Enmerkar vs. the king of Ararat: 2100 BC
Documents the Tower of Babel Division of Languages in 2850 BC
See also: Nimrod builds the Tower of Babel
“For man will then have no enemy. On that day the lands of Šubur and Hamazi, As well as twin-tongued Sumer—great mound of the power of lordship— Together with Akkad—the mound that has all that is befitting— And even the land Martu, resting in green pastures, 145 Yea, the whole world of well-ruled people, Will be able to speak to Enlil in one language! For on that day, for the debates between lords and princes and kings Shall Enki, for the debates between lords and princes and kings, For the debates between lords and princes and kings, 150 Shall Enki, Lord of abundance, Lord of steadfast decisions, Lord of wisdom and knowledge in the Land, Expert of the gods, Chosen for wisdom, Lord of Eridug, Change the tongues in their mouth, as many as he once placed there, 155 And the speech of mankind shall be truly one!’” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:144–155)
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EPSK 1: Submission of Ararat to Uruk #1: Enmerkar vs. Ensuhgirana EPSK 2: Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat EPSK 3: Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave EPSK 4: Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #2: Lugalbanda’s miraculous speed from Ararat to Uruk |
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The Kingdom of Nimrod
Civil war between Nimrod and his elders: North vs. South
Nimrod of Uruk defeats Ensuhgirana king of Ararat
Enmerkar as Nimrod
Preface: About Enmerkar vs. the king of Ararat:
See also: Nimrod builds the Tower of Babel
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A. Cast of characters and places in the four ancient stories: 1. Unug: City of Uruk 2. Aratta: City of Aratta and/or Mt. Ararat and the kingdom whose capital city in close by or at the Mt. Ararat. 3. Enmerkar: King of Uruk near the Persian Gulf and a good candidate for Nimrod based upon Gen 10:7-12 4. Ensuhgirana: King of Mt. Ararat only named in story one, but referred to as the “king of Ararat” in stories 2-4. 5. Lugalbanda: son of Enmerkar in stories 3-4. 6. Inana/Inanna: (Ishtar, Venus) Goddess of war, strife, and sexual love; city goddess of Unug (Uruk) and Aratta (Ararat). 7. Anzud bird: Lion-faced mythical bird; guardian of the mountain ranges between Sumer and Aratta. 8. Nimrod: Founder of Babel and Uruk and the entire Assyrian nation. a. "The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city." (Genesis 10:7–12) b. "They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, The land of Nimrod at its entrances; And He will deliver us from the Assyrian When he attacks our land And when he tramples our territory." (Micah 5:6) 9. Three main characters in the four stories: Enmerkar king of Uruk, his son Lugalbanda, and Ensuhgirana the King of Ararat. a. “The main actors in the cycle are Enmerkar, Lugalbanda, and the Lord of Aratta. The first two appear in the Sumerian King List as rulers of Unug. While Lugalbanda was the recipient of a cult, especially in Nippur, from the Ur III period right through the Old Babylonian period (i.e., right through about 1600 b.c.e.), his only literary survival outside the cycle is found in a few royal hymns and a few mentions in the Gilgamesh epic. In the Sumerian cycle of the Gilgamesh stories Lugalbanda is mentioned as Gilgamesh’s father. In the Akkadian epic Lugalbanda is called Gilgamesh’s (personal) god. To be sure, there is a very old (c 2500 BC) text describing how Lugalbanda won his wife Ninsun, but this story is not reflected in our cycle. Enmerkar, however, had more of a literary afterlife. He is mentioned in one of the legends of the Kings of Akkad, in a mythical story about Adapa, and in a so-called chronicle of the earliest times. Furthermore, there is a still enigmatic composition apparently dealing with Enmerkar’s construction of a house for Inana. (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p6, 2003 AD) |
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B. The four storylines of Enmerkar vs. the king of Ararat (Ararat “RRT”= city “R” of Aratta “RT”): 1. Submission of Ararat to Uruk #1: Enmerkar vs. Ensuhgirana [EPSK 1]: a. After a boasting match between two kings as to who is the idol goddess Inana’s preferred sexual partner, followed by competing wizardry spells and counter-spells to cause and break famine in Urek, Ensuhgirana the king of Ararat submits to Enmerkar king of Uruk. b. “In the days when Enmerkar rules over the splendid and awesome city of Unug, the lord of Aratta, Ensuhgirana by name, claiming to be the recipient of Inana’s favors, demands Enmerkar’s submission to Aratta. Enmerkar refuses, pointing out that it is obvious that he himself is Inana’s true and constant lover. The lord of Aratta apparently admits that he has been beaten in this part of the game, but, although criticized by his own people, he in turn refuses to submit to Unug. A sorcerer from Hamazi offers his services to break the stalemate: he claims to be able to bring Unug to submission. The lord of Aratta accepts the offer. The wizard travels to the city of Ereš, where he casts a spell on the cattle of the goddess Nisaba. They stop giving milk, and there is famine in Sumer. A cowherd and a shepherd implore the sun god, who sends a wise woman. She catches up with the wizard on the banks of the Euphrates. They start a competition in magic. Five times the wizard throws fish spawn in the river and draws out an animal; five times the wise woman draws out another animal, which catches the wizard’s animal and presumably eats it. Then the wise woman accuses the wizard of black magic, since his magic is draining away the life force of Sumer. He admits that he has been beaten at his own game and pleads for his life. She refuses, takes away his vital force, and thus reenlivens the city of Ereš. Upon hearing this, the lord of Aratta admits defeat and submits to Enmerkar.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p23, 2003 AD) 2. Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat [EPSK 2]: a. The great trade dispute: Ensuhgirana the king of Ararat refuses to supply the new rival king Enmerkar (Nimrod) with precious metals and stones needed to build Uruk. As in the first story [EPSK 1], the demand of submission of Ararat to Enmerkar is based upon who the goddess Inana (Venus) prefers to go to bed with. This time, however, Inana sends a message through Enmerkar to Ensuhgirana the king of Ararat that she prefers Enmerkar and therefore must supply the trade goods. In a kind of “Battle of Wits”, like in the Princess Bride, the ranking king of Ararat creates three impossible to solve challenges for Enmerkar, which of course, he solves. Enmerkar supplies two reasons why Ensuhgirana the king of Ararat must submit to his authority, become a vassal king and send the gold and precious stones. First, Enmerkar points out that he is the first one to build a mud brick temple to the pagan goddess in Uruk and that there is no temple building anywhere else in the world including the kingdom of Ararat. Here the Nimrod = Enmerkar synchronism strongly supports that Nimrod was a rebeller, not only for political insurrection to human powers, but for being the first person to invent and propagate and entire pantheon of idol gods. To the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai in 1446 BC, Nimrod’s Assyrian represented “the gods of your fathers beyond the river”. Second, Enmerkar argues that he invented the first written form of language on earth: Cuneiform. He wishes for the world to be restored like it was before the Tower of Babel when all men spoke a single language. In the end a dog fight is proposed to determine who is the top king but Inana herself then orders Ensuhgirana the king of Ararat to both submit and trade with the uprising fledgling kingdom of Enmerkar in the south. b. “The story seems deceptively simple. Enmerkar, king of Unug, wants to embellish his city and the whole of Sumer with precious metals and stones, goods that are not to be found in Sumer but only in the fabulously wealthy city Aratta, which lies behind the mountains. Since trade does not as yet exist, he asks the goddess Inana what he should do: Inana is the goddess of Aratta as well. She favors Enmerkar and advises him to send a messenger with a challenge to Aratta, requisitioning what he wants and enforcing his claim by stating that she favors him. He does so, but the (unnamed) lord of Aratta refuses, claiming that Inana is his goddess as well and that anyway his mountain city is an impregnable fastness. Still, he is willing to enter into a contest with Enmerkar in order to see whose side Inana is really on. This results in a counterchallenge that takes the form of an unsolvable riddle: if Enmerkar succeeds in carting grain to Aratta in open nets instead of bags, he might reconsider. Enmerkar finds a solution: he uses sprouting barley to close the interstices of the nets so that no grain is spilled. Sending off the grain, he repeats his challenge. This time the lord of Aratta asks him to bring him a scepter made of no existing material. Enmerkar solves this riddle as well: he prepares a gluelike plastic substance that he pours into a hollow reed; after this mass has hardened, which takes a long time, he breaks away the reed mould and sends off the scepter with a renewed challenge. Finally, the lord of Aratta requests a dog of no known color to fight his own dog. Enmerkar again finds a solution: he weaves a cloth of no known color. When this is sent off to Aratta the messenger complains that the message has become too long and difficult for him to remember and reproduce. Thereupon Enmerkar invents writing—which throws the lord of Aratta in despair. At this point Iškur, the god of storm and rain, intervenes, and the famine and drought that was scourging Aratta at the time is over. The fight between the two dogs now appears as part of a festival. Inana reappears, confirms her predilection for Enmerkar, but also tells him to institute peaceful trade with Aratta from now on.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p49, 2003 AD) 3. Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave [EPSK 3]: a. These two stories revolve around Enmerkar’s son Lugalbanda. Again, Ensuhgirana [named in EPSK 1] the northern king of Ararat refuses to submit to the southern kingdom of Enmerkar at Uruk. Lugalbanda joins the army in marching from Uruk to Mt. Ararat but becomes sick along the way. He is left in alone in a cave with provisions to die. He begs to be healed and offers four successive prayers to the sun god, moon god, star god and once again to the sun god. All the god’s gather with him for a feast and they heal Lugalbanda so that he can now travel north to join the siege the city of Aratta (Urartu = Ur-Artu = Ur of Aratta. Note: Ur = city as in Ur of Chaldees = City of the Chaldeans]. Here we see the narrative invoking the memory of when city walls had first been built, which indicates the story is after the tower of Babel. At the feast of gods a group of competing gods arrive and a battle between “darkness and light” ensues. (really darkness and darkness). After the opposing gods are defeated, Lugalbanda begins to travel to join the military siege at the mudbrick city wall of the capital city of the King of Ararat. b. “Enmerkar of Unug [Eruk] wants to conquer Aratta. During the march, Lugalbanda (his son?) falls mortally ill and is abandoned in a cave in the mountains. He prays to the great luminaries, who save his life. Being all alone, he reinvents fire, cooking, and baking. He captures a wild bull and a wild goat. Acting on a portentous dream, he sacrifices these animals to the great gods. A band of spirits arrives. The hero masters them with the help of Utu. There seems to follow a battle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. The former seem to win this battle.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p97, 2003 AD) 4. Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #2: Lugalbanda’s miraculous speed from Ararat to Uruk [EPSK 4]: a. In a continuation of the first installment, Enmerkar’s son Lugalbanda, now healed by the gods in the cave begins to travel to join the military siege of his father at the mudbrick city wall of the capital city of the King of Ararat. On route he gains the favour of the mythical Anzud bird by feeding its chicks and is granted miraculous powers of speed travel. After arriving at the siege, which lasted a year without success, he uses his new found super speed to run alone back to the mudbrick temple of Inana at Uruk to ask for her help Ensuhgirana [named in EPSK 1] the king of Ararat submits to Enmerkar without bloodshed. b. “Lugalbanda is now stranded in the highlands. He decides to go and look for the Anzud bird, who rules over that region. He feasts Anzud’s chick so well that it is stuffed with food and probably asleep when its parents return from foraging; therefore, it does not answer their call. The frightened parents are very happy when Lugalbanda appears and tells them what has happened. Anzud rewards him with the gift of superhuman speed. He returns to his companions, who are laying siege to Aratta. To force a decision, Enmerkar sends Lugalbanda back to Unug in order to ask for Inana’s advice. In a single day Lugalbanda reaches Unug, and Inana gives her advice. Aratta seemingly submits peacefully.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p97, 2003 AD) |
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Young Earth Archeological Dating by Steven Rudd: 2019
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Christian Archeological Dating (CAD) Creation: 5444 BC (LXX) Noahic Flood: 3298 BC Tower of Babel 2850 BC Steven Rudd: January 2019 Chronological notes: 1. Creation to Flood = 2146 years 2. 430 years in Egypt (Ex 12:40, Gal 3:17) 3. Exodus 1446 BC, Conquest 1406 BC 4. Shiloh destroyed in 1096 BC 5. Solomon’s temple begun in 967 BC 6. Terah 130 years old when Abraham born in 2166 BC (Acts 7:4) 7. Kainan 130 years old when his son Shelah was born (Lxx: Gen 11:12; 10:24; 1 Chr 1:17; Lk 3:36) |
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Date |
Archeological Age |
Rationale for archeological age and notes |
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GLOBAL FLOOD 3298 BC (LXX) Population 8 |
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3298-3200 |
(Paleolithic Neolithic Chalcolithic) Halaf Hassuna |
1. Noahic Flood: Oldest possible archeology on earth. a. Pre-flood man encased in 2km rock flood deposit (Grand Canyon) 2. First Inana goddess figurines near Ararat before Nimrod but no temples. 3. Sites include Tepe Gawra, Değirmen Tepe 4. Nimrod born 3225 5. Population Calculator: 6 Persons (three breeding couples- Noah had no other children). Breeding lifespans over 400 years. In 2018 Somalia had a 3.8% growth rate) |
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3200 BC: Nimrod founds Babel: Ubaid 1 Population 800 |
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3200-3000 |
Paleolithic Neolithic Chalcolithic Halaf, Hassuna Ubaid 1,2 |
1. 3200: Nimrod, age 25, founds Babel (Eridu), Babel/Eridu, Uruk/Erech, Accad and Calneh in the southern land of Shinar. 2. Nimrod builds the first mudbrick temples (XVII to VII) built for Enki at Eridu (water god and patron god of Eridu) and another mudbrick temple built for Inana at Uruk (sex and war goddess and patron god of Uruk). 3. Population: 800 (6 Persons @ 5% growth 100 yrs. after flood) |
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3000 BC: Nimrod founds Nineveh: Ubaid Peaceful Expansion Population 300,000 |
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3000-2850 |
Neolithic Chalcolithic Halaf, Hassuna Ubaid 3 Expansion Ubaid 4:2950 BC Urek 1,2: 2900 BC |
1. Friendly expansion 1800 north from Babel (Eridu) 2. First trade networks created by Nimrod. 3. Nimrod’s pagan gods transmitted north to Ararat. 4. Nimrod, age 225, founds Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah in the north 5. Excavations at Nineveh date the origin of the city to the Ubaid 3 (late Neolithic and early Hassuna culture period). 6. Eridu temples VI to II 7. Nimrod invents the bevel-rim bowl (BRB) and mass produces them in molds. 8. Population: 300,000 (800 Persons @ 3% growth 200 years: 3200-3000 BC) |
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2850 BC: Nimrod builds Tower of Babel: Late Uruk Colonial Expansion FIRST WRITTEN LANGUAGES Sumerian Cuneiform, Egyptian Hieroglyphic Population 12 million |
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2850-2800 |
“Late Uruk 3 Expansion” Early Bronze (EB I) Naqada I |
1. Nimrod, age 375, builds Tower of Babel: 2850 BC a. Eridu temple I, dedicated to Enki, the water god, included a huge flat platform for the tower of Babel. b. A Ziggurat may have been started on this platform, but it was abandoned until 2040 BC when the Ziggurat of Amar-Sin at Eridu was constructed then repaired in 1990 AD. You can visit it today in Iraq. 2. Nimrod’s bevel-rim bowl (BRB) is distributed rapidly all over the world. 3. Founding of Jerusalem (Gihon), Jericho (Spring), Egypt (Nile), Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Ashkelon (ocean), Dan (spring), Beidha/Petra (Spring) 4. Pre-Dynastic Egypt: 2850 (dynasty 0) 5. First written languages in 2850 BC when men had to use known symbols to communicate as seen in pictorial cuneiform, hieroglyphs and Chinese. 6. Population: 12 million a. 300,000 Persons @ 3% growth 150 years: 3000-2850 BC. b. Using Somalia’s 2018 AD growth rate of 3.8% for 400 years with a starting population of 6 equals a final population of 14 million. |
Introduction:
1. Dating of these four stories: 2100 BC
a. “There is little doubt that the cycle originated in the Ur III period (2112–2004 b.c.e.), but the actual form of the texts and the tablets themselves date almost exclusively from the Isin-Larsa period (2017–1763 b.c.e.) and are products of the scribal schools, predominantly those of Nippur and Ur.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p1, 2003 AD)
b. Both Nimrod and Enmerkar lived second generation from the flood.
c. “All the stories make a point of setting the happenings in a definite period: the glorious reign of Enmerkar of Unug [Eruk]. According to the Sumerian King List, the dynasty to which he belongs was the second one after the flood, and thus it antedated the presumed composition of our texts by at least some seven thousand years. But more important is the additional notice in that same document: the entry explicitly says that he is “the one who built Unug. [Eruk]” The stories themselves point this out in their introductory parts and even in the substance of the story (in ELA) or in some important passages (Enmerkar’s plea to Inana at the end of LB II). Thus the stories are set in the greatest of heroic times, when the city was first built.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p4, 2003 AD)
d. “The story of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta begins in legendary times, before many of the inventions of civilization — such as written communication by letter. Enmerkar ruled in Uruk as “priest-king” (en), and was the human husband of Inanna, with whom he united yearly in the rite of the sacred marriage. The lord of Aratta ruled in the fabled city of Aratta which lay in the mountains far away to the east. He also was the spouse of Inanna with the responsibilities for the city’s prosperity. But Inanna, we are told loved Enmerkar best.” (COS, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta 1.170, Vol 1, p547, 1997 AD)
e. In the Sumerian Kings list, 2nd dynasty may correspond to simply father son rule, since each would live 500 years with many sub-rulers in between.
2. Overview Summary of the theme and plot of the four stories:
a. The Rise of king Nimrod as told in the four Enmerkar vs. Aratta stories:
i. The theme of all four Enmerkar vs. Aratta stories is the submission of the older northern kingdom at Mt. Ararat to the younger new kingdom of Enmerkar at Uruk.
ii. “The “Matter of Aratta” is the somewhat anachronistic term used for a group of four narrative poems2 in Sumerian, dealing with the various ways in which King Enmerkar, the legendary ruler of Unug—the Sumerian name for Uruk (biblical Erech, now Warka)—won supremacy over the faraway, fabulous, and fabulously rich legendary city of Aratta. Together with the Sumerian cycle of Gilgamesh tales, the Aratta stories constitute what may be called, anachronistically again, the Gesta Urukaeorum—or the Legends of the Kings of Uruk. These kings, who represent just two or three generations, appear in the Sumerian King List—an ideological document probably drawn up in the eighteenth century b.c.e. and purporting to be historical—as the second dynasty after the flood.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p1, 2003 AD)
iii. “The legendary rulers have made Unug/Sumer preeminent among the nations and have laid the foundation, materially and ethically, for its supremacy. The reasons advanced for this superiority, technologically as well as ethically and perhaps even theologically (the support of the gods; the attitude of Inana), may reflect an ideal situation, but they are clearly derived from the actual or supposed situation that obtained during the glorious Ur III period.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p13, 2003 AD)
b. Nimrod’s (Enmekar) South vs. North civil war:
i. Young upstart King Nimrod’s rise to power requires him to defeat the existing supreme king and ruler of Mt. Ararat.
ii. The submission of the kingdom of Aratta (the first post flood government) to the new southern government of Nimrod occurred before the flood.
iii. The setting clearly indicates it is post flood and post tower of Babel when the languages were confounded that quickly brought about the invention of cuneiform by Nimrod. We see Nimrod as already having built the first pagan shrine on earth before one existed in Aratta. The story indirectly confirms that Nimrod the rebeller to the northern kingdom of Ararat also rebelled against God almighty by being the creator of the entire pantheon of pagan gods.
iv. New rising power challenges old established power
v. Younger children challenge their parent’s authority.
vi. South challenges north
vii. Babel (Eridu) and Uruk challenges the City of Aratta (Ararat)
viii. Poor challenges rich in Ararat.
ix. Nimrod’s new idol gods at Eridu vs the established monotheism of Ararat and those alive who were on Noah’s Ark.
c. This is a perfect match for the two step Nimrod story of the Bible where a second generation from Noah’s ark becomes a great king:
i. Stage 1: Nimrod begins building his kingdom in the southern Land of Shinar at Babel (Eridu) and Uruk (Gen 10:10)
ii. Stage 2: Nimrod expands his rule north to Nineveh (Gen 10:11). It is this second expansion in Genesis Gen 10:11 where the four stories are set.
3. Refusal to trade triggered the civil war:
a. Ararat’s refusal to send gold, silver and precious stones to Enmerkar (Nimrod)
b. While the northern first original kingdom at Aratta had an early start in mining minerals etc, Nimrod is seen as a rebel for setting up a new kingdom and is denied any exported goods to build his new cities of Babel, Uruk etc.
c. “Enmerkar, king of Unug, wants to embellish his city and the whole of Sumer with precious metals and stones, goods that are not to be found in Sumer but only in the fabulously wealthy city Aratta” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p49, 2003 AD)
d. The four stories document the riches of Ararat’s Gold and precious stones they wouldn’t share:
i. Kingdom of Ararat refused to share its wealth or even trade with Nimrod in the south
ii. ‘Therefore, Aratta, having packed gold nuggets in leather sacks, ‘And packed them tight with gold dust, ‘And wrapped the precious metals in bales, ‘And loaded mountain asses with the crates” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:196–199)
iii. “Let him [lord of Aratta] hold it in his hand like a string of carnelian and lapis lazuli beads; “Let the lord of Aratta bring that to me [Enmekar]! Tell him that!” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:345)
iv. “Artfully work gold and silver for my sake! 40 [Let them cut for my sake] polished lapis lazuli from its block; [Let them work for my sake] the translucent smooth lapis lazuli; [Let them] build [for my sake] the holy mountain in Unug! A temple [descended] from heaven—your place of worship, The shrine Eana—let [Aratta] build that! 45 The holy Gipar, your dwelling, Let Aratta artfully adorn its inner chamber for my sake So that I, the beaming youth, may embrace you therein! Let Aratta submit to Unug! Let the people of Aratta 50 Bring down for me the stones of their hills and mountains And build for me the great shrine, erect for me the great abode! For my sake, let them make illustrious the great abode, the abode of the gods!” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:39–52)
v. Therefore, Aratta, having packed gold nuggets in leather sacks, 125 And packed them tight with gold dust” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:124–125)
4. Origin of Trade: Ararat’s trade war with Nimrod resolved:
a. Inana [goddess] orders the king of Aratta to trade their gold with Enmerkar: “The people of Aratta Have as their task the trading of gold and lapis lazuli And the fashioning of golden fruits and fruity bushes Laden with figs and grapes…; they shall heap up these fruits in great piles; They shall dig out flawless lapis lazuli in lumps; They shall remove the crowns of the sweet reeds, And for Inana, Lady of the Eana, They shall heap them up in piles in the courtyard of the Eana.” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:618–625)
b. “Thus the invention of trade, which concludes ELA [Enmerkar vs. the lord of Aratta: EPSK 2], is based upon Sumer’s abundant wheat crops with the attendant technology (the first impossible task), its high technology resulting in the fashioning of the scepter from an artificial material (the second task), and the high standard of its textile industry (the last task). These three technological advances represent Unug’s favorable position in the balance of trade: in this way they can have at their disposal the “raw material” (precious stones and metals) Aratta has to offer. But there is more: by the globalization of the use of their language (the Spell of Nudimmud!) and by the invention of writing they also control this international trade.43 But there is also a moral or ethical aspect to Sumer’s superiority.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p9, 2003 AD)
c. Again, the conflict is solved without bloodshed but negotiation.
5. Etymology of Aratta = Urartu = Mt. Ararat
a. Lord of Aratta is the King of the kingdom of Ararat which ruled the world after the flood.
b. Aratta [RT] and Ararat [RT] are spelled identically in Cuneiform and refer to the same place.
c. Urartu = Ur-Artu = Ur-Ararat = City of Ararat
d. Ararat = Ar-Arat = Ur-Arat = Ur-Aratta = Ur [city] of Aratta
e. “Cuneiform is not alphabetic. Its monolingual. This means that each character expresses a syllable rather than in an alphabet where each character expresses a phoneme (sound). Alphabetical characters express much simpler units and that’s why most alphabets are around 26 characters whereas cuneiform inventories number in the 100s or 1000s.” (Matt Hassler, Email, 2019 AD)
f. “Aratta = biblical Ararat = Assyrian Urartu = Uru-Mania = classical Armenia. Both language wise, and geographically/historically. If you are asking for a further suggestion, you might want to consider that the first element of Ararat is Ar/Ur which has the meaning ’settlement’ and later ‘city’ (as in Ur of the Chaldees and Urushalayim). Similarly, Urartu is a later rendition of Ur-Aratu. So Ar-Arat could be ’settlement or city of Arat[ta]’. This would be the multi-coloured walled city mentioned in the Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta text.” (David Rohl, who also proposes Enmerkar as a candidate for Nimrod, Email, 2019 AD)
g. It is truly puzzling why “Bible trashing scholars” claim that Aratta is “Unknown, probably mythical, city” and NEVER make the obvious connection between Urartu = Ararat = Aratta = Mt. Ararat.
6. Immediately after the flood those on the ark, built dwellings near and around Mt. Ararat.
a. The king of Ararat boasts that the people of Ararat were “special and distinct” BECAUSE they survived the flood: “(On the contrary), the right and left flanks of Aratta— Inana, Lady of all the countries, Protects them when the mighty flood is rising! Its people are distinct from other people; They are a nation Dumuzid selected among the other nations, One that firmly establishes the holy word of Inana! So let now the Wise Dog and the … of Dumuzid lock on to each other. Quick, come, [my] young …! They were steadfast before the flood. After the flood had swept over, Inana, Lady of all the countries, Out of her great love for Dumuzid, Sprinkled the water of life over them, And subjected the Land to them!” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:563–576)
b. The oldest archeology in the world is a 60 km circle around Mt. Ararat.
c. The natural rulers were the four men who were on the ark.
d. A dynastic/patriarchal kingdom of Ararat ruled the world and all men were under a single government.
e. A single clan kingdom was established and as the population grew from 8 to 800 from 3298 – 3200 BC, young Nimrod (25 years old) decided to “rebel” against this dynastic kingdom of Ararat.
7. Events between the Flood and the Tower of Babel were “pre-military warfare times”:
a. The three challenges for submission in “Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta” are not resolved by war and killing but a “battle of wits”, like in the Princess Bride.
i. This invokes the historical memory before the flood when Nimrod defeated the king of Aratta by peaceful means, not military, given the world population might be in the thousands at this early post ark period.
ii. Ancient battles would sometimes be solved by vicarious warriors representing each side. However, as we see in the story of David and Goliath, although the Philistines agreed to submit to King Saul if Goliath lost the fight, they ended up reneging on the oath and ran back to Gath.
iii. This is further evidenced in the final challenge of dogs fighting to the death rather than human warfare where precious few souls populated the earth.
b. The Lord of Ararat therefore, challenges a dog fight to solve the problem.
i. “My dog will wrangle with his dog so that the stronger one be known. Tell him that! Second, when you speak to him, say also this: He must now stop prevaricating and come to a decision. Those of his city shall walk before him like sheep, and he, like a shepherd, shall follow them. At his coming, the holy mound of lapis lazuli shall humble itself before him like a crushed reed. They shall amass shining gold and silver for Inana of the Eana in the courtyard of Aratta in great piles.” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:475–485)
ii. Notice in the final challenge of the dogs, that Iškur (storm god and son of chief god Enlil) sent the rain upon Aratta. The king of Aratta replies that Inana (god) protects Aratta from the flood. This is a clear reference to the Noahic flood universally believed in by the earliest Sumerians down to the time of Abraham. Key is the statement that Aratta gets special protection (distinct) from other people who are not protected and die. But the falling rain dismisses the final challenge and the two parties are now at peace. Again, this invokes the memory of how non-military means were used before the tower of Babel and shortly after, to form governments.
c. “For all their cultural pretensions and their avowed aspiration to world domination, there is hardly any sign of xenophobia in these tales. Military glory is spurned and even somewhat ridiculed in at least two of the poems. Instead, the emphasis is on cultural and technical prowess, expressed as the highest form of intelligence and, of course, including writing. Furthermore, they overtly prefer their dominant position to be based on peaceful coexistence, even friendly relations with the outer world, to brute strength. (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p15, 2003 AD)
d. While the two latter stories (Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1 and #2) have a siege of the newly walled royal capital city of the old kingdom of Ararat, nobody actually is killed. Again the submission of Ararat to Nimrod (Enmerkar) is settled without bloodshed. Also remember that these four stories were composed over 1000 year after the events actually took place, so the “myths” were not always entirely technically accurate although they preserved the feel of the true historic events.
8. Development of city walls over time historically validated through archeology:
a. Archeologically, several ancient sites existed for a period without city walls, but then later, the walls were added. Some sites had two distinct walled cities including separate garbage dumps! This all evidences the confusion of language at Babel where people would start being unable to communicate and hostilities began triggering war and the need for city walls.
b. In the early stories of Enmekar vs. Aratta, Ararat is not seen as a city with walls
c. In the two latter Lugalbanda vs. Aratta stories, there is brickwork and the city that can be sieged:
i. Aratta’s battlements are of greenish lapis lazuli; Its wall and its towering brickwork are bright red; Its bricks are of tinstone” (Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave: EPSK 3.2:413–415)
d. The fruitless and unsuccessful one-year siege of Aratta that had city walls:
i. “By the watchtowers of Aratta, Unug and Kulab pitched camp. From the city javelins were raining down as from a cloud; Slingstones, numerous as the raindrops falling in a whole year, Were whizzing down from the wall of Aratta. Days went by and lengthened into months; a whole year passed. The harvest grew yellow beneath the skies. Worrying, they looked at the fields; they grew uneasy. Slingstones, numerous as the raindrops falling in a whole year, Kept falling on the roads. Mountain thorns hemmed them in.” (Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave: EPSK 3.2:254–264)
9. Inana’s (goddess) love for Enmekar grows cold in old age proving that Nimrod lived long not old age and was a worshipper of the pagan goddess Inana.
a. In the two earlier Enmekar vs. Aratta stories, the love of goddess Inana with Enmerkar hot and passionate.
i. Enmekar and the lord of Aratta both claim to have the best sexual relationship with Inana.
ii. Enmekar, however, claims that Inana she prefers him and gives him better love!
b. In the two latter Lugalbanda vs. Aratta stories, Inana’s love for Enmerkar had grown cold.
c. Recalling the founding of Uruk when Inana loved him, but now much later he questions her love, indicating a later period of time:
i. “Enmerkar, son of the Sun, Spoke harsh words to Inana: Once upon a time my noble sister, Holy Inana, From her bright mountain chose me in her holy heart And made me enter Kulab, the Brickwork. Unug then was a mere marsh, oozing water. Where there was dry land Euphrates poplars grew. Where there was a reed thicket old and young reeds grew together. Enki, king of Eridug, Made me tear out the old reeds and made me drain the water. Fifty years I was building, fifty years I was working [to build Babel and Uruk]. So now, if eventually in all of Sumer and Akkad The Martu, who know no grain, should rise up, There stands the wall of Unug [Eruk], extended across the desert like a bird net! But here, in this place, my power seems to be finished! My troops are bound to me as a calf to its mother. Yet, like a child that hates its mother and leaves the city My noble sister, Holy Inana, Has run back to Kulab, the Brickwork! Could she love her city, yet hate me? She should link the city to me! Could she hate her city, yet love me? She should link the city to me! Should the nu-gig—as happened to the Anzud chick— Reject me in person And abandon me by keeping to her holy chamber, Let her at least bring me back to Kulab, the Brickwork! Only on that day my spear shall be laid aside; On that day my shield shall be broken! Speak thus to my noble sister, Holy Inana!” Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave: EPSK 3.2:292–321
10. Supernatural power to run like Elijah to Tirzah and Mt. Sinai:
a. In the first Lugalbanda vs. Aratta story, Lugalbanda is granted speed as a reward by feeding its chicks.
i. Speed was granted to Lugalbanda by a bird called an Anzud. An Anzud is Lion-faced mythical bird; guardian of the mountain ranges between >Sumer and >Aratta.
ii. “The strength of running shall abound in your thighs, so that you never tire. “There shall be power in your arms; “Your arms shall stretch wide, your force shall not weaken. “Traveling like the Sun, like Inana, “Like the seven storms of Iškur, “You shall leap like the flame, jump like lightning! “You shall be able to go wherever you choose, “Set your feet wherever you cast your eyes, “Arrive wherever your heart prompts you, “And loosen your sandals only where your heart tells you!” Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave: EPSK 3.2:185–194
b. Twice Elijah exhibited miraculous speed or travel:
i. Elijah also outran Ahab from Mt. Carmel to Tirzah with miraculous speed: "Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel." (1 Kings 18:46)
ii. The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God." (1 Kings 19:7–8)
11. Archeological Provence:
a. “We know the poems from an ordered variety of tablets. These come overwhelmingly from the Nippur eduba and in smaller numbers from Ur. Their distribution is that of the core material: in nearly all cases we have a few complete editions on large multicolumn (five to six columns per side) single tablets; a few more complete editions composed of multicolumn (three to four columns per side) editions of half or one third of the text; many single column extract tablets (imgida). The writing is almost always small, regular, and careful. There are few mistakes. There are but few alternative spellings and readings. Obvious exercise tablets belonging to the earlier phases of education are conspicuously absent. Furthermore, all four poems are represented in the curricular catalogs, mostly as a group. It follows that the pieces were meant for the scholars themselves and represented the final and highest step in their scribal education. It also follows that these poems, as is also the case with the other members of the core curriculum, were not studied for life, but for schooling, as the Latin saying went, non vitae, sed scholae discimus.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p13, 2003 AD)
12. Intertwining of ancient Sumerian literature with the Bible stories of creation, the flood and the tower of Babel:
a. In Berossus' flood story, "Xisuthrus" (or Sisithrus) is the one who was on the ark during the great flood. His identity is either Noah, Shem, Ham or Jephath. Sisithrus was most likely Ham, given the fact that Ham's grandson was Nimrod who built the tower of Babel and that the flood story of Berossus in takes place in Eridu (Babel).
I. Enmerkar as Nimrod:
A. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both born in Ararat:
1. Nimrod:
a. Nimrod was born in the northern Mt. Ararat region but migrated south to found Babel in the south:
2. Enmerkar is twice said to be born in Ararat:
a. “To him [Enmekar] who grew up on the soil of Aratta” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:211 and EPSK 2:529)
B. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both mighty hunters:
1. Enmerkar the mighty hunter:
a. “Enmerkar” literally means “Enmer” the hunter “kar”: ‘Enmer the Hunter’
2. Nimrod was a mighty hunter = "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” (Genesis 10:9)
3. Nimrod: The phrase “mighty hunter” most naturally refers to the hunting of animals for food.
a. While men after the flood were vegans who feared animals, Nimrod showed uncharacteristic fearless bravery in not only hunting animals but also eating them. Nimrod therefore, paved the way for men to starting eating meat and change their diets from vegan to omnivore.
b. Echoing the bravery and hunting skills of Nimrod, their founder, many ancient Assyrian inscriptions and reliefs of Assyrians kings are pictured as “fearless hunters of animals”.
a. Moses points out to the children of Abraham at Mt. Sinai that in 3200 BC, Nimrod, second generation from Noah, when the world population was 800, was the first king, the first to be brave and not fear animals but to kill them, the first to eat animals, the founder all the Assyrian cities of their ancestors (Abraham called from Ur) and of course the first to invent pagan gods which created the great historic dichotomy between worshipers of YHWH at Sinai and the “gods of your forefathers beyond the river” they were all familiar with.
4. Nimrod, as the mighty hunter king, became the proto-type for all Assyrian kings as witnessed in countless reliefs and roller seals of later Assyian kings being called “mighty hunter” and depicted as hunting.
a. Since Nimrod lived before and after the Tower of Babel, this explains how Nimrod also became the prototype of the great HUNTER KING in Egypt as well!
b. There is a
cylinder seal (Old Assyrian period circa 2,300 BC) of a hero presenting
a new king to the moon-god Sin. The early Sumerian writing in front of the head
of the hero (thus labelling him) is KAR.NUN which means the ‘Mighty Hunter’.
(David Rohl)
C. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both former vegans converted to meat-eating:
1. Enmerkar:
a. Allusion to the early vegan/meat eating of Nimrod as the first meat eater.
b. Notice the vegan slur that meat eating humans are like dogs who eat rotten dead animals. In other worlds, only dogs eat meat. ‘Will then truly have cast out Aratta as a carrion-eating dog! [if Enmekar succeeds in bringing a donkey load of grain in nets to Aratta, the lord of Aratta will submit to Enmekar] (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:290)
2. Nimrod, born in 3225 BC might be identified as the first non-vegan to make meat eating popular 75 years after the flood.
a. All eight on the ark had lived their life as vegans, never eating meat. For one hundred years before the flood, they had never eaten meat! Like every human alive today, a person’s life long cuisine is highly resistant to change would continue after they exited the ark. While God did tell Noah that they could eat animals, their resistance to actually eating meat might exceed what happens when you take a vegan in for Texas BBQ where the options are chicken, beef and pork!
b. Identifying Nimrod as a person who ate a large amount of meat in Gen 10 contextually expands upon God’s command to start eating meat in the previous chapter 10: "“The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant." (Genesis 9:2–3)
c. After the flood, man feared the animals. When God put the “fear of man” in animals, this marked a changed relationship that transformed from a peaceful coexistence where “the lion lays down with the lamb and never harms man” into mutual “dog eat dog” world where man hunted animal and ANIMAL HUNTED MAN. We can be certain this is true because the very next statement is that God decreed death to animals who kill man!!! "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed." (Genesis 9:5) This is why bears, lions and dogs that kill or hurt men today are hunted and killed.
d. The idea Nimrod was a “mighty hunter of animals” highlights his uncharacteristic bravery in the new post flood world. While other men were terrified of animals and certainly didn’t eat animals, Nimrod was famous for his lack of fear of being killed by the animals and was the first person to eat them!
e. The association of Nimrod as the first Assyrian king in history who founded all the major Assyrian cities, as a brave, fearless and skilled hunter of animals (while all other men cowered) is confirmed in the many ancient inscriptions of Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian kings portray him as a mighty hunter even listing of drawing the animals killed.
D. Enmerkar and Nimrod were both kings at Uruk, who founded Uruk:
1. Nimrod:
a. "The beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom was Babel and Erech [Uruk] and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." (Genesis 10:10)
2. Enmerkar:
a. Enmerkar is the king of Uruk in the four ancient stories where the king of Ararat submits to him. (ie. Enmerkar and Ensuhgirana; Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta; Lugalbanda 1 & 2)
3.
Enmerkar in the Sumerian Kings list: 2119 BC:
a. Sumerian King List: “This [Sumerian kings list] is a so-called historiographic document, drawn up during the Isin-Larsa period (2017–1763 b.c.e.) or possibly during the Ur III period (2112–2004 b.c.e.).” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p4, fn11, 2003 AD)
b. Specific reference to the flood and Cush the grandson of Moses:
i. “Then the Flood swept over. After the Flood had swept over, and the kingship had descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kiš. [Kush or Cush]. In Kiš, Gišur became king; he ruled for 1,200 years.” (Sumerian King List)
c. The Sumerian Kings list preserves Enmerkar as the son of Meš-ki'ag-gašer.
i. The Sumerian Kings list states that Enmerkar was “the king of Uruk, who built Uruk, became king; he ruled for 420 years”
ii. Surprisingly, this is pretty close to an accurate time period for Nimrod to live.
iii. “Enmekar [possibly Nimrod-literally means Enmek the hunter like nimrod who also founded Uruk], son of Meš-ki'ag-gašer, the king of Uruk, who built Uruk, became king; he ruled for 420 years.” (Sumerian King List, Weld-Blundell Larsa Prism, ends with Sin-magir, 2119 BC)
iv. After Enmerkar lived Gilgamesh of the famous flood story: The Epic of Gilgamesh (1150 BC)! “Gilgameš, whose father was an invisible being, the lord of Kulaba, ruled for 126 years. Ur-Nungal, son of the divine Gilgameš, ruled for 30 years.” (Sumerian King List, Weld-Blundell Larsa Prism, ends with Sin-magir, 2119 BC)
E. Nimrod and Enmerkar both share the same consonants in cuneiform and Hebrew: “NMR”
1. Nimrod = NMR-D [Hebrew] = “rebeller”. (verb)
2. Enmerkar = NMR [cuneiform] = “Enmer the Hunter” (noun)
F. Etymology of Mt. Ararat = Aratta in the four stories
1. Both are spelled identically in Cuneiform. (Matthew Glassman, email, 2019)
2. “Aratta = biblical Ararat = Assyrian Urartu = Uru-Mania = classical Armenia. Both language wise, and geographically/historically. If you are asking for a further suggestion, you might want to consider that the first element of Ararat is Ar/Ur which has the meaning ’settlement’ and later ‘city’ (as in Ur of the Chaldees and Urushalayim). Similarly, Urartu is a later rendition of Ur-Aratu. So Ar-Arat could be ’settlement or city of Arat[ta]’. This would be the multi-coloured walled city mentioned in the Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta text.” (David Rohl, text, 2019)
G. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both eyewitnesses to the confusion of languages in 2850 BC
1. Nimrod:
a. Nimrod was an eyewitness to the tower of Babel (2850 BC) at age 375 years old.
b. All other men at this period in history live to be around 500 years old. Gen 11
c. Nimrod was born around 3225 BC and died around age 500 in 2725 BC
d. The origin of writing was triggered BECAUSE OF the confusion of languages at Babel.
e. Men would draw pictures of known things as an aid to communicate.
f. Pictographic communication is archeologically validated in the earliest forms of cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Chinese languages.
2. Enmerkar: (EPSK 2:144–155)
a. The stories express a longing for the restoration of one language again as was in the recent past.
b. “For man will then have no enemy. On that day the lands of Šubur and Hamazi, As well as twin-tongued Sumer—great mound of the power of lordship— Together with Akkad—the mound that has all that is befitting— And even the land Martu, resting in green pastures, 145 Yea, the whole world of well-ruled people, Will be able to speak to Enlil in one language! For on that day, for the debates between lords and princes and kings Shall Enki, for the debates between lords and princes and kings, For the debates between lords and princes and kings, 150 Shall Enki, Lord of abundance, Lord of steadfast decisions, Lord of wisdom and knowledge in the Land, Expert of the gods, Chosen for wisdom, Lord of Eridug, Change the tongues in their mouth, as many as he once placed there, 155 And the speech of mankind shall be truly one!’” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:144–155)
c. The second story: “The poem tells of a time when there is no fear or rivalry among men and describes how with “one tongue” (language) all the countries worship the high god Enlil.” (New American Commentary, Genesis 11)
H. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both eyewitnesses to the invention of writing in 2850 BC
1. Nimrod:
a. Nimrod lived before and after the tower of Babel (2850 BC)
b. Nimrod was born around 3225 BC and died around age 500 in 2725 BC
c. Nimrod lived past the historic archeological validated beginning of writing around 2850 BC.
2. Enmerkar:
a. Enmerkar’s Invention of writing after the tower of Babel took place in the south where Nimrod was king.
b. Writing was invented in the south, not in the north near Ararat.
c. His [Emnerkar] speech was very grand, its meaning very deep; The messenger’s mouth was too heavy; he could not repeat it. Because the messenger’s mouth was too heavy, and he could not repeat it, The lord of Kulab patted some clay and put the words on it as on a tablet. Before that day, there had been no putting words on clay; 505 But now, when the sun rose on that day—so it was: The lord of Kulab had put words as on a tablet—so it was! Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:500–506
d. “O lord of Aratta, when you have read this tablet, learned the gist of the message” Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:525
e. “The lord of Arratta took from the messenger. The tablet (and held it) next to a brazier [fireplace]. The lord of Aratta inspected the tablet. The spoken words were mere wedges—his brow darkened. The lord of Aratta kept looking at the tablet (in the light of) the brazier.” Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:537–541
f. “It can no longer be doubted that the Sumerians, after giving humankind the most precious technological and cognitive tool ever invented, namely, writing, by that token gave us the first highly articulated system of literature. The poems translated here, as we have them, are some four thousand years old, and they still impress us with their clever and agile structure, with their consummate mastery of a highly stylized and poeticized language that was already obsolete if not extinct when they were composed, with their lively and multifaceted stylistic tactics, with their deft handling of many-layered imagery, and with their sheer exuberance in rhetoric.” (Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p15, 2003 AD)
g. “On the other hand, as will be discussed below, the poems show no sense of time perspective: the times of Enmerkar are in many ways pretty much identical to the times of the conception of the stories, the passage describing the invention of writing (including its basic economic rationale) suggests remote antiquity.(Epics of Sumerian Kings: The Matter of Aratta, H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Jerrold S. Cooper, Vol. 20, p4, 2003 AD)
I. Nimrod and Enmerkar both built the First shrines built at Eridu (Babel) and Eruk:
1. Nimrod: “the rebeller”: inventor of Sumerian pagan gods:
a. The entire system of pagan gods was a fabrication of Nimrod and date back to before the tower of babel.
b. The series of pagan shrines at Eridu (Babel of Nimrod) that have been excavated validate this.
c. The ancient story in “Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat” records that the first pagan shrines were in fact built in Babel of Nimrod!
2. Enmerkar built the first pagan temple from mud bricks and bitumen:
a. The “Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2” records a constant contrast between Aratta (northern kingdom of Ararat) that has no shrine and Eruk (Eruk of Nimrod) which has a brick built Kulab (temple)!
i. Shrine in Uruk but not at Aratta: “For Inana did the lord of Aratta don his golden crown and diadem, But he did not please her as well as did the lord of Kulab, For nothing even resembling the shrine Eana [main temple of Inana in Uruk], or the Gipar, the holy place, Did Aratta ever build for Holy Inana, unlike brickwork Kulab!” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:28–32)
b. “Who had her installed as the divine Queen of the Eana! ‘O lord, Aratta shall bow in deep submission!’ “This she has promised in brick-built Kulab!” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:233–235)
c. The nimrod temple is called: the brickwork! he stepped into Kulab, the Brickwork. (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:299)
d. “This great mountain range [Aratta] is a MES-tree grown high into the skies” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:243)
II. Mount Ararat in Ancient Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions:
A. Graphical replication of the twin peaks of Ararat:
1. Shamash,
the sun god depicted between twin peaks:
a. From archeology, we know that the sun god "Shamash" lived in between the twin peaks of Mt. Mashu where Ut-napištim lives.
b. Shamash, the Akkadian sun god, stepping through the mountains at dawn with rays springing from his shoulders; cylinder seal impression, ca. 2400 bce.
c. Notice that the written language symbols for "Shamash" in Cuneiform, Chinese and Egyptian all show a god living between two mountain peaks.
d. The association with the sun god and the kingdom of Aratta (Ararat), which is where the first kingdom existed after the flood, is significant!
B. Mt. Ararat in the Epic of Gilgamesh: Mt Nimush and Mt. Mashu:
2. A very high mountain:
a. Noah’s ark rested on the highest mountain because after the ark landed, no other mountains or dry ground were visible. People who propose other lower candidate mountains for Mt. Ararat overlook this critical Bible fact.
b. Mt. Ararat is the highest mountain peak in the entire middle east.
c. “The mountain is called Mashu. Then he reached Mount Mashu, which daily guards the rising and setting of the Sun, above which only the dome of the heavens reaches, and whose flank reaches as far as the Netherworld below, there were Scorpion-beings watching over its gate.” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 9)
d. “The mountain is called Mashu. Then Gilgamesh reached Mount Mashu [seeking Ut-napištim who was in the ark” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 9)
e. Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, the ferryman: "Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around. Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly-- is not (even the core of) the brick structure of kiln-fired brick, and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plan! (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 11)
3. Mt. Nimush = Mt Ararat 5300 meters elevation: Ark rested on this mountain
a. Noah’s Ark Rested on Mt. Nimush
b. Mt. Nimush: [Sumerian: “N-MSH”]
c. Mt. Mashu where the flood survivor, Ut-napištim lives.
d. “On Mt. Nimush the boat lodged firm, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. One day and a second Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. A third day, a fourth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. A fifth day, a sixth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway. When a seventh day arrived I sent forth a dove and released it. The dove went off, but came back to me; no perch was visible so it circled back to me. I sent forth a swallow and released it.” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 11)
4. Mt. Mashu: Smaller peak of Mount Ararat. (the smaller twin)
a. Mt. Mashu literally means "twin". Mt. Mashu is the twin peak beside Mt. Ararat.
b. [Sumerian: “MSH”]
c. Home of Ut-napištim (who was in the Ark)
d. Both Mt. Ararat and Mt Mashu are twin-mountains.
5. Distance between Mt. Ararat and Mt. Mashu: 12 leagues in a mystic travel tunnel of darkness led by scorpion demons:
a. Gilgamesh arrives at the foot of Mt. Ararat (Mt. Mashu) and tells a guardian scorpion what he wants: "I have come on account of my ancestor Ut-anapishtim, who joined the Assembly of the Gods, and was given eternal life. About Death and Life I must ask him." The scorpion grants Gilgamesh full access to the "Mashu mountains", which are the twin peaks of Mt. Ararat. The scorpion guides him through a long, scary, dark tunnel into the mountain that opened up to a beautiful garden with precious stones at Mt. Mimush.
b. The distance between Mt. Ararat and Mt. Mashu where Ut-napištim lived was “Twelve leagues he traveled and it grew brilliant [at Mt. Mashu]” (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 9)
c. Mt Nimush is the mountain that the ark rested upon and Mt. Mashu is the twin peaked mountain (Ararat) where Ut-napištim's home is located. You must enter a tunnel at the foot of Mt. Nimush and travel “12 leagues”
d. 12 leagues = 120,000 cubits @ 22.6 inches, = 2,712,000/12 inches = 226,000 feet = 70 km from Mt Ararat to Ut-napištim's home on Mt. Mashu “twin mountain”.
e. This is a mystical journey not to be taken literally as 70 km because a demon-scorpion led Gilgamesh in total darkness in a kind of “travel-tunnel portal – wormhole”.
f. So, Mt. Nimush is Mount Ararat is the 17000 foot mountain where the ark of Noah landed and the twin is Mt. Mashu, the lower peak beside Mt. Ararat where Ut-napištim lived.
6. “Let Ut-anapishtim [ie. his relatives-seed] reside far away [ie. Uruk], at the Mouth [Persian Gulf] of the Rivers [Tigris & Euphrates]. They took us far away and settled us at the Mouth of the Rivers." (Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 11)
C. Mt. Ararat in Enmerkar vs. Aratta:
1. Ararat described as a very high mountain:
a. “This mountain range is a warrior, tall and fierce” Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:268
b. “It is I [king of Aratta], being the lord proper for the lustrations, ‘I, whom the great neck-stock of heaven, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, ‘The goddess of the myriad powers, Holy Inana ‘Brought to Aratta, the mountain of the inviolate powers; ‘I whom she made block the entrance to the highlands as a great door! 225 ‘Why then should Aratta submit to Unug? ‘There can be no submission of Aratta to Unug! Tell him that!’” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:220–226)
2. Location of Aratta and Terrain between Aratta to Uruk:
a. The trip from Uruk to Mt. Ararat starts out in lowlands but enters a series of mountain ranges near Lake Van, which is a perfect fit for the “crossing 7 mountain ranges”.
b. The story has the messenger making 7 return trips between Unub and Aratta over 7 mountain ranges. While this is a literary device, it is most likely that the 7 trips were created to match the factual 7 mountain ranges between Uruk near the Persian Gulf and Mt. Ararat.
c. “From the foot of the highlands, through the mountain ranges, to the plains, From the far border of Anšan to the upland of Anšan He crossed five, six, seven mountain ranges. Enmerkar’s Seige of Ararat #1: Lugalbanda’s sickness/recovery in cave: EPSK 3.2:342–344
d. “Furthermore, the lord gave these instructions to the messenger Who was to go to the highlands, to Aratta: “Messenger, at night, run swiftly as the south wind; “At daybreak, rise like the dew!” 160 The messenger heeded the words of his king. At night he journeyed by starlight; By day he traveled with the sun in the sky. Whither and to whom should he carry the grave word of word-wise Inana? He carried it up into the Zubi range; 165 He carried it down from the Zubi range. Šušin and the land of Anšan Saluted her humbly, like small mice. In the great mountain ranges the teeming multitudes Groveled in the dust before her. 170 Five, six, seven mountain ranges he crossed, And when he lifted his eyes, he had arrived in Aratta. Overjoyed he stepped into the courtyard of Aratta” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:156–172)
e. “The threefold series of challenges and replies going to and fro between Unug and Aratta works out naturally at a total of seven journeys, since the series starts at Unug but ends in Aratta and is not merely a sequence of challenge-and-response: the responses carry their own challenges. The messenger also has to travel over seven mountain ranges. This is a fine instance of the very sophisticated interpretation or reuse of a common folktale technique.” (Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:171, fn22)
D. Mt. Ararat and the ancient theme of man becoming divine and immortal:
1. Connection of Enmerkar and Shamash and Utu
a. Enmerkar was claiming to be divine son of the son god many twice in the poems.
b. “Enmerkar, son of the Sun, sent me to you!” Submission of Ararat to Uruk #2: Enmerkar vs. Lord of Ararat: EPSK 2:379
c. Sun god: Utu [Sumerian] = Shamash [Akkadian ]
2. Only certain Mesopotamian gods were identified with or as celestial objects: sun [Shamash], moon [Nanna], Venus [Inanna/Ishtar].
a. “In Babylonia, the Sumerian counterparts were alternated with the Akkadian names: Bel was also Enlil and Nunamnir (Prologue of Lipit-Ishtar Code); Anum was Ilum, Sin was Nanna, Ea was Enki, Utu was Shamash, and Ishtar was Inanna or Telitum (cf. Prologue to Hammurabi’s Code). At Ugarit, Baal was also called Aliyan, El was Latpan, and Kothar-wa-Khasis (“the artificer god”) was Hayyin (cf. Aqhat, ANET, p. 151). In Egypt, Osiris (the judge of the dead and lord of the netherworld) was also Wennefer, Neb-Abdu, and Khentamentiu (cf. the Ikhernofret Stela in the Berlin Museum); his son Horus was also Re-Harakhti, and so on throughout the Egyptian pantheon. In Greece, the king-god Zeus was known also as Kronion and Olympios, Athena was Pallas, Apollo was Phoebus and Pythius—titles which appear in parallelism in Homer’s epics without requiring any theory of diverse sources. (Survey of Old Testament Introduction, Gleason Archer, p128, 1994 AD)
b. “Yhwh takes the place of the “great gods” of Assyria, because those famous kings are now subject to his curse. This theme is explored symbolically in the book of Nahum in terms of what Hudson (2000) has described as a “tuning metaphor.” In terms of the matrix model as understood by McClain (1976), Yhwh indeed takes his place on the “throne” in the place of the “great gods” of Assyria, who are understood as the numbers 10 (Marduk), 15 (Ishtar/Inanna), 20 (Shamash/Utu), 30 (Nanna/Sin), 40 (Ea/Enki), 50 (Enlil/Ellil), and 60 (Anu/An) in the sexagesimal system of Mesopotamian mythology (see McLain 1976: 132; 1994: 29; cf. Black and Green 1992). The three “greatest gods” (Ea-Enki = 40; Bel-Enlil = 50; and Anu-An = 60), in the ratio 4:5:6 “actually generate the whole tonal universe” (McClain 1976: 133). Yhwh displaces them all and subsumes their various functions in the process, along with those of all the lesser gods as well. That is what the book of Nahum is about.” (AYBC, Nahum 1:14)
D. Sumerian roller seals depict the ancient submission of Ararat to Nimrod:
1. Roller seal #1: Sun god with knife between peaks of Mt. Ararat:
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Here we see Shamash, the sun god with a knife between the twin peaks of Mt. Ararat looking at the feet of Inanna (Ishtar, Venus). Two faced Enki is standing at the right. Shamash has cut with his knife, the twin peaks of Ararat, indicating the defeat and submission of the northern kingdom of Ararat to Enmerkar king of Uruk. |
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2. Roller seal #2: Sun God cuts down kingdom of Ararat:
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Here we see Shamash, the sun god with a knife between the twin peaks of Mt. Ararat looking at the feet of Inanna (Ishtar, Venus). Two faced Enki is standing at the right. Shamash has cut with his knife, the twin peaks of Ararat, indicating the defeat and submission of the northern kingdom of Ararat to Enmerkar king of Uruk.
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3. Details of Roller seal #2:
a. A Babylonian cylinder seal and impression showing a mythological scene. The sun-god šamaš rises between two mountains with his sword of judgment raised. The two gods nearest him are probably Ishtar and Ea (surrounded by water and holding the Anzű-bird). In the field are Ninurta-Nimrod, god of the hunt (left), and the two-faced god. The inscription reads “Adda the Scribe”. (ca 2300 b.c.)
b. Greenstone cylinder seal. A hunting god (full-face) has a bow and an arrow (?) over his shoulder; a quiver with tassel attached hangs on his back. On the left hand mountain stands a small tree and Ishtar/Inanna/Venus (full-face) who is winged and armed with weapons including an axe and a mace rising from her shoulders. She is holding a bush-like object, probably a bunch of dates, above the sun-god's head. The sun-god Shamash with rays, holding a serrated blade, is just beginning to emerge from between two square topped mountains. The water god Enki/Ea stands to the right with one foot placed on the right-hand mountain. Enki was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia. He stretches out his right hand towards possibly an Anzud bird, which is a Lion-faced mythical bird who is the guardian of the mountain ranges between Sumer and Aratta. The Anzud bird is the same demonic character in the later Akkadian Anzu myth. This bird could also be the Zu bird who stole the tablets of destiny. A couchant bull lies between his legs and streams of water and fish flow from his shoulders. Behind him stands his two-faced attendant god Isimud/Usimu with his right hand raised. All wear the multiple-horned head-dresses of deities. The male figures are bearded and Isimud/Usimu has a double beard and wears a flounced skirt. Enki/Ea and Ishtar both wear flounced robes and the fourth complete figure wears a striped skirt which either has a cod-piece or is hitched up in front. This god wears his hair in a long curl down the left side, reminiscent of those worn by bull-men and Ishtar has two similar curls hanging down, one on either side, while Ea and Shamash wear their hair in a triple bun. The scales of the mountain are continued in a horizontal band all round the lower part of the seal and it is on this band that the figures are standing. There is a two line inscription in a frame that reads “Adda, the scribe”. A lion is pacing towards the right and roaring. The cylinder is slightly concave in shape.
Conclusion:
1. See also: Nimrod builds the Tower of Babel
2. The oldest Sumerian poetry on earth documents the extant memory in 2100 BC of the ancient earlier events:
a. Noah’s Ark: 3298 BC
b. Stone age archeological age: 3225 BC: Birth of Nimrod second generation from the flood: Gen 10:7-8
c. Nimrod known as a “mighty hunter”: Gen 10:8-9
d. Ubaid 1 archeological age: 3200 BC: Nimrod’s founding of the first major kingdom at Babel and Urek: Gen 10:10
e. Ubaid Expansion archeological age: 3000 BC : Nimrod’s expansion north to Nineveh: Gen 10:11-12
3. Nimrod is seen as the true historic backdrop in the four stories of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta:
a. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both born in Ararat
b. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both mighty hunters
c. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both former vegans converted to meat-eating:
d. Enmerkar and Nimrod were both kings at Uruk
e. Nimrod and Enmerkar both share the same consonants in cuneiform and Hebrew: “NMR”
f. Etymology of Mt. Ararat = Aratta in the four stories
g. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both eyewitnesses to the confusion of languages in 2850 BC
h. Nimrod and Enmerkar were both eyewitnesses to the invention of writing in 2850 BC
i. Nimrod and Enmerkar both built the First shrines built at Eridu (Babel) and Eruk
4. What you read in the Book you find in the ground:
a. The various inscriptions and roller seals archeological validate the story of the Noahic flood, the rise of Nimrod and the tower of Babel.
b. The four stories validate the confusion of languages in Genesis and the origin of writing as a consequence.
c. The two roller seals are graphically correct in picturing Mt. Ararat as twin peaks, where one is smaller the other.
5.
The author at 4200 meters on Mt. Ararat in 2013 AD with little Ararat in
back ground.
6. The
author working and searching for Noah’s ark at the 5100 meter (3 miles) summit
of Mt. Ararat in 2012 AD.
By Steven Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections
Noah's Ark, Tower of Babel, Nimrod