FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 'Ignorance is an outlook on life.'
	YOU ARE IN DARKNESS.
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Now another riddle: The creation of woman. Let us consult the Sumerian myths again. Here is a clue to this story: In Sumer, to the east there is a pure, clean, shining place called Dilmun where the gods are living. This is a place of 'life' where there is no sickness or death. But there is no potable water at this place. Goddess of Water Ninhursag requests from the God of Sun Enki to provide water. He does it. From the union of Enki and Ninhursag, Ninsar or Nimmu, the god of plants is born. Then Enki impregnates his daughter Ninsar and from this union Goddess Ninkurra is born. From the union of Enki and Ninkurra Goddess Uttu is born, who is also called as the Goddess of Plants. Ninhursag warns Uttu against Enki and advises her on ways to deal with Enki's approaches. Uttu upon this advice requests presents. Enki brings the gifts, Uttu receives him with joy and as a result of their union eight plants spring forth. Ninhursag has to give each plant a name and a quality. But Enki cannot wait and eats all the plants. Ninhursag is mad with rage, curses Enki with a terrible curse and departs. Gods are dismayed and Enki is stricken with sickness in eight different parts of his body. Even Enlil the God of Air is helpless. Right at that moment a fox appears, and proposes to bring back Ninhursag in return for a reasonable price. Enlil accepts. Fox induces Ninhursag to return. She comes back and starts this cure by creating in succession eight deities, one for each part of Enki's body in which the sickness is located. Five of these deities are female. And one of Enki's sick organs is his rib. The name of the goddess created to cure the sickness in Enki's rib is Ninti. 'Nin' in Sumerian is 'lady,' and 'ti' is 'rib. Another meaning of 'ti' is 'life.' So Ninti means 'Lady of the rib' or 'Lady of life.' While the Sumerian story was about curing a rib, the Old Testament story has become a creation from the rib, and the name 'Lady of Life' Ninti which is Sumerian became Hawwah which is Hebrew and means 'life,' and Islam kept this story intact. So 'lady of life' which was created(!) to cure the rib has turned into 'woman created (!), given life, using the rib.' (The core of this story is what we know today as the 'forbidden fruit,' because Enki eats the plants when it is still forbidden. Remember that Ninhursag has to give each plant a name and a quality. But Enki's double-dealer courier, messenger Isimud offers the 'forbidden fruit' to Enki. This act is committed by a snake in the Old Testament, and by the Satan in Qoran. But snake and satan act together according to Islamic mythology. Adam is pardoned by the intercession of angel Gabriel in Islamic mythology. In Sumer other gods plead with Ninhursag to cure the God of Wisdom, Enki. In Sumer the God of Wisdom Enki brings news from gods to man. It is Angel Gabriel's duty in Islam. Gabriel's power, and his character of introducing maturity to his surroundings fits the figure of the God of Wisdom.)

You all know it. Don't you? The 'messenger' was Noah of course! And his vessel is called the 'Ark'.We are told that there are 250 different narrations of flood/deluge throughout the world. And apparently we have more than one Noah! In a Polynesian version of the flood story the name of the hero is….Well have a guess! Noa of course. So which one is the original character? Who got the story from whom? Which one is the Flood written in the Old Testament? Vedas undoubtedly tell the oldest known traditions of mankind's history. That is why it seems reasonable to accept the story told in the Vedas as the story of the flood passed down to us. Vedic flood lasted 40 days. This period is identical with the one given in the Old Testament (Genesis). The Flood in German is 'sintflut.' Authorities claim that this word comes from 'sint' (total) in old High German. But how about another etymological connection with the word 'sindh.' The name of the river which has given its name to the Indian sub-continent is Indus, which was called 'Sindhu' in the old times. This river flows north-south, and floods every now and then the 140.000 square kilometers of the Sindh province of Pakistan which is very densely populated. So here may be the original story of the Flood. Who knows? No one!

 WHAT A SHIP!

Now let us take up the human dimension: This frightening event must have taken place at a time when there were human beings on earth who could experience it, live it and survive it to pass the account to the following generations. Origin of the Flood myth is generally Mesopotamia. Euphrates and Tigris rivers have led to flooding throughout the history. It is bevieved that the 'global' Flood myth is related to a flood in Mesopotamia which people have passed down to us through generations. What is the reason for this belief? Here is one of the reasons pointing to that conclusion: A 'world' map which was drawn upon the orders of King Sargon in 2700 BC. (500 years earlier than the Flood) shows only the Mesopotamia region. In other words their 'world' then was Mesopotamia, and beyond there was nothing else! That is why, it is thought, a local flood there was told as if it was a global event. This event passed on to Hebrews and from there to Arabs, and was included in their 'code books, the Old Testament and Qoran respectively. Magians say that the Flood was limited to the lands east of Babylonia.

 THE DATE OF THE FLOOD

Berossus writes that gods have set a date for the beginning of the Flood: 15 th day of the month Daisios (Month of May according to the Macedonian calendar). Bar Hebraus gives the beginning of the Flood as May 27 th. In the Old Testament it is written that Noah's Ark settled on dry land on the 17 th. day of the seventh month. The 'seventh month' is still debated. The number seven in the Old Testament is thought to have based on a mystical understanding (probably coming from Sumer). New years started in different months in the distant past. Assyrians started the new year sometimes in November, but considered April as the first month. The Flood has started in the month of Ayar (May) according to ancient Syriac documents, Greek sources and lots of other documents. There are some who think that the name 'Euphrates' is a transformation of 'Burat' which is the Syriac word for flood, and another name for the Euphrates is Purattu. The Yahwist text of the Old Testament which is thought to have been written in 9 th. century and the Rabbinical text which was written in the 6 th. century BC. are not in agreement in the stories they tell. The Yahwist writer has no idea on the date of the flood. The Rabbinical text, accepts that a global disaster of this size has occurred at a time when it couldn't have done so.

 THE FLOOD: BOSPHORUS EMPTYING (!) INTO THE BLACK SEA

 A WONDERFUL OLD TESTAMENT STORY: IT IS PLAGIARISM

This wonderful Old Testament story - in its present form - has travelled around the world with Christianity. First it was thought that the story of the Flood was written only in the Old Testament (So it was a 'divine intervention'(!) of the first degree to punish the mankind). But when Ashurbanipal's (King of Assyria) library was unearthed during the excavations at Nineveh and the story of the Flood was read on a clay tablet in 1872 there was widespread disbelief and confusion and the faith in the Old Testament story evaporated. The Old Testament story about the Flood was taken from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is Babylonian, and based on the Sumerian myth. Now its time to travel back in time and in the development of the human intellect to those days when the 'earth was flooded up to the peaks(!) of the mountains upon a 'divine intervention'(!) to destroy the human beings.'

As Spenta Mainyu brought to your attention earlier the original Flood myth is Sumerian. It was read on the fragment of a Sumerian clay tablet which was published by American scholar Arno Poebel in 1914. This fragment contained episodes of what was the myth of the Flood. The outline is as follows: At this specific point where the fragment continues the story a god, appearing to be intent upon saving the mankind from the destruction which the gods have decided to bring upon them, warns and instructs Ziusudra the pious king of Sippar. The reason behind this decision to destroy the mankind is not given. The god who is warning Ziusudra is Enki. He instructs Ziusudra to stand by a wall through which he will reveal the measures to be taken to escape this coming flood. 'There was exceedingly powerful windstorms, at the same time a flood swept over the cult-centers; flood swept over the land for seven days and seven nights; huge boat (the 'Ark') had been tossed about by the windstorms on wild waters.....(then apparently clouds left the sky and sun shone)...Ziusudra opened a window of the huge boat, Utu brought his rays into the giant boat; Ziusudra, the king prostrated himself before Utu (Sun God); killed an ox, slaughtered a sheep (as sacrifices of course).....(after a break in the tablet)....Ziusudra, the king prostrated himself before Anu, Enlil; Anu, Enlil cherished Ziusudra; gave him a god-like life (made him immortal); and placed Ziusudra, the king, preserver of the name of vegetation, of the seed of mankind, in the land of crossing, the land of Dilmun, the place where the sun rises.' This is the farthest we could go by a fragment of the Sumerian clay tablet. But when we take up the Babylonian myths and especially the Gilgamesh Epic, you would be much better informed on the Flood.

It is exciting to follow the circulation of ideas and works among the ancient civilizations from Sumer to Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, Hurrites, and Aramaeans. It is clear that Sumerians had no influence on Hebrews, because they left the stage of history long before the advent of Hebrews. But there is no doubt that Sumerians had a deep effect on the Canaanites - the predecessors of Jews in Palestine. This effect explains the similarities between the Sumerian texts and the Old Testament. These are not isolated, singular similarities, but generally appear in series. So there is a real paralellism (As an example Spenta Mainyu brings to your attention the mythological poem, 'Enki and Ninhursag' where there is a story of paradise. This paradise is Dilmun, which the gods built for themselves not in the nether-world but here on earth. (The same story appears in the Old Testament. One can say that Enki and Ninhursag myth is behind the Jewish beliefs on 'paradise' and the 'Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit' stories.) Since Spenta Mainyu invited you to his site to show the origins of your present day beliefs and practices. Let us go on with more examples. Moon cult has an important place in the Sumerian belief system. On the first day of the moon, on the l5th day and on the days it was invisible Sumerians held ceremonies and did not eat certain foods. (Do remember that in Islam religious festivals and the month to fast take place in line with the lunar cycles). Those who wander why praying people raise their hands towards the sky may find the answer in the 'Enki and the Order of the Earth Myth', where Enki in announcing the destiny of the land of Sumer, addresses the Sumerians and orders 'Let your invincible temples raise their hands to the sky.' The last example for the time being would be the importance of 'word.' Sumerians invented and developed the theory of the creative power of the divine word. This theory later on spread throughout the Middle East. According to the Sumerians, it was enough for the creator god to make a plan and utter a word. That was sufficient for the instant realization of whatever he had wished. . Where did the Sumerians get this idea? Well they had powerful kings governing them, and their word was the law. Even a single word from him was sufficient for the prompt realization of his wish. So the king of heavens, the chief-god must have done the same. Even the primitive belief systems had this power-of-the-word story. For them the word was an oracle and the repetition of the word set free the creative and re-creative power with which it was replete. The Gospels also have this idea. Theologians agree that Luke focused on describing Jesus as 'Word made flesh,' in other words, 'word coming alive clad in flesh.' (Qoran has the same concept: The creator utters the 'word' and whatever it is becomes real. This Sumer theory must be the source of this concept). Bible cannot be left out! The Gospel According to St. John begins with this sentence: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,' and when he (Jesus) was asked whether he knew Abraham he answered, 'Before Abraham, was I am' (John 8:58). Which means that he existed 'up there' all the time, 'before Abraham.' The rest of the story you know. A similar concept exists in Buddhism: 'Dharma' is the great cosmic law underlying our world, corresponding to the concept of the Word, the Logos. Buddha is said to have spent time in the Tushita heaven before descending to earth. Which means that Buddha, like Jesus, have existed on a different plane before descending to earth and joining the humans. So now you have some kind of a pointer where this power-of-the-word story may have come from.

Now the story of the creation of man. Both the Old Testament and Qoran carry the story. The Old Testament has two creation stories: According to Genesis:26,27 God creates man in his own image, 'he created them male and female' on the sixth day of creation. According to Genesis 2:7,8,20,21,22 there is another story: God creates man, and plants a garden east of Eden ('Adn' in Arabic). There he puts the man he created. Then to provide him with help - to keep him company? - God causes a deep sleep fall upon Adam, takes one of his ribs and makes it into a woman. These creation stories are taken from two different sources and only the second one has a Sumerian origin. So in short, in all three organized belief systems, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, man's creation is identical: Man is created from mud. Why? Because all these belief systems adopted the Sumerian creation story that's all! According to Talmud the name of this first woman created with Adam is Lilith. (This is a clear attempt cover up this slip-up in the Old Testament.)