Enki / Ea, God of Wisdom & the Sweet Waters
When the gods decree humanity's doom, it is the clever water-god who whispers the way out.
Enki, called Ea in Akkadian, dwells in the Apsu, the sweet groundwater beneath the earth. He is the god of wisdom, craft, and magic — the clever one who orders the practical world, devises the arts of civilization, and again and again outwits harsher decrees to rescue humanity. It is Enki who warns the Flood-hero, who fashions or saves humankind, and who supplies the incantations that heal. Where Enlil commands, Enki contrives; he is the patron of cunning intelligence.
Key passages(20)
Grandiloquent lord of heaven and earth, self-reliant, Father Enki, engendered by a bull, begotten by a wild bull, cherished by Enlil, the Great Mountain, beloved by holy An, king, meš tree planted in
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A tigi to Enki for Ur-Ninurta (Ur-Ninurta B)
Lord of complex divine powers, who establishes umderstanding, whose intentions are unfathomable, who knows everything! Enki, of broad wisdom, august ruler of the Anuna, wise one who casts spells, who
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A hymn to Enki (?) for Išme-Dagan (Išme-Dagan X)
Lord who among the gods makes the clever decisions, most prominent among them from the south to the uplands; who holding a staff in his hand determines their destinies as the Anuna gods come to him; w
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A prayer to Enki for Ḫammu-rābi (Ḫammu-rābi B)
May Lugal-Šubur place on your head the desert crown of kingship! May Enki, the lord of life, …… life, and in the E-unir, the house of the plans of heaven and earth which rides upon all the divine powe
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An adab (?) to Enki for Išme-Dagan (Išme-Dagan D)
Great lord, prominent (?) among the gods, your judgments are clever and powerful! Father Enki, respected one, supreme dragon, who determines the fates firmly, who has taken his seat upon the numerous
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O god Ninšiku (Ea), the lord of wisdom who fashions absolutely everything, make your springs open up for Sargon (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer
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To befit heaven and earth grandly, they raised Enki, the lord, the firstborn son of holy An, to the status of junior Enlil. So that he can reveal everything (?), they bestowed sevenfold wisdom upon hi
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A balbale to Enki for Išme-Dagan (Išme-Dagan E)
…… in the holy heart ……, ……, whose words are powerful, who …… decisions. …… foremost of the gods, omniscient ……. …… Enki, counsellor of holy An, adviser of the Great Mountain ……. …… foremost of the go
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The task of …… its marshes, of …… the great arable lands and the fields, of …… the fruit orchards that bear pure ……, of …… food and drink for the Anuna gods -- all this was bestowed on him by Father E
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Lacuna [... ] the god Marduk, the sage of the god [ s, granted me a broad mind ] (and) extensive knowledge [ as a gift ]; the god Nabû, the scribe of everything, bestowed on me the pr [ ecepts of his
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In those days, in the days when heaven and earth were created; in those nights, in the nights when heaven and earth were created; in those years, in the years when the fates were determined; when the
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[ Incantation: King of wisdom ], creator of sagacity, [ Exalted leader ], one worthy of the Bit-Apsu, Competent [ Ellilbanda ], reverently greeted one, [ Hero of ] Eridu, sage of the Igigi, [ Lord ] o
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(The god) Aššur, the father of the gods, the one who [... ], the bridle that controls [... ]; the god Anu, the powerful, [... whose... ] cannot be alte [ red,... ]; the god Ea, the wise, the lord [...
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Incantation: O wise lord, creator of everything, He who gives good advice, establisher of the whole inhabited world. Incantation: O wise lord, creator of everything, He who gives good advice, establis
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(Sumerian: Incantation). The grievous asakku - demon occurs in a man's body. On the restless man, he covered (him), like a garment: he cannot raise his hand or foot. Ea, the great Prince, lord of the
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A praise poem of Ḫammu-rābi (Ḫammu-rābi C)
Enki has esteemed him truly in the shrine, the august place -- the king who loves purification rites and is well-suited to the pure divine powers, the king who is skilled in the precious plans, who is
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[... ] her (Tiamat's) hearing [... ], [... ] she cried out to her lover (Apsu). [... ] bitterly, alone being furious, she consigned the evil to her heart: ' What? Shall we destroy what we created? ' A
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Namtar (Akkadian: ditto), the powerful demon of the grave, (the demon) of the land of no return! Namtar (Akkadian: ditto), courier of the gods, Namtar (Akkadian: ditto), who afflicts the restless man
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In those ancient days, when the good destinies had been decreed, and after An and Enlil had set up the divine rules of heaven and earth, then the third of them, ……, the lord of broad wisdom, Enki, the
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…… new ……. …… august words. Enki has named you with the name Id-lu-rugu , the sublime course ……. You cleanse the just man like gold, and you hand over the wicked to extinction. Nourished on the good
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