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116 Sumerian language was studied, Sumerian lexicons were compiled, and Sumerian epic tales of gods and heroes were copied and translated. And once those nations’ diverse lan- guages were deciphered, it turned out that their gods were, after all, members of the old Anunnaki pantheon. Did the Enlilite gods themselves accompany their follow- ers when such replanting of Sumerian knowledge and beliefs took place in faraway lands? The data are inconclusive. But what is historically certain is that within two or three centuries of the New Age, in lands bordering Babylonia, those who were supposed to become Marduk’s retired guests embarked on an even newer kind of religious affiliations: National State Religions. Marduk may have garnered the Fifty divine names; but it did not prevent, from then on, nation fighting na- tion and men killing men “in the name of God”—their god. THE END OF DAYS