Tuesday, February 11, 2014

THE ANUNNAKI

THE ANUNNAKI

Official Names: The Anunnaki
Nicknames: "Children of Anu," "People of Anu," Gods of Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Gods, Gods of Sumer, Sumerian Gods, Gods of Babylon, Babylonian Gods, Gods of Assyria, Assyrian Gods, Hittite Gods, Phoenician Gods, Chaldean Gods, Hattic Gods, et al.
Former Aliases: Annunaki, Anunnaku, Ananaki, Anunna (variant spellings),
Other Current Aliases: The Igigi ("Heavenly Ones" - Babylonian name)
First Appearance: Thor #301

==Origin==
Dimension of Origin: Celestial Dilmun
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.
==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.

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 beenGaea, 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.
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.

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..
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.

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.
==Characteristics==

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==
  • Mount Saphon (Nisir) is also identified as the location where Utnapishtim, the Noah prototype, landed the ark after the Great Deluge. It is linked with the modern Ararat Mountains. It has two peaks with Great Ararat rising to a height of 16,946 feet and Little Ararat rising to 12,840 feet.
  • In Sumerian myths, the Anunnaki ("Children of Anu") were the gods of earth and the underworld while the Babylonian Igigi ("Heavenly Ones") were the gods of sky and heaven, or those gods who had departed earth and became gods more like the Olympian Gods. The Sebettu (Isirru) were a race of demons while the Edimmu were considered evil spirits contrary to the Shedu (djinni) who were spirits of fortune and good luck.
  • In Marvel Comics, several demonic and alien entities identified as Hyborian Gods have been named after Mesopotamian deities. The Hercules and Thor Encyclopedia Mythological has declared these beings to be the actual former Sumerian gods, but several previous plot points and incidents would suggest that the true Sumerian gods exist not just in the DC Universe, but also somewhere behind the scenes of the MU. At the least, these beings are referred to as "Annunaki" instead of "Anunnaki" (the preferred spelling) and have a genealogy quite unlike the mythological Sumerian gods.
  • The figure of Saja from Marvel Comics is not an actual mythological deity (much like Amora the Enchantress of the Asgardians). He was possibly an artificial construct, but this is uncertain.

  • Annunaki (Gods)

      Talk0

    Information-silk
    Annunaki

    Annunaki (Gods)
    Information-silkName
    Annunaki
    Information-silkAliases
    Anunna, "Mesopotamian gods", "Canaanite gods", "Hittite gods", "Hurrian gods", "Philistine gods", "Phoenician gods"
    Information-silkIdentity
    Information-silkAffiliation
    Information-silkUniverse
    Information-silkBase Of Operations
    Information-silkBody Type
    Humanoid
    Information-silkAverage Height
    6'0"
    Information-silkAverage Weight
    500 lbs
    Information-silkNumber of Limbs
    2
    Information-silkNumber of Fingers
    5
    Information-silkNumber of Toes
    5
    Information-silkSpecial Adaptations
    The Annunaki are immortal and cease to age upon reaching adulthood. They are three times denser than normal human beings.
    Origin
    Information-silkOrigin
    Deities
    Information-silkPlace of Birth

    History

    The Annunaki (also known as the "Anunna" and "Mesopotamian gods") are a race of superhumanly powerful humanoid beings who were worshipped as far back as pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis and Valusia circa 19,000 BC, continuing through several of the Hyborian-era nations, and then achieving prominence amongst the Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians in Mesopotamia (between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) up to about 500 AD; the Canaanites, Hittities, Hurrians, Philistines and Phoenicians worshipped the Annunaki as well. Most of the Annunaki dwelled in Dilmun, a small dimension adjacent to Earth; a nexus between Dilmun and Earth existed on what is the modern-day island-nation of Bahrain. The Annunaki are called different names by their human worshippers; for example, the wind god Dagon is known as "Enlil" to Sumerians, while he was called "Ellil" by Canaanites. Generally speaking, the Annunaki no longer have worshippers on Earth, and many degenderated into demons in their attempts to retain influence over the Earth realm.

    The Annunaki's origins are shrouded in legend. According to ancient myths, the dragon-like Tiamat (aka Leviathan, the primeval embodiment of the sea) coupled with Apsu (the embodiment of the fresh water below the Earth's surface) and gave birth to the first Annunaki; Lahmu and Lahamu.. Once generation later, Anu, the grandchild of Lahmu and Lahamu, was born and eventually matured into the god of heaven and the Sky Father of the Annunaki. With the primordian Earth Mother Gaea (known among the Annunaki as "Ki", and later as "Ninhursag"), Anu sired a new generation of Annunaki. When Apsu grew annoyed by the chaos introduced by these younger generations of his offspring, he planned to destroy the Annunaki, but the water god Ea learned of this and preemptively slew Apsu. This enraged Tiamat and her son Kingu, who led armies of Tiamat's monster progeny in an attack on the Annunaki, resulting in a prolonged civil war that ended with Anu's allies victorious and Tiamat dead. Marduk, Anu's grandson who served as the god of judgment and magic, led the Annunaki to victory during the war and replaced Anu as ruler of the Annunaki upon the defeat of Kingu and Tiamat.

    During the Hyborian era, the Hand of Nergal - a talisman empowered by the underworld god Nergal - fell to Earth and was used by a number od ark mages, including Xaltotun of Acheron; the Hand was opposed by its counter-talisman, the Heart of Tammuz, empowered by Nergal's rival, the benevolent shepherd god Tammuz. Circa 10,000 BC, the Hand of Nergal was acquired by Munthassem Khan, the satrap of Yaralet, who was corrupted by it. Ultimately, Munthassem was destroyed when the Hand was used against the Heart, and Nergal met defeat at the hands of Tammuz. The wizard Atalis claimed both artifacts, eventually merging them with the demonic Arm of Kx'ulthuum, granting an immensely powerful limb to a formerly one-armed barbarian later known as Fafnir Hellhand. When monotheistic religions began to replace worship of the Annunaki in the Middle East, Anu decided that the time had come for the Annunaki to break most of their ties with Eart and return to Dilmun, where their power was not dependant on mortal worshippers. However, his edict was unpopular with several of the Annunaki, who feared losing their influence over the mortal sphere. Sensing their desperation, an ancient demon borne from the concentration of primordial evil energy that remained on Earth following Demogorge's destruction of the Elder Gods approached several of the Annunaki with an intriguing offer. Calling himself "Marduk Kurios" (a name familiar to the Annunaki), this ancient evil tempted them with everlasting power. Those Annunaki who succumbed to Kurios' trickery and accepted the terms of his deal were transformed into demons.

    In modern times, the Annunaki who returned to Dilmun with Anu have remained largely removed from ortal affairs; however, those who degenerated into demons have frequently come into conflict with Earth's heroes. For instance, the god of metal Ningal possessed the Black Knight (Dane Whitman)'s body, but Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange eventually imprisoned the demon in a block of mystic amber. Later, as the "Demon of the Dunes," the desert god Martu plagued the Arabian Knight (Abdul Qamar) in the Saudi Arabian deserts.

    Powers and Abilities

    Powers

    None known.

    Abilities

    None known.

    Average Strength level

    25 - 30 tons

    Weaknesses

    None known.

    Habitat

    Habitat: Earth-like
    Gravity: Normal
    Atmosphere: Normal
    Population: 2000 (estimated)

    Miscellaneous

    Type of Government: Monarchy
    Level of Technology: Magic
    Cultural Traits: The Annunaki all possess certain superhuman physical attributes. They are true immortals who cease to age upon reaching adulthood, and they cannot die by conventional means. Annunaki flesh and bone are about three times denser than similar human tissue, contributing to the gods' superhuman strength and weight. An average male god can life about 30 tons; an average goddess can life about 25 tons. The gods' metabolism gives them superhuman endurance in all physical activities. Many Annunaki also possess additional superhuman powers, and several have degenerated into archdemons in attempts to maintein influence in the Earth relam following the loss of their moral worshippers. For instance, the desert got Martu possesses the ability to create powerful sandstorms and haboobs.
    Representatives:

    Notes

    • No special notes.

    Trivia

    • Anunnaki (original spelling) translates as "Children of Anu" or "People of Anu."

    See Also



==References==
  • All-New OHOTMU A-Z Update #3 - The Annunaki (Marvel Comics)
  • Babylonian and Assyrian Religion by S. H. Hooke
  • The Encyclopedia of Gods by Michael Jordan
  • Dictionary of Ancient Deities by Patricia Turner and Charles Russell Coulter
  • Hercules and Thor: Mythological Encyclopedia (Marvel Comics)
  • Mythologies of the Ancient World by Samuel Noah Kramer
  • Mythologies of the World by Rhoda Shapiro and Max Hendricks
  • Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic by Robert M. Best
  • World Mythology by Roy Willis
==External Links==


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