The Ancient Tradition

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Music

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You’re listening to The Ancient Tradition. A Wonk Media Production. Music provided by Joseph McDade. He is your host, Dr. Jack Logan.

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Welcome to the Ancient Tradition. I’m your host, Jack Logan. It’s great to have all of you listening in, all of you new listeners, and of course you long time listeners. It’s great to have you with us. If you’re a new listener, I wanna make you aware of a couple of important resources. First, you can find this podcast, along with full audio transcripts and pictures and links for each episode on our companion website, thea Just search.

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by episode under show notes. In addition, you can find full audio recordings of several of the ancient texts that we refer to on this program on our sister podcast, the ancient tradition audio writ, which you can find anywhere you get your podcasts. A couple of weeks ago, I uploaded recordings of two important Native American creation accounts. The first is a audio recording of the native Maidu peoples.

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whose ancestral lands were located in Northern California in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. And the second is of the native Tertuni Joshua people whose ancestral lands were located in Southern Oregon. Both of these accounts are pretty darn amazing. So if you’ve got time to give them a listen, I highly recommend it because in these accounts, you’ll hear these native peoples attest.

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to the same stubborn bits we’ve been discussing over and over and over again on the program. The internal consistency between what was taught by the ancient Egyptians, ancient Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Muslims, and Hindu, and now the Native American Maidu and Tittuni Joshua people is remarkable. On Audio Rit, you’ll find a full audio recording of each tribe’s creation account, along with some important commentary.

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For example, in both of these accounts, the Maidu and Tituni Joshua people indisputably teach that God has a body. They teach that God is a corporeal being. And I highlight these descriptions in the commentary.

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In the ancient world, there are literally piles and piles and piles of textual evidence that attest, without equivocation, that God has a physical body. In the ancient world, the corporeal nature of God is a major stubborn bit. In fact, if you’re a long-time listener to the program, it should already be readily apparent that the entire theology of the ancient tradition rests on the corporeal nature of God.

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The theology taught within the ancient tradition makes no sense if God is immaterial and bodyless. Why? Well, if you haven’t listened to the catalog of back episodes, you’ll really need to start there to get a full understanding of why. But in short measure, it’s because the ancient Egyptians, ancient Mesopotamians, ancient Canaanites, and ancient Hebrews, and ancient Greeks, all explicitly taught.

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that those be they gods, heroes or poppers, human beings like you and me, who triumphantly conquer the awful dragon, the rebellious son, who was known in ancient Egypt as Apophis, in ancient Mesopotamia as Tiamat, in ancient Canaan as Yam, among the ancient Hebrews as Rahab, and among the ancient Greeks as Python, are coronated by the high God as heavenly kings.

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Because these individuals have successfully upheld the cosmic law of righteousness and conquered the temptations of the dragon, they are given power and authority by the high god to reign as heavenly kings over a cosmic kingdom. That is the theology of the ancient tradition. In ancient Canaan, we learned that the high god El himself

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won the right to reign as a heavenly king over this earth and over a cosmic kingdom because of his prowess in battle because he successfully conquered the dragon. On page 32 of Mullen’s, which I think is an absolutely fantastic book, The Divine Council in Canaanite and early Hebrew literature states, quote, El is a fierce warrior.

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who does indeed gain his kingship through combat. What this means is that all heavenly kings, including God himself, acquired and acquire heavenly kingship in the exact same manner by battling and winning their battle against the awful dragon. Nobody has made a heavenly king without first proving that he’ll uphold ma’at or tzedek.

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even when they’re tempted by the dragon to do otherwise. God only grants those who perfectly uphold righteousness the right to govern others. Now, this is where things get a little bit sticky because nobody outside of the Christian Jesus has claimed to have done this, to have perfectly upheld the cosmic law of righteousness, which means that none of us

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have met the criteria that we would need to to be worthy of the stewardship of a cosmic kingdom. Each one of us on planet Earth has at one time or another violated the law of righteousness. And because of this, we don’t meet the criteria to be a heavenly king or heavenly queen. This is what we saw in episode number 22, the wounded hero. So we’ve got a problem. What are we to do?

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Well, this is precisely the reason why every earthly king in the ancient world, like we’ve seen in the modern world too, when Charles III was coronated a king, are first anointed, anointed with the myrrh oil of the sacred tree before he is coronated a king. If you recall in episode number 24, O Christmas Tree, we learned that it’s by the oil that…

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bleeds from the sacred tree that all wounds, both physical and spiritual, are healed. Thus, a king like Marduk, who we learned in the Mesopotamian Enuma Elish, who was covered in the dust of combat after his battle with Tiamant, and Azeneth, who was shrouded in sackcloth and ashes after her battle, were first anointed with the oil of the sacred tree, which healed

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their spiritual wounds before they were coronated a heavenly king or Queen. And this is some pretty profound theology which we’ll get into in much greater detail down the line. I mentioned all of this to stress the point that the ancient tradition is about the exaltation of human beings you and me people with material bodies of flesh and bone.

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bodies which according to texts like the ancient Egyptian pyramid text and Christ’s example in the New Testament will one day be resurrected with an incorruptible glorified body. This theology 100% attests to the corporeal nature of God. In our last episode since we only had time to cover textual evidence found in ancient Egypt the Bible and early Christian writings

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describing the corporeal nature of God. I thought about doing a second episode on this topic because I wanted to demonstrate to you that God is widely described as a corporeal being in the ancient Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, Greek, and Vedic texts too. But I decided that rather than do that, I dedicate this episode to another very, very important characteristic of God.

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A characteristic which we must understand if we’re to understand everything else the ancients tell us happened during Zeptepe, the first time, also known as the Garden of Eden when the earth was wrapped in heaven’s embrace. So I’m going to do that, but as we go along, I’m going to stop here and there to highlight a few of the texts that attest to God’s corporeal nature, kind of a two for one. One of the things that sticks out when we examine the descriptions of God around the

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Another one of those stubborn bits is that God is almost universally described as a king. Now this far into the podcast, this should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway. We just shouldn’t see this. We just shouldn’t see that the ancients from Egypt to Sumer to Canaan,

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to the Indus Valley, to China, to Japan, to Mesoamerica, to the Polynesian Islands, to Native America, describe God as a royal heavenly king. We just shouldn’t see this, yet this is exactly what we do see. We should see much, much greater variability in who God is and how God is described, but we just don’t until much later. And this, of course,

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speaks to me of an original religious tradition.

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Let’s take a minute and walk through some of the textual and mythological evidence, starting with ancient Mesopotamia. In ancient Mesopotamia, entablet one of a Babylonian text titled Atrahasis, dated to 1700 BC. The high god Anu is described as a king who rules over a royal court of his sons, the Anunnaki.

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Line seven of the text describes the high god Anu like this, quote, Anu their father, speaking of the Anunnaki, was king. In old Babylonian, the word for king is lugal, L-U-G-A-L, which denotes a ruler or a sovereign. Take note also in this text how the high god is described as male. He’s the father of the Anunnaki. They are his sons.

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sons which we learn in episode number 42, on Ki, the earth and heaven’s embrace, he conceived with his wife, the high goddess Ki. This is actually a very, very important point because one can only be male in reference to a material physical body. One’s sex is determined by the reproductive organs and chromosomes and androgens

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present in a material physical body. This would mean if God were immaterial or bodiless, God would have no sex. God would not be male or female. God would be sexless. To incaporialize God is to neuter God. If you read Mimonides and what other incaporialists write, you’ll find that they argue God.

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by definition must be limitless and without restrictions. They argue that a physical body would impose limitations on God. And this led them to conclude that God did not possess a physical body. There are two problems with this argument. The first is that the ancients never taught that God was without limits or restrictions. In fact, the ancients are super, super clear, like we see in the pyramid texts in ancient Egypt.

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that God is subordinate to a law, the law of righteousness, which the ancient Egyptians tell us is embedded in the very fabric of the cosmos itself. And if God is subordinate to something beyond himself, he is obviously not a God without limitations. In episode number 28, who is God, Lord of Maat, King of Zedek, where we talked about this,

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We learned that it was only by God’s submission to this law that he became a God in the first place. The second thing that mamanides and other incorporealists don’t seem to realize is that in their attempt to create a limitless God by conceiving of him as immaterial and bodyless have in fact created yet another limited God. See,

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An immaterial and bodiless God, like we learned in our last episode, does not have the ability to physically hug us and hold us tight. One has to have a material body, physical arms to do that. And since Mimonides is God, is immaterial and bodiless and doesn’t have physical arms, Mimonides God can never physically hug us or kiss us on the forehead. And if God…

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cannot show physical affection. He of course is a limited God. In this light, you can see Maimonides God is limited precisely because he does not have a physical body. As I’ve thought this over and I’ve thought about what the ancients have taught and what theologians like Maimonides have argued, I’m left with the conclusion that the notion of a limitless God is incredibly problematic.

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For starters, I haven’t come across or even been able to conceive of a single description of God where God is truly limitless. No matter how God is defined, the description always results in limitations in a limited God. And if we forgo an actual description, conceding that our feeble minds just can’t conceive of what a limitless God might actually look like, yet cling to the conception of God as

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a God that’s not bound by anything or anyone, then we’re driven into some incredibly problematic theological and philosophical territory because this would mean that God would be bound by nothing, by no law. There would be no constraints on God’s actions. There would be…

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absolutely nothing preventing God from reigning in tyranny. And of course this presents some real theological and philosophical problems. Lucky for us, we learn from the ancient Egyptians, ancient Hebrews, ancient Hindu, and ancient Chinese that God is not limitless. We learn that God’s actions are constrained. We learn that God is bound

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which these ancient peoples referred to as Ma’at, Tzedek, Rita and the Dao among others. And we learned from the ancients that it’s precisely on this cosmic law that God has built his kingdom. And it’s upon this law that he reigns as a heavenly king. In fact, in ancient Egypt, all Egyptian kings reign, as we’ve mentioned on the program, on a throne, which sits on a dais, which represents this

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cosmic law. Ma’at. In other words, the king sits directly atop the cosmic law. It’s upon the cosmic law that he rules and has the right to rule as a celestial monarch.

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All right, that was a little bit of a detour, but it’s an important detour nonetheless. Let’s return to tablet one of Atrahasis and take a look at how the text describes the high god Anu. Farther down in tablet one, the text reads, quote, Enki, now Enki is one of the high god Anu’s sons, was fetched into his presence. Anu, king of the sky, was present. Here,

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we see that Anu is described as a king, the king of the sky. Sky here refers to heaven. So this is like saying Anu, king of heaven. And note in this passage how Anu resides in a particular location. And Enki, his son, is quote, fetched into his presence. Enki is brought into a particular place, the place where Anu resides, so that he can meet with his father,

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heaven. The anthropomorphic nature of these descriptions is pretty clear. In another ancient Mesopotamian text called Adapa. Adapa is the name of a very important antediluvian sage who we’re going to talk about a lot more down the line. In this text the high god Anu receives some important news from Adapa. Listen in this passage to what the high god Anu does.

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This comes from the Stephanie Dally translation. Quote, when Anu heard this word, he cried, heaven help him. And he, Anu, rose up from his throne. In this passage, the high God is seated in his heavenly temple, in the heavenly throne room. And when he hears news of what Adapah has done, the text tells us that the high God rises from his throne.

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the high god stands up, which is a clear description that the high god has a body. A little bit later, Adapa ascends to heaven and he stands before God, where he’s actually made a heavenly king. But I’m going to save that account for when we talk about the first man Adam. This is what the text reads, quote, when Adapa drew near to the presence of King Anu, Anu

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shouted, Come here Adapa! In this text the high god is referred to as a king. The text says when Adapa drew near to the presence of King Anu. The anthropomorphic nature of God is pretty apparent in this passage too. The high god resides in a particular location so Adapa has to be brought to where he resides. He has to be

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And when God talks to Adapah, he talks to him just like you and I talk to each other. And when the high God sees Adapah, he cries out to him, come here Adapah. In another Mesopotamian text known as Era and Ishum, dated to around the seventh century BC, we’re told the following about the high God Anu. Quote, when Anu, king of the gods, impregnated key,

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She bore the seven gods for him and named them Sabidi. When they stood before him, he decreed their destiny. He summoned the first and gave him orders. Okay, there’s a lot going on in this text. For the purposes of this episode, note how the high god is referred to here as the, quote, king of the gods. The high god reigns as a king over other gods. God’s.

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who we learn are his sons, sons whom the high god conceived with his wife, the high goddess, Ki. The text tells us that Ki bore seven sons. And these seven sons are actually pretty darn important in the ancient tradition, so we’ll definitely come back to them and to this text down the line. For the purposes of this episode though, note how these seven sons stand before the high god, I assume in the throne room.

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and the high god quote, decrees their destiny. We’ll discuss the decreeing of destinies more when we get into the creation of human beings. So I’m not gonna cover that now. But if you’ve ever wondered what heavenly kings spend their days doing in the heavens, this text tells us that the decreeing of destinies is part of what they do. Also take note in this text that Anu, the king of the gods, seems to govern the cosmos by making assignments.

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which is clear when the text tells us that quote, he summoned the first of the seven and gave him orders. And don’t glaze over how so much of what we read in this passage is pretty dependent on God having a physical body, impregnating his wife, conceiving sons, occupying a specific location, decreeing destinies, giving orders, et cetera. Now, these are just a few of the examples in the Mesopotamian literature.

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where the high god An is explicitly identified as a heavenly king. As I was gathering up these examples, I simultaneously compiled a list directly from the texts themselves of what a heavenly king does, his roles and responsibilities in the cosmos. So here’s a brief list of what the ancient Mesopotamian literature tell us a heavenly king does. Number one.

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He presides over a royal court of his children, his offspring, referred to in the ancient Mesopotamian literature as the Anunnaki. King Anu’s authority over his children is pretty evident in a text titled Nergol and Ereshkigal, believed to have been written during the mid 15th century BC. In this text, Namtar, a Sumerian god,

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enters the courtyard of Anu’s celestial temple. And this is what he tells us he sees. When I entered the courtyard of Anu, all the gods were kneeling humbly before him. All the gods of the land were kneeling humbly before him. In this text, we see that King Anu’s children show him considerable deference.

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respectful and reverent submission they kneel in his presence. A gesture that we usually only see given to those who hold great respect and authority in the eyes of the people. In this case the gods hold tremendous respect for their father Anu, the King of Heaven. Number two, he issues commands by way of divine utterance.

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whether that’s to create a world or issue orders like we saw in the era in Isshum text, the elements in the cosmos obey his command and his obedient offspring obey his command. His utterance, because he perfectly upholds Ma’ot or Tzedek and actually in the Mesopotamian world is referred to as the Mes, M-E, the cosmic law is divine law. His utterance is divine law and it’s this law

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that establishes order, civil and social order in his kingdom. The high God’s divine utterance is the source of all legitimate power in the heavens. Number three, and this is closely connected to number two, he has sole authority to name all that is created in his kingdom. Because remember, naming is part and parcel to creating. When a heavenly king names something,

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He is divinely uttering. He’s either causing something with that particular nature to come into existence, or he’s perfectly naming the nature of something that already does exist. If you recall, Marduk does this in the Enuma Elish, when the council of the gods challenged Marduk to command a constellation to appear. Marduk speaks the name, and the elements order themselves into a creation that reflects that name, a constellation.

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and the constellation appears. R.T. Rundle Clark on page 63 of Myth and Symbolism in Ancient Egypt says it like this, quote, The real creator was the Word. Now remember the word, word here, refers to the ability of God to divinely utter. The primeval speech which came from God wherein all things got their names.

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Since the name is also the nature of the thing, in the view of ancient man, the naming of manifold creation means the demarcation of individual characteristics. In the Enuma Elish tablet seven, after Marduk successfully slays the awful dragon Tiamat, the king of heaven, Anu, gives Marduk a new name. Listen to the new name the high king Anu gives him.

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The text says this, quote, Ossur Lui is the name which his father Anu gave him. So note that it’s Marduk’s father, King Anu, who’s the one who gives Marduk a new name after he’s triumphantly conquered the dragon, after he’s won the battle over evil. This suggests that none of us escaped the battle with the dragon unchanged. No matter what,

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our nature will change. If we lose the battle, our nature will change. If we win the battle, our nature will change. We can’t escape the battle unchanged. And we learn in this passage that those who win the battle against the dragon will be given a new name, a new name that reflects their spiritually powerful post-battle nature. So what is the name King Anu gives Marduk after conquering Piamat?

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Ossur Lui. Unfortunately, Mesopotamian scholars don’t know exactly what this name means, but they think it has something to do with the ability to exercise or cast out evil, which is exactly what Marduk did when he conquered Tiamat. In a Mesopotamian text that we talked about a long long time ago on the program titled The Epic of Ansu, King Anu tells his offspring the Anunnaki that whoever slays the awful dragon

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in this text referred to as Ansu, will receive a new name. This is what it says in tablet two of the old Babylonian version of the text. Quote, the gods of the land assembled for a solution. And they’re talking about a solution to get rid of the terrible dragon. Anu made his voice heard, addressed the gods, his sons. Now listen to what King Anu says. Quote.

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whichever God slays Ansu, I shall make his name greatest of all. Your name shall be great among the great gods. Show prowess to the gods and your name shall be powerful. Note that we’re being taught the same thing here. The dragon slayers are given new names, new natures. We’re being taught that if we slay the dragon, our nature will change. And the king of heaven,

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will give us a new name. In each of the instances I just gave you, it is the high God, the King of heaven, who gifts the dragon slayer a new name. We saw the same thing in the book of Joseph and Azanath. I really love that text for a lot of reasons. But in terms of today’s episode, I love it because it’s in that text that God explicitly articulates the theology behind the naming right.

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Listen very closely to what God tells Azanith in chapter 15. God says to her, quote, take heart, Azanith. From today, you will be made new and refashioned and given new life. You shall no more be called Azanith, but city of refuge shall be your name. See, in this text,

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God is telling Azanith that because she overcame sin, which we learn in this text, she did by way of the anointing oil, referred to as honeycomb in the text. She is quote, made new. She is refashioned. She’s no longer Azanith. Azanith is the person who was in sackcloth and ashes. She’s a new person. She has a new nature.

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So she must be given a new name which reflects that nature, a name which only God has the power and authority to bestow upon her. Now, City of Refuge is a pretty interesting new name. God must have known that Azanath was gonna be a little bit perplexed by this. So right after he gives her this new name, he explains why. And God tells Azanath the following, quote,

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and under your wings shall many peoples find shelter. And within your walls, those who give their allegiance to God and penitence will find security.” There’s a lot packed in that name, and I don’t have time to break it all down here, but God’s reference to a place of refuge, shelter, walls, and security, all point to one thing, a temple setting. In the ancient world, the place of refuge is always where God dwells.

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And where does God dwell? In a royal temple. So, Azaneth’s new name seems to reflect her role in bringing many people to God’s temple. If you’d like to listen to a full audio recording of the book of Joseph and Azaneth, you can find it on our sister podcast, The Ancient Tradition Audio Rit.

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From these texts, it’s pretty clear that one of the privileges and responsibilities of a heavenly king is to name his creations, be they plants or flowers or animals, or you and me. There’s a lot of powerful theology wrapped around the heavenly naming right. So I hope you’ll give it a little more contemplation. It’s a key doctrine in the ancient tradition.

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What’s really quite amazing is that when we look at the ancient world and even right up to today, we find that this naming theology is attested to in the coronation rites of earthly kings and in Christian rites like baptism. And it’s even attested to in the modern day in films like The Lord of the Rings. For example, in ancient Egypt, when a pharaoh took the throne, he was given five new names known as the royal titulari.

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We’ve talked about this on the program, the King’s throne names. And we see a similar thing in the Christian world where upon baptism, one is given the new name Christian. And when this theology works its way into films, like the Lord of the Rings, we know that number one, J.R.R. Tolkien did his homework. And number two, we learned that the reach of the ancient tradition is far and wide.

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So where does this naming theology show up in the Lord of the Rings? Well, we find it in the first two films, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Before I let you listen to a couple of clips from the film, I want you to pay close attention to how the storyline completely corresponds with the overarching doctrine of heavenly kingship taught within the ancient tradition, where we’ve learned that those who slay the dragon

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are given a new name by the High God. In this clip, the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring enter a dark, ominous dungeon where Gandalf the Grey, and note Gandalf’s name at this point, the head of the fellowship, senses the presence of a terrible demon Balrog, whom Gandalf calls the, quote, demon of the ancient world.

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Gandalf tells the fellowship to run for their lives. Their lives are in danger. The terrible demon, bellowing fire from his lips, wielding a mighty sword, appears from the shadows and chases after the fellowship. The fellowship race across a narrow bridge where we the audience can see an endless pit of fire and doom beneath them. Gandalf knows that the fierce demon is too great.

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If the demon has the opportunity to cross the bridge, he’ll destroy the fellowship. So Gandalf stands at the entrance to the bridge, wielding his special weapons. With his staff, which is made from the wood of a tree in one hand, and a mighty sword in the other, he blocks the entrance to the bridge, and he tells the demon that he cannot pass. At this point, the demon threatens destruction.

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And Gandalf the Grey holds his ground, claiming his authority to defend the bridge by saying, I am a servant of the secret fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. Anor here refers to the sun. So Gandalf is warning the demon that he wields the flame of the sun, the holy flame feared by evil. Gandalf then tells the demon,

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The dark fire will not avail you. Flame of Udun. Udun refers to hell. So the flame of Udun is the flame of hell. Gandalf is telling the demon that his flame, his fire is no match for the flame of Anor, the flame of the sun. The terrible demon, of course, doesn’t heed Gandalf’s warning. And a terrible battle between Gandalf and Balrog ensues.

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In the books, this fight goes on for 10 straight days. It’s a terrible battle. Ultimately, Gandalf takes his sword to the demon, striking him again and again and again until he triumphantly drives the sword into Barlog’s skull. At this point, the film jumps to an image of the demon tumbling down, down, down into the inky abyss where he ultimately falls into an

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ocean of dark water, which we know represents the primordial waters. The demon has been exiled to the primordial waters. Let’s go ahead and listen to the clip. Now, there isn’t a lot of dialogue in the clip, so you’re just going to have to imagine what this battle looked like. It starts with the demon entering the cavern.

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you

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BOW

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RUN!

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Serpent of the secret fire, Healder of the flame of Arnor. The dark fire will never fail you! Flame of Arnor!

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SHUT UP!

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SHALL NOT!

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Thanks to Gandalf, the Fellowship was able to escape Balrog’s destruction. But they didn’t stick around for the battle, so they had no idea that Gandalf survived. It’s not until the second film, The Two Towers, that the Fellowship learn of Gandalf’s fate, when he suddenly appears to them exuding a brilliant, radiant white light. The Gandalf they see is a new man, a new creature.

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clearly changed. Upon witnessing his glory, the Fellowship falls to their knees in humble adoration. Because remember, it was because of Gandalf’s sacrifice that they personally were saved from Balrog. Gandalf tells the Fellowship the following, quote, On the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth until at last

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I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside.

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The Fellowship now know that Gandalf the Grey won the battle, that he beat Balrog. At this point, the film jumps to an image of Gandalf right after he’s won. He’s absolutely exhausted from the battle, and he collapses to the ground. His clothes are tattered, ashes cover his face, blood’s dripping from his nose. He clearly needs a place to rest, but he has won. He vix-

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notoriously conquered the dragon. But it’s what happens next that’s so important to this episode. Let’s listen to the clip. Again, you’re gonna have to imagine a lot of what’s taking place. Just keep in mind that the clip starts with Gandalf appearing to the fellowship in a white light and the fellowship is dumbfounded by his appearance.

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I mistook you for Saruman. I am Saruman.

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Rather Saruman as he should have been.

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You will.

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Through fire… ..and water. From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I’ve fought him. The Balrog of Oricos.

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At last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside.

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Darkness took me and I strayed out of thought and time. The stars wheeled overhead and every day was as long as a life-age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt life in me again. I’ve been sent back until my task is done.

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Stand out.

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That was what they used to call it.

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God of the Grey.

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That was my name. Gandalf.

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I am Gander of the White.

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Did you catch what happened there? After having conquered Balrog, Gandalf’s name changed from Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White. Pretty much everything in these two clips is 100% in keeping with the theology taught within the ancient tradition. It’s quite astonishing. Here we have a film that was put together just 22 years ago, yet it’s spot on in every way with the theology of the ancient tradition.

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In particular, the theology that dragon slayers are given new names and become glorious beings of ineffable light. And I also want to point out that Gandalf appears to the fellowship in full anthropomorphic form. He has a glorified body of flesh and bone. He’s not immaterial or bodiless. I, of course, can’t make this stuff up. It’s all out there.

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for anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear. I just love how remnants of the ancient tradition are taught right in some of the world’s greatest films. Before I leave this section, I have to give a shout out to my husband. He’s actually the one who made me aware of this clip of Gandalf getting a new name after having slain Balrog. I hadn’t watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a long time, so thank you, sweetheart.

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Number four, a heavenly king decrees the destinies of his offspring. A long time ago in the same text I just mentioned, the Epic of Anzu, we read how the terrible dragon, referred to as Anzu, lusts after the tablet of destinies, which is in the sole possession of the heavenly king Enlil. Driven by the lust for power, Anzu steals the tablet of destinies and flees to his mountain

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The ability to decree destinies must be a very important and powerful responsibility of the High King because this is what the text says, quote, Ansoo often gazed at Duranki’s god, father of the gods, and fixed his purpose to usurp the Enlil power. Now this is Ansoo, the dragon, speaking, quote, I shall take the god’s tablet of destinies for myself.

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and control the orders for all the gods, and I shall possess the throne and be master of rights.” What Ansu says here is pretty intriguing because he says that by controlling the destinies, he’ll have the power to quote, control the orders for all the gods. Orders here refers to the social hierarchy in the heavens, part of which is who’s assigned or appointed to which responsibilities.

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We’ll talk about this more down the line. But clearly from this text and other texts like this, one of the chief responsibilities of heavenly kings is to decree destinies. If you’re interested in listening to an audio recording of the Epic of the Anzu, you can find it on our sister podcast, the Ancient Tradition Audio Rit. It’s not very long. Take note also in this passage that having the tablet of destinies, Anzu believes that this will give him the power

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to be, quote, the master of rites. He’s talking about obtaining the power to preside over the ritual system in heaven. You heard that correctly. Rites, R-I-T-E-S, are performed in heaven. This text attests that rituals are not just an earthly system, but that rites are performed in the heavenly sphere too.

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Now don’t worry too much about this right now. It’ll make a whole, whole lot more sense down the line.

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Number five, a heavenly king gifts special weapons to his offspring to help them win their battle against the dragon. I’ve already dedicated an entire episode, episode number 20, epic swords, golden bows, and ruby slippers to this topic. So I’m not gonna go over it again here, but I do wanna point out that the gifting of special weapons, as you’ll see down the line, is directly connected to religious rights. Again, R-I-T.

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Number six. A heavenly king crowns his dragon-slaying sons and daughters, heavenly kings and queens. We saw this in the Enuma Elish when Marduk was made a heavenly king after he slayed Tiamat. Tablet five reads, speaking of Marduk, who has just come from winning the battle, quote, the whole assembly collected together to prostrate themselves.

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They stood, they bowed. Yes, king, and they’re talking about Marduk here, king indeed. With Cyprus, they sprinkled his body. They’re anointing him with the oil of the Cypristry here, which is done to heal his wounds from the combat. He put on a princely garment, a royal aura, a splendid crown. They, and this is two of the gods, made their voices heard.

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Previously, Marduk was just our beloved son, but now he is our king. I wanna give you another example of this from the Mesopotamian literature. And this is one I haven’t talked about on the podcast yet. It’s the heavenly enthronement of King Emaduranki. Do you remember King Emaduranki? We talked about him a long, long time ago in episode number five, the book of the holy secrets of Enoch.

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so I don’t expect you to remember him. It’s good to keep his name in your back pocket though, because he’s a very, very important figure in the ancient tradition. And we’ll talk about him a ton when we start talking about ritual. In a text known as Fragment K4364, we read how the earthly king, Emma Duranki, is taken into the assembly of the gods, into the presence of the high god Shamash, where he’s made a heavenly king.

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The text reads, Shamash in Ibarah, appointed. Note how Amaduranki’s appointment as a heavenly king comes from the high god Shamash himself. It’s the high heavenly king Shamash who appoints him. Amaduranki, king of Sippor, the beloved of Anu, Enlil, and Eya. Note that Amaduranki is referred to in this text as a quote.

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beloved son, like we see in so many of the ancient texts, be they in ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, or in the ancient Ugaritic or Hebrew literature. This is another one of those things you need to tuck in your back pocket. Note in this passage that Emma Duranki is the beloved of Anu. Let’s keep reading. Shamash and Adod brought him into their assembly. Shamash and Adod honored him.

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Now listen to what Shamash does. Quote, Shamash and Adod set him, Amiduranki, on a large throne of gold. There it is, right there. The high god Shamash sets Amiduranki on a throne. This is the enthronement of King Amiduranki as a heavenly king. And now listen to what King Shamash gives King Amiduranki.

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The text continues, quote, they gave him the tablet of the gods. They give Emadurankhi a tablet, which we assume is the tablet of destinies. What you’re gonna see down the line is that this is essentially the same thing as the book of life in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Now listen to what else Shamash gives Emadurankhi. The text continues, quote, they put in his hand the cedar rod.

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beloved of the great gods.” So what does the high god Shamash give Emma Duranki? He gives him a branch of the sacred tree. He gives him what will be known all across the globe and grasped in the hands of every earthly king today as the royal scepter. The branch of the sacred tree is the royal scepter. Don’t miss what’s going on here. The tree represents the high god Shamash himself.

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So when the high God gives Emma Duranki a branch of the tree, this dramatically conveys to everyone in the ancient world that Emma Duranki is not a self-appointed heavenly king. It unambiguously conveys that the high God himself, the King of heaven, is the one who gave him the power and authority to reign as a heavenly king.

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It conveys that it was the King of Heaven who sanctioned his appointment. And remember, the sacred tree is a symbol. There are layers and layers and layers of meaning going on here. It’s not just about the transference of royal sacred power. In the ancient world, the branch also symbolized offspring. This isn’t too much of a stretch for most of us in the modern world, because it’s common practice today to refer to one’s family line.

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as one’s family tree. The trunk represents the primary progenitor and the branches represent the progenitor’s descendants or offspring. In this symbolic system, the branch of the tree represents not only that the high king sanctioned Emma Duranki’s dominion, but it also symbolizes that he is the offspring of God, that he is a quote son, or as the text says it, the beloved.

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Anu and as the king of heaven’s son he is the rightful heir to the throne and his father’s heavenly kingdom. Note in this symbolism how the tree, offspring, kingship, and sonship are all intimately tied together theologically. All of which is intimately tied to a physical body too. Ultimately a heavenly king

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has the power to exalt and debase. I talked about this quite a bit in episode number 25, the King of Kings. So if you’re interested in this topic, you can learn a whole lot more in that episode. Number seven, a heavenly king, a lot’s kingdoms. I’ve already discussed this on the program. So I only wanna briefly illustrate this here with a passage from the Enuma Elish. In this passage, Marduk,

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who’s been crowned a heavenly king, divides his kingdom up amongst the Anunnaki. In tablet six, we read the following about Marduk. Quote, when he had directed all the decrees, had divided lots for the Anunnaki, all the gods divided the stations of heaven and earth.

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Here we see that Marduk divided up his kingdom and Vealots divided it amongst the Anunnaki. Heavenly kings allot kingdoms. And finally, number eight, a heavenly king presides over the religious rights, R-I-T-E-S, in heaven and on earth. We’ll talk about this more down the line, so I’m not gonna develop it in detail here.

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Suffice it to say that textual evidence for this can be found in the ancient Mesopotamian text, Nidrgal and Ereshkgal that I mentioned earlier. This text says the following, speaking of On, the king of the gods, quote, When he arrived, the gods were kneeling together before him, the great gods, the lords of destiny, for it is he, they’re speaking of On, who controls the rights.

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R-I-T-E-S. That’s a pretty straightforward statement that religious rights exist in the heavens and that it’s the king of heaven who presides over those rights. We see similar statements like this in the Epic of Ansu, the text that I mentioned earlier in today’s episode. When Ansu tells us that one of the reasons he covets the tablet of destinies is because it will give him the ability to control the rights. In tablet one

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Ansoo, who’s the dragon, says, quote, I shall take the tablet of destinies for myself and shall possess the throne and be master of rites. Again, this indicates that rituals are performed in the heavens, and that it is the king of heaven who is the master of those rites. Later on in the Epic of Ansoo in tablet three, after Ninurta has slain the terrible dragon Ansoo,

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The council of the gods want Nunurta to be given the rights, R-I-T-E-S, which we assume are the rights that one must go through in order to be made a heavenly king, which is the reward that Nunurta is to be given for slaying Ansu. This is what the council says, quote, let Enlil, who is a heavenly king, bestow on him Nunurta the rights.

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A few lines later we learn that Enlil, the king of heaven sends a messenger, and this is another thing heavenly kings do, to Ninurta. Listen to what the text says, especially in terms of rites. In this passage, the messenger Enlil sends is speaking to the dragon-slaying Ninurta.

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The gods have heard that you slew wicked Ansu amid the mountains. You captured Ansu, slew him in his powerfulness. Nunurta, because you were so brave and slew the mountain. Now listen to this. You have one complete dominion, every single right. R-I-T-E.

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I can’t overstate how important this ancient Mesopotamian text is because this text unambiguously tells us that the rites that are performed in heaven are rites that grant one, quote, complete dominion. And dominion is kingship. And complete dominion is heavenly kingship. It’s dominion over a cosmic kingdom.

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religious rites are performed in heaven. Number two, those rites, and it appears from this passage that there is more than one rite involved here because the text says, quote, every single rite are rites which have the ability to transform one into a heavenly king, a new man. And number three, we learn from earlier in this tablet that it is God as a heavenly king.

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who has the sole power and authority to authorize the bestowal of these rights. See, Ansu wanted to steal the tablet of destinies so that he would have the power to bestow those rights, so that he would have the power to determine who could and who couldn’t be exalted as a heavenly king or heavenly queen. And of course, this is a futile pursuit because like everything in the heavens, the rights of kingship are dependent on adherence

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the cosmic law of righteousness. And since Ansu is the antithesis of righteousness, the rites would be completely inefficacious in his hands. I could do another five full episodes, which I’m not going to do, on just this topic because there’s just so, so, so much textual and mythological evidence in the ancient world that attests God is a heavenly king.

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I especially love the stuff in the ancient Canaanite Ugaritic literature, as well as the stuff in the Judeo-Christian tradition in the enthronement Psalms and in the New Testament. Not to mention in Hinduism, ancient Greece, Norse mythology, and in China. And hopefully we can cover some of that evidence in our next episode. For the purposes of this episode, it’s very important to recognize that across the ancient

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King. From what we can glean from the ancient Mesopotamian literature, God reigns as a celestial sovereign, a celestial king, over his children, his offspring. And within that capacity, he has established an order, a set of religious rites, by which his children can become heavenly kings like him.

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His is a kingdom of civic and social order. His is a kingdom of celestial order. It’s very important that we start with this understanding of who God is. It’s a powerful stubborn bit. If we’re to understand everything else the ancients tell us happened during Zeptepe, the first time, also known as the Garden of Eden, when the earth was in heaven’s embrace. There is so much more to come.

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With that, I’ll leave you with the words of William Shakespeare. Knowledge is the wing we’re with, we fly to heaven. I’m Jack Logan.

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