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Dilmun

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Dilmun
Location of foreign lands for the Mesopotamians, including Elam, Magan, Dilmun, Marhashi and Meluhha.
LocationEastern Arabia
RegionNorthern Governorate
TypeAncient
Part ofEastern Arabia
History
Foundedc. late 4th millennium BC[1]
Abandonedc. 538 BC[2]
PeriodsBronze Age

Dilmun, or Telmun,[3] (Sumerian: ,[4][5] later 𒉌𒌇(𒆠), NI.TUKki = dilmunki; Arabic: دلمون) was an ancient East Semitic-speaking civilization in Eastern Arabia mentioned from the 3rd millennium BC onwards.[6][7] Based on contextual evidence, it was located in the Persian Gulf, on a trade route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilisation, close to the sea and to artesian springs.[1][8] Dilmun encompassed Bahrain,[9] Kuwait,[10][11][12] and eastern Saudi Arabia.[13]

The great commercial and trading connections between Mesopotamia and Dilmun were strong and profound to the point where Dilmun was a central figure to the Sumerian creation myth.[14] Dilmun was described in the saga of Enki and Ninhursag as pre-existing in paradisiacal state, where predators do not kill, pain and diseases are absent, and people do not get old.[14]

Dilmun was an important trading centre. At the height of its power, it controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes.[1] According to some modern theories, the Sumerians regarded Dilmun as a sacred place,[15] but that is never stated in any known ancient text. Dilmun was mentioned by the Mesopotamians as a trade partner, a source of copper, and a trade entrepôt.

The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story.[16][17][18]

History

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Dilmun on the relief of Ur-Nanshe
Votive relief of Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash: one of the inscriptions reads, “boats from the (distant) land of Dilmun carried the wood (for him)”,[19] which is the oldest known written record of Dilmun and importation of goods into Mesopotamia.[20][21]
"Boats from the land of Dilmun carried the wood"
𒈣𒆳𒋫𒄘𒄑𒈬-𒅅
ma2 dilmun kur-ta gu2 gesz mu-gal2
on the relief of Ur-Nanshe.[19][4][5] Limestone, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh (ancient city of Girsu).
Receipt for garments sent by boat to Dilmun in the 1st year of Ibbi-Sin's rule, circa 2028 BCE. British Museum BM 130462.[22][23]

Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium to 800 BC.[1] At the height of its power, Dilmun controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes.[1] Dilmun was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium BC.[24] Dilmun was conquered by the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1050 BC), and its commercial power began to decline between 1000 BC and 800 BC because piracy flourished in the Arabian Gulf. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC) conquered Dilmun, and in the 6th century BC the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and later the Achaemenid Empire, ruled Dilmun.

The Dilmun civilization was the centre of commercial activities linking traditional agriculture of the land—then utterly fertile due to artesian wells that have dried since, and due to a much wetter climate—with maritime trade between diverse regions such as the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia in its early stage and later between China and the Mediterranean.[7] The Dilmun civilization is mentioned first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the late third millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official; in addition there are lists of rations of wool issued to people connected with Dilmun.[25]

One of the earliest inscriptions mentioning Dilmun is that of king Ur-Nanshe of Lagash (c. 2300 BC) found in a door-socket: "The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as tribute from foreign lands."[26]

Kingdom of Dilmun

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Bull's head, made of copper in the early period of Dilmun (ca. 2000 BC), discovered by Danish archeologists under Barbar Temple, Bahrain.

From about 2050 BC onward, Dilmun seems to have had its heyday. Qal'at al-Bahrain was most likely the capital of Dilmun. From texts found at Isin, it becomes clear that Dilmun became an independent kingdom, free from Mesopotamian rule; royal gifts to Dilmun are mentioned. Contacts with the Amorite state of Mari, in the northern Levant, are attested. At about this time, the largest royal burial mounds were erected.[27] From about 1780 BC came several Akkadian-language inscriptions on stone vessels naming two kings of Dilmun, King Yagli-El (and Amoritic name) and his father, Rimum. The inscriptions were found in huge tumuli, evidently the burial places of these kings. Rimum was already known to archaeology from the Durand Stone, discovered in 1879.[28]

From about 1720 BC, a decline is visible. Many settlements were no longer used, and the building of royal mounds ceased. The Barbar Temple fell into ruins.[29] From about 1650 BC, a ‘recovering’ period is detectable. New royal burial mounds were built; at Qal'at al-Bahrain, there is evidence for increased building activity.[27] To this period belongs a further inscription, on a seal, found at Failaka and preserving a king's name. The short text reads, [La]'ù-la Panipa, daughter of Sumu-lěl, the servant of Inzak of Akarum. Sumu-lěl was evidently a third king of Dilmun from around this period. Servant of Inzak of Akarum was the king's title in Dilmun. The names of these later rulers are Amoritic.[30]

Dilmun under foreign rule

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Correspondence between Ilī-ippašra, the governor of Dilmun, and Enlil-kidinni, the governor of Nippur, ca. 1350 BC

It seems that, at least from 1500 BC, Dilmun was under the rule of the Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamian Sealand Dynasty. The Sealand-Dynasty King Ea-gamil is mentioned in a text found at Qal'at al-Bahrain. Ea-gamil was the last ruler of the Sealand Dynasty. After his reign, Dilmun came under the rule of the Babylonian Kassite dynasty, as they also took over the Sealand Dynasty area.[31] Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II (c. 1370 BC), recovered from Nippur during the Kassite dynasty of Babylon. These letters were from a provincial official named Ilī-ippašra, in Dilmun, to his friend, Enlil-kidinni, the governor of Nippur. The names referred to are Akkadian. These letters, and other documents, hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon at that time. Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty, in 1595 BC, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun until Assyrian inscriptions (dated from 1250 BC to 1050 BC) proclaimed Assyrian kings to be rulers of Dilmun and Meluhha, as well as Lower Sea and Upper Sea. Assyrian inscriptions recorded tribute from Dilmun.

There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first millennium BC, indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun.[2] One of the early sites discovered in Bahrain suggests that Sennacherib, King of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked northeast Arabia and captured the Bahraini islands.[32] The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the Neo-Babylonian Empire; Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by the King of Babylon. The name of Dilmun fell from use after the collapse of Babylon, in 538 BC, with the area henceforth identified as Tylos during the Hellenistic period.[2]

The "Arabian Gulf" types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun—that appear at Lothal, Gujarat, India, and Failaka (as well as in Mesopotamia)—are convincing corroboration of the long-distance sea trade. What the commerce consisted of is less known; timber and precious woods, ivory, lapis lazuli, gold, and luxury goods (such as carnelian and glazed stone beads), pearls from the Arabian Gulf, shell and bone inlays were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia, in-exchange for silver, tin, woolen textiles, olive oil and grains.

Copper ingots from Oman and bitumen (which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia) may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic fowl, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were¡ in fact, identical to those used by the Indus, and were not those used in Southern Mesopotamia.

In regards to copper mining and smelting, the Umm al-Nar culture and Dalma (United Arab Emirates) and Ibri (Oman) were particularly important.[33]

Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports but, by the Isin-Larsa Period, Dilmun monopolized the trade. The Bahrain National Museum assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted ca. 2200–1600 BC. Discoveries of ruins under the Arabian Gulf may be of Dilmun.[34]

People, language and religion

[edit]

The population used cuneiform to write in the Akkadian language,[35] and, like the Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Eblaites of Mesopotamia, is thought to have spoken an East Semitic language that was either an Akkadian dialect or one close to it, rather than a Central Semitic language, and most of its known rulers had East Semitic names.[36][37] Dilmun's main deity was named Inzak and his spouse was Panipa.[38] However, there is no indication of population replacement having happened in the region.[39]

Mythology

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Dilmun stamp seal with hunters and goats, rectangular pen, ca early 2nd millennium BC

In the early epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, the main events, which center on Enmerkar's construction of the ziggurats in Uruk and Eridu, are described as taking place at a time "before Dilmun had yet been settled".

Dilmun, sometimes described as "the place where the sun rises" and "the Land of the Living", is the scene of some versions of the Eridu Genesis, and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Utnapishtim (Ziusudra), was taken by the gods to live forever. Thorkild Jacobsen's translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it "Mount Dilmun" which he locates as a "faraway, half-mythical place".[40]

Dilmun is also described in the epic story of Enki and Ninhursag as the site at which the Creation occurred.[17][41] The later Babylonian Enuma Elish, speaks of the creation site as the place where the mixture of salt water, personified as Tiamat met and mingled with the fresh water of Abzu. Bahrain in Arabic means "the twin waters", where the fresh water of the Arabian aquifer mingles with the salt waters of the Persian Gulf. The promise of Enki to Ninhursag, the Earth Mother:

For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench the thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives.

Ninlil, the Sumerian goddess of air and south wind had her home in Dilmun.[citation needed]

However, it is also speculated that Gilgamesh had to pass through Mount Mashu to reach Dilmun in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is usually identified with the whole of the parallel Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel.[42]

Location of Dilmun

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Ruins of a settlement, believed to be from the Dilmun civilization, in Sar, Bahrain
Location of burial mounds in Bahrain

In 1987, Theresa Howard-Carter proposed that Dilmun of this era might be a still unidentified tell near the Arvand Rud (Shatt al-Arab in Arabic) between modern-day Quanah and Basra in modern-day Iraq.[43] In favor of Howard-Carter's proposal, it has been noted that this area does lie to the east of Sumer ("where the sun rises"), and the riverbank where Dilmun's maidens would have been accosted aligns with the Shat al-Arab which is in the midst of marshes. The "mouth of the rivers" where Dilmun was said to lie is for her the union of the Tigris and Euphrates at Qurnah. A number of scholars have suggested that Dilmun originally designated the eastern province of modern Saudi Arabia, notably linked with the major Dilmunite settlements of Umm an-Nussi and Umm ar-Ramadh in the interior and Tarout on the coast.[44]

As of 2022, archaeologists have failed to find a site in existence during the time from 3300 BC (Uruk IV) to 556 BC (Neo-Babylonian Era), when Dilmun appears in texts. According to Hojlund, no settlements exist in the Gulf littoral dating to 3300–2000 BC.

Garden of Eden theory

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In 1922, Eduard Glaser proposed that the Garden of Eden was located in Eastern Arabia within the Dilmun civilization.[45] Scholar Juris Zarins also believes that the Garden of Eden was situated in Dilmun at the head of the Persian Gulf (present-day Kuwait), where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run into the sea, from his research on this area using information from many different sources, including Landsat images from space. In this theory, the Bible's Gihon would correspond with the Karun in Iran, and the Pishon River would correspond to the Wadi al-Batin river system that once drained the now dry, but once quite fertile central part of the Arabian Peninsula.[46]

Known rulers

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Only a few rulers of the Dilmun kingdom are known:[47]

  1. Ziusudra (27th century BC)
  2. Rimun (c. 1780 BC)
  3. Yagli-El, son of Rimun
  4. Sumu-lěl (c. 1650 BC)
  5. Usiananuri, grandfather of Uballissu-Marduk (precise dates unknown)
  6. Ilī-ippašra (contemporary with Burnaburiash II and Kurigalzu II)
  7. Operi (c. 710 BC)
  8. Hundaru I (c. 650 BC)
  9. Qena (c. 680–c. 670 BC)
  10. Hundaru II (706–685 BC)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Jesper Eidema, Flemming Højlund (1993). "Trade or diplomacy? Assyria and Dilmun in the eighteenth century BC". World Archaeology. 24 (3): 441–448. doi:10.1080/00438243.1993.9980218.
  2. ^ a b c Larson, Curtis E. (1983). Life and land use on the Bahrain Islands: The geoarcheology of an ancient society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0-226-46905-8.
  3. ^ The former is the reconstructed Sumerian pronunciation; the latter is the reconstructed Semitic.
  4. ^ a b Transliteration: "CDLI-Found Texts". cdli.ucla.edu.
  5. ^ a b Similar text: "CDLI-Found Texts". cdli.ucla.edu.
  6. ^ Smith, Sylvia (2013-05-21). "Bahrain digs unveil one of oldest civilizations". BBC News. BBC.
  7. ^ a b "Qal'at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  8. ^ Harriet E. W. Crawford (1998). "Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbors". p. 9.
  9. ^ "The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer". Jean-Jacques Glassner. 1990. p. 7.
  10. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Kuwait's archaeological sites reflect human history & civilizations (2:50 – 3:02)". Ministry of Interior News. 2 November 2013.
  11. ^ Calvet, Yves (1989). "Failaka and the Northern Part of Dilmun". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 19: 5–11. JSTOR 41223078.
  12. ^ "The Archaeology of Kuwait" (PDF). Cardiff University. pp. 5–427.
  13. ^ "Prehistory and Protohistory of the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain". M. A. Nayeem. 1990. p. 32.
  14. ^ a b The Arab world: an illustrated history p.4
  15. ^ Rice, Michael (2004). Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000–2000 BC. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-49263-3., page 230
  16. ^ Edward Conklin. Getting Back Into the Garden of Eden. p. 10.
  17. ^ a b Kramer, Samuel Noah (1961). Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 54–59. ISBN 978-0-8122-1047-7. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  18. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah (1963). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. pp. 145–150. ISBN 978-0-226-45238-8. In fact, there is some reason to believe that the very idea of a paradise, a garden of the gods, originated with the Sumerians.
  19. ^ a b Louvre Pouysségur, Patrick , ed. "Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe." Louvre Museum. Louvre Museum. Web. 13 Mar 2013.
  20. ^ CDLI Wiki University of Oxford, 14 Jan 2010. Web. 13 Mar 2013.
  21. ^ Finegan, Jack (2019). Archaeological History Of The Ancient Middle East. Routledge. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-429-72638-5.
  22. ^ "tablet". British Museum.
  23. ^ Transcription: "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu.
  24. ^ "Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours". Harriet E. W. Crawford. 1998. p. 152.
  25. ^ Crawford, Harriet E. W. (1998). Dilmun and its Gulf neighbours. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-521-58348-0.
  26. ^ Samuel Noah Kramer (1963). The Sumerians: their history, culture, and character. p. 308.
  27. ^ a b Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain, Aarhus, ISBN 978-87-93423-16-9, pp. 381
  28. ^ Steffen Terp Laursen: Kings of Dilmun identified by name; [1] Kings of Dilmun identified by name and announced in a press conference held by BACA
  29. ^ Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain, Aarhus, ISBN 978-87-93423-16-9, pp. 388–390
  30. ^ Gianni Marchesiː Inscriptions from the Royal Mounds of A'alo (Bahrain) and related Texts, inː Steffen Terp Laursenː The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain, Aarhus 2017, ISBN 978-87-93423-16-9, pp. 428–430
  31. ^ Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain, Aarhus, ISBN 978-87-93423-16-9, pp. 390
  32. ^ Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz (1999). Security and Territoriality in the Arabian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. ISBN 978-0-7007-1098-0.
  33. ^ "Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000–2000 BC". Michael Rice. 1991. p. 229.
  34. ^ Page, Lewis. "Lost ancient civilisation's ruins lie beneath Gulf, says boffin". www.theregister.com.
  35. ^ William H. Stiebing Jr (2016). Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture. Routledge. p. 217. ISBN 9781315511153.
  36. ^ Jean Jacques Glassner (2013-10-28). "Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha". In Julian Reade (ed.). The Indian Ocean In Antiquity. Routledge. p. 242. ISBN 9781136155314.
  37. ^ Serge Cleuziou (1996). "The emergence of oasis towns in eastern and southern Arabia". In G. Afanas'ev; S. Cleuziou; R. Lukacs; M. Tosi (eds.). The prehistory of Asia and Oceania, Forlí: Colloquia of the XIII International congress of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences. Vol. 16. ABACO Edizioni, Forlì. p. 157. ISBN 978-88-86-71206-4.
  38. ^ Jean Jacques Glassner (2013-10-28). "Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha". In Julian Reade (ed.). The Indian Ocean In Antiquity. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 9781136155314.
  39. ^ "KAPA Stranded mRNA-Seq Kit（KK8420）: de novo RNA-seq (stranded mRNA-Seq) from total RNA derived from invertebrates（stranded mRNA-Seq）". Bio-Protocol. 9 (17). 2019. doi:10.21769/bioprotoc.1010557. ISSN 2331-8325. S2CID 239256795.
  40. ^ Thorkild Jacobsen (23 September 1997). The Harps that once: Sumerian poetry in translation. Yale University Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-300-07278-5. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  41. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah (1963). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. pp. 145–150. ISBN 978-0-226-45238-8.
  42. ^ P. T. H. Unwin; Tim Unwin (18 June 1996). Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade. Psychology Press. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-0-415-14416-2. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  43. ^ Howard-Carter, Theresa (1987). "Dilmun: At Sea or Not at Sea? A Review Article". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 39 (1): 54–117. doi:10.2307/1359986. JSTOR 1359986. S2CID 163963264.
  44. ^ Roads of Arabia p.180
  45. ^ W. F. Albright (October 1922). "The Location of the Garden of Eden". The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures. 39 (1): 15–31. doi:10.1086/369964. JSTOR 528684. S2CID 170465632.
  46. ^ Hamblin, Dora Jane (May 1987). "Has the Garden of Eden been located at last?" (PDF). Smithsonian Magazine. 18 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  47. ^ Legrain, 1922; Cameron, 1936; The Cambridge History of Iran; Hinz, 1972; The Cambridge Ancient History; Majidzadeh, 1991; Majidzadeh, 1997.
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O LIVRO DE URANTIA

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Documento 77:3

Template:3. A Torre de Babel

77:3.1 (858.2)Depois da submersão da Dalamátia, os noditas trasladaram-se para o norte e para o leste, e logo fundaram a nova cidade de Dilmum, como o seu centro racial e cultural. E cerca de cinqüenta mil anos depois da morte de Nod, quando a progênie do corpo de assessores do Príncipe se havia tornado numerosa demais para subsistir nas terras imediatamente vizinhas da sua nova cidade de Dilmum e, depois de se haverem estendido além de seus limites para realizar matrimônios com as tribos andonitas e sangiques vizinhas das suas fronteiras, ocorreu aos seus líderes que algo deveria ser feito para preservar a sua unidade racial. Conseqüentemente, um conselho das tribos foi convocado e, depois de muito deliberar, adotou-se o plano de Bablot, um descendente de Nod.

77:3.2 (858.3)Bablot propôs edificar um templo pretensioso de glorificação racial no centro do território então ocupado por eles. Esse templo devia ter uma torre nunca vista em todo o mundo. Devia ser um memorial monumental da sua grandiosidade momentânea. Havia muitos que queriam esse monumento erigido em Dilmum, mas outros argumentavam que uma estrutura tão grande deveria ser colocada a uma distância segura dos perigos do mar, lembrando-se das tradições da submersão da sua primeira capital, Dalamátia.

77:3.3 (858.4)Bablot planejou os novos edifícios como sendo o núcleo do futuro centro da cultura e civilização noditas. O seu conselho finalmente prevaleceu e a construção teve início de acordo com os seus planos. A nova cidade chamar-se-ia Bablot, em honra ao arquiteto e construtor da torre. Esse local posteriormente ficaria conhecido como Bablod e finalmente como Babel.

77:3.4 (858.5)Mas, de algum modo, os noditas estavam ainda divididos quanto aos sentimentos em relação aos planos e propósitos desse empreendimento. Os seus líderes não estavam todos de acordo a respeito dos planos de construção, nem sobre a finalidade das edificações depois de prontas. Após quatro anos e meio de trabalho, adveio uma grande disputa a respeito do objetivo e do motivo pelos quais se construía a torre. As contendas tornaram-se tão amargas que todo o trabalho parou. Os carregadores de comida espalharam as novas sobre as discussões e um grande número de tribos começou a amontoar-se no local da construção. Três pontos de vista diferentes foram propostos sobre o propósito da construção da torre:

77:3.5 (858.6)1. O grupo maior, de quase a metade, desejava ver a torre construída como um memorial da história nodita e da sua superioridade racial. Eles achavam que devia ser uma estrutura grande e imponente, que devia suscitar a admiração de todas as futuras gerações.

77:3.6 (858.7)2. A segunda maior facção queria que a torre fosse destinada a comemorar a cultura Dilmum. Eles previam que Bablot viesse a ser um grande centro de comércio, de arte e de manufatura.

77:3.7 (859.1)3. O contingente menor e minoritário sustentava que a edificação da torre representava uma oportunidade de redimir o desatino dos seus progenitores, por haverem participado da rebelião de Caligástia. Eles sustentavam que a torre deveria ser dedicada à adoração do Pai de todos, e que todo o propósito da nova cidade deveria ser o de substituir a Dalamátia — de funcionar como o centro cultural e religioso para os povos bárbaros vizinhos.

77:3.8 (859.2)O grupo religioso foi logo derrotado na votação. A maioria rejeitou a doutrina de que os seus antepassados haviam sido culpados de rebeldia; esse estigma racial ofendia-os. Havendo eliminado um dos três ângulos da disputa e não havendo conseguido decidir-se entre os outros dois, por debate, eles entraram em luta. Os religiosos, não combatentes, fugiram para as suas casas no sul, ao passo que os seus companheiros lutaram até quase se aniquilar.

77:3.9 (859.3)Há cerca de doze mil anos, foi feita uma segunda tentativa de erigir a torre de Babel. As raças miscigenadas dos anditas (os noditas e os adamitas) propuseram-se levantar um novo templo sobre as ruínas da primeira estrutura, mas não houve respaldo suficiente para o empreendimento; ele veio abaixo com o peso da própria pretensão. Durante muito tempo, essa região ficou conhecida como a terra de Babel.

Documento 77:4


4. Os Centros da Civilização Nodita 77:4.1 (859.4)A dispersão dos noditas foi um resultado imediato dos conflitos internos a respeito da torre de Babel. Essa guerra interna reduziu, em grande parte, o número dos noditas mais puros e, sob muitos aspectos, tornou-se responsável pelo fracasso que tiveram em estabelecer uma grande civilização pré-Adâmica. Dessa época em diante, a cultura nodita caiu em declínio, por mais de cento e vinte mil anos, até que foi elevada pela infusão Adâmica. Todavia, mesmo nos tempos de Adão, os noditas eram ainda um povo muito capaz. Grande parte dos seus descendentes de sangue misto estava entre os construtores do Jardim, e vários capitães do grupo de Van eram noditas. Algumas das mentes mais capazes a serviço da assessoria de Adão eram dessa raça.

77:4.2 (859.5)Três dos quatro grandes centros noditas foram estabelecidos imediatamente depois do conflito de Bablot:

77:4.3 (859.6)1. Os noditas ocidentais, ou sírios. Os remanescentes do grupo nacionalista, ou os memorialistas raciais, dirigiram-se para o norte, unindo-se aos andonitas para fundar os centros ulteriores noditas, a noroeste da Mesopotâmia. Esse foi o maior grupo de noditas em dispersão, que contribuiu muito para a aparição posterior da linhagem assíria.

77:4.4 (859.7)2. Os noditas orientais, ou elamitas. Os partidários da cultura e do comércio migraram em grandes números para o leste até Elam e ali se uniram com as tribos sangiques miscigenadas. Os elamitas de trinta ou quarenta mil anos atrás, em grande parte, haviam adquirido a natureza sangique, se bem que houvessem continuado a manter uma civilização superior à dos bárbaros das vizinhanças.

77:4.5 (859.8)Depois do estabelecimento do segundo jardim, era costumeiro aludir-se a essa colônia nodita vizinha como “a terra de Nod”; e, durante o longo período de paz relativa entre esse grupo nodita e os adamitas, as duas raças ficaram altamente fundidas, pois mais e mais passou a ser um costume dos Filhos de Deus (os adamitas) casar-se com as filhas dos homens (as noditas).

77:4.6 (860.1)3. Os noditas centrais, ou pré-sumérios. Um grupo pequeno, na embocadura dos rios Tigre e Eufrates, conservou, mais que outros, a sua integridade racial. Eles subsistiram por milhares de anos, e afinal deram origem à descendência nodita que, misturada aos adamitas, fundou os povos sumérios dos tempos históricos.

77:4.7 (860.2)E tudo isso explica como os sumérios apareceram tão súbita e misteriosamente no cenário da Mesopotâmia. Os pesquisadores nunca serão capazes de determinar a origem dessas tribos remontando ao princípio dos sumérios, que tiveram a sua origem duzentos mil anos antes da submersão da Dalamátia. Sem nenhum vestígio da sua origem em outro lugar no mundo, essas tribos antigas subitamente se apresentam no horizonte da civilização com uma cultura plenamente desenvolvida e superior, abrangendo templos, trabalhos em metal, agricultura, animais, cerâmica, tecelagem, leis comerciais, códigos civis, cerimonial religioso, e um sistema de escrita antigo. No começo da era histórica, já tinham, havia muito, perdido o alfabeto da Dalamátia, tendo adotado o sistema peculiar da escrita originada em Dilmum. A língua suméria, ainda que virtualmente perdida para o mundo, não era semítica; tinha muito em comum com as chamadas línguas arianas.

77:4.8 (860.3)Os registros, bem elaborados, deixados pelos sumérios descrevem o local de uma notável colônia que se situava no golfo Pérsico, próximo da antiga cidade de Dilmum. Os egípcios chamavam de Dimat essa cidade de glória antiga, enquanto, mais tarde, os sumérios adamizados confundiram a primeira e a segunda cidade nodita com a Dalamátia e chamaram todas três de Dilmum. E os arqueólogos já encontraram as antigas placas de argila suméria que falam desse paraíso terreno “onde os Deuses pela primeira vez abençoaram a humanidade, com o exemplo de uma vida civilizada e cultural”. E essas placas, descritivas de Dilmum, o paraíso de homens e de Deus, estão agora silenciosamente guardadas nas prateleiras empoeiradas de muitos museus.

77:4.9 (860.4)Os sumérios bem sabiam do primeiro e do segundo Éden, mas, a despeito de casamentos extensivos entre eles e os adamitas, continuaram a considerar os residentes do norte do jardim como sendo uma raça estrangeira. O orgulho dos sumérios, por serem da cultura andita mais antiga, levou-os a ignorar essas novas perspectivas de glória, em favor da grandeza e da tradição paradisíaca da cidade de Dilmum.

77:4.10 (860.5)4. Os noditas do norte e os amadonitas — os vanitas. Esse grupo surgiu antes do conflito de Bablot. Esses noditas mais setentrionais eram descendentes daqueles que haviam abandonado a liderança de Nod, e dos seus sucessores, para ligar-se a Van e a Amadon.

77:4.11 (860.6)Alguns dos primeiros colaboradores de Van estabeleceram-se, posteriormente, em locais próximos das margens do lago que ainda leva o seu nome, e as suas tradições cresceram em torno dessa localidade. Ararat tornou-se a sua montanha sagrada, tendo, para os vanitas dos tempos posteriores, um significado análogo ao que o monte Sinai teve para os hebreus. Há dez mil anos os vanitas, ancestrais dos assírios, ensinavam que a sua lei moral, de sete mandamentos, havia sido dada pelos Deuses a Van, no monte Ararat. Eles acreditavam firmemente que Van e o seu companheiro Amadon foram levados vivos, para fora do planeta, enquanto estavam no topo da montanha, absortos na adoração.

77:4.12 (860.7)O monte Ararat era a montanha sagrada da Mesopotâmia do norte e, posto que grande parte das vossas tradições desses tempos antigos foi adquirida por meio da história da enchente da Babilônia, não é nenhuma surpresa que o monte Ararat e a sua região fossem posteriormente imbricados com as histórias mais recentes dos judeus sobre Noé e o dilúvio universal.

77:4.13 (860.8)Por volta de 35 000 a.C., Adamson visitou uma das antigas colônias mais orientais dos antigos vanitas, e ali fundou o seu centro de civilização.

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