The Ancient Tradition

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Musi

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You’re listening to The Ancient tradition.  A Wonk Media Production.  Music provided by Joseph McDade.  Here’s your host, Dr. Jack Logan.

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Welcome to The Ancient Tradition.  I’m your host,  Jack Logan.

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It’s great to be with you today. It’s another beautiful day outside. I love it when it’s a beautiful day. It’s a wonderful day to talk about some of the important things that the ancients taught. Today we have a kind of an intriguing topic. The title of today’s episode is The Seven Sages Perfect in Lofty Wisdom. Now, before I jump into that, I kind of want to give a little bit of a summary of some of the main points that we’ve talked about in the last couple of episodes. In terms of the chronology of the podcast, we’re presently talking about the time

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when the earth was in heaven’s embrace.  As I pointed out, one of the most significant stubborn bits that we find around the world is the almost  universal attestation by the ancients that when the earth was first created, it was created in very close physical proximity to heaven. People’s all around the world used various expressions to convey the close physical relationship between heaven and earth.

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Many of these we talked about in episode number 42, Anki, the Earth and Heaven’s Embrace. But just as a quick example, in Benin, which is a country in West Africa, they teach that, quote, in the early times, the sky was, quote, close, only about two meters from the Earth. And if we go to Australia, members of the Wawadjiri tribe, Aboriginals native to New South Wales, teach

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quote, the sky at one time in the ages ago was not up high where it is now. It was down so low to the ground. As we pointed out a couple of episodes ago, the ancients symbolically associated the closeness in the beginning between heaven and earth with the marital and conjugal union between God and his wife. So if we go to page 82 of traditional cosmology, volume one, which was written by

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Marinus van der Sluis. explains this really well. He writes,  quote, just as the future pair of heaven and earth were supposed to have formed an original unit in the days of chaos. So the distinction of the sexes of which heaven and earth formed the prototypes in numerous cultures could be thought to have been preceded by a primordial epic of

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hieros gamos or sacred marriage  of the divine pair. That the Sumerians regarded the former union of heaven and earth as a sexual one can be gleaned from a Sumerian creation text from the early dynastic period, according to which at first, and now he’s going to quote a text here,  on heaven and key earth were resounding together.

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And when informants from Nanumea Tuvalu, an island located in Polynesia, relate that quote, the heavens and the earth  united  in marriage at the onset of time, they refer to the original low position of the sky. What Vandersloot says here is quite important because it confirms what we’ve been arguing on the podcast for the past several episodes,  which is that the ancients

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unequivocally taught two important things. First, they taught that in the beginning the earth existed physically close to heaven. And  second, they taught that God was not a singular being. They taught that God had a wife  and that in the beginning God and his wife were married  and  their  sacred marriage, their heroes gamos as a divine pair, was one that had the capacity to produce children.

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As we established in our last episode, the ancients often used a bull to symbolically emphasize God’s tremendous procreative power. In fact,  in the ancient world, one of the greatest defining characteristics of God was  his capacity to produce children, sons, and daughters. A power that he shared with his wife, the High Goddess, who

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was consistently portrayed across the ancient world as a mother, the mother of a divine family. And as we saw in our last episode, several peoples around the world taught that when heaven and earth were close together, God and his wife did just that, produced children, children who would later be born on earth. The Minyong people of India described these children as we use,  spirit beings.

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And the Maori of New Zealand described the time when heaven and earth were close together as full of God and his wife’s children, quote, children they had begotten.  And the Celts of the British Isles described heaven and earth at this time as being, quote, crowded with, quote, their children. And the Zuni of North America described the children that were born to God and his wife in this pre-earth time as, quote,  myriad progeny.

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who were anxious to leave the pre-earth existence because they were quote,  unfinished creatures. And they quote, sought to escape so they could quote,  grow  wiser and wisdom, something we’re going to talk about today and become quote, manlike. One of the interesting things the ancients taught about the pre-earth existence  is that the children who were born to God and his wife during this time,  be they gods or human beings in spirit form,

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varied in terms of their character. The ancients attest that some of the beings who existed during this time were rebellious beings, beings who defiantly opposed the high god. And we’ve seen this throughout the podcast. This is set in ancient Egypt and Tiamat in Mesopotamia and Yam and Canaan,  Rahab in Israel and Uli Kumi among the hit types. And that’s just to name a few.

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And just like we saw in our last episode, the Greeks described six of Uranus and Gaia’s twelve sons as monsters, which is the way the ancients traditionally depicted those who had a rebellious, malevolent character. Hesiod said the following of Uranus and Gaia’s rebellious sons  on line 154 of his Theogony, quote, For all the children that were born of Gaia and Uranus, these

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were the most terrible, which is why they are symbolically portrayed as monsters.  And we also saw in the last episode that ancient Egyptians attested that the beings who inhabited the pre-earth realm varied in terms of status. When King Kede taught his son, Merakare,  that sacral kings were chosen, quote,  in the egg, which refers to the cosmic egg, that pre-earth realm, when he says, quote, he,  God,

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made for them rulers in the egg. So he made some of them rulers and others not. They had a different status. This indicates that some of God and his wife’s children who inhabited the pre-earth realm  were chosen before they were born on earth to perform specific responsibilities while they inhabited the earth as human beings, which is actually something that’s also attested to in the Judeo-Christian tradition in the Old Testament.

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in the book of Jeremiah chapter one verses four and five where the Lord Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament tells  Jeremiah himself the following and this is the King James version quote, then the word of the Lord came unto me. This is Jeremiah saying before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.

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and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” So note here how Yahweh specifically tells Jeremiah, before  I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. So Yahweh’s telling Jeremiah that even before he was conceived on earth, so he’s talking about a pre-earth, quote, knowing of Jeremiah. He knew him. The Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges says this of this phrase, I knew thee, quote.

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I knew the meaning not mere acquaintance, but choice  as a consequence of knowledge. So  Yahweh knows who Jeremiah is, knows Jeremiah’s character. So this indicates that before Jeremiah was born on earth in a pre-earth realm, Yahweh had a knowledge of Jeremiah’s character. And as a consequence of that knowledge, Yahweh sanctified  and fordained Jeremiah to be a prophet in this life.

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The pulpit commentary says this of Newthi, quote,  Newthi took notice of the virtually equivalent to selected thee. Observe the predestination of individuals is a familiar idea in the Old Testament. Compare Isaiah 45 verse four, Isaiah 49 verse one, Psalm 139 verse 16. It was also familiar to the Assyrians.

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King Ashurbanipal declares at the opening of his annals that the gods, quote, in the body of his mother had made him to rule Assyria. Now, it wasn’t just the Assyrians who had tested to the doctrine that certain individuals were chosen before they were born to fulfill certain responsibilities while on earth. This is part of a larger, stubborn bit that we see  absolutely across the entire ancient world that describes to God the power

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to quote  decree  destinies, which we’re going to talk about more in a coming episode. I want to stress here again that in Jeremiah chapter one, verse five, it’s Yahweh. Yahweh himself, who’s attesting to the doctrine that in a pre-earth realm, before Jeremiah was born on earth, that he knew him  and  sanctified him. That’s super intriguing because this suggests that some  level of sanctification

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took place in some way in the pre-earth realm and that Jeremiah had to have existed as a being in the pre-earth realm. Because after all, how can something be sanctified if it does not exist? This goes for Jeremiah’s preordination to be a prophet too. Now listen to Yahweh’s words one more time. Quote,

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And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” So here we see Yahweh himself attest that in a pre-earth realm, he knew,  pre-sanctified, and pre-ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet while he was on earth as a human being. Now, one of the more interesting stubborn bits that I’ve come across in the ancient world  is an account

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found among the Mesopotamians, ancient Egyptians, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Greeks, Kurds, Jews, Christians, Mayans, Easter Islanders,  and the Ojibwe of the Great Lakes region  of  seven sages. Seven sages who were born  in the pre-earth realm and whom we assume were chosen because of their exceptional character, their wisdom and holiness, which these accounts attest to.

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in the primordial pre-earth realm to perform special responsibilities on earth. And one of these responsibilities  is extremely important in terms of the entire premise of the podcast. And that was the responsibility to transmit the religious teachings God taught  in the pre-earth realm, which we refer to on this program as the ancient tradition. And they were to teach it in the first time to human beings on earth.

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Now I want to start with the oldest known account of the seven sages, which is found in Mesopotamia. And then we’ll work our way forward and see what we can learn about these seven beings.  In Assyrian, these seven sages are known as the primeval Apkalu,  A-P-K-A-L-L-U, which according to the Assyrian dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago,  Volume One, was the word that was used to denote a quote, wise,

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man, expert,  sage,  and or priest. So apkalo here is referring to the wisdom that these individuals or sages have. There’s a Mesopotamian text which consists of five cuneiform tablets. It’s known as ira and isham, dated to around 800 BC. And this tells us the following about the apkalo on tablet  one.

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Line 162, and this is the Stephanie Dally translation.  And this is Marduk speaking, quote, where are the seven sages of the Apsu, the holy carp who are perfect in lofty wisdom like Ea, their Lord, who can make my body holy? Okay, there’s a lot worth talking about in this passage.

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The first couple of things that we learn about these seven beings is that Mesopotamians considered them to be exceptionally wise.  In fact, the text says they are, quote, perfect in lofty wisdom, which is why Mesopotamians gave them the name Apkalu. We’re gonna look at what the Mesopotamians meant by wisdom in just a second. The second thing we learn is that these seven wise beings or sages were, quote, holy.

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And from what the passage says, they also had the capacity to make others holy. When Marduk says, where are the seven sages of the Apsu who can make my body holy? We’re going to talk about those things a little bit more. So hold on to them. Interestingly, the Akkadian word that Dali translates as holy in this passage  is ebutu, which comes from the root ebu, which in Akkadian means pure, clean.

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And get this,  shining or bright. A concise dictionary of Akkadian, which is available if you’re interested on the Electronic Babylonian Library, tells us the word ebu means, quote, bright, pure,  bright, shiny. So note here how the Akkadian language connects purity or holiness to brightness or shining.

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If you’ll recall in episode number 29, Who is God, a Glorious Being of Light, we discussed the theology behind this and why it is.  Which is that  the more one upholds the cosmic law, which brings about order, the more one takes on light. And  God, who perfectly upholds the cosmic law, takes on an exceptional radiance that the ancients  compared to fire. This is why in the ancient world, God is often symbolized by the sun.

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and other deified beings are symbolized by stars. In ancient Egypt in Pyramid Text 409, the deceased King Teti exclaims, quote,  I am a bull of  light. Now, just as a quick aside, note in this text how King Teti refers to himself as a bull, a bull of light.  Why a shining bull? If you’ve been listening to the program recently, then you already know. It’s because he’s trying to express that as a god,

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He now, like a bull, has exceptional power. And like a bull, he now has the exceptional capacity to produce children. And he’s a bull of  light because he perfectly upholds Ma’at. In the theology of the ancient tradition, a shining bull is the perfect symbol of God. So when we see in the Mesopotamian text, Ere and Isham, that the seven sages are described as holy beings,

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and that the word used for holy also denotes one who radiates or shines, then we know that these beings are in perfect theological alignment with what we see elsewhere. In fact, in an earlier Sumerian text dated between 1900 and 1700 BC, known as K5119, the seven Apkalu are described using the Sumerian word zaleg.

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which according to Patrick C. Ryan’s Sumerian Glossary means,  light, brightness, to shine, gleam, to cleanse, purify, and bright, luminous, pure. Erica Rayner in her article, The Ideological Myth of the Seven Sages, published in volume 30 of Orientalia, actually translates  zalag,

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which shows up in line five as brilliant. Her translation reads, quote, they are the seven  brilliant Apkallus, Puradu fish of the sea. Puradu is the word for carp. So it doesn’t matter if we’re reading in Sumerian or Akkadian,  the words that are used to describe these seven beings are words that denote holiness, purity, and shining brilliance.

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Anemesopotamian manuscript dated to around 750 BC, it’s known as K7823. Lines 172, 175, and 179 mention that when statues were made of these seven sages, they needed to be quote, clad in white paste. Dr. Parpola, an Assyrian scholar who I’m gonna talk about more in just a second.

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writes about the meaning of this on page 20 of the introduction of his book, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars.  Ritual texts state that the sages were dressed in white garments, clearly symbolizing the purity of their souls. So when we put the descriptions all together,  the seven sages appeared  as shining beings dressed in white.

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Holy  wise beings. If we continue reading in line six of K 5119, we learn like we did in Ere and Isham that these beings came out of water. Lines five and six read, quote, they are the seven brilliant Apkallus, Paradoo fish  of the sea. Seven Apkallus grown in the river. Now grown here means born.

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So like in the text, Ere and Isham, where we’re told that the seven sages are quote,  of the Apsu, here we see that they are quote, of the sea, and were quote, grown in the river. The Apsu, the sea and the river all refer to the same waters. Now if you remember, in ancient Mesopotamia, the Apsu refers to the primordial waters, the great chaotic deep, out of which  all creation emerges.

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when  order is imposed on chaotic matter. This text refers to the seven sages symbolically as carp or fish, because just like fish, these seven beings were born out of the primordial waters. Remember when God cosmicizes or imposes order on chaos, that cosmicizing process sanctifies and purifies the chaotic or profane matter or being. So anything that emerges

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out of the primordial waters. know, it doesn’t matter if it’s the earth or the seven sages or even like we see in baptism in the Judeo-Christian tradition  is the embodiment of all that is sanctified, holy and pure, which  is exactly how these seven sages are described. These seven sages are the antithesis of profane. The water is profane. What comes out of the water precisely because it has been

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is sanctified, holy,  and pure. You should also recall that Enki, the son of the Sumerian high god On,  built his temple on the top of the Primordial Waters and he named it Apsu, a temple which you’ll recall, like all Mesopotamian temples, was a microcosmic model of the earth  and or the entire cosmos, the macrocosm. So  Enki’s temple,

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also symbolically represented the earth being formed or created out of the primordial waters  as is taught  all over the ancient world. So you should see here there’s layers and layers here. We can read about Enki building his temple  on the top of the Apsu, the primordial waters in the Enuma Elish. If we go to tablet one, line 61 to 78, we find it there. Now I’m going to read the whole passage.

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And while I do listen for many of the stubborn bits that we’ve discussed to this point on the program, like divine utterance, slaying the dragon, rest, the sacred center, building a temple, kingship, divine marriage, and the birth of offspring, the birth of a very special royal son. Starting in line 61, it reads, and this is the Wayne Horowitz translation, quote, he, which is enki,

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designed and implemented a comprehensive plan. So this passage refers to Enki designing a plan for his temple on the Primordial Waters. I continue. He skillfully prepared it. His outstanding holy spell, he recited it, made it rest on the waters. So here we see that Enki recites a quote,  holy spell.

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The Akkadian word that’s translated as spell here  is  Siptu, which means an incantation. So what we’re really talking about here, because Enki is a god,  is divine utterance. And note how the passage describes Enki’s divine utterance as a quote, holy or sacred utterance. So the passage could be rendered, Enki skillfully prepared it, his outstanding holy utterance.

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He recited it, made it, the holy utterance, rest on the waters. This is Enki, the son of the high god On, commanding the chaotic elements by sacred divine utterance to order themselves into the temple he had designed a plan for. And remember, again, the Mesopotamian temple was a microcosmic model or a symbolic representation of the earth.

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When the passage tells us in a minute that Enki quote erected his temple on the waters.  Just remember that a temple and the earth are virtually synonymous. So this passage could really be talking about Enki commanding the chaotic elements to form an earth. It’s worth noting right here that these holy utterances are usually performed as part of a religious rite, which suggests that God formed the earth.

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by way  of a sacred religious rite or ordinance, which is pretty intriguing. I continue. He poured sleep  over him, and him here refers to the Apsu, the chaotic elements,  and or  the chaos monster or dragon like Tiamat, while he was resting peacefully.

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So what we’re reading in this passage is the effect of the holy divine utterance that Enki spoke. The holy utterance subdues the chaotic elements  and or the chaos dragon or monster. Remember, like we saw in our last episode in Greece, when Uranus’s terrible sons are described as monsters, monsters and dragons are usually symbolic representations of a rebellious child or son. I continue. When he put Opsu to sleep, pouring out slumber,

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Mumu the advisor so Mumu is the dragon’s visor here through lack of sleep was in a stupor He Enki untied the dragon’s bands and then removed his tiara This last line is pretty interesting. The text tells us that Enki quote removed the ops who are dragons tiara We all know tiara’s a crown. So Like we discussed very early on in the podcast

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The ancients tell us that the dragon used to be a royal son,  one who shined like gold, which suggests that at one time he upheld the cosmic law. And so right in this passage, we see that because of his rebellion, Enki removes his crown. He removes his tiara. Now listen to what else Enki removes. I continue, quote, then he took his aura and he himself

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put it on. So here we see Enki stripping the dragon of his aura. The aura referred to here is the dragon’s former light and glory, the radiance it once possessed while faithfully following the cosmic law. Now having rebelled against God and having cast aside the cosmic law, the dragon no longer had the right to wear this light. So Enki

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triumphant takes the dragon’s light or aura and then he places it upon himself. Enki has conquered the dragon and then by conquering the dragon, which is akin to perfectly upholding the cosmic lock, Enki  naturally radiates with an even greater light. I continue.  After he defeated and slew Apsu, he fettered Mumu, putting a stop to him. So Enki shuts down all of the dragon’s minions too.

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With the dragon conquered, now Enki has the right to build a temple or a world. The passage continues, quote, he erected his home  on Apsu, grasped Mumu holding his lease. Here we see that Enki successfully builds his temple or earth, which will be his quote home. I continue,  after Enki defeated and vanquished his enemies,

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He established his victory over his foes. So what does he do?  What’s gonna do now that he’s conquered the dragon? The passage continues, quote, he rested peacefully inside his cella. So what did Enki do? He rested. Yes, he rested from the fight, from the struggle with the dragon. This is why the Sabbath day is called a day of rest in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

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After six days of fighting the dragon, on the seventh day when the earth has been fully created, when the creator’s temple has been fully erected, the creator enters his cella and  rests from the battle. And what’s a cella? Well, a cella is the core inner sanctum of an ancient temple, an inner sanctum which symbolically represents the divine center, the most sacred place in all of the cosmos.

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The place that is utterly protected from all that is profane, the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwells. Let’s continue because there’s more. Quote, he rested peacefully inside his cella. He named it  Apsu whose shrines he appointed. Here we see that Enki named the temple or the world he built  Apsu, which is relevant to our discussion of the seven sages because the text we read

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tell us that these seven sages came  out of the Apsu, which also seems to indicate that these seven sages were associated with Enki’s temple. Now listen to what the passage says next. It’s quite interesting. Quote, he rested inside his cella. He named it Apsu, whose shrines he appointed. There. So we’re talking about the cella, the inner sanctum. He, Enki, established his bed chamber.

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Enki and Damkina, his spouse,  dwelt there in splendor. So here we see that Enki, the creator,  is married. He’s married to Damkina and together they dwell in the cella, in the sacred center, in the sacred inner sanctum, the divine center of the temple or earth. The inner sanctum, which the passage also tells us, is Enki’s, quote, bedchamber.

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So note here how the inner sanctum or Holy of Holies is directly associated in this passage with Enki’s bedroom where children are conceived. So let’s keep reading. Unfortunately, Horowitz’s translation ends here at line 78. So I’m going to skip over to Stephanie Dally’s translation and pick up at line 79. Quote, in the chamber of destinies, the hall of designs, bell, cleverest of the clever,

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Sage of the gods was  begotten. So here we see as straightforward as can be a quote  sage of the gods is begotten. A child is born to Enki and Damkina. And I also want you to take note here that the inner sanctum, sacred center or bed chamber is called the chamber of destinies in this passage. Tuck that away because there again we have the word destinies.

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which is going to be relevant in an episode coming very soon. Also take note in this passage that the child that was born is referred to as a sage, a sage of the gods. Let’s keep reading and see if any other children are born. Quote, and inside Apsu, this is Enki’s temple, Marduk was created. Inside pure Apsu, Marduk was born. Enki, his father, created him.

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Damkina, his mother bore him. So here we see that a very special son is born. A son who in the Enuma Elish will himself go on to conquer the dragon and gain the privilege of creating a temple and or an earth. This passage goes on to describe this son Marduk in the following way and note the anthropomorphic language used. Quote, elevated far above them he Marduk

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was superior in every way. When his lips moved, fire blazed forth. And likewise the eyes, they perceived everything. Highest among the gods, his form was outstanding. His limbs were very long, his height outstanding. Okay, I know that was a bit of a detour, but it’s an important one, because I wanted to illustrate to you how Enki’s temple, the ops who fits into the picture.

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especially in relation to the seven sages. I also wanted to show you how Enki’s temple lines up with  all of the other stubborn bits we’ve discussed to this point in the program, especially the more recent episodes where we’ve discussed the evidence  that attests that God is a married being and that God and his wife are the parents of a divine family. It’s all right there, right in the Enuma Elish. If you’re interested in listening to a full audio recording of the Enuma Elish, which

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is the Mesopotamian creation myth. You can find it on our sister podcast, the Ancient Tradition Audio Rit, which is available wherever you get your podcasts. All right. So when we read in the Mesopotamian text, Ere and Isham, that the seven sages are the quote, seven sages  of the Apsu. This is probably meant to be understood as having multiple meanings.

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One of which is that we are to understand that  these sages emerged out of the primordial waters, the Apsu,  as sanctified, holy, radiant beings when the waters were cosmicized. And second, that we’re to understand that these seven sages were directly associated with Enki’s temple, the Apsu, where we just learned that Enki and his wife, Damkina, conceived and gave birth to sages  in the sacred center

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in their quote bed chamber. There’s actually several reasons to believe that these seven sages served in Enki’s temple as priests. The first reason is just because of the term that’s used to describe them, Apkalu. In the Assyrian dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, volume one, Apkalu is given three definitions,  wise man, mythological sage,

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which is a direct reference to these seven sages as an entity. And third, priest. And as you might guess, there’s a deep connection between being a wise man, having  wisdom and serving as a temple priest, one who’s authorized to perform religious rites in Enki’s temple. Miriam Webster’s dictionary defines sage  as, quote,  one who is distinguished

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for wisdom. So  we’re seeing again and again and again and again an association between these seven beings and this notion of wisdom, which is why English translators refer to these seven beings as sages. It’s because of their exceptional wisdom. In fact, as I noted earlier in line 162 of tablet one of Era and Isham, the main thing that’s emphasized about these seven sages  is their wisdom.

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Listen to what Marduk says about their wisdom, quote, where are the seven sages of the Apsu, the holy carp who are perfect in lofty wisdom like Enki, their Lord? This statement is important because wise man was a divine epitaph for the god Enki.

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A Mesopotamian text mentioned on page 171 in the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Volume 1 reads, quote, Enki,  great prince  whose decrees take precedence, the wise one among the gods, the one who knows everything. So in this text, we see that the prince,  the son of the high god, On, note that it’s using royal epitaphs here.

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is described as being wise because he quote, knows everything. In one old Babylonian text, Enki is called Lord of Secret Lore. In a text known as the Hymn to Nenurta, Nenurta is told in line 21 that his ears are like Enki and his wife Damkinas, the quote, sages of wisdom. The text reads quote, your ears are

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Enki and Damkina,  sages of wisdom. Note in this passage how it’s not only the god Enki who’s described as a sage of wisdom,  but his wife,  the goddess Damkina is too. Enki and Damkina are a divine couple who are quote sages of wisdom. So it’s quite something that the seven sages are called quote perfect in lofty wisdom  like Enki because

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It tells us that these seven sages had acquired an exceptionally high level of wisdom, wisdom that was perfect, like the god Enki and his wife, Damkina. So at this point, we’ve got to ask,  what is this wisdom? What is this, quote, lofty wisdom that the seven sages had? What did the ancient Mesopotamians mean by wisdom? On page 14 and 15 of the introduction of the book,

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letters from Assyrian and Babylonian scholars. The editor, Dr. Simo Parpola, a Finnish Assyriologist who specialized in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and taught  at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago,  notes that for a Mesopotamian earthly man to qualify as a quote wise man, he had to be proficient  in esoteric knowledge.

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Parpola writes, quote, the designation wise men accorded to them derives from the fact that they represented mutually complimentary branches of Mesopotamian wisdom, an extensive body of traditional,  largely esoteric knowledge. Insight into the supernatural or numinous was considered the greatest  wisdom of all.

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the foundations of which were believed to have been laid by the gods themselves. Here, Dr. Parpola explains that by wisdom, the ancient Mesopotamians were referring in large part to a body of esoteric knowledge. So if we look up what esoteric means in Webster’s dictionary, esoteric refers to a body of knowledge that is, quote, designed for and understood by the specially initiated alone.

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In other words, Dr. Parpola is telling us that to be considered a wise man in ancient Mesopotamia, one had to be privy to a body of religious knowledge that was only taught to those who had been initiated. In a religious context, to be initiated refers to the process of formally entering a religion or a new stage in that religion, which is most often done by way of specific rituals or ceremonies. And as you’re going to see down the line,

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This initiation process  and the subsequent transmission of esoteric knowledge was taught primarily in Mesopotamian temples  in  the Sacred Center. Now, what’s really important for this program is the last part of what Dr. Aparpola says. This entire podcast is built on the premise that a pure,  theologically rich religious tradition, which

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we refer to on the program as the ancient tradition was imparted to human beings in deep antiquity in the beginning by God or God’s emissaries. That’s the premise of this podcast. Here, Dr. Parpola tells us that ancient Mesopotamians attested to exactly that. They taught that the esoteric knowledge they had had been established by the gods themselves.

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Parpola says as much when he says, quote, insight into the supernatural or numinous was considered the greatest wisdom of all, the foundations of which were believed to have been laid  by the gods themselves. In other words, ancient Mesopotamians taught that the religion they practiced in their temples

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was a religion that had been established by the gods in the primordial realm and then it was transmitted to them. Well, how was the esoteric knowledge imparted to them? On page 17 of the introduction, Dr. Parpola writes that a text known as the catalog of texts and authors found in the library of Asher Bonipal gives detailed information about the origins of the wisdom tradition practiced among ancient Mesopotamians.

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Dr. Parpola writes,  several important collections of scholarly lore are in this text explicitly attributed to Enki, the god of wisdom. So here Parpola tells us that  ancient Mesopotamians explicitly state in their texts that they received some of this special esoteric knowledge directly from the god Enki himself. Parpola goes on.

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The other compositions listed in the text covering a wide range of scientific, philosophical, and religious works are assigned either to legendary sages, the Apkalu, or to historical scholars known as Umanu. It’s worth noting that some of the compositions attributed to human authors  are said to have been revealed to them in a vision. And thus,  in the final analysis,  also

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were of divine origin. So here we see that the ancient Mesopotamians attested that the wisdom tradition or the religious esoteric knowledge the initiated received was of divine origin. They attest that it had been given to them by way of three sources, through the god Enki himself, through these seven sages we’ve been talking about, and through earthly umanu, religious experts or scholars,

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to whom this knowledge had been revealed to them by way of a vision. So this is where the seven sages take on great importance in terms of the premise of this podcast. Cause remember ancient Mesopotamians taught that these sages were quote, perfect in lofty wisdom like Enki. In other words, these seven sages had been fully initiated in and had a perfect comprehension of the esoteric knowledge

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established by the gods, just like the god Enki did. Since what we’re learning here is so important to the premise of the podcast, I want to continue reading what Dr. Parpola writes. Continuing on page 17, he says, quote, the catalog. Now he’s referring here to the catalog of letters that he compiled for his book, which had been written by Assyrian and Babylonian scholars.

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highlights two  fundamentally important aspects of the Mesopotamian scholarly lore. Its divine and inspired origin, making it a collection of sacred writings comparable to Holy Writ,  and the special  role of mythical sages as unfolders of divine wisdom to humanity, described as follows in the Babylonian of

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Right here, Dr. Propola is going to quote Borosus’ statement about the seven sages and the role they played in imparting or transmitting the esoteric tradition to ancient Mesopotamians.  Borosus was a third century BC Babylonian writer who served as a high priest in the Esa-Gila temple, a temple that was dedicated to Marduk in the city of Babylon. This is what Borosus recounts about the seven sages.

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In the first year, beast named Oannes appeared from the Erythraean Sea in a place adjacent to Babylonia. So Herod Berosus tells us that one of the seven sages,  sage by the name Oannes, appeared from the Erythraean Sea. The Erythraean Sea is a large maritime area that includes like the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf and a lot of others. This is most likely being referenced here as a cultural expression of the primordial waters.

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I continue.  It, he’s referring to one of the seven sages, gave to men the knowledge of letters and sciences and crafts of all types. It also taught them how to found cities, establish temples, introduce laws and measure land. It also revealed to them seeds and the gathering of fruits and in general gave men everything which is connected with the civilized life. From the time of that beast, nothing further has been discovered.

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But when the sun set, this beast, Oanez, plunged back into the sea and spent the nights in the deep. Later, other beasts also appeared. He says that these creatures altogether explained in detail the things which had been spoken summarily by Oanez. So here we see that these seven sages, especially Oanez, taught the people not only how to establish temples,

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but they also taught the people how to write quote letters and sciences and crafts of all types, everything that was necessary  for civilized society. We actually find  numerous examples across the world of God or God’s emissaries, special beings appearing  often out of water and teaching the people important religious doctrines  and the skills that they needed for civilized life. And we’ll get into some of those accounts down the line.

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Now, Dr. Propola goes on to note that after the seven sages distilled the esoteric tradition to human beings  before the flood, after the flood, the secret tradition was passed down through four human sages who kept or guarded it. He writes, quote, after the flood, the tradition lists, quote, four sages of human descent whom the Lord Enki endowed with

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broad understanding. The last of these, however, is only two-thirds of sage, marking the transition from semi-divine sages, which refers to the seven sages, to human scholars who from this point on appear  as the guardians  of the tradition. Here, Parpola stresses that the Mesopotamian scribally leaked human beings

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saw themselves as the keepers or the guardians of the sacred esoteric knowledge that had survived from anti-deluvian times. Dr. Parpola goes on to stress that the time before the flood, when the sages taught the esoteric tradition, was the time or quote, history of revelation. He begins by quoting a scholar by the name of Helge Kvarnvig, a professor emeritus in theology.

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out of the University of Oslo.  To quote Kvarnvig, the period before the flood was the history of revelation in Babylonian theology. In this period, the basis for  all later knowledge was laid. Writings originating in this period would accordingly have a special authority. The history which follows is the time when this revelation is transmitted and unfolded.

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Accordingly, the role of the scholars, these are the human scholars, can be defined as that of the transmitters and unfolders of received wisdom. Interestingly, on fragment four of Borosus’ Babylonian history, which was published in 278 BC, Borosus recounts how God appeared to Zesuthras, which is the Greek name for Noah.

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which interestingly in terms of kingship was believed to be the last king of Sumer before the flood and commanded him to take the tablets  that recorded the special esoteric knowledge and a lot of the other knowledge that they distilled and bury them in Sippar, which is located today in modern day Iraq. The original account that was written by Eborosus was lost, but a ninth century AD Byzantine author by the name of George Sincellus

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recorded what Berosus wrote. It reads, quote, Cronus, who’s identified with Enki, appeared to Zesuthris, which is Noah, in a dream and revealed that on the 15th of the month, Daisos, mankind would be destroyed by a great flood. He then ordered him to bury together all the tablets, the first, the middle, and the last, and hide them in Sippar.

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Zesuthras does this and then after the flood is over, he disembarks the ship and he builds an altar, but then he’s never seen again. A voice comes from the heavens and tells the people that remain to go back to Sippar and to dig the tablets back up. The text reads, quote, the voice then instructed them to return to Babylonia to go to the city of Sippar, as it was fated for them to do, to dig up the tablets that were buried there.

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and turned them over to mankind. And those who had arrived in Babylonia dug up the tablets in the city of Sippar and brought them out. They built many cities and erected temples to the gods. As is written right here, it’s widely taught in the ancient world that during the time of the flood, this esoteric knowledge was preserved by Noah. In fact, the entire focus of the Epic of Gilgamesh

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is Gilgamesh’s quest to find Atrahasis or Utnapishtim. Both of those are names for the Mesopotamian Noah. So that Gilgamesh can gain access to this special esoteric knowledge or wisdom that originated with the gods. Because if he does, it will secure for him eternal life. In fact, according to Stephanie Dalley, the name Atrahasis itself, when it’s rendered into English means  one who is extra wise or exceedingly wise.

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So the name given to Noah here is one who is extra wise. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, this special esoteric knowledge is guarded by sacred silence and is referred to as the, quote,  secret of the great gods. know, Gilgamesh knows that if he can find Atra-Hasis, Atra-Hasis can impart to him the special knowledge  and then Gilgamesh will know what he needs to know to gain eternal life. In tablet 11,

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We learn that the god Enki revealed this special knowledge to Atra-Hasis in a dream. Tablet 11 reads, and this is the god Enki speaking, quote,  I did not disclose the secret of the great gods. I just showed Atra-Hasis a dream, and thus he heard the secret of the gods.

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Gilgamesh scours the countryside. He searches everywhere for Atrahasis, the exceedingly wise one. He battles monsters and crosses rivers and climbs great mountains. When Gilgamesh finally finds Atrahasis, Atrahasis tells Gilgamesh that this sacred esoteric knowledge, this secret of the gods, could be found in a special plant, the plant of life, which, yes, is akin to the tree of life.

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In the epic, this plant or tree is a symbolic representation of the esoteric knowledge that Gilgamesh needs to gain eternal life. In Tablet 11, and this is the Stephanie Dally translation, Atra-Hasis tells Gilgamesh the following,  let me reveal a closely guarded matter, Gilgamesh. So note here how this knowledge is, quote, closely guarded.

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We’re starting to get the picture here  that the religious tradition that was parted in the beginning had a very important esoteric component to it. And let me tell you the secret of the gods. There is a plant whose root is like camel thorn, whose thorn like a roses will spike your hands. If you yourself can win that plant, you will find rejuvenation.

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Now, if you’re familiar with the epic, you know that Gilgamesh is unable to win this plant, which makes the epic of Gilgamesh  a real tragedy. But the epic itself, everything in it speaks to the importance of this closely guarded esoteric religious tradition that ancient Mesopotamians tell us was revealed very, very early in Mesopotamian history  by the god Enki himself  or these seven sages, these seven pure, clean

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shining beings who were dressed in white garments and, quote, perfect and lofty wisdom, and which, according to the Mesopotamians, was authored by the gods themselves. If you’re interested in listening to a full audio recording of the Epic of Gilgamesh, you can find it on our sister podcast, The Ancient Tradition Audio Rit. Now, what we learn next about these seven sages, these

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Divine intermediaries or emissaries of Enki is that in the beginning, when they revealed this sacred esoteric knowledge, they revealed it first and foremost to the early Mesopotamian kings, which makes perfect sense because we know the theology of the ancient tradition is a theology of cosmic kingship. If you’re new to the program and you aren’t familiar with this theology, there’s a lot of our back episodes that are dedicated to kind of laying it all out.

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worth listening to. Now, Erica Rayner, who I mentioned earlier on page four of her article, The Ideological Myth of the Seven Sages, refers to a set of cuneiform fragments which associate these seven sages with a particular early Mesopotamian king. On page seven, she speaks about the content of these fragments. Quote, none of the Apkallus mentioned is himself a king.

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but is also associated with a famed king of old. The text states clearly that Nunpirigaldim, which is the name of one of the sages, was the Apkalu of Enmerkar, that Lunana, which is another name of one of the sages, was Apkalu under Shulgi, allowing us to conjecture that each was a noted person during a particular reign, excelling in superior wisdom.

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A topos later taken up by the Assyrian kings when they boast of being endowed with a wisdom equal to that of the Apkallus. Now Enmerkar and Shulgi were ancient Mesopotamian kings. So from these fragments, we see that these sages endowed the early kings with special wisdom, which of course indicates that these early kings were fully initiated

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in the esoteric knowledge authored by the gods. I want to keep reading what Dr. Pappola says about this esoteric wisdom because he connects it directly to the king and so many of the other things that we’ve discussed on the program, like the sacred tree. I want you to see how  all of this is deeply interconnected. On page 15 of the introduction, he writes,  Mesopotamian wisdom provided a comprehensive

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and systematic explanation of the world starting from the basic proposition that God had created the universe as a mirror of his existence and as his image. Okay,  did you catch that? Dr. Parpola just said that part of the esoteric wisdom that Enki and the sages taught was a, quote, comprehensive and systematic explanation of the world, the creation. And then he tells us that

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one basic principle undergirded this wisdom. And what was the basic principle? Dr. Pappolo writes, quote, the basic proposition that God had created the universe as a mirror of his existence and man  as his image. So on what principle was this esoteric wisdom  built?  Well,

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Dr. Popola is telling us right here that it was built  on the principle  as above, so below. It’s the principle that God created the earth as a mirror image of what was above of his kingdom  and that man was created as a mirror image of God himself. That’s what Dr. Popola is saying. And we’ve discussed this principle many times on the program, but right here, Dr. Popola says,

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It was  the basic principle on which the entire Mesopotamian religion was understood. Now this is important to recognize because this principle helps us understand much, much better the role of the Mesopotamian king in the ancient world. Listen to what Dr. Popola says next. Quote, the complex metaphysical theory derived from this basic proposition had direct political and ideological significance.

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since it defined the position of the king as that of God’s representative on earth. The central dogmas of Mesopotamian wisdom were epitomized in an esoteric diagram called the Tree of Life,  circulated among initiates  only. A stylized version of the diagram depicted as an elaborate palmet crowned tree trunk,

01:00:00

surrounded by a garland of palmets. Pine cones or pomegranates served in Assyrian imperial art as an ideological symbol providing the legitimization for a serious claim to world dominion. This symbol involved two basic interpretations. On the one hand, it represented the divine world order maintained by the Assyrian king as God’s  representative on earth. At the same time,

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The symbolism of the tree was projected upon the Assyrian king to portray him as the perfect image of God. Did you catch all of that? As part of the esoteric knowledge circulated among initiates,  one was a diagram and it was a diagram of the sacred tree. And here Dr. Propola tells us that this sacred tree represented the Mesopotamian king himself.

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Dr. Popola continues, the symmetry, harmony, and  axle balance of the tree symbolized the absolute perfection and mental balance of this ideal man. The relevance of such symbolism for justifying the king’s position as the absolute ruler of the empire hardly needs any elaboration. See, the Mesopotamian king was to be understood as the image on earth.

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of God up in the heavens, as above, so below. So like the God of heaven brought about order to the cosmos, so the Mesopotamian king brought order to the earth. And this order and stability was symbolized by a tree, which Dr. Parpola calls an axel tree. An axel tree is a tree in the center, and its trunk serves as the axis between what is above and what is below.

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It represents one who is an intermediary between heaven and earth. See how the Mesopotamian king is the earthly representation or image of God, the celestial king? Dr. Parpola continues, quote, The two aspects of the tree just discussed were intrinsically interrelated.

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Just as the order of the universe was based on the equilibrium of the cosmic powers of God, so too was the order of the human world dependent on the balance of powers consecrated in the person of the King. Consequently, the King who would not conform to the role of the perfect man  as set out in the tree and its doctrinal apparatus would automatically, willingly or unwillingly,

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disrupt the cosmic harmony and with it the stability of the empire he was commissioned to maintain. What Dr. Pappola is telling us here is that if the Mesopotamian king was not a perfect man, if he didn’t conform perfectly to the cosmic law, he would quote disrupt the cosmic harmony. We’ve talked about this on the program before. If the king like God did not

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perfectly uphold the cosmic law, he wouldn’t have the power to bring about order, any type of order. So everything would dissolve into chaos.  Upholding the cosmic law was an absolute non-negotiable requisite to establishing order. It was the only way that order could be established. So what were Mesopotamians to do with an imperfect king? Dr. Parpola continues.

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And this is where the sacred esoteric knowledge the seven sages taught comes into play, at least in part. Quote, for the welfare of the state, it was essential that the king live up to the requirements of perfection inherent in this ideology. The requirements of royal perfection involved painstaking observance of divine commandments and cultic purity and ordinances visualized as

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reflections of the cosmic order on the earth. As the image of God, the King had to execute all the diverse powers invested in him in conformity with the harmony and balance of the tree, with special emphasis on blameless moral and ethical conduct. It was of course recognized that as a human being the King was bound to err in his behavior from time to time.

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no matter how hard he might strive for perfection. In principle, any slips in royal conduct, whether intentional or unintentional, were interpreted as sins against the will of God. They stained  the purity of the king’s soul. We see here that the king needed to perfectly uphold the cosmic law, just like the God in heaven upheld the cosmic law.

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else he’s going to bring disorder and chaos on his kingdom, like God would if God did not obey the cosmic law. Dr. Parpola continues,  the ruler who had sinned could identify his mistake and avoid punishment by washing away his sins, atoning for them, appeasing the gods and changing his ways. We know that some of the esoteric knowledge the seven sages taught

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had to do with what rituals needed to be performed so that the king could be purified of his sins.  And we know this because of iconographic images that we find in Mesopotamia that actually depict the seven sages, the Apkalu, sprinkling purifying water on the sacred tree, which I remind you again is a symbolic representation of the king. And they do this with what looks like cones or pine cones of some sort.

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On page 20 of the introduction, Parpola writes, quote,  on Neo-Assyrian palace reliefs and seals, representations of sages are invariably associated with the tree of life  and or the king. Now that’s Dr. Parpola saying that, not just me. Whom they sprinkle with the cone shaped purifiers called Malilu and buckets of holy water they hold in their hands.

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We can find images of the Assyrian sacred tree on a wall panel and it’s right behind the throne in Ashur-Nashar-Pul’s palace at Nimrod. And we can find images of fish cloaked Apkalu holding buckets of holy water  on a wall panel in the palace of Sennacherib  and that’s at Nineveh. Images of the Apkalu purifying and protecting the king can also be found

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on a wall panel in the palace of Ashur-Nasharapal in Nimrod. And we find similar images on Neo-Assyrian seals. I’ve posted images of these on the webpage for this episode. So  if you’re interested in checking them out, be sure and check out our companion website, theancienttradition.com. Look under show notes  and you’ll pull down until you find this episode, episode number 65.

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We know that Mesopotamians understood the seven sages to have the features of human beings. Because in all of these images, the Apkalu are depicted anthropomorphically with arms and legs just like human beings.  Sometimes they’re depicted wearing the cloak of a fish, like I mentioned before, and that’s because they came out of the Apsu. Other times, though, they’re symbolically depicted with wings  and an eagle’s head.

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which if you’ve been listening to the program, you know, was commonly done in the ancient world to symbolize a being who had the ability to ascend or to fly up to the heavens. Wings were used to symbolically represent that being’s ability to travel between heaven and earth. And remember ancient Mesopotamians tell us that these seven sages had a radiance or a brilliance to them. They shined and that they wore white clothing.

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In the Judeo-Christian tradition, beings like this are referred to as angels. And I mention this because we find seven such beings who fit this same criteria show up in the Christian tradition in the New Testament in the book of Revelation. Seven angels whom John sees. In Revelation chapter 8 verse 2, John writes,  and this is him speaking of what he saw in his vision.

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So note here how we’re seeing esoteric knowledge being revealed via vision here too. Quote, and I saw the seven angels who stood before God and to them were given seven trumpets. We’re gonna talk about the seven angels John saw in our next episode or the one after that depending on how far I get. But I wanna point out that the context of what John is seeing here  is a temple.

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context. These  seven angels were seen in the celestial temple above and we know this because the next verse says quote, and another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

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All of this is temple imagery, the altar, incense, prayer,  and the throne. And it’s there in the celestial temple that John sees these seven angels. Now, these seven sages are not just talked about in Mesopotamia and in early Christianity. They’re actually found in several other places around the world, which we’ll discuss in our next episode.

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But before I close out this episode, I want to return to the first Mesopotamian text we talked about today. The text known as Era and Isham. I mentioned earlier that there was reason to believe that these seven sages served as priests in Enki’s temple, the Apsu. And one of the reasons for this belief is because of what it says in the last part of line 162, which reads, where are the seven sages of the Apsu?

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the holy carp who are perfect and lofty wisdom like Ea, their Lord, who can make my body holy. So in this passage, Marduk wants to know where the seven sages are, because he’s looking for those who can quote, make his body holy. He’s looking for those who have the ability to sanctify and purify his body. Like we see depictions of the Apkalu doing when they sprinkle

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holy water on the sacred tree. What’s interesting about this line is that the ones that precede it, lines 141 to 161, presuppose a Mesopotamian ritual known as the washing of the mouth ritual, which is very similar to the ancient Egyptian ritual known as the opening of the mouth ritual, which we talked about very, very early on in the podcast in episode number nine, the green eye of Horus.

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In ancient Mesopotamia, this ritual, the washing of the mouth ritual, was performed by and only by priests. When we get into ritual down the line, we’re going to talk about this ritual in detail, but for the purposes of today’s episode, when Marduk says,  where are the seven sages of the Apsu who can make my body holy? There’s no doubt that the rituals, the seven sages,

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performed to bring about the sanctification of Marduk or the earthly king so that he was in perfect conformity with the Cosmic Law constituted a very important part of the body of esoteric knowledge the seven sages imparted to human beings in the beginning.

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That wraps up today’s episode. We learned some pretty interesting and very important things in today’s episode. Most importantly, we learned that ancient Mesopotamians explicitly taught that the religious tradition they practiced had been revealed directly to them very, very early in their history by Enki, the son of the high god On,  and by seven glorious primordial personages

01:13:13

described as Apkalu, sages  or wise men. What’s striking is that these beings were described as wise because the religious tradition they revealed contained a significant esoteric component, a body of sacred knowledge known by Mesopotamians as the secret of the gods that was strictly reserved for individuals who had been fully initiated.

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a body of esoteric knowledge that was essential to obtaining eternal life. If what the Mesopotamians are telling us is true, that the original religious tradition that was imparted to human beings in the beginning contained a significant esoteric component, the quote, foundations of which had been laid by the gods themselves, then we’re being invited

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to re-evaluate contemporary notions of religious practice, especially those that are primarily exoteric.  And for many, that’s likely a significant paradigm shift. We, of course, will talk more about this because this esoteric component shows up again  and again  and again and constitutes

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another very important, stubborn bit. That’s it for me. I’ll leave you with the words of William Shakespeare,  knowledge,  esoteric knowledge,  is the wing wherewith we  fly to heaven.  I’m Jack Logan.

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You’ve been listening to the Ancient Tradition.  A Wonk Media Production.