Eastern Bactria, Gilgit, Chitral

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"Mentioned by the classical historians Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, and Herodotus, the Dards (Daradae, Daradrae, or Derdae) are said to be people of Aryan origin who ascended the Indus Valley from the Punjab plains, reaching as far north as Chitrāl......Herodotus (III. 102-105) is the first author who refers to the country of Dards, placing it between Kashmir and Afghanistan. It also has reference in Mahabharata where it mentions the tribute of the ant-gold pipilika brought by the nations of the north to one of the Pandu sons, king Yudhisthira.......The Dards are also the Darada of the Sanskrit writers. The Darada and Himavanta were the regions to which Buddha sent his missionaries.

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"Daradas were a people who lived north and north-east to the Kashmir valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region in Kashmir along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are often spoken along with the Kambojas. The Pandava hero Arjuna had visited this country of Daradas during his northern military campaign to collect tribute for Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice.....Herodotus refers to the Daradas as Dadicae and groups them with the Gandharas and the Aparytae (Afridis?). Herodotus and Strabo also connect the Daradas with the gold producing area located west of Tibet. "....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darada

"...Ptolemy refers to the Daradas as living below the sources of the Indus River....."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darada

"...The Sattagydians, the Gandarians, the Dadicæ, and the Aparytæ, who were all reckoned together, paid a tribute of a hundred and seventy talents. This was the seventh satrapy....From the Bactrian tribes as far as the Ægli, the tribute received was three hundred and sixty talents. This was the twelfth satrapy......."....THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS EUTERPE—THALIA MELPOMENE - Herodotus, The History [431 BC]

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"The term Dardic comes from the ancient Greek historian Herototus who placed the land of the Dards as in the mountains between Afghanistan and Kashmir......The Dard people (Perso-Arabic: دارد, Devanagari: दारद) are a group of Indo-European Indo-Iranian-speaking people predominantly found in northern Pakistan's Gilgit–Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern India's Jammu and Kashmir, and eastern Afghanistan.....The community is also known as Brokpa, Drokpa and Shin, and speak Dardic languages........http://www.anusha.com/dardic.htm

"Parpola (1999) identifies "Proto-Dardic" with "Proto-Rigvedic", suggesting that the Dards are the linguistic descendants of the bearers of proto Rigvedic culture ca. 1700 BC, pointing to features in certain Dardic dialects that continue peculiarities of Rigvedic Sanskrit, such as the gerund in -tvī (p. 189)......Moreover, the Dard people are mentioned in the Vishnu Purana and in the Mahabharat. They now occupy the area called Dardu, supposed by Herodotus to be the Dadicæ. As such, during Swati rule, the Dard people were dominantly Hindu.....Dards of Dras, Gilgit, Skardu, etc., embraced Islam after the Muslim conquest during the 14th century A.D. whereas the Dards of Da, Hanu, Bema, Darchik and Garkon remained Kalash for quite some time and only later embraced Islam.......

"Kalash Valley.....The Kalasha (Kalasha: Kaĺaśa, Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalash, are a Dardic indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalasha language, from the Dardic family of the Indo-Aryan branch, and are considered a unique tribe among the Indo-Aryan peoples of Pakistan....The neighboring Nuristani people of the adjacent Nuristan (historically known as Kafiristan) province of Afghanistan once practiced the same polytheistic religion as the Kalash. By the late 19th century much of Nuristan had been converted to Islam, though evidence has shown the people continued to secretly practice their religion. The Kalash of Chitral maintained their own separate cultural traditions."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalash_people

"Dards also inhabit parts of the region of Jammu & Kashmir. In the Drogpa villages of west Leh, the Buddhist Dard people still inhabit the area. Isolated from the modern world, they subsist on farming, eking a living from the rugged mountainsides.....The Gurez people call themselves "Dards," and this name is by some extended to apply to Shina generally. Shina speaking populations are predominant in tehsil Gurez, Drass and Dah Hanu areas of Ladakh. The Shin who follow the Bön religion are also a Dard group who speak an archaic variety of Shina called Shins........There are several villages that are inhabited by Buddhist Dards, including Grugurdo, Sanacha, Urdus, Darchik, Garkon, Dah Hanu, Phindur, and Baldes."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dard_people

"Kalash mythology and folklore has been compared to that of ancient Greece, but they are much closer to Indo-Iranian (Vedic and pre-Zoroastrian) traditions. This can be explained as Hellenic, Vedic traditions. The Kalash have fascinated anthropologists due to their unique culture compared to the rest in that region, similar to ancient Persians......

"Kāfiristān or Kāfirstān (Pashto: کافرستان‎) is a historical region that covered present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan and its surroundings. It was also referred to as "Afica".....This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, the basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech (Kamah), Landai Sin, and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges. It is bounded by the main range of the Hindu Kush on the north, the city of Chitral in what is now Pakistan to the east, the Kunar Valley in the south, and the Alishang River in the west. Kafiristan took its name because the inhabitants of the region were non-Muslims and were thus known to the surrounding Muslim population as kafirs, meaning "infidels". They are closely related to the Kalash people, a fiercely independent people with a distinctive culture, language and religion.

Tirich Mer

"The author of Vayu Purana uses the name "Kumuda-dvipa" for Kusha-dvipa. Kumuda is also a Puranic name of a mountain forming the northern buttress of Mount Meru, also known as Sumeru (Pamirs). It extended between headwaters of Oxus and Jaxartes. In anterior Epic Age, Kumuda was also the name given to high "table-land" of the Tartary located to north of the Himavata from which the Aryan race may have originally pushed their way southwards into the Indian peninsula and preserved the name in their traditions as a relic of old mountain worship. Thus, the Kumuda-dvipa lay close to the Pamirs and, in fact, name Kumuda-dvipa applied to southern territory of Shakadvipa or Scythia. It lay north to Hemavata (Hindukush) and probably comprised Badakshan, Alay Valley/Alay Mountains range, Tien shan, Kerategin and probably extended northwards as far as Zeravshan valley and Fargana."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komedes

"Kumuda......Ancient geographer Ptolemy calls the region fed by Jaxartes and its tributaries as Komdei. Ptolemy refers to the people of Komdei as Komedes. Ptolemy also refers to one tribal people whom he variously calls Komoi (=Kamoi) or Komroi/Khomroi or Komedei and locates them in the mountainous regions of Sogdiana as far as Jaxartes. In fact, as per Ptolemy’s evidence, the Komedes (people) inhabited the entire land of the Sakas. Julius Honorius’ Cosmography too mentions the Komedes people as Traumeda (from Caumedes) and also mentions Mt Caumedes as the source of river Oxus. Per evidence of Ptolemy and of Julius Honorius, Mt Caumedes or Komedes extended from the head-waters of Oxus to Jaxartes......"....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komedes

"Diodotus, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria (Latin: "Theodotus, mille urbium Bactrianarum praefectus"), defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians....The new kingdom, highly urbanized and considered as one of the richest of the Orient (opulentissimum illud mille urbium Bactrianum imperium "The extremely prosperous empire of the thousand cities of Bactria" Justin, XLI,1), was to further grow in power and engage into territorial expansion to the east and the west.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodotus_I

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2013

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Dardic Languages: Mt Noshaq & the Kalasha Valleys

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Noshaq, a mythical peak...Afghanistan’s highest mountain, soaring at 7 492 meters. Its name is pronounced 'Nowshar' by the Afghans, which means 'nine valleys' in Dari. Located in the Hindu Kush range, on the Afghan-Pakistan border, it opens the way to the Wakhan corridor, in the north-eastern part of the country. It is the second highest peak of the Hindu Kush, right after the Tirich Mir, in Pakistan. The Hindu Kush is the moutain range that marks the eastern frontier of the Himalayan chain.......In the time of Alexander the Great, the Hindu Kush range was referred to as the Caucasus Indicus or the "Indian Caucasus" (as opposed to the Greater Caucasus range between the Caspian and Black Seas)......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_Kush

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Mount Noshaq is hidden at the end of a large valley, and is hidden to those who wander on the Wakhan corridor. The 6 000 meter high peaks surrounding it may be abrupt, light and elegant, Noshaq, on the other hand, crushes everything with its impressive mass. Its southern slope is a gigantic glaciar face, with a 40° slope. Its western face is a flow of dodgy rocks. In between : the western crest. It winds for kilometers, and boasts a gradient of almost 3 000 meters.".......http://www.noshaq.com/noshaq-context-3.php

"Noshaq is the westernmost 7,000 m (22,966 ft) peak in the world. Easiest access to Noshaq is from Chitral, Pakistan.....Across the Lowari pass to Chitral town , take time to see the Kalash Valley. Then the jeep road goes as far as Shahgrom but an alternate route over Zani pass is an excellent way to both acclimatize and get a good perspective of the major peak before you reach Shahgrom.

"Kalash Valley.....The Kalasha (Kalasha: Kaĺaśa, Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalash, are a Dardic indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalasha language, from the Dardic family of the Indo-Aryan branch, and are considered a unique tribe among the Indo-Aryan peoples of Pakistan....The neighboring Nuristani people of the adjacent Nuristan (historically known as Kafiristan) province of Afghanistan once practiced the same polytheistic religion as the Kalash. By the late 19th century much of Nuristan had been converted to Islam, though evidence has shown the people continued to secretly practice their religion. The Kalash of Chitral maintained their own separate cultural traditions."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalash_people

"The culture of Kalash people is unique and differs completely from the various ethnic groups surrounding them. They are polytheists and nature plays a highly significant and spiritual role in their daily life. As part of their religious tradition, festivals are held to give thanks for the abundant resources of their three valleys. Kalasha Desh (the three Kalash valleys) is made up of two distinct cultural areas, the valleys of Rumbur and Brumbret forming one and Birir valley the other, Birir valley being the most traditional of the two.....Kalash mythology and folklore has been compared to that of ancient Greece, but they are much closer to Indo-Iranian (Vedic and pre-Zoroastrian) traditions. This can be explained as Hellenic, Vedic traditions. The Kalash have fascinated anthropologists due to their unique culture compared to the rest in that region, similar to ancient Persians......

"Kalasha Valleys (Kalasha-mondr: Kaĺaśa Desh, Urdu: وادی کیلاش‎) the Three Kalasha Valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir are called Kalasha Desh in Kalasha Language, and also known as Kafiristan. The valleys are part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

"Kāfiristān or Kāfirstān (Pashto: کافرستان‎) is a historical region that covered present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan and its surroundings. It was also referred to as "Afica".....This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, the basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech (Kamah), Landai Sin, and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges. It is bounded by the main range of the Hindu Kush on the north, the city of Chitral in what is now Pakistan to the east, the Kunar Valley in the south, and the Alishang River in the west. Kafiristan took its name because the inhabitants of the region were non-Muslims and were thus known to the surrounding Muslim population as kafirs, meaning "infidels". They are closely related to the Kalash people, a fiercely independent people with a distinctive culture, language and religion.

"There are 10 languages which are indigenous to Chitral, a valley in the extreme Northwest corner of Pakistan with a population of around 210,000 to 250,000. The Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne said that Chitral was the region with the highest linguistic diversity in the world. The reason for this is obvious. Chitral consists of high mountains interspaced by isolated valleys where small communities have thrived for centuries free from outside interference. The primary language of Chitral is Khowar....The other indigenous languages of Chitral are: Phalura, Gujari, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Kalasha, Yidgha, Wakhi and Kirghiz. In addition, a variety of Persian is spoken in the isolated village of Madaglasht. "....http://www.anusha.com/dardic.htm

The language in greatest danger of dying out is Kalasha, because there are only 3,000 Kalash speakers left and, more importantly, when a Kalash person converts from the Kalash religion to Islam, they customarily stop speaking Kalasha and start speaking Khowar instead.

"the Nuristanis are known to have been there for at least 3,000 years. When Alexander the Great passed through the area in 327 BC, his scribes reported a race of light skinned European type people who made wooden boxes. These were clearly the Nuristanis, and the wooden boxes were their coffins. Unlike other races and cultures, they left their dead above ground and did not bury them. However, Alexander the Great never reached as far up as Chitral..... In Chitral, the Nuristanis are known as the "Red Kafirs", because of the light almost reddish color of their skin. They had their own Indo-European religion with gods and goddesses, but were forcibly converted to Islam by King Abdul Rehman of Afghanistan in 1893...."....http://www.anusha.com/dardic.htm

Dardic....."The languages of Khowar, Phalura, Dameli, Gawar-Bati, Nuristani, Kalasha, Yidgha and Munji are all classified as Dardic languages in the Indo-European family of languages. The term Dardic comes from the ancient Greek historian Herototus who placed the land of the Dards as in the mountains between Afghanistan and Kashmir. Whether it is historically accurate to associate the present people of Chitral with this term is not known. The terms Dardic and Dards are unknown in Chitral. This is just a European term. All authorities, including Morgenstierne and Strand, agree that the use of the term "Dardic languages" is a misnomer because these languages are not really related to each other at all, beyond being Indo-European languages."......http://www.anusha.com/dardic.htm

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2013

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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'Sun Worship': Shambhala, Sham Ash, Bactria, Sumeria : 2500 BC

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"In Shambhala, the country’s capital, Kalapa…. There the Shambhala king lives in a palace made from every conceivable gem and diamond. The architecture is based upon the laws of the heavens. There is a sun temple and a moon temple…."

The “sun chariot” of the Rishis....Although all its rulers are known by name, the Shambhala realm has no history in the real sense. Hence in the many centuries of its existence hardly anything worthy of being recorded in a chronicle has happened…..But there is an event which shows that this country was not entirely free of historical conflict. This concerns the protest of a group of no less than 35 million Rishis (seers) led by the sage Suryaratha ("sun chariot”).....As the first Kulika king, Manjushrikirti, preached the Kalachakra Tantra to his subjects, Suryaratha distanced himself from it, and his followers, the Rishis, joined him. They preferred to choose banishment from Shambhala than to follow the “diamond path” (Vajrayana). Nonetheless, after they had set out in the direction of India and had already crossed the border of the kingdom, Manjushrikirti sank in to a deep meditation, stunned the emigrants by magic and ordered demon birds to bring them back….This event probably concerns a confrontation between two religious schools. The Rishis worshipped only the sun. For this reason they also called their guru the “sun chariot” (suryaratha). But the Kulika king had as Kalachakra master and cosmic androgyne united both heavenly orbs in himself. He was the master of sun and moon. His demand of the Rishis that they adopt the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra was also enacted on a night of the full moon. Manjushrikirti ended his sermon with the words: “If you wish to enter that path, stay here, but if you do not, then leave and go elsewhere; otherwise the doctrines of the barbarians will spread even in Shambhala.” (Bernbaum, 1980, p. 234)……The Rishis decided upon the latter. “Since we all want to remain true to the sun chariot, we also do not wish to give up our religion and to join another”, they rejoined (Grünwedel, 1915, p. 77). This resulted in the exodus already outlined. But in fetching them back Manjushrikirti had proved his magical superiority and demonstrated that the “path of the sun and moon” is stronger than the “pure sun way”. The Rishis thus brought him many gold tributes and submitted to his power and the primacy of the Kalachakra Tantra. In the fifteenth night of the moon enlightenment was bestowed upon them…..priest-king Manjushrikirti integrated in his office the energies of both the priestly and the military elite. Within himself he united worldly and spiritual power, which — as we have already discussed above — are allotted separately to the sun (high priest) and the moon (warrior king) in the Indian cultural sphere. The union of both heavenly orbs in his person made him an absolute ruler."…..http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Part-1-10.htm

"In Ancient Persia, the Indo-European words for King (Sanskrit: rajan...Latin: rex...Old Iranian: Rig...Gallic: rix)(Lincoln: 1981..pg 35)..means not only to regulate and direct in a manner that is right but also to shine with luster (Sk: raj). The divine right of the king was derived from the brilliance (cihr) and sovereignty (sahr) of the sky itself; therefore it was fitting that his palace should be in the 'padak' of the sun and that his 'tiara' should resemble the surrounding sky-wall and rays of the sun." ..(Campbell: 1968..pg 101)

"Both the Homage and the Invocation are based on the opening section of the terma (Tib. “treasure”) text, The Golden Sun of the Great East, which was received by the Dorje Dradül of Mukpo in October of 1976…..THE GREAT EASTERN SUN….Radiating confidence, peaceful, Illuminating the way of discipline, Eternal ruler of the three worlds:…..May the Great Eastern Sun be victorious….The Great Eastern Sun is the unsetting awareness, which arises as the power and dignity of human beings. Such lucid and direct awareness is magical—it is what opens the treasury of phenomena, the golden quality of phenomena. At the same time it is the experience of waking up from personal confusion and darkness to a connection with our own courage. Sometimes referred to as the genuine sun that rises in one’s heart, the Great Eastern Sun’s radiance is perceived through the senses as the luminosity of the world—the worlds of heaven, earth and man—above, below and in-between. Such light is not ordinary light, but is the innate brilliance of mind that shows one how to proceed and how to care for others. Sometimes referred to as the feminine aspect of warriorship, the Great Eastern Sun illuminates the deep, subtle and fluid energies of reality, bringing unshakable confidence and doubtless precision to the warrior’s mind."…..http://nalandatranslation.org/media/Notes-to-Homage-and-Invocation.pdf

The two chief centres of sun-worship in Babylonia were Sippar, represented by the mounds at Abu Habba, and Larsa, represented by the modern Senkerah. At both places the chief sanctuary bore the name E-barra (or E-babbara) "the shining house"—a direct allusion to the brilliancy of the sun-god. Of the two temples, that at Sippara was the more famous, but temples to Shamash were erected in all large centres – such as Babylon, Ur, Mari, Nippur, and Nineveh.

"Sippar was the cult site of the sun god (Sumerian Utu, Akkadian Shamash) and the home of his temple E-babbara……In his 29th year of reign Sumu-la-El of Babylon reported building the city wall of Sippar. Some years later Hammurabi of Babylon reported laying the foundations of the city wall of Sippar in his 23rd year and worked on the wall again in his 43rd year. His successor in Babylon, Samsu-iluna worked on Sippar's wall in his 1st year. The city walls, being typically made of mud bricks, required much attention. Records of Nebuchadnezzar II and Nabonidos record that they repaired the Shamash temple E-babbara……Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned ca. 1817 BC - 1781 BC…….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sippar

"Shamash (Akkadian Šamaš "Sun"), was a native Mesopotamian deity and the sun god in the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons. Shamash was the god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu. Akkadian šamaš is cognate to Syriac šemša or šimšu Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ šemeš and Arabic شمس šams."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamash

"Utu (Akkadian rendition of Sumerian UD 𒌓 "Sun", Assyro-Babylonian Shamash "Sun") is the Sun god in Sumerian mythology….Utu is the god of the sun, justice, application of law, and the lord of truth…..every day, Utu emerges from a mountain in the east, symbolizing dawn, and travels either via chariot or boat across the Earth, returning to a hole in a mountain in the west, symbolizing sunset. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh seeks to establish his name with the assistance of Utu, because of his connection with Mashu, the cedar mountain. Gilgamesh and his father, Lugalbanda were kings of the first dynasty of Uruk, a lineage that Jeffrey H. Tigay suggested could be traced back to Utu himself. He further suggested that Lugalbanda's association with the sun-god in the Old Babylonian version of the epic strengthened "the impression that at one point in the history of the tradition the sun-god was also invoked as an ancestor"."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utu

"About four thousand years ago a collection of tribes known as the Aryans swept into South and West Asia - by a series of wave-like migration….First tribes were the Aryan tribe, which later were pushed down over the Paropamisus [mountains] into Punjab. The Iranians split into two sections, one section went West and founded settlements on the Tigris and Euphrates valley - which later became strong Kingdoms. Of this section, separated yet other tribes such as the Persians and the Medes. The Persians spread over the elevated lands of the Persian golf region. The Medes subdivided into smaller clans and occupied The land between the Caspian Sea to the land of Persis. The other section of the Iranians took the easterly direction. They also pushed the Aryans before them to the mountains and settled on the banks of the Oxus. They made Bactra {modern Balkh} their capital, and seized the ancient shine of Bactra. Forming an aristocracy over the local people they lived in isolation. They had a swift cavalry which suddenly attacked the enemy from the slopes and quickly retired to their strongholds…..The Aryans and the Iranians of Bactria, had a lot in common. They spoke the same language, worshiped the forces of nature, such as: Varuna, the shining Vault of Heaven; Mithra, the friendly light of the sun; Vayu; the wind that pushes aside the storms and clears the heaven…."….http://www.iranchamber.com/geography/articles/balkh.php

"Tibetans believe that Shamballah is somewhere north of Tibet, in the Kunlun Mountains, or in Mongolia, the Sinkiang Province of China, or Siberia. Others suggest the North Pole or even another planet! Historians and mythographers, on the other hand, have suggested that if the legend has any basis, Shamballah may correspond to the Tarim Basin, West Turkestan, the ancient Kushan Empire, the Greek Kingdom of Bactria, theYarkand, Kashgar, or Khotan oases, or, finally, the old Uighur Kingdom of Khocho [= "Tcho-tcho"?] in the Turfan Depression beneath the Tien Shan Mountains (Bernbaum, p. 46). Probably the most attractive guess, however, is that of Idries Shah, who believes that "it could be derived from Shams-i-Balkh, the Bactrian Sun Temple, the ruins of which can still be seen at Balkh near the northern frontier of Afghanistan" (J. G. Bennett, Gurdjieff: Making a New World, p. 26)

" ... the Surya Temple at Martand in Jammu & Kashmir….'The most impressive and grandest ruins in Kashmir, are at Marttand, which is about three miles east of Islamabad...According to the testimony of the Raja Tarangini, the colonnade was built by Lalitaditya, who reigned in Kashmir from A.D.693 to 729; and the character of the fluted columns, would lead to the supposition that the architects of Kashmir had been influenced by those of the Graeco Bactrians.' Kashmir is dotted with the remnants of temples dating from its pre-Islamic history prior to the 14th century. Buddhism was established here from the 3rd century BC and the Hindu Vaishnava and Shaiva cults also flourished here. Kashmir was a great centre for Sanskrit learning and literature. The main source of its history is the poetical work Rajatarangini, written by the 12th century court-poet Kalhana. Situated on a high plateau and commanding superb views over the Kashmir valley, the ruined temple, dedicated to the sun god (Surya), is considered a masterpiece of early temple architecture in Kashmir. It was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida (ruled c.724-c.760) of the Karkota dynasty, one of the greatest of Kashmir's rulers, under whom both Buddhism and Hinduism flourished. The main shrine consists of a portico, an entrance hall and a sanctum, with a monumental doorway before the sanctum and two small shrines flanking the portico. It stands at one end of a large rectangular colonnaded court entered by a central gate in its western side. The cells (about 81)around the court are shaped by columns and pilasters supporting tall pediments and trilobate arches. The fluted columns reveal a Hellenistic style derived from Gandhara and Bactria."……http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/k/019pho0000981s1u00020000.html

"Sun worship was prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion. The earliest deities associated with the sun are all goddesses: Wadjet, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nut, Bast, Bat, and Menhit. ….Rituals to the god Amun who became identified with the sun god Ra were often carried out on the top of temple pylons. A Pylon mirrored the hieroglyph for 'horizon' or akhet, which was a depiction of two hills "between which the sun rose and set", associated with recreation and rebirth. On the first Pylon of the temple of Isis at Philae, the pharaoh is shown slaying his enemies in the presence of Isis, Horus and Hathor. In the eighteenth dynasty, Akhenaten changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to a monotheistic one, Atenism of the solar-disk and is the first recorded state monotheism. All other deities were replaced by the Aten, including Amun-Ra, the reigning sun god of Akhenaten's own region. Unlike other deities, the Aten did not have multiple forms. His only image was a disk—a symbol of the sun."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_deity

"The purpose of the Vajra Caste was not force everyone to convert to Buddhism but for people to re-discover the purity of their own traditions. The Kalachakra empowerment is given to anyone who wishes to participate. No one is asked to give up their own religion. The Kalachakra, open to all who wish to participate, has the power to benefit all beings on this planet."...https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/access/content/group/9f340e95-f808-4bc0-80bc-b23bcadd072e/copyrighted%20pdfs%20of%20texts/newmanbriefhistorykalachakra.pdf

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2013

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Sumerian Origins & Wisdom Literature Tablets (1750 BC)

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"The ancient Sumerians, the ‘black-headed ones'......and are likely to have been responsible for the development of the first writing.....Their religion recognised many gods, whose feats and escapades were described in stories that were often preserved for generations....Book-keeping was a feature of Sumerian life, and very detailed records on clay tablets of offerings, rations, taxes and agricultural work have come down to us. Their favourite board game achieved popularity throughout the whole Middle Eastern world. Imported lapis lazuli and carnelian was much prized for inlays and jewellery......Archaeology has shown that in about 2500 BC the ruling elite in the city of Ur went to their final resting place surrounded by their wealth and the attendant bodies of their court personnel.....the land of Nimrod. This was the land that Gilgamesh sought when he obtained the Lapis lazuli tablets hidden in a Copper tablet box.... "

"Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BC, Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania. It was used for the eyebrows on the funeral mask of King Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC)."

A SUMERIAN LAPIS LAZULI CYLINDER SEAL....EARLY DYNASTIC IIIB-EARLY AKKADIAN, CIRCA 2400-2200 B.C...With contest scene of pairs of combating rearing lions and goats flanking a nude sword-wielding hero....http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-sumerian-lapis-lazuli-cylinder-seal-early-5546829-details.aspx

Sumerian wisdom literature.....the large group of tablets dated about 1750 B. C. a which are inscribed with the Sumerian literary compositions consisting of epics and myths, hymns and laments, proverbs and "wisdom."...Sumerian wisdom literature consists of a large number of brief, pithy, and pointed proverbs and aphorisms; of various fables, such as "The Bird and the Fish," "The Tree and the Reed," "The Pickax and the Plow," "Silver and Bronze"; and finally of a group of didactic compositions, long and short, several of which are devoted to a description of the process of learning the scribal art and of the advantages which flow from it......Should the ancient city of Eridu in southern Sumer, the cult center of Enki, the Sumerian god of wisdom, ever be thoroughly excavated, there is good reason to believe that our store of Sumerian literary compositions will be considerably enlarged.".....http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/sum05.htm

"Instructions of Shuruppak (or, Instructions of Šuruppak son of Ubara-tutu) is a significant piece of Sumerian wisdom literature. Wisdom literature, intended to teach proper piety, inculcate virtue, and preserve community standards, was common throughout the ancient Near East. The text is set in great antiquity by its incipit: "In those days, in those far remote times, in those nights, in those faraway nights, in those years, in those far remote years." The precepts are placed in the mouth of a king Šuruppak, son of Ubara-Tutu. Ubara-Tutu is recorded in most extant copies of the Sumerian king list as being the final king of Sumer prior to the deluge. Grouped with the other cuneiform tablets from Abu Salabikh, the Instructions date to the early third millennium BC, being among the oldest surviving literature."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Shuruppak

"The Abu Salabikh tablet, dated to the mid-third millennium BC, is the oldest extant copy, and the numerous surviving copies attest to its continued popularity within the Sumerian/Akkadian literary canons."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Shuruppak

"By the mid-third millennium BC, however, there began what we might regard as genuine literature -- intelligent, creative, artistically-told stories and observations -- in both Sumer and Egypt. Egypt began writing a few centuries after the Sumerians....Recently, however, there's been a surge in ancient Sumerian literary scholarship. It seems to reveal much about their way of life and general attitude toward existence.".....http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Zantonavitch/Sumerian_Philosophy.shtml

"The earliest record of the Sumerian creation and flood is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur, sometimes called the Eridu Genesis. It is written in the Sumerian language and dated to around 1600 BC during the first Babylonian dynasty, where the language of writing and administration was still Sumerian. Other Sumerian creation myths from around this date are called the Barton Cylinder, the Debate between sheep and grain and the Debate between Winter and Summer, also found at Nippur.....Where the tablet picks up, the gods An, Enlil, Enki and Ninhursanga create the black-headed people and create comfortable conditions for the animals to live and procreate. Then kingship descends from heaven and the first cities are founded: Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larak, Sippar, and Shuruppak....."

"The Sumerians developed one of the earliest civilizations on earth (3500-1750 B.C.), but the existence of such a people and civilization was not even suspected until the middle of the 19th century.....

Click on the map to enlarge

"Who were the Sumerians? Where did they originate? For those who are not familiar with this remarkable, resourceful and intelligent people, who not only invented writing but also established the true mythological foundations of all main religions of the world, simply put, they taught us almost everything. Four different points regarding the current known archeological evidence are evaluated separately, and the Sumerians’ unique and strongly sacred mythological beliefs related to the lapis lazuli stone and the myth’s origin are analyzed. The uniqueness of the lapis mine location in the Hindu Kush Mountains and the unique (fingerprint) trace element and other physical characteristics of this metamorphic sacred blue stone of the Sumerians are the primary points of focus. The only possible and provable location of their original homeland, “based on the analysis” is; between the Caspian Sea and the Hindu Kush and Kopet Mountains, which is in Turkmenistan. This analysis and conclusion are based on “multiple independent factors”: current archeological excavations, the uniqueness of metamorphic lapis lazuli as a stone and over 6000 years of lapis lazuli mining at a fixed location (absolutely necessary requirements for the origin of strong lapis mythology) and current credible biogeographic DNA evidence and the distribution of R1b haplogroup of “Arbins”, as recently described by Dr. Anatole A. Klyosov. The Sumerians initial migration presumably began with a persistent drought in their original homeland, that eventually forced them to abandon their home migrate and resettle in the southern fertile lands of the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and eventually further south near the banks of Nile River in north east Africa.".....The Origin of Sumerians by Metin Gunduz

"After about 3250 BC, another people migrated from its homeland, located probably northeast of Mesopotamia, and began to intermarry with the native population. The newcomers, who became known as Sumerians, spoke an agglutinative language unrelated apparently to any other known language."....Ancient Sumeria by Robert A. Guisepi.......http://history-world.org/sumeria.htm

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2013

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Lapis Lazuli Trade Route ... Bactria to Sumeria (4000 BC)

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The legendary, 'mythical' 7-gated Sumerian city of Aratta, the original homeland of the Sumerians .... appears to refer to Bactria at the eastern end of the "Great Khorasan Road".... the source of valuable gems and minerals, in particular lapis lazuli.....'Civilization' may have traveled from East to West along the Sun’s path rather than blossoming first in the land of the Two Rivers of Genesis....

"Sar-i Sang lapis lazuli mine, probably dating from proto-historic times. It consists of one old disused shaft and two new shafts. This was the main source of lapis lazuli in the ancient world, with lapis from here occurring in such famous archaeological discoveries as the Royal Treasure of Ur and the Tomb of Tutankhamun.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sar-i_Sang

"Badakshan Lapis Lazuli.....By the second half of the 4th millennium BCE, Badakshan lapis lazuli (stone of blue) was being traded in countries as far west as Sumer and Akkad (Mesopotamia), and the Nile Delta (Egypt) (cf. Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries by Peter Roger Stuart Moorey, p. 86). The 2500m / 9,000ft high Sar-e Sang, Badakshan mines, now in north-eastern Afghanistan, were the main source of lapis lazuli in the ancient world. By the 3rd millennium BC, the lapis lazuli trade had extended south to Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley Civilization (Hapta Hindu of the Vendidad's list of nations. Modern day Pakistan and north-western India)......http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/trade.htm

"By the time of the emergence of the first cities, in late-fourth millennium Mesopotamia, there was sufficient demand for high-value materials to move certain precious materials over impressive distances. Lapis lazuli (lazurite) is a rare mineral formed under unusual geological conditions, and restricted to certain sources on the western margins of the Himalayas (and otherwise in Siberia, the Andes, and the western USA). Its intense ("azure") blue colour made it especially desirable for aesthetic and religious reasons....During the third millennium, new sources of lazurite were opened up in Badakhshan, ancient Bactria. This distribution-area indicates the size of the catchment from which early urban communities obtained precious materials, including also silver and gold...., the Lapis Lazuli route was one of the precursors of the later transcontinental 'Silk Route'.

"Lapis & Gilgamesh, the Priest-King of Uruk (ca. 2500 BC. )....Gilgamesh constructed the great city of Uruk....., and surrounded it intricately decorated walls. He also built a temple for the goddess Ishtar, the goddess of love, and her father Anu, the father of the gods. Gilgamesh is credited with opening passages through the mountains. He traveled to the Nether World and beyond it, where he met Utnapishtim, the sole survivor of the great flood that almost ended the world, the one who had been given immortality. When he returned to Uruk, he wrote everything down on a tablet of lapis lazuli and locked it in a copper chest.......When Gilgamesh returns to Uruk....he looks so splendid that Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, is overcome with lust. She pleads with Gilgamesh to be her husband. She promises him a harvest of riches if he plants his seed in her body. She tells him they will live together in a house made of cedar, and that she will give him a lapis lazuli chariot with golden wheels. She says that kings and princes will offer him all their wealth. ........the great goddess arrived, lifted up her flies (beads), and said "Ye gods, as surely as I shall not forget this lapis lazuli [amulet] around my neck, I shall be mindful of these days and never forget them!..." Gilgamesh XI,164

"The British Museum ....states, "The Sar-i Sang mines in the region of Badakhshan in north-east Afghanistan were probably the source for all lapis lazuli used in the ancient Near East. From here it was carried across Iran, where several lapis working sites have been discovered, and on to Mesopotamia and Egypt. Another source for lapis lazuli exists in southern Pakistan (a region of the Indus Valley civilization) but it is unclear if they were mined at the time of this seal."

"Aratta was a city, city-state, or country with which Sumerians had close trade and religious ties in the third millennium B.C. Its location is not known......Aratta, apparently, was under the special protection of the Sun god's daughter, Inanna, the goddess of love and war. In "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta", the goddess and/or her statue were taken from Aratta to the Sumerian city of Uruk by the ruler of Uruk, Enmerkar. Now believing himself to have the goddess' protection, the Sumerian king challenged the lord of Aratta.....The four myths outlined above portray Aratta as a wealthy and militarily powerful state with which Sumer had relations from very early times. It was located some distance from Sumer and protected by its forbidding mountains, but it was not so distant as to prevent trade relations. Aratta had building materials, precious stones, metals and craftsmen skilled in their transformation. Aratta also had primacy with regard to the religion of the mother goddess, Inanna, who resided in Aratta, was the patron of that state, and was taken or lured south to Sumerian cities. Uruk and Aratta also were in contest for military superiority—each demanding the submission of the other. The method of transporting the "stones of the mountain" from Aratta to Uruk and of transporting grain from Uruk to Aratta...the Aratta cycle of myths is that Aratta played a seminal role in the development of religion in Sumer, as well as in the construction of its cult structures; and that trade and diplomacy between the two states was of such importance that writing was developed specifically for them.".....http://rbedrosian.com/Memyth.htm

Marco Polo visited the Sar-e Sang mines during his travels along the Silk Road. The area is rich in other gemstones such as rubies and emeralds and precious metals such as silver and gold that were actively traded throughout the ages (see GeoVision / Gem Hunter & Gubelinlab sites).

"The Lapis Lazuli Route originated in the Chagai Mountains in Pakistan and traveled to Hierakonpolis, Egypt, in the 4th millennium B.C.E., marking it as one of the oldest known trade routes in human history. As with many major trade routes, it is named after the commodity that was transported—lapis lazuli. A precious mineral prized for its bright blue color, lapis lazuli was used for a number of luxurious and religious items in ancient Egypt in particular. ".....http://world-geography.org/674-trade-routes.html

"Aratta is a land that appears in Sumerian myths surrounding Enmerkar and Lugalbanda, two early and possibly mythical kings of Uruk also mentioned on the Sumerian king list.....Aratta is described as follows in Sumerian literature: It is a fabulously wealthy place full of gold, silver, lapis lazuli and other precious materials, as well as the artisans to craft them.
It is remote and difficult to reach.
It is home to the goddess Inana, who transfers her allegiance from Aratta to Uruk.
It is conquered by Enmerkar of Uruk.
Cohen, Sol (1973). "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta". Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania

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Mount Mashu, Shamash & The Scorpion Beings

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Mount Mashu...... To the Sumerians, Mashu was a sacred mountain. Its name means "twin" in Akkadian, and thus was it portrayed on Babylonian cylinder seals—a twin-peaked mountain, described by poets as both the seat of the gods, and the underworld. References or allusions to Mt.Mashu are found in three episodes of the Gilgamesh cycle which date between the third and second millennia B.C.

"Mount Mashu is mentioned directly in the episode "Gilgamesh and the Search for Everlasting Life". This story unfolds after the death of Gilgamesh's friend, Enkidu, a wrenching experience which makes Gilgamesh face his own mortality and go searching for eternal life. It is en route to Utnapishtim, the one mortal to achieve immortality, that Gilgamesh comes to Mashu "the great mountain, which guards the rising and setting sun. Its twin peaks are as high as the wall of heaven and its roots reach down to the underworld. At its gate the Scorpions stand guard, half man and half dragon; their glory is terrifying; their stare strikes death into men, their shining halo sweeps the mountains that guard the rising sun". Gilgamesh is able to convince the Scorpion-people to open the gate and let him enter the long tunnel through the mountains. Eventually Gilgamesh emerges from the tunnel into a fantastic Garden of the gods, whose trees bear glittering jewels instead of fruit. "....http://rbedrosian.com/Memyth.htm

Mount Mashu .....Mesopotamian....Twin peaks where the sun would rise.

"The Scorpion-Beings The mountain is called Mashu. Then he reached Mount Mashu, which daily guards the rising and setting of the Sun, above which only the dome of the heavens reaches, and whose flank reaches as far as the Netherworld below, there were Scorpion-beings watching over its gate. Trembling terror they inspire, the sight of them is death, their frightening aura sweeps over the mountains. At the rising and setting they watch over the Sun. When Gilgamesh saw them, trembling terror blanketed his face, but he pulled himself together and drew near to them. The scorpion-being called out to his female: "He who comes to us, his body is the flesh of gods!" The scorpion-being, his female, answered him: "(Only) two-thirds of him is a god, one-third is human." The male scorpion-being called out, saying to the offspring of the gods: "Why have you traveled so distant a journey? Why have you come here to me, over rivers whose crossing is treacherous! I want to learn your ... Twelve leagues he traveled and it grew brilliant. ...it bears lapis lazuli as foliage, bearing fruit, a delight to look upon. "....http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab9.htm

Scorpion Seal from Babylon and A Scorpion Harp from UR ( an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia....The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in written history as a City State from the 26th century BC, its first recorded king being Mesh-Ane-pada.)

"The Garden of the gods or Sumerian paradise is the divine paradise of the Annanuki, the gods of Sumer. Samuel Noah Kramer suggested the concept of a human paradise and the Garden of Eden originated from the Sumerians who were describing a land outside of Sumer..... In tablet nine of the standard version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh travels to the garden of the gods through the Cedar Forest and the depths of Mashu, a comparable location in Sumerian version is the "Mountain of cedar-felling"....The name of the mountain is Mashu. As he arrives at the mountain of Mashu, Which every day keeps watch over the rising and setting of the sun, Whose peakes reach as high as the "banks of heaven," and whose breast reaches down to the netherworld, The scorpion-people keep watch at its gate......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_the_gods_(Sumerian_paradise)

The lofty Cedars of Chitral Gol National Park, Hindukush.....North Western Pakistan.

The legendary, 'mythical' 7-gated Sumerian city of Aratta, the original homeland of the Sumerians .... appears to refer to Bactria at the eastern end of the "Great Khorasan Road".... the source of valuable gems and minerals, in particular lapis lazuli.....'Civilization' may have traveled from East to West along the Sun’s path rather than blossoming first in the land of the Two Rivers of Genesis....

"Mashu, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian mythology, is a great cedar mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey to Dilmun after leaving the Cedar Forest, a forest of ten thousand leagues span....

"Scorpion Men are featured in several Akkadian language myths, including the Enûma Elish and the Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. They were also known as aqrabuamelu or girtablilu. The Scorpion Men are described to have the head, torso, and arms of a man and the body of a scorpion....In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand guard outside the gates of the sun god Shamash at the mountains of Mashu. ...The scorpion is likewise a magical guard to an entrance among, e.g., the Mekeo of Papua -- "a scorpion charm is used to protect ... your house."..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion_man

"Shamash (Akkadian: Šamaš, "Sun") was a native Mesopotamian deity and the Sun god in the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons. Shamash was the god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu. Akkadian šamaš is cognate to Syriac šemša or šimšu Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ šemeš and Arabic شمس šams."

The Tablet of Shamash is a stone tablet recovered from the ancient Babylonian city of Sippar in southern Iraq in 1881; it is now a major piece in the British Museum's ancient Middle East collection. It is dated to the reign of King Nabu-apla-iddina ca. 888 – 855 BC.

"In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand guard outside the gates of the sun god Shamash at the mountains of Mashu. These give entrance to Kurnugi, the land of darkness. The scorpion men open the doors for Shamash as he travels out each day, and close the doors after him when he returns to the underworld at night. They also warn travellers of the danger that lies beyond their post. Their heads touch the sky, their "terror is awesome" and their "glance is death". This meeting of Gilgameš, on his way to Ūta-napišti, with the Scorpion-folk guarding the entrance to the tunnel is described in Iškār Gilgāmeš, tablet IX, lines 47-81.".....A. R. George : The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Oxford University Press, 2003. p. 493

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2013

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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Cuneiform Writing Script, Sumeria...3500 BC

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The legendary, 'mythical' 7-gated Sumerian city of Aratta, the original homeland of the Sumerians .... appears to refer to Bactria at the eastern end of the "Great Khorasan Road".... the source of valuable gems and minerals, in particular lapis lazuli.....'Civilization' may have traveled from East to West along the Sun’s path rather than blossoming first in the land of the Two Rivers of Genesis....

"The earliest writing systems evolved independently and at roughly the same time in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but current scholarship suggests that Mesopotamia’s writing appeared first. That writing system, invented by the Sumerians, emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE. At first, this writing was representational: a bull might be represented by a picture of a bull, and a pictograph of barley signified the word barley. Though writing began as pictures, this system was inconvenient for conveying anything other than simple nouns, and it became increasingly abstract as it evolved to encompass more abstract concepts, eventually taking form in the world’s earliest writing: cuneiform. An increasingly complex civilization encouraged the development of an increasingly sophisticated form of writing. Cuneiform came to function both phonetically (representing a sound) and semantically (representing a meaning such as an object or concept) rather than only representing objects directly as a picture.".....http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/cuneiform-writing-system-ancient-mesopotamia-emergence-and-evolution

Cuneiform tablet: administrative account of barley distribution with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars.....Period: Jemdet Nasr.....Date: ca. 3100–2900 B.C.....Geography: Mesopotamia, probably from Uruk (modern Warka).....Culture: Sumerian....Medium: Clay.....http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/329081

"Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known systems of writing,distinguished by its "wedge-shaped" marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The name cuneiform itself simply means "wedge shaped", from the Latin cuneus "wedge" and forma "shape," and came into English usage "probably from Old French cunéiforme.".... ....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform

"Emerging in Sumer in the late 4th millennium BC (the Uruk IV period), cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. In the third millennium, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract as the number of characters in use grew smaller, from about 1,000 in the Early Bronze Age to about 400 in Late Bronze Age (Hittite cuneiform). The original Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hittite, Luwian, Hattic, Hurrian, and Urartian languages, and it inspired the Ugaritic and Old Persian alphabets."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform

"The cuneiform script proper developed from pictographic proto-writing in the late 4th millennium BC. Mesopotamia's "proto-literate" period spans roughly the 35th to 32nd centuries. The first documents unequivocally written in the Sumerian language date to c. the 31st century, found at Jemdet Nasr.....Jemdet Nasr (Arabic: جمدة نصر‎) is a tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate (Iraq) that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC)."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemdet_Nasr

"Dingir (usually transliterated diĝir, pronounced /diŋir/) is a cuneiform sign, most commonly the determinative for "deity" although it has related meanings as well. As a determinative, it is not pronounced, and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript "D" as in e.g. DInanna. Generically, dingir can be translated as "god" or "goddess"....The sign in Sumerian cuneiform (DIĜIR, 𒀭) by itself represents the Sumerian word an ("sky" or "heaven"), the ideogram for An or the word diĝir ("god"), the supreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon. In Assyrian cuneiform, it (AN, DIĜIR, ) could be either an ideogram for "deity" (ilum) or a syllabogram for an, or ìl-. In Hittite orthography, the syllabic value of the sign was again an."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingir

"The concept of "divinity" in Sumerian is closely associated with the heavens, as is evident from the fact that the cuneiform sign doubles as the ideogram for "sky", and that its original shape is the picture of a star. The original association of "divinity" is thus with "bright" or "shining" hierophanies in the sky. A possible loan relation of Sumerian dingir with Turkic Tengri "sky, sky god" has been suggested.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingir

"The mes were originally collected by Enlil and then handed over to the guardianship of Enki who was to broker them out to the various Sumerian centers beginning with his own city of Eridu and continuing with Ur, Meluhha, and Dilmun. This is described in the poem, "Enki and the World Order" .....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_(mythology)

"Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire.".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Mesopotamia

"The earliest known Sumerian king whose name appears on contemporary cuneiform tablets is Enmebaragesi of Kish. ....Enmebaragesi (Me-Baragesi, En-Men-Barage-Si, Enmebaragisi, fl. ca. 2500 BC) was a king of Kish, according to the Sumerian king list. The list states that he subdued Elam, reigned 900 years, and was captured single-handedly by Dumuzid "the fisherman" of Kuara, predecessor of Gilgamesh......Kish (Sumerian: Kiš; transliteration: Kiŝki; cuneiform: 𒆧𒆠; Akkadian: kiššatu) was an ancient city of Sumer in Mesopotamia, considered to have been located near the modern Tell al-Uhaymir....

".....three centers of civilization all arose in the ancient near east.....Sumerian, Egyptian and the Harappan culture of the Indus Valley......They all started around 3500 BC and lasted until 2000 BC. .....these three civilizations that came into being at the same time - and relatively close to each other - was civilization a "gift from the gods"? ...... the Tree of Life with all its diverse interpretations is the strongest consistent fable shared by the three great river valley civilizations. It is the Mes and Huluppu tree of Sumer, the Pipal to become the Bhodi tree of the Indus Valley and the sycamore-fig tree (Hathor's tree) in Egypt......Sumerians first appeared about 4800 B.C. at a place called Al-Ubaid. ......clay tablets were written by the Sumerians whose earliest existence currently dates back to about 3500 BC. but suspect the Ubaid culture to be pre-Sumerian. ...They built the first cities, developed the first monarchy, had the first written language, had a highly developed art, their math was based on the decimal - units of ten, base 10, for commerce and base 60 for astronomy, invented the calendar and the zodiac......

"...Enki...En Ki ....the exact meaning of his name is uncertain: the common translation is "Lord of the Earth": the Sumerian en is translated as a title equivalent to "lord"; it was originally a title given to the High Priest; ki means "earth"; but there are theories that ki in this name has another origin, possibly kig of unknown meaning, or kur meaning "mound"....Adapa, the first man fashioned, later goes and acts as the advisor to the King of Eridu, when in the Sumerian Kinglist, the "Me" of "kingship descends on Eridu".....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enki

The Gilgamesh cylinder seal, Assyria, ca.7th c. BC.....Here Gilgamesh together with his lover Enkidu are fighting the 'bull of heaven' sent by goddess Ishtar to destroy the city of uruk when Gilgamesh rejected her advances.... The Great Epic of Gilgamesh.....adapted from a piece written by Bill Weintraub....http://gilgamesh-story.blogspot.com/

"Enkidu ( EN.KI.DU3, "Enki's creation") is a central figure in the Ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. Enkidu was formed from clay and saliva by Aruru, the goddess of creation, to rid Gilgamesh of his arrogance. In the story he is a wild man, raised by animals and ignorant of human society until he is bedded by Shamhat. Thereafter a series of interactions with humans and human ways bring him closer to civilization, culminating in a wrestling match with Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Enkidu embodies the wild or natural world, and, though equal to Gilgamesh in strength and bearing, he acts in some ways as an antithesis to the cultured, urban-bred warrior-king. Enkidu then becomes the king's constant companion and deeply beloved friend, accompanying him on adventures until he is stricken with illness and dies. The deep, tragic loss of Enkidu profoundly inspires in Gilgamesh a quest to escape death by obtaining godly immortality."....Jastrow, Jr., Morris and Clay, ALbert T., An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic, p.20, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1920 Older sources sometimes transliterate his name as Enkimdu, Eabani, or Enkita. Enkidu is a modern variant.

Scorpion Seal ....Mesopotamia, Late Uruk period/Jamdat Nasr period......(ca. 3500–2900 B.C.)

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

September 2013

John Hopkins....Northern New Mexico

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