Ancient Near Eastern gods Enki and Ea: diachronical analysis of texts and images from the earliest sources to the Neo-Sumerian period
By Peeter Espak
Master’s Thesis, Tartu University, 2006
Introduction: The purpose of the master’s thesis titled “Ancient Near Eastern gods Enki and Ea: diachronical analysis of texts and images from the earliest sources to the Neo-Sumerian period” is to offer an overview of the religious-historical development of the Mesopotamian deities Enki and Ea from the earliest archaeological and written records until the Neo-Sumerian era.
The mentioning of “diachronical analysis” in the title refers to the methodological aim to study all the textual examples and other evidence in a chronological order, as much as it is possible in the case of the Mesopotamian sources. The chronological order of the given examples should enable to detect when and where a specific characteristic of the gods Enki and Ea appeared during the course of Mesopotamian history. The reason for such a practice stands in the fact that too often the materials concerning the god Enki or the other topics from the ancient Near Eastern history of religion and mythology seem to be presented as a unit not directly taking into consideration the possible change of ideas and beliefs during the course of time.
Click here to read this thesis from Tartu University
