Anunnaki

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File:Ea (Babilonian) - EnKi (Sumerian).jpg

Akkadian cylinder seal dating to Template:Circa BCE depicting the deities Inanna, Enki, and Utu, three members of the Anunnaki

The Anunnaki (Sumerian: Template:Cuneiform, also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians. In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which come from the Post-Akkadian period, the Anunnaki are deities in the pantheon, descendants of An (the god of the heavens) and Ki (the goddess of earth), and their primary function was to decree the fates of humanity.

EtymologyEdit

File:Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg

Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitting on a throne surrounded by worshippers (Template:Circa BC)

The name Anunnaki is derived from An,Template:Sfn the Sumerian god of the sky.Template:Sfn The name is variously written "^da-nuna", "^da-nuna-ke₄-ne", or "^da-nun-na", meaning "princely offspring" or "offspring of An".Template:Sfn

The Anunnaki were believed to be the offspring of An and the earth goddess Ki.Template:Sfn Samuel Noah Kramer identifies Ki with the Sumerian mother goddess Ninhursag, stating that they were originally the same figure.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The oldest of the Anunnaki was Enlil, the god of airTemplate:Sfn and chief god of the Sumerian pantheon.Template:Sfn The Sumerians believed that, until Enlil was born, heaven and earth were inseparable.Template:Sfn Then, Enlil split heaven and earth in twoTemplate:Sfn and carried away the earthTemplate:Sfn while his father An carried away the sky.Template:Sfn

Worship and iconographyEdit

The Anunnaki are chiefly mentioned in literary textsTemplate:Sfn and very little evidence to support the existence of any cult of them has yet been unearthed.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn This is likely because each member of the Anunnaki had his or her own individual cult, separate from the others.Template:Sfn Similarly, no representations of the Anunnaki as a complete group have yet been discovered,Template:Sfn although a few depictions of two or three individual members together have been identified.Template:Sfn Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic.Template:Sfn They were thought to possess extraordinary powersTemplate:Sfn and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size.Template:Sfn The deities typically wore melam, an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor".Template:Sfn Melam could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons.Template:Sfn The effect that seeing a deity's melam has on a human is described as ni, a word for the physical tingling of the flesh.Template:Sfn Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns.Template:Sfn They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them.Template:Sfn

The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven,Template:Sfn after an earlier history of visiting earth in the mythological texts, and that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn As such, cult statues were given constant care and attentionTemplate:Sfn Template:Sfn and a set of priests was assigned to tend to them.Template:Sfn These priests would clothe the statuesTemplate:Sfn and place feasts before them so they could "eat".Template:Sfn Template:Sfn A deity's temple was believed to be that deity's literal place of residence.Template:Sfn The gods had boats, full-sized barges which were normally stored inside their templesTemplate:Sfn and were used to transport their cult statues along waterways during various religious festivals.Template:Sfn The gods also had chariots, which were used for transporting their cult statues by land.Template:Sfn Sometimes a deity's cult statue would be transported to the location of a battle so that the deity could watch the battle unfold.Template:Sfn The major deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon, which included the Anunnaki, were believed to participate in the "assembly of the gods",Template:Sfn through which the gods made all of their decisions.Template:Sfn This assembly was seen as a divine counterpart to the semi-democratic legislative system that existed during the Third Dynasty of Ur (Template:Circa 2112 BC – Template:Circa 2004 BC).Template:Sfn

MythologyEdit

SumerianEdit

File:Four statuettes of Mesopotamian gods.jpg

Four copper-alloy foundation figures depicting ancient Mesopotamian gods wearing characteristic horned crowns (Template:Circa BC)

The earliest known usages of the term Anunnaki come from inscriptions written during the reign of Gudea (Template:Circa 2144–2124 BC) and the Third Dynasty of Ur.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In the earliest texts, the term is applied to the most powerful and important deities in the Sumerian pantheon: the descendants of the sky-god An.Template:Sfn Template:SfnThis group of deities probably included the "seven gods who decree":Template:Sfn An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna.Template:Sfn

Although certain deities are described as members of the Anunnaki, no complete list of the names of all the Anunnaki has survivedTemplate:Sfn and they are usually only referred to as a cohesive group in literary texts.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Furthermore, Sumerian texts describe the Anunnaki inconsistentlyTemplate:Sfn and do not agree on how many Anunnaki there were, or what their divine function was.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Originally, the Anunnaki appear to have been heavenly deities with immense powers.Template:Sfn In the poem Enki and the World Order, the Anunnaki "do homage" to Enki, sing hymns of praise in his honor, and "take up their dwellings" among the people of Sumer.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The same composition twice states that the Anunnaki "decree the fates of mankind".Template:Sfn

Virtually every major deity in the Sumerian pantheon was regarded as the patron of a specific cityTemplate:Sfn and was expected to protect that city's interests.Template:Sfn The deity was believed to permanently reside within that city's temple.Template:Sfn One text mentions as many as fifty Anunnaki associated with the city of Eridu.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld, there are only seven Anunnaki, who reside within the Underworld and serve as judges.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Inanna stands trial before them for her attempt to take over the Underworld;Template:Sfn Template:Sfn they deem her guilty of hubris and condemn her to death.Template:Sfn

Major deities in Sumerian mythology were associated with specific celestial bodies.Template:Sfn Inanna was believed to be the planet Venus.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Utu was believed to be the sun.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Nanna was the moon.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn An was identified with all the stars of the equatorial sky, Enlil with those of the northern sky, and Enki with those of the southern sky.Template:Sfn The path of Enlil's celestial orbit was a continuous, symmetrical circle around the north celestial pole,Template:Sfn but those of An and Enki were believed to intersect at various points.Template:Sfn

Akkadian, Babylonian and AssyrianEdit

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File:Marduk and pet.jpg

Babylonian representation of the national god Marduk, who the Babylonians and Assyrians envisioned as a prominent member of the Anunnaki

Akkadian texts of the second millennium BC follow similar portrayals of the Anunnaki from Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld, depicting them as chthonic Underworld deities. In an abbreviated Akkadian version of Inanna's Descent written in the early second millennium, Ereshkigal, the queen of the Underworld, comments that she "drink[s] water with the Anunnaki".Template:Sfn Later in the same poem, Ereshkigal orders her servant Namtar to fetch the Anunnaki from Egalgina,Template:Sfn to "decorate the threshold steps with coral",Template:Sfn and to "seat them on golden thrones".Template:Sfn

During the Old Babylonian Period (Template:Circa 1830 BC – c. 1531 BC), a new set of deities known as the Igigi are introduced.Template:Sfn The relationship between the Anunnaki and the Igigi is unclear.Template:Sfn On some occasions, the categories appear to be used synonymously,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn but in other writings, such as The Poem of Erra, there is a clear distinction between the two.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In the late Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic, the Igigi are the sixth generation of the gods who are forced to perform labor for the Anunnaki.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn After forty days, the Igigi rebel and the god Enki, one of the Anunnaki, creates humans to replace them.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

From the Middle Babylonian Period (Template:Circa 1592 – 1155 BC) onward, the name Anunnaki was applied generally to the deities of the underworld;Template:Sfn whereas the name Igigi was applied to the heavenly deities.Template:Sfn During this period, the underworld deities Damkina, Nergal, and Madānu are listed as the most powerful among the Anunnaki,Template:Sfn alongside Marduk, the national god of ancient Babylon.Template:Sfn

In the standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh (Template:Circa 1200 BC) Utnapishtim, the immortal survivor of the Great Flood, describes the Anunnaki as seven judges of the Underworld, who set the land aflame as the storm approaches.Template:Sfn Later, when the flood comes, Ishtar (the East Semitic equivalent to Inanna) and the Anunnaki mourn over the destruction of humanity.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

In the Babylonian Enûma Eliš, Marduk assigns the Anunnaki their positions.Template:Sfn A late Babylonian version of the epic mentions 600 Anunnaki of the underworld,Template:Sfn but only 300 Anunnaki of heaven,Template:Sfn indicating the existence of a complex underworld cosmology.Template:Sfn In gratitude, the Anunnaki, the "Great Gods", build Esagila, a "splendid" temple dedicated to Marduk, Ea, and Ellil.Template:Sfn In the eighth-century BC Poem of Erra, the Anunnaki are described as the brothers of the god NergalTemplate:Sfn and are depicted as antagonistic towards humanity.Template:Sfn

A badly damaged text from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 – 612 BC) describes Marduk leading his army of Anunnaki into the sacred city of Nippur and causing a disturbance.Template:Sfn The disturbance causes a flood,Template:Sfn which forces the resident gods of Nippur to take shelter in the Eshumesha temple to Ninurta.Template:Sfn Enlil is enraged at Marduk's transgression and orders the gods of Eshumesha to take Marduk and the other Anunnaki as prisoners.Template:Sfn The Anunnaki are captured,Template:Sfn but Marduk appoints his front-runner Mushteshirhablim to lead a revolt against the gods of EshumeshaTemplate:Sfn and sends his messenger Neretagmil to alert Nabu, the god of literacy.Template:Sfn When the Eshumesha gods hear Nabu speak, they come out of their temple to search for him.Template:Sfn Marduk defeats the Eshumesha gods and takes 360 of them as prisoners of war, including Enlil himself.Template:Sfn Enlil protests that the Eshumesha gods are innocent,Template:Sfn so Marduk puts them on trial before the Anunnaki.Template:Sfn The text ends with a warning from Damkianna (another name for Ninhursag) to the gods and to humanity, pleading them not to repeat the war between the Anunnaki and the gods of Eshumesha.Template:Sfn

Hurrian and HittiteEdit

File:Yazilikaya B 12erGruppe.jpg

Ancient Hittite relief carving from Yazılıkaya, a sanctuary at Hattusa, depicting twelve gods of the underworld,Template:Sfn Template:Failed verification whom the Hittites identified as the Mesopotamian AnunnakiTemplate:Sfn Template:Sfn

In the mythologies of the Hurrians and Hittites (which flourished in the mid to late second millennium BC), the oldest generation of gods was believed to have been banished by the younger gods to the Underworld,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn where they were ruled by the goddess Lelwani.Template:Sfn Hittite scribes identified these deities with the Anunnaki.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In ancient Hurrian, the Anunnaki are referred to as karuileš šiuneš, which means "former ancient gods",Template:Sfn or kattereš šiuneš, which means "gods of the earth".Template:Sfn Hittite and Hurrian treaties were often sworn by the old gods in order to ensure that the oaths would be kept.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In one myth, the gods are threatened by the stone giant Ullikummi,Template:Sfn so Ea (the later name for Enki) commands the Former Gods to find the weapon that was used to separate the heavens from the earth.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn They find it and use it to cut off Ullikummi's feet.Template:Sfn

Although the names of the Anunnaki in Hurrian and Hittite texts frequently vary,Template:Sfn they are always eight in number.Template:Sfn In one Hittite ritual, the names of the old gods are listed as: "Aduntarri the diviner, Zulki the dream interpretess, Irpitia Lord of the Earth, Narā, Namšarā, Minki, Amunki, and Āpi."Template:Sfn The old gods had no identifiable cult in the Hurrio-Hittite religion;Template:Sfn instead, the Hurrians and Hittites sought to communicate with the old gods through the ritual sacrifice of a piglet in a pit dug in the ground.Template:Sfn The old gods were often invoked to perform ritual purifications.Template:Sfn

The Hittite account of the old gods' banishment to the Underworld is closely related with the Greek poet Hesiod's narrative of the overthrow of the Titans by the Olympians in his Theogony.Template:Sfn The Greek sky-god Ouranos (whose name means "Heaven") is the father of the TitansTemplate:Sfn and is derived from the Hittite version of Anu.Template:Sfn In Hesiod's account, Ouranos is castrated by his son Cronus,Template:Sfn just as Anu was castrated by his son Kumarbi in the Hittite story.Template:Sfn

Pseudoarchaeology and conspiracy theoriesEdit

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Over a series of published books (starting with Chariots of the Gods? in 1968), pseudoarchaeologist Erich von Däniken claimed that extraterrestrial "ancient astronauts" had visited a prehistoric Earth. Däniken explains the origins of religions as reactions to contact with an alien race, and offers interpretations of Sumerian texts and the Old Testament as evidence.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

In his 1976 book The Twelfth Planet, author Zecharia Sitchin claimed that the Anunnaki were actually an advanced humanoid extraterrestrial species from the undiscovered planet Nibiru, who came to Earth around 500,000 years ago and constructed a base of operations in order to mine gold after discovering that the planet was rich in the precious metal.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn According to Sitchin, the Anunnaki hybridized their species and Homo erectus via in vitro fertilization in order to create humans as a slave species of miners.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Sitchin claimed that the Anunnaki were forced to temporarily leave Earth's surface and orbit the planet when Antarctic glaciers melted, causing the Great Flood,Template:Sfn which also destroyed the Anunnaki's bases on Earth.Template:Sfn These had to be rebuilt, and the Anunnaki, needing more humans to help in this massive effort, taught mankind agriculture.Template:Sfn

Ronald H. Fritze writes that, according to Sitchin, "the Annunaki built the pyramids and all the other monumental structures from around the ancient world that ancient astronaut theorists consider so impossible to build without highly advanced technologies."Template:Sfn Sitchin expanded on this mythology in later works, including The Stairway to Heaven (1980) and The Wars of Gods and Men (1985).Template:Sfn In The End of Days: Armageddon and the Prophecy of the Return (2007), Sitchin predicted that the Anunnaki would return to earth, possibly as soon as 2012, corresponding to the end of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Sitchin's writings have been universally rejected by mainstream historians, who have labelled his books as pseudoarchaeology,Template:Sfn asserting that Sitchin seems to deliberately misrepresent Sumerian texts by quoting them out of context, truncating quotations, and mistranslating Sumerian words to give them radically different meanings from their accepted definitions.Template:Sfn

David Icke, the British conspiracy theorist who popularised the reptilian conspiracy theory, has claimed that the reptilian overlords of his theory are in fact the Anunnaki. Clearly influenced by Sitchin's writings, Icke adapts them "in favor of his own New Age and conspiratorial agenda".Template:Sfn Icke's speculation on the Anunnaki incorporates far-right views on history, positing an Aryan master race descended by blood from the Anunnaki.Template:Sfn It also incorporates dragons, Dracula, and draconian laws,Template:Sfn these three elements apparently linked only by superficial linguistic similarity. He formulated his views on the Anunnaki in the 1990s and has written several books about his theory.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>