Enki

Enki West Asia
The Sumerian water god of Eridu. Along with An the god of heaven, Enlil the air god, and Ninhursaga the earth mother, Enki was a creator deity. Priests often clothed themselves in a garment in the form of a fish, when officiating at rituals of purification, symbolic of the cleansing power of Enki as the god of lustration. The fish may refer to a Babylonian legend about Ea, the god's Akkadian title meaning‘ lord of the house of water,’ which was the sweet water beneath the ground named Abzu by the Sumerians. In remote times, according to this myth, when men lived in a lawless manner like beasts, Ea appeared from the sea. Part man and part fish, the double-headed god instructed men in handicrafts, farming, letters, laws, architecture, and magic. He softened the primitive rudeness and since that time nothing has been added to improve on his teaching. After a day of instruction Ea retired into the sea, whence the divine fish man made only three...

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