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.
Also: Enki · Ea · Eridu · Apsu · Abzu · god of wisdom · Nudimmud
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.
In short
Enki (Sumerian) / Ea (Akkadian), god of the freshwater Apsû, of wisdom, craft, incantation, and cunning, and the divine friend of humankind.
Where it’s found
'Enki and the world order' (ETCSL 1.1.3); 'Enki and Ninḫursaĝa' (ETCSL 1.1.1); 'Enki and Ninmaḫ' (ETCSL 1.1.2), all in corpus; Atra-ḫasīs (akkadian-pending)
How the idea developed across Sumer, Babylon & Assyria
Enki of Eridu and Akkadian Ea are syncretized but belong to distinct linguistic strata. His role as humanity's advocate is constant from the Sumerian Flood story through Atra-ḫasīs and Gilgameš XI; in the first-millennium incantation tradition Ea heads the exorcists' lore as father of Marduk/Asalluḫi.