The Lapis Gates of Sumer

Intro to Sumer

The Gods

The Texts

Sumerian Calendar

Ancient Rites



After the water of creation had been decreed,
After the name hegal (abundance) born in heaven,
Like plant and herb had clothed the land,
The lord of the abyss, the king Enki,
Enki the Lord who decrees the fates,
Built his house of silver and lapis lazuli;
Its silver and lapis lazuli, like sparkling light,
The father fashioned fittingly in the abyss.
The creatures of bright countenances and wise, coming forth from the abyss,
Stood all about the lord Nudimmud;
The pure house he built
He ornamented it greatly with gold,
In Eridu he built the house of water-bank,
Its brickwork, word-uttering, advice-giving,
Its... like an ox roaring,
The house of Enki, the oracles uttering.
(Follows a long passage in which Isimud, Enki's counsellor/prime minister, sings the praises of the sea-house. Then Enki raises the city of Eridu from the abyss and makes it float over the water like a lofty mountain. Its green fruit-bearing gardens he fills with birds; fishes too he makes abundant. Enki is now ready to proceed by boat to Nippur, where he will obtain Enlil's blessings for his newly built city and temple. He therefore rises from the abyss:)
When Enki rises, the fish.... rise,
The abyss stands in wonder,
In the sea joy enters,
Fear comes over the deep,
Terror holds the exalted river,
The Euphrates, the South Wind lifts it in waves.
Enki seats himself in his boat and first arrives in Eridu itself. In Eridu, he slaughters many oxen and sheep before proceeding to Nippur. Upon his arrival, a feast is prepared for all gods and Enlil in special:

Enki in the shrine Nippur,
Gives his brother Enlil bread to eat,
In the first place he seated Anu (the Skyfather),
Next to Anu he seated Enlil,
Nintu he seated at the big side,
The Anunnaki seated themselves one after the other.
Enlil says to the Anunnaki:
" Ye great gods who are standing about,
My brother has built a house, the king Enki;
Eridu, like a mountain, he has raised up from the earth,
In a good place he has built it.
Eridu, the clean place, where none may enter,
The house built of silver, adorned with lapis lazuli,
The house directed by the seven lyre-songs given over to incantation,
With pure songs....
The abyss, the shrine of the goodness of Enki, befitting the divine decrees,
Eridu, the pure house having been built,
O Enki, praise!"

Source: Kramer, Samuel Noah (1988) Sumerian Mythology, University of Pennsylvania Press, West Port, Connecticut.

Enki Builds the E-engurra in Eridu
Enki's Journey to Nibru
Enki and the World Order
Enki and Ninhursaga:
          A Paradise Myth
Enki and Ninmah
Enki Builds the E-engurra in Eridu
Inanna and Enki