Thorkild Jacobsen, in his seminal work, Treasures of Darkness, characterizes Sumerian religion in terms of the concept of "immanence". The abstraction of deity in early Sumeria, in other words, was developed from primitive attempts at conceptualizing the forces which comprised the natural world and the phenomena therein. It is a naturally pantheistic mindset, subject to plurality limited only by the extent of intelligible divisions in nature itself. These early deities took forms which were intrinsically tied to the phenomena they represented; hence Ninurta, the ancient Sumerian thunder-god, was conceptualized as a great winged lion, whose roars thundered across the lands in times of storm. As the society developed, these deities gradually anthropomorphized; slowly taking human form, and attendant human personas, "The gods were detatched gradually from the phenomena of nature and of culture to which they had been tied and took a certain distance from them."{20} With these broadened personalities came broadened roles, as the germ of the numinal phenomena blossomed to cover a wide range of related abstractions. Thus, as the concept of the deity Ninurta progressed, for example, he came to be viewed as possessing a human form; and his role broadened from that of a primitive thunder god, to a God of war and of the spring storms which brought fertility to the land. While society's views of the divine and their roles in the cosmos were expanding, however, the strong ties of these gods to the related numina of the deity would remain a central feature of the Sumerian religion. The central role of mankind in this cosmic scheme was service to the gods.{21}

The theocentric liturgy, as we would call it, was entirely identified with the "support of the gods," in other words with the provision to these high personalities of all that was needed or useful to lead an opulent and agreeable life entirely devoted to the government of the universe, a life even better and more blessed than that of the kings of the earth{22}

This service generally took two forms : provision and worship. Mankind was charged with providing the daily necessities of the gods; food, water, beer. Mankind was also bound to the worship of the gods. This generally took the form of sacrificial offerings (both in the form of animal sacrifice, and offerings of incense and such), prayers and hymns, and prescribed cyclical rituals. Central to both forms of service was the cult statue:

Fundamentally, the deity was considered present in its image if it showed certain specific features and paraphernalia and was cared for in the appropriate manner, both established and sanctified by the tradition of the sanctuary. The god moved with the image when the latter was carried off - expressing thus his anger against his city or an entire country. Only on the mythological level were the deities thought to reside in cosmic localities{23}

The creation of these 'divine receptacles', as it were, was painstaking. Careful attention was paid to the ritualistic metamorphosis which would transform the lifeless statue into the manifestation of the god it represented, "during these nocturnal ceremonies they were endowed with 'life', their eyes and mouths were 'opened' so that the images could see and eat, and they were subject to the 'washing of the mouth,' a ritual thought to impart special sanctity."{24} The latter ceremony, sacred to Enki, was related to the sacred immersion in the blood of a slain god which was said to purify the divine,"On the first, seventh and fifteenth of the month I shall make a purification by washing.Then one God should be slaughtered, and the gods can be purified by immersion."{25} Central to the mainanance of the divine figure were its daily meals. This generally consisted of a morning meal, brought in when the temple opened for the day; and an evening meal, served immediately before the closing of the sanctary doors. These meals appear to have been served in a very precise manner, likely mirroring the custom of such meals at the royal households:

First, a table was brought in and placed before the image, then water for washing was offered in a bowl. A number of liquid and semiliquid dishes in appropriate serving vessels were placed on the table in a prescribed arrangement, and containers with beverages were likewise set out. Next, specific cuts of meat were served as a main dish. Finally, fruit was brought in in what one of the texts takes the trouble to describe as a beautiful arrangement, thus adding an esthetic touch comparable to the egyptian use of flowers on such occasions. Musicians performed, and the cella was fumigated{26}...Eventually, the table was cleared and removed and water in a bowl again offered to the image for the cleansing of the fingers{27}

The food ritually partaken of by the deity was thereby thought to be blessed by such divine contact. As the food was considered capable of transferring this blessing to the person who was to eat it, the food was sent on to the king. Similarly, the water from the bowl which touched the images fingers was sprinkled upon the king and the priests to confer blessings.

That man was mortal, this the ancient Sumerians knew. They attempt to explain this mortal state in both the Atrahasis and Adapa myths. However, that man's Soul was immortal, of this they were equally certain.{28} The life led by these etemmu was, however, not an enviable one. The voyage upon this new life began at after the funerary rites, when the shade would begin its journey to the netherworld through an aperature which would open in the tomb allowing access to the Great Below.{29} If the proper funerary rites were not offered; or even worse, if the body was not buried; the Etemmu would remain upon the earth, wandering aimlessly, forced to eat only the gutter scraps and dirty water it might happen upon.{30} Those fortunate enough to be buried properly did not fare much better for food, as is attested by numerous myths, such as the Gilgamesh epic; "Earth is their food, their nourishment clay; ghosts like birds flutter their wings there, on the gate-posts the dust lies undisturbed."{31} As a result, food and water funerary offerings were of great importance, and as such were an important obligation of surviving friends and family. Countless grave sites uncovered in the region include ritual platforms and containers in which food and water offerings were made, apparently at prescribed times of the month or year. While such offerings could make life in the underworld more bearable, in the end the lot of those below was dreary and monotonous, and surely to be avoided.{32} "The Sumerians had a very hazy idea about any other life than this. For them there was no Hell, and no Paradise; the spirit of man lived after death but at best in a ghostly and a miserable world"{33} Such a view of the afterlife would appear to foreclose the possibility of reincarnnation as a possible tennant of Sumerian Religeon, and indee there is little or no explicit reference to this belief in existing texts. This would indeed be ironic, however, given what we knwo of the religeon:

The belief in resurrection was so well suited to the Mesopotamian view of life, that the wonder would be, not that they should have conceived of it, but rather that they should not. For to them, more than any other people of antiquity, this belief lay ready to hand. They saw the sun rise and set from day to day, and to them it was a mystery requiring explanation. They pondered over it and found its place in their mythology and religion. They saw the passage of the sun from the summer to the winter solstice and back again, year after year; the cycle of the moon's phases; and venus disappear as the evening star only to reappear as the morning star. All these changes represented to them the life and death of the gods, and their restoration to life. It would be strange indeed if the Mesopotamians, with such a lively conception of the return to life of the gods above them, and the animals and plants below, never asked themselves, "will not man too sometimes come forth from the underworld?{34}

The answer may simply be that they did believe in personal reincarnation, despite the lack of explicit reference to such belief. Indeed, in an obscure myth we are told, "After the Watcher and the Turnkey have greeted a man, the Annunaki, the Great Gods, assemble; Mammi, the one who fixes the fate, decides the fates with them. They determine death and life, but the days of death they do not fix."{35} Here, the gods determine not life and death , but death and life, i.e that these gods determine whether a man is to be restored to life after his days in the underworld are at an end, though the number of these days they do not determine.{36} Indeed, to speak of the 'days of death' would seem to imply that they are not without end. Additionally, we know from several myths of the existence of the Waters of Life in the Underworld. In the Gilgamesh epic, for example, we are told how Gilgamesh is brought to a source of water, and there allowed to wash - returning to him the life he had lost in his journey below:

Ur-Shanabi took him and brought him to a wash-bowl and he washed in water his filthy hair, as clean as possible. He threw away his skins, and the sea carried them off. His body was soaked until it was fresh. He put a new headband on his head. He wore a robe as a proud garment until he came to his city, until he reached his journey's end. The garment would not discolor, and stayed absolutely new{37}

But why were the waters of life located in the underworld if not that they bore a direct relationship to it's denizens: the dead? Accepting this, what other conclusion can be reached but that the reincarnation of the dead was an actual principal of Mesopotamian theology? Such an explanation sheds more light on the Adapa myth. Here, Enki creates his chief priest Adapa, "He (Ea) made broad understanding perfect in him, to disclose the design of the land. To him he gave wisdom, but did not give eternal life."{38} It is Adapa who tends the rites of Enki's temple; who bakes the daily bread and gathers the fish to feed the temple-priests. On one such journey upon the sea, seeking fish, Adapa's boat is overturned by the South Wind. In his anger, Adapa breaks the South Wind's wings. An, when he discovers this, sends for Adapa to face his wrath. Enki teaches Adapa how to avoid An's anger by enlisting the aid of Dumuzi and Ningiszida, but he instructs Adapa not to eat the food they offer for it is the bread of death, nor take the drink they offer for it is the water of death. This Adapa does, "They fetched him the bread of life, but he would not eat. They fetched him the water of life, but he would not drink.They fetched him a garment, and he put it on himself. They fetched him oil, and he anointed himself. Anu watched him and laughed at him. 'Come Adapa, why didn't you eat? Why didn't you drink? Didn't you want to be immortal?"{39} Adapa explains that his lord, Enki, has instructed him not to take the food or water, and then takes his leave, "O Anu, I salute thee! The privilege of godhead I must indeed forego, but never shall I forget the honor that thou wouldst have conferred upon me. Ever in my heart shall I keep the words though hast spoken, and the memory of thy kindness shall I ever retain. Blame me not exceedingly, I pray thee. My lord Ea awaiteth my return."{40} Scholars generally explain Enki's denial of immortality to Adapa as being a prank: Enki is known as the trickster, after all. This 'prank' is thus supposed to serve as some type of cursory explanation for mankind's mortality. But I find this explanation difficult to accept. This is Enki's most trusted priest, his wisest son. Playing a joke of this magnitude is out of character. It was Enki, after all, who saved mankind from the flood in the Atrahasis myth. Could he not have tricked Atrahasis (the Sumerian Noah), and thus allowed humanity to die? Even in the myth of Enki and Ninmah, when he creates a creature Ninmah cannot control, after tricking her into accepting a bet from him, he uses the opportunity to teach a lesson - that it takes Both their efforts to craete a 'whole' being. Further, in that myth, he takes due care to alleviate the destruction his prank has wrought. To accept that Enki would not only trick Adapa, but lie to him by claiming he would be offered the bread and water of death, when he was to be offered the bread and water of Life seems implausible. We must therefor take Enki at his word, and assume that to eat the bread of immortal life is to eat the bread of death; to drink the water of eternal life is to drink the water of death. Indeed, Anu offers the bread and water of life to Adapa only after he discovers the wisdom granted him (and thus, to mankind) by Enki, "Why did Ea disclose to wretched mankind the ways of heaven and earth, give them a heavy heart? It was He who did it! What can we do for him?"{41} Enki, besides being the trickster, is a god most cunning; and a god who has gone to much pain and effort to serve and protect mankind. It is hard to imagine that such an effort was made on behalf of mankind to preserve for him a sentence of eternal ennui. No, inherent in the Adapa myth is the belief that there is something which awaits mankind for which death is a necessary step; and that denying man 'immortality', the supposed god-likem state, he had preserved mankind's destiny. Death, then, is truly a beginning in the eyes of the Sumerians; a beginning which the gods themselves have preserved for us.

©1995-1996 Twin Rivers Rising