him that in reality, things are not what they seem,

all that shines, is not gold,

power and peace do not live in the same house,

a smiling face often hides an evil heart,

for the devil hides behind the cross.

And then Anzu left him to seek his fortune and returned to his nest.

Finally, Enmerkar’s forces approach Aratta

Lugalbanda’ return to the army brings great joy, and moral boosted they make the way towards the city, but are met with a continuous barrage of spears and slingshot, which seems not to stop, and their retreat is blocked, and Enmerkar worried by this setback, wants somebody to return to Kulaba to seek Inanna’ help. But only Lugalbanda volunteers, and he returns by himself. After giving Enmerkar’ message to Inanna, she replies telling him the whereabouts of lone tamarisk tree that stands by a pool, and that Enmerkar must make basket from it, collect olds reeds and catch the fish that resides there, cook it and offer it in sacrifice, then the waters that give Aratta its strength or what is in it will be stopped and the city will fall.

Tamarisk tree

The Tamarisk tree, obviously has some great importance as it appears in quite a number of different cultures myths, indeed, it plays a part in several Old Testament stories, In Genesis (21-33), Abraham is recorded to have "planted a tamarisk at Beer-sheba (seven wells), where he had previously dug a well, and had given Abimelech seven ewe lambs as oath of witness, (Gen 21- 30, 31) and in Samuel 22-6, Saul is sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill at Gibeah when he learns that David has returned to Judah, and in Samuel 1. 31-13 Saul's bones were buried under a tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and those that buried him fasted for seven days. In the Egyptian myth of the death of Osiris, it is a tamarisk tree that grows around the casket that Seth entombed him comes ashore. And in the Quran 34:16, Allah punishes the people of Saba by converting their two gardens into gardens producing bitter fruit and tamarisks.

Insight

The first thing that stands out about the tamarisk is it amazing tolerance and use of salt, it consumes large quantities of water using very salty even alkaline water sources, it can not only exude salt from its bark, it stores it in it leaves, and these once fallen to the ground act like a weed killer, inhibiting or destroying any would be rivals; the magnolia has system whereby it poisons the ground, thus prohibiting any other plants. But salt was extremely valuable, in ancient times, and was as good as money; not that I have read so far of any ancient cultures growing tamarisk for that reason, however in the Epic myth of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh's mother, the goddess Ninsun, ceremoniously bathes in a bath of tamarisk and soapwort before allowing Gilgamesh and Enkidu to begin their conquest; and even today we use bath salts, Epsom salts are especially good at removing dead skin. But another serious point is that to ancient cultures was that salt was a sign of fertility, in all the ancient myths the sea that existed before creation began was considered a barren salt-less sea, incapable of producing life, only when salt entered it did it become fertile. This belief had serious knock on effects, for it is well recorded that Babylonian virgins, when of or near marriageable age would congregate in the main area of the given city, hoping that some stranger or passer by would deflower them, this was because they were considered infertile at that point, and no man wanted to marry a barren wife; it was not that they were expected to get pregnant by this encounter, it was that salt was injected into their womb, making them fertile, thus ready for marriage. There are other points that brought the tamarisk to importance, many of the species produce galls, resembling those of a man, the fact that they grew in otherwise hostile, barren environments also aided the myth makers. One last point, desert trees, are generally sacred to Aries, as Ares god of war, and Enmerkar was in a war that he did not seem to be winning, but the sacrifice of tamarisk, and the fish which was probably linked to Pisces, combined all the powers of evil and war, thus such trees represent the strengthening of resolve to overcome all obstacles and offer determination to put plans into reality, and salt plays a great part in magic.

Other points

We are told the fish belongs to the god Suhurmas? And that the fish must be presented as an offering to the ‘A An Kar’ weapon belonging to Inanna? I suspect the weapon of Inanna was the sickle or the knife of harvest and sacrifice, and that the sacred fish was either that of Pisces, or Cetus, or perhaps Pisces Australis.

Myths end

The saga of Enmerkar’ war against Aratta, is unclear in its ending, either he removes it, and rebuilds it somewhere else or he merely takes over it, removing its best craftsman and all things precious, and resettles it with his own kind, making it his new city and kingdom sub-servant to the kingdom of Uruk and Kulaba.

Last words

We have nothing that tells us the eventual fate of Lugalbanda or Enmerkar, the title or name Lugalbanda appears in the Sumerian kings list as the second ruler of Uruk, and that he reigned 1200years, and was given the title ‘Shepherd’ he is also recorded as the husband of Ninsun, who appears to be a personification of the moon, and said to be the daughter of Anu [the heavens] and Uras, who is either mother earth, or the female equivalent of Anu. But Inanna’ consort Dumuzid (also known as Tammuz) was also referred to as a shepherd, and I suspect they are personifications of the same entities.

Of the kings lists, which appear under various religious cultures, even in the Old Testament although they are not always listed as kings, the years of their reigns having nothing at all to do with living years, and everything to do with Astrological knowledge, we are so ignorant of sacred numbers it easily defeats are logic, Enmerkar was given 420, or 900 years, Lugalbanda 1200 years, but remember noughts-0 did not exist in the way we understand it, 420= 42, 900= 90 or 9, 1200= 12, 230000= 23 and 7 are sacred numbers, it also appears that Lugalbanda apparent illness, which is described as death, for he was not breathing when they laid him in the cave lasted three days, thus like Jesus he was resurrected at the end of the third day. The civil day; continues, as 24 hours, but differs in its beginning, by the different use, or constitutions of several nations; whereof some (as the Chaldeans and Persians) begin it from Sunrise; others (such as Jews, Athenians, ancient Egyptians, and modern Italians) from Sunset; others (as Umbrians) from Noon; and others (as the ancient Romans, and at this day, the French, Spaniards, Germans and the greater part of the people of our world) from Midnight.