Enki
Enki (Sumerian: ๐ญ๐๐ dEN-KI), also known as Ea (Akkadian: ๐ญ๐๐ dEโ-A), was the Mesopotamian god of wisdom, crafts, fresh subterranean waters, magic, and incantations. He was believed to rule the Abzรป. In Mesopotamian astronomy, he was associated with the stars of the southern band of the sky. Enki's wife was Damgalnuna, and their children included Nanshe, Asalluhi, Marduk and Enbilulu. His sukkal (attendant deity) was Isimud. Servants of the god included lahmu, kulullรป, and the Seven Sages.
Enki was first worshipped in Sumer. The earliest sources associate him with the city of Eridu, which was his main cult center, and regarded as his home. His temple there was the E-Abzรป. He was already a major deity at the time of the earliest written sources, and the influence of his cult spread outside of Southern Mesopotamia early on. It is uncertain when Enki was fully assimilated to Ea, a god whose name is of unknown, but possibly semitic origin. They were already syncretized with each other in parts of Babylonia in the second half of the third millennium BCE.
The cult of Enki/Ea was particularly influential in the Ur III and Old Babylonian Periods, where he became part of a triad at the top of the pantheon consisting of Anu, Enlil and himself. In the latter period, his cult is attested in almost all of the important cities of Babylonia.
Enki/Ea was also incorporated into Hurrian religion as a major god, with identical character and functions as in Mesopotamia. His cult spread into Anatolia, possibly as early as the third millennium BCE, and he became part of the Hittite pantheon. With the rise of Babylon and its patron god Marduk, Enki/Ea's cult lost importance, though he still remained a major god in first millennium BCE Babylonia. His cult is also attested in Assyria during this period, in the cities of Assur, Nineveh and Kalhu.
Enki/Ea's primary symbols included the goat-fish, the ram-headed staff and the turtle. In art, he was commonly depicted with water streams flowing from his body, or holding a vase from which water flows.
Enki/Ea frequently appears in Mesopotamian myths in the role of a crafty counsellor who finds solutions to difficult problems. Mesopotamian tradition regarded him as the creator of mankind from clay. Several Mesopotamian myths deal with the story of the creation of mankind. In Enki and Ninmah, Enki comes up with the plan to fashion the new being, meant to take over the labour of the gods. In Atra-hasis, Enki works with Belet-ili to create man from clay and divine blood. The advice he gives to his human protegee later allows humanity to survive Enlil's attempts to wipe it out, which culminate in the sending of the flood. In the later Babylonian Epic of Creation, the creation of man is instead explained as a collaboration between Ea and his son Marduk.
Enki/Ea is a supporting character in the Kumarbi cycle, where he plays the role of a problem solver and kingmaker.
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