These are the last words I will ever inscribe upon clay.

My fellow god, Marduk, wants my head. I do not intend to allow him to take it.

This whole debacle began many, many moons ago and will hopefully end soon. My bride, Tiamat, swears this shall be so. I am her second love, but I like to believe I am her favourite love. She is my heart and soul, and I wear her affection upon me like armour; it protects me from those in my army who wish me harm.

My army. My crumbling ruin of gods.

I never thought I would command an army of gods, but Tiamat’s love has seen me rise high in the world, just as it has seen me come close to death. Upon my bronze breastplate, I have had the three Tablets of Destiny affixed. They make me stronger, faster and perhaps even a bit smarter. Most of all, they make me King.

These tablets are what I must protect; they are of greater import than even my own life. It is why I plan to do the shameful thing and run. Run for my life, run for my Queen, and most importantly, run for my kingdom.

If I survive this flight and war, I shall come back and destroy this clay and its scratchings. My last words shall never be read, and hopefully, I will inscribe many more.

Lover of Queen Tiamat,

Kingu

Addendum: My name is Marduk. Kingu is dead by my hand. From his blood, a new race of creatures has sprung. They are servants to us. Humans, we call them. May his name forever be associated with those who are less than gods.

EnKi doesn’t seem like the kind of god who would keep you waiting, but he is. As I was twirling my thumbs, killing time, I sat down to read a bit about his life. He’s done a lot. Of women, that is.

If you thought Anu might have been a playboy, he doesn’t have diddly squat on EnKi. EnKi was a craftsman god, a water god (seawater, lakewater and ordinary water), god of intelligence, creation and mischief, and was also known as Lord of the Earth. In his role as a fresh water deity, he may also have been a god of semen, as Ab (the Mesopotamian word for it) meant both. Told you he was a bit of a gigolo.

In one Sumerian myth, EnKi married Ninhursag and lived with her in paradise (sound familiar?). This place was waterless though, so EnKi pulled a few strings and voila! Water. In true god-like style, he knocked up Ninhursag and she gave birth to a daughter, Ninsar. Ninhursag eventually left EnKi, and EnKi met Ninsar, but he didn’t realize she was his daughter, and did the horizontal tango with her, creating the goddess Ninkurra. Not happy with one lot of accidental incest, EnKi finds Ninkurra and has a bit of naughty fun, producing Uttu. Uttu isn’t cool with her daddy/granddaddy’s reputation and so asks around for more information, and rejects him.

To surmise: Enki marries Ninhursag, begets Ninsar. Has nookie with Ninsar, begets Ninkurra. Gets jiggy with Ninkurra, begets Uttu. Tries to get past third base with Uttu, gets knocked back.

Go Uttu!

Back to the present: EnKi has finally arrived, looking naturally dashing with his long beard and pointy hat. Apparently it’s all the rage in Godland.

A: Hi EnKi, lovely to meet you. No, no, I’m fine on this side of the table. So, I was just reading about your time in Dilmun and the goings on there. One myth says you didn’t get past Uttu’s, uh, barrier, another says you did impregnate her, but Ninhursag took your seed. Which one was it?

EnKi: I never kiss and tell. But, seriously, Ninny forgave me in the end and we had lots more kids. Although I’m single now…

(Note: EnKi has a bit of a creepy stare.)

A: So … you and your parents had a bit of a tumultuous relationship. Myth says you pretty much stayed out of the way near the end of their lives, is that true?

EnKi: Well, I was asleep when all the patricide occurred. Hangover from HELL, I tell you.

A: Legend says your son, Marduk, was pivotal in the creation of Mankind. What do you say about that?

EnKi: Pfft. No. I wanted some servants. Gods don’t due servitude well. So me and a few others pulled some heads strings. Poor Kingu, his death was a great loss, but we made humans from his blood, so he still lives on. Kinda.

(If you want to find more about Kingu, do a quick Google).

A: You’ve always liked humanity. Didn’t you save us from a flood?

EnKi: (shrugs) No point in having servants if they’re all dead.

A: You were meant to be the keeper of the Me, the treasures of civilization, right? Rumour has it you got drunk and Ishtar took them. Is it true?

EnKi: Ishtar always was a cunning little thing. And violent. And nasty. Did you hear about what she did to Tammuz? Anyway, I “might” have gotten a bit drunk one night and she “might” have stolen them. But, when she had to be saved from her death goddess sister, Ereshkigal, guess who helped her out? Yeah, you know it, babe. So I did a little trading, but the myths don’t say that. Let me tell you, I know where the Me are nowadays, and they aren’t with Ishtar.

(Note: More about Tammuz on a different day … today is all about EnKi, he insisted).

A: Thanks for your time EnKi. It was a pleasure meeting you.

EnKi: (winks) You haven’t experienced pleasure yet. Want a drink?

A: Uh, no thanks.

I’ve been told to apologise for the delay in posting this. Apparently, the flu and a writing convention can delay these things. Not my fault, I had this ready eons ago.

Humans.

Now, I have been told that this ‘blog series’ is designed to let you know more about me. No? More about Mesopotamian gods? Right. Same thing, really.

I don’t know why I need to introduce myself, but I have been told that is necessary. My name is Anu, or An, and I’m the King of the Gods. You may call me ‘Your Excellency’ – I think that is the appropriate modern term.

Back in the good old days – what? That is a cliché? Back when I was revered, I was known as the King of the Akkadian and Babylonian pantheons. There are many creation myths about how and where my wonderful self arose, and I’ll summarise them for you, because that is the point of this exercise, I’m told.

Probably the best preserved creation myth is the Enuma Elish. For those of you who haven’t read this tale – and you should have – I was born to Tiamat and Apsu. They were the gods of salt water and sweet water. Very primordial, and quite demanding parents, as early gods often are. My siblings were a noisy group, always carrying on and disturbing the heavens. So much so that Father wanted to have them ‘quietened’. Yes, that meant that Father wanted us dead. ALL of us. Which I found to be highly unfair, but gods aren’t meant to be fair.

At least I survived the infanticide attempt. That was because my brother, EnKi, decided to take all the glory. But he’s not really worth talking about, this is meant to be about me.

In other myths, I was born to Anshar and Kishar, who were the children of Lahamu and Lahmu, who were in turn the offspring of Tiamat and Apsu. A weighty family tree, which is fitting.

I won’t tell you which one is true, because I don’t think its good for humans to be given answers. Let you work it our for yourselves.

Moving on…

I lived in the highest of heavens. We used to call it the On-High, and it was separated into three strips: Enlil, Anu and EnKi. Again, my rotting brother was given precedence, but it is of no matter here. These vertical segments were also divided into three levels. The highest was mine, as was fitting, since I am a sky god.  I had dominion over all beneath me: spirits, other gods and demons.

I was also a ladies’ man, and who could blame me? I had several queens and lovers, and while I don’t like to name names, I will. So…some of the wonderful women who slipped in and out of my bed life were Ki (earth), Nammu, Uras, and perhaps even Ishtar. I don’t really want to confirm the latter – Ishtar isn’t known to be forgiving, but then, she wouldn’t like not being mentioned either. Pesky goddess.

Suffice to say, with my popularity, I was also a father. Many times over. I sired an entire group of divinities called the Annuna gods, who may have been both underworld and celestial deities (of which there were at least 300). Ahh, those were the times.

Back then, I was a busy man.

As Gilgamesh Press was created to help promote the work and arts of the Assyrians, we’d like to take the time to share some information about the origins of the Assyrian people and their beliefs.

In the spirit of this goal, Gilgamesh Press will run a weekly series called, ‘God of the Week’.

Assyria was a kingdom that rose within the land of Mesopotamia, a Greek term used to describe the area located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, often called the ‘Fertile Crescent’.

Mesopotamia was not ruled by a single cultural group, but a series of cultures. Mesopotamia was settled by the Neolithic period (starting 7200 BCE) and continued through – with various cultural groups – to the modern day.

Located in Mesopotamia on the Upper Tigris (in modern Iraq), Assyria was named after its capital city, Assur. The Assyrians rose to power in the Middle Bronze Age and we find them in dominating form once again in the Iron Age as the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

The Assyrian religion (like all those found in Mesopotamia) was polytheistic. They worshipped a pantheon of gods, which may have included up to two thousand deities. Some gods were considered more important than others, but each had a role within the world and its cosmic order. In each city state of Mesopotamia and Assyria, there were different ‘head gods’; at Eridu, EnKi was the most revered, whereas at Assur, Ashur was the more important deity.

The God of this Week is Ashur.

Ashur, as we now know, was the head of the Assyrian pantheon at Assur. Originally a god without a family, he eventually became linked with Enlil, who was considered as the chief god. As such, Ashur eventually gained Enlil’s wife and sons and took the place of other significant gods (such as Marduk), in religious epics and rituals.

Many kings were named after Ashur, such as Ashurnasirpal, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, and as he was linked with the Assyrian Empire, enjoyed extreme popularity during the times when the kingdom was at its greatest.

(Image is from Wikipedia).