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SAZONOV 2011 - Espak - The God Enki

1) Peeter Espak's 2010 PhD dissertation from the University of Tartu analyzes the Sumerian god Enki/Ea in Sumerian royal ideology and mythology over 2500-1500 BCE through texts in Sumerian and Akkadian languages. 2) It provides a detailed examination of Enki/Ea's role and cult development during major Mesopotamian periods, and analyzes myths involving Enki/Ea or dedicated to the god. 3) The dissertation argues that the perceived rivalry between the theologies of Enki and Enlil may not have actually existed.

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Tarek Ali
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88 views3 pages

SAZONOV 2011 - Espak - The God Enki

1) Peeter Espak's 2010 PhD dissertation from the University of Tartu analyzes the Sumerian god Enki/Ea in Sumerian royal ideology and mythology over 2500-1500 BCE through texts in Sumerian and Akkadian languages. 2) It provides a detailed examination of Enki/Ea's role and cult development during major Mesopotamian periods, and analyzes myths involving Enki/Ea or dedicated to the god. 3) The dissertation argues that the perceived rivalry between the theologies of Enki and Enlil may not have actually existed.

Uploaded by

Tarek Ali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PEETER ESPAK: THE GOD EKI I

SUMERIA ROYAL IDEOLOGY AD


MYTHOLOGY (PHD DISSERTATIO)∗
Vladimir Sazonov
Head of Language Centre of Estonian Defence Forces
Estonian ational Defence College,
The Centre for Oriental Studies
University of Tartu

ABSTRACT / RESUMO
Peeter Espak: The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and
Mythology (2010), Tartu: Tartu University Press, 284 pp.

In Estonia, a small European State with a population of


approximately 1,300,000 people, Assyriology is a nascent field (it is about
14-15 years old). Peeter Espak’s doctoral thesis is the second Assyriological
doctoral thesis defended in the University of Tartu.1
Peeter Espak’s thesis, The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and
Mythology, written in English, belongs to the field of Sumeriological studies
and contains 284 pages. This monograph is a very profound analysis of the
ancient Sumerian and Akkadian god Enki/Ea in Sumerian religion and in
royal ideology. The research is dealing with a great number of hypotheses
and some complicated questions concerning the cult of Enki, his role in
royal ideology, position in the pantheon, mythological and other texts (e.g.
royal inscriptions etc), which are either dedicated to Enki or where Enki is
mentioned. The doctoral thesis was excellently defended by Espak on the
14th of December, 2010, in the University of Tartu.

∗
I am thankful, for editing this text and for critical remarks, to my wife Sirje Kupp-
Sazonov, Mr. Parviz Partovi and Mr. Janusz Peters.
1
The first Estonian who defended his doctoral thesis in Assyriological studies was Dr.
Amar Annus, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Theology. His thesis is The God inurta
in the Mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia (2002), State Archives of Assyria Studies,
volume XIV, The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project of University of Helsinki, Institute for
Asian and African Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland. Dr. Amar Annus was
supervised by the Finnish Prof. Dr. Simo Parpola and defended his thesis at the University
of Helsinki, not in Tartu.

KUBABA 2, 2011
ISSN: 1647-7642
http://www.fcsh.unl.pt/kubaba
88
Peeter Espak: The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and Mythology

Nevertheless it must be mentioned that it is not the first


thoroughgoing work in Sumerology, leaving aside the articles concerning
the question of Enki/Ea. It is the third monograph that is dedicated to the
subject. The first solid research was written by Margaret W. Green (1975)2
and the second important work dedicated to Ea/Enki is the doctoral thesis of
Hannes D. Galter3. Obviously the quantity of articles or some other studies
that in some way are dedicated or connected with the questions about the
god Enki/Ea are notable; however, it is essential to know that these
researches deal with only certain aspects connected to the cult of Enki and
mythology, etc.4 Prior to the publishing of Espak’s research in 2010, in the
University of Tartu’s publishing house, a new authentic and solid approach
concerning this Sumerian deity, a treatment of his role and position in
Mesopotamian religion and royal ideology was missing in Assyriological
specialized literature. Since this thesis is written in English it can be used
internationally by assyriologists, sumerologists, theologians, and historians
of religions.
In his doctoral thesis Espak continues the research that he had started
in his Master’s thesis5. The time frame of his research covers the Early
Dynastic period (Pre-Sargonic) until the Old-Babylonian period (from Ur-
Nanše of Lagaš to Ammi-saduqa of Babylon). The author scrupulously
analyzed all the significant written sources from Mesopotamia in the
Sumerian and Akkadian languages in the period from 2500 to 1500 BCE.
The thesis consists of 9 chapters —Early dynastic period; The Dynasty of
Akkad; The Second Dynasty of Lagaš; Ur III period; The Dynasty of Isin;
The Dynasty of Larsa; The First Dynasty of Babylon; Enki (Ea) in the
mythology of creation; Enki and the archaic Sumerian religion: the question

2
Margaret W. Green (1975), Eridu in Sumerian Literature. PhD Dissertation: University of
Chicago.
3
Hannes D. Galter (1983), Der Gott Ea/Enki in der akkadischen Überlieferung. Eine
Bestandsaufnahme des vorhandenen Materials. Dissertationen der Karl-Franzens-
Universität Graz.
4
See for examples concerning Innana and Enki: Gertrud Farber-Flügge (1973), Der Mythos
‘Inanna und Enki’ unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Liste der ME (Studia Pohl 10,
Dissertationes scientificae de rebus orientis antiqui), Roma: Biblical Institute Press;
Владимир В. Емельянов (2004), Инанна и Энки: текст и ритуал. – Ассириология и
египтология. Санкт-Петербург, 73-85; Horst Steible (1967), Ein Lied an den Gott Haja
mit Bitte für den König Rīm-Sîn von Larsa. Ph.D. Dissertation: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität
zu Freiburg.
5
Peeter Espak (2006), Ancient ear Eastern Gods Enki and Ea: Diachronical Analysis of
Texts and Images from the Earliest Sources to the eo-Sumerian Period. Master's thesis:
The University of Tartu. This work is available in the World Wide Web at:
http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/handle/10062/958/espakpeeter.pdf?sequence=5.
89
Vladimir Sazonov

of rivalry between the theologies of Enki and Enlil— and a General


Conclusion.
The first seven chapters of the thesis form one large section (159
pp.), at the same time built logically and clearly structured using a
chronological order. These chapters (from the Early dynastic period until the
First Dynasty of Babylon) give a detailed view concerning the development
of the history of the cult of Enki/Ea during the Early Dynastic period,
Akkadian epoch, the period of Gutian domination, Ur III, Isin-Larsa and
Old Babylonian periods.
The 8th chapter of Espak’s monograph, Enki (Ea) in the mythology of
creation, deals with the role of the god Enki/Ea in Sumerian and Akkadian
mythology: first of all, of course, regarding the cosmogonies, the author
analyses scrupulously all the existing myths and texts within the
mythological background, in which either Enki/Ea was mentioned or which
were dedicated to this important Mesopotamian deity.
The present work gains its laurels with the last comparative chapter:
Enki and the archaic Sumerian religion: the Question of Rivalry between
the theologies of Enki and Enlil. Notable is that the contest between the two
most important Sumerian theological systems —the system of Enlil with its
main residence in Nippur and the system of Enki (whose main centre was
Eridu)— was not deeply considered or analyzed in the earliest
Assyriological studies. Espak was successful in creating an image of the
cults of these two main Mesopotamian deities and of the rivalry between
these two theological systems that lasted for a long time and strongly
influenced the formation of Mesopotamian religions and their ideological
worldview. Notable is the fact that, in Espak’s opinion, this rivalry between
Enki and Enlil might not have existed.
Let us hope that, if Espak is planning in the future to continue
examining the question of Enki/Ea, he is able to publish a monograph that
also includes the material of the later periods of Mesopotamian history.

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