"I have come on account of my ancestor Utanapishtim,
who joined the Assembly of the Gods, and was given eternal life.
About Death and Life I must ask him!"
The scorpion-being spoke to Gilgamesh ..., saying:
"Never has there been, Gilgamesh, a mortal man who could do that(?).
No one has crossed through the mountains,
for twelve leagues it is darkness throughout--
dense is the darkness, and light there is none.
To the rising of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
They caused to go out..."
[67 lines are missing, in which Gilgamesh convinces the scorpion-being to allow him
passage.]
"Though it be in deep sadness and pain,
in cold or heat ...
gasping after breath ... I will go on!
Now! Open the Gate!"
The scorpion-being spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Go on, Gilgamesh, fear not!
The Mashu mountains I give to you freely (!),
the mountains, the ranges, you may traverse ...
In safety may your feet carry you.
The gate of the mountain ..."
To the rising of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
The modern view of where we are is best described as a dissociated appreciation that we are on a space-ship (life vessel is the Tibetan term) rolling through space at 66,660 miles per hour, and at my latitude falling eastwards at 639 miles an hour.
Our vessel is bound to the sun, but we are not.
Space is an ocean filled with the aethyr of death..
This is the modern view...
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero arrives at Twin Peaks, where the door through the mountain is guarded by the scorpion people..
If he is to continue his journey he must run through the tunnel.
The tunnel of the sun.
Now it is said that the sun visits the Underworld at night and whilst he is there he acts as judge. Shamash (Utu) is judge of 'those above and those below'.
And if the tunnel links the Underworld to the sky...
Surely Gilgamesh would not have to run through the tunnel.
The man needs a parachute!
Also when Gilgamesh gets through the tunnel with the sun close behind him, why isn't he in the Underworld?
My book on ancient astronomy tells me that the 'Babylonians' divided the sky into three realms. The second tablet of the series Bit Meseri tells us that the heavens are divided into three zones, assigned to Anu, Enlil and Ea.
Translations of clay tablets [KAR 307 30-38 and AO 8196 iv 20-22] dated to the first millennium BC. tell me that:
- The upper heavens are luludanitu-stone- they belong to Anu.
- The middle heavens are saggilmud-stone- they belong to the Igigi
- The lower heavens are iashpu [jasper]- they belong to the stars.
Pliny in his 'Natural history' says:
'The fourth variety of jasper is known among the Greeks as 'boria' or 'north wind' jasper because it is like the sky on an autumn morning. This will be identified with the kind known as ' aerizusa. The stone whose appearance is like the clear heavens...
If Pliny is right, then the sky of the lowest heaven, jasper, is our sky, and therefore our realm belongs to the stars.
Meanwhile the sun arcs across the sky and floats over the ground to Heaven:
"Utu, when you enter heaven's interior, may the pure bolt of heaven greet you. May the the door of heaven pray to you. May law, your beloved visor, go straight towards you. Let your greatness shine towards the E.Barra, the seat of your royalty. May Sherda, your beloved spouse meet you happily. May she calm your heart with cool water. May she set before you the meal of your godhead....Utu, make straight your way, go the true road to your 'level place'. Utu, you are the judge of the land (Kalem) the one who straightens out its decisions"
The sun rests in the House of Radiance, and the place of judgement seems to be 'the level place' and it is a straight journey.
No descent.
See what I'm thinking?
In 'Babylonian' thought, the Underworld isn't under the surface of the earth.
When Gilgamesh enters the tunnel of the sun he passes through the Gates of Heaven at the mountains of Mashu. He is described as running through the tunnel, there is no light at all. So either the sun is too far away to illuminate him, or the sun is dark behind him.
I am tempted to believe the latter because as Gilgamesh comes close to the end of the tunnel the wind begins to blow and then the sun begins to burn brightly.
Eight leagues he traveled and cried out,
Dense was the darkness, light there was none,
Neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Nine leagues he traveled ... the North Wind.
It licked at his face,
Dense was the darkness, light there was none,
Neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Ten leagues he traveled ...
... is near,
... four leagues.
Eleven leagues he traveled and came out before the sun(rise).
Twelve leagues he traveled and it grew brilliant.
...it bears lapis lazuli as foliage,
bearing fruit, a delight to look upon.
When Gilgamesh was running through the tunnel, all was pitch dark. Gilgamesh had been told that he must run in a straight line, indicating to me anyway, that he could get lost...
In the tunnel?
A very wide tunnel.
But perhaps the black-sun doesn't rise, but nor does it sink to the Underworld, if the Underworld is over there, located distant from here. Distant from heaven. It sure explains the need for all those bolts and doors and walls to keep the dead away from the living...and to keep mortals out of heaven!
Granted, prayers speak of a mountain of sunrise.
Like the sun has bounced up from a hole in the ground?
Like the sun has bounced up from a hole in the ground?
When the sun rises or sets it comes up and sinks, over the rim of the world but...the sky is bright an hour before sunrise. Was this understood to mean that the tunnel was horizontal, and an entry point through the aerizusa jasper sky?
The sun rises but it is never directly over head, it goes around the rim of the horizon. And the red sky occurs when the sun is either easterly or westerly. Is the thinking behind this that the height of the sun above the ground (elevation) is related to the sun's distance from us- so when the sun is low, the sun is further away, more distant?
How does the description of the stones of heaven, help solve this question?
luludanitu-stone of upper heaven.. The stone whose appearence is like hulalu stone and mush.sharu stone is named luludanite stone, it is red covered with white and black patches.
saggilmud-stone of middle heaven. The heaven of the Igigi is the same colour as lapis lazuli (lapis coloured or lapis? is hashmanu stone).
And finally we have the jasper as described by Pliny.
But how does the Babylonian sky work, where are the heavens and the Underworld?
Here is my best guess.
Mount Meru..
Not Mashu
Is the mythical mountain at the center of the universe in Tibetan Buddhism.
It bears only a little resemblance to the Babylonian map.
I don't see any connection but...
In the world on the left, with the cosmic mountain, the sky is different colours because the sunlight is reflecting off Mount Meru. In this map of the universe, the earth is one of those islands at the bottom of the mountain, in the blue sea.
In this version of the universe, the sky changes colour in relation to the position of the sun, so this map predicts that we see the sky that is closest to the sun- regardless of physics.
If I use this as a clue to how the Babylonian sky worked, then when the sun is above us, the light bounces off the translucent-jasper sky.
When the sun is rising or sinking in to upper heaven, the light bounces off the red and black luludanite stone, and finally when the sun is cool and dark in the middle heaven, we see the saggilmud, lapis stone sky.
As in the Tibetan Meru universe, the colours of the sky tell us where the sun is. The colours are a projection. The sky above the sun is projected up and over our heads too.
So, the planets; Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn are companions of the sun, their rising and setting positions are related to the sun's position. The moon is more complicated and so has been given a boat, to account for the moon being in the sky at odd times, and sometimes higher or lower than the sun.
The moon is also said to enter the Underworld as judge.
This occurs when the moon is beyond the thin crescent stage, and its rising and setting times are so close to the sun that the moon is invisible. It must be assumed that that is when the moon travels with the sun to the Underworld.
The lower heavens belong to the stars, and their sky is our daylight...but we don't see them until the sun is in the middle heaven, because they were fixed in place- in the lapis sky- by Marduk, after he killed Tiamat...
The stars represent the positions of the gods?
How about each star is a palace...
OK, that's just about as far as I can go for now.
I leave you with the Enuma Elish.
1. He.(i.e. Marduk) made the stations for the great gods;
2. The stars, their images, as the stars of the Zodiac, he fixed.
3. He ordained the year and into sections he divided it;
4. For the twelve months he fixed three stars.
5. After he had [...] the days of the year [...] images,
6. He founded the station of Nibir 1to determine their bounds;
7. That none might err or go astray,
8. He set the station of Bêl and Ea along with him.
9. He opened great gates on both sides,
10. He made strong the bolt on the left and on the right.
11. In the midst thereof he fixed the zenith;
12. The Moon-god he caused to shine forth, the night he entrusted to him.
13. He appointed him, a being of the night, to determine the days;
14. Every month without ceasing with the crown he covered(?) him, (saying):
15. “At the beginning of the month, when thou shinest upon the land,
16. “Thou commandest the horns to determine six days,
17. “And on the seventh day to [divide] the crown.
18. “On the fourteenth day thou shalt stand opposite, the half [...].
19. “When the Sun-god on the foundation of heaven [...] thee,
20. “The [...] thou shalt cause to …, and thou shalt make his [...].
21. “[...] … unto the path of the Sun-god shalt thou cause to draw nigh,
22. “[And on the ... day] thou shalt stand opposite, and the Sun-god shall … [...]
23. “[...] to traverse her way.
24. “[...] thou shalt cause to draw nigh, and thou shalt judge the right.
25. “[...] to destroy
26. “[...] me.
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