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126 Mesopotamia "abundance" was based on riverine cultivation, so it had to be in Africa; and he turned his attention, planning, and af ab Wane fab. aT. knowledge to the recovery of the Valley of the Nile. The Egyptians, we have seen, held that their great gods had come to Egypt from Ur (meaning "the olden place"). According to Manetho, the reign of Ptah over the lands of the Nile began 17,900 years before Menes; i.e., circa 21,000 B.c. Nine thousand years later Ptah handed over the Egyptian domain to his son Ra; but the latter's reign was abruptly interrupted after a brief 1,000 years, i.e., circa 11,000 B.C; it was then, by our reckoning, that the Deluge had occurred. Then, the Egyptians believed, Ptah returned to Egypt to engage in great works of reclamation and to literally raise it from under the inundating waters. We find Sumerian texts that likewise attest that Enki went to the lands of Mcluhha (Ethiopia/Nubia) and Magan (Egypt) to make them habitable for man and beast: He proceeds to the Land Meluhha; Enki, lord of the Abzu, decrees its fate: Black land, may your trees be large trees, may they be the Highland trees. May thrones fill your royal palaces. May your reeds be large reeds, may they be the Highland reeds. . . May your bulls be large bulls, may they be the Highland bulls... May your silver be as gold. May your copper be tin and bronze . . . May your people multiply; May your hero go forth as a bull . . . These Sumerian records, linking Enki with the African lands of the Nile, assume a double significance: they corroborate the Egyp- tian tales with Mesopotamian tales and link Sumerian gods— especially the Enki-gods—with the gods of Egypt; for Ptah, we believe, was none other than Enki. After the lands were made habitable again, Enki divided the length of the African continent between his six sons (Fig. 35). The southernmost domain was regranted to NER.GAL ("Great Watch- er") and his spouse Ereshkigal. To his north, in the mining re- gions, GIBIL ("The One of Fire") was installed, having been taught by his father the secrets of metalworking. NIN.A.GAL THE WARS OF GODS AND MEN