By comparing the texts of the book of
Genesis, like the stories of the sons of God, the Deluge and the
confusion of tongues (the Tower of Babel story), with the
Mesopotamian myths, one should note these stories are not only very
similar but also that there is the mention of multiple gods instead
of one single God. The ancient Mesopotamian people knew, like the old
Greeks, a
whole pantheon of various deities where each of one had his/her own
place within the hierarchy. Like the Greek gods, the Mesopotamian
deities were not seen as the creators of the world but as the
almighty rulers of a world which was already in existence. During the
early time of the patriarch Abraham many people still revered their
previous rulers as gods.
Print of a cylinder seal depicting several Sumerian gods
The Mesopotamian gods existed of gods
of the Earth which were known as the "Anunnaki in Sumerian and
the "Anunna" in Akkadian cultures, who were also called the
"fifty great gods", and the gods of the sky or the heavens:
the "Igigi", who were the so-called: "lesser gods".
At times the names of Anunnaki and Igigi were used synonymously, what
could mean that the Igigi were actually part of the Anunnaki. In the
Babylonian myth of creation; the "Enuma Elish", the god
Marduk (who triumphed over his father Enlil) divided the Anunnaki and
assigned them to their proper stations; three hundred in heaven and
three hundred on Earth.
The local chief god Enlil (translates to:"Lord of the heaven") was a stern
but righteous god but when he was pushed to his limits he was
merciless for anyone who opposed him. So when he saw the creation of
modern man as a total failure he would have send out the great flood.
(It is likely that the Hellenes knew Enlil as their chief god Zeus,
because in Plato's dialogue Critias
it would have been Zeus that brought out the great Deluge.)
His
half brother Enki (translates to: "Lord of the Earth"), also known as "Ea" by the Akkadians, was an alchemist,
advisor and a god of fertility and wisdom. He would have been
involved with the creation of (modern) man, and therefore he was
possibly also known in Greek mythology as the titan Prometheus, who
created "mortal man". Enki was also the one who saved the
pius man known as: Atrahasis (Akkadian), Utnapishtim (Sumerian) and
Noah (by the later Babylonian and Hebrews), and his family from the
flood.
Above Enlil and Enki stood the great Anu, the god of the heaven (firmament) and according to ancient Sumerian beliefs the supreme head of the gods. His kingdom was in the expansion of the heavens and is like the Greek god Ouranos (latinized: Uranus) - whose name is similar to the name Anu - known as a personification of the heavens/sky. According to the stories all other Anunnaki gods would be his descendants. His leadership was followed up by the god Enlil, what eventually lead to a conflict with his half brother Enki about who would be the righteous leader. Also the Sumerian goddess Inanna, granddaughter of Enlil and great-granddaugher of Anu, and known by the Akkadians as "Ishtar", has similarities with the Greek goddess Aphrodite, known by the Romans as Venus.
When comparing the ancient texts, there are strong indications that the Anunnaki and their offspring, the Biblical angels and the Greco-Roman gods could be all the same beings. However, for the reason that there many contradicting versions of Greek myths (which shows there had been much distortion and possibly deliberate changes had been made) perfect matches with Greek mythology would often be impossible, unfortunately.
Here below is a hypothetical list based upon the work of Zecharia Sitchin of the most important Sumerian gods with their names in other languages, adjusted and expanded to my own personal insights. Their rank within their own system of succession was based on descendance by which they - as with a royal bloodline - distributed the right to a certain degree of leadership and influence among themselves for a long time. This stopped at the moment when Marduk seized power.
Zecharia Sitchin believed that Anu was the ruler of Niburu who kept
long distance contact with the Anunnaki gods on Earth, however; the
Sumerian texts clearly state that both Anu and Ki are the gods
(or personifications) of heaven and the Earth. Like Ki (Gaia/Mother Earth) is
the goddess/personification of planet Earth, so is
Anu the god/personification of the firmament around the Earth. The Anunnaki were
spiritually advanced beings, so they could communicate with them and
apparently they would have the final say on important decisions.
Akkadian: "Anu", Egyptian: -, Greek: "Ouranos", Roman: "Caelus", Hebrew: -
Ki/Antu (spouse of An, goddess/personification of
planet Earth), Rank 55
Akkadian: -, Egyptian: -, Greek: "Gaia", Roman: "Terra", Hebrew: -
Enlil (son of An): Lord of the air
(or wind), Rank 50
Akkadian: "Ashur", Egyptian: "Shu", Greek: "Zeus", Roman: "Jupiter", Hebrew: "Adonai"
Akkadian: "Ningirsu", Egyptian: "Za-Baba", Greek: "Ares", Roman: "Mars", Hebrew: "(Archangel) Gabriel"
Ninlil (spouse of Enlil), Rank 45
Akkadian: "Ashera", Egyptian: -, Greek: "Hera", Roman: "Juno", Hebrew: -
Enki (son of An): Lord of the
Earth, Rank 40
Akkadian: "Ea", Egyptian: "Ptah", Greek: "Poseidon", Roman: "Neptune", Hebrew: "Adonai", Masai: "Enkai"
Ninki (spouse of Enki), Rank 35
Akkadian: "Damkina", Egyptian: -, Greek: -, Roman: -, Hebrew: -
Nannar (son of Enlil), Rank 30
Akkadian: "Sin", Egyptian: "Suen", Greek: "Helios", Roman: "Sol", Hebrew: "(Archangel) Michael"
Ningal (spouse of Nannar), Rank 25
Akkadian: -, Egyptian: -, Greek: -, Roman: -, Hebrew: -
Utu (son of Nannar), Rank 20
Akkadian: "Shamash", Egyptian: -, Greek: -, Roman: -, Hebrew: "(Archangel) Uriel"
Inanna (daughter of Nannar), Rank 15
Akkadian: "Ishtar", Egyptian: -, Greek: "Aphrodite", Roman: "Venus", Hebrew: "Ashtoreth/Astarte"
Ishkur (son of Enlil), Rank 10
Akkadian: "Adad", Egyptian: -, Greek: "Asclepius", Roman: "Aesclepius", Hebrew: "(Archangel) Raphael"
Ninhursag (sister of Enki)
Akkadian: "Ninmah", Egyptian: "Hathor", Greek: "Demeter", Roman: "Ceres", Hebrew: -
Ningishzidda (son of Enki)
Akkadian: -, Egyptian: "Thoth", Greek: "Hermes", Roman: "Mercury", Hebrew: -
Marduk (son of Enlil)
Akkadian: "Belus", Egyptian: -, Greek: "Belos", Roman: "Belus", Hebrew: "Baal/Bel-Merodach"
? (Sumerian name unknown)
Akkadian: -, Egyptian: "Ra/Re", Greek: -, Roman: -, Hebrew: "(Archangel) Raziel/Rezial"
Notes:
The name "Anunnaki" is generally believed to mean something to the effect of "Those of Royal Blood" (Leick, Gwendolyn: "A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology"), but linguists are actually divided about its true meaning. The name is generally believed to be composed of the following words:
"Anu" or "An" is the personification of the firmament; the heaven/sky, just like the Greek god
Ouranos/Uranus.
Na, is either a verb or an adverb. Generally it means: "to send". In many Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and Old
Babylonian texts and inscriptions, “Na” was written as “Ina”, and meant
in, from within, so on.
"Ki" generally means "Earth" in Akkadian and Sumerian, but also means "the underworld", "the netherworld", "the world of death". Maybe they regarded Earth sometimes as the "world of death", because everything in the Earthly "material word" eventually perishes.
In his much-discussed book "The Twelfth
Planet" (1976), author and ancient languages expert Zecharia
Sitchin translated Anunnaki as: "those who from heaven to
Earth came".
The word Anunnaki is also somewhat similar to the name of a certain race of giants who were called "Anakim" in old Hebrew, but Anakim actually refers to the descendants of Anak (Numbers 13:32-33), and is not a variation of the word Anunnaki as some may think.
