Enuma Elish
The Enuma Elish, the Epic of Atrahasis, and the Epic of Gilgamesh are ancient texts that originate from the middle east. They are some of the oldest texts we have.
The body of work that I have created is based on the thought experiment, What If, these texts were fragmented parts of an actual event that our early ancestors had experienced in the Gulf Oasis. This thought experiment requires three assumptions: The first assumption is that the "Gods" depicted in these stories are in fact elements of nature. The second assumption is that the "lesser gods" mentioned in these texts are in fact humans of power and prestige, and the third assumption is that the "humans" depicted in these texts are in fact the first slave class in our human history. If we adhere to these assumptions and merge these myths to the science presented in my thesis, an eerie similarity emerges and thus a unique body of work.
The body of work that I have created is based on the thought experiment, What If, these texts were fragmented parts of an actual event that our early ancestors had experienced in the Gulf Oasis. This thought experiment requires three assumptions: The first assumption is that the "Gods" depicted in these stories are in fact elements of nature. The second assumption is that the "lesser gods" mentioned in these texts are in fact humans of power and prestige, and the third assumption is that the "humans" depicted in these texts are in fact the first slave class in our human history. If we adhere to these assumptions and merge these myths to the science presented in my thesis, an eerie similarity emerges and thus a unique body of work.
Let us begin this thought experiment with the Enuma Elish. If this story is actually describing the events that occurred in the Gulf Oasis, then the beginning of this text describes how this landscape came to be.
"When the skies above were not yet named nor earth below pronounced by name, Apsu(the gulf oasis lake), the first one, their begetter, and maker Tiamat(the ocean), who bore them all, had mixed their waters together, but had not formed pastures, nor discovered reed-beds; when yet no gods were manifest, nor names pronounced, nor destinies decreed, then gods were born within them. "(Dalley 233)Enuma Elish
Adhering to the parameters of this thought experiment, the above text would be referring to the fact that the ocean receded below current sea levels due to the last ice age. An event that would have "bore" the largest fresh water lake in this region of the world, and exposed this landscape. An event that took thousands of years to "form pastures, and reed-beds."
If the lesser gods mentioned in the opening paragraph of the Enuma Elish are in fact humans of great standing, then according to the text and to DNA studies, these people are said to have come into this world from one of the first migration waves of humans leaving Africa more than 50,000 years ago. According to the text, these human travellers are "born" were the Apsu(the lake) and Tiamat(the ocean) mingled. This location, seen in the image below, was just a few miles east of the lake, at the mouth of where this fresh water system emptied out into the ocean. The exact location that Jeffery Rose proposes as being the first human occupation zone in this oasis.
Adhering to the parameters of this thought experiment, the above text would be referring to the fact that the ocean receded below current sea levels due to the last ice age. An event that would have "bore" the largest fresh water lake in this region of the world, and exposed this landscape. An event that took thousands of years to "form pastures, and reed-beds."
If the lesser gods mentioned in the opening paragraph of the Enuma Elish are in fact humans of great standing, then according to the text and to DNA studies, these people are said to have come into this world from one of the first migration waves of humans leaving Africa more than 50,000 years ago. According to the text, these human travellers are "born" were the Apsu(the lake) and Tiamat(the ocean) mingled. This location, seen in the image below, was just a few miles east of the lake, at the mouth of where this fresh water system emptied out into the ocean. The exact location that Jeffery Rose proposes as being the first human occupation zone in this oasis.
It seems that over time the people that were "born" to this oasis began to see themselves as gods, for the next verse in the Enuma Elish tells us that powerful brothers ruled this world. The Enuma Elish tells us that;
"Anshar had no rival among the gods, his brothers. The divine brothers banded together, They disturbed Tiamat(ocean) as they rushed here and there, Indeed, they distraught and tormented Tiamat by their boisterous mirth in the dwelling of Heaven(the Gulf Oasis). Apsu(the freshwater lake) could not diminish their clamor and Tiamat was dumbfounded at their ways. Their doings were loathsome to him. Offensive and overbearing were their ways."Enuma Elish
The text continues to tell us that over time these lesser gods became busy. They definitely made a lot of noise. Not a common practice for small bands of nomadic hunter and gatherers. The work our ancestors are engaged in seems to be extensive as the text tell us;
"The gods(the divine brothers and there people) who were man did forced labor, they bore drudgery. Great indeed was the drudgery of the gods,
the forced labor was heavy, the misery too much: the seven great Anunna-gods were burdening the Igigi-gods note with forced labor. [Lacuna]
The gods were digging watercourses, canals they opened, the life of the land. The Igigi-gods were digging watercourses canals they opened, the life of the land.
The Igigi-gods dug the Tigris river and the Euphrates thereafter. Springs they opened from the depths, wells ... they established.
... years of drudgery.
... the vast marsh.
They counted years of drudgery, ... and forty years, too much! ... forced labor they bore night and day. They were complaining, denouncing, muttering down in the ditch: "Let us face up to our foreman the prefect, he must take off our heavy burden upon us!" (Epic of Atrahasis)
To me, it sounds as if these humans were busy developing agriculture to support a growing community. Digging ditches, canals, or opening up springs. It sounds like these people were busy establishing one of the first proto-cities, proto-cities that science supports as having existed in this part of the world. It also seems this work took a very long time to execute and was not liked by both the lesser gods and the Apsu. In fact, the God Apsu was so angry at what these people were doing, this freshwater system wanted to kill them for it.
"Then Apsu, the begetter of great gods, Cried out, addressing Mummu, his vizier: “0 Mummu, my vizier, who rejoices my spirit, Come hither and let us go to Tiamat!” They went and sat down before Tiamat, Exchanging counsel about the gods, their offspring. Apsu, opening his mouth, Said unto radiant Tiamat: “Their ways are truly abominable unto me. By day I find no relief, nor repose by night. I will destroy, I will wreck their ways, That quite may be restored. Let us have rest!”
In the above verse that is found in the Enuma Elish it tells us that the large freshwater system that existed in the Gulf Oasis must have been experiencing above average seasonal flooding. It is the only way a freshwater system could "destroy/wreck their ways." These first humans seem to have interpreted a changing environment as a punishment for creating one of the first proto-cities. When we look back in time over the last 20,000 years the only time where we see such a dramatic change in our global climate so as to produce above normal seasonal flooding is at the end of the Younger Dryas event, 11,600 years ago. Where in a 200 year span the ice age ends, the global temperature rises 10C, the ocean rises 3-4 meters, and a massive rise in atmospheric water vapour occurs.
It is my belief that at this time, as seasonal flood waters would have become sever, and poised a real threat to those that lived in the area, a large construction project must have been created in order to combat this threat. If one could dig ditches, one could dig and build a levee. A levee that encircled the vulnerable island that lay at the center of this lake, an island that was connected to the most important land bridge in the Gulf Oasis. A land bridge that connected the northern world of Iran to the southern land of the Gulf Oasis. It is self evident when we look at the map below, that the large freshwater system was a barrier that prevented travel from one side of the oasis to the other for hundreds of miles into the heart of the Arabian Peninsula.
"Anshar had no rival among the gods, his brothers. The divine brothers banded together, They disturbed Tiamat(ocean) as they rushed here and there, Indeed, they distraught and tormented Tiamat by their boisterous mirth in the dwelling of Heaven(the Gulf Oasis). Apsu(the freshwater lake) could not diminish their clamor and Tiamat was dumbfounded at their ways. Their doings were loathsome to him. Offensive and overbearing were their ways."Enuma Elish
The text continues to tell us that over time these lesser gods became busy. They definitely made a lot of noise. Not a common practice for small bands of nomadic hunter and gatherers. The work our ancestors are engaged in seems to be extensive as the text tell us;
"The gods(the divine brothers and there people) who were man did forced labor, they bore drudgery. Great indeed was the drudgery of the gods,
the forced labor was heavy, the misery too much: the seven great Anunna-gods were burdening the Igigi-gods note with forced labor. [Lacuna]
The gods were digging watercourses, canals they opened, the life of the land. The Igigi-gods were digging watercourses canals they opened, the life of the land.
The Igigi-gods dug the Tigris river and the Euphrates thereafter. Springs they opened from the depths, wells ... they established.
... years of drudgery.
... the vast marsh.
They counted years of drudgery, ... and forty years, too much! ... forced labor they bore night and day. They were complaining, denouncing, muttering down in the ditch: "Let us face up to our foreman the prefect, he must take off our heavy burden upon us!" (Epic of Atrahasis)
To me, it sounds as if these humans were busy developing agriculture to support a growing community. Digging ditches, canals, or opening up springs. It sounds like these people were busy establishing one of the first proto-cities, proto-cities that science supports as having existed in this part of the world. It also seems this work took a very long time to execute and was not liked by both the lesser gods and the Apsu. In fact, the God Apsu was so angry at what these people were doing, this freshwater system wanted to kill them for it.
"Then Apsu, the begetter of great gods, Cried out, addressing Mummu, his vizier: “0 Mummu, my vizier, who rejoices my spirit, Come hither and let us go to Tiamat!” They went and sat down before Tiamat, Exchanging counsel about the gods, their offspring. Apsu, opening his mouth, Said unto radiant Tiamat: “Their ways are truly abominable unto me. By day I find no relief, nor repose by night. I will destroy, I will wreck their ways, That quite may be restored. Let us have rest!”
In the above verse that is found in the Enuma Elish it tells us that the large freshwater system that existed in the Gulf Oasis must have been experiencing above average seasonal flooding. It is the only way a freshwater system could "destroy/wreck their ways." These first humans seem to have interpreted a changing environment as a punishment for creating one of the first proto-cities. When we look back in time over the last 20,000 years the only time where we see such a dramatic change in our global climate so as to produce above normal seasonal flooding is at the end of the Younger Dryas event, 11,600 years ago. Where in a 200 year span the ice age ends, the global temperature rises 10C, the ocean rises 3-4 meters, and a massive rise in atmospheric water vapour occurs.
It is my belief that at this time, as seasonal flood waters would have become sever, and poised a real threat to those that lived in the area, a large construction project must have been created in order to combat this threat. If one could dig ditches, one could dig and build a levee. A levee that encircled the vulnerable island that lay at the center of this lake, an island that was connected to the most important land bridge in the Gulf Oasis. A land bridge that connected the northern world of Iran to the southern land of the Gulf Oasis. It is self evident when we look at the map below, that the large freshwater system was a barrier that prevented travel from one side of the oasis to the other for hundreds of miles into the heart of the Arabian Peninsula.
The only place to safely cross from one continent to another would have been this land bridge. It would have allowed for all manner of animal, including the large number of elephants that existed in this area, to cross over it. This migration path would have drawn humans to it. Making this area important to our early ancestors not only for food but eventually as a trade route. Not to mention the abundance of wildlife that must have existed in harmony with the extensive marsh lands that surrounded this island. A prime candidate in the location Jeffery Rose states as being "ground zero to the agricultural and urban revolutions" our ancestors experimented with. A city so important that a proposed levee was built around it to protect it from the increased threat of local seasonal flood waters. A levee to combat the wrath of the god Apsu. However, this work would have required a huge task force. It is this massive construction project that supports the need for "humans" (the first slave class) to be created. It was not something the lesser gods were willing to undertake. For in the Epic of Atrahasis it tells us that humans were created before the rains came to lift the burden of construction from the lesser gods.
"As every day ... the outcry(from the lesser gods) was loud, we could hear the clamor. There is ... Belet-ili, the midwife, is present. Let her create, then, a human, a man, (a slave)
Let him bear the yoke!
Let him bear the yoke!
Let man assume the drudgery of the god." Belet-ili, the midwife, is present. Let the midwife create a human being! Let man assume the drudgery of the god." They summoned and asked the goddess the midwife of the gods, wise Mami: "Will you be the birth goddess, creatress of mankind? Create a human being, that he bear the yoke, let him bear the yoke, the task of Enlil, let man assume the drudgery of the god." (Epic of Atrahasis)
I also believe that having constructed a levee could also answer how humans had caused the death of the Apsu (the lake) or at least part of it. For just after we are told that the Apsu is planning to kill the lesser gods in the story of the Enuma Elish, we find out that the Apsu is killed by the king that rules at this time, Ea constraining it.
"As he(Ea) poured sleep upon him(Apsu). Sound asleep he lay. When he had made Apsu lie prone, deep in sleep, Mummu, the advisor, was powerless to stir. He loosened Apsu’s band, tore off his tiara, removed his halo and put it on himself. Having constrained Apsu, he slew him."
However, it seems that the measures king Ea had undertaken to combat the "anger" of the Apsu, a suggested levee, was not enough to combat a new threat that happens shortly after the death of the Apsu, the threat of a rising ocean. It is due to this new threat that the human elites turn to king Ea's son, Marduk, to defeat this new enemy.
"Now Tiamat renewed the conflict and created an army of monsters. This time even the great Ea could not withstand the attack and the gods decided to ask the young Marduk to defend them against Tiamat. He brought forth Imhullu “the Evil Wind,” the Whirlwind, the Hurricane, The Fourfold Wind, the Sevenfold Wind, the Cyclone, the Matchless Wind; Then he sent forth the seven winds he had brought forth. To sir up the inside of Tiamat they rose up behind him. Then the lord raised up the flood-storm, his mighty weapon. He mounted the storm-chariot irresistible and terrifying. He harnessed and yoked to it a team-of-four, The Killer, the Relentless, the Trampler, the Swift. Thereupon the lord raised his mighty weapon, the flood storm, and to enraged Tiamat he spoke the following words: “Why have you risen, why have you arrogantly exalted? You have charged your own heart to stir up conflict, sons reject their own fathers."
It seems that from the next few verses of the Enuma Elish that Tiamat(the ocean) has become angry at the lesser gods(human nobles) for killing the Apsu, her partner who tried to kill the lesser gods, and because of this "rises" up to seek revenge on these humans. Interestingly enough, 11,600 is the first time the rising ocean effects the Gulf Oasis in an event that can been seen as the largest cataclysmic event to have occurred to this environment. An event that has the ocean rising out of the canyon in the Straits of Hormuz in a a 60 year span, and into the largest freshwater ecosystem this part of the world had ever known. Killing a way of life our early ancestors would have developed over 50,000 years. Refer to my thesis paper for the specific details of how this occurred.
From the text above, it also seems that some of the people have decided to stay in order to combat this new threat. A decision that causes "son's to reject their own fathers." If indeed there was a levee built around this island it would explain why people were willing to stay in this location. However it would not have been a permanent solution, and because of this it seems that the people turn to the prince to solve this new problem. So great is Marduk, this young prince, that the text seems to attribute natural events to him. He is said to have summoned a flood storm to vanquish Tiamat(the ocean).
The storm that Marduk brings forth to vanquish Tiamat is a hurricane, but seeing as hurricanes are called monsoons in this part of the world, Marduk is attributed with changing the direction of the Indian monsoon system. The closest monsoon system in this part of the world. This concept is clearly supported by the science that clearly shows that starting 11,600 years ago, due to extreme climatic conditions the world found itself in, the Indian monsoon did in fact shift directions and make its way over the gulf oasis. Bringing with it more water than this antediluvian flood plain would have ever seen. Vanquishing the ocean, but unfortunately devastating the island that lay in the middle of this floodplain in the process.
"As every day ... the outcry(from the lesser gods) was loud, we could hear the clamor. There is ... Belet-ili, the midwife, is present. Let her create, then, a human, a man, (a slave)
Let him bear the yoke!
Let him bear the yoke!
Let man assume the drudgery of the god." Belet-ili, the midwife, is present. Let the midwife create a human being! Let man assume the drudgery of the god." They summoned and asked the goddess the midwife of the gods, wise Mami: "Will you be the birth goddess, creatress of mankind? Create a human being, that he bear the yoke, let him bear the yoke, the task of Enlil, let man assume the drudgery of the god." (Epic of Atrahasis)
I also believe that having constructed a levee could also answer how humans had caused the death of the Apsu (the lake) or at least part of it. For just after we are told that the Apsu is planning to kill the lesser gods in the story of the Enuma Elish, we find out that the Apsu is killed by the king that rules at this time, Ea constraining it.
"As he(Ea) poured sleep upon him(Apsu). Sound asleep he lay. When he had made Apsu lie prone, deep in sleep, Mummu, the advisor, was powerless to stir. He loosened Apsu’s band, tore off his tiara, removed his halo and put it on himself. Having constrained Apsu, he slew him."
However, it seems that the measures king Ea had undertaken to combat the "anger" of the Apsu, a suggested levee, was not enough to combat a new threat that happens shortly after the death of the Apsu, the threat of a rising ocean. It is due to this new threat that the human elites turn to king Ea's son, Marduk, to defeat this new enemy.
"Now Tiamat renewed the conflict and created an army of monsters. This time even the great Ea could not withstand the attack and the gods decided to ask the young Marduk to defend them against Tiamat. He brought forth Imhullu “the Evil Wind,” the Whirlwind, the Hurricane, The Fourfold Wind, the Sevenfold Wind, the Cyclone, the Matchless Wind; Then he sent forth the seven winds he had brought forth. To sir up the inside of Tiamat they rose up behind him. Then the lord raised up the flood-storm, his mighty weapon. He mounted the storm-chariot irresistible and terrifying. He harnessed and yoked to it a team-of-four, The Killer, the Relentless, the Trampler, the Swift. Thereupon the lord raised his mighty weapon, the flood storm, and to enraged Tiamat he spoke the following words: “Why have you risen, why have you arrogantly exalted? You have charged your own heart to stir up conflict, sons reject their own fathers."
It seems that from the next few verses of the Enuma Elish that Tiamat(the ocean) has become angry at the lesser gods(human nobles) for killing the Apsu, her partner who tried to kill the lesser gods, and because of this "rises" up to seek revenge on these humans. Interestingly enough, 11,600 is the first time the rising ocean effects the Gulf Oasis in an event that can been seen as the largest cataclysmic event to have occurred to this environment. An event that has the ocean rising out of the canyon in the Straits of Hormuz in a a 60 year span, and into the largest freshwater ecosystem this part of the world had ever known. Killing a way of life our early ancestors would have developed over 50,000 years. Refer to my thesis paper for the specific details of how this occurred.
From the text above, it also seems that some of the people have decided to stay in order to combat this new threat. A decision that causes "son's to reject their own fathers." If indeed there was a levee built around this island it would explain why people were willing to stay in this location. However it would not have been a permanent solution, and because of this it seems that the people turn to the prince to solve this new problem. So great is Marduk, this young prince, that the text seems to attribute natural events to him. He is said to have summoned a flood storm to vanquish Tiamat(the ocean).
The storm that Marduk brings forth to vanquish Tiamat is a hurricane, but seeing as hurricanes are called monsoons in this part of the world, Marduk is attributed with changing the direction of the Indian monsoon system. The closest monsoon system in this part of the world. This concept is clearly supported by the science that clearly shows that starting 11,600 years ago, due to extreme climatic conditions the world found itself in, the Indian monsoon did in fact shift directions and make its way over the gulf oasis. Bringing with it more water than this antediluvian flood plain would have ever seen. Vanquishing the ocean, but unfortunately devastating the island that lay in the middle of this floodplain in the process.
Indeed, an interesting thought experiment. One that I am in no way stating is true, but to me, an experiment that has produced a number of interesting images. Please enjoy by clicking here.
Amazingly red hair and white skin originated from the middle east, the same location the Paracus skulls DNA say they originate from. " ScotlandsDNA believes that everyone who carries one of the 3 variants of the red-hair gene is a direct descendant of the first redhead ever to have it - two variants originating in the middle east arounds 70,000 years ago" Link
As for white skin, Keith Cheng from Penn State College of Medicine reported that, "All individuals from the Middle East, East Africa and South India who carry the A111T mutation share traces of the ancestral genetic code. According to the researchers, this indicates that all existing instances of this mutation originate from the same person somewhere in West Asia." Link
The scientific facts about the elongation of skulls for those who held power, and the birth place of white skin and red hair all coming from the middle east led me to incorporate these ideas into my art.
As for white skin, Keith Cheng from Penn State College of Medicine reported that, "All individuals from the Middle East, East Africa and South India who carry the A111T mutation share traces of the ancestral genetic code. According to the researchers, this indicates that all existing instances of this mutation originate from the same person somewhere in West Asia." Link
The scientific facts about the elongation of skulls for those who held power, and the birth place of white skin and red hair all coming from the middle east led me to incorporate these ideas into my art.
