Genesis 1:26 (NIV)
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…”
The confusion created by the plural statement “us, our” in the Biblical creation account is clarified when reading texts that predate the Genesis account by more than 1700 years such as the Atrahasis. Atrahasis, AKA the Biblical Noah, tells the story of the creation of man linking the same deities venerated in the temples of Mesopotamia with Enlil-Yahweh of the old testament and his brother Enki-Adonai: the hidden “us” in Genesis 1:26. For Enki is mentioned along with his half-sister Ninmah, participating in genetic trials to produce a primitive worker, Homo Sapiens Sapiens.
A very detailed account is provided of a clinical trial that results in the archetype for the human race Adam being birthed. The trial was conducted by Enlil’s half-sister, Ninharsag or Ninmah, and his archrival and scientifically-inclined brother Enki, in an African laboratory. The historical records appeal to even the most scrutinizing scientist who recognizes readily the threshold of knowledge required to discuss a topic such as genetic engineering, in a document almost five thousand years old, which provides a more detailed account of the creation of man; one that makes sense technically and historically versus the précis version provided in the Bible, although in many cases complementary. Additionally, similar records illuminate the life of King Ut-napishtim of Shuruppak, the Biblical Noah, said to be 600 years old at the time of the great flood.
It seemed that various deities had also known as (AKA) names which seemed to span long periods of time. The great god Sin, as named by the Akkadians, after whom the Sinai peninsula was named, had an AKA name linking him to various Sumerian cities such as Ur and Harran: where he was known as Nannar the moon god, son of Enlil. His sister, Inanna also sported the symbol of the crescent moon and had temples throughout Mesopotamia. She was known as Ishtar to the Akkadians.
The Greek historian Herodotus lived in the 5th century BCE and hailed from Ionia. He delineated the Egyptian civilization into three dynasties and the model is still used by Egyptologists today. Manetho, the Egyptian priest-historian appears to have agreed with Herodotus partitioning the Egypt ruler ship, with the exception that instead of 3 dynasties, he included an additional era that was ruled by the gods alone. Manetho states that the first dynastic rulers of Egyptian gods ruled for 12,300 years [16]:
1st Egyptian Dynasty Ruler
Reign (years)
Ptah
9,000
Ra
1,000
Shu
700
Geb
500
Osiris
450
Seth
350
Horus
300
Table 1: First Dynasty of Egypt
Again, we find astonishingly long reigns listed in Table 1 above for the First Egyptian Dynasty rulers. It is interesting to note that in the Sumerian texts, Enki, a high-ranking deity from the city of Eridu, was assigned the regions of Egypt and Africa by his father Anu, on or before 3760 BCE. It just so happens that the Jewish calendar, whose origins are from the Sumerian city of Nippur, begins its count in 3760 BCE as well. Coincidence you might be thinking, but not according to the ancient cuneiform texts.
The second Egyptian dynastic period, according to Manetho, was composed of twelve divine rulers that reigned for 1,570 years. The first god that ruled the second dynasty of gods was Thoth, who, it turns out, is also a son of Enki.
Next, Egypt was ruled by thirty demigods whose reign lasted for 3,650 years in total. Later, the Pharaonic dynasty, which scholars believe began approximately 3100 BCE, lasted for 350 years and was headquartered at Men-Nefer, or Memphis in Greek.
Who were these deities? Clues to the mystery are further confounded when viewing the Sumerian King’s List. Some of the reigns for the first kings in Sumer lasted up to 28,800 years according to the records. This is quite difficult to believe. The Sumerians claimed that all aspects of civilization were taught to them by the deities that were worshipped in the temples of Mesopotamia. Detailed knowledge about the orbital plane, tilt axis, spherical shape, and processional behavior of the earth’s equinox were known by the Sumerian deities, who were also credited for creation of the Zodiac. Contrast this detailed level of knowledge in Sumer with that possessed in Europe during the Middle-Ages. Scientists and church authorities in Europe were at odds whether the earth was round or flat while the peoples of Sumer and the surrounding region had advanced mathematics, metallurgy, law codes, and produced many of civilizations first inventions and advanced achievements [41].
A female Sumerian deity, Inanna, was also known as Hathor in Egypt and her name is well recognized and memorialized on the walls of temples to include the Temple of Hathor found on Mount Serabit El Khadim, the Biblical Mount Sinai; the mountain in the wilderness of the deity Nannar-Sin. The deity Sin is also described in various traditions to include Assyria, and those cultures that associate with the crescent moon symbol found on flags and mosques affiliated with the religion of Islam. The male deity recognized as the moon god to the peoples of Mesopotamia was Nannar-Sin who also had a sister, none other than the goddess Inanna aka Hathor to the Egyptians. From the genealogy accounts inscribed in baked clay on display in museums throughout the world the authors readily proclaimed in the Sumerian records, Nannar-Sin was the son of Enlil, and was also known as the moon god to peoples of the ancient Middle East. There are links in historical texts indicating that Nannar-Sin had a very large following in his cult centers that were prolific in the area from southern Iraq to Syria, Turkey and Iran. Interestingly enough, the Kaaba stone in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of the sacred centers for the religion of Islam, was originally dedicated to the moon god, referred to there as Allah. Could Nannar-Sin be the deity that Mohammed had an encounter with in the wilderness? Is Nannar-Sin the fabled Allah?
At this historical juncture, the very instance one proper noun replaces another, especially as it relates to a deity’s name; a new epithet begins as an old one is occluded or subsumed. Witnessing the Sumerian deity Enlil whose origins were mysterious but had been recorded and witnessed daily by the Biblical patriarch Abraham and peoples of the city of Ur, become the lofty one of the mountain, El Shaddai and eventually Jehovah to the people of the land of Israel, was an astounding discovery that linked the deities of Sumeria with at least one God of the old testament. This fact becomes apparent when comparing the Sumerian Storm God (Enlil) written about in the Lamentations of Ur with the God of wrath and vengeance of the Old Testament. More personable Gods were worshipped elsewhere in the region: like Enki, aka Ahura Mazda as he was known in ancient Persia, the “creator of all good things, god of light and wisdom” Ahura Mazda was replaced by Allah, aka Nannar-Sin when Arab conquerors overtook the Persians in 633 BCE, headquartered at their spectacular capital at Persepolis. The Arab incursion led to the decline of the Zoroastrian religion with the ending of the Sassanid Empire in 644 BCE.