Subject:
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The Nam-shub of Enki (was Re: One of my issues with the god of the old testament)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 14 Nov 2001 13:21:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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459 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> Please! What sort of god thwarts his people out of spite? Not my sort.
Maybe a god who loves his people does these things, in the same manner that
you would stop your children from stepping in front of a moving train --
even if you had to use force to stop them.
You've come to the right place to ask your question, certainly a better
place than consulting the priest down the street. Pagan that I am, I will
make no further mention of the "interpreted" version of this story found in
the bible. The Babel myth has antecedents, one of which is from Sumerian
mythology. This would be the story of the Nam-shub of Enki...
Two things first:
1. a Nam-shub is a kind of magical spell.
2. The "Me" mentioned in Sumerian myths are universal decrees of divine
authority -- invocations that spread arts, crafts, and civilization.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Nam-shub of Enki
Once upon a time, there was no snake, there was no scorpion,
There was no hyena, there was no lion,
There was no wild dog, no wolf,
There was no fear, no terror,
Man had no rival.
In those days, the land Shubur-Hamazi,
Harmony-tongued Sumer, the great land of the Me of princeship,
Uri, the land having all that is appropriate,
The land Martu, resting in security,
The whole universe, the people well cared for,
To Enlil in one tongue gave speech.
Then the lord defiant, the prince defiant, the king defiant,
Enki, the lord of abundance, whose commands are trustworthy,
The lord of wisdom, who scans the land,
The leader of the gods,
The lord of Eridu, endowed with wisdom,
Changed the speech in their mouths, put contention into it,
Into the speech of man that had been one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why did Enki confuse man's single tongue? Speculation on the subject
abounds. Some people believe that something akin to a computer virus (this
would be the Burroughsian "Language is a Virus" theory) was present in man's
speech and that by confusing language Enki was able to stop the progress of
the virus. Some people further believe that the purpose of this ancient
myth is two-fold: while the story itself relates the idea of linguistic
disintegration, the story is itself a kind of incantation which causes
linguistic disintegration. To hear the tale is to fall victim to it's viral
influence -- to have one's speech confounded.
That language, or the utterance of certain sounds, is dangerous is an idea
that resonates from the ancient past to the present day. The walls of the
city of Jericho were felled using sound. Authors as recent as Frank Herbert
have developed the idea that the uttering of a person's name can be a great
weapon -- a word that kills. Of course, in magickal traditions the naming
of certain powers gives one temporary control over those same forces.
Utterance is equated with power.
One issue remains outstanding: what was the nature of the original "word-virus"?
Julian Jaynes, in "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the
Bicameral Mind", argues that early man was not conscious in the modern sense
-- he lacked self-awareness and could not think of himself as an
independent, self-willed, singular "I." Why? Because the two halves of the
brain were not connected then as they appear to be now. Instead, the right
brain formulated ideas and plans, which were perceived by the left brain as
literal voices emanating from outside the self. In effect, early man
hallucinated constantly, living his life obeying voices the origins of which
remained mysterious to him -- voices that actually emanated from a different
part of his own brain. This is where the gods came from -- each person's god
accompanied him constantly through life, always telling him what to do.
Where did the gods go? What happened to connect the two halves of the brain
into a single unit? The complex conditions of the world forced human beings
to integrate the left and right brains and become self-aware, self-willed
beings in order to cope with their circumstances and survive. The human
brain adapted to it's environment that the human species might survive --
nothing more than the theory of evolution at work.
The original "word-virus" was the idea of God. The emergence of
consciousness was the death of the idea of God -- the final Nam-shub of Enki.
Enki, whose command lines are trustworthy, wrote himself out of the story.
The whole universe, the people alone.
-- Hop-Frog
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