En-men-dur-ana (also Emmeduranki) of Zimbir (the city now known as
Sippar
Sippar ( Sumerian: , Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its '' tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, some ...
) was an ancient
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian king, whose name appears in the
Sumerian King List
The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') or ''Chronicle of the One Monarchy'' is an ancient literary composition written in Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims to power of various city-states and king ...
as the seventh pre-dynastic king of Sumer. He was said to have reigned for 21,000 years.
Name
His name means "chief of the powers of Dur-an-ki", while "Dur-
an-
ki" in turn means "the meeting-place of heaven and earth" (literally "bond of above and below").
City
En-men-dur-ana's city Sippar was associated with the worship of the
sun-god Utu
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
, later called
Shamash
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
in the Semitic language. Sumerian and Babylonian literature attributed the founding of Sippar to Utu.
Myth
A myth written in a Semitic language tells of Emmeduranki, subsequently being taken to heaven by the gods Shamash and
Adad
Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.
He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...
, and taught the secrets of heaven and of earth. In particular, Emmeduranki was taught arts of
divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
, such as
how to inspect oil on water and
how to discern messages in the liver of animals and several other divine secrets.
En-men-dur-ana, held significance among the Pre-Sumerians as he was the ancestor from whom all priests of the Sun God had to be able to trace descent.
Enmeduranki is sometimes considered a Mesopotamian model for the biblical patriarch
Enoch
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
. Enmeduranki appears as the seventh name on the Sumerian King List, whereas Enoch is the seventh figure in the list of patriarchs in Genesis. Both of them were also said to have been taken up into heaven. Sippar, the city of which Enmeduranki is king of, is associated with sun worship, while the 365 years that Enoch is stated to have lived may be linked to the number of days in the solar calendar.
[ R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 2 volumes., tr J. McHugh (New York: McGraw-Hill, repr, 1965), 1:188.]
See also
*
Apkallu
Apkallu (Akkadian) and Abgal ( Sumerian: ) are terms found in cuneiform inscriptions that in general mean either "wise" or "sage".
In several contexts the ''Apkallu'' are seven demi-gods, sometimes described as part man and part fish, associat ...
*
History of Sumer
The history of Sumer spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE in southern Mesopotamia, and is taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumer was the region's earliest known civilization and ended with the downfall of the Third Dynasty o ...
*
Mesopotamian mythology
Mesopotamian mythology refers to the myths, religious texts, and other literature that comes from the region of ancient Mesopotamia which is a historical region of Western Asia, situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system that occupies ...
References
, -
{{Sumerian King List
Antediluvian Sumerian kings
Primordial teachers
Sumerian rulers
Entering heaven alive
Divination
Legendary progenitors
Enoch (ancestor of Noah)
Sippar
#Enmenduranki is on the Sumerians Kings List. The Sumerians are Non-semitic