Divine Encounters - Zecharia Sitchin-pages

Page 58 of 384

Page 58 of 384
Divine Encounters - Zecharia Sitchin-pages

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54 And, continuing such rhetorical questions, Anu asked: "As for us, what shall we do about him?" Since Adapa was not to blame for the whole incident, Anu wished to reward him. He ordered that bread, "the Bread of Life," be offered to Adapa; but Adapa, having been told by Ea that it will be the Bread of Death, refused to eat of it. They brought to him water, "the Water of Life"; but Adapa, forewarned by Ea that it would be the Water of Death, re- fused to drink. But when they brought a garment he put it on, and when they brought oil he anointed himself. Adapa's peculiar behavior amazed Anu. "Anu looked at him, and laughed at him." "Come now, Adapa," Anu said, "why did you not eat, why did you not drink?" To which Adapa responded, "Ea, my master, commanded me, ‘you shall not eat, you shall not drink.’ " "When Anu heard this, wrath filled his heart." He dis- patched an emissary, “one who knows the thoughts of the great Anunnaki," to discuss the matter with the lord Ea. The emissary, the partly damaged tablet relates, repeated the events in Heaven word for word. The tablet then becomes too damaged and illegible, so that we do not know Ea's explanation for his odd instructions (that were, obviously, intended to sustain his decision to give Adapa knowledge but not immortality). No matter how the discussion ended, Anu decided to send Adapa back to Earth; and since Adapa did use the oil to anoint himself, Anu decreed that back in Eridu Adapa's des- tiny will be to start a line of priests who will be adept at curing diseases. On the way back Adapa, from the horizon of heaven to the zenith of heaven cast a glance; and he saw its awesomeness. The interesting question, what was the mode of transporta- tion by which Adapa had made the round-trip, seeing in the process the awesome expanse of the heavens, is answered by the ancient text only indirectly, when Anu wonders out loud why did Ea "make a Shem" for Adapa. This Akkadian word is usually translated "name." But as we have elaborated in DIVINE ENCOUNTERS