ENKI (AKKADIANEA)

   Sumerian god of the “Deep” (Abzu) whose main sanctuary was at Eridu. He was one of the most important deities, together with Anu, Enlil, and Inanna, and mentioned prominently in the earliest god lists. He was the son of An and the old mother goddess Nammu and, according to some sources, the twin brother of Ishkur.

   Enki plays a prominent role in Sumerian mythology. On the one hand, he represents the potential fertility of the groundwater; the “water” of his penis is said to have filled the Tigris and Euphrates, and his copulations with a succession of nubile goddesses led to the extension of fertility on the primordial land Dilmun. His superior intelligence is the subject of other narratives; he knows how to rescue the doomed Inanna and advises other heroes in distress. On the other hand, his weakness for drink results in the loss of the me (divine prerogatives and powers) to Inanna and in the creation of abnormal human beings.