Fonte: Kramer, Samuel Noah (1988) Sumerian Mythology, University of Pennsylvania Press, West Port, Connecticut.
Myth that tells how
Enki built a house (temple) for himself in Eridu, the oldest city in Sumer according
to tradition, the first of five cities founded before the Great Flood. The temple,
decorated with silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian and gold, was established on
the bank of a river, where its foundations reached deep into the underground
sweet, fertilising waters, called the apsu. The temple had magical qualities:
the brickwork gave Enki advice, while the surrounding reed fences roared like
a bull. The roof-beam was shaped like the bull of heaven, and a lion gripping
a man formed the gateway. The overall effect was described as a lusty bull.
The bustle
of activity there was compared to the drama of a river rising during a flood,
Enki filled the building with lyres, drums and every other kind of musical instruments.
Surrounding the temple was a delightful garden full of fruit trees, with birds
singing all around and frolicking carp playing among the reeds in the streams.
After finishing the construction of the E-engurra, the temple, Enki called up
the beat of the ala and the uh drums and set out by barge to Nippur, in order
to receive the other godsī blessings. The fish danced before him on the way
to Nippur, and Enki slaughtered several oxen and sheep for the feast to come.
Once in Nippur, Enki started preparing the feast. Paying attention to protocol,
Anu was at the head of the group, with Enlil beside him and the goddess Nintu
in a seat of honour nearby. In the happy cellebration that followed, all the
great gods pronounced blessings on Enkiīs new home, and Anu stated:" My son
Enki has made his temple.... grow from the ground like a mountain".
After the water of creation
had ben decreed,
After the name hegal (abundance) born in heaven,
Like plant and herb had clothed the land,
The lord of the abyss, the king Enki,
Enki the Lord who decrees the fates,
Built his house of silver and lapis lazuli;
Its silver and lapis lazuli, like sparkling light,
The father fashioned fittingly in the abyss.
The creatures of bright countenances and wise, coming forth from the abyss,
Stood all about the lord Nudimmud;
The pure house he built
He ornamented it greatly with gold,
In Eridu he built the house of water-bank,
Its brickwork, word-uttering, advice-giving,
Its... like an ox roaring,
The house of Enki, the oracles uttering.
(Follows a long passage in which Isimud, Enkiīs counsellor/prime minister, sings
the praises of the sea-house. Then Enki raises the city of Eridu from the abyss
and makes it float over the water like a lofty mountain. Its green fruit-bearing
gardens he fills with birds; fishes too he makes abundant. Enki is now ready
to proceed by boat to Nippur, where he will obtain Enlilīs blessings for his
newly built city and temple. He therefore rises from the abyss:)
When Enki rises, the fish.... rise,
The abyss stands in wonder,
In the sea joy enters,
Fear comes over the deep,
Terror holds the exalted river,
The Euphrates, the South Wind lifts it in waves.
Enki seats himself in his boat and first arrives in Eridu itself. In Eridu,
he slaughters many oxen and sheep before proceeding to Nippur. Upon his arrival,
a feast is prepared for all gods and Enlil in special:
Enki in the shrine Nippur,
Gives his brother Enlil bread to eat,
In the first place
he seated Anu (the Skyfather),
Next to Anu he seated
Enlil,
Nintu he seated at
the big side,
The Anunnaki seated
themselves one after the other.
Enlil says to the
Anunnaki:
" Ye great gods who
are standing about,
My brother has built
a house, the king Enki;
Eridu, like a mountain,
he has raised up from the earth,
In a good place he
has built it.
Eridu, the clean
place, where none may enter,
The house built of
silver, adorned with lapis lazuli,
The house directed
by the seven lyre-songs given over to incantation,
With pure songs....
The abyss, the shrine
of the goodness of Enki, befitting the divine decrees,
Eridu, the pure house
having been built,
O Enki, praise!