Enki is the name of the Sumerian god meaning Lord of the Earth. He is also known as Ea in Babylonian and Akkadian mythology. Along with Anu and Enlil, he is one of the three key gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon.
Although his great appetite for sexual conquest may cast doubt on his morals, he was very compassionate in nature. His desire to nurture humans and favor their side over the gods and demigods, as well as his tendency to resolve rather than initiate conflicts, balanced out his lustful deviance.
Origin
He was originally the patron god of the city of Eridu. Eridu is believed to have been the first city created, according to ancient Sumerian beliefs. Although he is first known as an Akkadian god, between 2600 and 2350 BC, shrines to Enki dating back to 5400 BC have been found!
In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth found on ancient tablets dating back to approximately 1100 BC, the universe was originally in a state of chaos. Chaos separated into fresh water, the male principle called Apsu, and salt water, the female principle called Tiamat. Apsu and Tiamat were the first gods and gave birth to Enki, their eldest son.
Legends and Stories
Enki is portrayed as a loving and kind god who uses his wisdom to find the best solution in every situation. He was perhaps one of the first to fit the now common label of lover rather than fighter.
The Atrahasis
Akkadian/Babylonian mythology states that the younger gods were forced to do all the work to maintain creation, and they grew tired of the daily routine. Like some young people today, they sought a way out of their hard work.
As a result, they created other beings to do the work for them: humans. Humans were forged with the sacrifice of one of the younger gods. At first, they created only seven women and seven men, but due to their incredible fertility, their numbers soon grew to hundreds. The greater their numbers, the louder they grew.
The gods grew angry at humanity’s rowdy nature and population explosion and sought to reduce their numbers. The main instigator of humanity’s extinction was the god Enlil. He attempted to eradicate humans, first through drought and then through plague, but his plans were continually thwarted by Enki.
When Enlil decided to send a great flood, Enki once again took pity on humans and made sure that one man learned of the impending cataclysmic disaster. He conveyed the message to a man named Atrahasis through a reed wall and ordered him to build a boat. The boat had to hold his family and two of every kind of animal.
Atrahasis built the boat, and when the flood came, those on board were the only humans to survive. Enlil discovered that it was once again this god who had come to the aid of humans and sought revenge on him.
He convinced Enlil that the man he saved was a righteous man and did not deserve to be punished for the sins of his fellow men. When Atrahasis offered a sacrifice to the gods, they were appeased.
Enlil was only satisfied, however, when Enki declared that humans would no longer live as long as they had and that women would not be as fertile as before.
Enki and Inanna
In the myth of Enki and Inanna, he was the keeper of the rules of civilization called meh. At a party, he tried to get his daughter, Inanna, drunk with beer so he could seduce her. But she did not submit to him and instead became very drunk. In his drunken state, he gave Inanna a gift from the meh.
Only in the morning did he realize that the meh was gone, and he sent demons after Inanna to retrieve it, but she managed to evade them easily and escaped. The god was once again thinking about the needs of humanity, as he knew that Inanna would give them the gift of civilization.
Family
Enki and Ninhursag had four children: Marduk, Enbilulu, Asarluhi, and the wise Adapa. Enki , who was also the god of semen, had numerous incestuous affairs, which he attributed to his insatiable love for his wife. He and Ninhursag had a daughter named Ninsar, who became a woman in only nine days.
In his wife’s absence, Enki mistook the girl for Ninhursag and seduced her. From their union, a daughter named Ninkurra was born. After Ninkurra also became a woman in a matter of days, the same thing happened. Ninkurra later gave birth to a daughter named Uttu. When Ninhursag learned of her husband’s actions, she cursed him and became seriously ill.
Only she could save him. The only way to cure him was for her to give birth to eight more children: Nanse, Abu, Ninsitu, Nintulla, Azimua, Ninkasi, Ninti, and Emshag.
Appearance
Enki is depicted as a bearded man dressed in long robes and a horned cap. Streams containing fish run from his shoulders, indicating his association with water and its life-giving properties.
One river is said to be the Tigris, and the other, the Euphrates. The trees included in the iconography represent the masculine and feminine principles of nature.
Modern Influence
Although Enki shrines have been discovered in Eridu, his cult spread to Assyria and Babylon. He was worshipped in his temples in Eridu, called E-engur-ra (House of Underground Waters) and E-abzu (House of the Abzu). Although no services were held in the temples as we know them today, they did provide healing, distribution, and counseling to the people. Eridu was a revered religious city analogous to the Garden of Eden.
In the Sumerian tales of Enki, Ninhursag was depicted as his equal, reflecting the gender equality of the pre-patriarchal society of the time. Later, taken into an Assyrian and Babylonian context, she is relegated to a lesser position, as many female deities were demoted in status with the accepted patriarchal viewpoint.
The water god may also have influenced other cultures and religions. The freshwater pool outside Enki’s temples was possibly adopted later by Middle Eastern cultures and may be the equivalent of the fountain or sacred pool found in some mosques, or the Christian receptacle used in baptism.
