Epic of Paradise, Mountain Dilmun / Tilmun, Flood, Fall of Man - Column I
"The rest of the first column is broken away; probably about nine lines are missing. All the first column is descriptive of a place inhabited only by a god and godess. Many activities are absent, because there is no one there to carry them out. Lines 16-21 remind one a little of Isaiah 11:6-i
Source: Prior to 2000 B.C.From: George A. Barton, Archaeology and The Bible, 7th Edition revised, (Philadelphia: American Sunday School, 1937), pgs 337-338
The Land of Tilmun/Dilmun known account of a paradisial garden appears on a cuneiform tablet from ancient Sumer. Here we learn of the mythical place called Dilmun, a pure, clean, bright place where sickness, violence, and old age do not exist. At first this paradise lacks only one thing: water. Eventually this is provided by the Sumerian water god, Enki. At once, Dilmun is transformed into a garden of fruit trees, edible plants, and flowers. Dilmun, however, is a paradise for the gods alone and not for human beings, although one learns that Ziusudra (the Sumerian counterpart of Noah) was exceptionally admitted to the divine garden." (An Encyclopedia of Archetypal Symbolism) "The origin of the Sumerians, a broad-headed people, who were physically and linguistically quite different from the Semites, is one of the great unsolved problems of history. It has been conjectured that they came from the south-east, either by way of southern Persia or by the Persian Gulf. Their early familiarity with ships seems to support the late view, and it is perhaps significant that the scene of one of their myths is laid in Tilmun [Dilmun]. which has been identified with the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf....The tradition of civilization emerging fully developed without the long, painful process of evolution agrees with the sudden urban settlement of southern Mesopotamia by a people from overseas who brought with them the necessary skills and political organization to control in such a region." A millennium later "dominance was won by the Semitic power in the city of Agade, or Akkad, under Sargon, the first really great imperialist in history (2242-2186 BC)." - John Gray, Near Eastern Mythology Til-mun: The Restricted Area From an analysis of The Earth Chronicles: "Many scholars, down through history, have known about a place called Til-mun. Many have speculated, given the evidence found in the ancient writings, as to where this "Place of the Olden Gods, this Restricted (holy) Area, might be. Naturally, many scholars, in the past, considered Til- mun to be a mythical place, just as the Place of the After- Life of the Pharaohs must be mythical. After all, most people thought those ancient writings must be nothing but "fabulous" figments of imagination, for religious or political consumption. But then, there have always been those scholars who thought, "Maybe, just maybe, there's some basis in fact for these fantastic stories." (Is it not odd that the more we learn about our ancient past, the less mythical it becomes? Think of what we might know to be true, if the library at Alexandria hadn't been destroyed -- about all of the ancient civilizations that were considered myth - - mere "stories" to entertain (instruct?) the minds of the peasants of yesteryear!) If one were to trace the route of Alexander, as he began his conquest of the known world, it would be apparent that he was closest to the olden "Restricted Area," at the very beginning of his march! Isn't it ironic, that the thing we desire most in life turns out to be that which is closest to us, both in time and in space! Almost as if we had "missed" something, in our haste to "conquer" our own world. After exploring all of the theories put forth by very intelligent scholars, Sitchin proves (tests) beyond a shadow of a doubt that Til-mun was actually in the Sinai Peninsula -- that little triangle of land that was the bridge between the middle East and the continent of Africa! Even the ancient writings made it plain where Til-mun was. It was right next to Magan: read the old text...
[Magan, of course, is ancient Egypt.] And, after a simple, but convincing, argument, Sitchin goes on to test the truth of his assertions. In the words of Gilgamesh...
"That, indeed was the place whereto Ziusudra [Noah] had been taken":
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Kenneth Sublett