The Anunnaki. Who were they?

[AgnosticBoy]

What do you find interesting about the Anunnaki?

The Anunnaki are mentioned in ancient Mesopotamian mythological texts, most notably the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish

(Google Ai search results)

This group of beings keep coming up. Perhaps some of the stories in the Bible are based on them. I'll give both texts a quick read and list some things I find interesting.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Moderator... Comment of mine that was lost during an upgrade. I reposted it.

I had to change my approach. Read the Epic of Gilgamesh and I have to admit that it was mostly boring. Supposedly found on 12 tablets, and it isn't until the last one that it tells a story of the flood that's similar to the biblical flood story. And there's little mention of the Anunnaki that I found unless they went by a different name instead of the Anunnaki label.

Here's the best concise summary I could find on the Anunnaki:

Anunnaki, class of gods within the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon. The precise meaning of the term (“princely seed” in Sumerian) remains ill-defined, as the number of these gods, their names, and their functions vary according to the limited historical texts scholars have recovered.

Among the gods named in some texts as members of the Anunnaki are Enlil, Ea (Enki), Ninhursag, Sin (Nanna), Shamash (Utu), and Ishtar (Inanna). Enlil, the god of air who separated heaven and earth, is generally regarded as the most prominent of these. The ancient Hittites and Hurrians, whose mythologies refer to a set of “former gods” banished to the netherworld by a newer generation, eventually identified the former gods with the Anunnaki. In treaties they were invoked as witnesses to ensure that oaths were kept.

The Anunnaki had several functions in Mesopotamian mythology. The Sumerian myth Enki and the World Order suggests that one of their main functions in early mythology was to decide the fates of human beings. They were initially associated with the heavens, but over time both literary and administrative texts reflected an increased role for the Anunnaki in earthly affairs. In the Babylonian creation epic, the Enuma elish, the chief Babylonian god Marduk has authority over some 600 Anunnaki gods. He directs 300 of these gods to reside in the heavens and 300 to reside on earth.

However, other texts seem to place the Anunnaki as gods of the underworld. This is the case in the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which the Anunnaki are described as judges of the dead. The idea is echoed by the Sumerian myth Descent of Inanna to the Underworld, in which the goddess Inanna crosses into the realm of the dead, seeking to overthrow her sister, the queen of the dead. The Anunnaki step forward to judge her for her audacity.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anunnaki

In general, I do think it's very possible that advanced beings made contact with early humans. I believe these beings were deified, all while really being mortal with weaknesses. For instance, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a group of gods were said to be living in a city that was flooded and these gods were apparently "afraid".

Here's from Tablet Xii:

Shuruppak, a city that you surely know,
situated on the banks of the Euphrates,
that city was very old, and there were gods inside it.
The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood.

The gods were frightened by the Flood,
and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu.
The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by the outer wall.
Ishtar shrieked like a woman in childbirth,
the sweet-voiced Mistress of the Gods wailed:
'The olden days have alas turned to clay,

Source: http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm

So perhaps this group were really highly advanced extraterrestrials.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Here's a more skeptical explanation on why there's so much mention about the Anunnakis:

Why are the Anunnaki subject to so many conspiracy theories?​

The other night, I was trying to dig up some information on the interwebs regarding the Anunnaki and inevitably, 99 percent of what I found was basically just made-up stuff by conspiracy theorists, almost all of it highly malicious. As far as I'm aware, Mesopotamian deities have to be the most maligned group of deities out there.

I don't think I have to give anyone here a primer on conspiracy theories surrounding the Anunnaki, I'm sure you've come across most of it, but Man-Eating Lizard Aliens and Illuminati bloodlines feature heavily for some reason. This also means, that if you are openly devoted to Mesopotamian deities, you will automatically fall under suspicion of being "one of them". I have been hounded off more than one forum for my beliefs in the past in what I can only call an online witch-hunt and have been accused of some pretty horrible stuff, all because I have cultivated a personal relationship with what I see as these very sweet and loving deities.

Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sumer/comments/ner7jb/why_are_the_anunnaki_subject_to_so_many

And this response:

It started from Sitchin and then it caught more and more attention in conspiracy & starseeds circles. At this point 1/3 internet people i meet think Anunnaki are "evil reptilians" and i got tired of explaining why that is bullshit. There's kids out there roleplaying as Anunnaki reincarnations all day and posting online whatever they think they "remember" as facts. Even worse, i find mentions of them in random books i buy that aren't even about history. ( These days you gotta conspiracy check even a genetics book).

Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sumer/comments/ner7jb/comment/gyjnthp

 

[AgnosticBoy]

One popular theory is that the Anunnaki passed on advanced knowledge to the Sumerians.

The Sumerians are credited with inventing the first written language system and having the first civilization.

Here are some notes from Google Ai Search:
- While the Sumerians were pioneers in developing what we understand as civilization, particularly with writing, complex cities, and organized governance, they may not have been the absolute first. Some historians suggest that other civilizations like those in the Indus Valley or ancient Egypt were contemporaneous, and there's evidence of sophisticated societies, such as Göbekli Tepe, that existed thousands of years before Sumer but didn't necessarily meet all criteria for "civilization"
- Yes, the Sumerians are considered a historical mystery to a degree, mainly due to the unique nature of their language, their unknown origins, and the sudden disappearance of their civilization, a collection of unsolved questions referred to as the "Sumerian Problem" by scholars. While their advancements in writing, city-states, and technology are well-documented through archaeological evidence and cuneiform texts, fundamental questions about where they came from and their ultimate fate persist.

Currently, looking for a free documentary, but also one that uses some experts. So far I'm finding a lot of fan-made content.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

In post #3, I gave a skeptical explanation for the Anunnaki. Well here's believer's type explanation:

From Google Ai search results:
Zecharia Sitchin's view, central to his Ancient Astronaut Theory, is that the Anunnaki were not mythological deities but a race of extraterrestrials from a planet named Nibiru. According to Sitchin, these beings genetically engineered early humans to be a slave race for mining gold and were the true force behind the "sudden civilization" of Sumer. Sitchin's theories, detailed in his book series The Earth Chronicles, are based on his unique, and widely contested, interpretations of ancient Sumerian and Akkadian texts.