Rebuilding Eden in the Land of Eridu

The site of Eridu had a special place in the Mesopotamian tradition. In Babylonian literature the relevance of Eridu was always more religious than political. For example, in the Sumerian King List the gods first handed kingship down to Eridu. In Babylonian mythology Eridu was founded by the god Enki/Ea, who warned Zuisudra, the Sumerian Noah, about the flood. Moreover, the central core of the site of Eridu, whose name became later interchangeable with Babylon, was Enki/Ea’s temple, called the House of the Aquifer. Our project on the Eridu Hinterland focuses on both the cultural and symbolic functions of the Holy Sanctuary of Enki in the Abu Shahrein landscape through more than eight millennia. See pictures and read the entire article at -- http://asorblog.org/2017/09/12/rebuilding-eden-land-eridu/