Divine Encounters - Zecharia Sitchin-pages

Page 368 of 384

Page 368 of 384
Divine Encounters - Zecharia Sitchin-pages

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364 Shamash;" and Shamash, we may recall, was a son of Nan- nar/Sin. The Canaanite "myths" devote much clay tablet space to the shenanigans between Ba'al and his sister Anat; the Bible lists in the area of Beit-Shemesh a place called Beit Anat; and we are as good as certain that the Semitic name Anat was a rendering of Anunitu ("Ami's beloved")—a_nick- name of Inanna/Ishtar, the twin sister of Utu/Shamash. All that suggests that in the Canaanite trio El-Ba'al-Anat we see the Mesopotamian triad of Nannar/Sin-Utu/Shamash- Inanna/Ishtar—the gods associated with the Moon, the Sun, and Venus. And none of them could have been Yahweh, for the Bible is replete with admonitions against the worship of these celestial bodies and their emblems. If neither Enlil nor any one of his sons (or even grandchil- dren) fully qualify as Yahweh, the search must turn else- where, to the sons of Enki, where some of the qualifications also point. The instructions given to Moses during the sojourn at Mount Sinai were, to a great extent, of a medical nature. Five whole chapters in Leviticus and many passages in Numbers are devoted to medical procedures, diagnosis and treatment. "Heal me, O Yahweh, and I shall be healed," Jeremiah (17:14) cried out: "My soul blesses Yahweh . . . who heals all my ailments," the Psalmist sang (103:1-3). Because of his piety, King Hezekiah was not only cured on Yahweh's say-so of a fatal disease, but was also granted by Yahweh fifteen more years to live (II Kings chapter 19). Yahweh could not only heal and extend life, he could also (through his Angels and Prophets) revive the dead; an extreme exam- ple was provided by Ezekiel's vision of the scattered dry bones that came back alive, their dead resurrected by Yah- weh's will. The biological-medical knowledge underlying such capa- bilities was possessed by Enki, and he passed such knowledge to two of his sons: Marduk (known as Ra in Egypt), and Thoth (whom the Egyptians called Tehuti and the Sumerians NIN.GISH.ZIDDA—"Lord of the Tree of Life"). As for Marduk, many Babylonian texts refer to his healing abilities; but—as his own complaint to his father reveals—he was DIVINE ENCOUNTERS