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Enki

Enki was a god in the Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea. The main temple to Enki was in Eridu. He was the keeper of the holy Me. His symbols included a goat and a fish, which later combined into a single beast, the Capricorn, which became one of the signs of the zodiac. Contrary to the translation of his name ("en" meaning lord, and "ki" meaning earth), he is the lord of the Abzu, the watery abyss. His name is possibly an epithet bestowed on him for the creation of the first man, Adamu, or Adapa.

Male presence, god of water and the creation. He had sexual relations with his female offspring during various generations.

According to Sumerian mythology, the Lord Enki allowed humanity to survive the Deluge designed to kill them. After Enlil, Anu and the rest of the apparent Council of Heaven decided that Man would suffer total annihilation, he covertly rescued the human man Ziusudra by either instructing him to build some kind of an ark for his family, or by bringing him into the heavens in a magic boat. This is apparently the source for the Noah's Ark myth, though the Ziusudra myth in itself may be rooted in yet older myths..

Enki was considered a god of life and replenishment, and was often depicted with streams of water emanating from his shoulders. Alongside him were trees symbolising the male and female aspects of nature, each holding the male and female aspects of the 'Life Essence', which he, as apparent alchemist of the gods, would masterfully mix to create several beings that would live upon the face of the earth.

Namely, he created a being called LU.LU. by mixing the Life Essence of animals with the Life Essence of the gods. This LU.LU. (which means mixed), would go on to receive more god-like attributes as a result of Enki's creator-ambitions, and subsequently humans were created.

In the science fiction book "Snow Crash", by Neal Stephenson, he is portrayed as a proto-hacker.


Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46