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56 also find the winged "Eaglemen, whose depictions undoubt- edly inspired later notions of winged angels, flanking a Tree of Life; significantly, it often evoked the double helix of DNA (Fig. 16c), a reminder of the Garden of Eden tale. Mesopotamian kings, boasting of their great knowledge, claimed that they were "scions of the wise Adapa." Such claims reflected the tradition that Adapa was granted not just priestly status, but was also taught scientific knowledge that in antiquity was associated with the priesthood, passed from one generation of priests to another in the sacred precincts. Tablets that cataloged literary works kept on shelves in the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh mention, in their undam- aged portions, at least two "books" relating to Adapa's knowledge. One, whose title is damaged at its start, was on a shelf next to a text of "Writings from Before the Flood," and its second line reads "... which Adapa wrote at his dictation." The suggestion that Adapa had written down knowledge dictated to him by a deity is enhanced by the title of another work attributed to Adapa by Sumerian sources. It was titled U.SAR Dingir ANUM Dingir ENULA—"Writings Regarding Time, |from] Divine Anu and Divine Enlil"—and confirms the traditions that Adapa was tutored not only by Ea/Enki but also by Anu and Enlil, and that his knowledge ranged from that of curing diseases to astronomy, time- keeping, and the calendar. One other book (i.e. a set of tablets) by Adapa that was listed on the shelves of the library of Nineveh was titled "Celestialship which to the Sage of Anu, Adapa [was given].". The Legend of Adapa texts repeatedly refer to the fact that Adapa was shown "the ways of heaven," enabling him to travel from Earth to the heavenly abode of Anu. The implication that Adapa was shown a celestial route map ought to be taken as based on fact, for—incredibly—at least one such route map has been found. It is depicted on a clay disc, undoubtedly a copy of an earlier artifact, that was also discovered in the ruins of the royal library of Nineveh and that is now kept in the British Museum in London. Divided into eight segments, it depicted (as evident from the undam- aged portions, Fig. 17a) precise geometric shapes (some, such as an ellipse, unknown from other ancient artifacts), arrows, to DIVINE ENCOUNTERS