First told over 5000 years ago, the epic story of Gilgamesh is considered by scholars to be the oldest example of narrative literature. It is the archtype for all hero quests including Star Wars and the Greek and Roman epics.
Nairi (Na-i-ri)
Nairi was the Assyrian name (KUR.KUR Na-i-ri, also Na-’i-ru) for a Proto-Armenian (Hurrian-speaking) region in the Armenian Highlands, roughly corresponding to the modern Van and Hakkâri provinces of modern Turkey. The word is also used to describe the tribes who lived there, whose ethnic identity is uncertain.
Nairi has sometimes been equated with Nihriya, known from Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Urartean sources. However, its co-occurrence with Nihriya within a single text may argue against this.
During the Bronze Age collapse (13th to 12th centuries BC), the Nairi tribes were considered a force strong enough to contend with both Assyria and Hatti. The Battle of Nihriya, the culminating point of the hostilities between Hittites and Assyrians for control over the remnants of the former empire of Mitanni, took place there, circa 1230. Nairi was incorporated into Urartu during the 10th century BC.
Utnapishtim (Ut – Na – Pisht – Im)
Utnapishtim, or Utanapishtim, is a character in the epic of Gilgamesh who is tasked by Enki (Ea) to abandon his worldly possessions and create a giant ship to be called The Preserver of Life. He was also tasked with bringing his wife, family, and relatives along with the craftsmen of his village, baby animals and grains. The oncoming flood would wipe out all animals and humans that were not on the ship, similar to that of the Noah’s Ark story.
After twelve days on the water, Utnapishtim opened the hatch of his ship to look around and saw the slopes of Mount Nisir, where he rested his ship for seven days. On the seventh day, he sent a dove out to see if the water had receded, and the dove could find nothing but water, so it returned. Then he sent out a swallow, and just as before, it returned, having found nothing.
Finally, Utnapishtim sent out a raven, and the raven saw that the waters had receded, so it circled around, but did not return. Utnapishtim then set all the animals free, and made a sacrifice to the gods. The gods came, and because he had preserved the seed of man while remaining loyal and trusting of his gods, Utnapishtim and his wife were given immortality, as well as a place among the heavenly gods.
In the Epic, overcome with the death of his friend Enkidu, the hero Gilgamesh sets out on a series of journeys to search for his ancestor Utanapishtim (Xisouthros) who lives at the mouth of the rivers and has been given eternal life. Utnapishtim counsels Gilgamesh to abandon his search for immortality but tells him about a plant that can make him young again. Gilgamesh obtains the plant from the bottom of a river but a snake steals it, and Gilgamesh returns home to the city of Uruk having abandoned hope of either immortality or renewed youth.
Some biblical scholars have compared the Mesopotamian myth of Gilgamesh to that of Nimrod, the King of Babel in the Old Testament, and that Utnapishtim was the Babylonian name for Noah. In similar fashion to the Old Testament, Gilgamesh seeks the secret to immortality from Utnapishtim just as Nimrod sought Kabbalic enlightenment from Abraham so that he could continue expanding his powers over the world.
Gilgamesh is also cited as being hostile to the gods for sending down the flood; Nimrod too declared opposition to God in the Old Testament in an oath of revenge over the ravages of the Great Flood. The story ends with Utnapishtim deceiving Gilgamesh into a fools journey for a relic promising immortality; Abraham is cited in the Talmud for defeating Nimrod using Kabbalic talents.
Anunnaki (Anu-Na-Ki)
The Anunnaki (also transcribed as: Anunaki, Anunna, Anunnaku, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (i.e. Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian). The name is variously written “a-nuna”, “a-nuna-ke-ne”, or “a-nun-na”, meaning something to the effect of “Those who from the heavens came to earth” or “princely offspring”.
According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, the Anunnaki “are the Sumerian deities of the old primordial line; they are chthonic deities of fertility, associated eventually with the underworld, where they became judges. They take their name from the old sky god An (Anu) – Anu-Na-Ki.
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