The Living Soul in Sumer

[us4-he2-gal2]

Posted by us4-he2-gal2 at
groups.yahoo.com/group/TabletofDestiny/message/5693

[Collegeguy] Your last big question -although extremely fundamental in
nature- regarding the soul still has me weighing a final answer. My
initial answer was in the negative although this was mostly in regard
to the idea of any Sumerian hope for ascendence. My second answer
clarified that at least in later times, as reflected in Atrahasis,
Mesopotamians believed the body was animated by a living soul, awilu,
which after breathing its last breath was replaced or transformed
into etemmu - both being aspects of a god [We] that was sacrificed
for the creation of man. But this leaves open the question what did
the Sumerians, who predated Atrahasis, believe - what did they leave
recorded of those beliefs that we can glean an answer from?
It is accepted generally, that the term etemmu can be
considered as one and the same as the Sumerian gidim, it is
explicitly stated in a few scholarly works - but the question of the
existence of the gidim is not in dispute here. It is a well
documented aspect of their belief system, which I tryed to isolate in
earlier posts about the afterlife. What isnt clear, or so far as i
can tell really addressed by the works i own, is the Sumerian concept
of the living soul that would mirror or relate to the Mesopotamian
awilu. The first thing that can be stated is nowhere in the relevant
texts will the solution be presented so clearly as it is with
Atrahasis, the answers must be found indirectly if at all. So here is a
skeletal begining to that perhaps improbable task - one of the
Sumerian creation stories is damaged at a critical point in the
production of man, so we dont know if he was imbued with a living
soul as in the later example. The text is from Enki and Ninmah:


"At the word of his mother Namma, Enki rose up from his bed. In Hal-
an-kug, his room for pondering, he slapped his thigh in annoyance.
The wise and intelligent one, the prudent, …… of skills, the
fashioner of the design of everything brought to life birth-goddesses
(?). Enki reached out his arm over them and turned his attention to
them. And after Enki, the fashioner of designs by himself, had
pondered the matter, he said to his mother Namma: "My mother, the
creature you planned will really come into existence. Impose on him
the work of carrying baskets. You should knead clay from the top of
the abzu; the birth-goddesses (?) will nip off the clay and you shall
bring the form into existence. Let Ninmaḫ act as your assistant; and
let Ninimma, Šu-zi-ana, Ninmada, Ninbarag, Ninmug, …… and Ninguna
stand by as you give birth. My mother, after you have decreed his
fate, let Ninmaḫ impose on him the work of carrying baskets."
5 lines fragmentary …… she placed it on grass and purified the birth."

-THE USE OF LIL2 and ZI: AN INSUBSTANTIAL EXAMINATION?

To these 5 lost lines Kramer commented that if there are 'ever
recovered, shall prove most illuminating'. Another thing Kramer said
in Sumerian Mytholgies may also be relevant for the living soul. In a
section dealing with cosmology on page xiv, He states: " In between
heaven and earth and seperating one from the other is the breath-like
substance lil, "air", "wind," "spirit" (our atmosphere)." This was
the realm of Enlil, who then is the lord of air/wind/spirit. However
my lexikon gives the meaning of this lil as:
"líl: n., wind; breath; infection; spirit (of a place); back or open
country (reduplicated li, 'cedar scent' ?) [?
KID archaic frequency: 76; concatenates 5 sign variants]."
Notice spirit in some instances yes, but of a place. This is borne out by examples ofthe word in the etcsl literature, on etcsl this form of lil appears as lil2-e , here is a list of discernable contexts:


lil2-e
t.2.5.3.3 You flatten those mountains and turn them over to ghostly
winds [lil2-e]. You make their young warriors submit, no longer able
to enter into battle.
t.2.2.2 He has abandoned his cow-pen and has let the breezes [lil2-e]
haunt his sheepfold. The wild bull has abandoned his cow-pen and has
let the breezes [lil2-e] haunt his sheepfold. The lord of all the
lands has abandoned it and has let the breezes [lil2-e] haunt his
sheepfold. Enlil has abandoned the shrine Nibru and has let the
breezes [lil2-e] haunt his sheepfold. His wife Ninlil has abandoned
it and has let the breezes [lil2-e] haunt her sheepfold. Ninlil has
abandoned that house, the Ki-ur, and has let the breezes haunt [lil2-
e] her sheepfold. The queen of Kes; has abandoned it and has let the
breezes [lil2-e] haunt her sheepfold. Ninmah; has abandoned that house
Kes; and has let the breezes [lil2-e] haunt her sheepfold.
t.2.2.3 Eridug, floating on great waters, was deprived (?) of
drinking water. In its outer environs, which had turned into haunted
plains,
[Eden-lil2-e] ……. The loyal man in a place of treachery ……. Ka-ḫeĝala
and Igi-ḫeĝala ……
t.2.2.4 Your food offerings can no longer be brought to Enlil in
Nibru. The en priests of the countryside and city have been carried
off by phantoms.[lil2-e]
t.2.24 After Ki-ur, the great place, had been built, after the
brickwork of E-kur had been built, after Ubšu-unkena had been built,
after the shrine Egal-maḫ had been built -- how did they become
haunted [lil2-e]? When will they be restored?
t.4.7.04 When you slip through where brambles and foul great thorns
grow, when you stride along all the mountains, when you drink from
puddles with the dogs, when you share the stall with the horses, when
with the storm you reduce everything to a mere shadow [lil2-e]
t.5.3.5 He turned my nest of brushwood into a haunted [lil2-e]
house. He destroyed my house, and tore down my storeroom.
Proverbs:
t.6.1.11 Let an articulate man live in the house with you like a
wicked poor man. Like my own affairs, antimony paste (?) is air [lil2-
e]: let …… fat be eaten in the mist.

lil2-e in this context, seems generally to refer to the spirit of places, usually haunted and/or destroyed -
exceptions such as t.2.2.4 exist, but again this seems to refer more
to post-mortem soul, closer to gidim then to the living-soul id like
to isolate.
There are however concepts closer to the mark. Breath and Life
in Sumer seem all but synonamous, the lexikon for breath reads
"zi: n., breathing; breath (of life); throat; soul (cf., zid, zìg) [ZI
archaic frequency: 116; concatenates 3 sign variants]."
While lil2 appears to apply more to haunting or haunted places, zi
is the breath (of life) and soul. But exactly how this soul was
envisioned is what needs to be determined. Searching etcsl for 'soul'
will produce three results
c.1.8.1.5.1 "In Unug people are dying, and souls [ur5] are full of
distress.
c.2.5.4.09 "Having reached the place which gladdens the soul [ur5]"
c.5.5.3 "Their souls [zi-bi] have come forth before her,"

But this is the only time zi or zi-bi is translated as meaning soul
explicitly. The following examples of Life/Breath are a large part
what will determine if ultimatly this amounts to a concept of a
living soul:

"zi-bi" life/breath
t.1.6.2 "People gasped for breath (?)[zi-bi]; those people were ill,
they hugged themselves, they cursed the Earth, they considered the
day of the Asag's birth a day of disaster."
t.1.8.1.1 ""Standing on duty and sitting in attendance, escorting the
king's son, and forever grasping the donkey's reins -- who has that
much breath?" [zi-bi], as the saying goes. "
t.1.8.2.4 "There was no milk in the udder of the goat; the day
darkened for the kid. The buck-goat lay starving, its life [zi-bi]…….
"
t.2.1.5 "The life [zi-bi] of Agade's sanctuary was brought to an end
as if it had been only the life of a tiny carp in the deep waters"
t.2.2.3 "Grain did not fill his lofty storehouse, he could not save
his life.[zi-bi]"
t.2.2.3 "Like fish living [zi-bi] in a pond, they tried to escape"
t.2.4.2.02 "As they [zi-bi] collapse (?) on the plain, I topple them
like old towers" The text behind this is "zi-bi edin-na cub-cub-bu-
da-bi, an-za-gar3 libir-ra-gin7 hu-mu-cubub" -Perhaps the translation 'they' was made here to preserve the flow of narrative?
t.2.4.2.02 "my teams of asses do not collapse [zibi] under me."
(?)
t.2.4.2.04 'I make their little ones who survive eat bitter dust as
long as they live [zi-bi] '
t 2.5.4.53 'You are the sheepfold which is there for their life [zi-
bi]'
t.2.8.3.3 'When you feed them lavishly, may their lives [zi-bi] ……! '
prverbs
t.6.1.03 To stand and to sit, to spur on the donkeys, to support (?)
the prince: who has the breath [zi-bi]for that?
Gilgameš and Aga: c.1.8.1.1
In the convened assembly, his city's able-bodied men answered
Gilgameš: ""Standing on duty and sitting in attendance, escorting the
king's son, and forever grasping the donkey's reins -- who has that
much breath?", as the saying goes. You old men should not submit to
the house of Kiš! Should we young men not smite it with weapons?"
t.6.2.3 ' 1-2. Let just men be born in good health [zi-bi], and
let their lives last long.' good health is translated roughly from
'zi-bi he2-u3-tud' the second word implys birth
t.6.2.5 'Who has the breath [zi-bi] for that, as they say?'

zi nam-til3-la (beath of life)
t.1.8.2.4 'She seized from him his life-force [zi nam-til3-la] and
then returned to her city, Ereš.'
t.2.4.2.1 Refering to Sulgi: "Your father who begot you, holy
Lugalbanda, has named you as the 'Valiant one whom An made known
among the gods'. He has made you acquire (?) a ……. He has adorned
you with a royal crown; may he purify (?) your breath of life with an
enduring sceptre!"

Thats what I have thus far in the effort to demonstrate a living-
soul in the concept of life/breath - a skeletal outline. There are
many more details that will need to be considered soon, Hal-an-kug,
the 'tablet of life' , the missing lines in Enki and Ninhursag and
the other Sumerian creation stories. It should be noted that one of
the birth goddesses was Šu-zi-ana, whose name may be interpreted -
at least by me- as Su [hand/control] zi-anna [lifes breath of
heaven].
Could this be a reference to the How Life/Breath (possibly living soul) was bestowed on man
at the time of creation, is it a possible precedent for awilu? Here
is the only other reference availible at the moment for Šu-zi-ana, from the temple hymns, a text
that predates Enki and Ninmah:

77-85. O E-ĝa-duda (House, chamber of the mound), ……, crown of the
high plain, holy place, pure place, house, your foundation is a great
princely mooring pole. Du-saĝ-dili (Singular mound), your lady, the
singular woman who keeps the chamber and the dais full, gladdens your
platform in princely style. Your princess who avoids anger and is
exceedingly wise, the princely daughter who prospers together with
the Great Mountain, Šu-zi-ana, the junior wife of Father Enlil, has
erected a house in your precinct, O Du-saĝ-dili, and taken her seat
upon your dais.
86. 9 lines: the house of Šu-zi-ana in Ĝa-gi-maḫ.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Posted by us4-he2-gal at:
groups.yahoo.com/group/TabletofDestiny/message/5774

The question becomes was the Breath of Life synonomous with 'the Livng Soul', and was this something which like in Atra-hasis, was bestowed on man at the time of Creation. An Overview of Mesopotamian Creation myths from "A Survey of Parallels Between Biblical and... " by John Walton":

"Sumerian
1. Creation of the Pickaxe
Man springs up out of the earth
2. Cattle and Grain
Man is given Breath
3. Eridu Genesis
Creation of man section is missing, but Enki and Ninhursag may be
seen as responsible deities.
4. Enki and Ninmah
Humanity as a whole created from the "clay that is over the abyss."

Akkadian
1. Atrahasis
We-ila is slaughtered. Nintu mixes clay from his flesh and blood;
Igigi and Anunnaki spat upon it. Fourteen humans are created (seven
male and seven female). The purpose of man is to do the work of the
gods.
2. Creation of man by Mother-Goddess
Same as Atrahasis. After the mixture is made, the fourteen humans are
birthed from the wombs of the mother-goddess.
3.Enuma Elish
Kingu (the god who led the rebellion) is put to death, and his blood
is used to create humankind. Seven of the gods is imposed on new
creation.
4. Trilingual Creation Story
Two craftsman deities are slain, and their blood is used to create
humanity. Humans are created to serve the gods."


Here again is the key piece from the 4th Sumerian birth of man story,
Enki and Ninmah found at etcsl [t.1.1.2]

"At the word of his mother Namma, Enki rose up from his bed. In Ḫal-
an-kug, his room for pondering, he slapped his thigh in annoyance.
The wise and intelligent one, the prudent, …… of skills, the
fashioner of the design of everything brought to life birth-goddesses
(?). Enki reached out his arm over them and turned his attention to
them. And after Enki, the fashioner of designs by himself, had
pondered the matter, he said to his mother Namma: "My mother, the
creature you planned will really come into existence. Impose on him
the work of carrying baskets. You should knead clay from the top of
the abzu; the birth-goddesses (?) will nip off the clay and you shall
bring the form into existence. Let Ninmaḫ act as your assistant; and
let Ninimma, Šu-zi-ana, Ninmada, Ninbarag, Ninmug, …… and Ninguna
stand by as you give birth. My mother, after you have decreed his
fate, let Ninmaḫ impose on him the work of carrying baskets."
5 lines fragmentary …… she placed it on grass and purified the birth."

Mythologically speaking, the Eridu creation myth (that is the
creation of man by Enki and Nammu with Ninmah and the birth
goddesses) has many ties to other deites and other locals. For
example Hal-an-kug, Enki's 'room of pondering' where he slapped his
thigh in annoyance before arriveing at the way in which man was to be
fashioned, is not in Eridu. This room is in Nisaba's House of
Wisdom, most likely in Eres a local which unfortunatly has not been
identified. The term House of Wisdom refers to E-zagin,
Nisaba's temple is in Eres: (From Enlil and Sud) "he directed his
steps to Ereš. He entered E-zagin". The E-zagin is also known as the
house of wisdom, "As your destiny she gave E-zagin, her house of
wisdom, to provide counsel." [t.2.5.8.1] and in [t.2.6.9.2] Nisaba's
husband Haia is called "Accountant of Hal-an-kug, having the final
overview of the arts of Nisaba's house of wisdom" . So therefore
Hal-an-kug may be in the house of wisdom, the house of wisdom is E-zagin,
and E-zagin is in Eres. It should be noted though, that some
traditions place E-zagin in Aratta which is perhaps an alternative
tradition. Nisaba may originally have been a grain goddess, according
though she increasingly came to stand for wisdom and
specifically learning. From Kramers chapter on 'The Sumerian School'
in "The Sumerians", it is clear that the ancient 'textbooks' relate
her as a sort of "queen of learning". Nisaba and Enki seem to have
some very close affiliations, for example the bottem of 'A Hymn to
Nisaba A' [t.4.16.1] reads:

"27-35. He (Enki (?)) approaches the maiden Nisaba in prayer. He has
organised pure food-offerings; he has opened up Nisaba's house of
learning, and has placed the lapis-lazuli tablet on her knees, for
her to consult the holy tablet of the heavenly stars. In Aratta he
has placed E-zagin at her disposal. You have built up Ereš in
abundance, founded from little …… bricks, you who are granted the
most complex wisdom!
36-50. In the Abzu, the great crown of Eridug, where sanctuaries are
apportioned, where elevated …… are apportioned -- when Enki, the
great princely farmer of the awe-inspiring temple, the carpenter of
Eridug, the master of purification rites, the lord of the great en
priest's precinct, occupies E-engura, and when he builds up the Abzu
of Eridug; when he takes counsel in Hal-an-kug, when he splits with
an axe the house of boxwood; when the sage's hair is allowed to hang
loose, when he opens the house of learning, when he stands in the
street of the door of learning; when he finishes (?) the great dining
hall of cedar, when he grasps the date-palm mace, when he strikes (?)
the priestly garment with that mace, then he utters seven …… to
Nisaba, the supreme nursemaid:
51-55. "O Nisaba, good woman, fair woman, woman born {in the
mountains} {(1 ms. has instead:) by the mountains}! Nisaba, may you
be the butter in the cattle-pen, may you be the cream in the
sheepfold, may you be keeper of the seal in the treasury, may you be
a good steward in the palace, may you be a heaper up of grain among
the grain piles and in the grain stores!"
56-57. Because the Prince (Enki) cherished Nisaba, O Father Enki, it
is sweet to praise you!"

It seems that mythologically, Enki did much to sponsor Nisaba's role as
goddess of learning, he opened her house of learning, and bestowed on
her this Lapis lazuli tablet, and he seems to have some presecence at
the house of learning for he 'stands in the street of the door of
learning'. But he also seems to have some return from this
association as he 'takes council at hal-an-kug' which is his 'room
for pondering'. It would seem to be here that Enki created the seven
birth goddesses, at least there is no discernable change in location
between when he pondered, and when in the next line he 'brought to
life' the birth goddesses. Their names were Ninimma, Šu-zi-ana,
Ninmada, Ninbarag, Ninmug, …… and Ninguna , 7 though the 6th name is
untranslated. In their work 'Birth in Babylonia' Wiggermann and Stol
remark that unlike the other Mesopotamian birth of man stories,
"Everyone of the seven 'wombs' in the myth "Enki and Ninmah" has a
Sumerian name, suggesting a specific expertise." [pg.82].
Henceforth, one would expect that their names would suggest their
role in the birthing process, the very line of their creation reads '
the fashioner of the design of everything brought to life birth-
goddesses ' so surely they too had a design, a specific purpose.
1. First there is Ninimma who Jacobsen says is a deity of the
female genitalia. A hymn to this goddess can be found at
[t.4.2.1.1], which relates her as a heavenly scribe -quite reminicent
of Nisaba- and the text states she writes on the 'Tablet of
Life' (also sometimes heald by Haia). The text also states "the
surveyor's gleaming line and the measuring rod suit you perfectly. "
these items are otherwise the perogative of Nisaba.She is also
mentioned in Enki and Ninhursaga where she copulates with Enki and
gives birth to Uttu the goddess of plants, though this seems out of
context.
2. Su-zi-anna whose name may be interpreted -by me anyway- as hand/control of the life breath
of heaven, is said by Jacobsen to be connected with the local of
Nippur and to be the concubine of Enlil. And as the temple hymns
relate she is "Šu-zi-ana, the junior wife of Father Enlil" and she is
said to be the singular lady, of the Du-saĝ-dili [singular mound]
which is the foundation of the 'E-ga-duda' [chamber of the mound]. I
would suspect this is part of the Du-ku or Sacred Mound in Nippur, in
turn a part of Enlils temple the E-kur. Cohen's Cultic Calendar's
mentions a Nippur text which refers to the ezem-gis-gi, "The festival
of the canebrake" which lists sacrifices as "1 grain-fed ox for Enlil
and 1 grain-fed cow for Su-zi-ana...provisions for the festival of
the Canebrake." The temple hymn concludes " 9 lines: the house of Šu-
zi-ana in Ĝa-gi-mah." Perhaps the 'gi' [reed/cane] in the name of
this location can be seen to correlate to the ezem-gis-gi festival.
3. Ninmada is also said by Jacobsen to be connected to the house
of Enlil, and to be his snake-charmer. She is mentioned just once in
the texts, in the building of Ningirsu's temple [t.2.1.7],
"Asari cared for the maintenance of the house. Ninmada took care of
its cleaning. King Enki gave oracular pronouncements concerning it.
Nindub, the chief purification priest of Eridug, filled it with the
smoke of incense. The lady of precious rites, Nanše, versed in
singing holy songs, sang songs for the house." Here Ninmada is
closely associated with the Eridu circle of gods; there is another
mention of the name Ninmada, but in the that instance it refers to a
male deity.
4. Ninbarag according to Jacobsen is a form of Inana, though i
wouldnt go so far as to say Inana had a role in the creation of man.
Barag according to my lexicon is a throne; a dais; a cult platform or
sometime a chamber. No further textural references.
5. Ninmug is supposed to be another deity of the female genitals.
However she also has aspects of the metal worker as in Enki and the
world order [t.1.1.3] ""My illustrious sister, holy Ninmug, is to get
the golden chisel and the silver burin. She is to carry off her big
flint antasura blade. She is to be the metal-worker of the Land. The
fitting of the good diadem when a king is born and the crowning with
the crown when a lord is born are to be in her hands." Also from the
Hymn to Hendursaga (Nisaba's husband and the accountant of Hal-an-
kug) : [t.4.06.1] "So that everywhere …… and holy places will be
established, and so that Gibil the pure (i.e. fire) will be available
before the E-kur, Lady Ninmug stands by at your behest."

6. Though nothing is translated here, the transliteration at etcsl
reads 'ŠAR.ŠAR.GABA' for the sixth birth goddesses' name. Jacobsen
read the text there as 'dududuh' and gives the name as means 'the
one of opens the one giving birth' but if 'ŠAR.ŠAR.GABA' is the
correct reading the meaning according to my lexicon at least, may be
to chase out [SAR] and gabe meaning breast [ga 'milk' + ba [to
give']. So she would have something to do with the nourishment of the
newborn.
7. Ninguna is again refered to as a form of Inana by Jacobsen,
though again i dont beleive this should be taken as an indication
Inana was part of the creation. No textual reference's are available
for Ninguna.

That is a general sketch intended to flush out some of the
context of the birth of man., However it woud be difficult to label
all of these goddesses as fitting nicely into the picture, and to
decide wether the poet borrowed them from surrounding traditions, or
whether their role as birth goddesses lead to their later mythological roles. (later in mythic time).
While most of their roles are obscure, with some imagination I could
see Ninimma as standing by the creation recording on her 'Tablet of
Life' , SAR.SAR.GABA ensuring the newborn is fed (in the off chance that my laymans translation holds water), and Su-zi-anna
bringing the life's breath of heaven to man. But this brings me to
the issue at hand: Is there a discernable indication in Enki and
Ninmah that man was created not only from the clay of the absu, but
also from some other source which may be interpreted as the living
soul, the equivolent to the Awilu which feature's in Atrahasis?
There were once admirable efforts to find such a connection via
alternative translations to the Enki and Ninmah myth, Enki in his
intructions to Nammu for creating man is translated as saying 'My
mother, you have the blood which you put in store" instead of "Impose
on him the work of carrying baskets" , so for a short time the
parallel with Atrahasis was becoming apparent. But the translation
was abanded altogether in time, in favor of what might be considered
more accurate readings. The breath of life, as a possible second
component is much more promising in my opinion, possible evidence may
come from the broken lines, the crucial lines - lines 38-43 which
would have contained the actual creation. Etcsl has the
transliteration of these as:
"
38. […] i3-du3 nam-lu2-ulu3 […]
39. […]-ke4? nam-lu2-ulu3 am3-[ma-…]
40. […] ḪA? saĝ-e saĝ am3-/ma\-[…]
41. […] dim2-zu unu6 RI-zu ga-a-/am3\
42. […] SAR-e ĝiš-nu11 mi-ni-in-il2 nam-lu2?-[ulu3 …]
43. […] sag2 numun2-e mi-ni-in-ri u3-tud na-bi mu-de5"

38 - 42 are translated "5 lines fragmentary" while line 43 IS
translated "...she placed it on grass and purified the birth."

I have recently read a dissertation by C.A Benito enititled "Enki and
Nimah' and 'Enki and the World Order" which contains a detailed look
at the myth. Benito was also able to reference what seems to be a
little known bilingual tablet which contains parts of Enki and Ninmah
in Sumerian and Akkadian. The Akkadian seemed to have had details
absent in the Sumerian although it may now be as fragmentory. Here is
Benito's transliteration of the same lines- (the Akkadian is the
double numbered indented lines):
"
38. [....] i-du nam-lu-ulu [...]
Akk. 38. x [...]
[....]
[z]i?k[a?-ru ...]
39. [... ] ke ? nam-lu-ulu am-[ma-...]
Akk. 39? du -nir-ta ni [tah? ...]
sa-ta [....]
ini ri-hu-ut z[i?ka?-ri? ....]
il-da x [....]
40. [....] HA? sag-e sag am-mpa-....]
41. [... ] dim=zu unu RI=zu ga.a.a[m]
42. [... ] Sar-e gis-nu mi-ni-in-il nam-lu? [ u? ..]
43. [... ] sig numun-e mi-ni-in-ri u-tu na-bi mu-ri"

The translation to which reads:
"
38. [....] ... mankind [....]
Akk. 38. x [....]
[....]
M[an? ....]
39. [....] .. mankind .. [....]
Akk. 39? She begets m[an(?) ....]
From (her) womb [....]
Begetting m[an(?) ....]
She gave birth .. [....].
40. [....] ..... [....]
41. [....] .. your ... in your basin (?) ...
42. [... ] ... she (?) lifted to the light, mankind [....]
43. [....] ...., purified its delivery.



Perhaps after all the breath of life cannot be seen
explicitly anywhere in Enki and Ninmah.. Yet Kramer said in the
Sumerians pg.292 that in both Hebrew and Sumerian traditions man was
created from clay and imbued with the Breath of Life - and Ive noted
28 reference's which touch on life/breath most of which were
mentioned in my last post. There is textual evidence for presence of
life's breath, but where is the mythological explanation of how man
was imbued with it? and of course what is it.
There is the line from Cattle(or Sheep) and Grain
[t.5.3.2] which reads "36. nam-lu2-ulu3 zi cag4 im-ci-in-jal2" . This
line Kramer translates as "Man was given breath" but for some reason
etcsl has translated this as "they gave them [sheep and grain] to
mankind as sustenance". I dont know that this is closer to the
Sumerian then what Kramer had but lets play with the idea that the
concept of life's breath related to more to the general concept of
abundence/health/zeal as oppose to a sort of living soul imbued upon
creation (since this doesnt seem to be expicit in Enki and Ninmah in
any case). I have had to rely on books.google.com for some rare items
- this one ''Gudea and his dynasty' by Dietz Edzard contains an
inscription from the time of Gudea:

'For Ningirsu, mighty warrior of Enlil
did Gudea, who has a "treasured" name, ruler
of Lagas
shepherd chosen in the heart of Ningirsu,
whom Nanse regarded in a freindly manner,
to whom Nin-dara gave strength, the one
keep in the word of Bau.
child born of Gatumda, to whom Ig-alim
gave prestiege and a lofty sceptre,
whom Sul-saga richly provided with breath
of life whom Ningiszida, his (personal) god made
stand out gloriously as the legitimate head of the
assembly ---"

Sul-Saga was the son of Ningirsu, his role in Gudea's temple for
Ningirsu is detailed in [t.2.1.7]
"957-970. With his divine duties, namely to keep the house clean; to
let hands always be washed; to serve water to the lord with holy
hands; to pour beer into bowls; to pour wine into jars; to make emmer
beer in the brewery, the house of pure strength, fizz like the water
of the Papsir canal; to make certain that faultless cattle and goats,
grain-fed sheep, fresh bread and hind's milk are available day and
night; to wake from sleep the noble one, Enlil's beloved son, the
warrior Ninĝirsu, by offering (?) food and drink, Gudea introduced
Šul-šaga, the lord of the pure hand-washings (šu-luh), the first-born
son of E-ninnu, to Ninĝirsu."
So in the inscription, one might conclude Sul-saga did not
provide Gudea with breath of life [abundance/health/zeal] by playing
a role in the creation of man, but by providing him with neccessities
of a healthy life. Certainly this is the case for the earlier quote
line t.2.8.3.3 "'When you feed them lavishly, may their lives [zi-
bi] ……! " or the proverb "
t.6.2.3 " ' 1-2. Let just men be born in good health [zi-bi],
and let their lives last long.'" and the Sulgi Hymn almost spells it
out " may he purify (?) your breath of life with an enduring
sceptre!". Though not usually that type of Purification, purification
was certainly a compulsive reoccuring ritual to the Sumerians, and
was brought to bear aganst disease frequently in the early
incantations. Sul-saga at least could install the breath of life in
his role as lord of hand-washings, their were certainly purification
priests in Eridu as well, and as the etcsl/Benito's translation's
indication, the final three line's of creation (41-43] seem to be
much concerned with cleansing and purification. Perhaps this is how
the breath of life as abundance/health/zeal is brought to man in Enki
and Ninmah.

No conclusions drawn at present however..

[saharda]

As this is a bit long, I thought I would break it up.
Akkadian
1. Atrahasis
We-ila is slaughtered. Nintu mixes clay from his flesh and blood;
Igigi and Anunnaki spat upon it. Fourteen humans are created (seven
male and seven female). The purpose of man is to do the work of the
gods.

In this the clay represents the form, and the blood and spit represent the life force. Thus in this version you would have life sustained by blood and other such fluids. It doesn't specifically state here that the breath isn't the spirit, but it's omission is significant.

On the other hand if you remove the blood, death is caused. This causes a release of breath. OK, so blood might have been considered an element of life, and the breath as the manifestation of the soul.

Just a thought.

As a counter thought, there are quite a number of water borne ailments. This indicates a spiritual component to water. Spiritual does not mean ghost, but it can.

[us4-he2-gal2]

In order to further this examination Im currently reviewing the ePSD entry's for "zi [Life]" which states "(815x: ED IIIa, ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Lagash II, Ur III, Early Old Babylonian, Old Babylonian) wr. zi; ši; ši-i "life" Akk. napištu
A tool I didnt take in to consideration previously. Ultimately the object is to know if such terms will speak to a Sumerian concept of a living soul - that is a spiritual component that co-existed within the body during life. We do know that at the point of death spiritual concepts were evident enough in the form of IM>gidim.

Here are a few notes in the meantime. One of the few commentaries I have which touch on this, is Katz mention of it in "The Image of the Netherworld in Sumerian sources". The challenge of this thread is to try and substantiate these positions textually and mythologically, but this type of commentary will I hope help to put the question into focus. I mentioned this one briefly on the vampire thread under "gidim":

Pg. 197
"In principal the idea is simple, the difference between life and death is the difference between a lively human being and his motionless corpse. Thus, the breath that stops after death makes the difference; it appears as the element that animates the body and endows it with the human faculties, speech, senses, and emotions- namely, with a soul. After death, during the performance of the funerary ritual the soul is released from the body to ensure the continuation of its existence as a spirit of the netherworld. Then the body is interred to perish"

So she is saying here that breath as the animating factor is in effect the soul. This is "simple" enough at face value, a challenge to address textually and mythologically I believe. In the next sentence Katz says:

"The soul that leaves the body during the ritual to become a dead spirit is designated im [meaning] "wind." This wind image indicates that the soul was actualized in the breath."

If this "indication" is accurate, it would imply that
A) the breath/soul was present in the body before death thus a living soul
B) This breath/soul is transformed or converted in some way to wind/im>Gidim during funerary rituals
C) it would provide a possible conceptual connection between the concept of living soul, as it were, and other topics of incorporeality we are discussing. For now another reference to the same book pg.232 touches again on the living soul:

"The concept of dualism, that virtually humankind constitutes a unity of a living soul within a perishable body, mitigated the contradiction between perceptible reality and the belief in survival after death."

It is the concept of "dualism" that is in question and whether it can be substantiated with terms that circle around the word "zi" such as 'life's breath of heaven", whether these might support the concept textually, or whether especially Sumerian creation stories may support it mythologically. In that regard one of the things I am particularly curious about is Su-zi-anna and hope to have a study on her in the near future.

Cheers.