The Twelfth Planet

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Twelfth Planet The Twelfth Planet The Earth Chronicles, #1 by Zecharia Sitchin, 1920-2010 Published: 1976 J J J J J I I I I I Table of Contents Author‘s Note Prologue Genesis. & Chapter 1 … The Endless Beginning. Chapter 2 … The Sudden Civilization. Chapter 3 … Gods of Heaven and Earth. Chapter 4 … Sumer: Land of the Gods. Chapter 5 … The Nefilim: People of the Fiery Rockets. Chapter 6 … The Twelfth Planet. Chapter 7 … The Epic of Creation. Chapter 8 … Kingship of Heaven. Chapter 9 … Landing on Planet Earth. Chapter 10 … Cities of the Gods. Chapter 11 … Mutiny of the Anunnaki. Chapter 12 … The Creation of Man. Chapter 13 … The End of All Flesh. Chapter 14 … When the Gods Fled from Earth. Chapter 15 … Kingship on Earth. Sources About the Series Acknowledgements * * * * * Illustrations 1-1 Flintstones 1-2 Man has been preserved [attached] 1-3 Wearing some kind of goggles 2-4 Alphabets 2-5 Winged Globe 2-6 Layout of City 2-7 Cuneiform 2-8 Storage of Grains 2-9 Measuring rod and rolled string 2-10 Tablet of Temple [attached] 2-11 Ziggurat (Stairway to Heaven) 2-12 Cylinder Seal 2-13 Mathematical System 2-14 Surgical Thongs 2-15 Medical Radiation Treatment 2-16 Toga-style Clothing 2-17 Headdress 2-18 Head Jewelry 2-19 Horse Power 2-20 Harp Playing 2 Ancient Cities [attached] 3-21 Battle between Zeus and Typhon 3-22 Aphrodite 3-23 Jupiter 3-24 Taurus, Celestial Bull 3-25 Hittite Warriors 3-26 Hittite Warriors and Deities 3-27 Hittite Male and Female Deities 3-28 Meeting of Great Gods 3-29 Deities Meeting, Beit-Zehir 3-30 Eye Goggles of Gods 3-31 Goggles on Rocket-Like Objects 3-32 Teshub, God of Thunder and Lightning 3-33 Evil Serpent-God 3-34 God Tesheba Standing on a Bull 3-35 El, Senior Canaanite Deity 3-36 Goddess Anat 3-37 God with Horned Headgear 3-38 The Winged Globe 3-39 Horus, a Winged and Horned Deity 3-40 Gods Arriving by Boat 3-41 Investiture of the King Zimri-Lim 3-42 Hands clasped in Prayer 4-43 AN = Star = Heavens = God 4-44 Anu and Antu being carried 4-45 Enlil and Ninlil being served 4-46 Lord Bright-Eye 4-47 Ninhursag, the Chief Nurse 4-48 The Cutter of Mammu 4-49 Who launched Bolts of Light 4-50 Marduk 4-51 Hammurabi receiving the Laws 4-52 Ishtar showing her Body 4-53 Ishtar as War Goddess 4-54 Inanna in an unseemly Place 4-55 Blessing by Adad and Ishtar 4-56 The God Ishkur 4-57 God Battling God 5-58 A decorative Attachment to the God‘s Clothing 5-59 Inanna/Ishtar with Wings 5-60 The Goddess with a Vase 5-61 Goggles and Helmet 5-62 Helmet‘s Visor 5-63 Studded Uniform 5-64 Conical Helmet with elliptical Visors 5-65 Eye Figurines for Gods 5-66 Whirlwinds of Antiquity 5-67 Platform of Mu 5-68 Standing and Cruising Rockets 5-69 Propelled Rocket in the Sky 5-70 Various Space Rockets 5-71 Chamber Decorated by Twelve Globes 5-72 Stelae as Eternal Abode 5-73 Opening of Mouth Ceremony 5-74 Confrontation between Armed Gods 5-75 Humans advancing on a Shem 5-76 Guardians of Gods 5-77 Underground Rocket Shaft 5-78 Eagle with Launch Tower 5-79 Emblem of Apollo 11 5-80 Eagle Men Saluting a Shem 5-81 Eagle Men with Tree of Life 5-82 Utu/Shamash with eagle Costume 5-83 A Multistage Space Rocket 6-86 A Circular Cluster of Petals Radiating from a Central Point 6-87 Gateway of Anu 6-88 Gateway of Anu on Cylinder Seal 6-89 View of Central Celestial Body 6-90 The Vault of Heaven 6-91 Sphere with Zodiacal Constellations on Atlas 6-92 Two Bull-Men Holding up a Globe 6-93 Pictorial Representations of the Zodiac 6-95 The Celestial Sphere 6-96 Entering the Age of Aquarius 6-97 Constellations of Taurus (Bull) and Leo (Lion) 6-98 Signs of the Zodiac and the Solar System 7-99 Depiction of the Solar System 7-100 Drawing of the Solar System 7-101 Solar System on Cylinder Seal 7-102 In the Beginning: Sun, Mercury, Tiamat. 7-103 The Inner Planets—the „Gods in the Midst“—come forth. 7-104 The SHAR‘s—the Giant Planets—are created, together with their Emissary. 7-107 The Celestial Battle, A 7-109 Marduk Shooting Lightning at Tiamat 7-110 New Solar System 8-111 Orbit of Marduk 8-112 The Winged Globe 8-113 Twelfth Planet in the Sky 8-114 The Re-appearance of the Twelfth Planet 8-115 The Radiant Planet 9-116 Esarhaddon with Gods Depicted 9-117 Enlil’s Seven-Pointed Star 9-118 Pictograph of Pioneer 10 9-119 Venus/Ishtar as Eight-Pointed Star 9-120 Mars as Six-Pointed Star 9-122 Tablet with Planisphere 9-123 Route Map 9-124 Directional Indications 10-126 Oannes 10-127 A Lonely Outpost on an Alien Planet 10-128 Enki in His Boat 10-129 Structure with Antennas 10-130 Landing Site on Ararat Meridian 10-131 Nippur Marked on Map 10-133 (133a-133c) Various Forms of Antennae 10-134 Portable Communication Box 10-135 Radar/Observation Scanner 10-136 Ziggurat with Antennae 10-137 Measurements of Ziggurat 10-138 Directional System of Ziggurat 11-139 Excavation Shaft 11-140 Ea, Teacher of Mining Techniques 11-141 Ingot 11-142 Ea with Bearers of Ingots 11-143 Depictions of Mine Shafts 11-144 Other Depictions of Mine Shafts 11-145 Round-trip around Africa 11-146 Ea with Miner‘s Rock Saw 11-147 Ea with Flowing Waters 11-148 God Toils Underground 12-149 Ape-Man among his Animal Friends 12-150 Artificial Human Mix-ups 12-151 Preparing the Mixtures 12-152 Urging Each Other to Proceed 12-153 Presenting the Newborn 13-154 Man Serving Naked 13-155 Man Toiling Naked 13-156 Sexual Intercourse with Animals 13-157 Products from the same Mold 13-158 A Serpent Entwined on a Tree 13-159 Enki with Reproduction Gods 14-160 Ea Reveals the Secret 15-161 Indus Valley Civilization 15-162 Pyramids as Ziggurats 15-163 Human Looking Gods wearing Horned Headdresses 15-164 Cross Symbol J J J J J I I I I I Author‘s Note The prime source for the biblical verses quoted in The Twelfth Planet is the Old Testament in its original Hebrew text. It must be borne in mind that all the translations consulted—of which the principal ones are listed at the end of the book—are just that: translations or interpretations. In the final analysis, what counts is what the original Hebrew says. In the final version quoted in The Twelfth Planet , I have compared the available translations against each other and against the Hebrew source and the parallel Sumerian and Akkadian texts/tales, to come up with what I believe is the most accurate rendering. The rendering of Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Hittite texts has engaged a legion of scholars for more than a century. Decipherment of script and language was followed by transcribing, transliterating, and finally, translating. In many instances, it was possible to choose between differing translations or interpretations only by verifying the much earlier transcriptions and transliterations. In other instances, a late insight by a contemporary scholar could throw new light on an early translation. The list of sources for Near Eastern texts, given at the end of this book, thus ranges from the oldest to the newest, and is followed by the scholarly publications in which valuable contributions to the understanding of the texts were found. Z. SITCHIN Prologue Genesis. At a time when our own astronauts have landed on the Moon and our unmanned spacecraft explore other planets, it is no longer impossible to believe that a civilization on another planet more advanced than ours was capable of landing its astronauts on the planet Earth at some time in the past. Indeed, a number of popular writers have speculated that ancient artifacts such as the pyramids and giant stone sculptures must have been fashioned by advanced visitors from another planet. There is, however, little novelty in such intriguing speculation. Even the ancient peoples themselves believed that superior beings "from the heavens"—the ancient gods—came down to Earth. What no popular writer on the subject provides is answers . If, indeed, such beings did come to Earth, when did they come, how did they come, from where did they come, and what did they do here during their stay? What we propose to do is to provide answers to these questions. Using the Old Testament as our anchor, and submitting as evidence nothing but the texts, drawings, and artifacts left us by the ancient peoples of the Near East, we will go beyond the intriguing questions and the provocative suggestions. We will prove that Earth was indeed visited in its past by astronauts from another planet. We will identify the planet from which these astronauts came. We will decipher a sophisticated ancient cosmology that explains better than our present sciences how Earth and other parts of the solar system came into being. We will lay bare ancient reports of a celestial collision, as a result of which an intruding planet was captured into the Sun's orbit, and show that all the ancient religions were based on the knowledge and veneration of this twelfth member of our solar system.
Recommended publications
  • Hologram Curaçao, 2018 First Edition
    Hologram Curaçao, 2018 First edition This book is written by; John H Baselmans-Oracle Cover design are from the hand of; John H Baselmans-Oracle Illustrations Different artists With thanks to all those people who are supporting me. Copyrights All rights on text and drawings reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from LoBa productions, except for brief quotes with an acknowledgement. Bulk copies of this book can be obtained by contacting LoBa Productions at http://www.world-of-positive-energy.com. No part of this work is intended to be a substitute for professional medical, pastoral or psychological guidance or treatment. Production/Design: LoBa Productions ISBN 978-1-387-72155-9 Hologram Is de wereld een hologram? John H Baselmans - Oracle 4 HOLOGRAM Is de wereld een hologram? 5 Inhoud Voorwoord 8 Hoofdstuk 1 1-1 In den beginnen 11 1-2 Om gewoon eens over na te denken 14 1-3 Wat is het geheim rond en om de Anunnaki? 16 1-4 De tabletten 26 1-5 Tablet van Lord Enki 31 1-6 Even nog wat verder denken 53 1-7 Parallel Universum / Parallel Wereld 55 1-8 Even het woordje “onderwereld” 57 1-9 Wat de geleerden zeggen over Goden 59 1-10 Enkele goden vernoemd 76 1-11 Het Heelal / Universum en haar goden 87 1-12 Licht 108 Hoofdstuk 2 2-1 Inleiding 117 2-2 De onder- en de bovenwereld, bestaan deze? 117 2-3 Waarom zijn het vaticaan en de joodse gemeenschap zo bang? 124
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Inanna Research Script
    INANNA RESEARCH SCRIPT (to be cut and shaped for performance) By Peggy Firestone Based on Translations of Clay Tablets from Sumer By Samuel Noah Kramer 1 [email protected] (773) 384-5802 © 2008 CAST OF CHARACTERS In order of appearance Narrators ………………………………… Storytellers & Timekeepers Inanna …………………………………… Queen of Heaven and Earth, Goddess, Immortal Enki ……………………………………… Creator & Organizer of Earth’s Living Things, Manager of the Gods & Goddesses, Trickster God, Inanna’s Grandfather An ………………………………………. The Sky God Ki ………………………………………. The Earth Goddess (also known as Ninhursag) Enlil …………………………………….. The Air God, inventor of all things useful in the Universe Nanna-Sin ………………………………. The Moon God, Immortal, Father of Inanna Ningal …………………………………... The Moon Goddess, Immortal, Mother of Inanna Lilith ……………………………………. Demon of Desolation, Protector of Freedom Anzu Bird ………………………………. An Unholy (Holy) Trinity … Demon bird, Protector of Cattle Snake that has no Grace ………………. Tyrant Protector Snake Gilgamesh ……………………………….. Hero, Mortal, Inanna’s first cousin, Demi-God of Uruk Isimud ………………………………….. Enki’s Janus-faced messenger Ninshubur ……………………………… Inanna’s lieutenant, Goddess of the Rising Sun, Queen of the East Lahamma Enkums ………………………………… Monster Guardians of Enki’s Shrine House Giants of Eridu Utu ……………………………………… Sun God, Inanna’s Brother Dumuzi …………………………………. Shepherd King of Uruk, Inanna’s husband, Enki’s son by Situr, the Sheep Goddess Neti ……………………………………… Gatekeeper to the Nether World Ereshkigal ……………………………. Queen of the
    [Show full text]
  • ®Ht Telict11ria Jnstitut~
    JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF ®ht telict11ria Jnstitut~, on, Jgifosopgital Sodd~ of ~nat Jrifain. EDITED BY THE HONORARY SECHETARY, CAPTAIN F. W. H. PETRIE, F.G.S., &c. VOL. XXVIII. UON DON~: (Jluuli~clr b!! tbc :IEnstitutr, 8, \!llt'lpl)i et:crracr, ~baring ~rtrss, §".~.) INDIA: w. THACKER & Co. UNITED STATES: G. T. PUTN.AM'S SONS, JS. r. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: G. ROBERTSON & Co. Lrn. CAN.ADA: DAWSON BROS., Montreal. S . .AFRICA: JUTA & Co., Cape 1'own. PARIS: GALIGNANI. 1896. ALL RIG H T S RES E 11, Y ED, JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THB VICTORIA INSTITUTE, OR PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN --+- ORDINARY MEETING.* PROFESSOR E. HULL, LL.D., F.R.S., IN THE CHAIR. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed, and the following paper was read by the author :- THE RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF THE BABYLONIANS.t ~ By THEO. G. PINCHES. HE most extensive work upon the religion of the T Babylonians is Prof. Sayce's book, which forms the volume of the Hibbert Lectures for 1887 ; a voluminous work; and a monument of brilliant research. The learned author there quotes all the legends, from every source, connected .with Babylonian religion and mythology, and this book will always be indispensable to the student in that branch of Assyriology. I do not intend, however, to traverse the ground covered by Prof. Sayce, for a single lecture, such as this is, would be altogether inadequate for the purpose. I shall merely confine myself, therefore, to the points which have not been touched upon by others in this field, and I hope that I may be able to bring fot·ward something that may interest my audience and my readers.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Wake of the Compendia Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures
    In the Wake of the Compendia Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures Edited by Markus Asper Philip van der Eijk Markham J. Geller Heinrich von Staden Liba Taub Volume 3 In the Wake of the Compendia Infrastructural Contexts and the Licensing of Empiricism in Ancient and Medieval Mesopotamia Edited by J. Cale Johnson DE GRUYTER ISBN 978-1-5015-1076-2 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-5015-0250-7 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0252-1 ISSN 2194-976X Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 Walter de Gruyter Inc., Boston/Berlin Typesetting: Meta Systems Publishing & Printservices GmbH, Wustermark Printing and binding: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Notes on Contributors Florentina Badalanova Geller is Professor at the Topoi Excellence Cluster at the Freie Universität Berlin. She previously taught at the University of Sofia and University College London, and is currently on secondment from the Royal Anthropological Institute (London). She has published numerous papers and is also the author of ‘The Bible in the Making’ in Imagining Creation (2008), Qurʾān in Vernacular: Folk Islam in the Balkans (2008), and 2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch: Text and Context (2010). Siam Bhayro was appointed Senior Lecturer in Early Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Exeter, in 2012, having previously been Lecturer in Early Jewish Studies since 2007.
    [Show full text]
  • Burn Your Way to Success Studies in the Mesopotamian Ritual And
    Burn your way to success Studies in the Mesopotamian Ritual and Incantation Series Šurpu by Francis James Michael Simons A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham March 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract The ritual and incantation series Šurpu ‘Burning’ is one of the most important sources for understanding religious and magical practice in the ancient Near East. The purpose of the ritual was to rid a sufferer of a divine curse which had been inflicted due to personal misconduct. The series is composed chiefly of the text of the incantations recited during the ceremony. These are supplemented by brief ritual instructions as well as a ritual tablet which details the ceremony in full. This thesis offers a comprehensive and radical reconstruction of the entire text, demonstrating the existence of a large, and previously unsuspected, lacuna in the published version. In addition, a single tablet, tablet IX, from the ten which comprise the series is fully edited, with partitur transliteration, eclectic and normalised text, translation, and a detailed line by line commentary.
    [Show full text]
  • ""B T6t @T66~Rtans. ·
    THE EXPOSITORY TIMES. (!totta: upon t6t ®tfitfs of t6t ®aB~fonians ""b t6t @t66~rtans. · BY T. G. PINCHES, LL.D., M.R.A.S;, LECTURER IN ASSYRIAN f>.T UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. THE earliest beliefs of the Babylonians are gener­ ocean.I The worship of Merodach was the last ally regarded as having been an.imistic - the important form of the religion of Babylonia, As attribution of a soul to the various powers of to Assyria, the changes seem to have been . nature. Traces of this creed, in fact, are met fewer or non-existent - from first to last the. with in the statements of their beliefs which have people remained faithful to their national go(f come down to us. Thus the first creative power Assur. was the sea (Tiamat or Tiawath), teeming, as it Notwithstanding the homogeneity of the Baby~ does, with so many and such wonderful forms of Ionian religious system, there were many differ­ life ; and next to the sea, the rivers and streams, ences of belief in the various states of that couritry, represented by the god Ea or Enki, with his each of which-and, indeed, every important city daughter Nin-alJ.a-kuddu, The god of .the air, -worshipped its own special divinity, with his and. of thi1'nder, wind; and rain (Rammapu or consort and attendants. The list of 'these is Rimmon, also known as Addu, Adad, or Hadad), naturally very long, but_ as examples may be men­ is another example ; and the god of pestilence tioned Anu and !Star at Erech; Enlil and later (Nergal) may also be regarded as being of a on Ninip 2 at Nippur; Enki or Ea at Eridu; similar origin, and perhaps identical with Ugga, Merodach and Zer-pan!tum at Babylon; the the god of death.
    [Show full text]
  • Eski Anadolu Ve Eski Mezopotamya'da Tanrıça Kültleri
    T.C. NECMETTİN ERBAKAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ TARİH ANABİLİM DALI ESKİÇAĞ TARİHİ BİLİM DALI ESKİ ANADOLU VE ESKİ MEZOPOTAMYA’DA TANRIÇA KÜLTLERİ KADER BAĞDERE YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ DANIŞMAN: DOÇ. DR. MUAMMER ULUTÜRK KONYA-2021 T.C. NECMETTİN ERBAKAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ TARİH ANABİLİM DALI ESKİÇAĞ TARİHİ BİLİM DALI ESKİ ANADOLU VE ESKİ MEZOPOTAMYA’DA TANRIÇA KÜLTLERİ KADER BAĞDERE YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ DANIŞMAN: DOÇ. DR. MUAMMER ULUTÜRK KONYA-2021 T.C. NECMETTİN ERBAKAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü BİLİMSEL ETİK SAYFASI Adı Soyadı Kader Bağdere Numarası 18810501035 Ana Bilim / Bilim Dalı Tarih/Eskiçağ Programı Tezli Yüksek Lisans X Doktora Öğrencinin Tezin Adı Eski Anadolu ve Eski Mezopotamya’da Tanrıça Kültleri Bu tezin hazırlanmasında bilimsel etiğe ve akademik kurallara özenle riayet edildiğini, tez içindeki bütün bilgilerin etik davranış ve akademik kurallar çerçevesinde elde edilerek sunulduğunu, ayrıca tez yazım kurallarına uygun olarak hazırlanan bu çalışmada başkalarının eserlerinden yararlanılması durumunda bilimsel kurallara uygun olarak atıf yapıldığını bildiririm. Öğrencinin Adı Soyadı İmzası i T.C. NECMETTİN ERBAKAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü ÖZET Adı Soyadı Kader Bağdere Numarası 18810501035 Tarih/Eskiçağ Tarihi Ana Bilim / Bilim Dalı Tezli Yüksek Lisans X Programı Doktora Öğrencinin Tez Danışmanı Doç. Dr. Muammer Ulutürk Eski Anadolu ve Eski Mezopotamya’da Tanrıça Kültleri Tezin Adı Anadolu ve Mezopotamya yüzyıllar boyunca pek çok medeniyete ev sahipliği yapmıştır. Bu topraklar üzerinde birçok kavim doğmuş, varlığını sürdürmüş ve yok olmuştur. Bu bölgeler çok uluslu bir yapıya sahiptir. Çok uluslu olması, dinin de çok tanrılı olmasına neden olmuştur. Hem Anadolu’da hem Mezopotamya’da birçok tanrıça inanışı oluşmuştur. Anadolu’nun en mühim tanrıçası Kibele’dir.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fifty Names of Marduk.Pdf
    The Fifty names of Marduk What we find in the list of the names of Marduk, head of the Mesopotamian divine pantheon, as listed in the Enuma Elish (‘When on High’), is the name of each aspect of Marduk followed by a short description of the powers and properties which each name represents. Taken together, these descriptions of the aspects of Marduk provide a catalogue of divine qualities, and consequently, since the duty of the Mesopotamian king is to emulate the qualities of the gods, also provide a catalogue of the qualities required in the king. It isn't necessary to review all of the names for the purpose of this study - the first ten are reviewed, plus some later names in the list, and the colophon. The translation of the text is by E.A Speiser, from his: Enuma Elish, The Fifty Names of Marduk, (Tablet VIb – VII). What I'm interested in here is the underlying rationale for this collection of names, properties and attributes. It is well known that the divine pantheon in Mesopotamia was subject to local politics and changes in rulership and cultural hegemony, and I am not challenging that at all. However it was possible for properties and attributes to be reassigned, and transferred to other deities. And they were so reassigned. I'm interested in the properties and attributes of Marduk as they appear in the Enuma Elish, and what can be understood of the process by which the list was generated. Samuel Noah Kramer commented, with some puzzlement, on a Sumerian list of disparate things which were white, which I referred to earlier.
    [Show full text]
  • ANIMAL SACRIFICE in ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION The
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION JOANN SCURLOCK The relationship between men and gods in ancient Mesopotamia was cemented by regular offerings and occasional sacrifices of ani­ mals. In addition, there were divinatory sacrifices, treaty sacrifices, and even "covenant" sacrifices. The dead, too, were entitled to a form of sacrifice. What follows is intended as a broad survey of ancient Mesopotamian practices across the spectrum, not as an essay on the developments that must have occurred over the course of several millennia of history, nor as a comparative study of regional differences. REGULAR OFFERINGS I Ancient Mesopotamian deities expected to be fed twice a day with­ out fail by their human worshipers.2 As befitted divine rulers, they also expected a steady diet of meat. Nebuchadnezzar II boasts that he increased the offerings for his gods to new levels of conspicuous consumption. Under his new scheme, Marduk and $arpanitum were to receive on their table "every day" one fattened ungelded bull, fine long fleeced sheep (which they shared with the other gods of Baby1on),3 fish, birds,4 bandicoot rats (Englund 1995: 37-55; cf. I On sacrifices in general, see especially Dhorme (1910: 264-77) and Saggs (1962: 335-38). 2 So too the god of the Israelites (Anderson 1992: 878). For specific biblical refer­ ences to offerings as "food" for God, see Blome (1934: 13). To the term tamid, used of this daily offering in Rabbinic sources, compare the ancient Mesopotamian offering term gimi "continual." 3 Note that, in the case of gods living in the same temple, this sharing could be literal.
    [Show full text]
  • Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions
    MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS BY GEORGE A. BARTON PROFESSOR IN BRYN MAWR COLLEGE ttCI.f~ -VIb NEW HAVEN YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXVIII COPYRIGHT 1918 BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS First published, August, 191 8. TO HAROLD PEIRCE GENEROUS AND EFFICIENT HELPER IN GOOD WORKS PART I SUMERIAN RELIGIOUS TEXTS INTRODUCTORY NOTE The texts in this volume have been copied from tablets in the University Museum, Philadelphia, and edited in moments snatched from many other exacting duties. They present considerable variety. No. i is an incantation copied from a foundation cylinder of the time of the dynasty of Agade. It is the oldest known religious text from Babylonia, and perhaps the oldest in the world. No. 8 contains a new account of the creation of man and the development of agriculture and city life. No. 9 is an oracle of Ishbiurra, founder of the dynasty of Nisin, and throws an interesting light upon his career. It need hardly be added that the first interpretation of any unilingual Sumerian text is necessarily, in the present state of our knowledge, largely tentative. Every one familiar with the language knows that every text presents many possi- bilities of translation and interpretation. The first interpreter cannot hope to have thought of all of these, or to have decided every delicate point in a way that will commend itself to all his colleagues. The writer is indebted to Professor Albert T. Clay, to Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., and to Dr. Stephen Langdon for many helpful criticisms and suggestions. Their wide knowl- edge of the religious texts of Babylonia, generously placed at the writer's service, has been most helpful.
    [Show full text]
  • NINAZU, the PERSONAL DEITY of GUDEA Toshiko KOBAYASHI*
    NINAZU, THE PERSONAL DEITY OF GUDEA -The Continuity of Personal Deity of Rulers on the Royal Inscriptions of Lagash- Toshiko KOBAYASHI* I. Introduction 1. Historical materials from later periods For many years, I have examined the personal deities of rulers in Pre- Sargonic Lagash.(1) There are not many historical materials about the personal deities from Pre-Sargonic times. In as much as the materials are limited chiefly to the personal deities recorded in the royal inscriptions, not all aspects of personal deities are clear. In my paper "On Ninazu, as Seen in the Economic Texts of the Early Dynastic Lagas (1)" in Orient XXVIII, I discussed Ninazu, who appears in the administrative-economic texts of Pre-Sargonic Lagash. Ninazu appears only in the offering-lists in the reign of Uruinimgina, the last ruler of Pre-Sargonic Lagash. Based only on an analysis of the offering-lists, I argued that Ninazu was the personal deity of a close relative of Uruinimgina. In my investigation thus far of the extant historical materials from Pre-Sargonic Lagash, I have not found any royal inscriptions and administrative-economic texts that refer to Ninazu as dingir-ra-ni ("his deity"), that is, as his personal deity. However, in later historical materials two texts refer to Ninazu as "his deity."(2) One of the texts is FLP 2641,(3) a royal inscription by Gudea, engraved on a clay cone. The text states, "For his deity Ninazu, Gudea, ensi of Lagash, built his temple in Girsu." Gudea is one of the rulers belonging to prosperous Lagash in the Pre-Ur III period; that is, when the Akkad dynasty was in decline, after having been raided by Gutium.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lost Book of Enki.Pdf
    L0ST BOOK °f6NK1 ZECHARIA SITCHIN author of The 12th Planet • . FICTION/MYTHOLOGY $24.00 TH6 LOST BOOK OF 6NK! Will the past become our future? Is humankind destined to repeat the events that occurred on another planet, far away from Earth? Zecharia Sitchin’s bestselling series, The Earth Chronicles, provided humanity’s side of the story—as recorded on ancient clay tablets and other Sumerian artifacts—concerning our origins at the hands of the Anunnaki, “those who from heaven to earth came.” In The Lost Book of Enki, we can view this saga from a dif- ferent perspective through this richly con- ceived autobiographical account of Lord Enki, an Anunnaki god, who tells the story of these extraterrestrials’ arrival on Earth from the 12th planet, Nibiru. The object of their colonization: gold to replenish the dying atmosphere of their home planet. Finding this precious metal results in the Anunnaki creation of homo sapiens—the human race—to mine this important resource. In his previous works, Sitchin com- piled the complete story of the Anunnaki ’s impact on human civilization in peacetime and in war from the frag- ments scattered throughout Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Egyptian, Canaanite, and Hebrew sources- —the “myths” of all ancient peoples in the old world as well as the new. Missing from these accounts, however, was the perspective of the Anunnaki themselves What was life like on their own planet? What motives propelled them to settle on Earth—and what drove them from their new home? Convinced of the existence of a now lost book that formed the basis of THE lost book of ENKI MFMOHCS XND PKjOPHeCieS OF XN eXTfCXUfCWJTWXL COD 2.6CHXPJA SITCHIN Bear & Company Rochester, Vermont — Bear & Company One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 www.InnerTraditions.com Copyright © 2002 by Zecharia Sitchin All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]