THE ANUNNAKI
Dimension of Origin: Celestial Dilmun ==History== The Anunnaki or Gods of Mesopotamia are a race of superhumanly powerful
humanoid beings who were once worshipped by several of the tribes and cultures of
Mesopotamia, particularly the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians, from about 4000 BC
during the rise of human civilization to 1500 BC when their worship was replaced
by other religions, particularly the Judeo-Christian Church. (Some references
have them worshipped much earlier in the Hyborian Age, as far back as 18,000 BC:
however, many of these beings have been exposed as demonic entities.) The human
worshippers of the Anunnaki often referred to their deities by other names than
by which they were originally known: for example, the Sumerians worshipped a
sea-god named
Ea,
whereas the Babylonians knew him as Enki. The Anunnaki no
longer have or actively seek worshippers on earth. However, certain gods,
notably Baal and
Dagon,
are often called upon by practitioners of black magic to
exploit their more darker attributes while other deities like
Ninurta still
have an active interest in the welfare of humanity. In ancient times, the Anunnaki lived on
Earth amongst mortal man. Posing as a mortal chieftain, Anu established himself from
what would be the Sumerian Empire as the
supreme ruler of the Mesopotamian Gods, but he was overthrown by his son,
Enlil,
whose power had
begun to eclipse his father. With his rule of the gods at an end, Anu created
the other-dimensional realm of Celestial Dilmun and departed Earth. Over the
years, he was joined by other gods when their lengths of worship came to an end.
Enlil was later called
Dagon by invading Philistine tribes from the west, but he was dethroned
himself by his brother,
Hadad,
the god of wind, who supported their father but
claimed it for himself. Hadad was also supported by the sea-god,
Ea, but was driven
into exile by Enlil and
Ullikummis
reclaiming the throne. Hadad again sought help from Ea to be restored to
the throne and overthrow Enlil as Dagon, but Ea possibly did so on the proviso
that Hadad name his own son,
Marduk,
as his successor. Relenting, Hadad returned to Sumer and slew Ullikummis, exiling
Dagon to the underworld as a result. As ruler of the gods, he became known as
Baal-Hadad and later just known as Baal. After the
Sumerian Empire fell in decline, Baal became imprisoned in Allatum, the Sumerian
underworld, and Ea placed his own son,
Marduk, on the throne.
Marduk became the tutelary deity of the Babylonian Empire. Enlil
consequentially usurped Ea's worship out of revenge and replaced him as god of
water. During the Third Host of the Celestials,
Anu,
the Ruler of the Anunnaki, and
Zeus,
King of the Olympian gods, brought a cessation to their hostilities when
they were approached by
Odin,
Chieftain of the Asgardian gods, to meet with the rulers of the other gods once
worshipped on Earth to discuss the threat of the Third Host of the Celestials.
The Celestials had threatened to seal off the portals of each of their godly
realms unless they promised to stop interfering in mortal affairs. With his
fellow godheads, Anu swore to this pledge and even made a vow to Odin to
donate the necessary life energies to the Asgardians slain during the Fourth
Host of the Celestials. When
Thor
came to Dilmun to petition a portion of the required life energies as part of
this vow, Anu offered Thor
the necessary energies to restore the slain Asgardian gods to life.
==Characteristics==
Habitat: Temperate-Arid
Gravity: Earth-like
Atmosphere: Earth-like
Population: 2000-2500 range (estimated)
Other Associated Dimensions: Celestial Dilmun resembles a large planetary
asteroid mass with its own atmosphere and seasonal cycles and a civilization
nearly identical with the ancient ziggurats of Sumeria. It is linked by a gated
pathway to the
other-dimensional realm of Kur (Kurnagi) separated into a number of smaller
domains or levels, such as Allatum reserved for the shades of the dead, Gehenna ruled over by
Baal and
Abaddon,
the lowest region ruled by the demon-goddess
Lilith, the most dismal
part populated by demons known as the Uttukki.
The Anunnaki dwell in Celestial Dilmun,
a small "pocket" dimension adjacent to Earth; an interdimensional
nexus between Celestial Dilmun and Earth exists somewhere on Mount Saphon in the
Ararat Mountains of Western Turkey. Celestial Dilmun was named after the region
of Dilmun on Earth (modern Bahrain) to which the ruler Utnapishtim retired after
his reign of the city of Ur.
The precise origin of the Anunnaki, like that of all of Earth's pantheons of gods,
is shrouded in legend. The earliest Sumerian gods were Tiamat, the great ocean-goddess, and
Apsu, the god of freshwater. It is believed that Tiamat may have actually been
Gaea, the
primordial earth-mother, later known as the Sumerian goddess, Ninhursag,
who had survived the destruction of the Elder Gods of Earth by infusing her life into
the life-giving essence of the Earth. However, the Greeks believed Tiamat was actually
the primeval sea-goddess, Thalassa, daughter of the gods Erebus and Nyx. Many of
the Elder Gods had degenerated into demonic status and were destroyed by Atum or
had fled Earth for other planes of existence. Atum had been born from Gaea by
mating with the sentient biosphere of the Earth known as the Demiurge. Atum
later departed Earth to allow Gaea to give birth of the later races of gods.
However, it is unclear if the Anunnaki originated on Earth or in another
dimension. According to ancient myths, Tiamat and Apsu gave birth to the first
generation of the Sumerian gods; these beings were partially
humanoid and had both human and animal characteristics. From among them, Lakhamu
and Lakhmu gave birth to Anshar and Kishar, the first true gods. Anshar and
Kishar were completely humanoid in appearance and conceived Anu, Ea, Damkina, Mami
and possibly Asherah and Eriskegal who
were added later to the pantheon, but were certainly equal to these earlier
gods. (Some myths indicate that Asherah might have actually been another name
for Gaea, but this is uncertain.)
These progeny were overwhelmed by the
children of Tiamat and forced to live on earth in
subservient roles until Anu slew Alalu, the water-god, and claimed
Earth for himself, leaving mankind to toil the earth. Tiamat was either slain or
driven from earth and her mate,
Apsu, slain by later younger gods.
Eventually,
Marduk departed Earth as well and left mortal man under control of their mortal
rulers. In Babylonian mythology, the Anunnaki were known as the Igigi. However,
without direct contact with their gods, none of the consecutive human reigns on Earth
had the power or ability to hold their lands as well as the Sumerians or the Babylonians.
Worship of the Anunnaki in Assyria was replaced by Judaism and Christianity as well as by
Zoroasterism and Islam. In fact, several Hebrew leaders and priests such as Moses, Aaron
and Daniel were known for driving idolatry for gods like Marduk from Babylon. Some of the
accounts of the gods on Earth were rewritten by ancient Hebrews scholars as they preserved
them; the gods who drove the underworld-goddess
Lilith
from Palestine were re-identified as angels or servants of the Judeo-Christian God. In fact,
attributes of other religions began filtering into the
worship of the Sumerian gods, particularly the concept of good and evil, and
several of the gods, such as Dagon and Baal, were recognized for having more
demonic attributes than godly attributes. The invading Greeks brought their
Olympian Gods
with them and enmity formed between the Anunnaki and the
Olympians for several years until the Third Host of the Celestials, immense
cosmic beings with connections to the development of humanity on Earth..
Until recent years, the vast
majority of the Anunnaki have had little contact with humans, however, several
beings, notably demonic entities, have claimed to be the former Sumerian gods.
Whether these are the former gods having degenerated into a demonic status or
earlier darker gods is unrevealed. It is known that a group of extra-terrestrials
known as Oans impersonated the Mesopotamian gods and may have acted as their
representatives on earth, just as the Eternals did for the
Olympians.
In modern years,
Eriskegal,
the goddess of the underworld,
briefly joined with various other underworld gods in an attempt to merge their realms
that failed. Anu has been a part of the Council of Godheads on a few occasions, and a
being claiming to be Baal recently clashed with Wolverine of the
X-Men.
The full status
of the Sumerian and Babylonian gods has yet to be revealed. They are not to be
confused with the Annunaki, the Elder gods of the Hyborian Age, an undefined era
of time which occurs between the last Ice Age and the beginning of written
records.
Relationships to Other Pantheons: With the possible exception of the
Ennead
of Egypt, the Anunnaki are possibly one of the oldest pantheons of gods on earth
and possibly share boundaries with more pantheons than any other group of gods
on Earth. To the south, they shared worship rites and to some extent
intermingled with the Ennead and the
Devas
(Hindu Gods) of the East. Relations with the Olympian gods
to the west in Greece have been strained since Greek and Roman occupation of Palestine and
Canaan up until the formation of the
Council
of Godheads. The
Dievans
(Slavic Gods) beyond the boundary of the Black Sea have not had any known dealings
with the Anunnaki.
Body Type: Humanoid
Avg. Height: 6' 0"
Eyes: Two
Hair: Normal
Skin: Normal
Limbs: Two
Fingers: Five with opposable thumb
Toes: Five
Special Adaptations: The
Anunnaki are exceptionally long-lived, but they are not immortal
like the Olympian gods; they age very slowly upon reaching adulthood, but they
are not invulnerable to death. They are physically more durable than human
beings; their skin, bone and tissue being three times more durable and dense
than similar tissue in human beings.
==Powers==
Avg. Strength Level: All
of the Anunnaki are superhumanly strong with the average male being able to lift
(press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions and the average female being able
to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Powers: The Anunnaki possess superhuman strength, stamina, longevity and
resistance to harm. They are also inclined to tap and manipulate
mystical energies for feats of magic, mostly for altering their appearance,
communicating over long distances, teleporting through dimension barriers and
casting spells. The scope of their powers mostly limited to one object, idea or
field, usually tied into their personality. For example, as the Sumerian
sea-god, Ea has dominance over the ocean and waves, whereas, Shamash, the Babylonian
god of the sun can generate intense light and heat equal to a small sun.
Known Abilities: The Anunnaki have equal potential to armed and unarmed
combat equal to human beings, but are more inclined to practice and wield magic.
==Miscellaneous==
Type of Government: Monarchy
Level Of Technology: Magic
Cultural Traits: The Sumer-Babylonian Gods were worshipped as gods in Ancient
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) including much of the Middle East and Ancient Turkey
including parts of Egypt. Worship of the Anunnaki extend as far west into
Armenia and Western Iran. Their civilization seems to resemble that of Ancient
Sumer at its zenith.
Names of Representatives:
Anath,
Anu,
Asherah,
Baal-Hadad,
Beletseri,
Damkina,
Dumuzi (Tammuz),
Ea (Enki),
Enlil (Dagon),
Eriskegal,
Gatumdug,
Gibil,
Ishtar (Inanna),
Isum,
Kingu,
Kinyras (Nin-Agal),
Lilith,
Mami,
Marduk,
Martu,
Nabu,
Namtar,
Nanna (Sin),
Nergal (Malik),
Ningal,
Ninkasi,
Ninlil,
Ninurta,
Shamash,
Telepinu,
Ullikummis,
Usmu,
Zintuki,
et al.
==Comments/Trivia==
==References==
==External Links==