Roots 2021

Roots 2021

(A modern study of Humanity and Slavery)

I ask that you keep an open mind while reading this book. It may make you angry,and that’s ok. Hopefully though, it awakens your Pineal Gland, (third eye). It’s going to be an awesome trip, and well worth your time to read. I pinky-promise.

Ok, so, here we go, I propose a Theory that the reason Humanity has, and to this day continues to struggle with slavery is because...dah, dah, dah...(key dramatic music)...

Slavery, is in our DNA

We, (Humanity) were genetically engineered to serve as slaves for the Anunnaki.

On the surface, this Theory appears to be completely unbelievable.

However, Follow the breadcrumbs that I have left below for a fascinating story reaching from ancient times to modern, and then draw your own conclusions.

Who were the Anunnaki and why do we care? The short answer is: The Anunnaki were the deity pantheon of the ancient Sumerians. And interest in the Sumerian culture has been active and persistent since it was discovered in the late 19th century — for several reasons.

The Sumerians appear on the archaeological record beginning around 4,500 BCE. Located in present-day Iraq (My wife, KathIene and I were deployed to Al Asaad in 2003-2004). The region, a.k.a. Mesopotamia has long been referred to as “the cradle of civilization.” Sumer was a handful of city-states initially ruled by priests, each organized around a city and temple now called a “ziggurat.” The ziggurats, dedicated to Anunnaki worship, were layered pyramids with flat tops. These communities were considered to be “servant-slave” populations dedicated to serving the temple gods, the Anunnaki. Over time, priesthood rulership gave way to kings.

Sumerian history is gleaned from archaeological and geologic evidence — written records are in the form of cuneiform tablets. Reportedly, some half-million tablets have been recovered, but only a small number have been translated. Much was also learned from translations of Babylonian records; Sumer was considered “ancient” in Babylonian times.

Sumerians worshiped the Anunnaki, said to be the children of earth and sky; An, the sky god, and Ki, the earth goddess. Chief among them was Enlil, the god of air. This pantheon was passed to the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of the historical king of Sumerian city-state Urek, is an ancient literary relic of Sumerian culture.

A theory that these beings originated from “Nibiru,” a.k.a. “Planet X” has been added to alternate Anunnaki narratives, as well as the likelihood of the off-world gods bringing advanced technologies that account for sophisticated megastructures such as the pyramids or Stonehenge. Out-of-place artifacts and tool discoveries contribute to these premises. The Sumerians are also known for sophisticated astronomical and mathematical knowledge, speculated to have passed from the Annunaki.

While no lists of the Annunaki pantheon exist, it is known that each Sumerian city-state had its own Annunaki god/overseer assigned by senior Annunaki Marduk.

Authors Zecharia Sitchin, Erich von Däniken (“Chariots of the Gods”), author and researcher Michael Tellinger, and several others, make very compelling arguments that the Anunnaki were, in fact, off-world beings posing as “gods.” This theory also asserts that these “sky” gods genetically engineered the human race into a slave species, which may account for weak links in the evolutionary story. These theories gave birth to the “Ancient Astronaut Theory” asserting that off-world beings have been posing as gods to influence human affairs for millennia.

The Anunnaki first arrived on Earth around 450,000 years ago,from Nibiru looking for minerals, especially gold, which they found and mined in Africa.These "gods" were the rank-and-file workers of the colonial expedition to Earth from planet Nibiru. Enki, one of the Royal Anunnaki, suggested that to relieve the Working Anunnaki (who had mutinied over their dissatisfaction with their working conditions), primitive workers (Homo sapiens) be created by genetic engineering as slaves to replace them in the gold mines by crossing extraterrestrial genes with those of Homo erectus. Ancient inscriptions report that the human civilization in Sumer, Mesopotamia(modern day Iraq), was set up under the guidance of these "gods" and human kingship was inaugurated to provide intermediaries between mankind and the Anunnaki (creating the "divine right of kings" doctrine).This model mirrored the Royal succession of the Anunnaki themselves.

Anunnaki and Humanity

300,000 BC ~ About the fortieth shar (i.e. 3600 years) after the landing of the Nephilim on Earth, the Anunnaki who had been delegated to mine the gold in the Abzu(south Africa) stage a rebellion.

Gaining the support of the Igigi, Alalu's grandson AN.ZU attempts to seize mastery over Earth. The Enlilites win the War of the Olden Gods.

EN.KI and NIN.HUR.SAG contrive to create an alternative being to take over the tedious labor of the Anunnaki.After toiling for forty ’periods’, the Anunnaki mutinied and demanded relief. They approached EN.LIL begging for relief, but he did not want to satisfy their requests, so they called on ANU to provide relief. EN.KI, invariably the Anunnaki’s protagonist, suggested that a lullu (i.e. a primitive worker, aka the Lullu Amelu) be created to bear the work. There was a being on Earth akin to the Anunnaki, that could be upgraded with the image of the Anunnaki. Enlil disapproves and shouts Creation belongs to the Father of All Beginning

We will give our image only to an existing being Ninmah argues.

Badly needing gold the leaders vote yes to fashion a primitive worker to take over the toil of the Anunnaki.

EN.KI sets out to find the primitive wild man that roams the Abzu.

EN.KI finds and captures some of the wild men and with the help of his son, NINGISHZIDDA do tests that reveal they are akin to the Nephilim.

After many failures, the process whereby mankind - Homo sapiens sapiens (i.e. the Lullu, the 'one that is mixed') was created, was by genetically altering the Homo erectus beings that inhabited the Earth prior to the coming of the Anunnaki. But rather than being a 'creation' in the strictest sense of the word, the method by which EN.KI and NIN.HUR.SAG with the help of NINGISHZIDDA, brought the Adamu into existence was by infusing the Nephilim DNA into the beings which already inhabited the Earth - the prehistoric Homo erectus.

The life which inhabited Earth, prior to the arrival of the Nephilim, may have actually originated on the home planet of the Nephilim, Nibiru, and been deposited on Earth when it collided with Nibiru and its moons. Therefore, the life forms, including the 'caveman', Homo erectus, would have been genetically compatible with the life forms of Nibiru. In the most basic terms, the semen/sperm of EN.KI (Father) was introduced into the egg of a Homo erectus female in the process known today as cross-fertilization, and the fertilized egg, the embryo, was then inserted into NIN.KI's, EN.KI's wife's womb where it was nourished by her blood and grew into the being,

EN.KI named him Adamu. NIN.KI then helps EN.KI fashion a female earthling, they name her Ti-Amat. This happened in the E.DIN facility.

Adamu was the first Human - These first humans were unable to procreate so more workers were made by Birth goddesses. This job of a birth goddess was frowned upon by the population of Nibiru so another genetic manipulation was made by NINGISHZIDDA, using the life essence (dna) from EN.KI"s rib inserted a male worker, and the dna from the rib of a female anunnaki was used on the female humans, the human workers were able to have offspring and procreate by themselves..the rib story in the bible. After hearing this news EN.LIL ordered the Humans leave the E.DIN and be sent to work in the Abzu to mine gold at once. Returning to the Abzu, Adamu

has children, Twins, a son and a daughter. Then many more children.

Homo sapiens sapiens emerge on the Earth. Some anthropologists believe that Homo sapiens sapiens evolved from Homo erectus, but such a link has not yet been proven. At Zhoukoudian, near Peking, China, a habitation of Homo sapiens sapiens included a hearth by which the inhabitants could warm themselves. A similar hearth was found at the Terra Amata site on the Mediterranean coast of France, which has been dated to 300,000 B.C. Evidence of communal or cooperative activities suggest that some form of speech existed from this period. By 200,000, it is believed that no Homo erectus remained in existence.

200,000 bc ~ Life on Earth regresses during a new glacial period. Humans proliferate and take over the labor in ABZU gold mines, and also work as servants to the Anunnaki in the Abzu and the E.DIN

EN.LIL's grandchildren, the twins, Utu and Innana are born.

Anunnaki couples bear other offspring on Earth.

Climate changes cause hardships on Earth and Mars, Nibiru's orbital nearing is accompanied by upheavals.

EN.KI and Marduk explore the moon, find it inhospitable.

EN.KI determines the constellations and Celestial time.

Bitter about his own fate EN.KI promises supremacy to Marduk but Anu gives command of the new spaceport to Utu, not to Marduk.​

110,200 to 56,200 bc ~While studying the Humans he had created, EN.KI noticed two of the human women bathing in a river in the E.DIN, EN.KI had his way with both of them.

EN.KI's children.who were half brother and sister, EN.KI named them ADAPA and TI.TI, who would later be known as Eve. The unique thing about ADAPA / ADAM and TI.TI / EVE was that they, despite being cross-bred of EN.KI and human, were capable of reproducing on their own.

EN.KI takes his children to the garden facility in E.DIN to be educated and clothed like the Nephilim. Royal Human Bloodline begins.

ADAPA, the Adama, or 'First Of A Kind' (i.e. Civilized Man), or rather, the first of a kind - This first civilized human being would be referred to, in later times, and by the spiritual descendants of the Sumerians - the Judeo-Christians, as Adam. has been calculated to have lived between the 93rd and 108th shar since the arrival of the Nephilim on Earth in 445,000 bc. That would have been approximately from the year 110,200 to the year 56,200 bc. Human genetics points to a date of 60,000 years ago. ​

A timeline of Humanity enslaving ourselves

The history of slavery is a large and untellable story, full of tragedy and cruelty that spans both centuries and continents. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact year that slavery began, historians can trace the roots of this inhumane practice back roughly 11,000 years. Keep reading to learn about the origins of slavery, and how it developed across ancient cultures.

The Origins of The Slavery Practice

The precise beginning of slavery is difficult to track because its origins predate historical recording and the written word. Due to the sociological makeup of the groups, we know that slavery wasn’t a part of hunter-gatherer societies, so the first identifiable evidence of slavery comes from the Code of Hammurabi out of Mesopotamia. This ancient text refers to slavery as a common practice throughout the region which had been in place for thousands of years at the time it was written.

Slavery Throughout the Ancient World

The practice of human slavery grew as the world became more civilized and organized cities and farms were developed. Sumer or Sumeria is still thought to be the birthplace of slavery, which grew out of Sumer into Greece and other parts of ancient Mesopotamia. The Ancient East, specifically China and India, didn’t adopt the practice of slavery until much later, as late as the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC. Historians debate whether or not the practice of slavery in India existed before this time, but many believe argue against its existence as there is no word in ancient Sanskrit that can be translated as “slave.”

The Life of a Slave in Ancient Times

Slavery in ancient times typically came about as a result of debt, birth into a slave family, child abandonment, war, or as a punishment for crime. At the outset, the slave trade wasn’t very popular and was certainly not a booming global business. Rather, slavers would often seek out a buyer who could use the specific skills of a slave, matching supply with demand on a local and personal level. According to historical texts, the lives of slaves in ancient times were typically better than that of peasants in the same era, as they had regular care, food, shelter and clothing. Slaves rarely attempted to run away unless their masters were atypically cruel.

Although it is currently illegal in every country on the planet, modern day slavery still exists across the globe. Restavek Freedom exists to end a modern day child slavery practice known as restavek. The restavek system of slavery exists due to the poverty of the island nation of Haiti. Parents who cannot afford to feed and care for their children will often send them to live with wealthier families in hopes of a better life. All too often, however, these children become slaves in the family tasked with their care. Rather than spending their days at school and at play, they complete hard labor on meager rations with little love or support from those they live with.

Restavek Freedom is one of the top charities located in Haiti working to end this despicable practice. You can partner with us to end slavery in Haiti through financial support, child sponsorship and by drawing attention to the plight of children living in restavek through social media and community activism.

6800 B.C. The world’s first city-state emerges in Mesopotamia. Land ownership and the early stages of technology bring war—in which enemies are captured and forced to work: slavery.

2575 B.C. Temple art celebrates the capture of slaves in battle. Egyptians capture slaves by sending special expeditions up the Nile River.

550 B.C. The city-state of Athens uses as many as 30,000 slaves in its silver mines.

120 A.D. Roman military campaigns capture slaves by the thousands. Some estimate the population of Rome is more than half slave.

500 Anglo-Saxons enslaved the native Britons after invading England.

1000 Slavery is a normal practice in England’s rural, agricultural economy, as destitute workers place themselves and their families in a form of debt bondage to landowners.

1380 In the aftermath of the Black Plague, Europe’s slave trade thrives in response to a labor shortage. Slaves pour in from all over the continent, the Middle East, and North Africa.

1444 Portuguese traders bring the first large cargo of slaves from West Africa to Europe by sea—establishing the Atlantic slave trade.

1526 Spanish explorers bring the first African slaves to settlements in what would become the United States. These first African-Americans stage the first known slave revolt in the Americas.

1550 Slaves are depicted as objects of conspicuous consumption in much Renaissance art.

1641 Massachusetts becomes the first British colony to legalize slavery.

The Age of Abolition

1781 Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II abolished serfdom in the Austrian Habsburg dominions.

1787 The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is founded in Britain.

1789 During the French Revolution, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, one of the fundamental charters of human liberties. The first of 17 articles states: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.”

1803 Denmark-Norway becomes the first country in Europe to ban the African slave trade, forbidding trading in slaves and ending the importation of slaves into Danish dominions.

1807 The British Parliament makes it illegal for British ships to transport slaves and for British colonies to import them. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson signs into law the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, forbidding the importation of African slaves into the United States.

1811-1867 Operating off the Atlantic coast of Africa, the British Navy’s Anti-Slavery Squadron liberates 160,000 slaves.

1813 Sweden, a nation that never authorized slave traffic, consents to ban the African slave trade.

1814 The king of the Netherlands officially terminates Dutch participation in the African slave trade. At the Congress of Vienna, the assembled powers proclaim that the slave trade should be abolished as soon as possible but do not stipulate an actual effective date for abolition.

1820 The government of Spain abolishes the slave trade south of the Equator—but it continues in Cuba until 1888.

1833 The Factory Act in Britain establishes a working day in textile manufacture, provides for government inspection of working conditions, bans the employment of children under age 9, and limits the workday of children between 13 and 18 years of age to 12 hours.

1834 The Abolition Act abolishes slavery throughout the British Empire, including British colonies in North America. The bill emancipated slaves in all British colonies and appropriated nearly $100 million in today’s money to compensate slave owners for their losses.

1840 The new British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society calls the first World Anti-Slavery Convention in London to mobilize reformers and assist post-emancipation efforts throughout the world. A group of U.S. abolitionists attends, but Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, as well as several male supporters, leave the meeting in protest when women are excluded from seating on the convention floor.

1845 The British Navy assigns 36 ships to its Anti-Slavery Squadron, making it one of the largest fleets in the world.

1848 The government of France abolishes slavery in all French colonies.

1850 The government of Brazil ends the country’s participation in the slave trade and declares slave traffic to be a form of piracy.

1861 Alexander II emancipates all Russian serfs, numbering about 50 million. His decree begins the Great Reform in Russia and earns him the title “Czar Liberator.”

1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all U.S. slaves in states that had seceded from the Union, except for those in Confederate areas already controlled by the Union army.

1863 The government of the Netherlands takes official action to abolish slavery in all Dutch colonies.

1865 Congress gives final passage to, and a sufficient number of states ratify, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to outlaw slavery. The amendment reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

1888 The Lei Aurea, or Golden Law, ends slavery in South America when the legislature of Brazil frees the country’s 725,000 slaves.

1865-1920 Following the American Civil War, hundreds of thousands of African Americans are re-enslaved in an abusive manipulation of the legal system called “peonage.” Across the Deep South, African-American men and women are falsely arrested and convicted of crimes, then “leased” to coal and iron mines, brick factories, plantations, and other dangerous workplaces. The formal peonage system slows down after World War I but doesn’t fully end until the 1940s. However, in recent years, activists have noted that the 13 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not outlaw prison slavery, and that requiring inmates to work in prison industries today constitutes a continuing form of modern slavery.

Abolition Spreads Worldwide

1909 The Congo Reform Association, founded in Britain, ends forced labor in the Congo Free State, today the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After years of anti-slavery activism, the association’s Red Rubber Campaign stops the brutal system of Belgium’s King Leopold II, whose officials forced local people to produce rubber for sale in Europe and terrorized those who refused, cutting off their hands and burning down their houses.

1910 The International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade, signed in Paris, is the first of its kind, obligating parties to punish anyone who recruits a woman or girl under age into prostitution, even if she consents.

1913 After a public outcry galvanized by media reports and subsequent peoples’ petition, the British Parliament shuts down the Peruvian Amazon Company, a British entity that was torturing and exploiting indigenous Indians in Peru.

1915 The colonial government of Malaya officially abolishes slavery.

1918 The British governor of Hong Kong estimates that the majority of households that could afford it keep a young child as a household slave.

1919 The International Labor Organization (ILO) is founded to establish a code of global labor standards. Headquartered in Geneva, the ILO unites government, labor, and management to make recommendations concerning pay, working conditions, trade union rights, safety, woman and child labor, and social security.

1923 The British colonial government in Hong Kong bans the selling of little girls as domestic slaves.

1926 The League of Nations approves the Slavery Convention, which defines slavery as “status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.” More than 30 governments sign the document, which charges all member nations to work to suppress all forms of slavery.

1926 Burma abolishes legal slavery.

1927 Slavery is legally abolished in Sierra Leone, a country founded as a colony by the British in the 18th century to serve as a homeland for freed slaves.

1930 The U.S. Tariff Act prohibits the importation of products made with “forced or indentured labor.” (In 1997, the Sanders Amendment clarified that this applies to products made with “forced or indentured child labor.”)

1936 The King of Saudi Arabia issues a decree that ends the importation of new slaves, regulates the conditions of existing slaves, and provides for manumission—the act of slave owners freeing their slaves—under some conditions.

1938 The Japanese military establishes “comfort stations”—actually brothels—for Japanese troops. Thousands of Korean and Chinese women are forced into sex slavery during World War II as military “comfort women.”

1939-1945 The German Nazi government uses widespread slave labor in farming and industry. Up to nine million people are forced to work to absolute exhaustion—then they are sent to concentration camps.

1941 The Adoption of Children Ordinance Law in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, requires the registration of all children who are adopted and regular inspections to prevent adopted children from working as slaves.

1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created by the United Nations, provides: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

1949 The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others prohibits any person from procuring, enticing, or leading away another person for the purposes of prostitution, even with the other person’s consent. This forms the legal basis for international protections against traffic in people still used today.

Abolition in Recent Times

1950-1989 International anti-slavery work slows during the Cold War, as the Soviet Block argues that slavery can only exist in capitalist societies, and the Western Block argues that all people living under communism are slaves. Both new and traditional forms of slavery in the developing world receive little attention.

1954 China passed the State Regulation on Reform through Labor, allowing prisoners to be used for labor in the laogai prison camps.

1956 The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery regulates practices involving serfdom, debt bondage, the sale of wives, and child servitude.

1962 Slavery is abolished in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

1964 The sixth World Muslim Congress, the world’s oldest Muslim organization, pledges global support for all anti-slavery movements.

1973 The U.N. General Assembly adopts the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, which outlaws a number of inhuman acts, including forced labor, committed for the purposes of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group over another.

1974 Mauritania’s emancipated slaves form the El Hor (“freedom”) movement to oppose slavery, which continues to this day. El Hor leaders insist that emancipation is impossible without realistic means of enforcing anti-slavery laws and giving former slaves the means of achieving economic independence. El Hor demands land reform and encourages the formation of agricultural cooperatives.

1975 The U.N. Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery is founded to collect information and make recommendations on slavery and slavery-like practices around the world.

1976 India passes a law banning bonded labor.

1980 Slavery is abolished for the fourth time in the Islamic republic of Mauritania, but the situation is not fundamentally changed. Although the law decrees that “slavery” no longer exists, the ban does not address how masters are to be compensated or how slaves are to gain property.

1989 The National Islamic Front takes over the government of Sudan and begins to arm Baggara tribesmen to fight the Dinka and Nuer tribes in the south. These new militias raid villages, capturing and enslaving inhabitants.

1989 The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child promotes basic health care, education, and protection for the young from abuse, exploitation, or neglect at home, at work, and in armed conflicts. All countries ratify it except Somalia and the United States.

1990 After adoption by 54 countries in the 1980s, the 19th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference formally adopts the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which states that “human beings are born free, and no one has the right to enslave, humiliate, oppress, or exploit them.”

1992 The Pakistan National Assembly enacts the Bonded Labor Act, which abolishes indentured servitude and the peshgi, or bonded money, system. However, the government fails to provide for the implementation and enforcement of the law’s provisions.

1995 The U.S. government issues the Model Business Principles, which urges all businesses to adopt and implement voluntary codes of conduct, including the avoidance of child and forced labor, as well as discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, or religious beliefs.

1995 Christian Solidarity International, a Swiss-based charity, begins to liberate slaves in Southern Sudan by buying them back. The policy ignites widespread controversy—many international agencies argue that buying back slaves supports the market in human beings and feeds resources to slaveholders.

1996 The RugMark campaign is established in Germany to ensure that handwoven rugs are not made with slave or child labor. In 2010, RugMark changed its name to GoodWeave.

1996 The World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is held.

1997 The U.N. established a commission of inquiry to investigate reports of the widespread enslavement of people by the Burmese government.

1997 The United States bans imported goods made by child-bonded labor.

1998 The Global March against Child Labor is established to coordinate worldwide demonstrations against child labor and to call for a U.N. Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

1999 Despite being barred from entering Burma, the U.N. collects sufficient evidence to publicly condemn government-sponsored slavery, including unpaid forced labor and a brutal political system built on the use of force and intimidation to deny democracy and the rule of law.

1999 The ILO passes the Convention Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which establishes widely recognized international standards protecting children against forced or indentured labor, child prostitution and pornography, their use in drug trafficking, and other harmful work.

1999 The first global analysis of modern slavery and its role in the global economy, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, estimates that there are 27 million people in slavery worldwide.

Abolition in the 21st Century

2000 Free the Slaves is formed, originally as the sister organization of Anti-Slavery International in the U.K. Today Free the Slaves is an independent organization.

2000 The government of Nepal bans all forms of debt bondage after a lengthy campaign by human rights organizations and freed laborers.

2000 The U.S. Congress passes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to combat the trafficking of persons as a form of modern slavery. The legislation increases penalties for traffickers, provides social services for trafficking victims, and helps victims remain in the country.

2000 The U.N. passes the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons as part of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The trafficking protocol is the first global legally binding instrument with an internationally agreed-upon definition on trafficking in persons.

2001 Slavery: A Global Investigation—the first major documentary film about modern slavery—is released in the U.S. and Europe. The film tells the story of slavery and forced child labor in the cocoa and chocolate industry and wins a Peabody Award and two Emmy Awards.

2002 The countries of the Economic Community of Western African States agree on an action plan to confront slavery and human trafficking in the region.

2002 The International Cocoa Initiative is established as a joint effort of anti-slavery groups and major chocolate companies—marking the first time an entire industry has banded together to address slavery in its supply chain.

2004 Brazil launches the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor, which combines the efforts of civil organizations, businesses, and the government to get companies to commit to the prevention and eradication of forced labor within their supply chains, as well as to be monitored and placed on a “dirty list” if the products they sell are tainted by slavery.

2004 The U.N. appoints a Special Rapporteur (Reporter) on Human Trafficking.

2005 The U.N. International Labor Organization’s first Global Report on Forced Labor puts the number of slaves worldwide at 12.3 million. The organization’s 2012 update increased the number to 20.9 million people.

2007 Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves is published. Written by Free the Slaves co-founder Kevin Bales, it is the first plan for the global eradication of modern slavery, estimating the total cost of worldwide abolition at $10.8 billion over 25 years. President Bill Clinton highlights the plan at the Clinton Global Initiative. The book received the 2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

2008 The Special Court for Sierra Leone judges forced marriage “a crime against humanity” and convicts three officers in the Revolutionary United Front of forced marriage—the first convictions of their kind within an international criminal tribunal.

2008 The U.N. International Labor Organization estimates that annual profits generated from trafficking in human beings are as high as $32 billion. In 2014 the organization increased that estimate to $150 billion in the report Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labor.

2010 Free the Slaves publishes Slavery, featuring images of slaves and survivors taken by humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine and a foreword by South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Kristine received a 2013 Humanitarian Photographer of the Year Award from the Lucie foundation based in large part on her work with Free the Slaves.

2011 California enacts the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, requiring major manufacturing and retail firms to publicly disclose what efforts, if any, they are taking to eliminate forced labor and human trafficking from their product supply chains.

2012 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission passes the Conflict Minerals Rule, requiring major publicly-held corporations to disclose if their products contain certain metals mined in the eastern Congo or an adjoining country and if payment for these minerals supports armed conflict in the region. The rule was required as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Free the Slaves has documented that slavery is widespread at mining sites covered by this corporate disclosure requirement.

2013 The first Walk Free Global Slavery Index is released with country-by-country estimates for slavery worldwide. The research team estimates that 29.8 million people are enslaved today. The 2014 index increases that estimate to 35.8 million. The 2016 index increases that estimate to 45.8 million.

2015 Free the Slaves marks its 15th birthday by announcing that the organization has reached a historic benchmark—liberating more than 10,000 people from slavery.

2015 The U.N. adopts 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with 169 targets that include an end to slavery: “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.”

2017 A research consortium including the U.N. International Labor Organization, the group Walk Free, and the U.N. International Organization for Migration release a combined global study indicating that 40 million people are trapped in modern forms of slavery worldwide: 50 percent in forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, fishing and other physical-labor industries; 12.5 percent in sex slavery, and 37.5 percent in forced marriage slavery.

Hey, Didn't America Invent Slavery?

If you think the title’s question is silly, you’re right. But here’s the problem: Increasing numbers of Americans,today would unhesitatingly respond, “Hell, yes!” to the query. Could it be because that is what they are being taught?

It seems that today’s youth overwhelmingly believe that slavery “was an American problem . . . and they are very fuzzy about the history of slavery prior to the Colonial era. Their entire education about slavery was confined to America.”

Of course, it is important to study the history of slavery in this country. But what if America was not unique in holding slaves? What if America didn’t invent slavery, as our students have come to think? In our “Just Google It” era, the answers to these questions, though apparently not provided by some universities, are easily found on the web.Reading about it should be your first step toward learning the full facts about slavery worldwide.

Leading The Enlightened Workforce to The Next Normal

the fact that is, it was nearly 9,000 years ago that slavery first appeared, in Mesopotamia (6800 B.C.). Enemies captured in war were commonly kept by the conquering country as slaves.

And in the 1700s B.C., the Egyptian pharaohs enslaved the Israelites, as is discussed in Exodus Chapter 21. Later, the pagan Greeks participated in slavery, for ancient Sparta as well as Athens relied fully on the slave labor of captives.

But Greek slavery paled in comparison to that in ancient Rome. According to historian Mark Cartwright, “slavery was an ever-present feature of the Roman world,” in which “as many as one in three of the population in Italy or one in five across the empire were slaves, and upon this foundation of forced labor was built the entire edifice of the Roman state and society.”

By the 8th century A.D., African slaves were being sold to Arab households in a Muslim world that, at the time, spanned from Spain to Persia.

By the year 1000 A.D., slavery had become common in England’s rural, agricultural economy, with the poor yoking themselves to their landowners through a form of debt bondage. At about the same time, the number of slaves captured in Germany grew so large that their nationality became the generic term for “slaves”—Slavs.

As for the Atlantic slave trade, this began in 1444 A.D., when Portuguese traders brought the first large number of slaves from Africa to Europe. Eighty-two years later (1526), Spanish explorers brought the first African slaves to settlements in what would become the United States—a fact the Times gets wrong. The Times likewise fails to mention that the Native American Cherokee Nation also held African slaves, and even sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

But the antipathy of many Americans toward slavery became evident as early as 1775, when Quakers in Pennsylvania set up the first abolitionist society.

(Betsy Ross, whose American flag was deemed politically incorrect recently by Nike, was herself both a Quaker and an abolitionist.)

Five years later, Massachusetts became the first state to abolish slavery in its constitution. Seven years after that (1787) the U.S. Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, outlawing slavery in the Northwest Territories.

In 1803, Denmark-Norway became the first country in Europe to ban the African slave trade. In 1807, “three weeks before Britain abolished the Atlantic slave trade, President Jefferson signed a law prohibiting ‘the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States.’” Jefferson’s actions followed Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

In 1820, Spain abolished the slave trade south of the Equator, but preserved it in Cuba until 1888.

In 1834, the Abolition Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, including British colonies in North America. In 1847, France would abolish slavery in all its colonies. Brazil followed in 1850.

Closer to home, in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all U.S. slaves in states that had seceded from the Union, except those in Confederate areas already controlled by the Union army. This was followed in 1865 by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, outlawing slavery.

The 20th century would see emancipation come to Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, India, and Yemen. In 1964, the sixth World Muslim Congress, the world’s oldest Muslim organization, pledged global support for all anti-slavery movements. In 1990, after its adoption by 54 countries in the 1980s, the 19th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference formally adopted the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which states that “human beings are born free, and no one has the right to enslave, humiliate, oppress, or exploit them.”

The last country to abolish slavery was Mauritania (1981).

But the 20th century would also witness the German Nazis’ use of slave labor in industry. Up to nine million people, mostly Jews, were forced to work to absolute exhaustion—and sent to concentration camps. In 1954, China began allowing prisoners to be used for labor in the laogai prison camps. In 1989, the National Islamic Front took over the government of Sudan and then armed new militias to raid villages, capturing and enslaving inhabitants.

Sadly, the 21st century has not rid itself of slavery. In fact, in 2017, a research consortium including the U.N. International Labor Organization, the group “Walk Free,” and the U.N. International Organization for Migration release a combined global study indicating that 40 million people are trapped in modern forms of slavery worldwide.

Even this thumbnail sketch of the history of slavery is enough to rebut The New York Times’ “1619 Project.” No, slavery was not primarily an American phenomenon; it has existed worldwide. And, no, America didn’t invent slavery; that happened more than 9,000 years ago. Finally, slavery did not end in the world with the passage of the 13th Amendment; there are 40 million people enslaved even today.

The historical facts rehearsed above are so easily accessed that one cannot but wonder why the Times and too many professors seek now to persuade us that a nation “dedicated to the proposition that ‘all men are created equal’” is in fact defined, not by its world-transforming aspiration for human equality, but by slavery—the destruction of which required the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history.

Far from ignoring or minimizing the history of slavery in the United States, presenting the full facts about the history of slavery worldwide is requisite to understanding American slavery—as well as our successful efforts to end it.

But if we allow ourselves to be persuaded that not only our past—but our “National DNA”—is ruinously soiled by a sin for which there is no atoning, how can we expect our misinformed citizens to possess the confidence in their own principles that is required to defend individual liberty and limited government? How can we expect them not to embrace the false, fatal promises of utopian regimes?

Our badly educated students—through no fault of their own—appear well on their way to consummating this fatal embrace.

I propose that Slavery was never about hatred or rascism, it was always about power and control over others.We were created in “Gods” image, to do the work that the “gods” didn’t want to do anymore. So, we enslave others to do the work that we don’t want to do ourselves. History repeats itself. It’s what our ancestors knew.

While no one alive today, less victims of Human Trafficking, have actually experienced this cruel side human nature, we must learn from it, and understand why it has such an impact, not just on people of color, but on all of humanity. I further propose there is only one race, the Human race, and that all of our ancestors were slaves.

We must stop blaming slavery for racism and social injustice in America, and worldwide.

I also propose that Slavery may be in our DNA, but that, hatred and rascism are taught or learned from one person to another.

Let that sink in…

Steven Glenn Porter

On the surface, I appear to be what many readers will consider a privileged middle aged white male. I live in Queen Creek. Arizona, in the amazing Encanterra Golf Course, Country Club and Community.

However,dig a little deeper, and I am a living example that racism and hatred are learned traits and are not genetically passed on. I was born in the small town of Morehead, Kentucky...of Parents that were born and raised in Sandy Hook, Kentucky (a town where even today there are very few, if any minorities), on the 12th of September, 1970. By the time I was old enough for school, my Dad decided to rejoin the Army (He was a VietNam Veteran and there wasn’t much work for him in the area) and we moved to Fort Knox, where I spent most of the 70's and 80’s. Three of those years (1980-1983) were in Bad Nauheim, Germany. I attended DoD (Department of Defense) Elementary,Middle and High Schools ( I graduated from Fort Knox High School in 1988), where I had friends of all colors from all over the world. In 1989, I joined the Army myself, The only thing I knew about racism and hatred was what was shown on television and in movies. I served this great country for 26 years before I retired in 2015. And then worked for the Department of Veteran Affairs for a couple more years after that.I have lived in 4 different countries, 12 different States. My first wife was from Panama. My Daughter Victoria, is half Panamanian. I’ve had friends from countless other places. I have witnessed first hand what humanity can do when we are united together for a greater good, and it’s Frackin awesome! (Battlestar Galactica nod)

This is what I was taught:

The Army Values

Many people know what the words Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage mean. But how often do you see someone actually live up to them? Soldiers learn these values in detail during Basic Combat Training (BCT), from then on they live them every day in everything they do — whether they’re on the job or off. In short, the Seven Core Army Values listed below are what being an American Soldier is all about.

LOYALTY

Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other Soldiers. Bearing true faith and allegiance is a matter of believing in and devoting yourself to something or someone. A loyal Soldier is one who supports the leadership and stands up for fellow Soldiers. By wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army you are expressing your loyalty. And by doing your share, you show your loyalty to your unit.

DUTY

Fulfill your obligations. Doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasks. Duty means being able to accomplish tasks as part of a team. The work of the U.S. Army is a complex combination of missions, tasks and responsibilities — all in constant motion. Our work entails building one assignment onto another. You fulfill your obligations as a part of your unit every time you resist the temptation to take “shortcuts” that might undermine the integrity of the final product.

RESPECT

Treat people as they should be treated. In the Soldier’s Code, we pledge to “treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same.” Respect is what allows us to appreciate the best in other people. Respect is trusting that all people have done their jobs and fulfilled their duty. And self-respect is a vital ingredient with the Army value of respect, which results from knowing you have put forth your best effort. The Army is one team and each of us has something to contribute.

SELFLESS SERVICE

Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person. In serving your country, you are doing your duty loyally without thought of recognition or gain. The basic building block of selfless service is the commitment of each team member to go a little further, endure a little longer, and look a little closer to see how he or she can add to the effort.

HONOR

Live up to Army values. The nation’s highest military award is The Medal of Honor. This award goes to Soldiers who make honor a matter of daily living — Soldiers who develop the habit of being honorable, and solidify that habit with every value choice they make. Honor is a matter of carrying out, acting, and living the values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity and personal courage in everything you do.

INTEGRITY

Do what’s right, legally and morally. Integrity is a quality you develop by adhering to moral principles. It requires that you do and say nothing that deceives others. As your integrity grows, so does the trust others place in you. The more choices you make based on integrity, the more this highly prized value will affect your relationships with family and friends, and, finally, the fundamental acceptance of yourself.

PERSONAL COURAGE

Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral). Personal courage has long been associated with our Army. With physical courage, it is a matter of enduring physical duress and at times risking personal safety. Facing moral fear or adversity may be a long, slow process of continuing forward on the right path, especially if taking those actions is not popular with others. You can build your personal courage by daily standing up for and acting upon the things that you know are honorable.

The Soldier’s Creed

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am, (even in retirement) an American Soldier.

The End,

God Bless America!

More about me

My name is Steven G. Porter A.K.A. GrimKillSwitch (my Gamer Tag and Sith Lord name…lol)

I am a Retired/Disabled U.S. Army Veteran of 26 years (1989-2015) 13 years as a mechanic, Auto/Diesel & Helicopters, and 13 years in the United States Army Recruiting Command(USAREC). I also worked for the Department of Veteran Affairs as a Loan Administration Specialist (GS-11) for 2 and and half years before I got sick with what i call Covoid-18 in December 2018…I had a virus ( MyoCarditis) that attacked my heart and ended up causing a Stroke. Before the Stroke i had Heart Failure ( I was on a transplant list), a collapsed lung, Renal failure, and kidney failure. That’s why I call it Covoid-18!!…lol. I was in a Medical Coma for the first 30 days ( I don’t remember any of it…thank goodness) of my 3 month Hospital stay. While in the Rehabilitation Hospital for Stroke Recovery, I watched a LOT of Ancient Aliens on History Channel….which led to me becoming an Ancient Astronaut Theorist (It’s amazing how you look at things after a near death experience…lol). I fully retired in May 2019 when my wife, Kathlene retired from the Army as well. I have a lot of free-time now…lol, so I decided to become an AAT Blogger/Author. I am also an avid 420 connoisseur and enthusiast, and a huge Star Wars!, Star Trek, and Harry Potter nerd!

I hold a Master’s of Science Degree in Healthcare Management from Trident University International and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration from Capella University

Bonus content

The Text of Enuma Elish (The original Genesis)

The following translation comes from Mesopotamian Creation Stories by W.G. Lambert and is used under Creative Commons license from the Etana Website:

Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Epic of Creation) Tablet I

When the heavens above did not exist,

And earth beneath had not come into being —

There was Apsû, the first in order, their begetter,

And demiurge Tia-mat, who gave birth to them all;

They had mingled their waters together

Before meadow-land had coalesced and reed-bed was to he found —

When not one of the gods had been formed

Or had come into being, when no destinies had been decreed,

The gods were created within them:

Lah(mu and Lah(amu were formed and came into being.

While they grew and increased in stature

Anšar and Kišar, who excelled them, were created.

They prolonged their days, they multiplied their years.

Anu, their son, could rival his fathers.

Anu, the son, equalled Anšar,

And Anu begat Nudimmud, his own equal.

Nudimmud was the champion among his fathers:

Profoundly discerning, wise, of robust strength;

Very much stronger than his father's begetter, Anšar

He had no rival among the gods, his brothers.

The divine brothers came together,

Their clamour got loud, throwing Tia-mat into a turmoil.

They jarred the nerves of Tia-mat,

And by their dancing they spread alarm in Anduruna.

Apsû did not diminish their clamour,

And Tia-mat was silent when confronted with them.

Their conduct was displeasing to her,

Yet though their behaviour was not good, she wished to spare them.

Thereupon Apsû, the begetter of the great gods,

Called Mummu, his vizier, and addressed him,

"Vizier Mummu, who gratifies my pleasure,

Come, let us go to Tia-mat!"

They went and sat, facing Tia-mat,

As they conferred about the gods, their sons.

Apsû opened his mouth

And addressed Tia-mat

"Their behaviour has become displeasing to me

And I cannot rest in the day-time or sleep at night.

I will destroy and break up their way of life

That silence may reign and we may sleep."

When Tia-mat heard this

She raged and cried out to her spouse,

She cried in distress, fuming within herself,

She grieved over the (plotted) evil,

"How can we destroy what we have given birth to?

Though their behaviour causes distress, let us tighten discipline graciously."

Mummu spoke up with counsel for Apsû—

(As from) a rebellious vizier was the counsel of his Mummu—

"Destroy, my father, that lawless way of life,

That you may rest in the day-time and sleep by night!"

Apsû was pleased with him, his face beamed

Because he had plotted evil against the gods, his sons.

Mummu put his arms around Apsû's neck,

He sat on his knees kissing him.

What they plotted in their gathering

Was reported to the gods, their sons.

The gods heard it and were frantic.

They were overcome with silence and sat quietly.

Ea, who excels in knowledge, the skilled and learned,

Ea, who knows everything, perceived their tricks.

He fashioned it and made it to be all-embracing,

He executed it skilfully as supreme—his pure incantation.

He recited it and set it on the waters,

He poured sleep upon him as he was slumbering deeply.

He put Apsû to slumber as he poured out sleep,

And Mummu, the counsellor, was breathless with agitation.

He split (Apsû's) sinews, ripped off his crown,

Carried away his aura and put it on himself.

He bound Apsû and killed him;

Mummu he confined and handled roughly.

He set his dwelling upon Apsû,

And laid hold on Mummu, keeping the nose-rope in his hand.

After Ea had bound and slain his enemies,

Had achieved victory over his foes,

He rested quietly in his chamber,

He called it Apsû, whose shrines he appointed.

Then he founded his living-quarters within it,

And Ea and Damkina, his wife, sat in splendour.

In the chamber of the destinies, the room of the archetypes,

The wisest of the wise, the sage of the gods, Be-l was conceived.

In Apsû was Marduk born,

In pure Apsû was Marduk born.

Ea his father begat him,

Damkina his mother bore him.

He sucked the breasts of goddesses,

A nurse reared him and filled him with terror.

His figure was well developed, the glance of his eyes was dazzling,

His growth was manly, he was mighty from the beginning.

Anu, his father's begetter, saw him,

He exalted and smiled; his heart filled with joy.

Anu rendered him perfect: his divinity was remarkable,

And he became very lofty, excelling them in his attributes.

His members were incomprehensibly wonderful,

Incapable of being grasped with the mind, hard even to look on.

Four were his eyes, four his ears,

Flame shot forth as he moved his lips.

His four ears grew large,

93 And his eyes likewise took in everything.

His figure was lofty and superior in comparison with the gods,

His limbs were surpassing, his nature was superior.

'Mari-utu, Mari-utu,

The Son, the Sun-god, the Sun-god of the gods.'

He was clothed with the aura of the Ten Gods, so exalted was his strength,

The Fifty Dreads were loaded upon him.

Anu formed and gave birth to the four winds,

He delivered them to him, "My son, let them whirl!"

He formed dust and set a hurricane to drive it,

He made a wave to bring consternation on Tia-mat.

Tia-mat was confused; day and night she was frantic.

The gods took no rest, they . . . . . . .

In their minds they plotted evil,

And addressed their mother Tia-mat,

"When Apsû, your spouse, was killed,

114

You did not go at his side, but sat quietly.

115

The four dreadful winds have been fashioned

116

To throw you into confusion, and we cannot sleep.

117

You gave no thought to Apsû, your spouse,

113

Nor to Mummu, who is a prisoner. Now you sit alone.

119

Henceforth you will be in frantic consternation!

120

And as for us, who cannot rest, you do not love us!

121

Consider our burden, our eyes are hollow.

122

Break the immovable yoke that we may sleep.

123

Make battle, avenge them!

124

[ . . ] reduce to nothingness!

125

Tia-mat heard, the speech pleased her,

126

(She said,) "Let us make demons, [as you] have advised."

127

The gods assembled within her.

128

They conceived [evil] against the gods their begetters.

129

They and took the side of Tia-mat,

130

Fiercely plotting, unresting by night and day,

131

Lusting for battle, raging, storming,

132

They set up a host to bring about conflict.

133

Mother H(ubur, who forms everything,

134

Supplied irresistible weapons, and gave birth to giant serpents.

135

They had sharp teeth, they were merciless . . . .

136

With poison instead of blood she filled their bodies.

137

She clothed the fearful monsters with dread,

138

She loaded them with an aura and made them godlike.

139

(She said,) "Let their onlooker feebly perish,

140

May they constantly leap forward and never retire."

141

She created the Hydra, the Dragon, the Hairy Hero

142

The Great Demon, the Savage Dog, and the Scorpion-man,

143

Fierce demons, the Fish-man, and the Bull-man,

144

Carriers of merciless weapons, fearless in the face of battle.

145

Her commands were tremendous, not to be resisted.

146

Altogether she made eleven of that kind.

147

Among the gods, her sons, whom she constituted her host,

148

She exalted Qingu, and magnified him among them.

149

The leadership of the army, the direction of the host,

150

The bearing of weapons, campaigning, the mobilization of conflict,

151

The chief executive power of battle, supreme command,

152

She entrusted to him and set him on a throne,

153

"I have cast the spell for you and exalted you in the host of the gods,

154

I have delivered to you the rule of all the gods.

You are indeed exalted, my spouse, you are renowned,

Let your commands prevail over all the Anunnaki."

She gave him the Tablet of Destinies and fastened it to his breast,

(Saying) "Your order may not be changed; let the utterance of your mouth be firm."

After Qingu was elevated and had acquired the power of Anuship,

He decreed the destinies for the gods, her sons:

"May the utterance of your mouths subdue the fire-god,

May your poison by its accumulation put down aggression."

Tablet II

Tia-mat gathered together her creation

And organised battle against the gods, her offspring.

Henceforth Tia-mat plotted evil because of Apsû

It became known to Ea that she had arranged the conflict.

Ea heard this matter,

He lapsed into silence in his chamber and sat motionless.

After he had reflected and his anger had subsided

He directed his steps to Anšar, his father.

He entered the presence of the father of his begetter, Anšar,

And related to him all of Tia-mat's plotting.

"My father, Tia-mat our mother has conceived a hatred for us,

She has established a host in her savage fury.

All the gods have turned to her,

Even those you (pl.) begat also take her side

They and took the side of Tia-mat,

Fiercely plotting, unresting by night and day,

Lusting for battle, raging, storming,

They set up a host to bring about conflict.

Mother H(ubur, who forms everything,

Supplied irresistible weapons, and gave birth to giant serpents.

They had sharp teeth, they were merciless.

With poison instead of blood she filled their bodies.

She clothed the fearful monsters with dread,

She loaded them with an aura and made them godlike.

(She said,) "Let their onlooker feebly perish,

26 May they constantly leap forward and never retire."

She created the Hydra, the Dragon, the Hairy Hero,

The Great Demon, the Savage Dog, and the Scorpion-man,

Fierce demons, the Fish-man, and the Bull-man,

Carriers of merciless weapons, fearless in the face of battle.

Her commands were tremendous, not to be resisted.

Altogether she made eleven of that kind.

Among the gods, her sons, whom she constituted her host,

She exalted Qingu and magnified him among them.

The leadership of the army, the direction of the host,

The bearing of weapons, campaigning, the mobilization of conflict,

The chief executive power of battle supreme command,

She entrusted to him and set him on a throne.

"I have cast the spell for you and exalted you in the host of the gods,

I have delivered to you the rule of all the gods.

You are indeed exalted, my spouse, you are renowned,

Let your commands prevail over all the Anunnaki."

She gave him the tablet of Destinies and fastened it to his breast,

(Saying) "Your order may not have changed; let the utterance of your mouth be firm."

After Qingu was elevated and had acquired the power of Anuship

He decreed the destinies for the gods. her sons:

"May the utterance of your mouths subdue the fire-god,

May your poison by its accumulation put down aggression."

Anšar heard; the matter was profoundly disturbing.

He cried "Woe!" and bit his lip.

His heart was in fury, his mind could not be calmed.

Over Ea his son his cry was faltering.

"My son, you who provoked the war,

Take responsibility for whatever you alone have done!

You set out and killed Apsû,

And as for Tia-mat, whom you made furious, where is her equal?"

The gatherer of counsel, the learned prince,

The creator of wisdom, the god Nudimmud

With soothing words and calming utterance

Gently answered [his] father Anšar

"My father, deep mind, who decrees destiny,

Who has the power to bring into being and destroy,

Anšar, deep mind, who decrees destiny,

Who has the power to bring into being and to destroy,

I want to say something to you, calm down for me for a moment

And consider that I performed a helpful deed.

Before I killed Apsû

Who could have seen the present situation?

Before I quickly made an end of him

What were the circumstances were I to destroy him?"

Anšar heard the words pleased him.

His heart relaxed to speak to Ea,

"My son, your deeds are fitting for a god,

You are capable of a fierce, unequalled blow . . [ . . . ]

Ea, your deeds are fitting for a god,

You are capable of a fierce, unequalled blow . . [ . . . ]

Go before Tia-mat and appease her attack,

. . [ . . . ] . . . her fury with [your] incantation."

He heard the speech of Anšar his father,

He took the road to her, proceeded on the route to her.

He went, he perceived the tricks of Tia-mat,

[He stopped], fell silent, and turned back.

[He] entered the presence of august Anšar

Penitently addressing him,

"[My father], Tia-mat's deeds are too much for me.

I perceived her planning, and [my] incantation was not equal (to it).

Her strength is mighty, she is full of dread,

She is altogether very strong, none can go against her.

Her very loud cry did not diminish,

[I became afraid] of her cry and turned back.

[My father], do not lose hope, send a second person against her.

Though a woman's strength is very great, it is not equal to a man's.

Disband her cohorts, break up her plans

Before she lays her hands on us."

Anšar cried out in intense fury,

Addressing Anu his son,

"Honoured son, hero, warrior,

Whose strength is mighty, whose attack is irresistible

Hasten and stand before Tia-mat,

Appease her rage that her heart may relax

If she does not harken to your words,

Address to her words of petition that she may be appeased."

He heard the speech of Anšar his father,

He took the road to her, proceeded on the route to her.

Anu went, he perceived the tricks of Tia-mat,

He stopped, fell silent, and turned back.

He entered the presence of Anšar the father who begat him,

Penitently addressing him.

"My father, Tia-mat's [deeds] are too much for me.

I perceived her planning, but my [incantation] was not [equal] (to it).

Her strength is mighty, she is [full] of dread,

She is altogether very strong, no one [can go against her].

Her very loud noise does not diminish,

I became afraid of her cry and turned back.

My father, do not lose hope, send another person against her.

Though a woman's strength is very great, it is not equal to a man's.

Disband her cohorts, break up her plans,

Before she lays her hands on us."

Anšar lapsed into silence, staring at the ground,

He nodded to Ea, shaking his head.

The Igigi and all the Anunnaki had assembled,

They sat in tight-lipped silence.

No god would go to face . . [ . . ]

Would go out against Tia-mat [ . . ]

Yet the lord Anšar, the father of the great gods,

Was angry in his heart, and did not summon any one.

A mighty son, the avenger of his father,

He who hastens to war, the warrior Marduk

Ea summoned (him) to his private chamber

To explain to him his plans.

"Marduk, give counsel, listen to your father.

You are my son, who gives me pleasure,

Go reverently before Anšar,

Speak, take your stand, appease him with your glance."

Be-l rejoiced at his father's words,

He drew near and stood in the presence of Anšar.

Anšar saw him, his heart filled with satisfaction,

He kissed his lips and removed his fear.

"My [father] do not hold your peace, but speak forth,

I will go and fulfil your desires!

[Anšar,] do not hold your peace, but speak forth,

I will go and fulfil your desires!

Which man has drawn up his battle array against you?

And will Tia-mat, who is a woman, attack you with (her) weapons?

["My father], begetter, rejoice and be glad,

Soon you will tread on the neck of Tia-mat!

[Anšar], begetter, rejoice and be glad,

Soon you will tread on the neck of Tia-mat!

["Go,] my son, conversant with all knowledge,

Appease Tia-mat with your pure spell.

Drive the storm chariot without delay,

And with a [ . . ] which cannot be repelled turn her back."

Be-l rejoiced at his father's words,

With glad heart he addressed his father,

"Lord of the gods, Destiny of the great gods,

If I should become your avenger,

If I should bind Tia-mat and preserve you,

Convene an assembly and proclaim for me an exalted destiny.

Sit, all of you, in Upšukkinakku with gladness,

And let me, with my utterance, decree destinies instead of you.

Whatever I instigate must not be changed,

Nor may my command be nullified or altered."

Tablet III

Anšar opened his mouth

And addressed Kaka, his vizier,

"Vizier Kaka, who gratifies my pleasure,

I will send you to Lah(mu and Lah(amu.

You are skilled in making inquiry, learned in address.

Have the gods, my fathers, brought to my presence.

Let all the gods be brought,

Let them confer as they sit at the table.

Let them eat grain, let them drink ale,

Let them decree the destiny for Marduk, their avenger.

Go, be gone, Kaka, stand before them,

And repeat to them all that I tell you:

"Anšar, your son, has sent me,

And I am to explain his plans.

15-52 = II, 11*-48 (* instead of 'My father,' put ' 'Thus,' )

I sent Anu, but he could not face her.

Nudimmud took fright and retired.

Marduk, the sage of the gods, your son, has come forward,

He has determined to meet Tia-mat.

He has spoken to me and said,

58-64 = II, 156*-162 (* begin with quotation marks: "If )

Quickly, now, decree your destiny for him without delay,

That he may go and face your powerful enemy."

Kaka went. He directed his steps

To Lah(mu and Lah(amu, the gods of his fathers.

He prostrated himself, he kissed the ground before them,

He got up, saying to them he stood,

71-124 = II, 13-66

When Lah(h(a and Lah(amu heard, they cried aloud.

All the Igigi moaned in distress,

"What has gone wrong that she made this decision about us?

We did not know what Tia-mat was doing."

All the great gods who decree destinies

Gathered as they went,

They entered the presence of Anšar and became filled with [joy],

They kissed one another as they . [ . . ] in the assembly.

They conferred as they sat at table,

They ate grain, they drank ale.

They strained the sweet liquor through their straws,

As they drank beer and felt good,

They became quite carefree, their mood was merry,

And they decreed the fate for Marduk, their avenger.

Tablet IV

They set a lordly dais for him

And he took his seat before his fathers to receive kingship.

(They said,) "You are the most honoured among the great gods,

Your destiny is unequalled, your command is like Anu's.

Marduk, you are the most honoured among the great gods,

Your destiny is unequalled, your command is like Anu's.

Henceforth your order will not be annulled,

It is in your power to exalt and abase.

Your utterance is sure, your command cannot be rebelled against,

None of the gods will transgress the line you draw.

Shrines for all the gods needs provisioning,

That you may be established where their sanctuaries are.

You are Marduk, our avenger,

We have given you kingship over the sum of the whole universe.

Take your seat in the assembly, let your word be exalted,

Let your weapons not miss the mark, but may they slay your enemies.

Be-l, spare him who trusts in you,

But destroy the god who set his mind on evil."

They set a constellation in the middle

And addressed Marduk, their son,

"Your destiny, Be-l, is superior to that of all the gods,

Command and bring about annihilation and re-creation.

Let the constellation disappear at your utterance,

With a second command let the constellation reappear."

He gave the command and the constellation disappeared,

With a second command the constellation came into being again.

When the gods, his fathers, saw (the effect of) his utterance,

They rejoiced and offered congratulations: "Marduk is the king!"

They added to him a mace, a throne, and a rod,

They gave him an irresistible weapon that overwhelms the foe:

(They said,) "Go, cut Tia-mat's throat,

And let the winds bear up her blood to give the news."

The gods, his fathers, decreed the destiny of Be-l,

And set him on the road, the way of prosperity and success.

He fashioned a bow and made it his weapon,

He set an arrow in place, put the bow string on.

He took up his club and held it in his right hand,

His bow and quiver he hung at his side.

He placed lightning before him,

And filled his body with tongues of flame.

He made a net to enmesh the entrails of Tia-mat,

And stationed the four winds that were no part of her escape.

The South Wind, the North Wind, the East Wind, the West Wind,

He put beside his net, winds given by his father, Anu.

He fashioned the Evil Wind, the Dust Storm, Tempest,

The Four-fold Wind, the Seven-fold Wind, the Chaos-spreading Wind, the . .

. . .Wind.

He sent out the seven winds that he had fashioned,

And they took their stand behind him to harass Tia-mat's entrails.

Be-l took up the Storm-flood, his great weapon,

He rode the fearful chariot of the irresistible storm.

Four steeds he yoked to it and harnessed them to it,

The Destroyer, The Merciless, The Trampler, The Fleet.

Their lips were parted, their teeth bore venom,

They were strangers to weariness, trained to sweep forward.

At his right hand he stationed raging battle and strife,

On the left, conflict that overwhelms a united battle array.

He was clad in a tunic, a fearful coat of mail,

And on his head he wore an aura of terror.

Be-l proceeded and set out on his way,

He set his face toward the raging Tia-mat.

In his lips he held a spell,

He grasped a plant to counter poison in his hand,

Thereupon they milled around him, the gods milled around him,

The gods, his fathers, milled around him, the gods milled around him.

Be-l drew near, surveying the maw of Tia-mat,

He observed the tricks of Qingu, her spouse.

As he looked, he lost his nerve,

His determination went and he faltered.

His divine aides, who were marching at his side,

Saw the warrior, the foremost, and their vision became dim.

Tia-mat cast her spell without turning her neck,

In her lips she held untruth and lies, 73 "[ . ] . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In their [ . ] . they have assembled by you."

Be-l [lifted up] the Storm-flood, his great weapon,

And with these words threw it at the raging Tia-mat,

"Why are you aggressive and arrogant,

And strive to provoke battle?

The younger generation have shouted, outraging their elders,

But you, their mother, hold pity in contempt.

Qingu you have named to be your spouse,

And you have improperly appointed him to the rank of Anuship.

Against Anšar, king of the gods, you have stirred up trouble,

And against the gods, my fathers, your trouble is established.

Deploy your troops, gird on your weapons,

You and I will take our stand and do battle."

When Tia-mat heard this

She went insane and lost her reason.

Tia-mat cried aloud and fiercely,

All her lower members trembled beneath her.

She was reciting an incantation, kept reciting her spell,

While the (battle-)gods were sharpening their weapons of war.

Tia-mat and Marduk, the sage of the gods, came together,

Joining in strife, drawing near to battle.

Be-l spread out his net and enmeshed her;

He let loose the Evil Wind, the rear guard, in her face.

Tia-mat opened her mouth to swallow it,

She let the Evil Wind in so that she could not close her lips.

The fierce winds weighed down her belly,

Her inwards were distended and she opened her mouth wide.

He let fly an arrow and pierced her belly,

He tore open her entrails and slit her inwards,

He bound her and extinguished her life,

He threw down her corpse and stood on it.

After he had killed Tia-mat, the leader,

Her assembly dispersed, her host scattered.

Her divine aides, who went beside her,

In trembling and fear beat a retreat.

to save their lives,

But they were completely surrounded, unable to escape.

He bound them and broke their weapons,

And they lay enmeshed, sitting in a snare,

Hiding in corners, filled with grief,

Bearing his punishment, held in a prison.

The eleven creatures who were laden with fearfulness,

The throng of devils who went as grooms at her right hand,

He put ropes upon them and bound their arms,

Together with their warfare he trampled them beneath him.

Now Qingu, who had risen to power among them,

He bound and reckoned with the Dead Gods.

He took from him the Tablet of Destinies, which was not properly his,

Sealed it with a seal and fastened it to his own breast.

After the warrior Marduk had bound and slain his enemies,

Had . . . . the arrogant enemy ,

Had established victory for Anšar over all his foes,

Had fulfilled the desire of Nudimmud,

He strengthened his hold on the Bound Gods,

And returned to Tia-mat, whom he had bound.

Be-l placed his feet on the lower parts of Tia-mat

And with his merciless club smashed her skull.

He severed her arteries

And let the North wind bear up (her blood) to give the news.

His fathers saw it and were glad and exalted;

They brought gifts and presents to him.

Be-l rested, surveying the corpse,

In order to divide the lump by a clever scheme.

He split her into two like a dried fish:

One half of her he set up and stretched out as the heavens.

He stretched the skin and appointed a watch

With the instruction not to let her waters escape.

He crossed over the heavens, surveyed the celestial parts,

And adjusted them to match the Apsû, Nudimmud's abode.

Be-l measured the shape of the Apsû

And set up Ešarra, a replica of Ešgalla.

In Ešgalla, Ešarra which he had built, and the heavens,

He settled in their shrines Anu, Enlil, and Ea.

Tablet V

He fashioned heavenly stations for the great gods,

And set up constellations, the patterns of the stars.

He appointed the year, marked off divisions,

And set up three stars each for the twelve months.

After he had organized the year,

He established the heavenly station of Ne-beru to fix the stars' intervals.

That none should transgress or be slothful

He fixed the heavenly stations of Enlil and Ea with it.

Gates he opened on both sides,

And put strong bolts at the left and the right.

He placed the heights (of heaven) in her (Tia-mat's) belly,

He created Nannar, entrusting to him the night.

He appointed him as the jewel of the night to fix the days,

And month by month without ceasing he elevated him with a crown,

(Saying,) "Shine over the land at the beginning of the month,

Resplendent with horns to fix six days.

On the seventh day the crown will be half size,

On the fifteenth day, halfway through each month, stand in opposition.

When Šamaš [sees] you on the horizon,

Diminish in the proper stages and shine backwards.

On the 29th day, draw near to the path of Šamaš,

. [ . . ] the 30th day, stand in conjunction and rival Šamaš.

I have ( ] . the sign, follow its track,

Draw near . . ( ) give judgment.

. [ ] . Šamaš, constrain [murder] and violence,

26 . [ ] . me.

* * * * * *

At the end [ . . .

Let there [be] the 29th day [ "

After [he had . . . . ] the decrees [ . . .

The organization of front and . [ . . .

He made the day [ . . .

Let the year be equally [ . . .

At the new year [ . . .

42 The year . . . . . [ . . .

Let there be regularly [ . . .

The projecting bolt [ . . .

After he had [ . . .

The watches of night and day [ . . .

The foam which Tia-mat [ . . .

Marduk fashioned [ . . .

He gathered it together and made it into clouds.

The raging of the winds, violent rainstorms,

The billowing of mist—the accumulation of her spittle—

He appointed for himself and took them in his hand.

He put her head in position and poured out . . [ . . ] .

He opened the abyss and it was sated with water.

From her two eyes he let the Euphrates and Tigris flow,

He blocked her nostrils, but left . .

He heaped up the distant [mountains] on her breasts,

He bored wells to channel the springs.

He twisted her tail and wove it into the Durmah(u,

[ . . . ] . . the Apsû beneath his feet.

[He set up] her crotch—it wedged up the heavens—

[(Thus) the half of her] he stretched out and made it firm as the earth.

[After] he had finished his work inside Tia-mat,

[He spread] his net and let it right out.

He surveyed the heavens and the earth . . [ . ] . 66 [ . . ] their bonds . . . . . . .

After he had formulated his regulations and composed [his] decrees,

He attached guide-ropes and put them in Ea's hands.

[The Tablet] of Destinies which Qingu had taken and carried,

He took charge of it as a trophy (?) and presented it to Anu.

[The . ] . of battle, which he had tied on or had put on his head,

[ . ] . he brought before his fathers.

[Now] the eleven creatures to which Tia-mat had given birth and ,

He broke their weapons and bound them (the creatures) to his feet.

He made images of them and stationed them at the [Gate] of the Apsû,

To be a sign never to be forgotten.

[The gods] saw it and were jubilantly happy,

(That is,) Lah(mu, Lah(amu and all his fathers.

Anšar [embraced] him and published abroad his title, "Victorious King,"

Anu, Enlil and Ea gave him gifts.

Mother Damkina, who bore him, hailed him,

With a clean festal robe she made his face shine.

To Usmû, who held her present to give the news,

[He entrusted] the vizierate of the Apsû and the care of the holy places.

The Igigi assembled and all did obeisance to him,

Every one of the Anunnaki was kissing his feet.

They all [gathered] to show their submission,

[ . . . ] . they stood, they bowed down, "Behold the king!"

His fathers [ . . . ] . and took their fill of his beauty,

Be-l listened to their utterance, being girded with the dust of battle. 91 . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . ] . . . . . . .

Anointing his body with . [ ] cedar perfume.

He clothed himself in [his] lordly robe,

With a crown of terror as a royal aura.

He took up his club and held it in his right hand,

] . he grasped on his left.

97 [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

] . he set his feet.

He put it on . [ . . .

The sceptre of prosperity and success [he hung] at his side.

After [he had ] the aura [

He adorned(?) his sack, the Apsû, with a fearful [ . . ]

Was settled like . [ . . .

In [his] throne room [ . . .

In his cellar [ . . .

Every one of the gods [ . . .

Lah(mu and Lah(amu . [ ] .

Opened their mouths and [addressed] the Igigi gods,

"Previously Marduk was our beloved son,

Now he is your king, heed his command!"

Next, they all spoke up together,

"His name is Lugaldimmerankia, trust in him!"

When they had given kingship to Marduk,

They addressed to him a benediction for prosperity and success,

"Henceforth you are the caretaker of our shrine,

Whatever you command, we will do!"

Marduk opened his mouth to speak

And addressed the gods his fathers,

"Above the Apsû, the emerald (?) abode,

Opposite Ešarra, which I built for you,

Beneath the celestial parts, whose floor I made firm,

I will build a house to be my luxurious abode.

Within it I will establish its shrine,

I will find my chamber and establish my kingship.

When you come up from the Apsû to make a decision

This will be your resting place before the assembly.

When you descend from heaven to make a decision

This will be your resting place before the assembly.

I shall call its name 'Babylon', "The Homes of the Great Gods",

Within it we will hold a festival: that will be the evening festival.

[The gods], his fathers, [heard] this speech of his, 132 . [ ] . they said,

"With regard to all that your hands have made,

Who has your [ ]?

With regard to the earth that your hands have made,

Who has your [ ]?

In Babylon, as you have named it,

Put our [resting place] for ever.

. [ ] let them our bring regular offerings

140 . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ] . .

Whoever [ . . . ] our tasks which we . [ . . .

Therein [ . . . . . ] its toil . [ . . .

143 [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

144 They rejoiced [ . . . . . . . . . . . ] . . [ . . .

The gods . [ ]

He who knows [ ] . them

He opened [his mouth showing] them light, 148 . . [ ] his speech . [ . ]

149 He made wide [ . . . . . . . . ] . them [ . . .

150 And . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . ] . . . . .

The gods bowed down, speaking to him,

They addressed Lugaldimmerankia, their lord,

"Formerly, lord, [you were our beloved] son,

Now you are our king, . . [ ]

He who . [ . ] . [ . ] preserved [us]

. . [ ] the aura of club and sceptre.

Let him conceive plans [ . . . . ] . . [ ]

158 [ . ] . . [ . . . . . . that] we . [ "

Tablet VI

When Marduk heard the gods' speech

He conceived a desire to accomplish clever things.

He opened his mouth addressing Ea,

He counsels that which he had pondered in his heart,

"I will bring together blood to form bone,

I will bring into being Lullû, whose name shall be 'man'.

I will create Lullû—man

On whom the toil of the gods will be laid that they may rest.

I will skilfully alter the organization of the gods:

Though they are honoured as one, they shall be divided into two."

Ea answered, as he addressed a word to him,

Expressing his comments on the resting of the gods,

"Let one brother of theirs be given up.

Let him perish that people may be fashioned.

Let the great gods assemble

And let the guilty one be given up that they may be confirmed."

Marduk assembled the great gods,

Using gracious direction as he gave his order,

As he spoke the gods heeded him:

The king addressed a word to the Anunnaki,

"Your former oath was true indeed,

(Now also) tell me the solemn truth:

Who is the one who instigated warfare,

Who made Tia-mat rebel, and set battle in motion?

Let him who instigated warfare be given up

That I may lay his punishment on him; but you sit and rest.

The Igigi, the great gods, answered him,

That is, Lugaldimmerankia, the counsellor of the gods, the lord,

"Qingu is the one who instigated warfare,

Who made Tia-mat rebel and set battle in motion."

They bound him, holding him before Ea,

They inflicted the penalty on him and severed his blood-vessels.

From his blood he (Ea) created mankind,

On whom he imposed the service of the gods, and set the gods free.

After the wise Ea had created mankind

And had imposed the service of the gods upon them—

That task is beyond comprehension

For Nudimmud performed the creation with the skill of Marduk—

King Marduk divided the gods,

All the Anunnaki into upper and lower groups.

He assigned 300 in the heavens to guard the decrees of Anu

And appointed them as a guard.

Next he arranged the organization of the netherworld.

In heaven and netherworld he stationed 600 gods.

After he had arranged all the decrees,

And had distributed incomes among the Anunnaki of heaven and

netherworld,

The Anunnaki opened their mouths

And addressed their lord Marduk,

"Now, lord, seeing you have established our freedom

What favour can we do for you?

Let us make a shrine of great renown:

Your chamber will be our resting place wherein we may repose.

Let us erect a shrine to house a pedestal

Wherein we may repose when we finish (the work)."

When Marduk heard this,

He beamed as brightly as the light of day,

"Build Babylon, the task you have sought.

Let bricks for it be moulded, and raise the shrine!"

The Anunnaki wielded the pick.

For one year they made the needed bricks.

When the second year arrived,

They raised the peak of Esagil, a replica of the Apsû.

They built the lofty temple tower of the Apsû

And for Anu, Enlil, and Ea they established its . . as a dwelling.

He sat in splendour before them,

Suveying its horns, which were level with the base of Ešarra.

After they had completed the work on Esagil

All the Anunnaki constructed their own shrines.

300 Igigi of heaven and 600 of the Apsû, all of them, had assembled.

Be-l seated the gods, his fathers, at the banquet

In the lofty shrine which they had built for his dwelling,

(Saying,) "This is Babylon, your fixed dwelling,

Take your pleasure here! Sit down in joy!

The great gods sat down,

Beer-mugs were set out and they sat at the banquet.

After they had enjoyed themselves inside

They held a service in awesome Esagil.

The regulations and all the rules were confirmed:

All the gods divided the stations of heaven and netherworld.

The college of the Fifty great gods took their seats,

The Seven gods of destinies were appointed to give decisions.

Be-l received his weapon, the bow, and laid it before them:

His divine fathers saw the net which he had made.

His fathers saw how skilfully wrought was the structure of the bow

As they praised what he had made.

Anu lifted it up in the divine assembly,

He kissed the bow, saying, "It is my daughter!"

Thus he called the names of the bow:

"Long Stick" was the first; the second was, "May it hit the mark."

With the third name, "Bow Star", he made it to shine in the sky,

He fixed its heavenly position along with its divine brothers.

After Anu had decreed the destiny of the bow,

He set down a royal throne, a lofty one even for a god,

Anu set it there in the assembly of the gods.

The great gods assembled,

They exalted the destiny of Marduk and did obeisance.

They invoked a curse on themselves

And took an oath with water and oil, and put their hands to their throats.

They granted him the right to exercise kingship over the gods,

They confirmed him as lord of the gods of heaven and netherworld.

Anšar gave him his exalted name, Asalluh(i

"At the mention of his name, let us show submission!

When he speaks, let the gods heed him,

Let his command be superior in upper and lower regions.

May the son, our avenger, be exalted,

Let his lordship be superior and himself without a rival.

Let him shepherd the black-heads, his creatures,

Let them tell of his character to future days without forgetting.

Let him establish lavish food offerings for his fathers,

Let him provide for their maintenance and be caretaker of their sanctuaries,

Let him burn incense to rejoice their sanctums.

Let him do on earth the same as he has done in heaven:

Let him appoint the black-heads to worship him.

The subject humans should take note and call on their gods,

Since he commands they should heed their goddesses,

Let food offerings be brought [for] (?) their gods and goddesses,

May they (?) not be forgotten, may they remember their gods,

May they . . . their . . , may they . . their shrines.

Though the black-heads worship someone, some other god,

He is the god of each and every one of us!

Come, let us call the fifty names

Of him whose character is resplendent, whose achievement is the same.

(1) MARDUK

As he was named by his father Anu from his birth,

Who supplies pasturage and watering, making the stables flourish.

Who bound the boastful with his weapon, the storm flood,

And saved the gods, his fathers, from distress.

He is the son, the sun-god of the gods, he is dazzling,

Let them ever walk in his bright light.

On the peoples that he created, the living beings,

He imposed the service of the gods and they took rest.

Creation and annihilation, forgiveness and exacting the penalty

Occur at his command, so let them fix their eyes on him.

(2) Marukka: he is the god who created them

Who put the Anunnaki at ease, the Igigi at rest.

(3) Marutukku: he is the support of land, city, and its peoples,

Henceforth let the peoples ever heed him.

(4) Meršakušu: fierce yet deliberating, angry yet relenting,

His mind is wide, his heart is all-embracing.

(5) Lugaldimmerankia is the name by which we all called him,

Whose command we have exalted above that of the gods his fathers.

He is the lord of all the gods of heaven and netherworld,

The king at whose injunctions the gods in upper and lower regions shudder.

(6) Narilugaldimmerankia is the name we gave him, the mentor of every god,

Who established our dwellings in heaven and netherworld in time of trouble,

Who distributed the heavenly stations between Igigi and Anunnaki,

Let the gods tremble at his name and quake on their seats.

(7) Asalluh(i is the name by which his father Anu called him,

He is the light of the gods, a mighty hero,

Who, as his name says, is a protecting angel for god and land,

Who by terrible combat saved our dwelling in time of trouble.

(8) Asalluh(i-Namtilla they called him secondly, the life-giving god,

Who, in accordance with the form (of) his (name), restored all the ruined gods,

The lord, who brought to life the dead gods by his pure incantation,

Let us praise him as the destroyer of the crooked enemies.

(9) Asalluh(i-Namru, as his name is called thirdly,

The pure god, who cleanses our character."

Anšar, Lah(mu, and Lah(amu (each) called him by three of his names,

Then they addressed the gods, their sons,

"We have each called him by three of his names,

Now you call his names, like us."

The gods rejoiced as they heard their speech,

In Upšuukkinaki they held a conference,

"Of the warrior son, our avenger,

Of the provisioner, let us extol the name."

They sat down in their assembly, summoning the destinies,

And with all due rites they called his name:

Tablet VII

(10)Asarre, the giver of arable land who established plough-land,

The creator of barley and flax, who made plant life grow.

(11)Asaralim, who is revered in the counsel chamber, whose counsel excels,

The gods heed it and grasp fear of him.

(12)Asaralimnunna, the noble, the light of the father, his begetter,

Who directs the decrees of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, that is Ninšiku.

He is their provisioner, who assigns their incomes,

Whose turban multiplies abundance for the land.

(13) Tutu is he, who accomplishes their renovation,

Let him purify their sanctuaries that they may repose.

Let him fashion an incantation that the gods may rest,

Though they rise up in fury, let them withdraw.

He is indeed exalted in the assembly of the gods, his [fathers],

No one among the gods can [equal] him.

(14) Tutu-Ziukkinna, the life of [his] host,

Who established, the pure heavens for the gods,

Who took charge of their courses, who appointed [their stations],

16 May he not be forgotten among mortals, but [let them remember] his deeds.

(15) Tutu-Ziku they called him thirdly, the establisher of purification,

The god of the pleasant breeze, lord of success and obedience,

Who produces bounty and wealth, who establishes abundance,

Who turns everything scant that we have into profusion,

Whose pleasant breeze we sniffed in time of terrible trouble,

Let men command that his praises be constantly uttered, let them offer worship to

him.

As (16) Tutu-Agaku, fourthly, let humans extol him,

Lord of the pure incantation, who brought the dead back to life,

Who showed mercy on the Bound Gods,

Who threw the imposed yoke on the gods, his enemies,

And to spare them created mankind.

The merciful, in whose power it is to restore to life,

Let his words be sure and not forgotten

From the mouths of the black-heads, his creatures.

As (17) Tutu-Tuku, fifthly, let their mouth give expression to his pure spell,

Who extirpated all the wicked by his pure incantation.

(18) Šazu, who knew the heart of the gods, who saw the reins,

Who did not let an evil-doer escape from him,

Who established the assembly of the gods, who rejoiced their hearts,

Who subjugated the disobedient, he is the gods' encompassing protection.

He made truth to prosper, he uprooted perverse speech,

He separated falsehood from truth.

As (19) Šazu-Zisi, secondly, let them continually praise him, the subduer of aggressors,

Who ousted consternation from the bodies of the gods, his fathers.

(20) Šazu-Suh(rim, thirdly, who extirpated every foe with his weapons,

Who confounded their plans and turned them into wind.

He snuffed out all the wicked who came against him,

Let the gods ever shout acclamations in the assembly.

(21) Šazu-Suh(gurim, fourthly, who established success for the gods, his fathers,

Who extirpated foes and destroyed their offspring,

Who scattered their achievements, leaving no part of them,

Let his name be spoken and proclaimed in the land.

As (22) Šazu-Zah(rim, fifthly, let future generations discuss him,

The destroyer of every rebel, of all the disobedient,

Who brought all the fugitive gods into the shrines,

Let this name of his be established.

As (23) Šazu-Zah(gurim, sixthly, let them altogether and everywhere worship him,

Who himself destroyed all the foes in battle.

(24) Enbilulu is he, the lord who supplies them abundantly,

Their great chosen one, who provides cereal offerings,

Who keeps pasturage and watering in good condition and established it for the land,

Who opened watercourses and distributed plentiful water.

(25) Enbilulu-Epadun, lord of common land and . . ., let them [call him] secondly,

Canal supervisor of heaven and netherworld, who sets the furrow, Who establishes clean arable land in the open country,

Who directs irrigation ditch and canal, and marks out the furrow.

As (26) Enbilulu-Gugal, canal supervisor of the water courses of the gods, let them praise him thirdly,

Lord of abundance, profusion, and huge stores (of grain),

Who provides bounty, who enriches human habitations,

Who gives wheat, and brings grain into being.

(27) Enbilulu-H(egal, who accumulates abundance for the peoples . . . .

Who rains down riches on the broad earth, and supplies abundant vegetation.

(28) Sirsir, who heaped up a mountain on top of Tia-mat,

Who plundered the corpse of Tia-mat with [his] weapons,

The guardian of the land, their trustworthy shepherd,

Whose hair is a growing crop, whose turban is a furrow,

Who kept crossing the broad Sea in his fury,

And kept crossing over the place of her battle as though it were a bridge.

(29) Sirsir-Malah( they named him secondly—so be it—

Tia-mat was his boat, he was her sailor.

(30) Gil, who ever heaps up piles of barley, massive mounds,

The creator of grain and flocks, who gives seed for the land.

(31) Gilima, who made the bond of the gods firm, who created stability,

A snare that overwhelmed them, who yet extended favours.

(32) Agilima, the lofty, who snatches off the crown, who takes charge of snow,

Who created the earth on the water and made firm the height of heaven.

(33) Zulum, who assigns meadows for the gods and divides up what he has created,

Who gives incomes and food-offerings, who administers shrines.

(34) Mummu, creator of heaven end underworld, who protects refugees,

The god who purifies heaven and underworld, secondly Zulummu,

In respect of whose strength none other among the gods can equal him.

(35) Gišnumunab, creator of all the peoples, who made the world regions,

Who destroyed Tia-mat's gods, and made peoples from part of them.

(36) Lugalabdubur, the king who scattered the works of Tia-mat, who uprooted her weapons,

Whose foundation is secure on the "Fore and Aft".

(37) Pagalguenna, foremost of all lords, whose strength is exalted,

Who is the greatest among the gods, his brothers, the most noble of them all.

(38) Lugaldurmah(, king of the bond of the gods, lord of Durmah(u,

Who is the greatest in the royal abode, infinitely more lofty than the other gods.

(39) Aranunna, counsellor of Ea, creator of the gods, his fathers,

Whom no god can equal in respect of his lordly walk.

(40) Dumuduku, who renews for himself his pure abode in Duku,

Dumuduku, without whom Lugalduku does not make a decision.

(41) Lugalšuanna, the king whose strength is exalted among the gods,

The lord, the strength of Anu, he who is supreme, chosen of Anšar.

(42) Irugga, who plundered them all in the Sea,

Who grasps all wisdom, is comprehensive in understanding.

(43) Irqingu, who plundered Qingu in . . . battle,

Who directs all decrees and establishes lordship.

(44) Kinma, the director of all the gods, who gives counsel,

At whose name the gods bend down in reverence as before a hurricane.

(45) Dingir-Esiskur—let him take his lofty seat in the House of Benediction,

Let the gods bring their presents before him

Until he receives their offerings.

No one but he accomplishes clever things

The four (regions) of black-heads are his creation,

Apart from him no god knows the measure of their days.

(46) Girru, who makes weapons hard (?),

Who accomplished clever things in the battle with Tia-mat,

Comprehensive in wisdom, skilled in understanding,

A deep mind, that all the gods combined do not understand.

Let (47) Addu be his name, let him cover the whole span of heaven,

Let him thunder with his pleasant voice upon the earth,

May the rumble fill (?) the clouds

And give sustenance to the peoples below.

(48) Aša-ru, who, as his name says, mustered the Divine Fates

He indeed is the warden of absolutely all peoples.

As (49) Ne-beru let him hold the crossing place of heaven and underworld,

They should not cross above or below, but should wait for him.

Ne-beru is his star, which he caused to shine in the sky,

Let him take his stand on the heavenly staircase that they may look at him.

Yes, he who constantly crosses the Sea without resting,

Let his name be Ne-beru, who grasps her middle,

Let him fix the paths of the stars of heaven,

Let him shepherd all the gods like sheep,

Let him bind Tia-mat and put her life in mortal danger,

To generations yet unborn, to distant future days,

May he continue unchecked, may he persist into eternity.

Since he created the heavens and fashioned the earth,

Enlil, the father, called him by his own name, (50) 'Lord of the Lands'.

Ea heard the names which all the Igigi called

And his spirit became radiant.

"Why! He whose name was extolled by his fathers

Let him, like me, be called (51) 'Ea'.

Let him control the sum of all my rites,

Let him administer all my decrees."

With the word "Fifty" the great gods

Called his fifty names and assigned him an outstanding position.

They should be remembered; a leading figure should expound them,

The wise and learned should confer about them,

A father should repeat them and teach them to his son,

One should explain them to the shepherd and herdsman.

If one is not negligent to Marduk, the Enlil of the gods,

May one's land flourish, and oneself prosper,

(For) his word is reliable, his command unchanged,

No god can alter the utterance of his mouth.

When he looks in fury, he does not relent,

When his anger is ablaze, no god can face him.

His mind is deep, his spirit is all-embracing,

Before whom sin and transgression are sought out.

Instruction which a leading figure repeated before him (Marduk):

He wrote it down and stored it so that generations to come might hear it.

[ . . ] . Marduk, who created the Igigi gods,

Though they diminish . . . let them call on his name.

. . . the song of Marduk,

Who defeated Tia-mat and took kingship

-My other Books

“This is The Way” (A tribute to Zecharia Sitchin)

Roots 2021

(A modern study of Humanity and Slavery)

I ask that you keep an open mind while reading this book. It may make you angry,and that’s ok. Hopefully though, it awakens your Pineal Gland, (third eye). It’s going to be an awesome trip, and well worth your time to read. I pinky-promise.

Ok, so, here we go, I propose a Theory that the reason Humanity has, and to this day continues to struggle with slavery is because...dah, dah, dah...(key dramatic music)...

Slavery, is in our DNA

We, (Humanity) were genetically engineered to serve as slaves for the Anunnaki.

On the surface, this Theory appears to be completely unbelievable.

However, Follow the breadcrumbs that I have left below for a fascinating story reaching from ancient times to modern, and then draw your own conclusions.

Who were the Anunnaki and why do we care? The short answer is: The Anunnaki were the deity pantheon of the ancient Sumerians. And interest in the Sumerian culture has been active and persistent since it was discovered in the late 19th century — for several reasons.

The Sumerians appear on the archaeological record beginning around 4,500 BCE. Located in present-day Iraq (My wife, KathIene and I were deployed to Al Asaad in 2003-2004). The region, a.k.a. Mesopotamia has long been referred to as “the cradle of civilization.” Sumer was a handful of city-states initially ruled by priests, each organized around a city and temple now called a “ziggurat.” The ziggurats, dedicated to Anunnaki worship, were layered pyramids with flat tops. These communities were considered to be “servant-slave” populations dedicated to serving the temple gods, the Anunnaki. Over time, priesthood rulership gave way to kings.

Sumerian history is gleaned from archaeological and geologic evidence — written records are in the form of cuneiform tablets. Reportedly, some half-million tablets have been recovered, but only a small number have been translated. Much was also learned from translations of Babylonian records; Sumer was considered “ancient” in Babylonian times.

Sumerians worshiped the Anunnaki, said to be the children of earth and sky; An, the sky god, and Ki, the earth goddess. Chief among them was Enlil, the god of air. This pantheon was passed to the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of the historical king of Sumerian city-state Urek, is an ancient literary relic of Sumerian culture.

A theory that these beings originated from “Nibiru,” a.k.a. “Planet X” has been added to alternate Anunnaki narratives, as well as the likelihood of the off-world gods bringing advanced technologies that account for sophisticated megastructures such as the pyramids or Stonehenge. Out-of-place artifacts and tool discoveries contribute to these premises. The Sumerians are also known for sophisticated astronomical and mathematical knowledge, speculated to have passed from the Annunaki.

While no lists of the Annunaki pantheon exist, it is known that each Sumerian city-state had its own Annunaki god/overseer assigned by senior Annunaki Marduk.

Authors Zecharia Sitchin, Erich von Däniken (“Chariots of the Gods”), author and researcher Michael Tellinger, and several others, make very compelling arguments that the Anunnaki were, in fact, off-world beings posing as “gods.” This theory also asserts that these “sky” gods genetically engineered the human race into a slave species, which may account for weak links in the evolutionary story. These theories gave birth to the “Ancient Astronaut Theory” asserting that off-world beings have been posing as gods to influence human affairs for millennia.

The Anunnaki first arrived on Earth around 450,000 years ago,from Nibiru looking for minerals, especially gold, which they found and mined in Africa.These "gods" were the rank-and-file workers of the colonial expedition to Earth from planet Nibiru. Enki, one of the Royal Anunnaki, suggested that to relieve the Working Anunnaki (who had mutinied over their dissatisfaction with their working conditions), primitive workers (Homo sapiens) be created by genetic engineering as slaves to replace them in the gold mines by crossing extraterrestrial genes with those of Homo erectus. Ancient inscriptions report that the human civilization in Sumer, Mesopotamia(modern day Iraq), was set up under the guidance of these "gods" and human kingship was inaugurated to provide intermediaries between mankind and the Anunnaki (creating the "divine right of kings" doctrine).This model mirrored the Royal succession of the Anunnaki themselves.

Anunnaki and Humanity

300,000 BC ~ About the fortieth shar (i.e. 3600 years) after the landing of the Nephilim on Earth, the Anunnaki who had been delegated to mine the gold in the Abzu(south Africa) stage a rebellion.

Gaining the support of the Igigi, Alalu's grandson AN.ZU attempts to seize mastery over Earth. The Enlilites win the War of the Olden Gods.

EN.KI and NIN.HUR.SAG contrive to create an alternative being to take over the tedious labor of the Anunnaki.After toiling for forty ’periods’, the Anunnaki mutinied and demanded relief. They approached EN.LIL begging for relief, but he did not want to satisfy their requests, so they called on ANU to provide relief. EN.KI, invariably the Anunnaki’s protagonist, suggested that a lullu (i.e. a primitive worker, aka the Lullu Amelu) be created to bear the work. There was a being on Earth akin to the Anunnaki, that could be upgraded with the image of the Anunnaki. Enlil disapproves and shouts Creation belongs to the Father of All Beginning

We will give our image only to an existing being Ninmah argues.

Badly needing gold the leaders vote yes to fashion a primitive worker to take over the toil of the Anunnaki.

EN.KI sets out to find the primitive wild man that roams the Abzu.

EN.KI finds and captures some of the wild men and with the help of his son, NINGISHZIDDA do tests that reveal they are akin to the Nephilim.

After many failures, the process whereby mankind - Homo sapiens sapiens (i.e. the Lullu, the 'one that is mixed') was created, was by genetically altering the Homo erectus beings that inhabited the Earth prior to the coming of the Anunnaki. But rather than being a 'creation' in the strictest sense of the word, the method by which EN.KI and NIN.HUR.SAG with the help of NINGISHZIDDA, brought the Adamu into existence was by infusing the Nephilim DNA into the beings which already inhabited the Earth - the prehistoric Homo erectus.

The life which inhabited Earth, prior to the arrival of the Nephilim, may have actually originated on the home planet of the Nephilim, Nibiru, and been deposited on Earth when it collided with Nibiru and its moons. Therefore, the life forms, including the 'caveman', Homo erectus, would have been genetically compatible with the life forms of Nibiru. In the most basic terms, the semen/sperm of EN.KI (Father) was introduced into the egg of a Homo erectus female in the process known today as cross-fertilization, and the fertilized egg, the embryo, was then inserted into NIN.KI's, EN.KI's wife's womb where it was nourished by her blood and grew into the being,

EN.KI named him Adamu. NIN.KI then helps EN.KI fashion a female earthling, they name her Ti-Amat. This happened in the E.DIN facility.

Adamu was the first Human - These first humans were unable to procreate so more workers were made by Birth goddesses. This job of a birth goddess was frowned upon by the population of Nibiru so another genetic manipulation was made by NINGISHZIDDA, using the life essence (dna) from EN.KI"s rib inserted a male worker, and the dna from the rib of a female anunnaki was used on the female humans, the human workers were able to have offspring and procreate by themselves..the rib story in the bible. After hearing this news EN.LIL ordered the Humans leave the E.DIN and be sent to work in the Abzu to mine gold at once. Returning to the Abzu, Adamu

has children, Twins, a son and a daughter. Then many more children.

Homo sapiens sapiens emerge on the Earth. Some anthropologists believe that Homo sapiens sapiens evolved from Homo erectus, but such a link has not yet been proven. At Zhoukoudian, near Peking, China, a habitation of Homo sapiens sapiens included a hearth by which the inhabitants could warm themselves. A similar hearth was found at the Terra Amata site on the Mediterranean coast of France, which has been dated to 300,000 B.C. Evidence of communal or cooperative activities suggest that some form of speech existed from this period. By 200,000, it is believed that no Homo erectus remained in existence.

200,000 bc ~ Life on Earth regresses during a new glacial period. Humans proliferate and take over the labor in ABZU gold mines, and also work as servants to the Anunnaki in the Abzu and the E.DIN

EN.LIL's grandchildren, the twins, Utu and Innana are born.

Anunnaki couples bear other offspring on Earth.

Climate changes cause hardships on Earth and Mars, Nibiru's orbital nearing is accompanied by upheavals.

EN.KI and Marduk explore the moon, find it inhospitable.

EN.KI determines the constellations and Celestial time.

Bitter about his own fate EN.KI promises supremacy to Marduk but Anu gives command of the new spaceport to Utu, not to Marduk.​

110,200 to 56,200 bc ~While studying the Humans he had created, EN.KI noticed two of the human women bathing in a river in the E.DIN, EN.KI had his way with both of them.

EN.KI's children.who were half brother and sister, EN.KI named them ADAPA and TI.TI, who would later be known as Eve. The unique thing about ADAPA / ADAM and TI.TI / EVE was that they, despite being cross-bred of EN.KI and human, were capable of reproducing on their own.

EN.KI takes his children to the garden facility in E.DIN to be educated and clothed like the Nephilim. Royal Human Bloodline begins.

ADAPA, the Adama, or 'First Of A Kind' (i.e. Civilized Man), or rather, the first of a kind - This first civilized human being would be referred to, in later times, and by the spiritual descendants of the Sumerians - the Judeo-Christians, as Adam. has been calculated to have lived between the 93rd and 108th shar since the arrival of the Nephilim on Earth in 445,000 bc. That would have been approximately from the year 110,200 to the year 56,200 bc. Human genetics points to a date of 60,000 years ago. ​

A timeline of Humanity enslaving ourselves

The history of slavery is a large and untellable story, full of tragedy and cruelty that spans both centuries and continents. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact year that slavery began, historians can trace the roots of this inhumane practice back roughly 11,000 years. Keep reading to learn about the origins of slavery, and how it developed across ancient cultures.

The Origins of The Slavery Practice

The precise beginning of slavery is difficult to track because its origins predate historical recording and the written word. Due to the sociological makeup of the groups, we know that slavery wasn’t a part of hunter-gatherer societies, so the first identifiable evidence of slavery comes from the Code of Hammurabi out of Mesopotamia. This ancient text refers to slavery as a common practice throughout the region which had been in place for thousands of years at the time it was written.

Slavery Throughout the Ancient World

The practice of human slavery grew as the world became more civilized and organized cities and farms were developed. Sumer or Sumeria is still thought to be the birthplace of slavery, which grew out of Sumer into Greece and other parts of ancient Mesopotamia. The Ancient East, specifically China and India, didn’t adopt the practice of slavery until much later, as late as the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC. Historians debate whether or not the practice of slavery in India existed before this time, but many believe argue against its existence as there is no word in ancient Sanskrit that can be translated as “slave.”

The Life of a Slave in Ancient Times

Slavery in ancient times typically came about as a result of debt, birth into a slave family, child abandonment, war, or as a punishment for crime. At the outset, the slave trade wasn’t very popular and was certainly not a booming global business. Rather, slavers would often seek out a buyer who could use the specific skills of a slave, matching supply with demand on a local and personal level. According to historical texts, the lives of slaves in ancient times were typically better than that of peasants in the same era, as they had regular care, food, shelter and clothing. Slaves rarely attempted to run away unless their masters were atypically cruel.

Although it is currently illegal in every country on the planet, modern day slavery still exists across the globe. Restavek Freedom exists to end a modern day child slavery practice known as restavek. The restavek system of slavery exists due to the poverty of the island nation of Haiti. Parents who cannot afford to feed and care for their children will often send them to live with wealthier families in hopes of a better life. All too often, however, these children become slaves in the family tasked with their care. Rather than spending their days at school and at play, they complete hard labor on meager rations with little love or support from those they live with.

Restavek Freedom is one of the top charities located in Haiti working to end this despicable practice. You can partner with us to end slavery in Haiti through financial support, child sponsorship and by drawing attention to the plight of children living in restavek through social media and community activism.

6800 B.C. The world’s first city-state emerges in Mesopotamia. Land ownership and the early stages of technology bring war—in which enemies are captured and forced to work: slavery.

2575 B.C. Temple art celebrates the capture of slaves in battle. Egyptians capture slaves by sending special expeditions up the Nile River.

550 B.C. The city-state of Athens uses as many as 30,000 slaves in its silver mines.

120 A.D. Roman military campaigns capture slaves by the thousands. Some estimate the population of Rome is more than half slave.

500 Anglo-Saxons enslaved the native Britons after invading England.

1000 Slavery is a normal practice in England’s rural, agricultural economy, as destitute workers place themselves and their families in a form of debt bondage to landowners.

1380 In the aftermath of the Black Plague, Europe’s slave trade thrives in response to a labor shortage. Slaves pour in from all over the continent, the Middle East, and North Africa.

1444 Portuguese traders bring the first large cargo of slaves from West Africa to Europe by sea—establishing the Atlantic slave trade.

1526 Spanish explorers bring the first African slaves to settlements in what would become the United States. These first African-Americans stage the first known slave revolt in the Americas.

1550 Slaves are depicted as objects of conspicuous consumption in much Renaissance art.

1641 Massachusetts becomes the first British colony to legalize slavery.

The Age of Abolition

1781 Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II abolished serfdom in the Austrian Habsburg dominions.

1787 The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is founded in Britain.

1789 During the French Revolution, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, one of the fundamental charters of human liberties. The first of 17 articles states: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.”

1803 Denmark-Norway becomes the first country in Europe to ban the African slave trade, forbidding trading in slaves and ending the importation of slaves into Danish dominions.

1807 The British Parliament makes it illegal for British ships to transport slaves and for British colonies to import them. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson signs into law the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, forbidding the importation of African slaves into the United States.

1811-1867 Operating off the Atlantic coast of Africa, the British Navy’s Anti-Slavery Squadron liberates 160,000 slaves.

1813 Sweden, a nation that never authorized slave traffic, consents to ban the African slave trade.

1814 The king of the Netherlands officially terminates Dutch participation in the African slave trade. At the Congress of Vienna, the assembled powers proclaim that the slave trade should be abolished as soon as possible but do not stipulate an actual effective date for abolition.

1820 The government of Spain abolishes the slave trade south of the Equator—but it continues in Cuba until 1888.

1833 The Factory Act in Britain establishes a working day in textile manufacture, provides for government inspection of working conditions, bans the employment of children under age 9, and limits the workday of children between 13 and 18 years of age to 12 hours.

1834 The Abolition Act abolishes slavery throughout the British Empire, including British colonies in North America. The bill emancipated slaves in all British colonies and appropriated nearly $100 million in today’s money to compensate slave owners for their losses.

1840 The new British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society calls the first World Anti-Slavery Convention in London to mobilize reformers and assist post-emancipation efforts throughout the world. A group of U.S. abolitionists attends, but Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, as well as several male supporters, leave the meeting in protest when women are excluded from seating on the convention floor.

1845 The British Navy assigns 36 ships to its Anti-Slavery Squadron, making it one of the largest fleets in the world.

1848 The government of France abolishes slavery in all French colonies.

1850 The government of Brazil ends the country’s participation in the slave trade and declares slave traffic to be a form of piracy.

1861 Alexander II emancipates all Russian serfs, numbering about 50 million. His decree begins the Great Reform in Russia and earns him the title “Czar Liberator.”

1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all U.S. slaves in states that had seceded from the Union, except for those in Confederate areas already controlled by the Union army.

1863 The government of the Netherlands takes official action to abolish slavery in all Dutch colonies.

1865 Congress gives final passage to, and a sufficient number of states ratify, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to outlaw slavery. The amendment reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

1888 The Lei Aurea, or Golden Law, ends slavery in South America when the legislature of Brazil frees the country’s 725,000 slaves.

1865-1920 Following the American Civil War, hundreds of thousands of African Americans are re-enslaved in an abusive manipulation of the legal system called “peonage.” Across the Deep South, African-American men and women are falsely arrested and convicted of crimes, then “leased” to coal and iron mines, brick factories, plantations, and other dangerous workplaces. The formal peonage system slows down after World War I but doesn’t fully end until the 1940s. However, in recent years, activists have noted that the 13 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not outlaw prison slavery, and that requiring inmates to work in prison industries today constitutes a continuing form of modern slavery.

Abolition Spreads Worldwide

1909 The Congo Reform Association, founded in Britain, ends forced labor in the Congo Free State, today the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After years of anti-slavery activism, the association’s Red Rubber Campaign stops the brutal system of Belgium’s King Leopold II, whose officials forced local people to produce rubber for sale in Europe and terrorized those who refused, cutting off their hands and burning down their houses.

1910 The International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade, signed in Paris, is the first of its kind, obligating parties to punish anyone who recruits a woman or girl under age into prostitution, even if she consents.

1913 After a public outcry galvanized by media reports and subsequent peoples’ petition, the British Parliament shuts down the Peruvian Amazon Company, a British entity that was torturing and exploiting indigenous Indians in Peru.

1915 The colonial government of Malaya officially abolishes slavery.

1918 The British governor of Hong Kong estimates that the majority of households that could afford it keep a young child as a household slave.

1919 The International Labor Organization (ILO) is founded to establish a code of global labor standards. Headquartered in Geneva, the ILO unites government, labor, and management to make recommendations concerning pay, working conditions, trade union rights, safety, woman and child labor, and social security.

1923 The British colonial government in Hong Kong bans the selling of little girls as domestic slaves.

1926 The League of Nations approves the Slavery Convention, which defines slavery as “status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.” More than 30 governments sign the document, which charges all member nations to work to suppress all forms of slavery.

1926 Burma abolishes legal slavery.

1927 Slavery is legally abolished in Sierra Leone, a country founded as a colony by the British in the 18th century to serve as a homeland for freed slaves.

1930 The U.S. Tariff Act prohibits the importation of products made with “forced or indentured labor.” (In 1997, the Sanders Amendment clarified that this applies to products made with “forced or indentured child labor.”)

1936 The King of Saudi Arabia issues a decree that ends the importation of new slaves, regulates the conditions of existing slaves, and provides for manumission—the act of slave owners freeing their slaves—under some conditions.

1938 The Japanese military establishes “comfort stations”—actually brothels—for Japanese troops. Thousands of Korean and Chinese women are forced into sex slavery during World War II as military “comfort women.”

1939-1945 The German Nazi government uses widespread slave labor in farming and industry. Up to nine million people are forced to work to absolute exhaustion—then they are sent to concentration camps.

1941 The Adoption of Children Ordinance Law in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, requires the registration of all children who are adopted and regular inspections to prevent adopted children from working as slaves.

1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created by the United Nations, provides: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

1949 The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others prohibits any person from procuring, enticing, or leading away another person for the purposes of prostitution, even with the other person’s consent. This forms the legal basis for international protections against traffic in people still used today.

Abolition in Recent Times

1950-1989 International anti-slavery work slows during the Cold War, as the Soviet Block argues that slavery can only exist in capitalist societies, and the Western Block argues that all people living under communism are slaves. Both new and traditional forms of slavery in the developing world receive little attention.

1954 China passed the State Regulation on Reform through Labor, allowing prisoners to be used for labor in the laogai prison camps.

1956 The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery regulates practices involving serfdom, debt bondage, the sale of wives, and child servitude.

1962 Slavery is abolished in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

1964 The sixth World Muslim Congress, the world’s oldest Muslim organization, pledges global support for all anti-slavery movements.

1973 The U.N. General Assembly adopts the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, which outlaws a number of inhuman acts, including forced labor, committed for the purposes of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group over another.

1974 Mauritania’s emancipated slaves form the El Hor (“freedom”) movement to oppose slavery, which continues to this day. El Hor leaders insist that emancipation is impossible without realistic means of enforcing anti-slavery laws and giving former slaves the means of achieving economic independence. El Hor demands land reform and encourages the formation of agricultural cooperatives.

1975 The U.N. Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery is founded to collect information and make recommendations on slavery and slavery-like practices around the world.

1976 India passes a law banning bonded labor.

1980 Slavery is abolished for the fourth time in the Islamic republic of Mauritania, but the situation is not fundamentally changed. Although the law decrees that “slavery” no longer exists, the ban does not address how masters are to be compensated or how slaves are to gain property.

1989 The National Islamic Front takes over the government of Sudan and begins to arm Baggara tribesmen to fight the Dinka and Nuer tribes in the south. These new militias raid villages, capturing and enslaving inhabitants.

1989 The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child promotes basic health care, education, and protection for the young from abuse, exploitation, or neglect at home, at work, and in armed conflicts. All countries ratify it except Somalia and the United States.

1990 After adoption by 54 countries in the 1980s, the 19th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference formally adopts the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which states that “human beings are born free, and no one has the right to enslave, humiliate, oppress, or exploit them.”

1992 The Pakistan National Assembly enacts the Bonded Labor Act, which abolishes indentured servitude and the peshgi, or bonded money, system. However, the government fails to provide for the implementation and enforcement of the law’s provisions.

1995 The U.S. government issues the Model Business Principles, which urges all businesses to adopt and implement voluntary codes of conduct, including the avoidance of child and forced labor, as well as discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, or religious beliefs.

1995 Christian Solidarity International, a Swiss-based charity, begins to liberate slaves in Southern Sudan by buying them back. The policy ignites widespread controversy—many international agencies argue that buying back slaves supports the market in human beings and feeds resources to slaveholders.

1996 The RugMark campaign is established in Germany to ensure that handwoven rugs are not made with slave or child labor. In 2010, RugMark changed its name to GoodWeave.

1996 The World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is held.

1997 The U.N. established a commission of inquiry to investigate reports of the widespread enslavement of people by the Burmese government.

1997 The United States bans imported goods made by child-bonded labor.

1998 The Global March against Child Labor is established to coordinate worldwide demonstrations against child labor and to call for a U.N. Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

1999 Despite being barred from entering Burma, the U.N. collects sufficient evidence to publicly condemn government-sponsored slavery, including unpaid forced labor and a brutal political system built on the use of force and intimidation to deny democracy and the rule of law.

1999 The ILO passes the Convention Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which establishes widely recognized international standards protecting children against forced or indentured labor, child prostitution and pornography, their use in drug trafficking, and other harmful work.

1999 The first global analysis of modern slavery and its role in the global economy, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, estimates that there are 27 million people in slavery worldwide.

Abolition in the 21st Century

2000 Free the Slaves is formed, originally as the sister organization of Anti-Slavery International in the U.K. Today Free the Slaves is an independent organization.

2000 The government of Nepal bans all forms of debt bondage after a lengthy campaign by human rights organizations and freed laborers.

2000 The U.S. Congress passes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to combat the trafficking of persons as a form of modern slavery. The legislation increases penalties for traffickers, provides social services for trafficking victims, and helps victims remain in the country.

2000 The U.N. passes the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons as part of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The trafficking protocol is the first global legally binding instrument with an internationally agreed-upon definition on trafficking in persons.

2001 Slavery: A Global Investigation—the first major documentary film about modern slavery—is released in the U.S. and Europe. The film tells the story of slavery and forced child labor in the cocoa and chocolate industry and wins a Peabody Award and two Emmy Awards.

2002 The countries of the Economic Community of Western African States agree on an action plan to confront slavery and human trafficking in the region.

2002 The International Cocoa Initiative is established as a joint effort of anti-slavery groups and major chocolate companies—marking the first time an entire industry has banded together to address slavery in its supply chain.

2004 Brazil launches the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor, which combines the efforts of civil organizations, businesses, and the government to get companies to commit to the prevention and eradication of forced labor within their supply chains, as well as to be monitored and placed on a “dirty list” if the products they sell are tainted by slavery.

2004 The U.N. appoints a Special Rapporteur (Reporter) on Human Trafficking.

2005 The U.N. International Labor Organization’s first Global Report on Forced Labor puts the number of slaves worldwide at 12.3 million. The organization’s 2012 update increased the number to 20.9 million people.

2007 Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves is published. Written by Free the Slaves co-founder Kevin Bales, it is the first plan for the global eradication of modern slavery, estimating the total cost of worldwide abolition at $10.8 billion over 25 years. President Bill Clinton highlights the plan at the Clinton Global Initiative. The book received the 2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

2008 The Special Court for Sierra Leone judges forced marriage “a crime against humanity” and convicts three officers in the Revolutionary United Front of forced marriage—the first convictions of their kind within an international criminal tribunal.

2008 The U.N. International Labor Organization estimates that annual profits generated from trafficking in human beings are as high as $32 billion. In 2014 the organization increased that estimate to $150 billion in the report Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labor.

2010 Free the Slaves publishes Slavery, featuring images of slaves and survivors taken by humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine and a foreword by South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Kristine received a 2013 Humanitarian Photographer of the Year Award from the Lucie foundation based in large part on her work with Free the Slaves.

2011 California enacts the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, requiring major manufacturing and retail firms to publicly disclose what efforts, if any, they are taking to eliminate forced labor and human trafficking from their product supply chains.

2012 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission passes the Conflict Minerals Rule, requiring major publicly-held corporations to disclose if their products contain certain metals mined in the eastern Congo or an adjoining country and if payment for these minerals supports armed conflict in the region. The rule was required as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Free the Slaves has documented that slavery is widespread at mining sites covered by this corporate disclosure requirement.

2013 The first Walk Free Global Slavery Index is released with country-by-country estimates for slavery worldwide. The research team estimates that 29.8 million people are enslaved today. The 2014 index increases that estimate to 35.8 million. The 2016 index increases that estimate to 45.8 million.

2015 Free the Slaves marks its 15th birthday by announcing that the organization has reached a historic benchmark—liberating more than 10,000 people from slavery.

2015 The U.N. adopts 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with 169 targets that include an end to slavery: “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.”

2017 A research consortium including the U.N. International Labor Organization, the group Walk Free, and the U.N. International Organization for Migration release a combined global study indicating that 40 million people are trapped in modern forms of slavery worldwide: 50 percent in forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, fishing and other physical-labor industries; 12.5 percent in sex slavery, and 37.5 percent in forced marriage slavery.

Hey, Didn't America Invent Slavery?

If you think the title’s question is silly, you’re right. But here’s the problem: Increasing numbers of Americans,today would unhesitatingly respond, “Hell, yes!” to the query. Could it be because that is what they are being taught?

It seems that today’s youth overwhelmingly believe that slavery “was an American problem . . . and they are very fuzzy about the history of slavery prior to the Colonial era. Their entire education about slavery was confined to America.”

Of course, it is important to study the history of slavery in this country. But what if America was not unique in holding slaves? What if America didn’t invent slavery, as our students have come to think? In our “Just Google It” era, the answers to these questions, though apparently not provided by some universities, are easily found on the web.Reading about it should be your first step toward learning the full facts about slavery worldwide.

Leading The Enlightened Workforce to The Next Normal

the fact that is, it was nearly 9,000 years ago that slavery first appeared, in Mesopotamia (6800 B.C.). Enemies captured in war were commonly kept by the conquering country as slaves.

And in the 1700s B.C., the Egyptian pharaohs enslaved the Israelites, as is discussed in Exodus Chapter 21. Later, the pagan Greeks participated in slavery, for ancient Sparta as well as Athens relied fully on the slave labor of captives.

But Greek slavery paled in comparison to that in ancient Rome. According to historian Mark Cartwright, “slavery was an ever-present feature of the Roman world,” in which “as many as one in three of the population in Italy or one in five across the empire were slaves, and upon this foundation of forced labor was built the entire edifice of the Roman state and society.”

By the 8th century A.D., African slaves were being sold to Arab households in a Muslim world that, at the time, spanned from Spain to Persia.

By the year 1000 A.D., slavery had become common in England’s rural, agricultural economy, with the poor yoking themselves to their landowners through a form of debt bondage. At about the same time, the number of slaves captured in Germany grew so large that their nationality became the generic term for “slaves”—Slavs.

As for the Atlantic slave trade, this began in 1444 A.D., when Portuguese traders brought the first large number of slaves from Africa to Europe. Eighty-two years later (1526), Spanish explorers brought the first African slaves to settlements in what would become the United States—a fact the Times gets wrong. The Times likewise fails to mention that the Native American Cherokee Nation also held African slaves, and even sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

But the antipathy of many Americans toward slavery became evident as early as 1775, when Quakers in Pennsylvania set up the first abolitionist society.

(Betsy Ross, whose American flag was deemed politically incorrect recently by Nike, was herself both a Quaker and an abolitionist.)

Five years later, Massachusetts became the first state to abolish slavery in its constitution. Seven years after that (1787) the U.S. Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, outlawing slavery in the Northwest Territories.

In 1803, Denmark-Norway became the first country in Europe to ban the African slave trade. In 1807, “three weeks before Britain abolished the Atlantic slave trade, President Jefferson signed a law prohibiting ‘the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States.’” Jefferson’s actions followed Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

In 1820, Spain abolished the slave trade south of the Equator, but preserved it in Cuba until 1888.

In 1834, the Abolition Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, including British colonies in North America. In 1847, France would abolish slavery in all its colonies. Brazil followed in 1850.

Closer to home, in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all U.S. slaves in states that had seceded from the Union, except those in Confederate areas already controlled by the Union army. This was followed in 1865 by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, outlawing slavery.

The 20th century would see emancipation come to Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, India, and Yemen. In 1964, the sixth World Muslim Congress, the world’s oldest Muslim organization, pledged global support for all anti-slavery movements. In 1990, after its adoption by 54 countries in the 1980s, the 19th Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference formally adopted the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which states that “human beings are born free, and no one has the right to enslave, humiliate, oppress, or exploit them.”

The last country to abolish slavery was Mauritania (1981).

But the 20th century would also witness the German Nazis’ use of slave labor in industry. Up to nine million people, mostly Jews, were forced to work to absolute exhaustion—and sent to concentration camps. In 1954, China began allowing prisoners to be used for labor in the laogai prison camps. In 1989, the National Islamic Front took over the government of Sudan and then armed new militias to raid villages, capturing and enslaving inhabitants.

Sadly, the 21st century has not rid itself of slavery. In fact, in 2017, a research consortium including the U.N. International Labor Organization, the group “Walk Free,” and the U.N. International Organization for Migration release a combined global study indicating that 40 million people are trapped in modern forms of slavery worldwide.

Even this thumbnail sketch of the history of slavery is enough to rebut The New York Times’ “1619 Project.” No, slavery was not primarily an American phenomenon; it has existed worldwide. And, no, America didn’t invent slavery; that happened more than 9,000 years ago. Finally, slavery did not end in the world with the passage of the 13th Amendment; there are 40 million people enslaved even today.

The historical facts rehearsed above are so easily accessed that one cannot but wonder why the Times and too many professors seek now to persuade us that a nation “dedicated to the proposition that ‘all men are created equal’” is in fact defined, not by its world-transforming aspiration for human equality, but by slavery—the destruction of which required the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history.

Far from ignoring or minimizing the history of slavery in the United States, presenting the full facts about the history of slavery worldwide is requisite to understanding American slavery—as well as our successful efforts to end it.

But if we allow ourselves to be persuaded that not only our past—but our “National DNA”—is ruinously soiled by a sin for which there is no atoning, how can we expect our misinformed citizens to possess the confidence in their own principles that is required to defend individual liberty and limited government? How can we expect them not to embrace the false, fatal promises of utopian regimes?

Our badly educated students—through no fault of their own—appear well on their way to consummating this fatal embrace.

I propose that Slavery was never about hatred or rascism, it was always about power and control over others.We were created in “Gods” image, to do the work that the “gods” didn’t want to do anymore. So, we enslave others to do the work that we don’t want to do ourselves. History repeats itself. It’s what our ancestors knew.

While no one alive today, less victims of Human Trafficking, have actually experienced this cruel side human nature, we must learn from it, and understand why it has such an impact, not just on people of color, but on all of humanity. I further propose there is only one race, the Human race, and that all of our ancestors were slaves.

We must stop blaming slavery for racism and social injustice in America, and worldwide.

I also propose that Slavery may be in our DNA, but that, hatred and rascism are taught or learned from one person to another.

Let that sink in…

Steven Glenn Porter

On the surface, I appear to be what many readers will consider a privileged middle aged white male. I live in Queen Creek. Arizona, in the amazing Encanterra Golf Course, Country Club and Community.

However,dig a little deeper, and I am a living example that racism and hatred are learned traits and are not genetically passed on. I was born in the small town of Morehead, Kentucky...of Parents that were born and raised in Sandy Hook, Kentucky (a town where even today there are very few, if any minorities), on the 12th of September, 1970. By the time I was old enough for school, my Dad decided to rejoin the Army (He was a VietNam Veteran and there wasn’t much work for him in the area) and we moved to Fort Knox, where I spent most of the 70's and 80’s. Three of those years (1980-1983) were in Bad Nauheim, Germany. I attended DoD (Department of Defense) Elementary,Middle and High Schools ( I graduated from Fort Knox High School in 1988), where I had friends of all colors from all over the world. In 1989, I joined the Army myself, The only thing I knew about racism and hatred was what was shown on television and in movies. I served this great country for 26 years before I retired in 2015. And then worked for the Department of Veteran Affairs for a couple more years after that.I have lived in 4 different countries, 12 different States. My first wife was from Panama. My Daughter Victoria, is half Panamanian. I’ve had friends from countless other places. I have witnessed first hand what humanity can do when we are united together for a greater good, and it’s Frackin awesome! (Battlestar Galactica nod)

This is what I was taught:

The Army Values

Many people know what the words Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage mean. But how often do you see someone actually live up to them? Soldiers learn these values in detail during Basic Combat Training (BCT), from then on they live them every day in everything they do — whether they’re on the job or off. In short, the Seven Core Army Values listed below are what being an American Soldier is all about.

LOYALTY

Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other Soldiers. Bearing true faith and allegiance is a matter of believing in and devoting yourself to something or someone. A loyal Soldier is one who supports the leadership and stands up for fellow Soldiers. By wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army you are expressing your loyalty. And by doing your share, you show your loyalty to your unit.

DUTY

Fulfill your obligations. Doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasks. Duty means being able to accomplish tasks as part of a team. The work of the U.S. Army is a complex combination of missions, tasks and responsibilities — all in constant motion. Our work entails building one assignment onto another. You fulfill your obligations as a part of your unit every time you resist the temptation to take “shortcuts” that might undermine the integrity of the final product.

RESPECT

Treat people as they should be treated. In the Soldier’s Code, we pledge to “treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same.” Respect is what allows us to appreciate the best in other people. Respect is trusting that all people have done their jobs and fulfilled their duty. And self-respect is a vital ingredient with the Army value of respect, which results from knowing you have put forth your best effort. The Army is one team and each of us has something to contribute.

SELFLESS SERVICE

Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person. In serving your country, you are doing your duty loyally without thought of recognition or gain. The basic building block of selfless service is the commitment of each team member to go a little further, endure a little longer, and look a little closer to see how he or she can add to the effort.

HONOR

Live up to Army values. The nation’s highest military award is The Medal of Honor. This award goes to Soldiers who make honor a matter of daily living — Soldiers who develop the habit of being honorable, and solidify that habit with every value choice they make. Honor is a matter of carrying out, acting, and living the values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity and personal courage in everything you do.

INTEGRITY

Do what’s right, legally and morally. Integrity is a quality you develop by adhering to moral principles. It requires that you do and say nothing that deceives others. As your integrity grows, so does the trust others place in you. The more choices you make based on integrity, the more this highly prized value will affect your relationships with family and friends, and, finally, the fundamental acceptance of yourself.

PERSONAL COURAGE

Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral). Personal courage has long been associated with our Army. With physical courage, it is a matter of enduring physical duress and at times risking personal safety. Facing moral fear or adversity may be a long, slow process of continuing forward on the right path, especially if taking those actions is not popular with others. You can build your personal courage by daily standing up for and acting upon the things that you know are honorable.

The Soldier’s Creed

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am, (even in retirement) an American Soldier.

The End,

God Bless America!

More about me

My name is Steven G. Porter A.K.A. GrimKillSwitch (my Gamer Tag and Sith Lord name…lol)

I am a Retired/Disabled U.S. Army Veteran of 26 years (1989-2015) 13 years as a mechanic, Auto/Diesel & Helicopters, and 13 years in the United States Army Recruiting Command(USAREC). I also worked for the Department of Veteran Affairs as a Loan Administration Specialist (GS-11) for 2 and and half years before I got sick with what i call Covoid-18 in December 2018…I had a virus ( MyoCarditis) that attacked my heart and ended up causing a Stroke. Before the Stroke i had Heart Failure ( I was on a transplant list), a collapsed lung, Renal failure, and kidney failure. That’s why I call it Covoid-18!!…lol. I was in a Medical Coma for the first 30 days ( I don’t remember any of it…thank goodness) of my 3 month Hospital stay. While in the Rehabilitation Hospital for Stroke Recovery, I watched a LOT of Ancient Aliens on History Channel….which led to me becoming an Ancient Astronaut Theorist (It’s amazing how you look at things after a near death experience…lol). I fully retired in May 2019 when my wife, Kathlene retired from the Army as well. I have a lot of free-time now…lol, so I decided to become an AAT Blogger/Author. I am also an avid 420 connoisseur and enthusiast, and a huge Star Wars!, Star Trek, and Harry Potter nerd!

I hold a Master’s of Science Degree in Healthcare Management from Trident University International and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration from Capella University

Bonus content

The Text of Enuma Elish (The original Genesis)

The following translation comes from Mesopotamian Creation Stories by W.G. Lambert and is used under Creative Commons license from the Etana Website:

Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Epic of Creation) Tablet I

When the heavens above did not exist,

And earth beneath had not come into being —

There was Apsû, the first in order, their begetter,

And demiurge Tia-mat, who gave birth to them all;

They had mingled their waters together

Before meadow-land had coalesced and reed-bed was to he found —

When not one of the gods had been formed

Or had come into being, when no destinies had been decreed,

The gods were created within them:

Lah(mu and Lah(amu were formed and came into being.

While they grew and increased in stature

Anšar and Kišar, who excelled them, were created.

They prolonged their days, they multiplied their years.

Anu, their son, could rival his fathers.

Anu, the son, equalled Anšar,

And Anu begat Nudimmud, his own equal.

Nudimmud was the champion among his fathers:

Profoundly discerning, wise, of robust strength;

Very much stronger than his father's begetter, Anšar

He had no rival among the gods, his brothers.

The divine brothers came together,

Their clamour got loud, throwing Tia-mat into a turmoil.

They jarred the nerves of Tia-mat,

And by their dancing they spread alarm in Anduruna.

Apsû did not diminish their clamour,

And Tia-mat was silent when confronted with them.

Their conduct was displeasing to her,

Yet though their behaviour was not good, she wished to spare them.

Thereupon Apsû, the begetter of the great gods,

Called Mummu, his vizier, and addressed him,

"Vizier Mummu, who gratifies my pleasure,

Come, let us go to Tia-mat!"

They went and sat, facing Tia-mat,

As they conferred about the gods, their sons.

Apsû opened his mouth

And addressed Tia-mat

"Their behaviour has become displeasing to me

And I cannot rest in the day-time or sleep at night.

I will destroy and break up their way of life

That silence may reign and we may sleep."

When Tia-mat heard this

She raged and cried out to her spouse,

She cried in distress, fuming within herself,

She grieved over the (plotted) evil,

"How can we destroy what we have given birth to?

Though their behaviour causes distress, let us tighten discipline graciously."

Mummu spoke up with counsel for Apsû—

(As from) a rebellious vizier was the counsel of his Mummu—

"Destroy, my father, that lawless way of life,

That you may rest in the day-time and sleep by night!"

Apsû was pleased with him, his face beamed

Because he had plotted evil against the gods, his sons.

Mummu put his arms around Apsû's neck,

He sat on his knees kissing him.

What they plotted in their gathering

Was reported to the gods, their sons.

The gods heard it and were frantic.

They were overcome with silence and sat quietly.

Ea, who excels in knowledge, the skilled and learned,

Ea, who knows everything, perceived their tricks.

He fashioned it and made it to be all-embracing,

He executed it skilfully as supreme—his pure incantation.

He recited it and set it on the waters,

He poured sleep upon him as he was slumbering deeply.

He put Apsû to slumber as he poured out sleep,

And Mummu, the counsellor, was breathless with agitation.

He split (Apsû's) sinews, ripped off his crown,

Carried away his aura and put it on himself.

He bound Apsû and killed him;

Mummu he confined and handled roughly.

He set his dwelling upon Apsû,

And laid hold on Mummu, keeping the nose-rope in his hand.

After Ea had bound and slain his enemies,

Had achieved victory over his foes,

He rested quietly in his chamber,

He called it Apsû, whose shrines he appointed.

Then he founded his living-quarters within it,

And Ea and Damkina, his wife, sat in splendour.

In the chamber of the destinies, the room of the archetypes,

The wisest of the wise, the sage of the gods, Be-l was conceived.

In Apsû was Marduk born,

In pure Apsû was Marduk born.

Ea his father begat him,

Damkina his mother bore him.

He sucked the breasts of goddesses,

A nurse reared him and filled him with terror.

His figure was well developed, the glance of his eyes was dazzling,

His growth was manly, he was mighty from the beginning.

Anu, his father's begetter, saw him,

He exalted and smiled; his heart filled with joy.

Anu rendered him perfect: his divinity was remarkable,

And he became very lofty, excelling them in his attributes.

His members were incomprehensibly wonderful,

Incapable of being grasped with the mind, hard even to look on.

Four were his eyes, four his ears,

Flame shot forth as he moved his lips.

His four ears grew large,

93 And his eyes likewise took in everything.

His figure was lofty and superior in comparison with the gods,

His limbs were surpassing, his nature was superior.

'Mari-utu, Mari-utu,

The Son, the Sun-god, the Sun-god of the gods.'

He was clothed with the aura of the Ten Gods, so exalted was his strength,

The Fifty Dreads were loaded upon him.

Anu formed and gave birth to the four winds,

He delivered them to him, "My son, let them whirl!"

He formed dust and set a hurricane to drive it,

He made a wave to bring consternation on Tia-mat.

Tia-mat was confused; day and night she was frantic.

The gods took no rest, they . . . . . . .

In their minds they plotted evil,

And addressed their mother Tia-mat,

"When Apsû, your spouse, was killed,

114

You did not go at his side, but sat quietly.

115

The four dreadful winds have been fashioned

116

To throw you into confusion, and we cannot sleep.

117

You gave no thought to Apsû, your spouse,

113

Nor to Mummu, who is a prisoner. Now you sit alone.

119

Henceforth you will be in frantic consternation!

120

And as for us, who cannot rest, you do not love us!

121

Consider our burden, our eyes are hollow.

122

Break the immovable yoke that we may sleep.

123

Make battle, avenge them!

124

[ . . ] reduce to nothingness!

125

Tia-mat heard, the speech pleased her,

126

(She said,) "Let us make demons, [as you] have advised."

127

The gods assembled within her.

128

They conceived [evil] against the gods their begetters.

129

They and took the side of Tia-mat,

130

Fiercely plotting, unresting by night and day,

131

Lusting for battle, raging, storming,

132

They set up a host to bring about conflict.

133

Mother H(ubur, who forms everything,

134

Supplied irresistible weapons, and gave birth to giant serpents.

135

They had sharp teeth, they were merciless . . . .

136

With poison instead of blood she filled their bodies.

137

She clothed the fearful monsters with dread,

138

She loaded them with an aura and made them godlike.

139

(She said,) "Let their onlooker feebly perish,

140

May they constantly leap forward and never retire."

141

She created the Hydra, the Dragon, the Hairy Hero

142

The Great Demon, the Savage Dog, and the Scorpion-man,

143

Fierce demons, the Fish-man, and the Bull-man,

144

Carriers of merciless weapons, fearless in the face of battle.

145

Her commands were tremendous, not to be resisted.

146

Altogether she made eleven of that kind.

147

Among the gods, her sons, whom she constituted her host,

148

She exalted Qingu, and magnified him among them.

149

The leadership of the army, the direction of the host,

150

The bearing of weapons, campaigning, the mobilization of conflict,

151

The chief executive power of battle, supreme command,

152

She entrusted to him and set him on a throne,

153

"I have cast the spell for you and exalted you in the host of the gods,

154

I have delivered to you the rule of all the gods.

You are indeed exalted, my spouse, you are renowned,

Let your commands prevail over all the Anunnaki."

She gave him the Tablet of Destinies and fastened it to his breast,

(Saying) "Your order may not be changed; let the utterance of your mouth be firm."

After Qingu was elevated and had acquired the power of Anuship,

He decreed the destinies for the gods, her sons:

"May the utterance of your mouths subdue the fire-god,

May your poison by its accumulation put down aggression."

Tablet II

Tia-mat gathered together her creation

And organised battle against the gods, her offspring.

Henceforth Tia-mat plotted evil because of Apsû

It became known to Ea that she had arranged the conflict.

Ea heard this matter,

He lapsed into silence in his chamber and sat motionless.

After he had reflected and his anger had subsided

He directed his steps to Anšar, his father.

He entered the presence of the father of his begetter, Anšar,

And related to him all of Tia-mat's plotting.

"My father, Tia-mat our mother has conceived a hatred for us,

She has established a host in her savage fury.

All the gods have turned to her,

Even those you (pl.) begat also take her side

They and took the side of Tia-mat,

Fiercely plotting, unresting by night and day,

Lusting for battle, raging, storming,

They set up a host to bring about conflict.

Mother H(ubur, who forms everything,

Supplied irresistible weapons, and gave birth to giant serpents.

They had sharp teeth, they were merciless.

With poison instead of blood she filled their bodies.

She clothed the fearful monsters with dread,

She loaded them with an aura and made them godlike.

(She said,) "Let their onlooker feebly perish,

26 May they constantly leap forward and never retire."

She created the Hydra, the Dragon, the Hairy Hero,

The Great Demon, the Savage Dog, and the Scorpion-man,

Fierce demons, the Fish-man, and the Bull-man,

Carriers of merciless weapons, fearless in the face of battle.

Her commands were tremendous, not to be resisted.

Altogether she made eleven of that kind.

Among the gods, her sons, whom she constituted her host,

She exalted Qingu and magnified him among them.

The leadership of the army, the direction of the host,

The bearing of weapons, campaigning, the mobilization of conflict,

The chief executive power of battle supreme command,

She entrusted to him and set him on a throne.

"I have cast the spell for you and exalted you in the host of the gods,

I have delivered to you the rule of all the gods.

You are indeed exalted, my spouse, you are renowned,

Let your commands prevail over all the Anunnaki."

She gave him the tablet of Destinies and fastened it to his breast,

(Saying) "Your order may not have changed; let the utterance of your mouth be firm."

After Qingu was elevated and had acquired the power of Anuship

He decreed the destinies for the gods. her sons:

"May the utterance of your mouths subdue the fire-god,

May your poison by its accumulation put down aggression."

Anšar heard; the matter was profoundly disturbing.

He cried "Woe!" and bit his lip.

His heart was in fury, his mind could not be calmed.

Over Ea his son his cry was faltering.

"My son, you who provoked the war,

Take responsibility for whatever you alone have done!

You set out and killed Apsû,

And as for Tia-mat, whom you made furious, where is her equal?"

The gatherer of counsel, the learned prince,

The creator of wisdom, the god Nudimmud

With soothing words and calming utterance

Gently answered [his] father Anšar

"My father, deep mind, who decrees destiny,

Who has the power to bring into being and destroy,

Anšar, deep mind, who decrees destiny,

Who has the power to bring into being and to destroy,

I want to say something to you, calm down for me for a moment

And consider that I performed a helpful deed.

Before I killed Apsû

Who could have seen the present situation?

Before I quickly made an end of him

What were the circumstances were I to destroy him?"

Anšar heard the words pleased him.

His heart relaxed to speak to Ea,

"My son, your deeds are fitting for a god,

You are capable of a fierce, unequalled blow . . [ . . . ]

Ea, your deeds are fitting for a god,

You are capable of a fierce, unequalled blow . . [ . . . ]

Go before Tia-mat and appease her attack,

. . [ . . . ] . . . her fury with [your] incantation."

He heard the speech of Anšar his father,

He took the road to her, proceeded on the route to her.

He went, he perceived the tricks of Tia-mat,

[He stopped], fell silent, and turned back.

[He] entered the presence of august Anšar

Penitently addressing him,

"[My father], Tia-mat's deeds are too much for me.

I perceived her planning, and [my] incantation was not equal (to it).

Her strength is mighty, she is full of dread,

She is altogether very strong, none can go against her.

Her very loud cry did not diminish,

[I became afraid] of her cry and turned back.

[My father], do not lose hope, send a second person against her.

Though a woman's strength is very great, it is not equal to a man's.

Disband her cohorts, break up her plans

Before she lays her hands on us."

Anšar cried out in intense fury,

Addressing Anu his son,

"Honoured son, hero, warrior,

Whose strength is mighty, whose attack is irresistible

Hasten and stand before Tia-mat,

Appease her rage that her heart may relax

If she does not harken to your words,

Address to her words of petition that she may be appeased."

He heard the speech of Anšar his father,

He took the road to her, proceeded on the route to her.

Anu went, he perceived the tricks of Tia-mat,

He stopped, fell silent, and turned back.

He entered the presence of Anšar the father who begat him,

Penitently addressing him.

"My father, Tia-mat's [deeds] are too much for me.

I perceived her planning, but my [incantation] was not [equal] (to it).

Her strength is mighty, she is [full] of dread,

She is altogether very strong, no one [can go against her].

Her very loud noise does not diminish,

I became afraid of her cry and turned back.

My father, do not lose hope, send another person against her.

Though a woman's strength is very great, it is not equal to a man's.

Disband her cohorts, break up her plans,

Before she lays her hands on us."

Anšar lapsed into silence, staring at the ground,

He nodded to Ea, shaking his head.

The Igigi and all the Anunnaki had assembled,

They sat in tight-lipped silence.

No god would go to face . . [ . . ]

Would go out against Tia-mat [ . . ]

Yet the lord Anšar, the father of the great gods,

Was angry in his heart, and did not summon any one.

A mighty son, the avenger of his father,

He who hastens to war, the warrior Marduk

Ea summoned (him) to his private chamber

To explain to him his plans.

"Marduk, give counsel, listen to your father.

You are my son, who gives me pleasure,

Go reverently before Anšar,

Speak, take your stand, appease him with your glance."

Be-l rejoiced at his father's words,

He drew near and stood in the presence of Anšar.

Anšar saw him, his heart filled with satisfaction,

He kissed his lips and removed his fear.

"My [father] do not hold your peace, but speak forth,

I will go and fulfil your desires!

[Anšar,] do not hold your peace, but speak forth,

I will go and fulfil your desires!

Which man has drawn up his battle array against you?

And will Tia-mat, who is a woman, attack you with (her) weapons?

["My father], begetter, rejoice and be glad,

Soon you will tread on the neck of Tia-mat!

[Anšar], begetter, rejoice and be glad,

Soon you will tread on the neck of Tia-mat!

["Go,] my son, conversant with all knowledge,

Appease Tia-mat with your pure spell.

Drive the storm chariot without delay,

And with a [ . . ] which cannot be repelled turn her back."

Be-l rejoiced at his father's words,

With glad heart he addressed his father,

"Lord of the gods, Destiny of the great gods,

If I should become your avenger,

If I should bind Tia-mat and preserve you,

Convene an assembly and proclaim for me an exalted destiny.

Sit, all of you, in Upšukkinakku with gladness,

And let me, with my utterance, decree destinies instead of you.

Whatever I instigate must not be changed,

Nor may my command be nullified or altered."

Tablet III

Anšar opened his mouth

And addressed Kaka, his vizier,

"Vizier Kaka, who gratifies my pleasure,

I will send you to Lah(mu and Lah(amu.

You are skilled in making inquiry, learned in address.

Have the gods, my fathers, brought to my presence.

Let all the gods be brought,

Let them confer as they sit at the table.

Let them eat grain, let them drink ale,

Let them decree the destiny for Marduk, their avenger.

Go, be gone, Kaka, stand before them,

And repeat to them all that I tell you:

"Anšar, your son, has sent me,

And I am to explain his plans.

15-52 = II, 11*-48 (* instead of 'My father,' put ' 'Thus,' )

I sent Anu, but he could not face her.

Nudimmud took fright and retired.

Marduk, the sage of the gods, your son, has come forward,

He has determined to meet Tia-mat.

He has spoken to me and said,

58-64 = II, 156*-162 (* begin with quotation marks: "If )

Quickly, now, decree your destiny for him without delay,

That he may go and face your powerful enemy."

Kaka went. He directed his steps

To Lah(mu and Lah(amu, the gods of his fathers.

He prostrated himself, he kissed the ground before them,

He got up, saying to them he stood,

71-124 = II, 13-66

When Lah(h(a and Lah(amu heard, they cried aloud.

All the Igigi moaned in distress,

"What has gone wrong that she made this decision about us?

We did not know what Tia-mat was doing."

All the great gods who decree destinies

Gathered as they went,

They entered the presence of Anšar and became filled with [joy],

They kissed one another as they . [ . . ] in the assembly.

They conferred as they sat at table,

They ate grain, they drank ale.

They strained the sweet liquor through their straws,

As they drank beer and felt good,

They became quite carefree, their mood was merry,

And they decreed the fate for Marduk, their avenger.

Tablet IV

They set a lordly dais for him

And he took his seat before his fathers to receive kingship.

(They said,) "You are the most honoured among the great gods,

Your destiny is unequalled, your command is like Anu's.

Marduk, you are the most honoured among the great gods,

Your destiny is unequalled, your command is like Anu's.

Henceforth your order will not be annulled,

It is in your power to exalt and abase.

Your utterance is sure, your command cannot be rebelled against,

None of the gods will transgress the line you draw.

Shrines for all the gods needs provisioning,

That you may be established where their sanctuaries are.

You are Marduk, our avenger,

We have given you kingship over the sum of the whole universe.

Take your seat in the assembly, let your word be exalted,

Let your weapons not miss the mark, but may they slay your enemies.

Be-l, spare him who trusts in you,

But destroy the god who set his mind on evil."

They set a constellation in the middle

And addressed Marduk, their son,

"Your destiny, Be-l, is superior to that of all the gods,

Command and bring about annihilation and re-creation.

Let the constellation disappear at your utterance,

With a second command let the constellation reappear."

He gave the command and the constellation disappeared,

With a second command the constellation came into being again.

When the gods, his fathers, saw (the effect of) his utterance,

They rejoiced and offered congratulations: "Marduk is the king!"

They added to him a mace, a throne, and a rod,

They gave him an irresistible weapon that overwhelms the foe:

(They said,) "Go, cut Tia-mat's throat,

And let the winds bear up her blood to give the news."

The gods, his fathers, decreed the destiny of Be-l,

And set him on the road, the way of prosperity and success.

He fashioned a bow and made it his weapon,

He set an arrow in place, put the bow string on.

He took up his club and held it in his right hand,

His bow and quiver he hung at his side.

He placed lightning before him,

And filled his body with tongues of flame.

He made a net to enmesh the entrails of Tia-mat,

And stationed the four winds that were no part of her escape.

The South Wind, the North Wind, the East Wind, the West Wind,

He put beside his net, winds given by his father, Anu.

He fashioned the Evil Wind, the Dust Storm, Tempest,

The Four-fold Wind, the Seven-fold Wind, the Chaos-spreading Wind, the . .

. . .Wind.

He sent out the seven winds that he had fashioned,

And they took their stand behind him to harass Tia-mat's entrails.

Be-l took up the Storm-flood, his great weapon,

He rode the fearful chariot of the irresistible storm.

Four steeds he yoked to it and harnessed them to it,

The Destroyer, The Merciless, The Trampler, The Fleet.

Their lips were parted, their teeth bore venom,

They were strangers to weariness, trained to sweep forward.

At his right hand he stationed raging battle and strife,

On the left, conflict that overwhelms a united battle array.

He was clad in a tunic, a fearful coat of mail,

And on his head he wore an aura of terror.

Be-l proceeded and set out on his way,

He set his face toward the raging Tia-mat.

In his lips he held a spell,

He grasped a plant to counter poison in his hand,

Thereupon they milled around him, the gods milled around him,

The gods, his fathers, milled around him, the gods milled around him.

Be-l drew near, surveying the maw of Tia-mat,

He observed the tricks of Qingu, her spouse.

As he looked, he lost his nerve,

His determination went and he faltered.

His divine aides, who were marching at his side,

Saw the warrior, the foremost, and their vision became dim.

Tia-mat cast her spell without turning her neck,

In her lips she held untruth and lies, 73 "[ . ] . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In their [ . ] . they have assembled by you."

Be-l [lifted up] the Storm-flood, his great weapon,

And with these words threw it at the raging Tia-mat,

"Why are you aggressive and arrogant,

And strive to provoke battle?

The younger generation have shouted, outraging their elders,

But you, their mother, hold pity in contempt.

Qingu you have named to be your spouse,

And you have improperly appointed him to the rank of Anuship.

Against Anšar, king of the gods, you have stirred up trouble,

And against the gods, my fathers, your trouble is established.

Deploy your troops, gird on your weapons,

You and I will take our stand and do battle."

When Tia-mat heard this

She went insane and lost her reason.

Tia-mat cried aloud and fiercely,

All her lower members trembled beneath her.

She was reciting an incantation, kept reciting her spell,

While the (battle-)gods were sharpening their weapons of war.

Tia-mat and Marduk, the sage of the gods, came together,

Joining in strife, drawing near to battle.

Be-l spread out his net and enmeshed her;

He let loose the Evil Wind, the rear guard, in her face.

Tia-mat opened her mouth to swallow it,

She let the Evil Wind in so that she could not close her lips.

The fierce winds weighed down her belly,

Her inwards were distended and she opened her mouth wide.

He let fly an arrow and pierced her belly,

He tore open her entrails and slit her inwards,

He bound her and extinguished her life,

He threw down her corpse and stood on it.

After he had killed Tia-mat, the leader,

Her assembly dispersed, her host scattered.

Her divine aides, who went beside her,

In trembling and fear beat a retreat.

to save their lives,

But they were completely surrounded, unable to escape.

He bound them and broke their weapons,

And they lay enmeshed, sitting in a snare,

Hiding in corners, filled with grief,

Bearing his punishment, held in a prison.

The eleven creatures who were laden with fearfulness,

The throng of devils who went as grooms at her right hand,

He put ropes upon them and bound their arms,

Together with their warfare he trampled them beneath him.

Now Qingu, who had risen to power among them,

He bound and reckoned with the Dead Gods.

He took from him the Tablet of Destinies, which was not properly his,

Sealed it with a seal and fastened it to his own breast.

After the warrior Marduk had bound and slain his enemies,

Had . . . . the arrogant enemy ,

Had established victory for Anšar over all his foes,

Had fulfilled the desire of Nudimmud,

He strengthened his hold on the Bound Gods,

And returned to Tia-mat, whom he had bound.

Be-l placed his feet on the lower parts of Tia-mat

And with his merciless club smashed her skull.

He severed her arteries

And let the North wind bear up (her blood) to give the news.

His fathers saw it and were glad and exalted;

They brought gifts and presents to him.

Be-l rested, surveying the corpse,

In order to divide the lump by a clever scheme.

He split her into two like a dried fish:

One half of her he set up and stretched out as the heavens.

He stretched the skin and appointed a watch

With the instruction not to let her waters escape.

He crossed over the heavens, surveyed the celestial parts,

And adjusted them to match the Apsû, Nudimmud's abode.

Be-l measured the shape of the Apsû

And set up Ešarra, a replica of Ešgalla.

In Ešgalla, Ešarra which he had built, and the heavens,

He settled in their shrines Anu, Enlil, and Ea.

Tablet V

He fashioned heavenly stations for the great gods,

And set up constellations, the patterns of the stars.

He appointed the year, marked off divisions,

And set up three stars each for the twelve months.

After he had organized the year,

He established the heavenly station of Ne-beru to fix the stars' intervals.

That none should transgress or be slothful

He fixed the heavenly stations of Enlil and Ea with it.

Gates he opened on both sides,

And put strong bolts at the left and the right.

He placed the heights (of heaven) in her (Tia-mat's) belly,

He created Nannar, entrusting to him the night.

He appointed him as the jewel of the night to fix the days,

And month by month without ceasing he elevated him with a crown,

(Saying,) "Shine over the land at the beginning of the month,

Resplendent with horns to fix six days.

On the seventh day the crown will be half size,

On the fifteenth day, halfway through each month, stand in opposition.

When Šamaš [sees] you on the horizon,

Diminish in the proper stages and shine backwards.

On the 29th day, draw near to the path of Šamaš,

. [ . . ] the 30th day, stand in conjunction and rival Šamaš.

I have ( ] . the sign, follow its track,

Draw near . . ( ) give judgment.

. [ ] . Šamaš, constrain [murder] and violence,

26 . [ ] . me.

* * * * * *

At the end [ . . .

Let there [be] the 29th day [ "

After [he had . . . . ] the decrees [ . . .

The organization of front and . [ . . .

He made the day [ . . .

Let the year be equally [ . . .

At the new year [ . . .

42 The year . . . . . [ . . .

Let there be regularly [ . . .

The projecting bolt [ . . .

After he had [ . . .

The watches of night and day [ . . .

The foam which Tia-mat [ . . .

Marduk fashioned [ . . .

He gathered it together and made it into clouds.

The raging of the winds, violent rainstorms,

The billowing of mist—the accumulation of her spittle—

He appointed for himself and took them in his hand.

He put her head in position and poured out . . [ . . ] .

He opened the abyss and it was sated with water.

From her two eyes he let the Euphrates and Tigris flow,

He blocked her nostrils, but left . .

He heaped up the distant [mountains] on her breasts,

He bored wells to channel the springs.

He twisted her tail and wove it into the Durmah(u,

[ . . . ] . . the Apsû beneath his feet.

[He set up] her crotch—it wedged up the heavens—

[(Thus) the half of her] he stretched out and made it firm as the earth.

[After] he had finished his work inside Tia-mat,

[He spread] his net and let it right out.

He surveyed the heavens and the earth . . [ . ] . 66 [ . . ] their bonds . . . . . . .

After he had formulated his regulations and composed [his] decrees,

He attached guide-ropes and put them in Ea's hands.

[The Tablet] of Destinies which Qingu had taken and carried,

He took charge of it as a trophy (?) and presented it to Anu.

[The . ] . of battle, which he had tied on or had put on his head,

[ . ] . he brought before his fathers.

[Now] the eleven creatures to which Tia-mat had given birth and ,

He broke their weapons and bound them (the creatures) to his feet.

He made images of them and stationed them at the [Gate] of the Apsû,

To be a sign never to be forgotten.

[The gods] saw it and were jubilantly happy,

(That is,) Lah(mu, Lah(amu and all his fathers.

Anšar [embraced] him and published abroad his title, "Victorious King,"

Anu, Enlil and Ea gave him gifts.

Mother Damkina, who bore him, hailed him,

With a clean festal robe she made his face shine.

To Usmû, who held her present to give the news,

[He entrusted] the vizierate of the Apsû and the care of the holy places.

The Igigi assembled and all did obeisance to him,

Every one of the Anunnaki was kissing his feet.

They all [gathered] to show their submission,

[ . . . ] . they stood, they bowed down, "Behold the king!"

His fathers [ . . . ] . and took their fill of his beauty,

Be-l listened to their utterance, being girded with the dust of battle. 91 . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . ] . . . . . . .

Anointing his body with . [ ] cedar perfume.

He clothed himself in [his] lordly robe,

With a crown of terror as a royal aura.

He took up his club and held it in his right hand,

] . he grasped on his left.

97 [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

] . he set his feet.

He put it on . [ . . .

The sceptre of prosperity and success [he hung] at his side.

After [he had ] the aura [

He adorned(?) his sack, the Apsû, with a fearful [ . . ]

Was settled like . [ . . .

In [his] throne room [ . . .

In his cellar [ . . .

Every one of the gods [ . . .

Lah(mu and Lah(amu . [ ] .

Opened their mouths and [addressed] the Igigi gods,

"Previously Marduk was our beloved son,

Now he is your king, heed his command!"

Next, they all spoke up together,

"His name is Lugaldimmerankia, trust in him!"

When they had given kingship to Marduk,

They addressed to him a benediction for prosperity and success,

"Henceforth you are the caretaker of our shrine,

Whatever you command, we will do!"

Marduk opened his mouth to speak

And addressed the gods his fathers,

"Above the Apsû, the emerald (?) abode,

Opposite Ešarra, which I built for you,

Beneath the celestial parts, whose floor I made firm,

I will build a house to be my luxurious abode.

Within it I will establish its shrine,

I will find my chamber and establish my kingship.

When you come up from the Apsû to make a decision

This will be your resting place before the assembly.

When you descend from heaven to make a decision

This will be your resting place before the assembly.

I shall call its name 'Babylon', "The Homes of the Great Gods",

Within it we will hold a festival: that will be the evening festival.

[The gods], his fathers, [heard] this speech of his, 132 . [ ] . they said,

"With regard to all that your hands have made,

Who has your [ ]?

With regard to the earth that your hands have made,

Who has your [ ]?

In Babylon, as you have named it,

Put our [resting place] for ever.

. [ ] let them our bring regular offerings

140 . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ] . .

Whoever [ . . . ] our tasks which we . [ . . .

Therein [ . . . . . ] its toil . [ . . .

143 [ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

144 They rejoiced [ . . . . . . . . . . . ] . . [ . . .

The gods . [ ]

He who knows [ ] . them

He opened [his mouth showing] them light, 148 . . [ ] his speech . [ . ]

149 He made wide [ . . . . . . . . ] . them [ . . .

150 And . [ . . . . . . . . . . . . ] . . . . .

The gods bowed down, speaking to him,

They addressed Lugaldimmerankia, their lord,

"Formerly, lord, [you were our beloved] son,

Now you are our king, . . [ ]

He who . [ . ] . [ . ] preserved [us]

. . [ ] the aura of club and sceptre.

Let him conceive plans [ . . . . ] . . [ ]

158 [ . ] . . [ . . . . . . that] we . [ "

Tablet VI

When Marduk heard the gods' speech

He conceived a desire to accomplish clever things.

He opened his mouth addressing Ea,

He counsels that which he had pondered in his heart,

"I will bring together blood to form bone,

I will bring into being Lullû, whose name shall be 'man'.

I will create Lullû—man

On whom the toil of the gods will be laid that they may rest.

I will skilfully alter the organization of the gods:

Though they are honoured as one, they shall be divided into two."

Ea answered, as he addressed a word to him,

Expressing his comments on the resting of the gods,

"Let one brother of theirs be given up.

Let him perish that people may be fashioned.

Let the great gods assemble

And let the guilty one be given up that they may be confirmed."

Marduk assembled the great gods,

Using gracious direction as he gave his order,

As he spoke the gods heeded him:

The king addressed a word to the Anunnaki,

"Your former oath was true indeed,

(Now also) tell me the solemn truth:

Who is the one who instigated warfare,

Who made Tia-mat rebel, and set battle in motion?

Let him who instigated warfare be given up

That I may lay his punishment on him; but you sit and rest.

The Igigi, the great gods, answered him,

That is, Lugaldimmerankia, the counsellor of the gods, the lord,

"Qingu is the one who instigated warfare,

Who made Tia-mat rebel and set battle in motion."

They bound him, holding him before Ea,

They inflicted the penalty on him and severed his blood-vessels.

From his blood he (Ea) created mankind,

On whom he imposed the service of the gods, and set the gods free.

After the wise Ea had created mankind

And had imposed the service of the gods upon them—

That task is beyond comprehension

For Nudimmud performed the creation with the skill of Marduk—

King Marduk divided the gods,

All the Anunnaki into upper and lower groups.

He assigned 300 in the heavens to guard the decrees of Anu

And appointed them as a guard.

Next he arranged the organization of the netherworld.

In heaven and netherworld he stationed 600 gods.

After he had arranged all the decrees,

And had distributed incomes among the Anunnaki of heaven and

netherworld,

The Anunnaki opened their mouths

And addressed their lord Marduk,

"Now, lord, seeing you have established our freedom

What favour can we do for you?

Let us make a shrine of great renown:

Your chamber will be our resting place wherein we may repose.

Let us erect a shrine to house a pedestal

Wherein we may repose when we finish (the work)."

When Marduk heard this,

He beamed as brightly as the light of day,

"Build Babylon, the task you have sought.

Let bricks for it be moulded, and raise the shrine!"

The Anunnaki wielded the pick.

For one year they made the needed bricks.

When the second year arrived,

They raised the peak of Esagil, a replica of the Apsû.

They built the lofty temple tower of the Apsû

And for Anu, Enlil, and Ea they established its . . as a dwelling.

He sat in splendour before them,

Suveying its horns, which were level with the base of Ešarra.

After they had completed the work on Esagil

All the Anunnaki constructed their own shrines.

300 Igigi of heaven and 600 of the Apsû, all of them, had assembled.

Be-l seated the gods, his fathers, at the banquet

In the lofty shrine which they had built for his dwelling,

(Saying,) "This is Babylon, your fixed dwelling,

Take your pleasure here! Sit down in joy!

The great gods sat down,

Beer-mugs were set out and they sat at the banquet.

After they had enjoyed themselves inside

They held a service in awesome Esagil.

The regulations and all the rules were confirmed:

All the gods divided the stations of heaven and netherworld.

The college of the Fifty great gods took their seats,

The Seven gods of destinies were appointed to give decisions.

Be-l received his weapon, the bow, and laid it before them:

His divine fathers saw the net which he had made.

His fathers saw how skilfully wrought was the structure of the bow

As they praised what he had made.

Anu lifted it up in the divine assembly,

He kissed the bow, saying, "It is my daughter!"

Thus he called the names of the bow:

"Long Stick" was the first; the second was, "May it hit the mark."

With the third name, "Bow Star", he made it to shine in the sky,

He fixed its heavenly position along with its divine brothers.

After Anu had decreed the destiny of the bow,

He set down a royal throne, a lofty one even for a god,

Anu set it there in the assembly of the gods.

The great gods assembled,

They exalted the destiny of Marduk and did obeisance.

They invoked a curse on themselves

And took an oath with water and oil, and put their hands to their throats.

They granted him the right to exercise kingship over the gods,

They confirmed him as lord of the gods of heaven and netherworld.

Anšar gave him his exalted name, Asalluh(i

"At the mention of his name, let us show submission!

When he speaks, let the gods heed him,

Let his command be superior in upper and lower regions.

May the son, our avenger, be exalted,

Let his lordship be superior and himself without a rival.

Let him shepherd the black-heads, his creatures,

Let them tell of his character to future days without forgetting.

Let him establish lavish food offerings for his fathers,

Let him provide for their maintenance and be caretaker of their sanctuaries,

Let him burn incense to rejoice their sanctums.

Let him do on earth the same as he has done in heaven:

Let him appoint the black-heads to worship him.

The subject humans should take note and call on their gods,

Since he commands they should heed their goddesses,

Let food offerings be brought [for] (?) their gods and goddesses,

May they (?) not be forgotten, may they remember their gods,

May they . . . their . . , may they . . their shrines.

Though the black-heads worship someone, some other god,

He is the god of each and every one of us!

Come, let us call the fifty names

Of him whose character is resplendent, whose achievement is the same.

(1) MARDUK

As he was named by his father Anu from his birth,

Who supplies pasturage and watering, making the stables flourish.

Who bound the boastful with his weapon, the storm flood,

And saved the gods, his fathers, from distress.

He is the son, the sun-god of the gods, he is dazzling,

Let them ever walk in his bright light.

On the peoples that he created, the living beings,

He imposed the service of the gods and they took rest.

Creation and annihilation, forgiveness and exacting the penalty

Occur at his command, so let them fix their eyes on him.

(2) Marukka: he is the god who created them

Who put the Anunnaki at ease, the Igigi at rest.

(3) Marutukku: he is the support of land, city, and its peoples,

Henceforth let the peoples ever heed him.

(4) Meršakušu: fierce yet deliberating, angry yet relenting,

His mind is wide, his heart is all-embracing.

(5) Lugaldimmerankia is the name by which we all called him,

Whose command we have exalted above that of the gods his fathers.

He is the lord of all the gods of heaven and netherworld,

The king at whose injunctions the gods in upper and lower regions shudder.

(6) Narilugaldimmerankia is the name we gave him, the mentor of every god,

Who established our dwellings in heaven and netherworld in time of trouble,

Who distributed the heavenly stations between Igigi and Anunnaki,

Let the gods tremble at his name and quake on their seats.

(7) Asalluh(i is the name by which his father Anu called him,

He is the light of the gods, a mighty hero,

Who, as his name says, is a protecting angel for god and land,

Who by terrible combat saved our dwelling in time of trouble.

(8) Asalluh(i-Namtilla they called him secondly, the life-giving god,

Who, in accordance with the form (of) his (name), restored all the ruined gods,

The lord, who brought to life the dead gods by his pure incantation,

Let us praise him as the destroyer of the crooked enemies.

(9) Asalluh(i-Namru, as his name is called thirdly,

The pure god, who cleanses our character."

Anšar, Lah(mu, and Lah(amu (each) called him by three of his names,

Then they addressed the gods, their sons,

"We have each called him by three of his names,

Now you call his names, like us."

The gods rejoiced as they heard their speech,

In Upšuukkinaki they held a conference,

"Of the warrior son, our avenger,

Of the provisioner, let us extol the name."

They sat down in their assembly, summoning the destinies,

And with all due rites they called his name:

Tablet VII

(10)Asarre, the giver of arable land who established plough-land,

The creator of barley and flax, who made plant life grow.

(11)Asaralim, who is revered in the counsel chamber, whose counsel excels,

The gods heed it and grasp fear of him.

(12)Asaralimnunna, the noble, the light of the father, his begetter,

Who directs the decrees of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, that is Ninšiku.

He is their provisioner, who assigns their incomes,

Whose turban multiplies abundance for the land.

(13) Tutu is he, who accomplishes their renovation,

Let him purify their sanctuaries that they may repose.

Let him fashion an incantation that the gods may rest,

Though they rise up in fury, let them withdraw.

He is indeed exalted in the assembly of the gods, his [fathers],

No one among the gods can [equal] him.

(14) Tutu-Ziukkinna, the life of [his] host,

Who established, the pure heavens for the gods,

Who took charge of their courses, who appointed [their stations],

16 May he not be forgotten among mortals, but [let them remember] his deeds.

(15) Tutu-Ziku they called him thirdly, the establisher of purification,

The god of the pleasant breeze, lord of success and obedience,

Who produces bounty and wealth, who establishes abundance,

Who turns everything scant that we have into profusion,

Whose pleasant breeze we sniffed in time of terrible trouble,

Let men command that his praises be constantly uttered, let them offer worship to

him.

As (16) Tutu-Agaku, fourthly, let humans extol him,

Lord of the pure incantation, who brought the dead back to life,

Who showed mercy on the Bound Gods,

Who threw the imposed yoke on the gods, his enemies,

And to spare them created mankind.

The merciful, in whose power it is to restore to life,

Let his words be sure and not forgotten

From the mouths of the black-heads, his creatures.

As (17) Tutu-Tuku, fifthly, let their mouth give expression to his pure spell,

Who extirpated all the wicked by his pure incantation.

(18) Šazu, who knew the heart of the gods, who saw the reins,

Who did not let an evil-doer escape from him,

Who established the assembly of the gods, who rejoiced their hearts,

Who subjugated the disobedient, he is the gods' encompassing protection.

He made truth to prosper, he uprooted perverse speech,

He separated falsehood from truth.

As (19) Šazu-Zisi, secondly, let them continually praise him, the subduer of aggressors,

Who ousted consternation from the bodies of the gods, his fathers.

(20) Šazu-Suh(rim, thirdly, who extirpated every foe with his weapons,

Who confounded their plans and turned them into wind.

He snuffed out all the wicked who came against him,

Let the gods ever shout acclamations in the assembly.

(21) Šazu-Suh(gurim, fourthly, who established success for the gods, his fathers,

Who extirpated foes and destroyed their offspring,

Who scattered their achievements, leaving no part of them,

Let his name be spoken and proclaimed in the land.

As (22) Šazu-Zah(rim, fifthly, let future generations discuss him,

The destroyer of every rebel, of all the disobedient,

Who brought all the fugitive gods into the shrines,

Let this name of his be established.

As (23) Šazu-Zah(gurim, sixthly, let them altogether and everywhere worship him,

Who himself destroyed all the foes in battle.

(24) Enbilulu is he, the lord who supplies them abundantly,

Their great chosen one, who provides cereal offerings,

Who keeps pasturage and watering in good condition and established it for the land,

Who opened watercourses and distributed plentiful water.

(25) Enbilulu-Epadun, lord of common land and . . ., let them [call him] secondly,

Canal supervisor of heaven and netherworld, who sets the furrow, Who establishes clean arable land in the open country,

Who directs irrigation ditch and canal, and marks out the furrow.

As (26) Enbilulu-Gugal, canal supervisor of the water courses of the gods, let them praise him thirdly,

Lord of abundance, profusion, and huge stores (of grain),

Who provides bounty, who enriches human habitations,

Who gives wheat, and brings grain into being.

(27) Enbilulu-H(egal, who accumulates abundance for the peoples . . . .

Who rains down riches on the broad earth, and supplies abundant vegetation.

(28) Sirsir, who heaped up a mountain on top of Tia-mat,

Who plundered the corpse of Tia-mat with [his] weapons,

The guardian of the land, their trustworthy shepherd,

Whose hair is a growing crop, whose turban is a furrow,

Who kept crossing the broad Sea in his fury,

And kept crossing over the place of her battle as though it were a bridge.

(29) Sirsir-Malah( they named him secondly—so be it—

Tia-mat was his boat, he was her sailor.

(30) Gil, who ever heaps up piles of barley, massive mounds,

The creator of grain and flocks, who gives seed for the land.

(31) Gilima, who made the bond of the gods firm, who created stability,

A snare that overwhelmed them, who yet extended favours.

(32) Agilima, the lofty, who snatches off the crown, who takes charge of snow,

Who created the earth on the water and made firm the height of heaven.

(33) Zulum, who assigns meadows for the gods and divides up what he has created,

Who gives incomes and food-offerings, who administers shrines.

(34) Mummu, creator of heaven end underworld, who protects refugees,

The god who purifies heaven and underworld, secondly Zulummu,

In respect of whose strength none other among the gods can equal him.

(35) Gišnumunab, creator of all the peoples, who made the world regions,

Who destroyed Tia-mat's gods, and made peoples from part of them.

(36) Lugalabdubur, the king who scattered the works of Tia-mat, who uprooted her weapons,

Whose foundation is secure on the "Fore and Aft".

(37) Pagalguenna, foremost of all lords, whose strength is exalted,

Who is the greatest among the gods, his brothers, the most noble of them all.

(38) Lugaldurmah(, king of the bond of the gods, lord of Durmah(u,

Who is the greatest in the royal abode, infinitely more lofty than the other gods.

(39) Aranunna, counsellor of Ea, creator of the gods, his fathers,

Whom no god can equal in respect of his lordly walk.

(40) Dumuduku, who renews for himself his pure abode in Duku,

Dumuduku, without whom Lugalduku does not make a decision.

(41) Lugalšuanna, the king whose strength is exalted among the gods,

The lord, the strength of Anu, he who is supreme, chosen of Anšar.

(42) Irugga, who plundered them all in the Sea,

Who grasps all wisdom, is comprehensive in understanding.

(43) Irqingu, who plundered Qingu in . . . battle,

Who directs all decrees and establishes lordship.

(44) Kinma, the director of all the gods, who gives counsel,

At whose name the gods bend down in reverence as before a hurricane.

(45) Dingir-Esiskur—let him take his lofty seat in the House of Benediction,

Let the gods bring their presents before him

Until he receives their offerings.

No one but he accomplishes clever things

The four (regions) of black-heads are his creation,

Apart from him no god knows the measure of their days.

(46) Girru, who makes weapons hard (?),

Who accomplished clever things in the battle with Tia-mat,

Comprehensive in wisdom, skilled in understanding,

A deep mind, that all the gods combined do not understand.

Let (47) Addu be his name, let him cover the whole span of heaven,

Let him thunder with his pleasant voice upon the earth,

May the rumble fill (?) the clouds

And give sustenance to the peoples below.

(48) Aša-ru, who, as his name says, mustered the Divine Fates

He indeed is the warden of absolutely all peoples.

As (49) Ne-beru let him hold the crossing place of heaven and underworld,

They should not cross above or below, but should wait for him.

Ne-beru is his star, which he caused to shine in the sky,

Let him take his stand on the heavenly staircase that they may look at him.

Yes, he who constantly crosses the Sea without resting,

Let his name be Ne-beru, who grasps her middle,

Let him fix the paths of the stars of heaven,

Let him shepherd all the gods like sheep,

Let him bind Tia-mat and put her life in mortal danger,

To generations yet unborn, to distant future days,

May he continue unchecked, may he persist into eternity.

Since he created the heavens and fashioned the earth,

Enlil, the father, called him by his own name, (50) 'Lord of the Lands'.

Ea heard the names which all the Igigi called

And his spirit became radiant.

"Why! He whose name was extolled by his fathers

Let him, like me, be called (51) 'Ea'.

Let him control the sum of all my rites,

Let him administer all my decrees."

With the word "Fifty" the great gods

Called his fifty names and assigned him an outstanding position.

They should be remembered; a leading figure should expound them,

The wise and learned should confer about them,

A father should repeat them and teach them to his son,

One should explain them to the shepherd and herdsman.

If one is not negligent to Marduk, the Enlil of the gods,

May one's land flourish, and oneself prosper,

(For) his word is reliable, his command unchanged,

No god can alter the utterance of his mouth.

When he looks in fury, he does not relent,

When his anger is ablaze, no god can face him.

His mind is deep, his spirit is all-embracing,

Before whom sin and transgression are sought out.

Instruction which a leading figure repeated before him (Marduk):

He wrote it down and stored it so that generations to come might hear it.

[ . . ] . Marduk, who created the Igigi gods,

Though they diminish . . . let them call on his name.

. . . the song of Marduk,

Who defeated Tia-mat and took kingship

-My other Books

“This is The Way” (A tribute to Zecharia Sitchin)