Joao wrote
> Ea was the Sumerian of Sea and of Knowledge and Science. I think he
had some influence in the features of Prometheus.
Enki-Ea (The House of the Waters) was not god of the Sea. The waters
referred to were always fresh. His temple in Eridu, the Abzu, (from
which we get the Greek Abyss) was centred on a fresh water spring.
In this way Enki was paired with a female Akkadian goddess of the
salt waters (Taimat = "The Deeps"). Taimat and Abzu were originally
paired as the primary element of creation (the Universal waters),
sweet and salt water mingled. The first act of creation was the
separation of these two, through their offspring, Anu (Sky) and Ki
(Earth). Hence the major Sumerian divinities were referred to as
Anunaki. At Nippur, their son, "Lord Air" (Enlil) was the divinity
who separated his parents - the Sky (Anu) from the Earth (Ki). These
Anunaki Gods, it was believed, were constantly in danger of being
overwhelmed by the waters (Lower Mesopotamia was constantly at risk
of flooding, which emerged into Biblical myth as the story of the
Deluge).
At first the Sumerian myth tells, the work of keeping the Universe
running was the task of the Anunaki. Their descendents, the lesser
gods (Igigi) then inherited the task, which constantly grew more
burdensome as creation proceeded. They organised the first sit-down
strike and refused to allow the work of the universe to continue to
be done. With the work of the Universe not proceeding, Abzu (or
Kingzu), the husband of Taimat sought to first absorb the creation
(the ancient memory of a fresh water flood), and was defeated by
Enki. Taimat sought to avenge her husband by attacking the
creation. Enki was powerless, and all the gods gathered in counsel
in fear. Enlil proposed that if they made him chief of the Gods, he
would deal with the problem. They agreed, and as Taimat opened her
mouth he shot a arrow down her throat, slaying her. Not only does
this indicate the way the winds can subdue the waves, but it is also
linked to the way in which Enlil superceded Anu as the chief Sumerian
divinity. Later in Babylonian times it was Marduk (Enlil's son) who
slew Taimat and emerged as chief divinity.
There remained the strike of the 6th "day" (generation) Igigi gods to
be dealt with. Enki proposed that servants of the Gods be created
(called humans), and he constructed humans out of the blood of Kingzu
(Abzu), mixed with the red earth. With humans created, in the 7th
generation, so the gods could rest. The work of keeping the creation
going now fell on the shoulders of humanity and the gods rested "on
the seventh day".
The story of the slaying of the serpent of the deeps by the "high
god" was adopted throughout the Middle East and spread to Europe.
Baal slew Lawtan, Tahweh killed Leviathan, Zeus slew Typhon, Appollo
killed Python, Horus killed Apophis, even in Christian times, St
George killed the Dragon. Equally the making of humans from blood
and earth spread just as far, as the story of Norse Ymir shows.
Muslims repeat that Allah created Adam from a clot of blood.
Much of this mythic material was pre-IE, being found throughout the
middle east long before the first coming of IE peoples in the
region. Given that the story starts with the mingling of the waters,
and the emergence of land above the surface of the primeval ocean, a
maritime or deltaic place of origin seems to be required.
Bahrein, the Sumerian homeland, the Island of Dilmun, the place of
creation, the Sumerian paradise, is a place where fresh water springs
in the ocean lead to the mingling of the waters - the sweet with the
salt. It would seem that these mythic tales spread from 5,000BCE
with the spread of the Ubaid culture from southern Mesopotamia to
northern Syria. From there they seem to have been carried northwards
over the Caucasas onto the Pontic Steppe, and westards into the
Aegean (possibly in the late Bronze Age if not earlier).
The impact of these beliefs upon IE religion can hardly be assessed.
I suspect that prior to their coming IE religion was largely
shamanistic, and divinities were not clearly anthropomorphic, but
were rather aniconic (i.e. called Thunder, Fire, Wind, Water etc),
not even having a gender affiliation (either masculine or feminine).
I suspect that Dumezil's three fold split occurred at the time that
the Sumerian influences were impacting on the PIE mythos.
Regards
John