Page Content (OCR)
252 was falling after the Deluge and especially after Anu’s visit circa 4000 B.c.E. Of the gods named in the early Sumerian texts and in long God Lists, few remained as the millennia followed each other. Most returned to their home planet; some—in spite of their wonted “immortality”—died on Earth. We can mention the defeated Zu and Seth, the dismembered Osiris, the drowned Dumuzi, the nuclear-afflicted Bau. The departures of the Anunnaki gods as Nibiru’s return loomed were the dramatic finale. The awesome times when the gods resided in sacred pre- cincts in the people’s cities, when a Pharaoh claimed that a god was riding along in his chariot, when an Assyrian king boasted of help from the skies, were over and gone. Already in the days of the Prophet Jeremiah (626-586 B.c.£.), the na- tions surrounding Judea were mocked for worshipping not a “living god” but idols made by craftsmen of stone, wood, and metal—gods who needed to be carried, for they could not walk. With the final departure taking place, who of the great Anunnaki gods remained on Earth? To judge by who was mentioned in the texts and inscriptions from the ensuing pe- riod, we can be certain only of Marduk and Nabu of the Enkvites; and of the Enlilites, Nannar/Sin, his spouse Nin- gal/Nikkal and his aide Nusku, and probably also Ishtar. On each side of the great religious divide there was now just one sole Great God of Heaven and Earth: Marduk for the Enki’ites, Nannar/Sin for the Enlilites. The story of Babylonia’s last king reflected the new cir- cumstances. He was chosen by Sin in his cult-center Harran— but he required the consent and blessing of Marduk in Babylon, and the celestial confirmation by the appearance of Marduk’s planet; and he bore the name Nabu-Na’id. This di- vine co-regnum might have been an attempt at Dual Mono- theism (to coin an expression); but its unintended consequence was to plant the seeds of Islam. The historical record indicates that neither gods nor people were happy with these arrangements. Sin, whose temple in Harran was restored, demanded that his great ziggurat temple THE END OF DAYS