Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) Creationism

[Research3]

All research and analysis by me, with some references. Basically i will be writing a dissertation or something similar next year for my degree, this is just some notes and analysis (verse by verse) of Genesis chapter 1 i have done in my spare time.

Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) Creationism​

Genesis 1: 1 –

‘‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’’ – NIV​

‘‘In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth’’ - YLT​

The ‘‘earth’’ referred to translates in Hebrew as land (or a country) from erets. James Strong defined it as ‘‘common, country, earth, field, ground, land, nations, way’’ (#776) Most of these meanings only relate to local, not world-wide geography.

The ‘‘earth’’ of Genesis 1 then only relates to a Mesopotamian territorial setting and scholars and archaeologists since the early 20th century have identified this i.e Leonard Woolley - in light of the ANE context.

- It also should be pointed out that the Hebrew word often translated as 'created' in fact means prepared (YLT), not a completed creation act instead God was in the process of doing something.

God therefore did not create the 'Heavens and the Earth', he simply was 'preparing' them. In light of the ANE context there are numerous suggestions of what this activity involved.

In my opinion God was creating the first kingship in Mesopotamia.

What were the original 'Heavens' (Gen. 1: 1) ???

Sumerian mythology describes an original paradise or ‘‘Heaven’’ called Dilmun which is described as ‘‘bright’’ and ‘‘holy’’. (ANET, 37-41) Dilmun was an Island which lay in the Persian Gulf. Based on discovered ancient literature (such as Sumerian and Babylonian tablet sources) archaeologists also know the Island was real and not purely mythical.

Henry Rawlinson in 1880 first identified Dilmun with Bahrain Island (in the Persian Gulf) but the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl in his book The Tigris expedition (1981, p. 96) noted:


‘‘…Failaka was a competitor with Bahrain among students of Sumerian traditions about the legendary Dilmun’’.


The small Island Failaka also sits in the Persian Gulf, but is far closer to Eridu, just off the coast of Kuwait. It is an enclosed area where fresh water from the nearby Shatt al-Arab river in Iraq mixes with the saltwater.

The ancient legends and myths concerning Dilmun also relate to fresh/salt water: ‘‘The Sumerians believed that it was the god Enki, the ruler and
guardian of the ab-zu, or fresh-water sea, reputed by them to lie
beneath the salt sea, who supplied Dilmun with sweet water.’’

Ancient inscriptions unearthed from Failaka also refer to the Island as Dilmun (or Tilmun). Now note Genesis 1: 2 -

‘‘Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’’

The earth, country or land (Mesopotamian territory) was tohu ‘‘formless’’ but other plausible translations are desolation. Hence Gap-creationists have pointed out some kind of cataclysmic activity to the area which made it devoid of inhabitants. The context is clearly in relation to the people of the area. The earth or land was then desolated (devoid of inhabitants) and ‘‘empty’’ or a ‘void’’ (ESV, KJV) from the Hebrew bohu. This is a clear description of simply when Mesopotamia became more populated in ancient times.

The next sentence states ‘‘darkness was over the surface of the deep’’, the ‘‘deep’’ (tehom) was the Persian Gulf. Note again Sayce’s words:


Writing in 1907, Rev. Archibald Sayce, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, noted on Eridu:



‘‘Here the first man Adam was supposed to have lived, and to have spent his time fishing in the waters of the Gulf. The whole earth was believed to have grown out of a primeval deep

like the mudflats which the inhabitants of Eridu saw slowly emerging from the retreating sea.''

Eridu = Eden. The ''deep'' (tehom) = Persian Gulf. The ''Heavens'' = Dilmun, which the Sumerian King List states where kingship originated.​

The Legend of Adapa involves Adam (Adapa/Adamu) as fishing in the most nearby waters or sea from Eridu i.e. the Persian Gulf (as Sayce identified), lines from an ancient tablet state:​

‘‘Then Adapa (Adamu) of Eridu…embarked upon the ship’’​

​

Eridu in Sumerian, Babylonian and Akkadian mythology was the home of the God Enki, and his temple at Eridu was called E-Abzu after the deep or sea (Persian Gulf). While Tiamat was the deity of the salt water, Abzu was the God of the fresh-water. Both of these ‘‘waters’’ are found referenced in Genesis 1: 6 which reads:

‘‘And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” – ESV


This verse mentions two ‘‘waters’’ which are also found described in the Enuma Elish:​

‘‘And chaos, Tiamut, the mother of them both
Their waters were mingled together’'​

What were these waters? Archaeologist Dr. Harriet Crawford has noted that the description in the Enuma Elish (and other ANE literature) of ‘‘mixing of the waters’’ is a natural feature of the Persian Gulf, where fresh water from adjacent aquifer mix with salt water. Genesis 1: 6 however states that both waters were separated by an expanse or firmament (KJV). The word ‘‘firmament’’ or ‘‘expanse’’ is a common translation of the Hebrew raqiya. Though another translation uses ‘‘solid arch’’ (Bible Basic English). The word raqiya itself translates as ‘‘an extended surface’’ from raqa ‘‘to beat, stamp, spread out’’. ​

Many believe the firmament or expanse of this passage refers to the atmosphere, space or sky, but from very early sources raqiya actuallyappears as a word relating to the earth, or land. ​

From the Dead Sea Scrolls, a Scroll of Hymn (1QH 3: 31, Psalm 6) describes: ‘‘…the foundations of clay it consumes and the dry land surface (raqia).’’So raqiya can mean (dry) land or earth. This also appears to be implied in the Septuagint, since the original Greek translation of raqiya became stereoma (στερέωμα) meaning ‘‘solidness’’ i.e. the hard ground or earth.* Genesis 1: 6 then seems to be referencing a dry land (Island) within the ‘‘midst of the waters’’ (Persian Gulf).​

*In the writings of Aristotle, στερέωμα is found only applied to solids and the pseudepigraphic text Testament of Abraham relatesστερέωμα to the solidness of the earth, not the sky.​

Therefore:​

*The midst of the waters that seperates the waters from the waters was an Island in the Persian Gulf.

*These 'two waters' were salt water and fresh water.

* The Island was Dilmun of Sumerian mythology - the Heaven(s) of Genesis 1: 1 where kingship first came from (see Sumerian King List).

*The waters (fresh/salt) were separated by the Island Failaka (and still are) in the Persian Gulf (tehom/deep).

*The reference to one of the ‘‘waters’’ being under the other is easily explainable, as the fresh-water from the Shatt al-Arab river, runs into and under the Persian Gulf.

More research to follow.​

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[Greg1234]

The "earth" also signifies the material universe. In Homer's "Odyssey" he uses a cave to signify the planetary earth within the greater expanse of the earth. In Norse texts you also find the creation of "Midgard" a fortress in the earth, where Midgard references our world. The use of earth in texts varies similar to way earth is conventionally used to indicate one of the basic elements, the planet, people, etc. The creation of the heavens and the earth does not signify the planetary sphere as yet nor does it indicate that only one planet (earth) was formed.