As we all know the Sumerians and Assyrians went to great detail to preserve the memorials of 270,000 years or seven previous ages, but not any independent evidence outside of the Bible exist showing that Abram ever even lived. Even the Hebrew scholars had to assume he was born at Ur about 2,000 B.C.

   Annunaki were seven judges of hell (nether world), children of the god Anu, who also sat before the throne of Ereshkigal (the wife of Nergal), she was the daughter of Demeter, Greek Persephone, Roman Proserpine, Gnostic Kore in other mythology. The Annunaki are regarded by some as the Sumerian ‘fates,’ where they waited at the gates of hell to judge the newly-arrived souls. The "Fates" were associated with Ursa Major, or the Pleiades (seven sisters) who were similar to the seven Hathors. Ananke the satellite of Jupiter that is 14th in distance from the planet [Greek Ananke, mother of Adrasteia (alias Nemesis a goddess of destiny, Egyptian Shait), distributor of rewards and punishments, by Jupiter, from ananke, necessity]. Adrasteia and Ida were Nymphs and daughters of the Cretan king, who cared for Zeus in a cave when he was a baby.

   The strongest body of archaeological evidence, combined with the biblical account, favors the ruins of Etemenanki (Sumerian name, "House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth") as the likely spot for the Tower of Babel. This is located in the country of Iraq, in the city of Babylon, fifty miles south of today’s Baghdad. It was once believed to be Birs Nimrud in Borsippa or modern Es-sahen.

   Anu’s father was Anshar (Sumerian god of the celestial world who was born of the serpents Lakhmu and Lakhamu), as the sky and male principle. Since Anshar mated with his sister Kishar (Anu’s mother, she became the earth and female principle), thus they produced the great gods. Anshar organized the gods in their fight against Tiamat but did no fighting himself.

   Nanshe (symbol was a vase in which swam a fish) was the goddess of springs and waterways who was worshipped in Eridu and Lagash. It is interesting that the Greek Naiads are nymphs of river and springs.

   Anu’s wife was Antu, and their children were the Annunaki.

   Despite Anu’s indifference to men he had a fine temple at Uruk with an unusual twin towered ziggurat dating from 3000 B.C. As time went on Anu’s authority waned as the result of the success of the gods like Enlil. Anu as Enlil or Elil God of earth (nature) and wind (air and hurricanes, floods), child of An (heaven) and Ki (earth) whom he separated.

   One of Anu’s sons was Gibil, alias Nusku (Nunska) who was an Assyrian fire god as in one of the four elements. Gibil was called governor of gods and men. His special task was to sit in judgment over the souls of men who in their lives had been unjust judges.

   One of Anu’s daughters was Gulu the ancient name for the Earth Mother goddess, who was a consort of Ninurta (derived from Ningursu, was the son of Enlil and the god of war, who in Sumer and Akkad was the god of the constellation known as Orion). The name "Orion" is believed to have originated in the Euphrates area of ancient Akkad, and is derived from the Akkadian "Uru-Anna" (light of heaven). There is that connection to Anu again. Over time, the language corrupted to "Aryan," which is what the ancient Persians called themselves, and which became the modern idiom, "Iran."

   In Hebrew the word for Orion is Kesiyl, kes-eel'; from Heb. kasal, kaw-sal', a primary root, properly to be fat, fig. silly, be foolish, but also any notable constellation, specially Orion (as if a burly one); other sources claim the Heb. Chesil, Kesil, as Orion means "A Strong One" or "A Hero," and is mentioned in Job 9:9 (Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south).

   Ancient Arabs knew the constellation of Orion as Al Jauzah and later Al Jabbar (meaning "the giant" or "great"). Arab astronomer Al Babadur said the constellation was originally called the "Strong One," but another, Scaliger, affirmed the name was a corruption of the Arab "Al Shuja" (the Snake). In the early astronomical works of Bayer and Chilmead, that word was translated as "Asugia" -- the "madman." Under the star names of Hydra, the Sea Serpent: there is other information that refers to the name -- Minchir al Sugia which means "Tearing To Shreds of the Deceiver." Under the star names of Lepus is Nihal which is adapted from the Arabic for "the camels slaking their thirst." The name originally applied to the stars . Another meaning of Nihal is "The Mad."

   Under the star names of Sagittarius is Nunki which is an untranslated ancient Babylon proper name. The Babylonians thought this star was the heavenly counterpart to their city Ridu, sacred to the god Ea (forms the handle of the teapot with Tau). In the Akkadian language, Sagittarius is called Nunki which means "The Prince of the Earth." The Sumerian King List mentions five cities existing before the Flood; Eridu, Bad-tinia, Larak, Sippar, and Shuruppak. As you would suspect Ridu is the same as Eridu.

   Ninurta in the Epic of Gilgamesh helps to flood the earth by throwing down the dykes and breaking dams. Here Gula helped breathe life into mankind. Ninurta and Gulu’s wedding feast was celebrated on New Year’s day.

   Seen in the Kudurra (a Babylonian boundary stone) in the stage below ground sits the goddess Gulu, (the earth-goddess; also Ninmah, goddess of the underworld), where the cosmic serpent begins to rise. She is the patroness of herbs, healing, life, as her flowered garment shows. Hands lifted in prayer, she sits with her dog, defender of homes, while before her a Scorpion Archer mounts guard at the uttermost bound of the earth (cosmic sea), to defend against demonic powers and protect the rising and setting sun.

   In the twentieth century Sir Leonard Wooley discovered at the mount of al’Ubaid near Ur and ancient temple dedicated by A-anni-pad-da, (king of Ur, son of Mes-anni-pad-da, who was the founder of the third dynasty after the Flood in the Sumerian lists of sovereigns) to the goddess Nin-Kharsag. The first of the divine kings was Dungi, the son of the goddess Ninsun.

   Damkina or Damgalnunna; alias Ninka, goddess wife of Ea -- Sumerian god of sweet waters. As Ninlil wife of Enlil; as Ninki wife of Enki (Ea). The temple of Ninmah, goddess of the underworld, was built by Ashurbanipal near the Ishtar gate.

   Below are the guardians of the four world quarters.

   Nergal (arrow shooting god of II Kings 17:30) a Babylonian god and king of the Underworld "Lord of the great dwelling." When ejected from heaven he invaded the underworld with fourteen demons. His wife was Ereshkigal (possibly Gulu). During the great flood he tore away the mast of the ship in which Utanapishtim (the Babylonian Noah) escaped and was saved along with his family and specimens of all manner of animals. Nergal is also the god of plague with Namtar (evil god, negative aspect of fate, disease bringer), his symbols are a sword and a lion’s head. From the contract tablets found by Rassam at Tel-Ibrahim it appears that the ancient name of Cuthah was Gudua or Kuta. It’s ruins were 3,000 feet in circumference and 280 feet high. In it was a sanctuary dedicated to Ibrahim (Abraham). Both the city and its great temple, the later dedicated to Nergal, appear to date back to Sumerian times. Nergal (Heb. nereghal, a Babylonian deity of destruction and disaster, associated with the planet Mars (god of war and agriculture -- See also Hercules, Ares -son of Zeus, Zivis, Zio, Tiwas, Tiw).

   A cylinder seal from Larsa, an ancient Sumerian city, c. 2360-2180 B.C., shows the god Nergal standing with one foot upon the body of an enemy. In his right hand is a weapon with wings or flames ready to strike its victim and in his left hand a weapon touching the ground which looks like a pruning hook or sickle. A picture of him will be seen in the next chapter.

   Ninurta in Sumer and Akkad was god of war and the god of the constellation Orion. Orion was the son of Poseidon. The motif of sibling rivalries was of Sumerian Enki verses Enlil, equal to Greek Poseidon verses Zeus, or Roman Neptune verses Jove.

   Irra is an aspect of Nergal, given the task of inflicting disease on mankind at the request of the gods.

   Note: Imdugud a rain god worshipped in the area of the Ur of the Chaldees (west bank of the Euphrates). He was shaped like an eagle with a lion’s head, with wings which are like the clouds. In about 3000 B.C., Gudea a man who claimed that the god appeared to him in a dream and told him to build a temple at Lagash. Gudea did so. Sargon (2350 B.C.) claimed conquest of Elam in his day. Later on, about 2280, an Elamite king invaded Babylonia and took back much spoil. Gudea, a ruler of the city of Lagash, about 2100 mentions that the Elamites collected some of the timbers he used in constructing the temple of Ningirsu (Ningursu), the god of Lagash.

   Also see Ningursu (with a reference to Ninurta) who was a god of irrigation and fecundity, born of a she-goat, and god of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. He was as tall as the sky with a god’s head and beard, holding an eagle and a club with a net full of human captives, and hurricanes for feet. He was flanked by a pair of lions. He appeared to Gudea to build him a temple at Lagash.

   A note here about Danu a (Irish) Celtic mother goddess of a brood of gods the Tuatha De Danann (Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharbar) also known as Anu or Ana - plenty. She is connected with Aine of Knockaine, a moon goddess of crops and cattle.