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  • Dr. David Neiman

Genesis, Chapter 5 – The Sun God

The sixth name in the list according to Berossus is Daonos, for whom a corresponding Babylonian cuneiform original has not been found. The Sumerian sixth name is En-sipa-zianna, whose meaning is obscure, and the biblical name in sixth place is Jared. The root of the name Jared is, of course, the core of the Hebrew verb yrd, which means "to go down, to descend." How it is to be interpreted is anyone's choice. I believe there is meaning hidden in the name, but it would be pointless to speculate.

The seventh name is the lists is most fascinating. In the Sumerian list it is En-men-duranna, or possibly En-men-dur-an-ki. In the Babylonian list it is En-men-dur-an-ki and the Greek transliteration as rendered by Berossus is Evendorachos, which is quite close to the Sumerian-Babylonian original. The biblical name is Hanokh, written by the Greek translators and coming down into English as Enoch. There are characteristics of the figure Enmen-dur-an-ki in Babylonian which we should examine. First, the elements in his name seem to point to him as the one who is possessed of the knowledge of heaven (Anu) and earth (Ki). He is, then, the learned one, the philosopher, the scientist, the one who knows the paths of the stars and planets in the heavens and who is also aware of the phenomena which affect the earth. This intellectual, the man who understands the phenomena of heaven and earth, who is the mathematician, the astronomer, the architect and engineer, is certainly a most significant figure in a civilized society.

But there is more information that is yielded from the Babylonian sources. Enmen-dur-an-ki is evidently the beloved protegé of the god Shamash, The Sun-God.31 Shamash is the one natural phenomenon who represents stability and predictability. There is no erratic variation or unpredictable behavior on the part of the Sun. Not only is his reliability beyond question, but the point on the horizon at which he will rise in the morning is absolutely calculable and predictable. There is no waxing and waning in the Solar cycle, and all living beings can depend on the precision of his rising and setting.

That is why, in Babylonian concepts of the rôles played by the immortals, Shamash, the Sun-God, is the Lord of Law, Order, and Science and all that flows therefrom.32 Therefore, Enmen-dur-an-ki, the beloved protegé of Shamash, is the one whose name proclaims that he is the one who

is possessed of knowledge of all that is in heaven and on earth.

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