Saturday, March 18, 2006

Ancient Sumer, modern Sedona

When I look up to the red rock mountains and see the colors, I am pleased to see the multiple layers in the rocks getting a distinct feeling that the rocks hold a history book of our past earth. The layers are perhaps hundreds of millions of years old. Somehow the details of the ages are recorded there. Not even being conscious of the meaning of the communication, there seems to be an awaking of knowledge within, perhaps on the cellular level.

Accompaning my current trip to Sedona is the book The 12th Planet by Z. Sitchin, telling me stories about our ancient past and the civilization of Sumer. Sumer lived in what is currently Iraq. In the ancient world, around six thousand years ago, Sumer was the cradle of human civilization between what were then the rich and fertile lands between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Archeologists in the past century and a half have been uncovering many artifacts from this time. One of the most interesting discovery are tens of thousands of clay tablets, thousands of years old written in cuneiform. The cuneiform language is traced back from before the ancient Hebrew to a languages called Akkadian. Akkadian, as well as many of the stories from the Old Testament, is now known to come from the Sumerians. Stories such as Adam & Eve, the flood and Noah's Ark, and the tower of Babel, are all told from an ancient and detailed perspective, giving much life and meaning to these stories. Perhaps this perspective is so revealing that it is hard for our culture to be open to these stories. Like the 70's book and television documentary Chariots of the Gods, these ancient clay tablets tell us of ancient astronauts coming to earth, 445,000 years ago. The story is one of intelligent design and creation of the human species and our civilization. There is so much to write here, so many stories. My main source I mentioned, Z. Sitchin, is also author of The Lost Book of Enki. Here we have a story of the gods and goddesses of ancient Sumer, and their history on the earth. Enki and Enlil were brothers, both sons of King Anu from planet Nibiru. They also have a half sister named Inanna, who was a nurse/doctor to their mission on earth. Initially this mission was to mine for gold in order to save the atmosphere of planet Nibiru. Later it seems their mission is to seed the human species on planet earth and help build their civilization. These are our ancient gods and goddesses, whom we have mostly forgotten.

Seems that the modern Judeo-Christian theology has sterilized itself of these ancient gods and goddesses. But the intriguing thing is that many of the classic Old Testament stories are retold with astounding perspective in the Sumerian sources. For example, the first man was Adamu, a result of bioengineering and artificial insemination in a clay vessel. The clay vessel was an important part of the story because Inanna did the first failed attempts in a crystal vessel. It was Enki, who worked with her on the project and suggested that a clay vessel might work better. And it did. This event was many years before the flood that was around 12,000 years ago. Our storytellers call this pre-diluvium period of time the ‘olden times’.

These ancient cuneiform histories place the flood at 12,000 years ago and the building of the pyramids in Egypt just after. This was the age of the Lion, which is why a Sphinx was built facing the rising sun on the spring equinox. Another catastrophic event was said to have occurred around 3,700 B.C.E. A rebellious Marduk, son of Enki and known in Egypt as Ra wanted ruler ship of the earth. He wasn't satisfied with the way the Nibiruian rules of succession deprived him of ruler ship. A war waged over the earth. Despite Enlil and Enki's efforts to stop him using nuclear weapons, Marduk won and was saved in the city of Babylon. Prior to this time Sumer was the cultural center of the world. They were engaged in commerce, art, shipping, religion, mercantilism, and all that characterizes a modern civilization. Their stories and mythology takes us back to our deep roots as humans. It awakens us to a world that has remained hidden for so long.

So I wonder about the many layers of earth history, sitting here in Sedona looking at the multi-layered red rocks. Many worlds have been before it would seem. The mystery draws me in.