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Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

brill.com/jane

An Underestimated Aspect of Enki/Ea

Avigdor Hurowitz

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba

sethlsanders@gmail.com

Abstract
The god Enki (Sumerian)/Ea (Akkadian) is central to Mesopotamian myth, ritual and scholarship but there is still disagreement as to precisely what he is the god of. He governs subterranean
water, magic, and wisdombut what kind of wisdom was it? A traditional argument in Assyriology claims that Enki is more trickster than sage; his knowledge has to do with craft and cunning, not ethics or rectitude. This essay analyzes important neglected associations of Enki with
Mesopotamian wisdom literature, demonstrating parallels with ideals found in the biblical book
of Proverbs. In these texts Enki is associated with the proper conduct of human life, making him
not just crafty and cunning but wise.
Keywords
Enki/Ea, wisdom, proverbs, trickster

Enki/Ea is one of the most familiar deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon,

high in rank and pedigree, and a major player in many myths. Nonetheless,
his exact role is still somewhat tricky to determine. According to Ebeling,1 he
is Gott des Swasserozeans, der Weisheit, und der Knste. Tallqvist, Akkadische Gtterepitheta 287 defines his functions as including der Weisheit, der
Kunste, der Magie, u. s. w. and lists a group of titles depicting him as a god
of Weisheit und Besonnenheit (prudence, circumspection). The popular
guide of Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of
Ancient Mesopotamia,2 is slightly more expansive in its basic definition with:
Enki (Akkadian Ea) was god of the subterranean freshwater ocean (abzu),
and was associated with wisdom, magic and incantations, and with the arts
and crafts of civilisation.

E. Ebeling, s.v. Enki (Ea), RLA 2 374.

J. Black, A. Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. An Illustrated Dictionary (Austin: University of Texas, 1992), 75.
1
2

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013

DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341242

A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

There is no question about Enkis habitat and domain, and all three authorities agree about Enkis wisdom. As a matter of fact, anyone familiar with
Mesopotamian religion will, if asked, immediately say that Enki was a god of
wisdom. It is noteworthy, therefore, that Thorkild Jacobsen in his Treasures of
Darkness3 avoids the term wisdom. Instead, he equates Enki with cunning,
and characterizes him as clever, trouble-shooter, manipulator and expert, but
not even once as simply wise. The hesitation to use wisdom in depicting
Enkis role is explained by Samuel Noah Kramer and John Maier, co-authors
of a book titled Myths of Enki, The Crafty (double entendre) God.4 They state:
The second characteristic of Enki is wisdom (p. 4); but immediately qualify
their statement, explaining that Enkis wisdom is not like the wisdom of the
Hebrew Bible. Citing several verses from Proverbs, they comment Such practical advice, drawing general principles from ordinary experiences of human
beings, is not to be found in the Enki texts in this book. They do, however,
find ground for comparing some aspects of Enki with Wisdom as described in
the apocryphal book Wisdom of Solomon. In other words, assyriological
aversion to biblifying Mesopotamian religion, as well as difficulties in defining what constitutes wisdom, seem to be behind avoidance of the term on
the one hand, and has inspired attempts to be more precise in defining the role
of the god in question on the other.5 In the most detailed study of Enki thus
far, that of Hannes D. Galter,6 Enkis role as Weisheitsgott is retained, but the
aspects covered by this term include: offering correct advice, tricks and plans
in given situations; crafts and professions of all sorts; creator, and determiner
of destinies. Any type of practical, ethical or moral wisdom or piety relating to
proper daily behavior which is the hallmark of the wisdom of the Book of
Proverbs are not mentioned in Galters survey or that of any other scholar.
Nonetheless, it seems that these studies have overlooked several texts that
point to an additional, albeit minor, role of Enki/Eaand in particular, that
of patron of the type of wisdom characteristic of the biblical Book of
Proverbs. Scores of collections of sayings that can be described as proverbs,
T. Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness. A History of Mesopotamian Religion (New Haven and
London: Yale University, 1976), 110116.
4
S. N. Kramer, J. Maier, Myths of Enki, the Crafty God (New York, Oxford: Oxford, 1989).
5
Kramers and Maiers position is reiterated by Sara Denning-Bolle, Wisdom in Akkadian
Literature. Expression, Instruction, Dialogue, Mededelingen en verhandelingen van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux Memoires de la Socit dtudes Orientales
Ex Oriente Lux 28 (Leiden: Ex Oriente Lux, 1992) 4041. For the problems with wisdom
in Mesopotamia see, inter alia, Lambert, BWL 1ff. And G. Buccellati, Wisdom and Not? The
Case of Mesopotamia, JAOS 101 (1981) 1547.
6
H. D. Galter, Der Gott Ea/Enki in der akkadischenberlieferung. Eine Bestandsaufnahme des
vorhandenen Materials, Dissertationen der Karl-Franzens Universitt Graz 58 (1981) 95103;
idem, s.v. Aya in Dictionary of Deities and Demons, 236237.
3

A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

adages, precepts, instructions, warnings, and admonitions have reached us

from Mesopotamia and adjacent areas in both Sumerian and Akkadian. These
texts have been published in collections such as Wilfred Lamberts Babylonian
Wisdom Literature and Bendt Alsters Proverbs of Ancient Sumer, as well as in
separate scholarly monographs and articles. Although specific parallels with
the Book of Proverbs are few and far between, it can hardly be doubted that
the type of material is, in literary form, didactic function, and perhaps Sitz im
Leben, fully analogous with the material collected in the biblical book.7 Most
of these collections lack introductory sections that would place the body of the
text into some sort of literary, ideological, or theological context. Even so, a
small number of compositions are provided with introductory or concluding
passages revealing what was perceived to be the origin of the mental acumen
of the purveyor of the instructions and their source of authority. It is precisely
in these sections where we find references to Enki/Ea, thereby disclosing an
additional aspect of his character and scope of his responsibility.
a. The first of these texts is a short Sumerian composition The Instructions
of Ur-Ninurta, king of Isin.8 It is perhaps of interest that a rather long tigihymn to Enki with a prayer for Ur-Ninurta may indicate a special closeness of
the god to the king.9 The introductory section of the Instructions resembles
the prologues to historical inscriptions and even law codes, and tells of the
kings selection by Ninurta, or perhaps Enlil. Significantly, the very first titles
of the king are the one given wisdom by Enki, the one...by Nidaba (56).
But the body of the text is neither a narrative nor a set of laws but a small
corpus of moral, ethical principles including (1929):10
He who knows how to respect religious affairs, who voluntarily [pleases his god], who
performs the rites, to whom the name of his god is dear,

7
This article makes no claim whatsoever that the Mesopotamian compositions discussed
here are in any way connected genetically with any biblical book or that the wisdom referred
to has been borrowed from one corpus to the other. It is strictly a typological comparison claiming only that certain types of wisdom associated with the Biblical book of Proverbs can also be
found in Mesopotamian texts associated with Enki/Ea.
8
See B. Alster, The Instructions of Ur-Ninurta and Related Compositions, Orientalia n.s.
60 (1991) 141157; idem in W. W. Hallo, ed. Context of Scriptures, I 570; idem Wisdom of
Ancient Sumer (Bethesda, Maryland: CDL Press, 2005), pp. 221240.
9
Ur-Ninurta B; Kramer and Maier, Myths of Enki, 8992, 235236; ETCSL 2.5.6.2.
10
This follows Alsters 2005 translation. His older translation was:
The man who knows fear of god,...he keeps(?) (idle?) swearing away from his house,
he walks straight from the cult place, what he gives out(?) is satisfactory.
Days will be added to his days, the name he has will become even greater, after his
death the people will be consolidated, a son will be born to him.

A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

who keeps away from swearing, he goes straight to the place of worship
What he has lost will be restored (to him). Days will be added to his days.
Years will be plenty in addition to the years he (already) has.
His descendants will experience food health. His heir will pour water libations for
him.

This is followed immediately by a similar, opposite, description of the man

who does not fear the gods (3037). In the margins of Bendt Alsters translation appearing in W. W. Hallos Context of Scripture, this passage is compared
with Proverbs 10:27:
The fear of the Lord gives an increase of days,
but the years of the wicked are cut short.

It would be unwarranted and we have no intention to claim that the passages

in Ur-Ninurtas instructions are somehow genetically related to the verse in
Proverbs, but one can hardly deny that the texts express exactly the same
moral and religious sentiments in very similar language. If the adage in Proverbs can be described as wisdom the parallel brief oration of the king of Isin
deserves the same characterization. Since the mental faculty that enabled
Ur-Ninurta to express such an idea is attributed to Enki and Nidaba, we may
safely say that they are responsible for imparting to the king what is typical of
the book of Proverbs. If the later is wisdom, so is the former. This faculty is
neither cunning nor craftiness, skill nor creative power, the traits generally
attributed to Enki, but piety and moral rectitude.
b. The second text of interest, and perhaps the most significant, is the Akkadian Dialogue between a father and his son p-amli. This composition,
recently discovered and published, is known in Akkadian manuscripts from
Ugarit and Emar and in a Hittite version from Boazky.11 It is a collection of
11
M. Dietrich, G. Keydana, Der Dialog zwischen p-amli und seinem Vater, UF 23
(1991) 3374; M. Dietrich, Babylonian Literary Texts from Western Libraries in J. C. de
Moor, W. G. E. Watson ed. Verse in Ancient Near Eastern Prose, AOAT 42 (Neukirchen-Vluyn:
Neukirchener, 1993) 4167 esp. 5262; S. Seminara, Le Istrozioni di p-amli: Vecchio e
nuovo a confront nella sapienza siriana del Tardo Bronzo, UF. 32 (2000), 487529. For studies of the text see V. A. Hurowitz, The Wisdom of p-AmliA Deathbed Debate Between
a Father and a Son, in Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel, ed. R. J. Clifford, SBL
Symposium Series 36 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature 2007), pp. 3751; W. Sallaberger,
Skepsis gegenber vterlicher Weisheit: Zum altbabylonischen Dialog zwischen Vater und
Sohn, Your Praise is Sweet: A Memorial Volume for Jeremy Black from Students, Colleagues and
Friends, ed. H. D. Baker, E. Robson, G. Zlyomi, (London: British Institute for the Study of
Iraq 2010) pp. 303317.

A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

instructions and precepts provided with an introductory passage telling of the

circumstances under which the instructions were uttered, and a concluding
passage in which p-amli answers his father. In the opening passage we
read:
Hear the (following) advice, p-amli
Whose ear (the wise) Enlil-banda has opened,
The (following) wise advice, p-amli
To whom Enlil-banda has granted understanding.

Enlil-banda, as is well known, is a name for Ea. Jacobsen renders this title
Junior Enlil, while Galter adduces suggestions that it means either little
Enlil, Second Enlil, or like Enlil,12 but Edzard has proposed that it means
Enlil of Prudence, insight, and sharp-sightedness.13 This god is said here to
grant wisdom and understanding to p-amli who is the audience of the
instructions about to be proffered by his father. Again, if we examine types of
instructions in practical as well as ethical matters we find similarities with the
book of Proverbs and other examples of biblical wisdom literature. Several of
the instructions start with the vocative my son. Among the instructions we
find advice concerning the value of companionship (cf. Ecclesiastes 4:912);
discretion in speech; warning not to join the wicked to commit a theft (cf.
Proverbs 1:519); advice about women; and advice on practical matters of
business. The critique of worldly accomplishments in this dialogue resembles
that in Ecclesiastes. Again, all these topics can be found in the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and by analogy may be considered wisdom. In other
words, Enlil-banda/Ea has granted p-amli the mental faculty which
enables him to grasp instruction of the type found in the Book of Proverbs
and the critique voiced by Qohelet. Again, if the one can be called wisdom, so
may the other.
c. The third text of interest is the so-called Counsels of Wisdom, a collection or instructions known in Akkadian (BWL 96107, 311315, 345346;
TUAT III/1 163168). The beginning of this text has been lost and attempts
to identify one have not been convincing. What has not been noticed, however, is that there seems to be a concluding passage which has not been given
proper attention.
The tablet containing the last eleven lines of the text (K. 10652 = BWL
p. 106 ll. 156166; pl. 29) is only partially preserved, so any interpretation of
H. Galter, Der Gott Ea/Enki, 26 n. 33.
D. O. Edzard, ZA 55 (1962) 98; Tallqvist, Akkadische Gotterepitheta 287; PSD B 83.

12
13

A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

the final section will be highly conjectural, yet there are certain things which
are clear. The last four lines are translated by Lambert (supplemented following Von Soden) as follows:
...] to create trust and then to abandon,
To the poor] not to give is an abomination to Marduk,
[And dIme-k]arbu son of Enlil-banda.
[...a praye]r to Ea, he will pray and will [prosper]

The last line refers to a prayer to Ea and a resultant blessing. It can be compared with the doxology to Nidaba concluding the Instructions of Shuruppak. Since a prayer or blessing at the end of a composition can be expected to
be on behalf of the person for whom the text was written, we may assume that
Eas blessing is for the son to whom the Counsels are addressed and who
is referred to in line 81. If so, Ea is again the patron god of the person receptive
to the main instructions of the text.
The next to last line mentions a certain [dIme-k]rabu son of dEnlil-banda.
Enlil-banda, as we have already noted, is Ea, and it is perhaps of significance
that this is the name by which he was referred to in the introduction to the
Dialogue between p-amli and his Father. In any case his son [dIme-k]
arbu is a little known deity from the circle of ama,14 and since he is Eas son
here, he could be ama himself, brother of Marduk who is mentioned in the
previous line. It is of course most unusual to refer to ama by this name, but
it may also be asked why did the author choose to designate this god as the son
of his father. The natural explanation for this peculiarity will be that the text
wants to emphasize Ea, who is mentioned explicitly in the very next line as the
benefactor of the son. Taking the two passages together we find that the
author wants to end his text with a double reference to Ea, first in the final
admonition, where he is called Enlil-banda, and again in the concluding
prayer.
As in the case of the previous two works, here too, the content resembles
the book of Proverbs in its scope of interests. Many specific parallels of content have been pointed out already by Robert H. Pfeiffer in his translation in
ANET1,2, pp. 426427. In line 81 the audience is addressed my son as is
customary in Proverbs. The text combines instructions about practical matters
and of special interest is the combination of such matters with about piety and
proper disposition towards the gods. Lines 146:
He who fears the gods is not slighted by [...]
He who fears the Anunnaki extends [his days]
14

See W. Lambert, s.v. Ime-karb, RLA 5 p. 196; W. von Soden in TUAT III/1 164.

A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

can be compared with Proverbs 14:27 ' , the fear of the Lord
is a source of life.
We read about avoiding disputes, behavior towards woman, kindness
towards adversaries, leading a pious life of worshiping the gods, and so on.
Once again Ea is associated with a composition comparable in all aspects with
the Book of Proverbs and may be said, therefore, to be related to the same type
of wisdom found in Proverbs.
d. We conclude with the well-known Instructions of Shuruppak. This composition exists in an Early Dynastic (ED III) version from Abu-Salabikh, a
somewhat younger version from Adab, a classical old-Babylonian version,
and a fragmentary Akkadian version (BWL 9295). It was most recently reedited by Bendt Alster.15 Similarities of content and form between this work
and the Book of Proverbs have been noted by several scholars, including
Raphael Kutscher and Moshe Weinfeld.16
In this text Enki/Ea is nowhere mentioned, so it would seem to be of no
concern for us. As a matter of fact, the composition concludes with a doxology
in praise of Nidaba, goddess of scribes and scribal art.
Nonetheless, it is difficult to elude the feeling of Enkis presence lurking
nearby. We should recall that in the Instructions of Ur-Ninurta Enki is
mentioned alongside Nidaba, and in the bilingual composition In Praise of
the Scribal Art the main god is Ammanki, who is Enki, and he has replaced
Nidaba as the patron of scribal art.17 In the hymn to Nidaba, Nin-mul-angim, Enki is the ultimate source of Nidabas powers. So where we find Nidaba,
Enki is not far away.
According to the Sumerian King List and the Eridu Genesis the Flood
came at the time Shuruppak was the city of kingship, and brought to an end
a golden age which began when kingship was first lowered from heaven to be
situated in Eridu, Nudimmud/Enkis city. In later tradition this is the primordial period in which seven apkallus, creatures of Enki formed in the Apsu,
dominated the world as advisors to the kings in seven different cities. Berossus
reports that Xisouthros was commanded by Cronos, who is Ea, to hide in the
15
Wisdom of Ancient Sumer, pp. 31220. For previous treatments see R. D. Biggs, Inscriptions
from Tell Ab albkh, OIP 99, (Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1974); B. Alster, The Instructions of uruppak. A Sumerian Proverb Collection, Mesopotamia 2 (Copenhagen, 1974);
C. Wilcke, Philologische Bemerkungen zum Rat des uruppag und versuch einer neuenbersetzung, ZA 68 (1978) 202232.
16
R. Kutscher, Review of B. Alster, The Instructions of Shuruppak, (In Hebrew) Shnaton 4
(1980) 308313; M. Weinfeld, Theology and Wisdom in the Mesopotamian Tradition of the
Third Millennium and its Relationship to the Bible, (in Hebrew) Shnaton 4 (1980) 285287.
17
See H. Galter, Der Gott Ea/Enki, 99; V. Hurowitz, Literary Observations on In Praise of
the Scribal Art, JANES 27 (2000), pp. 4956.

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A. Hurowitz / Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 13 (2013) 310

earth at Sippar for preservation the beginnings, middles, and ends of all
writings, indicating that the stored up wisdom of this period was of particular importance and Enki was interested in preserving it. The survivor of the
Flood is thus a survivor of a period in which Enki played a founding role and
continued to dominate. The instructions Shuruppak imparts to his son
Ziusudra may be considered the distillation of the wisdom of this period, an
age of Enki.
Moreover, we cannot escape recalling the fact that in the Old-Babylonian
and Akkadian versions of the text the recipient of the instruction is, respectively, Ziusudra and Utnapishtim, the well-known survivors of the Flood. It is
of particular significance that Eas decision to leak to a human the secret
plans of the gods and thereby save mankind is related to more than his general
concern for humanity whom he was a partner in creating. As a matter of fact,
the selection of Ziusudra from among all other men is directly the result of his
being Eas favorite. The particular closeness of Ea to the survivor of the flood
is certainly reflected in the name of the third Flood survivor, Atra-hasis,
exceedingly wise. To be sure, his wisdom can only be a gift of Ea.
If the wisdom granted Atra-hasis by Ea is what, behind the scenes of literature, enables Ziusudra/Utnapishtim to receive the instructions of his father
Shuruppak, again we find Ea involved in a Mesopotamian equivalent of the
biblical Book of Proverbs. In any case, introduction of Ziusudra/Utnapishtim
into the Instructions of Shuruppak silently lets in Ea/Enki as well.
Conclusion
The relevance of the Instructions of Shuruppak to our discussion may, admittedly, be questionable because of the time when Ziusudra entered the text and
because even then Enki is not mentioned specifically.18 Even so, the other
compositions speak with a single voice, indicating that Enki/Ea is involved
with precisely the type of literary material contained in the biblical book of
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. If so, whatever type of wisdom typifies the biblical
book characterizes the Mesopotamian god of the sweet waters as well. Enki is
not only crafty, but wise.
18
I have suggested elsewhere that Ea is the prominent deity in Advice to A Prince (the
Frstenspiegel) and may even be considered its author. See V. Hurowitz, Advice to a
PrinceA Message From Ea, SAAB 12 (1998), pp. 3953. However, this composition is relevant to the present paper only to the extent that Advice to a Prince can be considered analogous in content, form, Sitz im Leben, etc. to the Book of Proverbs. Although this text is included
in BWL and even TUAT III/1 (Weisheitsliterature), scholarly opinion relates it more to the
genre of omens than to wisdom literature.