VEDICRELIGION INSTITUTE FOR VEDIC RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION

Sumerian Religion –
Agama and Tantric
Tradition 2300 b. C.
Study of the Sumerian Temple and Gods in the
light of Agama and Tantric scriptures

Andreas Leitz
30.05.2019

Study of Sumerian Temple hymns and poems in relation to the metaphysical thoughts in temple and
Gods.
Sumerian Religion – Agama and Tantric
Tradition 2300 b. C.

Introduction

The study of the Sumerian temple hymns gave to us a deep insight into the religion and rituals
practiced by the ancient Sumerians. The Sumerian religion is temple and icon centred, analogue to
what we read in the literature of the ancient Indian Agama and Tantric traditions. We find what is
called „bhakti“ in the tradition of ancient Indian Agama and Tantric scriptures, this is the personal
relation between the devotee and the god. The temple hymns written by the priestess Anna are
dedicated to various temples of deities in the region of the Sumerian and Akkadian territory. These
hymns describe the gods and the temples, which allow us to recognise the Gods, the rituals and the
temples together with their metaphysically thoughts in the light of the Agama and Tantric texts from
ancient India. The texts of the temple hymns in Sumerian language and other Sumerian texts give to
us the key for to identify the language as a form of early Tamil language. Many of the Sumerian texts
can be given in Tamil without many changes. From this we can suggest a close relation between the
Sumerian religion and ancient Indian Agama and Tantric tradition. From this we can study the
religion, the gods and the temples of the ancient Sumerians in the light of the Agama and Tantric
scriptures. This is the subject of this study.

The beginning of icon worship

The beginning of the worship of icons as we know them from the Sumerian and ancient Indian texts,
we find long before the appearance of the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia. We find already
figurines in form of females and animals in the archaeological discoveries from Merhgarh and the
Indus Valley, but we find already figurines of females in the palaeolithic time. The golden figurine of
Siva is the proof for icon worship ~ 26 000 b. C. This figurine is made of pure gold and gives questions
to the beginning of metallurgy, which we will not discuss here.

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Picture 1 Kalpa Vigraha, Lord Siva 26 450 b. C.

The icon worship is related to the fertility of humans, animals and farming products in a society
founded on agriculture. They are found all over the world and not limited to the borders of Sumer
and the Indian Subcontinent. The evidence for this is given in figurines of females as mothers from
very early time, the most famous is the Venus of Willendorf dated 24 000 – 22 000 b. C. The probably
earliest figure of a human, used for icon worship we find in the Makapansgat Pebble, Africa dated
around 3 000 000 years ago, but the use of this obviously human face is still subject of the academic
discussion. Here we need to be careful in conclusions.

Picture 2 the Makapansgat Pebble, Africa ~ 3 000 000 b. C.

But it is clear the icon worship is very ancient and was used long before the Sumerian period, but the
Sumerian cuneiform texts are one of the earliest written sources on icon worship we have today. The
Brahmana literature of ancient India report on the existence of people, who practice icon worship
next to the Vedic Aryans, is evidence for the long tradition of icon worship in the sense of the Agama
and Tantric tradition, even our available texts today are dated to a much later time. Archaeological
findings in the Indus Valley show the existence of specific rooms for worship in private houses. The
existence of temples in the period of the Indus Valley civilization is still frequently discussed. The
seals from Harappa civilization suggest the existence of icon worship, worship of holy trees and
spirits. The identification of Agama and Tantric thoughts in the Sumerian period shows the

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continuously practice over the time handed down generation by generation to the time, when we
find the tradition fixed in texts, which we can read today.

The root of the icon worship we find in the metaphysical thoughts of Mother Earth, which is depicted
in the various female figurines, which shows the Mother Goddess.

From archaeological excavations in the villages of Baluchistan, like Mehrgarh, we know already in the
Neolithic period were cultivation of crops and domestication of animals for food a common habit.
Beside the relicts of the religious thoughts in form of images were found. They are terracotta
figurines, which show human females and bulls as the main artifacts. They give reason to suppose
the early villagers followed a religion, which was centered on the fertility of plants, animals and the
people. The female figurines represent a form of the Mother Goddess Earth, whose name is
unknown to us. The progenitor of plants from seeds sown into her womb and the nurturer of
worshippers, like a mother, gives birth to children and take care of them. The bull figurine is related
to animal husbandry. They represent the powerful male god, whose semen fertilizes his spouse,
Mother Earth.

Picture 3 Figurine of a Mother Goddess, Indus Valley

The bull represents the thundering and pouring heaven, which is conceived in many early and archaic
religions pictured in a roaring bull. We see here clearly the worship of images and icons from a very
early time. It is very much tempting to name this bull already Siva, but we didn`t know the name
used in the very beginning, so we need to be careful with names.

Picture 4 Bull figurine from Indus Valley ~ 2600 b. C.

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We can date this worship already in the time of the Neolithic period. The worship of Goddess Mother
Earth can be seen in all the ancient and early agricultural communities. In all these religious believes
the Goddess of the Earth gave birth to new life, but took also back the life she gave. The dead were
buried in the earth, which was understood as her womb. The production of grain presupposed the
sacrifice and the burial of the grain seeds. From this we can understand birth demanded for death. In
correspondence the living beings, especially the seed lying males, humans and animals, were
sacrificed to the Goddess of Earth. These victims were supposed to be resurrected by the Goddess of
Earth. The worship of the Goddess of Earth developed into mystery cults, where not only the
goddess, but also her devotees took part in the life containing blood and flesh of the victim. We can
be sure for to have here the beginning of the icon cult and we find in the temples of Sumer the
practice of animal, grain and fish sacrifice, which we can understand as a gift for the gods to give
prosperity and welfare to the people, the city and the king.

Picture 5 Goddess In - Anna in Sumerian iconography

A large number of terracotta figurines and a large number of male animals prove the cult of fertility
went on in the much later periods of Early and Mature Harappa. Figurines of male human figures are
much less than female human figurines, but we have at least some in the region of Mehrgarh, where
they wear turbans and sometimes have a child in their arms. In Harappa and Mohenjo – Daro were
figurines discovered in rooms with only one door, which make it possible to identify these rooms as
private shrines of the house. The room for worship of puja of the image worship is common in later
Hindu homes. This is what we can read on in the later Agama and Tantric texts, which can be without
any problem into this early times, even we didn`t have any textual evidence. The Sumerian temple
hymns open to us the existence of Agama and Tantric tradition to the Sumerian Period. We find on
the Indus Valley tablets pictures from stories we know from the Puranic scriptures. We have in the
Sumerian temple hymns the earliest written source for Agama and Tantric worship.

The religion of the Vedic priests is very much different from the worship of these villagers. They
never worshipped their gods in forms of images or icons. They invited the invisible gods to come, sit
on the sacred grass next to the sacrificial fire and consume the food and offer, which was poured into
the fire. This is in remarkable contrast to the people following the Agama and Tantric tradition of
worship. They worshipped the deity in form of icons and images with their rituals. The deity could be

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represented by a statue, statuette, and an icon and also by living beings, either in human or in animal
form. The deity could further be represented by trees or by lifeless objects like a book or a weapon.

The worship of images, which is called puja (nyOm) in Sanskrit, is according to the ancient texts made
of 16 services, but this number is different in the texts and we find from 1 to 108 services. We will
give here the 16 services:

1. Invocation
2. seat
3. water for washing the feet
4. water offered to the honored guests, called arghya (A¿¶© )
5. water for sipping
6. bath
7. garments
8. sacred thread
9. anointing with unguents or sandalwood paste
10. flowers
11. incense
12. lamp
13. food
14. mouth perfume
15. praise hymns and prostration
16. circumbulation and gift or dismissal

We can see the numbers 2 to 5 we find as well in the Vedic ritual for the receiving of an honored
guest. The number 8 belongs to the Brahmanical tradition. Our texts are of a much later time,
therefore we can`t say what was done in the very early time as we deal here with it. We have the
original non-Aryan way of treatment from honored guests, human and divine, with their rituals given
in the Vedic texts. One of them is the offering of sarpa bali (gn©~{b) made without sacrificial fire to
the snakes, another ritual is the ancestor ritual. An essential part is the bathing of the object of
worship, anointing the people`s animals or image`s bodies with unguents, giving garments ad various
adornments. These include toiletry and flower garlands. In temple worship the image is bathed with
various kinds of liquids like milk, perfumed waters and so forth. The worshippers drink a part of the
liquid used for bathing the image. This will charge the divine power to the worshipper. We see
already here what became later known as Bhakti, love to god. The image is taken as a personal
relative to the worshipper. The root puj (nyO) in Sanskrit means to worship and to honour. This word
with its derivates is not found in the Vedic texts before the Grhyasutras, where the object of worship
can be an animal like a bull. Its etymology from the Tamil root pucu (§”) to smear was already
suggested by Hermann Gundert in 1869 and there is no reason for not to agree with him.

The development of the temple centred icon worship we see in the Sumerian temple hymns and the
scriptures of the Agama and Tantric traditions from ancient India. We can identify with a great
certainty the Sumerian gods with gods found in these Agama and Tantric texts. While we find in the
Agama and Tantric tradition of ancient India mainly 3 branches divided into Vaisnava, Saiva and Sakti,
we find in the Sumerian temple hymns and poems like „the exaltation of In – Anna“these branches
combined in one hymn next to each other. Can we conclude from this in Sumerian period the three
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separated branches were just one combination of them and the separation took place later? This is a
question we can`t answer from the less Sumerian texts we have. Here we need to be very carefully
and more research is needed.

The origin of the Sumerians

The origin of the Sumerians is until now an unsolved problem, but in the Sumerian texts we get some
points for to suggest at least from some tribes on the Sumerian city states the origin. One very
important Sumerian sources are the lamentations over the destruction of Ur and the poem
“exaltation of In – Anna” written by the priestess Anna. From the hymns of the Temple of Kes we
know the Gods, where taken as residing in the temple and giving prosperity to the people by their
presence in the temple. The most beautiful building in the city states was the temple, where festivals
and service to the gods, but also the public life was governed by the priests and the king. When the
gods have abandoned their houses, the temple the nation lost their support from the gods, therefore
by their departure the entire nation came to an end and got destruction.
Another very much exciting point is the report we read in this lamentation on the hills, where the
gods reside and which further suggests the Sumerian were in a distant past a tribe in a regions with
hills, where each hill is not only a denoting the tribe and where the hill is the territory of the tribe. On
the top of the hill resides the deity or god of the tribe. The
god residing on the hill is an often picture we meet in ancient India and in ancient Tamil Nadu. The
Hill Kailash in Himalaya and also the hill Venkata in south India are famous examples. If we add to
this, the information we got in the poem „exaltation of In – Anna“ and the Hymns from the temple of
Kes together with what we read in the Vedic text Baudayana Srautrasutra then we can slowly
complete the puzzle of the origin of at least a part of the Sumerian s origin. In the hymns of the
temple of Kes we read that the priestess Anna denotes the inhabitants of Kes as the people from
Aratta. In the Baudayana sraturasutra we read on the migration from the people of Aratta from the
west to the east. In verse in the srautrasutra is as follows: “àZm¶w… àdd«OVñ¶¡Vo Hw$én§Mb…H${e{dXoh B{V&
EVX¶d§ àd«O§& à˶Z‘dgwg&Vg¡Vo JÝYd©a¶g ng©dmo @aÎm B{V& EVX‘mdgd‘“. We translate it: “Ayu migrated
eastward. His people are the Kurupancala and the Kasi Videha. This is the Ayaya migration. Amavasu
migrated westwards; his people are the Gandhari, Parsu and the Aratta. We read here on an
historical event; Ayu and Amavasu were indigenous Vedic people, who are located in the Sarasvati –
Sindhu river valley before the migrated. The record in the Sutra is related to the fire worship and we
find in the Rig Veda a legend to it mentioned in the talking between the King Pururava and Urvasi.
King Pururava is a very ancient king of the lunar race in the Indian history; we can date him very
early. (In my list of kings he is the 2nd king of the lunar race). The Srautrasutra didn´t mention any
date for the migration, but we can be sure it was long before the Srautrasutra was written.
We have on the King of Aratta evidence from Sumerian archaeological discovery, where he is
mentioned in the inscription of the ceramic.

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Picture 6 ceramic with a text on the King of Aratta and a picture of the temple

In the Mahabharata we read on the people of Aratta, to be a non – Aryan tribe, which means they
worshipped icons and not the abstract gods of the Veda. We read in the Karna Parva of the
Mahabharata the following words: “Where the forests of Pilus stand and those 5 rivers Satadru;
Vipasa, Iravati, Candrabhaga and Vitasa and which have the Sindhu for their 6th , there in those
regions removed from the Himavat are the countries called by the name of Arattas. Those regions
are without virtue and religion, no one should go thither. “AmaÅ>m Zm‘ Vo Woem Zï>Y‘m©Z Z VmZ daOoV&
dam˶mZm§ Wg‘r¶mZm§ {dWohmZm‘ A¶ÁdZm‘&& n#m Z϶mo dÝ˶ EVm ¶Ì {Z…g˶ nd©VmV AmaÅ>m Zm‘ ~m‡rH$m Z Voîd Am¶mo
Wì¶h§ dgoV&& “ (Mahabharata VIII. 30.36 + 30.43). This is in union with the report in the Brahmana
literature, where we read on the existence from people next to the Aryans, who practiced icon
worship. This we find in the archaeological picture of the Indus Valley, where fire altars were
discovered in Kalibangan, which are in the shape of the falcon and we in other settlements houses
with obviously private rooms for worship of deities. The question on the existence of temples in
some of the settlements is still in discussion of the scholars of archaeology. Priestess Anna classifies
the God in the temple in her “Hymns from the Temple of Kes” clearly as “the fierce ox of Aratta, the
angry bull of Aratta. This we read in the 13th hymn.

13. Temple, foundation of the country, fierce ox of Aratta

Temple, foundation of the country, the angry bull of Aratta

In Sumerian: e mus- kalam – ma gu – hus – aratta

In Tamil: CÀ •xP»®©@Põ Ean Aµzu

Not only the expression “the bull of..” is an often used phrase in relation to the God Siva. The temple
is the foundation of the country, the foundation of the place of Aratta and the place where the
temple of Kes was the centre. In the epic “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta”, we read Aratta lies
beyond 7 mountain ranges, long ago and far away. There is no proof for any historical event of a fight
between them. But the description of the 7 mountains, the existence of precious stones, metal and
the products of the high land would match very well with the former place of the Aratta we read in
the Sanskrit texts. The scholars so far understood this description for the Iranian highland. We will
see later the Goddess In – Anna is very well identical with the Goddess Durga. The idea the people of
Aratta brought Durga on their migration to the west into the Sumerian and Mesopotamian region is
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not difficult to understand. The fact to find In – Anna worshipped by the Sumerians and by the
people of Aratta we need at least to keep in mind. The fact that the Goddess In – Anna and Durga
both are Mother Goddesses; Goddesses of War and Love were is remarkable. This gives a reason for
to suggest the migrated people of Aratta mentioned above formed one of the Sumerian tribes.

Beside the people of Aratta, we get from the Tamil literature itself another source for the Sumerian
origin. This is based on the connection of the Sumerian Sangam Academies with the report in the
Tamil texts on 3 ancient Sangam Academies. We gave this point in some of our other publications,
but we will repeat it here in short.

These cultural institutions are made out of the learned scholars of the state with the king as its
patron and under the lead of the king. In these assemblies many different matters were discussed
like poetry, politic, science and many more subjects.

In the classical Tamil commentary to Sangam poems Iraiyanar Ahapporul (Cøµ¯Úº

Aí¨ö£õ¸Ò) written by Nakkirar (|UQµº) around the 5th cent. a. C. we read on the existence of 3
periods of Sangam academies. According to his work we have the following academies:

1. Established in Madurai, presided over by Siva. This period went over 4 440 years and 89 kings
ruled in this period. The first king was Kaysina (P#]Ú) and the last is Kadungon
(Px[öPõß). The number of poets, who have composed poems for this period 4 449. The
grammar followed in this period is by Agattiya (APzv¯º). The gods worshipped by the
people were Siva, Kubera and Murugan. The name of this place is in the comment by
Nakkirar is called Madurai, but in other texts we find the name of this place given as Kumari
Kandam (S©›Pßu®), which located on a sunken continent in the sea south to the
mainland of India.
2. Established in Kapadapuram (P£õu¦µ®), the place is also called Kavatapuram (PÁh¦µ®).
This period went over 3700 years and 59 kings ruled during this period. The first king is
Vanderceliyam (ÁßöuºaöŒÎ¯®) and the last one is Maduttiruraman (©xmi¸µ©ß).
We have 3700 poets in this period, which composed poems for the assembly. The town is
mentioned by the name Kavata in the Epic Ramayana and in the Arthasastra by Kautaliya.
Here we find 5 grammars, which were followed:
Budapuranam (¦u¦µÚ®), Agattiyam (APzv¯®), Tolkappiyam (öuõÒP¨¤¯®),
Mapuranam (©¦µÚ®) and Isainunukkam (CøŒÝÝUP®). From them we know only the
grammar of Tolkappiyam, who is said by tradition to be a disciple of Agattiya. This place is
also located by the legends on the sunken continent south to the mainland of India.
3. Established in Madurai, this period went over 1 850 years and had 49 ruling kings. All the
classical Sangam poems we have today are composed during this period of the 3rd Sangam.
449 poets composed for this assembly and the grammar followed by them were only
Agattiyam and Tolkappiyam. The first king is Maduttiruraman and the last king is Ukkirapperu
(EUQµ¨ö£Ö).

All the kings in these 3 periods belong to the Pandya Kingdom and the first two places were
taken by the sea. If we follow the comment of Nakkirar, the first Sangam would start around 9
000 b. C. In the comment of Nakkirar we read on the various kinds of poems, which were
composed in these periods of Sangam. We will not repeat and discuss them here.

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These 3 Sangam periods were discussed by the scholars since a long time and we needn`t discuss
why, because the number of kings in these Sangam periods are a very difficult topic. If we take
the 89 kings from the first Sangam period, we will get a rule of 49, 8 years for each king in
average. We didn´t know how many years we need to count for one generation, but surely not
more than 20 – 25 year.

More on these legendary academies we can read in the Tiruvilayadal Puranam

(v¸ÂøͯuÒ¦µÚ®) written by Perumparrapuliyur Nambi(ö£¸®£ØӦγº ¢®¤) and a
better known work with the same title written by Paranjothi Munivar (£µßöáõv •ÛÁº).
Here we read mainly on the 3rd Sangam period. We can find information of them as well in the
devotional literature to the gods Siva and Visnu.

If we look in the Sumerian texts, we find not only the existence of Sangam assemblies
mentioned, we find the same locations mentioned. Also the Sumerian Samgam assembly was
made out of the scholars of the state under the lead of the king. The texts report on the essential
collective organizations for to discuss various matters. The quoted texts are taken from Sulgi`s
hymns. We give some of them here:

I am the anointing (gudu) priest, the knowledgeable sangamah. I am the incarnation priest of
Ku`ar, who indeed cleansed and purified. I am the anointing priest, the purification of Enki, I am
the incarnation priest of Kumari (Kauri), attained purity and also attained living long.

This in Sumerian: ga – e gudu sag –gam –mah ju me – en; ga – e ka – pirig – ki he – sikil – la he –

ga – dadag – ga – me- en; gudu subsu en – ki – ge me – en.

The Sumerian word gudu is according to Dr. Longanathan a form of the Tamil word Kuudo
(Töuõ) -> kudam, kuttu (@Põzx). The word gudu meaning priest, was a ritual dancer as it is
suggested by the Tamil word kudu, the root of koodiya (@Põv¯) = dancer. This word is the origin
of Kudal (TuÀ), the coming together and the base for the assembly as a congregation. This
further leads to the alternative name of the location for the 3rd Sangam in Madurai, which is
given in some texts as Kudal (TuÀ). The forming of the word is done thus: koodil – il -> koodil ->
koodal. The word kudil is remained in Sanskrit texts as well and forms the name Kaudilya or
Kautilya, the famous author of the Arthasastra, which was written in Tamil Nadu according to the
tradition. Kaudilya has become a gotra of the Thirunjanasambantar (v¸ßáÚŒ®£ßuº) called
Kaundiya

The word “mah” in Sumerian is identical with the Tamil word ma (©õ) and Sanskrit maha in
morphology and meaning. Sang gam mah, ma Sangam = the great assembly. There can be no
doubt that sag gam mah means the great Sangam and assembly of priests, ritual dancers and
scholars, where many issues were discussed. The author speaks explicit of that he knows, which
suggests the notion that this Sangam was an academy. Possibly we have here the root for
cangam of the later Buddhists, which is an evolution of this kind of assembly and which in later
times became the academic institutions of scholars, the Pulavar (¦»Áº)

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 The understanding of Sumerian Saggam with the Tamil Sangam is supported y the word ku ´ar,
which is identified as kumari, which has support in the Tamil literature, where the place if the
first Sangam is called Kumari (Kandam). The Sumerian specialist Geller gives evidences in this
book “forr unners to Udug Hul” for to read ku ´ar as Kumari. It is exciting to see that we find in
Tamil Kumari also called Kauri, a parallel in meaning and morphology, which is quite striking and
thus pointing out a historical continuity dispute a shift in the geographical location. In Sumer we
find different kinds of assemblies, but all are called in Sumerian: dug pu – uh – rum, which is in
tamil: tuukku poru um (yUSö£õ¸ E®); the place of discussion. In Sumerian we read: bu – uh
– ru – um ki nam – tar re – de, meaning: in the assembly, where decisions were taken. In Tamil
we read: poru um kil terumam ete (ö£õ¹ E® QÒ öu¸©® Göu), meaning: at the place,
where dharma was established.

In Sulgi`s Hymns we find the arasavai, which was and assembly in the palace and where the king
holds counsel, which is also mentioned in the texts of Suruppak`s Neri. These assemblies we find
in the various city states. Sulgi`s text is dated around 2000 b. C. In this text we read for example “
In the assembly, where decisions were taken, I taught the governors, how to deliberate,
suggesting the opposite words. Among those, who sat in the assembly I encouraged continuous
dialogue and free expressions of their thoughts.” We find mentioned in the Sumerian texts, that
these academies are a part of the palace, where the head of the assembly had free access to the
king. The temples had also the function as a scholastic centre. These centres are directly
connected to the invention of writing by the Sumerians and the established “tablet house” for
the teaching of children in the art of writing. This school is called edubba in Sumerian and Il
tubba (CÀk¨£) in Tamil language.

The location of Kandam Kumari is according to the tradition southern to the Indian coast in the
south, but we have from the side of archaeology no report. Even it is very tempting to see in the
Sumerians the survivors of this sunken island, we have no proof for it and therefore we will not
discuss it in more details. The origin of the Sumerians is still an unsolved problem.

We will look in this treatise on the temple and the gods we find in the Sumerian temple hymns with
view on the available texts from Agama and Tantric tradition.

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Index

1. Introduction
2. The temple in Sumerian and Tamil scriptures
3. Metaphysical thought in the temple tower
4. The Sumerian Gods and their names in the Agama and Tantric literature

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The temple in Sumerian and Tamil scriptures

This chapter is given for to show the continuity in language and culture between the Sumerian and
Tamil people, where we give words related to the temple, which find used in Sumerian and Tamil
language without many changes.

The Sumerian culture was temple centred as we see it in the Hinduism even today. The Sumerian
word “e – ku” for temple we find in Tamil as kooyil (@Põ°À). The word il (CÀ) means house and in
this specific case it means the House of God. The understanding of the temple as the House of God
we see clearly in the temple hymns written by the high priestess Anna ~ 2200 b. C. The Sumerian
temple was called “e – u – nir” and means a towered temple. We find the word in Tamil as unniir
(Eßܺ ). This word we can divide into two parts. First u (E ), which is the root of uyar (E¯º)
and means high. The second part is niir (}º) which has the meaning of straight, erect and so on.
Various verses in the temple hymns by priestess Anna talk on the temple as a very high building,
which reach the sky. We have for example: on your ziqqurrat, the hugh shrine, stretching towards
the sky. This is in Sumerian written “u – nir es – mah an – ne us – sa x – ja”, which is in Tamil Eßܺ
DŒ©õ Áõß@Ú Äa” ã¯. The Akkadian overtook much from the Sumerian culture included the
temples. The Akkadian word used for to express the same as “u – nir” is “ziqqurrat”. From this word
we can derive the word cikaram (]Pµ®) in many ancient Indian languages. The Sumerian word for
temple “nagar” we have in Tamil as nakar (|Pº), which is obviously the same word. We can derive
the Tamil naakariikam (|õPŸP®) from this word. The great temple cities were identified with the
culture as such. We find one more related word, the Akkadian word su – ku – da, which we find in
Tamil in the form of su kudam (”Su®), the divine pot. The pots kaNdam (Psu®) and kalasam
(P»Œ®) are placed at the top of the central tower of this day and to this the ceremony of kuda
muzukku (Su•ÊUS) was done always after the temple got repaired. This ceremony is for the
sanctification of the temple. From this it is very clear, the word cakkaram (ŒUPµ®) and the
Akkadian word zaqaaram for wheel is the same word.

In the following verses from different hymns we will look in the Sumerian words and their
appearance and forms in Tamil language.

1. The temple

The first example for words related to the temple in Sumerian texts, we take from the Hymns for the
Temple of Keš, written around 2300 b. C. We will look into the hymn 7. We will give the Sumerian
verse and translation as it is found in the electronic corpus of the Sumerian texts and add a version in
classical Tamil with our translation.

1. The holy temple, whose (missing word) is the princely temple

The House of God, whose inside which is the shrine of excellence,

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In Sumerian: e – ku ku – bi e – nun

In Tamil: CÀ@Põ ku – bi CÀ ~ß@Ú

The Sumerian word e – ku will become in Tamil il koo (CÀ @Põ), which we find in classical Tamil in
the changed word order of kooyil, koovil (@Põ°À, @PõÂÀ). The Sumerian word nun – e will
become in Tamil nunnee (~ß@Ú), lofty and excellent.

2. The holy Keš temple, whose (missing word) is the princely temple
The holy Keeci temple, whose inside is a shrine of excellence

In Sumerian: e – kes – ku ku – bi e – nun

In Tamil: CÀ @P] ku – bi CÀ ~ß

3. The temple, whose lords are the Anunna gods

The temple, whose rulers are the heavenly beings,

In Sumerian: e en – bi a – nun – na – mes

In Tamil: CÀ Hs¤ ÁõÝßÚõ @©°a”

The Sumerian word en will become in classical Tamil eeN (Hs), from which we derive the words
veeN, veeL (@Ás, @ÁÒ), which means lord and ruler. From the word veeL (@ÁÒ), we derive
the word veeLir (@Áκ) the kings of the ancient Tamil kingdoms. The Sumerian word a – nun – na
will become in Tamil vaan nunna (Áõß ~ßÚ = ÁõÝßÚ), the beings living in the skies and
therefore the heavenly beings. The gods, who reside in the temple, are there in invisible bodies. The
suffix icu, iccu (C”, Ca”) are at present day a marker of the singular non – person gender, like
we find it in vanticcu (Áßva” ) and also used as the ending for the female gender.

The Sumerian word e means a simple house and corresponds to the Tamil word il (CÀ) for house
even in present day Tamil. The Sumerian word ku means holy and corresponds to the Tamil word koo
(@Põ), which can mean in classical Tamil god, king, sacred and divine. We need here to remark the
change in the word order between Sumerian e – ku and the classical Tamil koo il (@Põ CÀ =
@Põ°À). The adjective precedes the nominal, which is a general difference between Sumerian
and classical Tamil. In the Sumerian grammar the place name intercepts the adjective, we have the
phrase e – kes – ku, while in classical Tamil the phrase is koo il Keeci (@Põ CÀ @P] ). In phrases
like e en – bi the word “e” is taken for temple, which is not found in classical Tamil. The meanings of
il (CÀ) for house and koo il (@Põ°À) for temple are strictly distinct from each other.
14
The next example is taken from the Sumerian temple hymn 1, where we read on the temple tower,
which is a characteristic of the temples in southern India until today. We find the temple tower in
form of a pyramid described in the Agama and Tantric scriptures. The metaphysical meaning we will
discuss in the second chapter of this work

1. Eunir, which has grown high, uniting heaven and earth

The temple with Gopuram (tower) that is very high as if is moving with the sky and the earth

In Sumerian: e – u – nir an – ki – da mu – a

In Tamil: CÀ Cß@Úº ÁõßRö¯õk ‰ÆÁ

Here in the translation from the electronic corpus of Sumerian texts the word e – u – nir remained
without translation. The Sumerian e will become in Tamil il (CÀ), the temple. The word u will
become in Tamil un, uu (Eß, F) and means tall and erect, while the word nir will become in
Tamil niir, neer (}º, @|º), where it means structure. Here we have a clear description of the temple
tower, which is clearly indicated by the Sumerian phrase “an – ki – da mu – a” and the Tamil version
vaan kiiz muuya (Áõß RÌ ‰¯) suggest. In the Sumerian word mu – a , the final a is defined by
the grammar as a cuddu (”mk), a referential word, which means that. The Sumerian word mu is in
Tamil muu (‰), the root of the word mun (•ß), where it means to go forward.

Picture 7 One temple of southern India and the model of the Ningirsu temple from Gudea of Lagaš ~ 2100b. C. next to
each other.

15
 2. Events related to the temple

This example from a Sumerian temple hymn we read on temple festivals and temple rituals, which
are of great interest for our study. All the festivals were in accordance with the calendar, where the
moon plays an important role. The first example is taken from a few verses from the 3rd Sumerian
temple hymn

1. Foundation, your pure laving spreads over the Abzu

Your garden bright and pure is watered by Appu, the water element itself

In Sumerian: temen su – luh – sikil –zu abzu – a la – a

In Tamil: u©ß ‹¾ ”UQÀáú A¨¦ÁõÀ Aø»¯

2. In the month of New Year´s day on which the feast is celebrated you are wonderful adorned
During the celebration of the Full Moon day your attire is golden

In Sumerian: itu za – mu ezen – gal – la – za u – di tag – ga

In Tamil: C¢x ŒõÀ• ÂöÇßPÒÍáõ Eøh u[P

In these verses the word ezen is translated as festival, but where it is also related to the Sumerian
words eji, iji means fire and therefore we can understand it as fire festival. This understanding is
supported by the meaning of the word sukil, which will become in Tamil suulai sukkil (‹ø»,
”UQÀ), the pure kiln, the fire pit and so forth. The word su – lug with this meaning appears very
often. The Sumerian fire festival we find in Tamil as eri ompal (G› K®£À), which is part of the
temple ritual even at present days. In the first line given by us we find mentioned the time, when
festivals were done. This is the time of the Full Moon. In Sumerian this time is called iti – za – mu. The
Sumerian word iti is found in the form in – di, which is a more ancient form of the Tamil word intu
(C¢x), which means moon. The Sumerian word za – mu is related to the Tamil word samai
(Œø©), which means to become ripe, fully grown and so forth. From this we suggest the expression
iti za – mu means the Full Moon and the day, when some important temple festivals were
celebrated.

The next example we take from the poem “exaltation of In – Anna”, where we find used the word su
– luh again in an analogue meaning to the verse before. In the poem it is verse 43, where we read

“One has heated up the coal in censor for the lustration.”

The Sumerian words are: izi – ur mun – un – dub su luh si bi – in – sa

The Tamil version will be: G]ö¯õº •ßöuõ¦ ‹ø» ^ ¥°ß Œõº.

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From this verse it is very clear the Sumerian word su – luh denotes the fire pit, which is in Tamil
suulai (‹ø»), where the fire is heated up. In the verse above from the temple hymn 3 we find the
phrase u – di tag – ga, which is clearly in Tamil udi tankam (Ei u[P®) and means to wear gold.
From this words we can understand, the icon of the god in the temple , Enlil or Seir – ma – al, is
ornamented and adorned with gold. In the classical Tamil literature we read on Visnu and Tirumaal
(v¸©õÀ), which is name of Visnu to be adorned with gold. This practice is done even today. In the
last chapter, we will discuss the relation between Enlil and Visnu.

One more word in Tamil for the temple is puram (¦µ®), which we find already in the Sumerian texts
used. We look for this into the following verses.

1. At your gate, which faces Urukug

At the gates standing at your divine city

In Sumerian: ka – uru – ku – se – gal – la – za

In Tamil: Põ# F¸@Põ@Œ PõÀ» â¯

2. Wine is poured out into holy An`s well formed jar, set up under heaven
Edibles are given for eating in store of divine An so that they reach the heavens

In Sumerian: bur – sa an – ku – ga tin – de – a an – an su – ga – bi

In Tamil: ¦›øŒ Bs @PõP vÛkÁ ÁõßÚ ‹ÌS¤

3. That which is brought in to the temple is unequalled

The pleasant and divine things brought into the temple are unequalled

In Sumerian: ni – ku – ku ni di nu – di – dam

In Tamil CÛ@PõP CÛ di |õ di u®

Here the translation of the first verse found in the electronic corpus of Sumerian texts seems to be
quite wrong and also the meaning of bur – sa, which we find in other verses in the form of bur. The
important word here is tin – de – a, which will become in Tamil tiini idu a (wÛ Ck A) , which
means placing of grains, edibles and so forth. The Tamil word tin (vß) is a verb and means to eat,
while the word tiini (wÛ) denotes the food. We have here obviously the etymological root of the
Tamil word taaniyaam (uõÛ¯õ®) for grains. From this it is clear the Sumerian can`t denote a well
formed jar, but a kind of store, silo and so forth. It seems to be large and tall, where the grains placed
allows it to reach the heaven, which is here used as a metaphor for to express huge and tall. This

17
understanding is supported by the location at the gates of the divine city. The Sumerian word uru ku
will become in Tamil uuru koo (F¸ @Põ) and means divine city. This is very well in union with the
Tamil word purisai, puram, puri , puur (¦›øŒ, ¦µ®, ¦›, §º) and so forth. We can suggest at
the beginning this word was denoting a huge store in the temple complex, but in later times it
became used for the temple like we find it in Koo puram (@Põ ¦µ®),the temple tower, but literally
here it means the fort of God. The meaning of city is the result of later development.

Picture 8 Sumerian jar with mosaic, eyes, geometric and Goddess In - Anna`s symbol, Uruk 3000 b. C.

We find, while reading the various texts of the temple in the Sumerian period and from the Sumerian
society a remarkable continuity in the cultural ethos found in the entire Indian culture of Agama and
Tantric tradition. This connects the Sumerian religion with the later scriptures found in ancient India,
which didn`t mean the Agama and Tantric tradition didn`t exist in the borders of today`s India not in
a much earlier time. We see in the next example another aspect. This example is taken from the
temple hymn No 20.

1. The place of judgement, Lord Ningirsu

The one, who tells the judgement, Lord Ningirsu

In Sumerian: ki – di – ku – ra en – nin – gir – su – ke

In Tamil: (RÌ Âv ‹Ö Gs {ßRº”U@P)

2. Has filled with radiance and awe

Has said greatly pleasing and beautiful words

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In Sumerian: ni – gal – la su – zi du – du – am

In Tamil: ( {PÒÍ ‹â yxÁ®)

3. Your prince, the raging storm, which destroys the cities of the enemies land
Your Lord destroys the cities in the land of the strong people

In Sumerian: nun – zu u – lu – sur ki – bala uru gul – lu

In Tamil: (~ßáú E¾‹Ö RÌ£õ» F¸ öPõÀ¾À)

In the first verse the Sumerian word di will become in Tamil viti (Âv) and means judgment, rules,
fate and so forth. The Sumerian word ku – ra will become in Tamil kuuRu (TÖ) and means to tell,
to say and so forth. In the second verse we have Sumerian word ni – gal – la , which will become in
Tamil nii kaLLa (}PÒÍ) and means great things. The Sumerian word su – zi will be in Tamil suu ji,
suurji (‹â, ‹ºâ), which means bright and beautiful. The Sumerian word du – du given here we
meet in other texts in the form dug – dug as well. It will become in Tamil tuti (xv), which is a verb
and means to praise, to sing and so forth. In the third verse we find the Sumerian word u – lu – sur
which will become in Tamil ulavai (E»øÁ) and means wind. We have in Tamil the words ulaa,
ulaavu (E»õ, E»õÄ), which have the meaning to roam about. The word uuttai (Fzøu)
means cold winds. The Sumerian word sur will become in Tamil suuRu (‹Ö), where it means to
rage. We find in classical Tamil the expression “‹ÓÁÎ “for raging winds. The Sumerian word ki –
bala we find in the form kiz baal – a as well, which will be in Tamil kiiz paala (RÌ £õ»), from which
we derive the word kiiz paara (RÌ £õµ), the lands of people, who are deviant. The word param,
varam (£µ®, Áµ®) has the meaning strong.
From these three verses we can understand clearly for the Sumerian society the temple was alo the
court, where judgements are spoken o the people around. This is made clear by the phrase “ki di – ku
– ru, which we saw in Tamil as RÌ Âv TÖ “. The God of the temple, while rewarding the good
people, punished the sinners like a devastating storm destroys the place of the transgressors. From
this we can understand the ancient Sumerians took the natural disasters as a punishment from the
God. The temple is not just the place of worship, of various kinds of festivals, the temple is the house,
where the deities lived, a power that saw and understood everything that transpires around and
judged all the activities of the people in the terms of moral measures and punished the one, who
didn´t keep the right way of the moral laws. This system of believe we find in the ancient scriptures
of the classical Tamil and also in Sanskrit, Prakrit and other regional languages of the Indian
Subcontinent.

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 4. The temple and the country

In the Hymns from the Temple of Keš we get a view on the way, how the Sumerian society thought
on the importance of the temple for their well fare. We get here a metaphysical thought, which we
find expressed in the classical Tamil literature, where we find the following verse: “people should not
live in a city, where there is no temple; @Põ°¼À»õ F›À Si¸UP @Áshõ®“.
We look into the verses from the 14 to 17 from the hymns from the Temple of Keš.

14. Kes, temple, foundation of the country, fierce ox of Aratta

The Keeci temple, the foundation of the country, the angry bull of Aratta

In Sumerian: e – kes mus – kalam – ma gu – hus – aratta

In Tamil: CÀ @Œv •uÀ PÍ®© @Põ San Aµzuõ

15. Growing up like a mountain, embracing the sky

Growing up like a mountain peak, conversing with those in the sky

In Sumerian: hur – sag – da – mu – a an – da gu – la – a

In Tamil: E¯ºŒõ[Qö¯õk ‰ÄÁ ÁõöÚõk S»ÄÁ

16. Growing up like Ekur, when it lifts its head in the land
Growing up like a hill temple, when lifting up its head in the country

In Sumerian: e – kur – da – mu – a kur – ra sag – il – bi

In Tamil: CÀ SßöÓõk ‰ÄÁ SßÓ Œõ[Q Gʤ

17. Springing up like the Abzu, making mountain green

Taking the form of waters, so that even the mountain peaks are fertile

In Sumerian: abzu – gin ri – a hur – sag – bi sig – sig – ga

In Tamil A¨¦[Qß C›¯ E¯º Œõ[Q¤ ][P ][P

The Sumerian word abzu in the verse 17 will become in Tamil appu (A¨¦) and means waters in the
sense of pure and divine water. We find in the Sumerian texts the word ab – ba for water and sea. In
these verses the phrase of the verse 14 is of specific excitement, we saw already the verse 13, which
is nearly identical, above in discussing the people of Aratta. The Sumerian word kalam means the
nation, the land, a large field and so forth. We find this word is still available in the present day Tamil,
20
where we have the word poorkkaLam (@£õºUPÍ®), the battlefield. From the verse 15 we can
understand without any doubt the temple as the entire building or the tower is very high, something
that grows up into the sky like a mountain peak. This is clearly expressed by the phrase embraces the
sky “an – da gu – la – a “in Sumerian and Áõ@Úõk S»õÄÁ“. We we can understand the
phrase “e – kur – da – mu – a” in the sense of the Tamil phrase “CÀ SßöÓõk ‰ÄÁ “; the
temple that moves with the mountain. From this we can suggest a very tall height of the temple, the
structure of the tower and pyramid character. From the Sumerian word kur, which will be in Tamil
kunRu (SßÖ), where it means hill and nation we can get the understanding the ancient Sumerians
came originally from a hill region and they built their temples on the peak of the mountains. This
would match nicely with to above mentioned words from the Mahabharata and the people of
Aratta1. While we will discuss in the next chapter the reason for the Sumerians to build their temples
so much high for to reach the sky, we get the answer on the question, why they understood the
temple to be the foundation of the country in the verse 17. The Sumerian word abzu, which we find
in the Rig Veda in the form of apsu (Aßgw)2 and which is in Tamil the word appu (A¨¦) and denotes
the celestial water, which is the source of prosperity for the agricultural society, which can´t flourish
without enough water. The temple is not only compared to this celestial water, the temple is
compared to the high mountains as a source of abundance. The Sumerian word phrase sig – sig –a is
expressed in Tamil by ][Q ][Q and which is today expressed by the word öŒ®ø©, fertile
and prosperous. The Sumerian thought the temple is the foundation of the prosperity of the nation,
which is an understanding, which we see in the verse above, people should not live in a city without
temple, clearly expressed by the Tamil verse.

5. The Temple and the Gods

The great Sumerian gods are the gods we find in the Agama and Tantric tradition of ancient India. In
the last chapter we will look into this subject in great details, while here we give just a view on it. It is
an important aspect of the temple and the words in relation to the temple; therefore we deal here
with it. The Gods of the Sumerians we find in the Sangam literature of classical Tamil with the same
description and metaphysical understanding. The Sumerian Goddess In – Anna has in Tamil the name
“Dß BßøÚ “, the Great Mother, who generates all. The word iin (Dß) means generate all
and the word aannai (BßøÚ) means great Mother. Beside her we have the God Enlil, who is
also called Se – ir – ma – al in the Sumerian texts. He is called in the Tamil texts Tirumaal
(v¸©õÀ), which is a name of the God Visnu. In some verses found in the “hymns from the Temple
of Keš” we get exciting information on the relation between them. We find words on the relation of
the Gods An and Enill. An is called in the Sangam literature aan (Bs) and in present day texts we

1
This would at least mean the tribe of the Aratta, which we discussed before. We do not know how many
different tribes the Sumerian people were made of. The only possible tribe we know are here the people of
Aratta. If we need to include people from Kandam Kumari, we didn´t know and we can´t give any satisfying
proof for the tempting idea to take the Sumerians to be survivors of the sunken island.
We can understand the Sumerian word abzu as a Prakrit form from the Sanskrit word absu (Aßgw).
2

21
find him called Andavan, Andakai, Antakai (BshÁß, BsuøP, BsuøP) and in
many more versions.

The High Priestess Anna, the daughter from King Sargon the Great, is for sure the most profound
person in relation to metaphysical questions known to us in the Sumerian Period, whose texts are
handed down to us. She is the composer of the hymns from the temple of Keš and also of the poem
“exaltation of In – Anna”, where we find words from her on the Gods An and Enlil. We will never
understand her metaphysical thought about Enlil, if we do not discuss first her words on the God An
and the Goddess In – Anna about their relationship.

Picture 9 High Priestess Anna, En Hudu Anna, in iconography

We give two verses from her poem “exaltation of In – Anna”, where we get a picture on her
metaphysical thoughts on the God An.

14. Endowed with me´s by An the Lady mounted on a beast

The Lady is riding the tiger, given powers by An

In Sumerian: an – ne me – si – ma nin ur – ra u – a

In Tamil: Bs@n ö©# ^°®© {ß F¸Á KÄÁ

15. At the holy command of An, who makes decisions

Who speaks only at the holy command of An

In Sumerian: imin – ku an – na – ta inim – du – du

In Tamil: GöÚ®@Põ Bsnzu GöÚ® yx

22
The same God An we find in the Sankam collection Patirruppattu (£vØÖ¨£zx) as Aan
(Bs), where we read:

“Bsuø» ÁÇ[S® Põß En[SPköÚÔ•øÚ#Ps ö£¸®£õÇõP

©ßÛ¯ “. 3rd Patikam
This verse says; An, the foremost head is said to pervade the very difficult and the burning hot desrt
path and hence Uruttira Siva.

The Lady, riding on beast, we translate it as a tiger, but we find it also translated as lion, connects the
Goddess In – Anna with the Goddess Durga, whom we find on the tablets from the Indus Valley riding
on a tiger

Picture 10 Indus Valley seal with Goddess of Love and War, riding a tiger, Goddess Durga

Picture 11 the Sumerian Goddess In - Anna riding on the beast

In the next verse of the collection Patiparruppattu we read on the identification of the God An with
Visnu as we read there:

“xÍ[Si ÂÊzvÚÀ v¸zv •µ”öPõßk Bs Phß CÖzu {ß §s

Qͺ ¯ߩõº¦ “. 4th patikam

23
Here the term aan kadan (Bs Phß) , the divine obligations is mentioned as for Tirumaal, the
one with a wide chest full of ornaments.

From this it is clear the identification of An with Siva and Visnu in the period of the Sangam literature
depended on the context. We will discuss in the last chapter in more detail, why the God Enlil is here
more comparable to the Purusa in the Purusa Suktam of the Rig Veda and the Tirumaal of the
Sangam Period was understood as a manifestation of An, the absolute transcendent, who disclose
himself in various and unlimited forms. This conception is found in the Saiva Siddhanta and it is in
used in present day Saivism. There it denotes Siva as Satasiva (Œõu]Áß). This is very good to
understand from the various superlative metaphors used for Enlil for to describe his vastness of
spreading. In the first verse of the hymns we have the Sumerian word ege , which will become in
Tamil eeki, eeNi (HQ, Ho) and expresses; he, who extends up and above and reaches the very
top. This very top is expressed in Sumerian by the word nun – e, which will be in Tamil nuni (~Û).
The complete verse is:” the exalted prince, the exalted prince came out of the temple.” In Sumerian
words: ege – nun – e ege – nun – e e – ta nam – ta – ab – e. We find another very important
metaphor used from priestess Anna in her temple hymns: “an – ub – da – limmu”, which we give in
Tamil version in these words: “vaan uppida viLampu (Áõݨ¤hÂÍ®¦)”; the very edge of the
upper limits of the sky. We find in verse 6 this metaphor used by priestess Anna: “an – ub – da
limmu en – lil – ra kiri – gin mu – na – sa” in translation:”The four corners of heaven became green
for Enlil like an orchard”. From these few examples we understand clearly; the God Enlil was
understood by High Priestess Anna as the manifestation of An, the Absolute Being, whoin his
phenomenal presence covers the entire world.

6. Linguistic and Metaphysical ground

In the entire temple hymns and Sumerian literature we find exciting linguistically forms and offer a
metaphysically thinking, which is of cultural significance. We will look into a few aspects here.

In the temple hymn 21, which is dedicated to the Goddess Bau, the consort of the God Ningirsu, we
read in the first verse:

1. Urukug, shrine which causes the seed to come forth, belonging to the holy An, called by a
good name.
The divine city, the shrine where the sprouts of all are given, the city of divine An, the
primordial world that is real.

In Sumerian: uru – ku es numin – i – i – an ku – ga mu – du – ga sa – a

In Tamil: F¸@Põ D” {²•Ò D°Áõs @PõP •xbõÀ ŒõÁ

In the third verse of the same hymn we read:

24
 2. House of widespread counsel, storehouse which eternally possesses silver and lapis lazuli
An assembly of illuminating speech, with divine illuminations inside that are precious like
conch shells.

In Sumerian: e – galga – su erin – ku za – gin – na gi – sa – se ak – a

In Tamil: CÀ PÇP® ‹öÁ›ß@Põ Œ[QßÚ ªøŒ@Œ AP®

In the fourth verse of this hymn we read:

3. Etasirsir, from which the decision and me´s come forth, where man greets the Goddess
The temple, where divine songs are given, where the transcendental music that discloses the
great truth are given and where the truth surround the great feet of Bau

In Sumerian: e – tar – sir – sir es – bar me – i – i me – s kiri – su – gal

In Tamil: CÀ u¸ ^º^º CøŒ£õµö©# D° ö©°” Q›‹ÌPÒ

We will examine shortly the words used in these verses. In the first verse we find the Sumerian word
uru – ku, which will be in Tamil uuru koo (Föµõ@Põ), the divine city. The Tamil word koo (@Põ)
means divine, but denotes also the god and the king. The Sumerian word numun will become in
Tamil niyu muul ({² •Ò). The word mul (•Ò) means a thorn and in the form of muLai
(•øÍ) the word denotes sprouts and as a verb it means to grow. The Sumerian word nu, which is
in Tamil niyu, nivar ({², {Áº) means to grow upwards. The Sumerian word i – i will become in
Tamil iiyi (D°), the one who gives. The word ii (D) means to give and the particle “i” is a personal
pronoun for to express the meaning the one, who gives. The Sumerian word an – ku – ga will become
in Tamil aan kooka (As @PõP) and means the divine Lord. The word An (Bs) denotes the
Supreme God. The Sumerian word mu – du – ga will become in Tamil mutu njaala (•x bõ»), the
primordial world of light. The word njaalam (bõ»®) denotes the world. The Sumerian word sa –a
will become in Tamil saava (ŒõÁ), which denotes the true, the right and so forth. The word sattu
(Œzx) means real and true. In Malayalam we find the word sah (yzV) for to denote the real, the
original and so forth. The final particle “a” has the function of a locative case marker.

In the third verse, her in our work marked as number 2, we find the exciting and important word in
Sumerian e – galga –su, which will become in Tamil il kazakam (CÀ PÇP®) and means the
temple, that is a counsel. The word kazakam (PÇP®) is an assembly or counsel of scholars or
people. This institution is eve n in use at present day and denoted as dravidar kazakam , which
denotes an association of the Dravidian people. The Sumerian word su will be in Tamil suu (‹) like
we find it used in suuttiram (‹zvµ®), the utterance that illuminates. The Sumerian word erin –
ku will become in Tamil erin koo (G›ß @Põ) and means divine illuminations. The Tamil word eri
(G›) means fire and the word erin (G›ß) denotes that, which illuminates. Therefore we can

25
understand the expression erin – ku as a deep metaphysical illumination. The Sumerian word za – gin
– na will become in Tamil sankinna (Œ[QßÚ), white or pure like the conch shells. The word
sanku (Œ[S) denotes conch shell and is a divine symbol in the classical Tamil literature. The
Sumerian word gi – sa – se will become in Tamil misaimsee (ªøŒ®@Œ). Here the syllable see (@Œ)
is a locative marker with the meaning at. By this lovative the word gi – sa becomes a location or a
place. The Sumerian letter “g” can be read as “m” and therefore as misai, which has the meaning
above or inside. The expression miimisai («ªøŒ) is used in present day Tamil for the place above.
The Sumerian word ak – a will become in Tamil akam (AP®) and means inside.

In the verse 4, which is here the number 3, we have the Sumerian word e – tar- sir – sir , which was
not translated by the editors of the electronic corpus of Sumerian texts. This word will become in
Tamil il taru siir siir (CÀ u¸ ^º ^º). The word taru (u¸) means to give and the word siir (^º)
denotes song. We find in the Sumerian literature the word es – bar, which will become in Tamil isai
para (CøŒ £µ), the transcendental music. This we can take as isai paar (CøŒ £õº) as well and
then it will denote the trance inducing songs, which allow to see the future. The word paar (£õº) has
the meaning to see. The Sumerian word me – i – i , which will become in Tamil mey iiyi (ö©# D°
D + C -> D°). This means that, which gives truths. The word mey (ö©#) means truth and ii (D)
means to give. The Sumerian word kiri – su – gal will become in Tamil kiri isu kaL (Q› C” PÒ)
and means the Great Feet.

Here in these verses we connect the word e – gala of the verse 3 with the word mey i – i in the verse
4. From this we can understand the temple was not only a place, where the god resides, but also a
place, where assemblies and counsels were held to bring out the truths in contrast to the falsity
which exists in the world, too. We can understand from the last verse 4 the truths are thought in
opposition to the falsities. The temple gives songs of divine nature and inspiration that disclose
metaphysical visions, which are nothing but truths. These are called erin – kur; divine illuminations
that helps one to enjoy the metaphysically truths.

7. Snake Worship

The worship of the Mother Goddess in various aspects is a very dominant feature of the Agama and
Tantric tradition, which we find as well in the Sumerian texts, where we find in the Goddess In –
Anna and other female goddesses are worshipped. A very exciting Goddess is Nisaba, also called
Nidaba, the Goddess of learning.

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Picture 12 Goddesses Nisaba and In - Anna in Sumerian iconography

The Goddess of learning we find in the ancient Indian scriptures as Sarasvati. The worship of the
Goddesses in the Tantric tradition is connected with the Kundalini Sakti, which is understood as a
snake, a dream image, which means the sexual libido, the root form of strength and the power,
which is a desire by all the great warriors. In a few lines from the 5th hymn of the collection hymns for
the Temple of Keš we show the snake worship connected to the Mother Goddess. We give 5 verses
from this hymn there the numbers 74 to 78.

1. Temple born by a lion, whose interior has embellished

Temple guarded by a tiger and inside, which the hero attains

In Sumerian: e pirig u – tu sa – bi ur – sag su – du

In Tamil: CÀ ¤› Kx Œõ#¤ KºŒõß ‹k

2. Kes temple, born by a lion, whose interior has embellished

Keeci temple guarded by a tiger and inside, which the hero attains

In Sumerian: e kes pirig u – tu sa – bi ur – sag su – du

In Tamil: CÀ @P]¨ ¤¼ Kx Œõ#¤ KºŒõß ‹k

3. Into its interior the hero goes straight way

In Sumerian: sa – bi ur – sag – e – ne si – mu – un – nin si – sa

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In Tamil: Œõ#¤ KºŒõß KºŒõßö¯õ@Ú ^ •ßÛß öŒ#öŒÀ

4. Ninhursag, like a great dragon, sits in its interior

The Lady of the Mountain Peak, like a great snake, lies inside

In Sumerian: nin – hur – sag – ga usum – gal – am sa im – mi – in – tus

In Tamil: ({ß SØŒõ[P E”®PÍ® Œõ# C®ªß xg”)

5. Nintu, the great mother, has brought about its birth

Nintuu, the Great Mother, has established her praises

In Sumerian: nin – tu – ra ama – gal – la tu – tu mu – un – ga – ga

In Tamil: {ßyßÓ A®©õPÒÍ xv •ßPõÀ PõÀ

We shortly need to discuss some of the words of these verses. The Sumerian word pirig will become
in Tamil piri, puli (¤›,
¦¼), the tiger. The word means literally the stripped creature. The
Sumerian word su – du will become in Tamil cuudu (‹k), which means to wear as the crown. The
Sumerian word u – to will be in Tamil ootu, oombu (Kx, K®¦) to guard. This we find in the first
verse. In the 3rd verse we find the Sumerian word usum – gal, which will become in Tamil usumkaL (),
the great creature that hisses. The Sumerian word tus will become in Tamil tucu, tunju (x”,
xg”) and means to lie down, to sleep and so forth. In the last verse we find the Sumerian word tu
– tu and we find in Tamil the word tuti (xv), which means to praise.

We need to discuss some words here a little more. The word usumgal, is in Tamil usumkaL
(E”®PÒ), where us expresses the hissing sound and the creature, the snake was gal, kaL (PÒ)
in Tamil; great or large. The usual word in Sumerian for snake is mus, which we find in Tamil as
muusu (‰”). The most important of these verses is 77, where we read the Goddess Ninhursag lies
down in the temple like a large snake. From this it is very clear the worship in the temple didn`t
worship the natural snake, but the Goddess who is assumed to have the appearance of a snake.

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Picture 13 Goddess Nin - hur - sag in Sumerian iconography

The Sumerian word ur – sag we find in Tamil in the word saanoor, saanRoor (Œõ@Úõº,
Œõß@Óõº), the great men. Here we see again the change in the order of words between Sumerian
and classical Tamil, which is a general mark characteristic. In the Sumerian Period it denotes the
brave warriors, but in the running of time it became used for great men in general. The warrior
needed great physical strength and they went to the temple of the Great Mother Goddess, who was
understood to have the form of a great snake, the symbol of Sakti, the power and strength.

8. The concept of Dharma

From the study of the Sumerian temple hymns in the light of the Agama and Tantric scriptures we get
a deep insight into the Sumerian religion and metaphysical thoughts. We fill look and discuss as the
last point of this chapter into the concept of Dharma as we find it in the Sumerian temple hymns and
which an important part of the ancient Indian scriptures. We will look on a few verses from the
Sumerian temple hymn No 30. In this hymn we find worshipped the Goddess Nininsina, the Goddess,
who helps to give birth to offspring and whom we know from the Agama tradition under the name
Santanalaksmi (gÝVZbú‘r). We take her as a form of the Goddess In – Anna. We began with the first
verse:

1. Isin, city, founded by An, which he has built on an empty plain

Isin the city that An has lowered into the world, very beautiful and well built
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In Sumerian: i – si – in ki uru an – ne ki – gar – ra sa – sig – ga sa – mu- un – du

In Tamil: D]ßQ F¸ Bs@n RÌPõÀ» Œõ][P Œõ•öÚk

2. In the front is the mighty, its interior is built in an artful fashion

The outside is huge, the inside is built artfully

In Sumerian: igi – bi u – (gisgal) – ru sa – bi galam – kad – am

In Tamil: Cø©¤ E¸Œõ#¤ P»® Pmhõ®

3. Its me´s are me´s, which An has determined

Its powers are powers endowed by An himself

In Sumerian: me – bi me an – ne nam –tar – re

In Tamil: (ö©#¤ ö©¯õs@n u¸©®)

4. Place, where An and Enlil determine destiny

The place, where An and Enlil bless the world

In Sumerian: ki – nam – tar – re an enlil – la

In Tamil: RÌ |õ¯® u¸Ú® B@ns½À@»

5. Place, where the great gods dine

In Sumerian: ki – ninda – ku dingir – gal – gal – e – ne

In Tamil: RÈÛßxÁ ‹Ì w[Rº PÒPÒ CÚ®

We look shortly on a few words we meet in these verses. In the first verse we meet the Sumerian
word ki – gar – ra, which will be in Tamil kiiz kaalla (RÌ
PõÀ»), where it has the meaning lowered
or established in the world. The Sumerian word sa Рsig Рga will become in Tamil saa sinkam (Λ
][P®). The word sinkam (][P®) means beautiful. We remark here the word asinkam
(A][P®) for ugly and take the adjective sa for to become in later times sem, sen (öŒ®, öŒß)
and denotes good and excellent. In the second verse we meet the Sumerian word uru, which will be
in Tamil uru, iru (E¸,C¸), which means large, huge and so forth. The Tamil word uRu (EÖ)
means strong and mighty. The Sumerian word galam will become in Tamil kalam (P»®), the word
kalai (Pø») means the arts. The word means also precious like in arunkalam (A¸[P»®), the
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rare and precious. The Sumerian word kad – am will be in Tamil kaddu am (Pmk B®), which
means something fastened. The word kaddu (Pmk) means to build. In the verse 3 we have the
Sumerian word nam – tar – re, which will be in Tamil tarunam, tarumam (u¸Ú®, u¸©®). The
word means the endowment. Before we had the phrase an – ne me –si – ma “given the powers by An
himself.” This supports the view to take the Sumerian word tar – re here for to be the Tamil word
taru (u¸), to give for si, ii , which in Tamil ii (D) means also to give. Goddess In – Anna is in the form
of the Goddess nin – in – si – na the female power, but her powers are given to her by An. She is the
consort of An “nu – gig an –na”. In the verse 6, which is our verse 5, we find the Sumerian word
ninda, which is in Tamil inintu a (CÛx A). The word initu (CÛx) denotes that, which is
sweet. The Sumerian word e – ne will become in Tamil inam (CÚ®), which denotes a group and
collectivism.

We need to discuss the word nam – tar – re, which we find in the verses a little more in detail. The
translation of this word as to determine here and elsewhere as fate, destiny seems to be only
partially right. The point is the Sumerian word tar –re is the Tamil word taru (u¸) to give, to endow
and so forth. The Sumerian nam is a noun formative, which exists in Tamil in the form of am (A®).
Therefore we translate nam – tar – re as Tamil tarumam (u¸©®), endowments, donations and so
forth. The temple is the place, where the great Sumerian Gods An and Enlil donate the great me´s,
which here means powers, realties and so forth. The Tarumam is actual the donations of the
Supreme God and the temple is the location of these donations, which become the feasts for the
many lesser but great gods. Therefore the primary meaning of the Tamil word taruman and of the
Sumerian word nam – tar – re is the blessings of Being in the form of An and Enlil, which are the
various kinds of powers and realities, which become the stuff enjoyed by the various deities and the
people in general. The secondary meaning, which became dominant by time, is the givens, which is in
the world as such and the Being is not mentioned at all.

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 3. The metaphysical thoughts of the Temple Tower

The structure of the temple has a metaphysical meaning, which we find described in the Sumerian
texts and which we find discussed in the various Agama and Tantric scriptures. The stories of the
various gods are related to this metaphysical thought of the temple. Each time a temple is built new,
the metaphysical meaning is re – installed new. To build a temple or to renovate a temple was the
primary duty of the king in Sumerian and also in the Indian history. The Cylinder of Gudea and his
description of the building for his Ningirsu Temple in Lagaš ~ 2100 b. C. are an exclusive example of
this. In the various temple inscriptions of the ancient Indian temples we read on the kings and their
contribution to the various temples on the entire Indian Subcontinent. The metaphysical thoughts
are an unbroken tradition from the Sumerian period down to the present day of temple worship.
While the written word in the scriptures is a traditional form to hand down the metaphysical
knowledge in form of a book. The temple is a visual picture of these written stories. The temple itself
is an icon. The high, pyramidal tower of the temple is a picture of the universe, to help the mind of
the people in cosmic thinking by lifting it away from the earth and the mundane life. The temple is a
way of living metaphysic for those souls, who see a meaning in this way of life. It lifts up the mind
into cosmic dimensions and the mind will get expanded into the cosmic thinking, away from the
personal and egocentric thinking.

The first Sumerian temple hymn written by the High Priestess Anna gives in the first verse a
description of the temple for the God Enki. We read:

“Eunir, which has grown high, uniting heaven and earth”

In Sumerian: e – u – nir an – ki – da mu – a

The Tamil version is: (CÀ Fß@Úº ÁõßQCö¯õk ‰ÆÁ), therefore we translate the
same verse: “The temple with tower (gopuram, @Põ¦µ®) that is very high as if moving with the sky
and the earth.”

The e – u –nir, the high and steep tower, the Ziggurat or Zaqaarum, which we have in Tamil as
cakkaram (ŒUPµ®), in Akkadian is a structure, that brings together the Earth and the Sky in the
physical and metaphysical sense. The common person, who look the temple tower, which is called in
present day Tamil Gopura Tarisanam (@Põ¦µ u›ŒÚ®), is invited to look above from the bottom,
where he is and by this he underwent a change in his interest from worldly to the heaven, from the
physical world to the world of metaphysical thoughts. While this he forget his physical body and is
fixed on his spiritual self, while he is by nature both, the sat and asat self, he is present in the physical
and metaphysical world. Now he is absorbed in the view of the high tower. This asat self is back
grounded, while the sat self if fore grounded. Here we have a change in the idea of the vision, a
reversal between the back ground and fore ground structure. This is another dimension, which does
not mean the astrophysical structure of the cosmos. In the second verse from the temple hymn of
Priestess Anna we read in this connection on the temple:

“Foundation of heaven and earth, holy of holies Eridu”

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In Sumerian: temen – an – ki unu – gal eridu, the Tamil version is „v®ø© ÁõßR EßÝPÒ
G›x .“ The tower is a picture and therefore and icon of the metaphysical basis of everything. From
this we understand clearly the view on the vision, which has to structures:

1. the surface structure

2. the deep structure

Of the universe and the tower is a picture of the deepest from the deep structure and therefore the
beginning of all that appears and transpires as the cosmos. From this we understand, the vision,
which is underlying the building of the temple tower, has a teaching and hermeneutic function,
where any object is seen as a text with these two structures. The deep structure stands for the
invisible and causative agent of the observable features, which is called the surface structure. The
temple tower is for to see and for to understand the meaning, which is included in this picture. Not
only the vision of the physical and metaphysical form of the entire cosmos, but also to get drawn into
the hermeneutic and scientific mentality of understanding all. Every object has to be seen as a text
with a double structure, the deep and the surface structure. The understanding located the deep
structure as the truly agentive cause of the surface structure, which is observed. The mind is taken
into a mystery and invited for to understand and to overcome this mystery.

Picture 14 Thanjavur Periya Kovil, Brhaddesvara Temple

The understanding of the temple tower and its meaning is rooted on the Gods and their meaning.

1. The Absolute Being

One of the understanding of Being in Vaisnavism and in Saivism is that this Being is Tarparan
(uØ£µß), a Lord unto himself, the one, who didn`t have any other cause and power than his own
power. The scholar Meykandar defined this as “Œõ[PõµUPõµnß “, which we find explained in
and analogue way by the Saiva Sidhanta. This Being is thought and understood as Siva, who is the
33
Being for He self destroys, self regenerates and beside him there is no other power present of absent
in this world. For this reason we read in the ancient scriptures that Siva is the one, who can´t reached
by Visnu, Brahma and the other gods, because they are created by Siva. By whatever name this Being
is called, he is the Supreme and has no other power equal to him. It is a remarkable metaphysical
understanding, which we find already in the hymns of the High Priestess Anna testified. In an
incomplete verse 22 from her we read:

“the Lord Nudimmud” all the other words from this verse are missing. The only Sumerian words we
have are: “en nu – dim – mud – e “. The Tamil version of these words are: “Hs |õv®•@h “,
which we translate: “ The Lord, who is not created by other gods.” Enki or Ensi is nu – dim – mud – e ,
one who is not configured and brought into presence by any other power. He is uncreated and
independent. The word dim – mu we find in Sumerian in a variant form dib – be, which means to
light up, to allow being present and so forth. This word is derived from the Sumerian word de, which
will be in Tamil tii (w), where it means fire. From this we can understand, creation is not fashioning
something, which is not present, but only the lightning up and by this the destruction of darkness
covering it up for it to enjoy the phenomenal presence. This is called satkarya vada (gËH$¶© dX), which
is common to the Sankhya Philosophy and which we find in the Saiva Siddhanta. This means clearly,
what is not already there can`t be made to be present. The creation is a lightning up, transforming
the way of being and not bringing into being, what was not already there. From this it is clear only
Enki can be the creator, the one who bring into presence the things enveloped in the primeval
darkness. This primeval darkness is called in the words of Suruppak “gi – iri – a, gi – bad – du”, in his
Nari 3000 b. C. We read in the incomplete verse 21:

“the creator, the wise one” The only available Sumerian words are: “du – ga sag – du (missing letters)
– ni gestu – ri – a “ The words before and after are missing. The Tamil version from the Sumerian
words will be “x[P Œõßx (missing letters) { öPax G›¯“. We translate this: “Great
and loving creator illuminating all with wisdom.” The Sumerian word du – ga we can read as idu – ka,
he who places and in this context it means, he who places the creatures into the open space or the
lighted realms of phenomenal existence. Therefore it follows that he is the sag – du, the Lord and the
Ruling power, the omniscient, which is expressed by the phrase gestu – ri – a and the Tamil form
öPax G›¯, one of brilliant understanding. This is called in the Agama and Tantric scriptures
njaanam (bõÚ®) , civapprakaasam (]Á¨¨µPŒ®) andso forth. This is an understanding, we see
also in the ancient Egyptian culture.

Picture 15 the Egyptian God Ra, Sumerian Enki and Siva next to each other
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The Being, which destroys the primeval darkness and blesses the creatures with presence in the light
of the phenomenal existence has to be an omniscient one. This Being has as its essence the
knowledge (bõÚ®, ]ÁbõÚ®) and the understanding that can light up the world by
removing the primeval darkness. It is this understanding of Being as Siva, the Sankaara Kaarana of
the scholar Meykander and the causal ground of all that makes him the Supreme Power, that
differentiates in various smaller powers, the celestial beings that manage the unlimited and complex
cosmos and remains unaffected by all. By this metaphysical thinking the former only geometrical and
empty temple tower becomes the Koo Puram (@Põ¦µ®), the City of God, where resides the
various celestial beings. The “dingir – ene” in Sumerian and the (öuƯ[PÒ) in Tamil.

In a verse of the temple hymns the Priestess Anna give the following words:

“Into your (missing word) the place, where the gods dwell” The Sumerian verse is “ningin – gal ki –
dingir ti – la – ja”. A part of this verse is not translated by the electronic corpus of the Sumerian texts.
The Tamil version of the Sumerian words is: niinkinkaL kii tinkir tilla jiya (}[QßPÒ R v[øPº
vÀ» â¯), which we translate: “ Great and tall, the place, where the gods dwell.” The word
dingir in this Sumerian verse has to be understood as dingir – e – ne , the small or little gods. The
pyramid of the temple tower is empty and pure, which became filled by the gods and made the city
of gods by metaphysical thinking. Together with this appeared met atheism. It is an exciting aspect,
which connects this pyramid of the temple tower with the thinking in Buddhism. Buddhism denies
the Being, but established emptiness, the sunyata (gwݶV) of the scholar Nagarjuna. Also in the
Buddhism we find Tantric tradition. The great building in Indonesia called Borobudur is a magnificent
and beautiful tower pyramid, but at the top, because of the denying of god there is an empty space,
the picture and icon of emptiness.

Picture 16 the Indonesian temple Borobudur

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Picture 17 shows the way, how the gods are dwelling in the temple tower. On the top the highest gods and in the lower
regions the smaller gods, who all are created by the highest Absolute Being

2. The temple tower an iconographical picture of the paradise

From the study of the Sumerian Temple hymns and other Sumerian literature we get to know on an
existing met atheism, which is in the later Agama and Tantric scriptures available for us. In the way of
time we see in these later texts some developments compared to what we find in the Sumerian
Period. In the ancient Sumerian metaphysic there was a hermeneutic scientific, a movement to climb
upward in the metaphysical meaning of the pyramid from the temple tower, which was founded on
the experience of truth. Without the experience of truth a person can`t climb up and evolve as a
person. While we read the Sumerian texts in the light of the Agama and Tantric tradition, we come
across one question, which arise by it. What is the limit to this evolutionary climb if this truly exists?

The ancient Sumerian scholars draw this limit in the picture of the Existence in the Paradise. The High
Priestess Anna hints at this as the form of existence well within the pyramidal temple tower, where
the Being as the Sun can arise if called upon. We have this picture of liberation formed in a metaphor
by Suruppak in his Nari: “the swimming across the turbulent river of existence”, which we find in a
similar picture of metaphor in the Tirukkural (v¸USÓÒ), which is dated ~ 200 a. C. We read in a
verse from the Sumerian temple hymns:

“Shrine abju, your place is a great place” the Sumerian words are: “ es abju ki – ju ki – gal – ju”, which
will be in Tamil version: “iisa upsuur kiizju kiikaL ju (DŒ E¨‹º RÌáú RPÒ áú)”. We take
here the Sumerian word abju as a variation of ub – su, the divine realms above. The Tamil form of the
Sumerian word ub is uppar, umpar (E¨£º, E®£º). In the later scriptures of classical Tamil it is
called citambam (]u®£®), the realm of pure consciousness. The place is only called shrine or
36
temple, because the Being resides inside. In the next verse from the temple hymns we read how he
resides in the temple:

“In your place, where they call upon Utu”, which is in the Sumerian words: “ki – utu – ra gu – de – ju”.
Their Tamil version will be: “ kiiz utunRa kuuyidu ju (SÌ ÊxßÓ T²k áú).” This Paradise is a
large space and is the place, where the Being appears as the Sun. This verse makes us to understand
the worship of the Sun together with the Moon by the Sumerians, Egyptians, Vedic, Agama, Tantric
and many other cultural traditions. By the climbing up to the peak of the pyramid from the temple
tower in metaphysical sense one can remove the inner darkness, which throws the soul in an endless
cycle of earthly existence with an assumption of a physical body of various forms. One can call for the
metaphysical form of the Sun to arise and to remove the darkness of ignorance. The Sumerian word
gu – de will be in Tamil kuu idu (T Ck), which means to call.

Picture 18 Egyptian Pyramide, Parambanan Temple Indonesia and model of a Sumerian temple next to each other

The Being inside the temple we find in a very clear form given in the following verse from the temple
hymns:

“ Abju, shrine, erected for the prince”, the Sumerian words are: “abju es nun – bi – ir am – gub”. We
give them in their Tamil version: “uppusuur iisa nunbiyir aam kuppu (E¨¦‹º DŒ
~ߤ°µõ® S¨¦)”, which we translate: “Shrine, bright and tall and where the celestial beings
dwell.” The Sumerian phrase nun – bi – ir is better translated as the highest being and taking the
meaning of nun from the Tamil word nun, nuni (~ß, ~Û), which means the very top, the peak
and so forth. The brilliant, high and pure metaphysical temple tower, the vast and huge Paradise is
also the location, where the Being can be called for to appear like the Sun and to remove the
darkness of ignorance and for to purify the soul.

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 3. The metaphysical existence or the characteristic of the Right Way

The question of the Right Way is discussed in various philosophical schools, not only in the ancient
scriptures of Agama and Tantric tradition. We find it discussed in the philosophical schools of the
antique philosophy around the world. The Right Way is the way of become in pure by being only in
the Pure Light, a thinking, which we find deep in the Greek philosophers and expressed by Plato. This
is the realm of ER, which one gets into on escaping being in the cave. This is only a moments, but
always in the Pure Light, which is understood as the enjoyment of the experience of truth, where
there is nothing false. These thoughts we find expressed in the following verse from the temple
hymns:

“House, holy mound, where pure food is eaten.” The Sumerian words are: “e du – ku u – sikil – la rig
– ga”. These words are in Tamil version: “il tuuko uu sukkila erikka (CÀ y@Põ F”UQÀ»
G›UP).” Our translation of this verse is: “ The temple, pure and divine, where the Pure Light
shines.” The Sumerian word rig – ga in this verse will be in Tamil erikka (G›UP), to burn, to shine
forth, which is a meaning very consistent with the previous word u – sikil – la, which become in Tamil
uu sukkilla (F ”UQÀ»), the pure light. The temple tower, the pyramid in Sumerian e du – ku
and in Tamil il koodu (CÀ @Põk), is what makes the way of life ensure. Here the understanding is
illuminated by the Pure Light and only experience of truth. This is the way of life renewal, which we
find expressed in the bath in the Ganges, which is the heavenly water from Siva`s tuft and where one
undergoes the genuine of Baptismal of Water, a metaphysical view we find in all the later Semitic
religions. Their relation to the heavenly water is depicted on the iconographical pictures of the Gods
Enki and Siva.

Picture 19 the Gods Siva and Enki related to the heavenly water in painting and on tablet

We find many more verses in the temple hymns, where these thoughts are expressed.

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“Watered by the prince´s pure canal” We have here the Sumerian words: “pa – sikil – nun – na ka a –
nag – ga” and their Tamil version: “ paay sukkilla nunnaka aak nakku (£õ#”UQÀ»
~ßÚPÁõÀ |US)”, which we translate: “the mouth of pure and heavenly water that is drunk.”
The Sumerian word nag – ga we find in Tamil to be nakku (|US) , where it means to lick, which give
the evidence for to understand the phrase pa – sikil – nun – na – ka as the heavenly water, which
gives regeneration to the individual and the senility didn´t come in and give a death untimely. The
renewing and purifying water is a form of Kundalini (Ssh¼Û), which is depicted in a
metaphysical snake, which enters the body, supplying the libido and gets transformed in various
kinds of energy. This energy is not only used for the well being of the body, this energy gives also the
power to the individual to learn and to act tirelessly for to learn and overcome the darkness of
ignorance. This we find expressed in the next verse:

“Mountain, pure place, scoured with soap”. The Sumerian words are: “kur ki – sikil – la naga – dub –
du – ga”. These words in Tamil version: “ kunRu kiisukkilla naagam tiibu tunka (SßÖ R”UQÀ»
|õP® w¦ x[P)”. The Sumerian word naga – dub we find in Tamil in the form naakam tiibu
(|õP® w¦), the appearance of snakes. The snakes are sacred to the Egyptians, the Agama and
Tantric tradition and many other cultures. Archaeological discoveries have found figures of snakes at
the Sumerian temple in Eridu. Even we have no direct evidence for the way of their use, the temple
hymns are enough indications for the worship of snakes by the Sumerians. The Naga devatai (|P
öuÁøu) is even at present day worshipped in Agama and Tantric temples. We find no ancient
Agama and Tantric temple without the picture and icon of a snake.

Picture 20 Nagas in Indian iconogrphy, the Sumerian God Ningiszada , Snakes in Egyptian iconography

The symbol of the snake is an often used picture in the Tantric scriptures. With the help of these
scriptures we can learn to understand the Sumerian temple hymns and other texts, even there is still
a lot of research work to do.

39
 4. Dance, Music and the Being

Dance and music have an important part in the temple worship of Agama and Tantric tradition. The
dance and the music are a very effective religious ritual, which is testified by a story in the Saivism,
after which the Being as Siva prefers songs to any other way of expressing love unto him. We find in
ancient India various forms of temple dance and temple songs, which are an expression of this kind
of worship. We find in an exciting way the metaphors for dance used in the Sumerian temple hymns.
These hymns keep the information key for to understand the conception clearly. We lookon the
following verse:

“ad – mu ad – sikil e – de mus – bu“, here we give the Sumerian words first, because this verse is not
completely translated by the version in the electronic corpus of Sumerian texts. There the translation
is: “ growing (missing word) pure (and the complete rest is missing)”. We give now the Tail version of
this verse: “adi moo adi sukkil eeyidu muusu pu (Ai@©õ Ai”UQÀ H°k ‰”¦)”, which
we translate: “Your feet are pure feet, that are very extended.” Here in this verse the important
Sumerian word is ad – mu, in Tamil adi moo (Ai @©õ). Your feet are said to be pure feet. Feet,
this spread out the entire universe. There is no place in the universe, where his feet are not present.
These feet are a metaphor for dance, the unbroken movement of living cosmos, which is one of its
characteristics. Nothing is static, all is in movement and the primordial movements are destruction
and regeneration. Therefore the feet are the metaphorically a description of the Being as well, where
the great feet is an expression of understanding the Being in a metaphysical way. Even today the
famous icon of Siva as the Nataraja (|hµõá) is known around the world.

Picture 21 the famous icon of Siva as Nataraja

The ancient Agama scriptures kept colourful descriptions of the meaning of this dance and we give
only one here, which we find in the collection Tevaram Tirumurai (öuÁµ® v¸•øÓ) in the
poem 3.25:

“v¸ßx öuÁß Si
40
Âsn»õÄ® ö|Ô ÃkPõmkß öÚÔ

©sq»õÄ® ö|Ô ©¯UP® w¸UP® ö|Ôz

öuso»õ öÁs©vz wsk® wÁßSßi

AsnÀ Bß BÖøh“
This verse means; the creatures, because they are affected by the root defiler arrogance
(BnÁ®) and also by the derivative defiler blindness (Ps©®) and illusion (©õ¯®).
Because of ignorance or blindness these sins cause to prevail and the creatures are forced to assume
a physical body, come to birth in the physical world and endure existence. Now the icon thinking on
the various forms taken from the Being, who has established himself sitting on the great bull in the
Tirut teevan kudi (v¸z@uÁß Si), where the woman touches it as the full moon of pure light,
will guide the souls by metaphysical clarity they bring to enjoy not only the heavenly existence, but
also to understand the true meaning of liberation.

In the literature of the classical Tamil we find the following verse: “the various guises of the great
feet, AiPÒ @Áh[P@Í “. Here the feet have to be understood as the dancing feet, which
give motion to the entire universe. The cosmos did not move, because of gravity, but deep inside of
the universe, there is a Being dancing, which is the cause of every movement, which includes the
dying, re – birth and resurrection. Dance is accompanied by music, which we find already given in the
Sumerian temple hymns. We give one example:

“Abju ti – gi – ju me – kam“, which are the Sumerian words and we find them translated in the
electronic corpus of Sumerian texts: “Abju, your tigi belongs to your me´s.” The Tamil version of the
Sumerian words is: “ uppu suur timiju mey akam (E¨¦‹º vªáú ö©¯P®), which we
translate: “The bright and tall shrine full of music, is also the place of the powers” The exciting word
here is the Sumerian word ti – gi, which was not translated by the scholars, who built up the
electronic corpus of Sumerian texts, which is a great work. The Sumerian letter “g” we can read as
“m” and the word will become in Tamil timi (vª), which denotes a musical instrument, the
cymbals. Even in present day this word is found in Tamil and denotes a sound to designate the raga
or rhythms. Here the rhythm has to be understood in the sense of underlying law, which is called in
the Agama and Tantric scriptures niyati ({¯v), the decrees, which are always without bending and
become in deviant, the law of the cosmos, from which no one can escape. In this relation we find
temple hymns, which express the explicitly.

“Your prince is the prince of heaven and earth, whose word can never be changed.” The words of this
verse are: “nun – ju nun – an – ki (missing letters) nu – kur – ru”, we give this verse in its Tamil
version: “ nunju nun vaankiiz (missing letters) naa kuuRRu (~ßáú ~ß ÁõßRÌ |õTØÖ),
which we translate: “Your Lord is the Lord of the heaven and earth, who is changeless.” The Being,
the dancer, who sets everything in motion is also the unchanging and whatever appearance he takes,
it is only a guise, not he himself but only his presentation. Here we have very open visible the Being
of the Agama and Tantric tradition, who presents himself as so many different gods, which are all his
guise taken as the dancer for to keep the entire cosmos in motion. In the Sumerian temple hymns we
find the reason for the moving:
41
“Your firmly jointed hose is clean, without equal”. The Sumerian verse is “e – ja – kesda – ju sita di nu
– di”, which we give in the Tamil version: “ il jiya kasdda ju siitaa di naa di (CÀ ⯠Pamh áú
^uõ) di (|õ) di.” From this we understand, the temple was not only indestructible, the temple was
also clean, which means full of Pure Light. The dance is only present in as temple tower, which is pure
and full of the pure light. The dance is performed for to make all the creatures pure and clean. For
this in the classical Tamil literature we have the word cuttam (”zu®). From the Sumerian temple
hymns we have some more information on the dance.

“The great (missing word) the (missing word) the beautiful place, light enters not.” The Sumerian
words of this verse are: “kin – gal kin ki – du u nu – dib – be”. Not all from these words got translated.
We give them in their Tamil version: “kaNkaL kaaNkidu uu naa tiippee (Ps PÒ Põs Qk F
|õ w¨@£). We translate: “ for eyes to see, the light did not brighten it.” This means the dance is
performed in the unconscious, the depth, where no light reaches as well. We understand from this
verse further the empty and dark room of the temple, which is testified by the Sumerian temple
hymns and which is described in the scriptures of the Agama tradition. This verse includes what we
find in the Saiva Siddhanta called tirootakam (v@µõuP®). This means the Being conceals himself;
the Being is hidden and concealed for the average of the individual for to become motivation of
learning and to climb up the various steps of the pyramid from the temple tower in a metaphysical
sense. This is only possible if the individual is prepared for each of the steps to climb up this pyramid.
By removing the transcendental concealment it is possible to reach the Being itself, is the individual
learns and become prepared for the liberation.

Picture 22 the temple towers of the Tirupparankundram Murugan temple , Madurai and the Rajagopuram

42
 5. The Sumerian Gods and their names in the Agama and Tantric
literature

In this chapter we will look on the Gods found in the Sumerian temple hymns as far as possible. We
will start take care of the archaeological and mythological stories we can find on these god, with
possible iconographical pictures.

1. The God Asar – lu – hi or Asal – lu – hi

From this god we read in the Sumerian temple hymn No 10 and we find him mentioned in some texts
is Akkadian sources. In the temple hymn No 10 we read him to be the god of the temple in Ha.a,
which we read in the Akkadian sources to be the city of Kuar. The sing HA.A, which is left unread in
the translations from the temple hymns, is according to the Akkadian sources the city Kuar, where
we find also the readings of Kumari and Kaur. These Akkadian readings are close to the place Kumari,
which we find in the Tamil sources regarding the 3 Sangam academies. We give in a few l verses from
the text Udug Hul for to make this clearer.

1. I am the anointing priest, the knowledgeable sangamah

In Sumerian this verse is “ga – e gudu sag – gam – mah ju me – en” from which the Tamil version will
be:” gaayee koodu Sankam mee suu maan (Põ@¯ @Põk Œ[P® ©õ ‹©õß)” and our
translation is: “ I am a ritual dancer ´, who knows the rules established by the great academy.

2. I am the man of Asilal

In Sumerian words: “ga – e asilal ki me – en”. This verse we give in the Tamil version:”gaayee
aacuyilal maan (Põ@¯ B”¼»À ©õß) and we translate this:”I am the man from Asillal,
where there are no impurities.”

3. I am the incantation priest of Ku ´ar, who indeed cleansed and also purified

The Sumerian words: ga – e ka – pirig (a – ha) ki he – sikil – la he – ga – dadag – ga me – en. From this
we get the Tamil version:”gaayee kaapiri kumari eysukkilla eyka tantanku maan (Põ@¯ Põ¤›
S©› G#”UQÀ» G#P u[u[S ©õß).” We translate this: “I am the incantation priest
of Kumari (Kauri), attained purity and attained living long, too.”

4. I am the anointing priest, the purification priest of Enki

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We have here the Sumerian words: “gudu susbu en – ki – ga me – en”. They will become in Tamil:
“koodu soobu Enkiizkka maan (@Põk @Œõ¦ Hs RÌUP ©õß).” We translate this “I am the
brilliant dancer of Enki.”

If we take the Sumerian word gu – du for to be the Tamil word koodu (@Põk), where it means
dancing, we can understand the Sumerian words from the first verse “gu – du sag – gam – mah” in
the sense of “the great academy, where dancing is taught or performed” We can understand the
priest called ka – pirig as a shaman spriest, which we translate literally, he, who opens his mouth,
who with his incantation cleanses the souls and cures the diseases by them. The scholar Geller in his
book gives the following explanation to the sign A – ha

“ A – HA was read as Kumari (Kaur)” and he further wrote: “this hypothesis contradicts a theory vy
Van Dijk, that since Ku ´ar was a city known as non – Sumerian speaking as well as the city of Asalluhi,
the “Gross exorcist von Eridu, it is temptimg to identify Ku ´ar as the home of the non – canonical
incantation on Subarian – Elamite languages. Van Dijs argument is partially based on the wrong
copied sing in the CT 16. 6. 239 – 240, which reads: eridu (ki) ku ´ar (A.Ha) (ki) – se mu – un – na – ri
he – me – e – n. The Akkadian version is sa ina eri – du u ku – ma – ri re – hu – u ana – ku. The reading
of ku – ma – ri is supported by ki – mar CT 51 105.21 – 22. “ The exciting and important point is In the
Tamil texts, we find the place also called Kauri beside Kumari. This parallel in morphology and
meaning is remarkable. We can here suggest the historical continuity even the geographical location
has changed. If we can understand here the God Asarluhi was located at Kumari, we can connect him
with the God Murugan, who is called Kumaran (S©µß), which classifies him as the god of Kumari
in the original place and understood as a youthful warrior.

Picture 23 God Murugan in iconography

44
The Sumerian God Asar – lu – hi we can define by the meaning of his name. The name suggests he
was the primordial God of Speech. We find him also written in the version As – sar – lu – hi. We can
take the word as like we do it in the word as – im – babbar and take it as the Tamil word aati (Bv),
which means original and also primordial. The word sar we take analogue to the word in dub – sar,
which becomes in Tamil saaRRu (ŒõØÖ), which means to read, to utter, tu relate and so forth. We
find in the present day Tamil the word ssattiram (Œõzvµ®) with the meaning literature. From this
we can suggest him to be the one, who is the primordial power over the speech. This is in union with
the legends related to the God Murugan, who is said the specific deity of the syllable OM, the
primordial logos and he is said to have told to his father Siva the secrets of OM. We find this story in
the Agama texts. From this we can take Murugan and As – sar – lu – hi to be the word and which
notion is easy for to understand as the emerged first in the context of reciting mantras and for to
cure the diseased individuals by removing the evil spirits. We find the God Asar – lu – hi written in a
variant as Asal – lu – hi and the word sar would become sal, suul (ŒÀ, ‹À) in Tamil. We can
further understand this word as a variation of As – sul – lu – hi, where the King Sulgi is also noted to
occur as the deity that bears the suulam (‹»®), the spear. From this we can suggest this god is
also the god of the primordial light. The word as becomes aati (Bv)and the word sul is equal to
the word suul, which will become suur (ܼ), the light, which radiates out. The light is symbolised by
the single bladed spear, which is called veel (@ÁÒ) in Tamil. We give one verse of the Udug Hul as
the evidence for our understanding. We read in the verse 210:

“I am the priest of Enki”, where we have the Sumerian words: “ ga – e lu sanga en – ki – ga me – en”,
which we take in Tamil in the form: “ ngaayee aaLu saanka eeNkiizaka maan (bõ@¯ BÐ
Œõ[P Hs RÇP©õß). If we look on the words, we can see many exciting points. The
Sumerian word ga – e is possible to read in Tamil as ngaayee (bõ@¯) which will be changed into
njaanee (bõ@Ú) to naanee (|õ@Ú), which means I myself. The Sumerian word sanga we find
preserved in the Tamil word saankiiyam (Œõ[R¯®), which means rituals. The Sumerian word en –
ki will be in Tamil eeN kiiz (Hs RÌ), the Lord of the Earth. The word en has developed eeN ->
veeN -> veeL , the deity. In the next verse of the Udug Hul we read:

“I am the purifier of Damgalnunna”, the Sumerian words are: ga – e – ku – ga dam – gal – nun – na
me –en”, which will be in Tamil version: “ngaayee kooka tamkaL nunna maan (bõ@¯ @PõP
u[PÒ ~ßÚ ©õß). The word tankal is tam + kaL and the entire word tamkaLnunna means
the highest and great woman. Therefore it denotes the Great Mother Goddess. In the following
verses 211 to 213 we find the God Asalluhi mentioned, even many words are missing. The most
exciting appears in the last verse:

“I am the man of Namma”, the Sumerian words are: ga – e lu – namma me – en, which we give in
Tamil “bõ@¯ BÐ |®©©õß .“ We can understand here Namma as Nanna, the Moon God,
whom we find also bythe nasme Nanna Su ´en. In the classical Tamil Sangam literature we find the
personal name Nannan (|ßÚß). The Tamil word namban (|®£ß) is also a word with the
meaning god. The incantation priest “lu sanga” was the man of various gods, including Asal – lu – hi
and get from them different powers for to remove the evil spirits and to cure the diseased man.

45
 2. Shamanism in ancient Sumer

The Sumerian word sangu, which we translate here as priest, was a man, who practiced obviously
Shamanism. In the incantation texts, which are called by the Sumerian word en – nu – ru, which will
be in Tamil en uru (Gݸ), we read clearly he spoke the words of the gods like Namma, Asul – lu –
hi, Enki and the other gods. Their word had the power for to remove the evil spirits. From this we can
understand, the presence of the divine power made the evil spirits to go away by their own and by
this the person became healthy again. We give a few verses again taken from the Udug Hul, where
we can read the words of the priest during the ritual of exorcism in the Sumerian Period. The
exorcism is done in the name of the gods, the priest gets into a kind of trance and the gods take
possession of the priest and talk through him the verses of the mantra for to make the evil spirits to
go away from the man.

1. I adjure there, first I adjured you

This verse in the Sumerian words: “ i – re – ni – pa sag i – re – ni – pa”, which will be in Tamil version:
“niiyiree poo, saan niiyire poo (}°@µ @£õ, ŒõßÜ°@µ @£õ)”, which we translate: “You all
go away. You all go away from people.”

2. I adjoured you byheaven, I adjured you by earth

This verse we have given in Sumerian: “zi an – na i – re – pa.” The Tamil version will be: ”jii vaanna
yiree poo jii kiizayiiree poo (ã ÁõßÚ°@µ @£õ RDZ@µ @£õ). We translate this: “In the
name of the celestial beings, you all go away. In the name of the earth you all go away.”

3. I adjure you by Hendursag, the night watchman

The Sumerian words are: “zi hendur – sag – ga nimgir ge i – re – pa” from which we have the Tamil
form: “ jii eentur saaka nimkiir yiree poo (ã@Áßxº ŒõP {[Rº°@µ @£õ)”. This verse we
translate: “You all go away in the name of the good gods, who live on the hill peaks.”

4. I adjure you by the great gods

Here we have the Sumerian words: “zi dingir gal – gal – e- ne i – re – pa”, which will become in Tamil:
“jii tinkir kaLkaLayinee yiree poo (ã vßQº PÒPÍ°@Ú °@µ @£õ)”, which we translate:
“In the name of the great divine beings, you all go away.”

5. When I deliver the spell

The Sumerian words are: “tu mu – un – na – ab – sum – mu –ta” and in Tamil their version will be:
“too munna av summatu (@uõ•ßÚ AÆ ”®©)” and we translate: “When I recite the spell.”

46
The exorcism is called uccadanam (EaŒõhÚ®) in the texts of the Siddha literature. In the work
from Tirumalar (v¸©»º) we have it given in a scientific form. According to his text, there must be
the recitation of the Siva mantra together with yogic contemplation, where the blessings of Siva are
sought. In the text Sivais denoted by the name Aiyanar (I¯Úº) and the sould must become one
with the Being, as Aiyanar, for to have a successful treatment and the removal of the evil spirit. The
procedure is given in the Tirumalar in details. We will not give all, but show a little for to give an idea
of the unbroken tradition from Sumerian time to the classical Tamil period. Man can`t drive away the
evil spirits, which caused the disease. This can be done only by the deities and it is their support and
grace, which give success to the treatment. The person must have the intention that is grasped by
the deity. The intention is that thedeitymust bring about the death of the evil forces, which afflict the
patient and without giving damage to any other aspect. In the entire it has to be good for the
person. The communication with the deity is done first bythe choosing of a seat on the planks of the
Jackfruit tree, which is called palaasam (£»õŒ®) in Tamil. This tree is noted as the one, where the
evil spirits dwell. The next step is the plate chosen is dark in appearance and which symbols the
spirits t be driven away live in the realms of dark and killing stuff, the chain. Then on the plate is
smeard poison in the cirlce of bindu, which makes sure, there must be a killing of the evil forces
alone and not to the good, which will bring the death of the person. The words and the part of Bindu
are divine and at the same time the productive and generative process. The entire process of Bindu
will make sure the recovery of the patiant after the evil forces has gone. This we find in the verse
999 from Tirumalar, where we read:

“B[S Áh@©ØQÀ I¯Úõº @PõmhzvÀ

£õ[S £h@Á £»õŒ¨ £»øP°À

Põ[P¸® HmiÀ Pk¨ §] ÂßxÂmk

K[Põ©À øÁzvk® •aŒŒÚxU@P “

We translate: “Choosing one of the yoga postures, sit properly in the temple of Aiyanar and on a
plank made of the Jackfruit tree and continue reciting the Sivamantra. You must alsosmear a kind of
poison on the plate that it is dark in appearance and which must encircled by a circle of Bindu and
ensure that it does not go beyond the boundries drawn. In this way you shall realice the process of
exorcism.

As we have shown above in the Sumerian verses this exoscism was brought into a kind of
hermeneutic science, where it is noted that the case of evil deeds done by the person will affect this
person. We have here theform of thinking on Karma, which is an important part of the entire gamut
of ancient Indian thinking. We show it in a few more verses from the Sumerian incantarion

1. Since his body contained the evil of the broken oath

The evil irritation stood in all his limbs

In Sumerian: hul nam – erim – ma su – na gal – la – na

In Tamil: J¾ G›®©Ú® ‹ºÚ PõÀ»Ú

47
 2. The demons injected his bad blood separately

The emerging of his evil karma has shown itself in the open

In Sumerian: u – mu – un hul – a – ni bar – ta im – mi – in – gar – re – es

In Tamil: K•ß J»õÛß ¦Ózx C®ªß Põ›”

3. Since his body contained the evil namtar demon with its evil

His evil dharma stood on his limbs

In Sumerian: nam – tar hul – bi – ta su – na gal – la – na

In Tamil: uº©ß JÀ¤zu ‹ºÚ PõÀ»Ú

4. Or since his body contained its venomous evil

Like poison it stood on his limbs

In Sumerian: us hul – bi – ta su – na gal – la – na

In Tamil: E” JÀ¤zu ‹ºÚ PõÀ»õÚ

5. Or since his body contained an evil curse

The curse he inherited sood on his limbs

In Sumerian: as – hul su – na u gal – la – na

In Tamil: B]ö¯õÀ ‹ºÚ PõÀ»Ú

6. Or since his body contained the evil of punishment

The evil things stood there on his limbs to attack him

In Sumerian: hul nam – tag – ga su – na gal – la – na

In Tamil: JÀ uõUSÚ® ‹ºÚ PõÀ»Ú

7. Or the venom of misdeed hung over him

48
 To inject poison they hung over him

In Sumerian: us nam – tag – ga ugu – na gal – la – na

In Tamil: E” uõUSÚ® F[SÚ PõÀ»Ú

8. Therefore they have brought evil

Therefore they brought suffering

In Sumerian: hul – a mu – un – ga – ga

In Tamil: JÀ» •ßPõÀPõÀ

9. The evil man, evil eye, evil mouth and evil tongue

In Sumerian: lu hul igi hul ka hul eme hul

In Tamil: B¾ JÀ°ª JÀPõ JÀ°®@© JÀ

10. The evil deeds worked woe in him

The agents of suffering stood there to ride over him

In Sumerian: .. hul u – a mi – ni – in – gar – re – es3

In Tamil: JÀ KÁªÛß Põ›°”

In these few verses from the Sumerian incantation we see clear the thought of karma, which is the
cause of the desease4.

This deity Asar – lu – hi is for sure the most exciting of all the Sumerian Gods, we do not only connect
him with the God Murugan from the ancient Tamil literature. We find an exciting relation to ancient
Egypt as well. On the panel, excavated in the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun we find the first
part of the deities name “Asar”. We give the texts in translation, found in the “Digitized collection of
ancient Egyptian source texts”. There we read:” You will be among the nine deities of Annu, you will
not be distinguished from them ASAR, King, Master of the transformation of Re.” In addition we see
the Pharaoh depicted as 7 Asars interspersed by the sign for breath and in the upper left hand of the
panel we see a snake, which has the name Mehen. This name means according to the translators, the

3
This verse is incomplete, the first words are missing
4
In this relation it is exciting, what we find written by Dr. L. Gahlin in his work Egypt Gods. Here we read on the
excavation of a wooden box in one tomb from the late Middle Kingdom, where inside was found papri keeping
utterances, a bronze snake wand, a wooden figure of a woman wearing the mask of female deity.
49
coverer. From the legends we know the Pharaoh is killed by his brother and recollected by hiswife or
sister. Then he is installed in the underworld and judge the dead. The title Asar was added before the
royal title for to express the hope of to enjoy the gift of a life after dead. The title Asar was aded to
their names during the funerary ritual.

Picture 24 we show here the golden panel from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun

3. More Aspects of the Sumerian God Asar – lu – hi

It is very much exciting to see the connection of snake with the Egyptian God Osiris, who is said to be
the son of Re, with the Sumerian God Asar – lu – hi, the son of the Sun God Utu and Murugan, the
son of Siva. We have shown in the chapter before the symbolized Kundalini by the snake. In this
connection we need to look on the name of the God Murugan. The root of his name is the word
muru, meru (•¸, ö©¸), which has the meaning of glisten, sparkle and so forth. The Sumerian
word ri, will become in Tamil eri (G›) and means fire. From this view we can understand the three
Gods Orisis, Asar – lu – hi and Murugan as the brilliance. In the Sumerian temple hymn No 10,
dedicated to Asar – lu – hi we have the phrase eden – muru, which we translate as the expanse of
the pure radiance. From this definition it is clear the Gid Asar – lu – hi appears as the real and pure
brilliance. In the temple hymn verse 2 we read:

“eden muru sa – ta me su – ti”, which is translated in the electronic corpus of Sumerian texts: “plain
with heavy clouds, taking me´s from its midst.” The Tamil version of the Sumerian verse is: “ eetil
50
muru saaytta mey cooti (HvÀ •¸Œõ#zu ö©# @Œõv)”. We translate: “Plain that brilliand
and in the interior of which burns the true radiance.” The Sumerian word eden means plain and will
become in Tamil eetil (HvÀ), where it denotes the outskirt of a settlement. We have in the classical
Tamil literature the expression eetilaaLan (Hv»õÍß), the one from the outside. The Sumerian
word muru will be in Tamil the same word muru (•¸) or meru (ö©¸), which means to shine
forth, to glisten and so forth. The Sumerian word su – ti means flame and will become in Tamil cooti
(@Λv), the brilliant light. In the verse 4 of the temple hymn we get one more exciting description:

“The Lord, who does not hold back his goods, goes amazed”, we read in the electronic corpus for the
translation o the Sumerian verse: “en ni – su nu – gi u – e am – ma – du”. The Tamil version of this
verse is:”eeN nii su naa miiL uuyee aamma idu (Hsp” |õ«Ò F@¯ A®©Âk) “. This
we translate: “The Lord does not give anything evil, but only the bright and good.”

From this verse we understand Asar – lu – hi, Murugan and Osiris are the pure light of intensive
radiance and who is also the power of purification, which gives not anything evil. In the both verses
of the Sumerian temple hymn we have the metaphysic found in the Saiva Sidhanta. The basic of ethic
is the becoming of pure (”zu®). For become purified, the individual has to allow the inner
radiance to shine forth. By the rise of Murugan, Asar – lu – hi or Osiris the dirt will become removed.
This dirt is called niisam (}Ψ) and is a metaphor for ignorance. By this metaphysical thought it is
very clear, why these three gods were very much important for the early medicine. In the classical
Sangam literature we read on the priest, the veeLan (@ÁÍß), who is called the spear carrier in
imitation of the god Murugam, who is the God with the spear. We read on the priest, who is a kind of
shaman, who will remove the evil spirit with his dance of frenzy. This dance is called in the texts
veRiyaaddu (öÁÔ¯õmk). In the next verse of the Sumerian temple hym we read, how Asar – lu
– hi get the power of the pure light.

“The seven wise ones have enlarged is for you everywhere”. The Sumerian verse is: “ab.gal imin – e
sig – nim – ta su mu – ra – ni – in – mu – us“. This will be in Tamil: „avkaL aiminee sikka nimmata suu
muruvannin muusu (AÆPÒ Iª@Ú ]UP {®©u ‹•¸ÁÛß ‰”)”. We translate:
“The seven great ones, the brilliant ones from above have radiated with brilliant light.”

We look shortly for a better understanding on the words of this verse. The Sumerian word ab.gal
means they and will become in Tamil av, avai (AÆ, AøÁ), which is added by kaL (PÒ), they,
the great one. The Sumerian word nim, which means realms above will become in Tamil nimir
({ªº) and means to stand up, the word nivar ({Áº) means to climb up. The Sumerian words su,
sur, sul means radiant light and will be in Tamil suur (‹º), radiant light and suuriyan (‹›¯ß)
means the sun. The Sumerian word mu – ra we find in the variant mu – ru – a, means briiliant and
will be in Tamil muru, meru (•¸, ö©¸) to glisten, to shine forth and so forth. The Sumerian
word mu – us means to spread everywhere and will become in Tamil muusu (‰”) to roam around.
The word means also snake. The Sumerian word mus, mu – us has also the meaning of snake and is
here meant in the sense of the great ones in the sky, who supply Murugam, Osiris and Asar – lu – hi
are also worshipped as seven deities like a shape of a snake. In the light of this understanding, we will

51
give an interpretation of the panel from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. We will show here the
picture again.

Picture 25 the golden panel again.

This picture we can divide into three parts and each part we can divide again into 3 sections. We see
the presence of the God Re given by the sun disk, which belongs to each of the sections. The sun disk
is connected to each figure by rays of light, which we understand as a reference that the light of Re
enters their bodies. At the beginning of the upper and lower part we see a snake, which is obviously
a cobra, which is spitting. Each of the 6 gods in the first section of the upper part has the ba – bird in
front of him and receives the light from a star, only the first god get the directly from the snake. We
understand here it is the light of Re, which enters them. The second section of the upper part begins
with a cat, but the 7 figures following have no head, they have a face depicted directly before them
always inserted between a star and a sun disk with rays of light. Over them light flows directly into
their bodies from other sun disks with legs. Here we see the separation and the rejoining from the
head and the body. Each of the 6 gods in the last section stands on the snake called Mehen, which
helps by his regeneration and receives the life giving light from the disc in front of him.

Here we find the 7 great ones above in the heaven, like snakes, which spend out the brilliant and
pure light, which gives the power to Osiris, Asar – lu – hi and Murugan to purify the soul. The snake
and its symbol in the literature of Tantric tradition are well known. We will look onto the picture
given above from the Sumerian temple hymn in the light of these Tantric scriptures.

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Picture 26 iconography of the Egyptian God Osiris

The Kundalini in the Tantric scriptures and tradition is the symbolized by the icon of the snake, which
is the symbol of the coiled power. The spear, called veel (@ÁÒ), which is the symbol of the Gods
Asar – lu – hi and Murugan is in the ancient scriptures is also describes as a triangle with a shaft.
From view of understanding, the pyramid of the temple tower, which we examined in the chapters
before is the picture of a triangle in the three dimensional way and is in a specific way the spear on a
metaphysical understanding. It is a symbol of the energy, which can remove the darkness. It brings
into appearance the reality hidden by the darkness. In Sumerian the word for the dark force is called
mi – iri, which we express in Tamil by the word mai iri (ø©°›). Here we get one more
metaphysical symbol of the pyramid, which we didn´t discuss above. The pyramid of the temple
tower, like the spear, is a symbol of the strong light, which is sent out by the Sun god Utu, in
Sumerian, the metaphysical Sun, which lights up the world. The spear and the pyramid, which
remove the darkness remains indestructible. Every time the spear, the pyramid of the temple tower
gives a peasant view and the understanding of the Being, who lives there permanently and who lights
up the world is understood as the peace of mind, the experience of untold and indescribable joy.
Before we go on to discuss, we need to understand the meaning of the word asar, which is not only
the root of the name from the god´s name, it is also the title of the pharaoh in the funerary ritual. We
can be a variant of the word asur, where the “a” functions as a prefix of intensity and the Sumerian
word sur will become in Tamil suur (ܼ) and means to radiate out intense light. From this word we
derive the name suuriyan (‹›¯ß) for the sun. From this we can understand the name Asur as
the intense light of great strength. The Assyrian God Assur we can understand in this way, too. In this
view we can understand the verse 10 from the above temple hymn, which suggests the god Asar – lu
– hi is connected to the primordial speech. We read:

53
“asar – alim – nun – na dumu – abzu – ke e“. These are the Sumerian words, which are translated:
„Asaralimnunna, the son of the Abzu “ The Tamil version of this verse: “asar aalim nunna tamu
appucukkee (AŒµõ¼® ~ßÚz u• A¨¦”U@P). The Sumerian verse defines asar as alim -
nun - na, which means the lofty or great power from the words nunna (~ßÚ) in Tamil or lofty and
from the word alim (B¼®) in Tamil for power. The Sumerian word a will become in Tamil aal
(BÀ) and means to spread out, to expand and by this action to show power. The Tamil word aalal
(B»À), from which we derive aaRRal (BØÓÀ) means power, capacity and so forth. Therefore the
phrase asar alim - nun - na we translate as the radiating lofty power. This second part of the
Sumerian verse describes this further by the words dumu - abzu - ke, the son from the watery
underground. The Sumerian word dumu is in Tamil tamu (u•) and the Sumerian word abzu will be
in Tamil appu (A¨¦), the elemental water. From this we understand the existence of a cosmology
of intense light with great strengths is coming from the metaphysical depths and manifests itself in
the cosmos, but in the picture and genealogy of the son. The picture of the Son of God is not only in
the Sumerian literature an often shown motive. We see this picture in the Agama and Tantric
scriptures used very often. The Sumerian kings used it for to legitimate their rule and said themselves
fro to be the son of a god or a goddess. From this view we can understand the meaning of the words
from the King Sulgi in his Hymn B much better. We give the verses 11 and 12 from this hymn.

“ lugal – e lugal – a – ria – nin – e – tu – da me – en“ we read in the Sumerian words from verse 11.
This is translated: “I the king of royal descent, whom a princess bore.” The Tamil version of this verse
is: “uLukaLLee uLukaL aariya ninnee todda maan (E¾PÒ@Í EÐPÍõ›¯ {ß@Ú
öuõmh ©õß)”, which we translate: “ I am the King, the rare and exceptional King, one who the
Mother Goddess bore herself.” In verse 12 we read:

“sul – gi – me – en dumu – gi sa – zi – ta nam – dug – tar – ra – me – en“, which got translated: “I am

Sulgi, the legitimate price, was allotted a good destiny, right from the faithful heart.” The Sumerian
words, we give in Tamil form: “suulki maan tamu ji saay satta naayam tunka taaram maan (‹ÀQ
©õß u•â Œ##Œzu |õ¯® x[P uõµ®©õß)”, which we translate: “I am Sulgi, the
noble son entering the divine womb, allotted a great and noble destiy.” From the word ari – a in the
verse 12 , which will be in Tamil aar (Bº) and means to radiate out, we can conclude the King Sulgi
says he is Asar, but on the earth. We can read the Sumerian word ari – a also as Tamil ariya (A›¯),
which means the rare and exceptional. We can possibly derive the name of the King Sulgi from the
name of the God Asar – lu – hi. The prefix a is dropped and we get sar – lu – h, which can become sur
– lu – hi, which changed to sul – gi. If this derivation is correct, here more research is needed, then
we can understand the name of King Sulgi as someone, who got the destiny to live as Asar – lu – hi
himself on earth. We can suggest sul – gi to be the root of the Tamil word cuuzi (‹È), which we
find in the classical Tamil literature in the word soozan (@ŒõÇß) for the Cola Kings.

If we understand the metaphysical meaning in this all correct, we get a cosmic genealogy, which we
find in the Saiva Siddhanta, the Agama and Tantric tradition. The most primordial energy out of the
transformation, from which the basic elements air, fire, water, earth and sky are generated, by the
transformation of the pure energy Asar. As the son he reigns over the world of water, which is an
allusion of the phenomenal world, which is made out of the basic elements fire, wind, water earth

54
and ether. If we go on to study the 10th temple hymn we find some more exciting functions for the
God Asar – lu – hi, which we find in the classical Tamil literature attributed to the God Murugan. We
look into the verse 6.

“nun – zu nun – kal – kal asar – lu – hi lu – kal – kal“ is the Sumerian verse from the verse 6, which got
translated: “Your prince is the highly esteemed prince, Asarluhi, the highly esteemed one.” The
Tamil version of the Sumerian verse will be: “nun ju nun kal kal asaarluhi ulukal kal (~ß áú
~ßPÀ PÀ AŒõº¾Q EÐPÀ PÀ).” We translate this: “Your Lord is a highly learned,
Asarluhi, the person very highly learned.” The word kal – kal means precious and higly esteemed. In
Tamil the word kal (PÀ) means precious stones. The word kal – kal can mean very learned and in
Tamil the word kal (PÀ) means to learn. In the various stories on God Murugan in classical Tamil
literature, we read on Murugan, the lord of the metaphysical illumination, the inner radiance is said
to be the one, who taught Siva, his father, himself.

In this temple hymn 10 we find many connections of the Sumerian God Asar – lu – hi with the Tamil
God Murugan. This hymn we will give complete at the end of this section on the God Asar – lu – hi.
Before we give the temple hymn, we will look into the later Tamil literature on the relation from
body, cosmos and the metaphysical pyramid of the temple tower. Before we will look on to the
Egyptian cosmic genealogy as we find it in the legends given. The following is taken from the
“digitized collection of the ancient Egyptian source texts”.

The cosmic genealogy is given as follows:

1. Generation is Re, the Sun

2. Generation are the air, Shu, and the moisture , Tefnut
3. Generation are the earth, Geb, and the sky, Nut
4. Generation are the divine pharaoh, Asar, and the divine queen, Aset, the envious silbings, Set
and Nebt Het. Further Idb – Er – khenti – An – Maa

In the legend the generation 2 to 4 are said to be the 9 of Re, called pesdj, and grouped in male and
female pairs. Only the last deity is not divided into male and female. When the Pharaoh
Tutankhamun is addressed as Asar, Son of Re it is the divine pharaoh, who has given the title Asar.
We gave above an interpretation of the golden panel, the virtue is given by the rays of the sun. Some
of the genealogy we find in the Sumerian temple hymn 10. If we can assume here a correspondence
further research has to show. But with this in the mind, it is very exciting to look into the divine
ecology given by the Tolkappiyam. In giving the cosmological and metaphysical genealogy, the
natural genealogy is given, too. The texts from the classical Tamil Period are much later than the
Sumerian texts, but we can date them only roughly. We date Tolkappiyam around 300 b. C. and the
other text, the Tirumantiram (v¸©ßvµ®), around 600 a. C.

In the Tolkappiyam we find as first generation paal, pakal (£õÀ, £PÀ), the bright radiance from
which appeared the various gods like Murugan, Varuna, Tirumaal and so forth. They correspond to
the Asar of the Egyptian cosmology, but we didn´t find this defined as a divine king or pharaoh. They
are gods, that rule the various regions and locations of the cosmos. What we find here are the 7 tinai
(vøn), which are the inner ecologies and remember us to the 7 snakes of the golden panel,
where the snakes spitting out rays of light. These rays of light we can understand as energy. From

55
these 7 snakes we find two snakes, which are classified as unethical by the Tamil texts and further by
various Agama and Tantric texts in Sanskrit and regional languages. In the Tamil texts these snakes
are called:

- one sided love, kaikkiLai (øPUQøÍ)

- abnormal sexuality, peruntinai (ö£¸ßvøn)

These are comparable to the Set and Nebt Het of the fourth generation, which hare capable of evil
actions. The other 5 ecologies are ethical and they are ordained by the gods, who express the Love in
supreme reign. In the Tolkappiyam we didn`t find the second and third generation from the Egyptian
cosmology, but we find the tinai (vøn), which have a double meaning. They are meant
geographically and also psychological. This is clear, when we read the description of the 5 regions in
which the country is divided by these tinai. The geographical region is the foundation of socio
behaviour and of aggression. In Tolkappiyam we see compared to the Egyptian genealogy remarkable
and important differences. Tolkappiyam mentions of all deities only male forms; no female is related
to Murugan as a fact. Even we see many equivalents with Asar, we didn`t have anything comparable
to the female deity Aset. We need to look on the Tirumantiram, where we read on the Kundalini
Yoga. We have between Tolkappiyam and the text of Tirumantiram a long time difference and we
find in the work TirumurukaaRRaud padai (v¸•¸PõØÖm£øh) dated in the around 200 a.
C. the icon of the 6 headed God Murugan is rooted on the 6 forts of Murugan (BØÖ£øh) in
this work.

Picture 27 the 6 headed God Murugan

These 6 heads are systematized into 6 atara cakra with the Brahmantiram, the shaft of intense
radiation right at the top and by this we get again magical number 7. In this system we find a
correspondence to the Egyptian genealogy. The atara cakra are said to be ordained by a divine
couple. They are:
56
 1. Ganesa with his consorts Sitti and Butti , Muulataaram
2. Brahma with his consort Sarasvati, Svatistanam
3. Visnu with his consort Laksmi, Manipuurakam
4. Rudra with his consort Rudti, Anakatam
5. Mahesvara with his consort Mahesvari, Vucukti
6. Satasiva with his consort Manoonmani, Aknja Cakra

Therefore here stands the Brahmarantiram for Re and we find the Asar – Asat differentiated into 6
pairs of gods. These 7 snakes are identified with the pure light of the Brahmarantiram. We find in this
connection again the need to climb from one cakra to the next higher one, where the peak is
compared to the lotus with 1000 petals, where there is ambrosia of eternal youth vitality and virility
is found.

Picture 28 the 6 atara cakra with the Brahmarantiram at the peak of the head

This climb is against the chain of darkness, which force the soul to stay in blindness and metaphysical
ignorance. This darkess is the cause, which bring death to the living beings andthe entire physical
world. This darkness can bring back the primordial darkness again, which is clearly understood from
the Sumerian temple hymns other texts. The metaphysical climb is a life and death fight against theis
chain and it required the supply of continuous energy, which will push away the darkness aand the
death. This is where the snake, the coiled power comes from. They come one after another from the
different atara cakras, who are under the rule of the divine couples and grant to the individual the
power, if it is blessed to climb up to the peak, where the metaphysical sun shines, where the Being
resides.

57
In these section I touched some possible connections between the Sumerian God Asar – lu – hi, the
Egyptian God Osiris and the Indian God Murugan. Here we did just a first small step and much more
research is required.

Temple hymn 10

1. City in the Abzu (missing words) like grain

City with plenty of water, yielding things like grains

In Sumerian: uru abzu – ta se – gin sur – ra

In Tamil: F¸ A¨¦u @ŒWß ”µ

2. Plain with heavy clouds taking the mes from its middle

Plain that brilliant and in the interior of which burns the ture radiance

In Sumerian: eden muru sa – ta me su – ti

In Tamil: HvÀ •¸Œõ#zu ö©# @Œõv

3. Kuar, to the foundation of your shrine

Kauri the green garden for all the living things

In Sumerian: ha.aki temen – unu – zi – zu

In Tamil: öPÍ› u©ß EßÝ â â²

4. The Lord, who does not hold back his goods, goes amazed

The Lord does not give anything evil but only the bright and good

In Sumerian: en ni – su nu – gi u – e am – ma – du

In Tamil: Hs }” |õö©Ò F@¯ B®© Cx

5. The 7 wise ones have enlarged it for you everywhere

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 The 7 great ones, the beautiful ones from above have radiated with brilliant light

In Sumerian: abgal imin – e sig – nim – ta su mu – ra – ni – in mu – us

In Tamil AÆPÒ Iª@Ú {®©u ‹ •¸ ÁÛß ‰”

Lexical notes:

1. The Sumerian word “abzu” denotes the underground world of waters; the Tamil word for it is
appu (A¨¦) and means water as one of the basic elements. The Sumerian word “se” means
grains and will be in Tamil ci (]). We remark the word arici (A›]) for rice and cembu
(öŒ®¦), which is a kind of grain. The Sumerian word “sur – ra” will become in Tamil cura
(”µ) which means to ooze out like milk form the udder.

2. The Sumerian word “eden” means plain and will become in Tamil eetil (HvÀ), which means
the outskirt of a town or settlement. We remark here the word eetilaaLan (Hv»õÍß), the
one from the outside or the foreigner. The Sumerian word “muru” will become in Tamil
muru, meru (•¸, ö©¸) to shine forth and to glisten. The Sumerian word “su – ti” means
flame and will become in Tamil cooti (@Λv) the brilliant light. We understand to get here
the roots of the name Murugan given. He is the good of brilliant light and as that of deserts
and a true radiance is still the attributes of Murugan today.

3. The Sumerian word “unu” means great and will be in Tamil unnu (EßÝ), very tall and
lofty. We remark here the word unnatam (EßÚh®) great and lofty. The Sumerian word
“zi – zu” we find in another version as “zi – zi – u” which will become in Tamil jiivan, ciivan
(ãÁß, ]CÁß) living things. From the repetition of the word the plurality is formed. We
understand here we have a statement that Murukan is the Lord of Pazamutirec Coolai
(£Ç•vöµa @Œõø»), the garden of full of fruit trees, which is a metaphor of the worldly
joys.

4. The Sumerian word “ni – su” will become in Tamil niisam (}Œ®) and means something bad
and evil. The Sumerian word “u – e” means only the bright and we find in Tamil the word uu
(F), which developed to oL (JÒ), the bright, the light , the noble and so forth. The
Sumerian word “am – ma – du” will become in Tamil idu amma (Cx A®©), which means
definitely places and gives. The word idu (Cx) means to place. The particle “a” is used for
assent and agreement.

59
 5. The Sumerian word “ab.gal” is a pronoun and means they. In Tamil we have the word av, avai
(AÆ, AøÁ). The world kaL (PÒ) means great. The Sumerian word “imin” is a variant of
“aimin” , which means 7. In literally sense it means five plus two. In Tamil the word ai (I)
means 5. The Sumerian word “si”, “sig – ga” will become in Tamil cokka (öŒõUP), where it
means alluring and captivating. The Sumerian verb “nim” will become in Tamil nimir ({ªº),
which means to stand up and in the form of niver ({öÁº) to climb up. The Sumerian words
“su”, “sur” and “sul” will become in Tamil suur (‹º) and means the radiant light. We remark
the word suuriyan (‹›¯ß) for the sun. The Sumerian word “mu – ra” is a form of “mu – ru
– a” and will become in Tamil muru, meru (•¸, ö©¸) which means to glisten and to shine
forth. The Sumerian word “mu – us” will become in Tamil muusu (‰”) to ram around like in
the expression muusu vaNdu (‰” Ásx). Here in this verse we have a clear reference to
the 7 Karttikai Angels, which are identified with the 7 Pleiades, who have assigned to rear
Murugan, when he emerges as the ball of fire of the immense heat. Here we find the 7 wise
ladies to be together with Uma, who is understood as Parasakti , who supply the energy that
allows the intense radiation in all directions. In the Vedic texts we meet the 7 wise one as the
wives of the 7 Sages.

Picture 29 the Pleiades and their position 2350 b. C.

The next verses:

6. Your prince is the highly esteemed prince, Assarluhi, the highly esteemed one

Your Lord is a very precious lord, Asarluhi, the person who highly learned

In Sumerian: nun – zu nun – kal – kal asar – lu – hi lu – kal – kal

In Tamil: ~ßáú ~ßPÀ PÀ AŒõº¾Q SÐPÀPÀ

7. The hero born to be a prince, a leopard, who seizes prey

60
 The hero, who reaches the lofty peak, the leopard, who lightens up darkness

In Sumerian: ur – sag nun – ku tu – da pirig – tur kar dib – be

In Tamil: KºŒ[Q ~ßS öuõx ¤¼xºPõº w¨@£

8. He is like an onrushing storm, he gores the rebellious land

Like a storm that pours, he pours over the lands of transgressors and destroy

them

In Sumerian: ud – du – du – gim ki – bal – da du – du

In Tamil: Fx yzyQß RÌ £õ¼x yzx

9. As long as it is not obedient, he pours out poisonous foam on it

He embraces with beautiful words those, who do not destroy the godly.

In Sumerian: en – ne nu – se – ga eme – sig – g. a na – a

In Tamil: Hsn |õ^UP CªÌöŒõUP Aøn¯

10. Asarlimmunna, the son of the Abzu

In Sumerian: asar – alim – nun – na dumu – abzu – ke

In Tamil: AŒõµõ¼® ~ßÚ u• A¨¦”U@P

11. Ha, oh house of Kuar, placed the house upon your (missing word) that has taken

his place on your dais.

12. The house of Asarluhi in Kurar

In Sumerian: e asar – lu – hi ha.a

In Tamil: CÀ AŒº¾Q S©›

Lexical notes:

6. The Sumerian word “kal.kal” will become in Tamil kal (PÀ), which means precious stones.
We remark the word kalam (P»®), the treasure. The Sumerian word “kal.kal” means very
61
 learned and we have the same word in Tamil kal (PÀ), with the same meaning. We notice
Murugan is the lord of metaphysical illumination, the inner radiance is also mentioned as the
one who taught the god Siva

7. The Sumerian word “ur – sag” means hero and will become in Tamil oor saan (KºŒõß),
which has the meaning to rise above and to become unique. The Sumerian word “tu – da”
will become in Tamil todu (öuõx) and means to touch and to fashion. The Sumerian word
“pirig – tur”, translated as leopard, will become in Tamil tur pili, tur puli (xº ¤¼, xº ¦¼),
which means a small tiger. We have in classical Tamil the phrase the small tiger that
attacks;]Ö øu¨¤¼ . In The Sumerian texts we have the same phrase in a different order
of the words “tab – prirg – tur”. The Sumerian word “kar” means dark and will become in
Tamil kaar, karu (Põº, P¸), where it has the meaning darkness and black. The Sumerian
verb “dib – be” means to light up and will become in Tamil tiibam (w£®), which means flame
and torch.

8. The Sumerian word “ud” means wind and will become in Tamil uutai (Føu). The Sumerian
word du – du will become in Tamil tuuttu, tuRRu (yzx, yØÖ) and means heavy
downpour. This we understand as heavy rain storms. The Sumerian word “bal – da” means
rebellious and will become in Tamil paal (£õÀ), to crossover and to transgress. We remark
phrases like paaraam pariyam (£õµõ® £›¯®) paramparai (£µ®£øµ) as to cross over and
to constitute a tradition (verse 9)

9. The Sumerian word “sa – ga” will become in Tamil siiku (^S), where it means to attack ad
destroy. We remark the word sekku (öŒUS), the action for getting oil by pressing the seeds.
The Sumerian word “eme” will become in Tamil imiz, imir (CªÌ, Cªº) to hum. We notice
the word iyam (C¯®) to explain. The Sumerian word “sig – ga” will become in Tamil sokka
(öŒõUP), where it means pure and beautiful. (verse 10)

Is obvious the Sumerian name of the god Murugan. The mentioned city is “Kuar” and we can read it
as “Ku – me – ru”. In Tamil Kumari is also called Kauri, which was in earlier time identified with a
yound lady (Kumari), but which is related to Murugan, who is addressed as Kumaran (S©µß) and
KumaraveeL (S©µ@ÁÒ). This makes him to the god of Kumari. If we set in relation the Sumerian
and Egyptian word Asar with the Tamil words asaan (AŒõß) and arasan (AµŒß), we get aware of
the metaphysical importance, which can`t be accidental. We get here a suggestion of a Nubian,
Kemetian, Sumerian and Dravidian connection. We can suggest in the past time a co – existence of
these cultures, where we find the foundation of their concepts. We can for example suggest a
relation between the Kemetian word Re, the Sumerian Asar and the Tamil Asaan for teacher and
Arasan for king. The god Asar – lu – hi is the permanent one as the underlying power, the most true
light, which emerges from the field of pure brilliance, the parasakti, from which we have the
derivation of the name Murugan. This is the light, which establishes the truths and the destruction of
evils and falsities. The name in verse 10 Asar alim nunna is the son of source itself, he is said to be

62
the son of Siva, the son Murugan or Asarluhi. We see in the names of mighty kings often the title to
be the son of god, which gave them a specific authority. We find this title used from the ancient
Egyptian Pharao to the Sumerian king. In the Tamil grammar of Tolkappiyam we find the word Asaan
defined as follows: The Asaan of Atankoodu is well educated in the scriptures „|õß ©øÓ
•ØÔ¯ Au[@Põx AŒõß“. We can suggest to take the word asaar as the root for the
words aaciriyar (B]›¯º) and the Sanskrit acarya (AMm¶©). We can suggest this is the root of the
word asaaram (AŒõµ®) the rules of right conduct. We find in the ancient Tamil literature the word
asaarak koovai (AŒõµU @PõøÁ), which is dated around 300 a. C.

From the definition of Tolkappiyam on the word asar we can imply it was at his time the title of the
spiritual teacher and leader, who studied the scriptures well and advised to common people on the
right way of life. We further can suggest the King was in the very beginning the highest priest himself,
as we get it supposed to be from the famous Harappan priest king statue.

Picture 30 the famous priest king excavated in Harappa

We see in the Sumerian and Akkadian history on the high priestess to be a member of the royal
family and the priestess Anna was the daughter of King Sargon the Great, the founder of the
Akkadian Empire. We can suggest from the verse in the Tolkappiyam, this was the case at his time in
the Tamil royal court as well. Possibly we can set the Vel of Murugan in relation to the wedge, which
appeared in South Africa 30 000 years ago.

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Picture 31 a wedge

Here a lot of further research work is waiting. We didn`t have any Sumerian iconograhy of the God
Asar – lu – hi, but of course we have pictures from man with a spear of the kind we see in connection
with Murugan.

Picture 32 Sumerian/Akkadian picture of man with spear. We can`t classify him as Asar - lu – hi

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 5. The Sumerian God Enlil

The first two temple hymns from High Priestess Anna arededicated to the Gods Enki and Enlil. While
the God Enki is the Sumerian name for the God Siv from Agama and Tantric tradition, Enlil is the
Sumerian name for Visnu and some to him related gods of the Agama tradition. In this chapter, we
will look only on the God Enlil. In the Sumerian texts we find the God Enlilalso called Mu – ul – lil and
Se – ir – ma – al. Whe can understand them as the Sumerian name for the God Tirumaal
(v¸©õÀ), the black god. All the Sumerian Gods related to Enlil are found in the Agama tradition
as gods related to Visnu.

Picture 33 God Enlil in Sumerian iconography

In the Sumerian texts we find the God Enlil in company with his consort Ninlil, who is worshipped in
the 3rd temple hymn. In Sumerian the word lil means the wind and this word is obviously related to
the word la – la , which means to move about. In Tamil the word is alai alai (Aø» Aø»), while
in Malayalam we have the word lalu (ssO), to move. We find the Sumerian word lil in the Sanskrit
word liila (brb), to play. The God Tirumaal, a form of the God Visnu, is described in the classical Tamil
texts as the God of bewildering plays “iliila vinootan, C½»Â@Úõuß “. In Sumerian the word
en means Lord and we find it in a very wide occurance in the Sumerian texts. The Sumerian word is
from etymology the root of the Tamil word eeN (Hs). From the Tamil word eeN we derive the
word veeL (@ÁÒ) through the development of eeN -> veeN -> veeL. From the name Enlil, the deity
of the wind is the deity of every movement in the world. There is breathing and the cosmos is
understood as a living being, a spiritual substance, an organism of cosmic dimension and the entire
cosmos is understood as the breathing reality in Enlil, the Lord of this breathing. He is the wind that
moves and makes possible the living of all creatures. We can understand from the descriptions found
in the Sumerian temple hymns that Enlil we find in the Samkhya Philosophy and in the Purusa Sukta
of the Rig Veda described. The power, which makes the entire cosmos breath is the power, which
sustains life. Every creature in the universe is breathing, the little creatures, the living things acquire
their capacity of breathing and the living itself from the primordial and pre – existent breathing
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process is understood as the blessing of Enlil, the Tirumaal of the classical Tamil literature. God Enlil
becomes the one, who provides the preservation of living. This we find in the temple hymn
expressed clearly.

“ (missing words) – bu – zu zi – da – zu gab – bu – zu ke – en – gi ku – uri“ We read in the Sumerian

verse. This verse we find translated: „Your right and your left hands are Sumer and Akkad.” The Tamil
version of the Sumerian words are: “buju cittaju kaappuju kiz enki kiiz uri (¦áú ]zuáú
Põ¨¦áú QöÇ[Q RÊ›).” We translate: “Your heart and care are always with Sumer and
Akkad.” The Sumerian word gab – bu – zu will be in Tamil kaappu (Põ¨¦), where it means
preservation and protection. The God Enlil is the power, which makes the entire universe to breath
and is also understood as the sustainer of life from Sumer and Akkad, which is here in this verse an
expression with the meaning of the enitre world. This verse is beside a written proof for the close
relation between the Sumerian and the Akkadian culture at this time. It is exciting to see that even in
the present day literature the God Tirumaal is described as “Põ¨¦ PhÄÒ “, the god of
sustenance and preservation. This is in relation to the Gods Brahma, the creator and Siva, the
destroyer. This metaphysical picture makes sense if you see that breathing is the primordial pricess,
which sustains life and is understood as a blessing of Enlil. The Lord of the breathing process in the
universe.

Picture 34 icon of the God Tirumala, Tirumaal

The living beings receive their psychic energy from breathing and unles this breathing process is in
order, they can`t undertake the digestion of food, ectraction and transformation from various kinds

66
of elements into the different kinds of requested energy. Enlil, the god, who gives the breath, is also
the god who gives energy to the creatures for them to act in their life. This we find expressed in the
second temple hymn in verse 3, which is unfortunaley very much damaged and some words are
missing.

“missing words a – dam en – lil – la” are the only Sumerian words we have and in the translation we
have only “of Enlil”. The Tamil version of these Sumerian words is: “aatam eeN liilla (Bu®
Hs½À»).” We translate “energy of Enlil.” The Sumerian word a – dam will become in Tamil
aattam, aakkam (Bzu®, BUP®), which means the energy. The Sumerian word “a” is related
to the Tamil word aal (BÀ), which has the meaning of power, to spread out and so forth. In the
present day Tamil we have the word aaRRal (AØÓÀ), which means capacity, power and so forth.
The third verse of the temple hymn was the explanation of the first two verses, which are also
incomplete and only a few words came down to us.

“es nam – tar – ra” are the only Sumerian words from the first verse, before and after them words
are missing. These words are translated: “shrine, where destiny is determined”. The Tamil wersion is:
“iisaa tarunam (DŒõ u¸Ú®).”

“temen u – nir – ra il – la“ are the Sumerian words from the second verse, which are translated: “with
a strong foundation standing high on the ziqqurat.” The words from this verse before and after the
given Sumerian words are missing. These words are in Tamil version: “temman unniira iyalla
(v®©ß Eßܵ C¯À»). “ We translate: “a tall and high stepp tower rising on a strong
foundation.” The Sumerian word nam – tar – ra will be in Tamil taru nam (u¸Ú®), where we see
again the change in the word order, so much generall between Sumerian and the classical Tamil
language. The word denotes the blessing of Being, which we find in Sanskrit and Pali as dharma (Y‘©)
and dhamma (Yå‘). We can take it also as the Tamil form naayam taru (|õ¯® u¸), the giving of
fate, the essence of living. Both versions make the shrine, where Enlil resides the “temen – u – nir –
ra –il – la”, the tall and strong foundation of the entire world here taken as the temple. The action of
breathing provides the energy and therefore the power of life and beside the fate or destiny as such.
The living is the continuous sustenance and therefore the temle of Enlil is the strong foundation of
the nation, which we have here again understand in the sense of the entire universe.

In the icon thinking of the ancient Sumerians with the pair Enlil and Ninlil in the middle is quite clear.
We understand here an understanding of local and cosmic thoughts. Here we find a form of
hermeneutic science, where the destinction of physical and metaphysical world are noted. The
favour of the physical understanding of An and how both of the divine pair are related to each other
is shown in the most rational way through the language of the icons.

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Picture 35 Enlil and his consort Ninlil in Sumerian iconography

The wind used as a symbol for the breathing is Enlil, the intilligent power and a manifestation of the
supreme Being. This aspect was understood by the Priestess Anna as the power, which determines
the fate or destiny of the people, the nation and the entire universe. This is the very foundation of
the entire universe in all its aspects. Without the presence of the Lord of Breathing there will be no
energy and the very living itself. With this in mind we look into the verse 5 from the second temple
hymn.

“e – en – lil – la sa – zu te – te – en bar – zu nam – tatr – ra“ we read in the Sumerian verse and thisd
is translated: “House of Enlil, your interior is cool, cour back determines destiny.” The Tamil version
from the Sumerian verse is: “il eeNliilla saayju taNtan puRaju tarunam (CÀ Hs½À» Œõ#áú
usus ¦Óáú u¸Ú®).” This we translate: “Oh temple of Enlil. Your interior is cool and your
warm exterior is generous.

If we look here onto the different translations of these verses, we see the versions in Tamil give a
deeper understanding in the originalmeaning of them. The verses are about the temple of Enlil and
some words give a deep insight into the Sumerian thoughts. We look shortly on the words. The
Sumerian word sa – zu will become in Tamil the word saayju (Œõ#áú), the depression or the
interior and from this it is clear the Sumerian word bar – zu is in Tamil either puRaju (¦Óáú) or
baraju (£µáú) and denotes the exterior. The Sumerian word te – te – en will be in Tamil taNtan
(usus), where the word taN (us) means cold and bythe dublication of this word verycold is
expressed. The cold interior and the warm exterior are to be in contrast to each other. Here the
implication is the interior preserves and conserves, which the exterior gives generously. We have
here a metaphysical description of the basic process of conservation and its expenditure. These are
the basic blessings, which allow the entire function of everything. We understand herein thisverse
we have a combination of the black Tirumaal and the red colour of Siva. The extremly cold interior
inside of Enlil we can understand as black and in contrast the warm or hot exterior is red, the bright
andclear sky of intense light. We see here in one verse the Icon of Tirumaal and Siva combined in one
icon. In this verse 5 we see Enlil in the human form and his meaning is established. The combination
of the black Tirumal and the red Siva are the conservative and destructive processes of the universe.

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 1. The Purusa in Sumerian thinking

The Purusa means from literally view great person, the Sumerian sag and san, where the Tamil word
for it Perumaal (ö£¸©õÀ) is very unambiguous. This word Perumaal is a name of the God Visnu
and still in use at present time. The understanding of Enlil to be the Purusa found in this hymn, where
he is the power of the cosmic breath. The following verses of this temple hymn describe the
anatomical featurers of the God Enlil. We look into the verses 7 to 9.

“dub – la za – e – zu –kur me – te – gal“ are the Sumerian words of the verse 7, which we find
translated:”your dubla with its (missing word) is a mountain, possessing all that is proper.” In the
Tamil version this verse is. “iduppu alai saliyee kunRu mey tikaz (Ck¨¦ Áø» Œ¼@¯ SßÖ
ö©#vPÌ).” We translate: “Your moving and shining waist is indeed a mountain, where power
resides.” The Sumerian word dub will become in Tamil iduppu (Ck¨¦), the waist. The Sumerian
word la will become in Tamil alai (Aø»), moving. The Sumerian word la can also become the
Tamil word izai (CøÇ), the ornaments worn. The Sumerian word za – e will become in Tamil
caliyee, coliyee (Œ¼@¯, öŒõ¼@Œ).

“ka – zu ka – (missing words) ad mus – nun – za“ are the Sumerian words from verse 8, where some
words are missing. This is translated: “your head is a head (missing words) of your princely (mising
words).” The Tamilversion of the Sumerian verse is: ka – zu ka – missing words ati muuccu nunajaa
(Av ‰a” ~Úáõ). “ We translate. “ your head is a head,is something that reaches very high.”
“ur – zu an – ki – da kus – u – de“ we read in the Sumerian verse 9 of this temple hymn and find the
following translation: “Your base serves heaven and earth.” The Tamil version of this verse is: “uuruju
vaankiizodu kuusuttee (F¸áú ÁõßRöÇõk Tz@u).” We translate: “Your thighs are the
heaven and the earth.

We will give the entire temple hymn with lexical noteses at the end of this chapter on Enlil. In these
verses we see again the pyramid of the temple tower, the metaphysical mountain, where all the
powers reside, which is at the same time the temple of Enlil. From these verses we get the answer on
the question, why is Enlil a form of Perumaal? The universe as a whole is breating reality and being
the most high has to be understand in the definition of the human icon for it is thwe human, who is
said to be the most evolved. But this humain is not a person of any kind. He is above and
indefinitelysuperior to the human being. On form is he aaapear to me of indicating the Being is
beyond the human icon, but at the same time it is intelligent to see him as Purusa, where the entire
cosmos is seen something similar to human figure with head, shoulders, thigh, and feet andso forth.
We have imaged the human onto the divine in whom the various complex processes of the universe
is not defined by physical laws, but by different expressions of the Being. The process, which appears
from the head, meaning the intellect, is that which makes the people to move upwards to the
metaphysical peak. The activities, which appear from the shoulders, are called heroic and those from
the thighs and feet are the activities of the fundamental and independent processes that sustain the
eaven and the earth. This is what we read in the Purusa Sukta of the Rig Veda and what is implied
here in the temple hymn verses. From very much excitement in thisrelation is the following verse 11
from the hymn, where we read
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“en za – ana en nam – tar – re – de“ in Sumerian words. We read translated:”The Lord, who
possesses the upper limits of heaven, the Lord who determines destiny.” The Tamil version from this
verse is:” eeN jiya vaanna eeN naayamtaruttee (Hs ⯠ÁõßÚ Hs |õ¯®u¸z@u).”
We translate: “The Lord, who gives life to the cosmos, the Lord who gives the esence to all.”
Everywhere in the universe is breathing and there are processes of energy production and
expediture, therefore Enili must exist there to the limits of the heaven and the earth. Therefore he
functions in the sense of Perumaal, the Purusa. This verse of the metaphysical thinking is an integral
part of the Agama tradition, where it is famous in the Vaisnavism, but where we didn`t find a part of
Siva in this later texts. We can take this as a slight evidence for the combination of the different
Agama branches in the Sumerian Period.

The most exciting icon relation, whichhas ben there from very ancient times is that of the origin of
Brahma and in Tamil of Ayan, who is the same as the Sumerian E – a , the Lord of waters, whocomes
from the navel of Visnu. This Ayan is the Lord of scriptures and sits on a white lotus, where he sits
next to his consort Sarasvati. Shesits on a white lotus has the white swan as her vehicle, stringinf the
Vina and holding palm leaf manuscripts in her hand. We can be sure the Sumerian name for her is
Nisaba and also called Nidaba, the Goddess of scribal art.

Picture 36 a fragment of a vase with a picture of Goddes Nisaba, the Goddes of Writing, Learning and Harvest. We read in
the cunerform text of the vase one more namefor her: Entemena

Before we gave an interpretation of the verse 5 from the temple hymn No 2 for the contrast between
cold interior and warm exterior. This verse is one of the places, where we see the combination of
Visnu and Siva in two equal halves. In the classical Tamil literature we find and exciting praise of this
combined icon. We find in the aRputa Tiruvantati (Bئu v¸Áßuv) by Punitavati
(¤ÛuÁv) the following verse:

“J¸£õÀ E»PÍßu ©õ»ÁÚõ® ©ØøÓ

J¸£õÀ Eø©¯ÁÍõ® GßÓõÀ & C¸£õ¾®

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{ßݸÁ©õP ÛÓßöu›¯ ©m@hõ©õÀ

{ßݸÁ® ªßݸ@Áõ @ÚºßxA“

We give the meaning:

“Oh Being, who discloses yourself in so many archetypal forms. When you disclose yourself in a
complex figure in which only one half is Visnu, who measured the wholeworld and the other half is
the Umai, the woman, and both in blue colour, you are lot in these figures and I fail to distinguish you
as different from these two. Tell me, is your true form that of the lightning that flashes between the
dark clouds?”

From the contrast of the cold and dark interior with the bright and warm exterior we can suggest to
understand this as the metaphysical notion of Brahma, the Lord of scriptures, who arise from the
interior of Visnu is mythological story as the navel, which is called in Tamil unti kamalam (Eßv
P©»®). This suggestion is supported by the words in the verse 5 from the temple hymn, where it is
said the warm exterior gives the destiny to all. This is in union with the definition of God Brahman as
the creator. One more reason is of etymological nature. The Sumerian word bara – maan has in
Sankrit the form of Brahma. In Tamil Baraman (£µ©ß) is the one, who is bright, clean and pure.
This is the symbol of the white colour.

2. Narayanan, the Lord of the Waters

In the tradition of the Vaisnavism the mantra “namo narayaNa (|ö©õ |µ¯n) is the most
important one. This has in the Saivism tradition the form of nama sivaya (|©]Áõ¯), which both
agree that the primordial syllable aum is given in different analyses. We find in the 3rd temple hymn,
dedicated to the Goddess Ninlil, the consort of Enlil, the following verse:

“nun – zu ama ninlil nitadam – ki – ag nu – nam – nir – ra – akam“ in the Sumerian words of the 6th
verse. This got translated: “Your prince, mother Ninlil, the beloved of Nunnannir”. The Tamil version
of this verse is: “nunju ammaa ninliil naatatam kaanka nunnam neer akam il tummaal mutujiya il
vaiyinkuppu paranjiya tuRai vaiyinkaar (~ßáú
A®©õ {ß½À |õuu® Põ[P ~ßÚ®
}µP® CÀ x®©õÀ •x⯠CÀ øÁ°ßS¨¦ £µß⯠øÁ°ßPõº).” We
translate this: “ Your Lord oh Mother Ninlil, your beloved husband, Lord of the inside of the
primordial waters, in the temple of Tumaal, as your foundation has settled and he has sat on your
dais.”

We look shortly on some words of this verse. The Sumerian word ama will become in Tamil ammaa
(A®©õ), mother. We remark the word ambaal (A®£õÀ), the Mother Goddess. The Sumerian
word nitadam will become in Tamil naatatam, naatataaram (|õuu®, |õuuµ®) the male spouse.
The Sumerian phrase nu – nam – nir – ra –akam will become in Tamil nunnam niir akam (~ßÚ®
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}µP®). Meaning is the power deep within the waters. Here we have a reference of Elil to be the
beloved husband on Ninlil, who is described as the distant and deep power in the waters, the
primordial base for the origin of all living and non – living things and the entire universe. This
understanding can be expressed by the phrase niir anan (}µnß), the Lord of Waters, which we
find in classical and present day Tamil in the name NaaraayaNan (|õµõ¯nß) as a result of the
vowel consonance. We can further connect the name Narayanan in relation to the Lord of Music with
the name NaaraNan (|õµnß). The God, who provides music in life and the aesthetic dimensions
in existence, which is at present day and from classical Tamil period said to be Kannan
(Psnß), who plays the flute and charm the cattle of the human beings. The Sumerian word
nar will become in Tamil naar (|õº) and means music in the form of instrumental music. It is
exciting to find in the Hymn B of the King Sulgi reference to this connection. We read in the verses
155 to 157 of his hymn:

“Sul – gli lugal – uri – ma – me- en“is the Sumerian words of verse 155, which we find translated: “I,
Sulgi the King of Ur.” The Tamil version will be: “ suulki ulukal uurimma maan (‹ÀQ SÐPÒ
F›®© ©õß).
“u nam – nar – ra gu – mu haba – sum“ the Sumerian words of verse 156, which is translated:
“dedicated myself also to music.” The form in Tamil will be. “oo naara nam kuuvmoo ava cummu (K
|õµÚ® TÆ@©õ AÁ”®•).”
“nig – na – me – bi la – ba – da – an – gil – en“ in verse 167 are the Sumerian words and they became
translated: “nothing related to it was too complex for me.” The Tamil version will be: “nikanameebi
ila paddaan miiLLen ({PÚ@©¤ C» £mhõß «ÒöÍß).
From his we understand clearly, the word naaratar, the divine ministrel, who sings always namo
narayaNa (|@©õ|µõ¯n) is the Lord of Music Narayana and the divine ministrel we find in the
classical Tamil literature as yaaz paaNar (¯õÌ £õnº).

3. Sumerian temple hymn 2:

1. Missing words. Shrine, where destiny is determined

In Sumerian: xx es nam – tar – ra

In Tamil: x x DŒ uº¸Ú®

2. Missing words. With a strong foundation standing high on the ziqqurat

Missing words. A tall and steep tower rising on a strong foundation

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In Sumerian: xx temen u – nir – ra il – la

In Tamil: xx v®©ß Eßܵ E¯À»

3. too many missing words, we do not give this verse

4. Your right and your left hands are Sumer and Akkad

Your heart and care are always with Sumer and Akkad

In Sumerian: xx bu – zu zi – da – zu gab – bu – zu ke – en – gi ki – uri

In Tamil: ¦áú âzuáú Põ¨¦áú RÌ H[Q RÌ F›

5. House of Enlil, your interior is cool, your back determines destiny

Oh temple of Enlil, your heart is cool and your exterior is generous

In Sumerian: e – en – lil – la sa – zu te – te – en bar – zu nam – tar – ra

In Tamil: CÀ Hs½À» Œ#áú usus ¦Óáú xµÚ®

Lexical discussion:

Form the most words given here we have discussed the aspect already before. We just look on new
points.

1. Verse 4: The Sumerian word “gab – bu” will become in Tamil kaappu (Põ¨¦), where it means
protection.

2. Verse 5: The Sumerian word “te – te – en” will become in Tamil tantan (ußuß), which has
the meaning cool. Here we see the deletion of the first “n”, because of duplication. The
meaning cool matches nicely with the Tamil word taN (us). The relation is with the heart,
“sa – zu” in Sumerian words and saayju (Œõ#áú) in Tamil with the Sumerian word “bar – zu”,
which will become in Tamil puRaju (¦Óáú). Therefore Enlil or the temple for him was
understood as cool in its interior, because of which it is generous in its exterior. Here we
have, what we read in the words of Tirumaal (v¸©õÀ): „Tirumaal is the one, who
generously blessed with wealth and worldly pleasures for those, who deserves his blessings.“

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The next verse:

6. Your threshold is a high mountain

Your back with a tuft is a high mountain

In Sumerian: zu – du x bar – zu – kur – bad

In Tamil: Œøu ¦Óáú SßÖ¨ £z

7. Your dubla with its (missing word) is a mountain, possessing all that is proper

Your moving and shining waist is indeed a mountain, where power resides

In Sumerian: dub – la za – ee – zu kur me – te – gal

In Tamil: Cx¨¦ Áø» Œ¼áú SßÖ ö©# vPÌ

8. Your head is a head (missing words) of your princely (missing words)

Your head is a head, something that reaches very high

In Sumerian: ka – zu ka (missing words) ad mus – nun – za

In Tamil: PÊP Av ‰” ~Úáõ

9. Your base serves heaven and earth

Your thighs are the heaven and the earth

In Sumerian: ur – zum an – ki – da kus – u – de

In Tamil: F¸áú ÁõßRöÇõx T”z@u

10. Your prince, the great prince Enlil, the good Lord

Your Lord, your great Lord Enlil is indeed the king

In Sumerian: nun – zu nuiin – gal en – lil – en – du

In Tamil: ~ßáú~ßPÀ Hs½À Hßx

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Lexical notes:

3. Verse 6: The Sumerian word “za – du” becomes in Tamil sadu, sadai (Œx, Œøu) and means
the hair gathered up. The Sumerian word bar becomes in Tamil puRam (¦Ó®) and means the
back

4. Verse 7: The Sumerian word “dub” becomes in Tamil iduppu (Cx¨¦) and denotes the waist.
The Sumerian word “la” becomes in Tamil alai (Aø») where it means moving. We remark
here the Sumerian word “la” can become the Tamil word izai (CøÇ) meaning the worn
ornaments. The Sumerian verb “za – e” becomes in Tamil caliyee, coliyee (Œ¼@¯, öŒõ¼@¯)
and means to shine forth. The Sumerian word “me” becomes in Tamil mey (ö©#) the power
or sakti. The Sumerian word “te – gal” becomes in Tamil tikaz (vPÌ) and has the meaning to
exist, to subsist and so forth.

5. Verse 8: The Sumerian word “ad” becomes in Tamil ati (Av) meaning extremely. The
Sumerian word “mus” becomes in Tamil muucu (‰”), where it has the meaning to rise up.
The Sumerian “nun” becomes in Tamil nuni (~Û), where it means the very top

6. Verse 9: The Sumerian word “ur” becomes in Tamil uuru (F¸) meaning the thighs. The
Sumerian word “an” will become in Tamil vaan, aan (Áõß, Bß), where it has the meaning
heaven. The Sumerian word “ki” becomes in Tamil kii, ku, kiiz (R, S, RÌ) the earth. The
Sumerian word “kus – u – de” will become in Tamil kuusutte (T”z@u), from which we may
derive kuuduttee (Txz@u) meaning conjoin.

7. Verse 10: The Sumerian word “nun” becomes Tamil nun,nuni (~ß, ~Û) and denotes the
one at the top. The Sumerian word “nun – gal” becomes in Tamil nunkaL (~ßPÒ). The
word kaL (PÒ) means great, huge and large. The Sumerian word “en – du” becomes in Tamil
eentu , eenatal (Hßx, HßuÀ) the king. We remark here the word veentan (@Áßhß) the
king, Indra the king of the celestial world

In these verses we understand Enlil described as the figure of the entire universe. The different parts
of the body are the different parts of the universe. We can understand this as a form of the Purusa,
which is entrenched in the notion of the God Visnu.

The final verses:

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 11. The Lord, who possesses the utter limits of the heaven, the Lord who determines

the destiny

The Lord, who is life of the cosmos, the Lord gives the essence to all

In Sumerian: en za – an – na en nam – tar – re – de

In Tamil: «s âÁ ÁõßÚ Hs |õ¯®u¸z@u

12. He, the great mountain, Enlil has o shrine of Nippur, placed the house upon your

(missing word) has taken his place on your dais

Oh shrine of Niburu the tall temple, the great mountain. Enlil has raised his house

at your foundation and sat on the dais there.

In Sumerian: es nibruki kur – gal en – lil – le mus – za e bi – in – gub bara – za dur bi – in

– gar

In Tamil: D” ܦ¸
SßÖPÒ Hs½À@» •x⯠CÀ Âß°ß S¨¦ £µs
⯠xøÓ Â°ßPº

13. The house of Enlil in Nibru

The temple of Enlil of Enlil in Niburu

In Sumerian: e – en – lil nibruki – a

In Tamil: CÀ Hs½À» {¦¸¯

4. The Sumerian form of Enlil called Se – ir – mal

We couldn`t find any iconographical picture of this form from the God Enlil, but we find some verses
in the book from Dr. Raphael Kurtscher “oh angry Sea” from 1975, where in a very scholarly from the
differences between the words eme – gir and eme – sal are discussed. We find many exciting
discussions on the relationship of phonology and its relationship to orthography, which are
interesting for the development from Sumerian to the Tamil language of the classical Sangam Period.
We saw already in this study, who the Sumerian temple hymns throw light on the Sumerian religion
76
and its unbroken tradition we find in the ancient Texts of Agama and Tantric tradition. We need to
understand the iconogrphy is also a kind of script; some attributes given to the Being in metaphysical
sense are very less subject of changes. These attributes we need to understand also as a form of
iconographical script.

Before we go into detail, we need to discuss shortly two words. The Sumerian word u – lul – a ku –
ku, which we find translated as false sleep and the Tamil word aRituyil (AÔx°À), which said to
be sleep, where is learning. This last term we need to understand as a positure in yoga, as we see it
from Tirumaal in the classical Sangam literature. From this it is clear, the usually translation of the
Sumerian word is questionable, because also here we have to understand it as a kind of transductive
perception, which is a kind of dream, but much higher than it. We find it described in the Yuga sutra
by Patanjali and also in the philosophical schools of ancient India discussed as a specific kind of state,
next to awake, dreem sleep and deep dreamless sleep. From the Agam and Tantric scriptures we see
it is clearly related to the practice of yoga and which we find in the SaivaSidhanta understood as the
experience of the 3rd eye. In the texts of Vaisnavism we find it defined by the term aRituyil
(AÔx°À). Both traditions of Saivism and Vaisnavism are deeply connected with yoga practice,
which is also in the Saiva and Sakti branch of Agama tradition. We find the practice of yoga in the
following verses, found in the above mentioned book.

“a – a mu – ul – lil sipa – sag – gig – a” is the Sumerian verse from the 5th verse, which we find
translated: “ Father Enlil, shepherd of the black headed.” The Tamil version of this verse is.” ayyaa
moo uLLil civa caan kaikka (A#¯õ@©õ EÒÎÀ ]ÁŒõß øPUP).” We translate this:
“Father, who pervades the interior of all, the savior who is black.”

“a – a mu – ul – lil i – bi – du ni – te – na“ is verse 6 in Sumerian words, which is translated: “Father

Enlil, the one inspecting for himself.” The Tamil form of the Sumerian verse is. “ ayyaa moo uLLil
imaiyidu nii taanee (A#¯õ@©õ EÒÎÀ Cø©°k } uõ@Ú). Our translation is: “
Father, who pervades the interior of all and sees all on his own accord.”

“a – a mu – ul – lil am erin di – di” is verse 7 in Sumerian version and translated: “Father Enlil, the
warrior, who lead the troops.” We have in Tamil the words: “ayyaa moo uLLil amaa araN titii
(A#¯õ@©õ EÒÎÀ A©õ Aµs vw).”
“a – a mu – ul – lil u l ul – la ku – ku” We read in verse 8 in the Sumerian words, which we find
translated: “Father Enlil, who feigns sleep.” This means literally, who sleeps a false sleep. We give
this verse in Tamil version: “ayyaa moo uLLil uuzalla kokoo (A#¯õ@©õ EÒÎÀ FÇÀ»
öPõ@Põ).”
First we remark Tirumaal is black and this is what we find defined in the phrase sag gig – ga , which
means the black head or the black person. The Sumerian word gi can be read as mi. The word mai
(ø©) in Tamil means black. The second remark is related to the Sumerian phrase u – lul – la ku – ku,
which will become in Tamil uuzalla kokoo (FÇÀ» öPõ@Põ). The connection of the false sleep
with the inspecting for him, or who sees all on his own own accord is nicley in union with the notion
of the vision with the third eye, the eye, which does close at all. The Sumerian word ku – ku which is
in Tamil kokoo (öPõ@Põ) is found in Tamil in the word kokkookam (öPõ@PõP®), which denotes

77
the science of sexual embrace by sleeping wrapping around. Tirumaal didn`t sleep at all, but pretends
to sleep otherwise he can`t see everything as the indweller in all. This Sumerian verse we compare
with the verses wefind in the 13th poem from the collection Paripaadal (£›£õhÀ). There we read:

“Põ»•® ”®¦® PõØöÓõk PÚ¾®

ußݸ ÄÓÊ® £õØPhÀ |õ¨£s

ªßÚøÁº ”hº©o B°µ® ›zu

PøÁÚõ Á¸ßuø» Põß¤ß @ŒøP

xÍÁg ‹i¯ AÔx°@»õÝ® “.

“The God of ARitiyul, he who wears Tulasi and sleeps on the snake with mouths of split tongues that
spill out thousands of brilliant stones coiled in the middle of the ocean of milk, that stands in contrast
to his darkness andalso to time, sky wind and fire.” We translate the verse. The black colour and his
false sleep form the common subject. This verse in the Paripadal explains why Tirumaal is black. His
dark complexion is the contrast to all which is visible. The fact that Tirumaal is the entire mysterious,
the invisible, the difficult to understand and the supreme one is explained here. He is the conscious
of everything as the indweller, which we find define in the Agama texts as the person inside all, the
“Aßu›¯õªß “. Now the description of Enlil pervading the interior of all “si – ba gig – ga”,
which will be in Tamil ciiva saan kaikka (^Áß Œõß øPUP) is comparable to the description in
the vaisnava scriptures onn the Being as the indweller of all. The next vese we give here from the
book above is clearly on the body practive in new postures by getting deeper into the unknown parts
of the brain:

“gu – zu ur – ra ba – e – ni – mar – ra si – mah – en“ is verse 19 in Sumerian words, which we get

translated as: “You, who placed your neck between your thighs, you are likewise exalted.” The Tamil
version from the Sumerian verse is. “kuuvjuu uurra baayinee malla sii maayen (TÆáü Fºµ¨
£õ°@Ú ©À» ^©õö¯ß).”
This verse describes the bending and placing the neck between the thighs, which is surely an attempt
tobreak the normal habits of the body and initianting in something new. We can understand these
postures laid on Enlil are exercise to get the deeper parts of the brains, which allow to get visions
into the hidden and concealed Arituyil.

In this part on the Sumerian God Se – ir – mal, who is a form of Enlil and the God Tirumaal as a form
of the God Visnu we give a view on another verse in the Sumerian, where we find an attribute given
to Enlil, which we find in the period of the Bhakti movement famous under the words: “the great
person, wjo measures out the world with his three strides, ‰Ái¯õÀ E»PÍßu
ö£¸©õÒ.” The story of his feet, so large that he can measure out the entire manifested universe
is found in many variations in the ancient Indian scriptures.

We give following a few verse, where we see clear a connection from Enlil to Visnu.

78
“mu – ul – lil me – ri – mu – ta me – ri sa – a nu – ma – al” is verse 113 from the above mentioned
book in Sumerian verses. We find the following transaltion: “Enlil, a foot equal to your foot does not
exist.” In this case we are luck to find in the book this verse also in a version of Akkadian. “be – li – ku
it- ti se – pe – ia sa is – sa – an – nu – na ul i – ba – as – si.” The Tamil version of this verse will be.
“moo uLLil mitimoottu miti caacaana naa maal (@©õ²ÒÎÀ ªv@©õzx ªva ŒõŒÚ
|õ©õÀ)
“mu – ul – lil am. zi – ga an – na nam – us, mu – ul – lil zi – ga – ni an – ne nam – us“ are the Sumerian
words from verse 193 from the book mentioned above. This verse we find translated: “Enlil is the
rising wild ox, he reached up the sky. Enlil, the wild ox, his rising reached up to the sky.” The Tamil
version of this verse will be: “moo uLLil ammaa ciika vaannee namuracu , moo uLLil ciikenee vaannee
nam uracu (@©õ
EÒÎÀ A©õ ^P Áõß@Ú |•µ” @©õ EÒÎÀ ^P@Ú
Áõß@Ú |•µ”).
“umun su asa – ni an – e nu – il – e, e lum –e su – ni tab – ba – bi an – ne nam – us“ we find for the
verse 199 given ins Sumerian words and translated them as: “ The Lord, his unique hand the sky
cannot bear. The Diginitary, the grasp of his hand reached up the sky.” The Tamil version of this verse
is: “oormanan cuur acaanee vaannee naa iyalee, vizummee cuurni tappapi vaannee nam uracu
(Kº©Úß ‹µŒõ@Ú Áõß@Ú |õ¯@», ÂÊ®@© ‹ºÛz u¨£¤ Áõß@Ú
|•µ”).
“mu – ul – lil me – ri asa – ni ki nu – il – e, mu – ul – lil – le me – ri gub –ba – bi ki – e nam – us” are
the given words for the verse 200 in Sumerian, whichwe get translated: “Enlil, his unique foot the
earth cannot bear. Enlil the treading of his foot abutted the earth.”

In these verses we have forthe subject the sacred cow. The Sumerian word am will be in Tamil amaa
(A©õ) for wild cow. The decription of Enlil to reach the sky is a clear analog description, which we
find for Visnu, who has spread across the universe. The word vicuvam, the sky is here used as a
metaphor for the entire manifested world. The metaphor of the wild ox here is understood as
another notion ofthe permanent presence of the Being, which is infinite productive, tireless
fecundity of nature. Did the ancient Sumerians understand the cow as a sacred animal? In the
Sumerian time the cattle and the goat were sacrificed and eaten as we get indecated bythe following
verses from the hymns of the temple of Kes.

“e gu – sar – ra al – ku – e“, which is verse 63 in Sumerian and the Tamil version will be: “il koo carva
val kuuyyee (CÀ@Põ ŒºÁÁÀ T#@¯).” Our translation is: “The temple consumes many
oxen.”

“e udu – sar – ra – am al – ku – e“ is the verse 64 in Sumerian words, which have the Tamil version: “il
udu carva aam val kuuyyee (C¾k ŒºÁÁõ® ÁÀ T#@¯). We translate:”The temple
consumes many sheep.”

The Sumerian verses show the Being as transcedent and immanent. Visnu is not only immanent, he is
transcedent as well. In Sumerian time as we get understood from the temple hymns and other texts
is the Being, whose form is of such nature that the sky and the earth cannot contain it. This is a
metaphor for purusoottama (¦¸@Œõzu©). He, who exceeds the entire manifestation of the
79
world and it is this excess, which is described here bythe metaphor “the Lord, whose hands the sky
cannot bear and the treading of thefoot the earth cannot withstand.” In the later historical times the
Being was described more elaborate in a form, which has thousands of arms, feet, heads and eyes.
These descriptions we find in Tamil and in Sanskrit texts. We give for a comparison some verses from
Paripaadal and the Purusa Sukta.

“C¸øP ©õ AÀ •UøP ªÝÁ |õØøP AsnÀ

I[øP® ø©ßu AÖøP ö|k@ÁÒ GÊøP ¯õÍ

G¢øP HßuõÀ JߣvØÖz uhUøP ©ß@£µõ»

£vØÖUøP ©uÁ¼ ¡ØÖUøP ¯õØÓÀ

B°µ® ›zu øP® ©õ¯ ©ÒÍ

£vÚõ›¯µ[øP •x•È •uÀÁ

¡µõ°µ[øP BÓøÓ PhÄÒ AøÚzx® AÀ»

£»ÁkUPÀ B®£À CøÚzöuÚ Gs Áµ®¦

AÔ¯ ¯õUøPø¯ “
We translate:

“the black one of two hands, the illuminated with three hands, the great one with four hands, the tall
god with 6 hands, theruler with 7 hands, the lofty with 8 hands. The ever present great person with 9
hands, the one of great strength with 10 hands, the power itself with a hundred hands, the dwarf
player of magic with a thousand hands spread out. The Lord of ancient wisdom with ten thousand
hands, the being who understands with hundred thoudand hands, also not all these and the millions
and billions. Oh you, who is with a body beyond any kind of measurements.” Paripaadal 3 verse 35 –
45.

The first 4 verses of the Purusa Sukta:

“Am|& ghò{ee nwéf… ghòmj…ghònmV& g ^y{‘pÝddVmo CËdm©& A˶{Vð>mÔem“xb‘&& nwéf EdoX‘ gd©‘& ¶ØÿV§
¶ƒ^춑&CVm‘¥VËdñ¶ogZ…& ¶XÞoZm{VamopôV&& EVmdmZñ¶ ‘{h‘m& AVmo Á¶m§íM nyéf…& nmXmo @ñ¶ {díd^yVm{Z&
{ÌnmXñ¶m‘¥V‘{X{d&& {ÌnmXÿÜd© CX¡Ënwéf… nmXmo Añ¶ohm^dmËnwZ…& VVmo {dídmZ ì¶H«$m‘V& gmgmZmZgUo A{^ &&“
We translate:

“The Purusa has thousands heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet. He has enveloped this
world from all sides and has even transcended it by 10 fingers. All this is verilythe Purusa. All that,
which existed in the past or will come in the future is also the Purusa. Also he is the Lord of
immortality. That which grows profusely by food is also the Purusa. Somuch is his greatness.
However the Purusa is greater than this. All the beings form only a quarter of him. The three quarter
part of him is immortal is established in heaven. Thepurusa with thethree quarters f his being

80
ascended above. His one quarter here became the world again and again. Then he pervaded this
world comprising a variety of sentient beings and insentient beings.”

The parallels between these both texts and the Sumerian texts is not possible to ingore. In the
Sumerian time the Being is described in the metaphysical understanding of the human body himself.
This human body is used as a metaphorical picture to understand the Being being both, immanent
and transcendent. The Purusa Sukta of the Rig Veda and the verse in the Paripaadal are more
elaborate, but show an unbroken cultural continuity between the Sumerian Period and the classical
Tamil of the Sangam Period. We see the culture of Agamism from Sumerian Time preserved until the
classical and the present time.

5. The Sumerian Mother Goddess

The worship of the Mother Goddess is more ancient than the Sumerian period as we saw in the
introduction. In the Sumerian period the worship of the Mother Godess was an important part of the
religious and metaphysical thoughts. In the 4th millennium b. C. we find in Sumer many women
contributing significantly to the temple building and they were obviouslyindependent and had the
right to part take in the political and social life of the various communities. The names of these
women were always added by the suffix ama, which will be in Tamil ammaa (A®©õ) and means
woman. We find another word as a part of the names from very early time, which is testified by
textual sources, is anna as we find it in the name of the priestess Anna, whose complete title was En
– hudu Anna. This name means the divine star of the heavens. The Sumerian title en hudu would be
in Tamil eeN udu (Hs Ek ). The name anna would become in Tamil vaannam (ÁõÚ®) and
means heaven. It is more than a suggestion to take this word anna as an earlier form of the Tamil
word aNNaa (Asnõ) and the Tamil word annai (AßøÚ ) for mother. At present day the
Tamil Brahmins of Tamil Nadu we find the ladies refer to their husbands as aNNaa (Asn),
which means someone great. It is a very exciting feature of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, where the
suffix aNa (An) is found as a part of the names in the 6th Brahmana, where the line of teachers
and pupils are listed. We find in this part of the Upanishad nmes like Gaupavana, Asurayana and
many others. The name of the famous commentator Sayana, the great scholar at the kindom of
Vijayanagar, contains this suffix. We find in theSumerian literature many names with this suffix and
we have here one more indication of the unbroken cultural continuity from Sumerian times to the
classical and present day period. What is an important and relevant aspect is the ancient Tamil
culture knew female teachers which include scholars like Kausikaayani, Traivani and many others,
where the suffix ani and aNi is present andwhichis an indicator to the female gender in Tamil Nadu
even at present time. We find the Sumerian tradition of female mystic and philosopher alife and in
high respect during the time of the Upanisads and later in the entire Indian subcontinent. Great

81
scholars like Kaaraikkaal Peyar (PøµUPõÀö£¯º) and Meera Bhai in Maratta are only two
examples.

Picture 37 painting of Meera Bhai

1. The Mother Goddess as Light

In the first verse of the poem “exaltation of In – Anna” we get described the Goddess as light. We
read:

“nin – me – sar – ra u – dalle – e – a” in Sumerian words, which we find translated: “Lady of all the
mes ´s, resplendet light.” The Tamil version of this verse is: “ nin mey carva uL teLLiya ({ß ö©#
ŒºÁ EÒ öuÒί).
“mi – zi me – lam gu – ru ki – aga – an – uras – a“ we read in the second verse of the poem and these
Sumerian words we find transalted: “righteous woman clothed in radiance beloved of heaven and
earth.” We have here in Tamil:”mai cii meeLam kuuRu kaankai vaan uurattiya (ø© ^ @©Í®
TÖ Põ[øP Áõß Fµzv¯).
“nu – gig – an – na suh – kesda – gal – gal – la“ we read in verse no 3 of the poem, where we find
these Sumerian words translated: “ Hierodule of An, you of all the great ornaments.” The Tamil
version of this verse will be: “nankai aNNaa cikai kaddu kaLkaLLa (|ßøP Asnõ ]øP
Pmk PÒPÒÍ)” and we translate this verse: “The beloved of An which magnificent head gear.”
82
What we read in these verses is still an imortant part of the metaphysical thinking in Saivism even
today. We find it in great length and details explaind in the ancient Agama scriptures. The Sumerian
word nin, which here can also mean sister, is to be derived from the Tamil word nim, nivar ({®,
{Áº) and means somthing tall and high. The Sumerian word me5 corresponds to the Tamil word
mey (ö©#) the truth as well as power. The Sumerian word sar – ra corresponds to the Sanskrit
word sarva (gd©), we suggest sar – ra to be a prakrit form, and we can connect it with Tamil aayiram
(B°µ®). We remark here the partical “a” as a fromant of adjective. The Sumerian word u dalla –
e – a is in Tamil uL teLLiya (EÒ öuÒÒC¯), the radiant light. Therefore we have in this verse
the woman describes as the possessor of the powers and manifest her in the form of pure light. This
definition we find in the classical Tamil literature and even today expressed in the word paraaparai
(£µõ£øµ), the transcedent light. The description of the Sumerian verse me – lam gu – ru , which
we have in Tamil in the form of meeLam kuuRu (@©Í® TÖ) and which express clothed in
radiance is a form to denote the mystic of the highest Being, which is hidden by light and we find in
the entire world. The Saiva Siddhanta see the female Being himself, the “ö£s uõß BÚ¨
¨öÁ®©õß “as we find it expressed by the scholar Samabantar. This woman is not only
described as the most beautiful wonam, she is also defined as the woman of An. This word for Siva
we find in the classical Tamil literature in the form of aan (Bs), which is even today present in
the form of aandavan (BshÁß). We find him in the classical Sangam literature in the form of
“£vØÖ¨ £zx “. In the word aNNamalai (Asn©ø»), the hill of aNNa, we have another
relation to this ancient name. The Sumerian word ki – aga will be in Tamil kaankai (Põ[øP) and
has the meaning of hot, which we find in present day Tamil in the form kaamam (Põ©®), the sexual
desire and as an alluring quality, the word kaamar (Põ©º) means beautiful. The Sumerian word as –
a, which has a grammatical function is found in Sanskrit as asya (Añ¶), while we find it in Tamil in the
form of attu (Azx). This word attu (Azx) is classified by the Tolkappiyam grammar as a caariyai
(Œõ›ø¯).

The meaning of these metaphysical thoughts is clear. The Being possesses all the qualities, which are
desired by all and this quality, because of its endearing and aesthetically appealing nature is
understood as feminine. It appears in manifestation of the world as the woman, the nankai
(|ßøP) of Being, where the entire world, the heaven and the earth is expressed in the metaphor
of the brilliant head gear of the woman.

Here we see already in the Sumerian time a fundamental difference on the comprehension of the
world. While we saw before in the chapter of Enlil the close relation of the Sumerian thoughts to the
Purusa and Perumaal, we see here a completely different view. The phenomenalworld is the woman,
the half of Siva, which is still present in the word ardhanaRai (AºuÚøÓ), the Being and Man –
Woman. This is expressed by Sakti and was seen as Puvanesvari (¦ÁõöÚaÁŸ), the World
Mother, and the Great Mother Goddess, which we find expressed in the name of the Goddess In –

5
Commonly in the translations, this word is not translated. These me ´s we find in great number related to the
powers and truths. We can understand the me´s as a corresponding word to the word tattva in the Saiva
Siddhanta.
83
Anna, worshipped by the Sumerians. The Tamil name will be iin annai (Dß AßøÚ) and means
the woman, who gives birth. This is also the metaphysical picture of the natural process, where the
man conjugates with the woman and the Being is the source of both, the death and the rebirth of all.
Here we have the indication; the different branches of Agama tradition were also existent in the
Sumerian period.

“aga – zi – de ki – aga man – en – na tum – ma“ we read in the 4th verse from the poem and the
translation is given: “Enamoured of the appropriate tiara suitable for the high priest hood”. The Tamil
version of this verse is. “anka cittee kaama eeNNanan takumma (A[P ]z@u Põ©
Hsn|® uS®©).” We translate this: “wearing the ornaments that are verybeautiful,
youappear the most suitable Divine Being.”

“me – imin – be su sa – du – ga” is the next verse in Sumerian words, which are translated:”whose
hand has attained all the seven me´s.” In Tamil this verse will become. “mey aiminnee cuur cuuduga
(ö©# Iªß@Ú ‹º ‹kP).”We translate:” you wear as bangles on your hand all the powers
of the world.”

“nin – mu me – gal – gal – la sag – kesda – bi za – e – me – en“ comes in verse 6, which is translated:
“Oh my lady, you are the guardian of all the great me´s.” In Tamil we have the form: “ninmoo mey
kaLkaLLa caan kaddupi jaayee man ({ß@©õ ö©# PÒPÒÍ Œõß Pmk¤
áõ@¯©õß).” This is translated by us: “Oh my Mother, you are the one, who synthesis all these
great powers.”

“me mu – il me su – zu – se mu – e – la“ we have in the verse 7 in Sumeria words,which got

translated: “youhave picked up the me´s you have hung the me´s on your hand.” In Tamil word this
verse will be: “mey moo iyal (ö©#@©õ C¯À).” We translate: “you move all the powers, you
have hung the powers in your hand as bangles.”

“me mu – ur me gaba – zu bi – tab“, in the next verse of the poem, which we find translated: “you
gathered up the me´s you have clasped the me´s onto your breast.” The Tamil version will be: “mey
moo oor mey paakamju taippi (ö©#@©õ Kºö©# £õP®áú øu¨¤).”We translate: “You
collect together all the powers, you have clapsed allthe powers as ornaments on your breast.”

We can connect here the Sumerian expression nin – mu with the word namoo (|@©õ) as we find it
in the mantra namoo naarayanaaya (|@©õ|õµ¯nõ¯), where the namo means in accordance
to nin – mu my great one. Nin – mu we translate therefore as my Great Mother. The Sumerian
worship of the Great Mother we find in the entire Indian Subcontinent. From view of philosophy and
metaphysic the most exciting phrases we find in the verses 6 to 8. The definition sag – kesda – bi
means the one, who binds together, synthesizes the me´s or tattva. This we understandin the way;
the Being as Woman, who binds together the essences (me´s, tattva) and by this generates all the
things of the world and the world itself. She is the mother, who gives birth to all, the Puvanaambigai
(¦ÁÚõ®¤øP) of the Tamil scriptures. The Sumerian phrase me mo il we understand in the
sense of the Tamil phrase mey moo iyal (ö©#@©õ C¯À), where iyal (C¯À) means to move.
From this we understand the woman is the one, who moves all the power and the dynamic force.
Therefore she is the Sakti behind everything in the phenomenal world. Further we understnd the
84
Sumerian phrase me mu ur analogue to the Tamil form mey moo oor (ö©# @©õ Kº), which
means In – Anna isthe one, who collects together and integrates all. In – Anna is the one, who
collects all the essences together, synthesites them and moves them. This attribute we find in the
ancient scriptures of Tantric tradition as a part of the metaphysic of Sakti.

Picture 38 the Sumerian Mother Goddess In - Anna and the Indian Mother Goddess Durga next to each other

The existence of Sakti in Saivism and its parallel to the Sumerian thoughts give evidence for an
unbroken cultural continuity from the Sumerian temple hymns down to the Agama texts. We find the
collection of the metaphysical thinking in the verses of Tirumalar´s work Tirumantiram. We find them
in the work of Arunandi (A¸Úßi) in the same way, which is dated in the 13th century a. C. We
give a verse from his work Civanjaana Cittiyaar (]ÁbõÚ ]zv¯õº), where we find this
rd
thought together in the 3 Parapakkam.

“DŒß A¸Ò CaøŒ AÔÄ C¯ØÓÀ Cߣ®

C»¯ö©õk @£õP® AvPõµ©õQz

@u” A¸Á® A¸Ä¸Á® E¸Á©õQz

@u²©õ#z @uöŒõk öŒÀÁ©õQz

@£Œ]¯ E°øµö¯À»® ö£ØÖ @ÚõUQ¨

ö£¸®@£õP® AøÁ¯Îzx¨ ¤Ó¨¤øÚ²®

JÈzvmk BŒP¾® Ai¯º EÒÍzx A¨£Ýhß

C¸US® AßøÚ¯¸z £õu©»º öŒßÛ øÁ¨£õ® “.

This we translate:

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The primordial energy, the power of being emerges as grace, the woman, who takes the forms of
libidinal cognitional and kinematic energies. She is also the various kinds of experiential states of
worldly indulgences, standing detached from them and rising above them. In addition to to these
there are forms of transformations, whereby things that are complete abstract, concrete – absteract
and complete concrete are also become obtained. This same power also becomes the feminine
archetypes and through which bliss is provided for the creatures through worldly riches as well as
metaphysical illuminations. She is the power that takes all these forms and therefore emerges as the
mother of all and who destroys the given existence only for to provide another one. Is present as the
ever non – absenting half of Being, who makes his presence felt in the heart of the pure one. We
forever remember the lotus feet of this woman bykeeping them in our heart.

The woman and therefore the female aspect of the reality are never neglected in Saivism, which goes
out of the way to emphasize the androgynous form of Being. The woman in itself is the priomordial
energy and cannot become destroyed, but is transformed in various forms, which includes thedepth
psychological, cognitive psychological and the physical froms. One of the peculiar questions of
religion is the destruction and many are taken into the Being destructive for it appears to be
inconsistent with the real divine essence. The tradition of Saivism has from the time of the Sumerian
period combined the destruction with regeneration. These appear to go together and complement
each other. In the work ofthe scholar Meykandar we find the Being defined as antam aati (Aßu®
Bv), which means he putsand end and at the same time regeneration to all. In the poem
“exaltation of In – Anna” we find clear references to the Goddess, who is said to be the eldest
daughter of the Moon God Su ´en is the source of regenartion and of devastrix of the land, which
gives the metaphysic of Saivism in its essence.

“usumgal – gim kur- ra us ba – e – si” we read in verse 9 from the poem, which we find translated as:
“like a dragon you have deposited venom on the land. “ The Tamil version of this is: “ucumkaL kim
kunRa ucu paayicci (E”®PÒ Q® SßÓ E” £õ°a]).” Our translation of this verse:”Like
a snake youdeposited venom on the land.”

“iskur – gim ki – sig ezinu la – ba – si – gal“ from the verse 10 we find in transaltion: “When you roar a
the earth like thunder, no vegetation can stand up to you.” The Tamil version of the verse:
“icaikoorankim kiizsiikki ezinu ila pa ciikaal (CøŒ@Põµ[Q® RÌ^UQ GÈÝ°»
£õ^PõÀ). “ We translate this verse: “you destroy like the thunder, no vegetation can grow on such
lands.”

“a – ma – ru kur – bi – ta e – de“ in verse 11 is translated: „A flood descending from its mountain.”

The Tamil version from the Sumerian verse is: “amaru kunRabittu izintee (A©¸ SßÓ¤zx
CÈ¢@u).” Our translation: “but you are also the regenerating waters descending from the hills.”
“sag – kal an – ki – a inanna bi – me – en” we read in the 12th verse of the poem, which we find
translated: “Oh foremost, you are the inanna of heaven and earth.” In Tamil we get the verse.
“caankaL vaankiiz iin annaabi man (Œõ[PÒ ÁõßRÌ Dß AßÚõ¤ ©ß).” We translate:
“Oh great One, you are really the creatrix of heaven and earth.”

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In these verses we read clear on In – Anna to be the destruction of vegetation bypoison she is laying
on the land, where no vegetation can grow. This can be bythe absence of water and dry spells the
draught it causes. Striking the land with thunder and lightning is one more way of destruction from
what has alsready be in the land. Therefore if the Goddess is angryand in the mood to destroy she
didn´t remove the existing, she makes sure it can`t be regenete and grow up again. But at the same
time she is the flood of water, which decends from the mountains and has the power of regeneration
and refreshing. As the flood we find her depicted as the river Ganga, which fowls out of Siva`s tuft.
This is the symbol of Being, where he is the destroyer and the regenerator and the Sumpreme as it is
said by the scholar Meykandar “Œõ[Põµ PõµnõQ¯ •uÀ “.

2. Goddess In – Anna is similar to Goddess Durga

In the next few verses we see some more destruction by natural force as the work of Goddess In –
Anna.

“izi – ne – ne – ra kalam – e seg – ga“ we read in verse 13 of the poem and the verse is
translated:”Raining the fanned fire down upon the nation.” This verse appears in Tamil version:”
ejine nirai kaLamma cenkuva (Gâ@Ú {øµ PÍ®@© öŒ[SÁ).“ We translate: “pour down
upon the nation large uncontrollable fires.”

“kur – gul – gul u – de a ba – e – si” we read in the verse 17, which got translated:”Devastatrix of the
lands, you are lent wings by the storm.” This verse in Tamil version is: “kuuRukolkol uttee aal pa isi
(TÖöPõÀöPõÀ Ez@u BÀ£°]).” We translate this:”The devastrix of the lands you
are given strength by the winds the vaayu.”

“nin – mu ja – pa – ag – ju – se kur i – gurum – gurum – e“ are the Sumerian words from verse 20,
which we find translated:”Oh my lady at the sound of you the land bow down.” This verse will
become in Tamil:” ninmoo japa, aaku jucee kunRu iikuRuum kuRuummee ({ß@©õ ᣮ
BUSáú@Œ SßÖ DSß×®S×®@©).”
These verses are very much exciting from view of history. We find here the phrase kur – kul – kul
which we find with the verse of development kur – kul – kul – amma -> kul – amma -> kol avvaa -> to
reach the Tamil name KoRRavai (öPõØÓøÁ), who is worshipped at present day as a form of maa
kaaLi (©õPõÏ). We find here in these verses the word ja – pa, which is in Tamil the same word
japam (ᣮ) and denotes the recitation of mantras. From this we get the proof of this practice for
to be of very ancient origin. We find the connection of the wind e – du given by the priestes Anna
exciting. The Tamil root uu (F) means to blow and from which we derive uutai (Føu), the wind.
The wind is that, which gives power to Goddess In – Anna. The power is call a in Sumerian and aal,
aaRRal (BÀ, BØÓÀ) in Tamil. This wind here is not the physical wind, this wind here is meant
in a metaphysical wind, the vaayu (Áõ²), that which moves and is the metaphysical power, the
energy itself. The Goddess In – Anna is only active, because of this power of the metaphysical winds.
We need to remark here the Tamil word piraaNa (¤µõn), which is in Sanskrit prana. The Tamil
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word we can derive from Sumerian bi – ir – an – a and denotes the divine force, that is the cause of
things to come into the world. This is also explained as Kundalini yoga, the yoga practice, which has
the coiled power incorporated piraaNa Yoga and Vasi Yoga as important components. By this the
regulation of breathing is practiced and understood as the energy and wind in the body. Here we
come again to the symbol of the snake and we find the Mother Goddess depicted in Sumerian
iconography as a snake.

Picture 39 the Goddess Ereskigal, Queen of the Great Earth, a form of Goddess In – Anna depicted as snake

In verse 14 of the poem we read:

“an – ne me – si – ma nin ur – ra u – a“ these Sumerian words are translated: “Endowed with me´s by
An Lady mounted on a beast.” The Tamil version of this verse is: “aannee mey ciiyimma nin uura
oovuva (Bs@n ö©# ^°®© {ß Fµ KÄÁ).”
The word ur has become translated as beast, while the lion is called ur – mah in Sumerian and the
wolf or dog is oori (K›) in Tamil We can suggest the Sumerian word is the eythmologicalroot for the
Tamil word arimaa (A›©õ), the lion. It is very clear the Goddess In – Anna is here the Smerian
name for Goddess Durga. The Goddess Durga is the one, who rides a lion or tiger and who got the
powers by An, the Supreme God.

There can be no doubt on the Sumerian Goddess In – Anna is the Mother Goddess, the Goddess of
War and Love and corresponds to the Goddess Durga and many other Goddesses found in the Agama
and Tantric scriptures. She is said to be the consort of An, which is an ancient name of Siva. She is as
the consort of An at the same time the Goddess KuRRavai, Mahakali, Parvati and many other
Goddesses. We can set her in one with the Goddess Vac, the daughter and beloved of the God
Prajapati.

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Picture 40 Goddess Durga riding on the tiger

If we look again on some of the above mentioned verses from the poem “exaltation of In – Anna”,
we find the attributes describing the Goddess In – Anna we find clearly refwerences to the Goddess
KuRRavai, Kaali and Durga. Here the Great Mother is described in her terrible forms.

We give a few examples.

1. kur – ra us ba – es – si; one who deposites venom on the land. She is the cause of death and
destruction.
2. izi – ne – ne – re kalam – e seg – ga; raining the fanned fire down on the nation; here we
have reference to the primordial fire of destruction, called uuzitti (FÈzw) in Tamil and
which is the destruction, which causes the universal destructuion.
3. ig – hus – a; one with a terrible glance; we remember here on the large and red glowing eyes,
which expresses KoRRavai`s anger and one specific features of her images. The third eye,
which is located on her forehead and that burns everything if it becomes opened.
4. i – ba – us ma – ra – an – de; blood rises in its river before you. We would here prefer the
translation: “blood flows like a river for you.” From this we can understand to have here
reference to the blood sacrifices, which are closely acossiated with the cult for the Goddess
KoRRavai, which we find reported in the classical Tamil literature.

In later verses of the poem we get some more analogue descriptions of her.

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In verse 127 we read : “ur – gin adda – ku – za”, which is translated as” you devour cadavers like a
dog”. The Tamil version will be: “ oorin atta kula (K›ß Azu SÀ).
In verse 128 and 129 we read:” igi – hus – a – za , igi hus – bi- il – il – za”; your glance is terrible, your
lift up your terrible glance.” In Tamil the version will be “imai ukka a, imai usNa elu elu a (Cø©
EUPÁ Cø© Ean G¾ G¾Á).
In the verse 130 we read: “igi – gun – gun – na – za” which is translated: “your glance is flashing.” In
Tamil the verse will be: “ imai kana kana a (Cø© PÚPÚ).”
Specific in this last verse we get the picture of KuRRavai and the flash from her third eye to burn
everything.

Picture 41 Goddess Durga with the flash from the third eye depicted

6. The King of Gods in Sumerian sources

We find in the rich text of King Sulgi´s Hymn B various information of the ancient Sumerian culture,
where we find details on music, temples, the rituals in the temples, the schools for children and
many more details on the education system in Sumerian times, this include the adacemies and
libraries and weapons.

In these hymns, which we will discuss in a separate volume in details, we read in one verse the
following words:
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“gis. al – gar gis.sabitum in – di lugal – la. mir su si mi – ni – uzu“ We find this translated: „The algar,
the sabitum, which are of the king´s rite, I taught the herald their fingering.”

In sometexts we find forthe word in – di a variant in the form in – a, which is here translated as a rite
and therefore as a noun. If we follow this translation we can`t take is as a verb like idin, iyudin
(Ciß, C²iß). If we understand here the rites that are pertaining to the kings, as some rites
where al – gar and sabitum were used. We understand here the al – gar as a from from Tamil
yaazkaram, yaazkaal (¯õÌPµ®, ¯õÌPõÀ) and sabitum as the Tamil samittum (Œªzx®),
then we can understand that indi – ra becomes the deity special to the kings and one, who
established a person in his life as a king. Indiran is the King of the Gods and is associated with
wealth, worldy prosperot amd happiness. We find the King od God mentioned in the Taolkappiyam,
whe find him addressed there as ventan (@Áßuß), the king, whichis a meaning in accordance to
the Sumerian occurance. We give here the verse 951 from Tolkappiyam,where we find the gods
mentioned:

“©õ@¯õß @©¯ PõkøÓ E»P•®

@Œ@¯õß @©¯ ø©Áøµ E»P•®

@Áßh® @©¯ w®¦ÚÀ E»P•®

Á¸n® @©¯ ö£¸©nÀ E»P•®

•Àø» S¸[] ©¸u® ö|#uö»Úa

öŒõÀ¼¯ •øÓ¯õØ öŒõÀ»Ä® £k@© “.

The later commetators on this verse agree to each other for to take here the God Veentam as the
Vedic Indra, whois said to pervade the world as the divinity of the watered world of fertiler fields. In
view the words intiriyam (Cßv›¯®), which means sense and the word intirapookam
(Cßvµ@£õP®), which has themeaning enjoyment of the pleasures of life, are related to this
name. In this relation we can get a view on the real meaning of the word aintiram (Ißvµ®),
which we find in the preface to the Tolkappiyam and which is subject of academic disussions
between scholars since a long time. Some suggest it to be the name of an ealier grammatical text.
We give this verse here:

“AÓ[Pøµ |õÂß |õß©øÓ •ØÔ¯

Au[@Põmk BŒõØS A›u£z öu›ßx

©¯[Põ ©µ¤ß GÊzx•øÓ Põmi

©ÀSܺ Áøµ¨¤ß Ißvµ® {øÓßu

öuõÀPõ#¨¯ß GÚz uß ö£¯º @uõØÔ¨

£¨¦PÌ {Özu £iø© @¯õ@Ú“.

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Here we have the the important verse “©ÀS }º Áøµ¤ß Ißvµ® “, the intiram pertaining
the world encircled by the waters. Here to translate “Ißvµ® “ as that pertaining to the
excellence of worldly life matches well with the entire sound of theTolkappiyam and which is the
substance of the entire part “ö£õ¸»vPµ® “ and for which the previous books on phonology
and syntax were written. We add here the remark to translate the word “{Óßu “ in the sense
filled with aintiram will mean the worldly prosperity.

We can remark one more point on the meaning of the religious rites as we can find it in the Smerian
literature can be understood as a namefor the religion. We see in all our works the Sumerian religion
is in the line of the Agama and Tantric tradition. We understand manyofthese rituals were specific
rituals for the kings, which is a subject for further research also in the scriptures of Agama and
Tantric tradition from ancient India. It makes sense in the view if we remember the Kingdom of the
Gods were understood bythe Sumerian as a mirrow of the worldy kingdom. The household in the
temple by the Gods was understood as a mirrow to the human household. The Sumerian texts
reports that every king did wars for to destroy their enemies. In the same way they understood the
Gods to fight against their enemies, who were the evil force in the nature.

Picture 42 iconography of Indra, King of the Gods

7. The God Siva and his names in Sumerian literature

Before we look on the different forms of the Sumerian Gods, we will look into the etymology of the
name Siva. While we can do studies on Tamil and Sanskrit etymology, we have big difficulties for the
etymology of Sumerian words. We do not claim that this Being, which is named Siva in Tamil and in
Sanskrit is peculiar to any race, culture or individual. This Being is present in any culture and they
name it different. This is a common knowledge to the Saivism and we take it as an axiom of truth.
The same we need to understandfor the Siva lingam, which is worshipped and connected to Saivism
since immemorial times. We find it also present in the Sumerian period and we have to understand is
as a universal became the subject of worship. We find the worshipof the Siva lingam in ancient China
some millennia ago and we find a remarkable similaritybetween the Yin – Yang concept of the
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Taoism and the Siva – Sakti or Natam – Bindu concept of Saivism. On the posibility of a relation here
as to be done some research work, but we can`t exclude an independent development of them.

We can make an examination on the history of Saivism, which dates back into the Sumerian Period
and possibly even before. The Sumerian religion, as we discuss it here and saw by evidence is of
Agama and Tantric tradition, which knew from the ancient Indian scriptures on these traditions. It is
temple and icon centred and the study of the texts in Sumerian Period shows clearly the worship of
the Mother Goddess in the name of In – Anna, Nin – a, and other female goddesses. Further the
worship of Tirumaal by the names of Enlil, Se – ir – ma – al and Mu – ul – lil. We find Murugan
worshipped in the nam of Asar – lu – hi and we find Siva as well6. A cultural line of the Agama and
Tantric tradition we can draw from the time of the Sumerian Period ~ 4000 b. C. until the present
day. The study of the names of gods and Siva worshipped in Agamism it founded on the textual
evidences from the Tamil literature. We study here in thissection just the name, not the Being itself.
We bring together, what is splitted over various texts found in Sumerian and Tamil texts, as far as
possible we include Sanskrit texts as well. From the studies of the Sumerian temple hymns and other
Sumerian literature we see the syllable si and si – in develop slowly into in, ii and kin. We will give a
clear view on this in a study on the morphology of the verbs, which will be a separate work. In the
Sumerian language si means presence and si – in means present now. This corresponds to the Tamil
word ini (CÛ), now. The syllable, which brings temporality in the verb and something that change
a stative verb into an active verb. The stative verb is called “SÔ¨¦ ÂøÚ “ by Tolkappiyam and
the active verb is called “ÂøÚ •ØØE, öŒ#ÂøÚ “ in this grammar. We give here just
an example:

“Utu a – igi – na su ba – si – in – ti” is the Sumerian verse, which is translated: “Utu received his
tears.” The Tamil version of this verse is “uti aal akkinna key vaticin (EvÁõÀ AUQßÚa
öP# Áv]®).” The Sumerian word “a” will become in Tamil aal, aam (BÀ, B®), water. The
Sumerian word ba – si – in – ti will become in Tamil vaticin (Áv]ß). The development is ba – si –
in – ti -> ba – ti – si – in -> vaticin. The Tamil word til, ti, vati (vÀ, v,Áv) means to exist. The
Sumerian word utu will become in Tamil uti (Ev), to arise and that which arises. TheSumerian
word su will become in Tamil key, kai (öP#, øP) hand.

“gis – kak u – tag – ga la – ba – si – gid – en“ ins our second example in Sumerian and we find this
verse translated: “I did not reach wound it with a javelin.” The Tamil version of this verse is: “kucci
kakam u takkal kidciyenba ila (Sa] PP® FuõUPÀ Qm]¯ß£ »).” The Sumerian
word kak will become kakam (PP®) in Tamil and means arrow. The Sumerian wordtag – ga will
become taakku (uõUS) in Tamiland means to attack. The Sumerian word gid will become in Tamil
kiddu (Qmk) to reach.

The distinction in meaning between the syllybles with si and sin as suffix is what is defined by
Tolkappiyam as “ÂøÚSÔ¨¦ “ and “ÂøÚ•ØÖ “. The importance is here laid on the
concept of murru (•ØÖ), which has the meaning of attaining, reaching and effecting. We can
translate these theories in English as follows: “Both si and sin are being formants with the syllable si

6
We have shown in a separate work already the connection of Siva and Nergal, the Sumerian god in the fire.
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as stative verb formant and sin is the effector verb formant. An example: x – si will meand one, who
does x. The form x – sin will mean one, who has effected x. The stative verb can`t be conjugated by
tenses without the shift of meaning. This verb can onlybe conjugated with words that introduce
agents, like pronouns. This restriction is not needed bythe effectorverb, which effects an action and
in addition to being a temporal event requires also an agent. The effector being sense of “sin” is in
contrast with “su”, which is an imperative marker or “is the effector of an action” sense. From the
forms of “x – sin” it can be correct or flase, while this functional evaluation is not possible with the
forms of “x – su”. We have to remark the actions of x – sin can effect an action, which was done in
the past time. From this it follows the kind of “x – sin” actions became understood as verbs in the
past tense. This contrasts with the kind of “x – su” forms, which is possible for this kind of
morphological structure to have become in contrast with the past time. In thisconnection we remark
the syllable si, which is part of the mantra si – vaa – ya – na – ma and also na – ma – si – va – ah. The
“si” is here usually ttaken as light. This we can trace back to the Sumerian si, which has here the
function of a grammatical infix and means pure presence, being – there as such. With this notion in
mind and the metaphysical understanding then we come up to si – a and si – ba -> siva, as that which
does the presencing, the Being as such, the primordial cause and ground for the presence of being
and the existence of the creature and and everything else. The Sumerian sipa, sib and the Tamil word
siva (]Á). We can suggest the same development, if we take the word sipa as a Prakrit form of the
word Siva in Sanskrit. Here much more research has to be done and our suggestion is just a
beginning.

We can show from various Sumerian texts to have the Being by the name Siva was already in use in
Sumerian time. We find in the Sumerian texts manytimes the phrase sipa sag gig – ga, which is
usually translated as “the shepherd of the black heads” but the translation “the saviour, who is
black” would be possible as well. As the provider of the cause for the continuous presence of the
wolrd Siva is understood as the saviour. We get an example for this meaning form the Hymn B by the
King Sulgi, where we read:

“sipa ildum – ma – bi su – bi hu – mu – dug“, which is verse 73 in Sumerian and the translation is:
“and for the shepherds and pack dogs is was a pleasant time.” The Tamil version of this verse is. “sipa
ezutummabi suubi tukkummu (]£ GÊx®©¤ ‹¤ xUS®•). In verse 74 we read:
“u – me – da u – ul – li – a – se”, in Sumerian words and in the translation:” through always and
always.”The Tamil version of this verse is: “uLmai odu uu uuziya see (EÒø©öÁõk F
Fȯ@Œ).” From ths combination of the two verses we understand the translation of the first
verse didn`t match with the second verse. The verse 74 should be translated as: “being there really
until the time of the complete destruction of the world.” After this verse speaks on complete
destruction, then the Sumeria word ildum – ma should be those, which this destroys and the things
that remains as there in the world and which has arisen (GÊx®©)or being ti to being there.
Therefore we can the word sipa here understand as the power, which has done this, the ezutumma.
From this understanding we can consider, theBeing, which had the power to bring all into existence,
has also the power to destroy everything it brought into existence. With this understanding we have,
what the scholar Meykandar said in his word Civanjanapotham (]ÁbÚö£õu®) in the words:
“Œ[PUµ PµnÚQ¯ •uÀ.”

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In the Sumerian literature we find various evidence for them to understand Siva as the Being, which
we find in the Saiva Sidhanta in an elaborate way explained and defined. In this section we address
the understanding and name the accompagnement. In the hymns from the Temple of Kes we find
various evidences for this understanding. These hymns were composed by High Priestess Anna.

The Sumerian word Keš we take as a version from the word Keeci (@P] ). The word keeci (@P] )
means long haired and is a very ancient name of Siva. We can take the word kaasi (Põ] ), like we
find it in kaaci vicuvanaatar (Põ] ”ÁÚõuº) as a variant form. We can offer some more
possibilities for the word kaaci. We have in Tamil kaas, kaay(Põa, Põ#), which has the meaning to
glow with intense heat and which has many words of derivation like aakaayam, aakaasam, kaasam
(BPõ¯®, BPõŒ®, PõŒ®). The connection of Siva, who is related to the fire, with words on
glowing heat is of great interest. We have further words like piralaacam (¤µPõŒ®), which means
illumination, brightness and clarity. We find in the hymns from the Temple of Kes many verses,
where the word is found.

“kes sag – il mu – un – na – ni – in – gal“ we find in verse 7 and the translation by Dr. Gragg from this
verse is:”Kes lifted its head for him”. The Tamil version of this verse is. “keeci sanki ezu munnin kaal
(@P] Œõ[Q GÊ •ßÚÛß PõÀ).” We translate this: “ Keeci raised hid head and
established himself as in front.” While Dr. Gragg took the word mu as a pronoun, we take it for to be
as mun, in front and therefore we translate mu – na – ni – in analogue to the Tamil version munnanin
(•ßÚÛß) in front. Here the word Kes didn`t denote a place, it denotes the Being himself, the
long haired, the viricadai pemmaan (›Œøh ö£®©õß) of the Sangam Period.

Picture 43 God Siva depicted with long hair

We find in the Sangam literature of classical Tamil various examples for this description. We give
here only a few.

“HØÖÁß E¯›¯ G›©¸Ò AºŒõøh“; The opened hair of Being mounted on the
bull that is bright like fire.” (Puram 56)

“|ßÓõ#ßu }Ò {ªº Œøh “; The well cared and very long and restless tuft.” (Puram 166)

“DµgŒøh Aßunß “; The Antana of wet and moist tuft (Kurunci kali 2)

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Siva, described with we, opened and restless tuft is his form as Nataraja, the Being as dancer and this
restless moving is the representation of his dynamic presence, the Being as the mover of all, but the
Being himself remains unmoved, called piraviruttan (¤µÂ¸zuß) in Tamil. This is what is
expressed in the verse Kes sag – il ; Keeci lifting his head up, a metaphor for to say the Being shows
himself to the people and the people can see his presence. He is here not more the Being, which
remains as the absolute close one within itself, which is called cattan (Œzuß) in Tamil. This is said
in the phrase munnanin kaal (•ßÚÛß PõÀ), where kaal (PõÀ) means to establish firmly.
We get another example in the hymns of the Temple of Kes, where this understanding to take Kes
not as the place, but as the Being is confirmed.

“kes kur – kur – ra sag – ga il – bi“, which is tranlated by Dr. Gragg : „When Kes lifted up its head
among all the lands.” This followed by the verse: “en – lil – le kes zami am – ma – ab – be” andagain
Dr. Gragg: “Enlil spoke the praise of Kes.” The Taml version of these verses 8 and 9 is: “keeci
kunRakunRa saanki ezubi eeNliillee keeci caamiyamma abaiyee (@P] SßÓSßÓ Œõ[Q
Gʤ Hs½À@» R]a Œª¯®© Aø£@¯).” We translate these verses:” When Keeci
lifted his head among the lands, Enlil sang in praise of Keeci.”

As we saw in the previous sections of this work, we find in the Sumerian God Enlil, the God Visnu of
the Agama tradition, who is also known as Tirumaal. Visnu is the Being as the manifested world and
who depends of the Being for his phenomenal functioning. This is very fine in union with the verses
here. The God Visnu or here Enlil sings the praise of Keeci, who is a name of Siva and when he
discloses himself from the depths. This subject, where Visnu is the power of the manifested world, as
the Purusa or Perumaal, assuming the subordinate position to Siva is found in the corpus of the
Tevaram poems.

1. The Bull of Siva in Sumerian texts

An important symbolic representation of the Being as Siva is the picture of the one, who has
mounted the bull. The Sumerian word for bull is gu, which will become in Tamil koo (@Põ), where it
means cow and cattle. The Sumerian word nam – ti will become in Tamil nanti (|ßv), the bull of
Siva. In the two above mentioned examples we find the exresion eeRRuvan (HØÖÁß), which
means literally, the one with the eeRu (HÖ), which is a general word for the male of animals. We
find in the hymns from the Temple of Kes a verse, we discussed already before in relation to the
people of Aratta.

“e kes mus – kalam – ma gu – hus – aratta.“ is verse 14 and the translation is: “Kes temple,
foundation of the country, fierce ox of Aratta.” The Tamil version from this verse is: “il keeci mutal
kaLamma koo usNa aratta (CÀ @P] •uÀ PÍ®© @Põ San Aµzu).” The Sumerian
word gu – hus will become in Tamil koo usNa (@Põ San), which means the angry bull. We can
derive from this word ugra, ukkira (EUµ, EUQµ). In the classical Tamil literature we find the
expression “EÒÐøÓ EÁ©® “, which says in form of a metaphor, that Siva is in fact the

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angry bull. The expression and metaphor for God Siva to be “the bull of ..” is a common picture found
in the Agama and Tantric tradition and the bull is an symbolic representation of the God Siva.

Picture 44 God Siva and his consort Parvati riding the bull Nandi.

We find alread on the tablets and seals from the Indus Valley, which is contemprary to the Sumerian
Period an anthropomorphic figure with bulls, we didn`t know the name of this figure, but we will not
fail if we call him Siva.

Picture 45 Indus Valleys depicted figure

The God Siva we can find with various symbolic representations and names in the Sumerian
literature, which we can understand with the help of the Agama and Tantric scriptures. He is called
Keeci, the one with flowing hair and which is in historical name called by the name Cadaiyan
(Œøh¯ß) in Tamil. He is the being acossiated with the being as dancer, the Siva Nataraja (]Á
|hµõá), the aadavallaan (BhÁÀ»õß), the moving and elegant iconographc representation
famous in the entire world today.

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Picture 46 God Siva as Nataraja

2. The Sumerian God Enki and Siva

We will give a short view on Enki and Siva, for to identify them as an identical god.

We find in the temple hymns of the priestess Anna, her title in Sumerian is En Hudu Anna, many
hymns dedicated to Enki, who was worshipped in the great temple with tower in Ediru, one of the
most important cultural places of ancient Sumer. From the descriptions we get from Enki it is obvious
that he is Ensi, the Lord EN (Hs) of the life processes. The Sumerian “si” is ji (â) in Tamil and in
Sanskrit, the god Siva of the Saiva Siddhanta. He was the one, who has not only the power to create
the life or to give the life back as we read in the Gilgamesh Epic, he is also the one, who has no other
power for his creator and which meaning is expressed by the phrase “nu – dim – mud – e”, which is
was not translated in the electronic Sumerian texts collection. The complete verse is:” (missing
words) en (d) nu – dim – mud – e (missing words) the Lord Nudimmud”. We see here a metaphysical
thought expressed like it is the case in the most names of the gods. The first particle “nu/na” is
clearly a negation, which we find also as la, which is still existing in Sanskrit, but lost in Tamil, where
we find only the la in forms of ila, ala, al (C», A», AÀ) and so forth. The na or naa is retrained
with initial letter n deleted as aa (B). The Sumerian word “dim” we find in Sumerian with the
meaning to create, to build and to produce. We can take it as a variant of dib – be which will be in
Tamil tiiba (w£) to light up and to bring into presence. We have the in the hymn an instance for it.
The verse is: kingal kin ki – du u nu dib – be, where we translate the phrase “u – nu – dib – de”:
where light do not light up. u -> ul -> oL (light) nu (do not) dib – be -> tiiba (light up). The Sumerian
word “mud – e” is in Tamil mutee, mutala (•@u,
•u») as we find it in the verse from Kural 1:
akaram mutala ezutellaam (APµ® •u» GÊöuÀ»õ®). We find this word with the same
meaning in verse from the hymn B of King Sulgi, here we read: tur mu – de e – dub – ba – a – a – am;
since my very youth I belonged to the tablet house7, which we translate into Tamil: tur mutee il
tubbayayaayaam (xº•@u CÀ x¨£¯¯õ¯õ®). From this we understand “mud – e in the
sense of the Tamil mutal (•uÀ), which is the primordial and from this we understand “dim – mu –
de” as the primordial creative power. From this it is possible to understand Ensi (Enki) is a very
7
The school for writing in ancient Sumer
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specific kind of deity, while all the other deities have a primordial genitive cause, this Ensi didn`t have
one. This definition is conforming to the words of Aristotle: “the unmoved mover”. This is expressed
in the Saiva Siddhanta by “taanee tanakkut talaivanaakiya taRparan
(uõ@ÚzuÚUSzuø»ÁÚõQ¯zuØ£µß). The Lord, who is Lord unto himself.

By this we can explain the problem, why it is not Enlil, who finally listens and resurrects the dead En
Kidu. This was done byEnsi. Ensi (Enki) is the Lord of Life, the one who has the power over the death
and the rebirth of the creatures. We find this expressed by the scholar Meykandar (ö©#Psuº)
by the words antamaati (Aßu©õv), the one, who terminates and regenerates. In the hymn of
the paradise, the Tilmun, it is the same Ensi (Enki), who is described as dancing with the woman Nin –
sikilla, the eternal young and pure girl. We give the four verses:

1. as – ni – ne dilmun ki – a u – ne – in – nad
2. ki en – ki dam – an – ni – da ba – an – da – nad – a – na
3. ki – bi sikil – am ki – bi zalag – zalag – ga – am
4. ki en – ki nin – sikil – la ban – an – da – nad – a – ba

The translation of these verses is given:

1. Alone in Dilmun they lay

2. The place, where Enki with his wife laid himself down
3. That place is clean, that place is bright
4. The place, where Enki with Ninsikilla laid himself down

Now we will give these verses in Tamil :

“BaÛ@Ú vÀ•Ú |i°ß

RÌ H[R u©ÛuöÁõx £sox |h¨£

R̤ ”UQ»õ® R̤ Œ»sŒ»Võ®

RÌ H[R {ß”QÀ» £sox |m©¨£ “

We will give now our translation of these verses:

1. Alone in Dilmun theydanced

2. There Enki with his wife performed the Dance of Bliss
3. The place is pure and full of musical sounds
4. This place is so, when Enki and his consort, the pure woman, performed the Dance

The important phrase u – ne – in – nad is in the electronic Sumerian texts wrongly translated as they
lay, where we can show the Sumerian word nedi means to dance like in the word ki – e – nedi; the
place for dancing. We find man words in Tamil related to dance

Here again we have Ensi (Enki) dancing with his women (dam – am – ni – ta), Sakti. This is a central
point in Saiva Siddhanta until today, Siva is dancing the Dance of Bliss, the dance of creation and
destruction, in Tilmun; the Tillai ManRu (vÀø» ©ßÖ)

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If we combine all this divided descriptions tpgether we get the essential insights of Saivism. He is the
primordial power, who has no power beyond him as his causal ground. He is the only one, who can
resurrect from the death and he is dancing the Dance of Bliss with his eternally youthful and
beautiful consort Ninsikilla in Tilmun. We understand clearly the central point of Saivism is present in
the Sumerian literature and thoughts, which are connected to the temple cult.

Picture 47 the Sumerian Divine Couple in Dilum

3. Symbolic representation of Siva in Sumerian texts

In the hymns from the Temple of Kes we find other symbolic elements of the Being recognized as
Siva.

“e an – se alim ki – se lu – lim“ We find in verse 47 and the translation by Dr Gragg is: “temple at its
top a bison, at its bottom a stag.” This verse will become in Tamil: “il vaansee aalembu kiizsee
uLulembu (CÀ Áõß@Œ Bö»®¦ RÌ@Œ EÐö»®¦)” and our translation is: “ temple,
at its top a bull, at its bottom a cow.”

“e an – se seg – bar ki – se dara – mas“ we read in verse 48 and the translation: “temple, at its top a
wild ram, at its bottom a deer.” The Tamil version of this verse is: “il vaansee cemmaRi kiizee
taaraimaan (CÀ Áõß@Œa öŒ®©øÓ R@Ç uõøµ©õß).”
“e an – se seg – bar – dar – a ki – se dara – mas – sa – ga“ are the Sumerian words from verse 49 and
this is transalted: “Temple, at its top a many coloured wild ram, at its bottom a beautiful deer.” The
Tamil version of this verse is: “il vaansee cemmaRai taarai kiizsee taraimann cokka (CÀ Áõß@Œa
öŒ®©øÓz uõøµ RÌ@Œz uøµ©õß öŒõUP).”
“e an – se utu – gin e – a ki – se iti – gin bara – ga “ we read in verse 50 and in translation by Dr.
Gragg: “Temple, at its top riling like the sun, at its bottom setting like the moon.” The Tamil vrsion
from this verse is: “il vaansee utunkin eeya kiizsee intinkin valanku (CÀ Áõß@Œ Ex[Qß
H¯ RÌ@Œ Cßv[Qß Á»[S)”, which we translate: “Temple, at its topmoving forward
like the sun, at its bottom round like the moon.”

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“e an – se utug – sul ki – se (gis)tun – am“ is verse 51 and we read in Dr. Gragg´s translation:” temple,
at its top a heroic mace, at the bottom an axe.” The Tamil version of this verse is: “il vaansee utukku
cuul kiizee tuuNaam (CÀ Áõß@Œ ExUSa ‹À RÌ@Œ ynõ®)”, which we translate:
“temple, at its top the spear with hand drum, at its bottom the pillar.”

“e an – se kur – ra – am ki – se idim – ma – am“ we read in verse 52 and in the translation by Dr.

Gragg: “temple, at the top a mountain, at its bottom a spring.”

What we read in these verses as the adornment of the temple from Kes we find in iconographic
symbols of Siva as icon. We look on these verses. The word lim, which we find in the Sumerian text
from verse 47 we didn`t find in Tamil anymore, but we can connect it with the word elumbu
(G¾®¦), which means bones. This we can trace back in a time, when animals were slaughtered
and eaten in form of sacrifice rituals. The letter “a” in a – lim we find in Tamilin theform of aa (B),
like in aadu (Bk), the male person. In an analogue way syllable “lu” in lu – lim is the earliy form of
the word aaLu (BÐ), the suffix for to indicate the female gender, still today in use. The presence
of the cow and the bull is surely a symbolfor immense virility of Being, without the tireless
productivity of universe is impossible. The Sumerian words seg – bar and dara – mas we can identify
with Tamil cemmaRi (öŒ®©Ô) and taaraimaan (uõøµ©õß), the sheep and the deer, which are
both symbols of Siva and represent the hand symbols of Somaskantan, which represents one of
Siva`s 64 very ancient presentations.

The Sumerian words utu and iti we find in Tamil still in the form of utayam (Eu¯®), which means
sunrise. We can derive it from the Sumerian phrase utu – aa – am, the emergence of the Sun. The
word iti we find in Tamil as intu (Cßx), where it means moon. We have here clearly Siva in the
appearance of Candrasekaran, the one wearing the crescent moon in mind.

Picture 48 Siva with cresent moon in iconography

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The temple appears to be radiant at the top and with a high temple tower, while the bottom of them
was circular loke the moon. The Sun and the Moon are of metaphysical symbolic in the
understanding of the God Siva himself. He is being the naatam (|õu®) and Bindu, which are
expressed by the symbols iravi (CµÂ) the sun for naatam and mati (©v) the moon for Bindu. IN
the Siddha scriptures we find Siva addressed as Ravimati, both the Sun and the Moon together and
very brilliant. In the Sumerian gods we find Utu as the Sun, which we find in iconograophy depicted.

Picture 49 the Sumerian God Utu

The Sumerian word utug – sul will become in Tail utukku cuul (ExUS ‹À). Utukku is fore sure
the hand drum, whichis even today an important symbol of the God Siva. The beating of this drum is
understood as the primordial sound, from which all other sounds emerge. This sound is the logos,
that generate all the language.

Picture 50 Siva`s hand drum, damaru in Sanskrit and utukku in Tamil

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The Sumerian word tun can be the Tamil word tuN (xs), whichhas the meaning to cut and can be
the axe, the mazu of Siva. It can also be in Tamil tuuN (ys) and denotes the pillar and means
here the Siva lingam, which is called in Tamil Siva taaNdu (]Á
uõsk), the pillar of Siva. In the
text from the scholar Meykandar it is called koo taNdam (@Põ ush®), thedivine road and in
Tolkappiyam we find it defined as kantu (Pßx) an oblisque. The Tamil word tuuN (ys) means
also oblisque, which will be a suitlable translation in view of the context.The Sumerian word sul
become in Tamil cuul (‹À) and denotes the spear of Siva, called tirucuul (v¸‹À). The cuul
symbolize the female power, the Parasakti, and in this we should have for contrast the male power
symbolized by the word tuun (ys). We can derive the word ilingam (C¼ßP®) from the word
ilanku (C»[S), which means to shine forth.

The Sumerian word kur is for sure the Tamilword kunRu (SßÖ) and means hill and mountain. The
Sumerian word idim – ma we derive from the word “id”, which means a stream and we can connect
it with Tamil oodia (Køh). The Sumerian word im has the meaning of rain clouds and we can
derive the word Himalaya from im – aala – a, which denotes the wide spread of extensice place of
rain clouds. In Tamil we have the word imam (C©®), which means snow and something very cold.
The Tamil word for imam aalayam (C©® B»¯®) denotes an extensive place of snow, which is
an excellent description of the Himalaya Mountains. From this we can connect the word kur – ra and
idim – ma with the Himalaya and with the river Ganga. This point of view is exciting from another
ponit of view as well. Have we here a rememberance of the Sumerians, when at least some of them
settled in the Ganges Valley, before they migrated to the west? The rememberance of the country
Aratta, reported in the texts we discussed in the very beginning of this work? Can we from this
background explain the desire of various Kings of the Sangam Period to re- conquer this place? The
Cera King Cenkuuttuvan (öŒ[TzxÁß) thought to bring thestone from the Himalaya for to
build the temple in Kannagi. Here much more research work has to be done; the Himalaya was not
only for the ancient Tamils of the Sangam period sacred hills.

A final word we need to mention regarding the place of Eridu, which we find mentiond in the
Sumerian King list by the words: “eridu ki nam – luhal – la”, the kingship was in Eridu”. The Tamil
version of this verse is “erituuki nam ulugalla (G›yQ |® EÎPÒÍ). We find in the first of
the Sumerian temple hymns of the Priestess Anna Eridu menationg and praised as the place, where
the ruling god was Eni, whom we identified above with the God Siva. Enki is the God, who dances in
the hymn of the Paradise with his female consort the dance of bliss. The word eridu will become in
Tamil erituu (G›y). The word eri (G›) means fire and the word tuu (y) means pure. From this
view and understanding we can suggest Eridu as a centre of the worship of Siva and the pure fire,
which has a central part in the solar cosmology. The archaeological picture is not contradicting this
suggestion. We find figurines of snakes at the former temple, which are related to Siva as well.

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Picture 51 map of Eridu, the holy place of Enki

Picture 52 Map of Nippur, the holy place of Enlil

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Final words

We have given in the previous pages various sgns for to take the Sumerian religion as an early form
of the Agama and Tanrtic tradition as we find them described in the ancient Indian scriptures. We
can show a clear cultural continuity from the Sumerian period ~ 4000 b. C. down to the Indian
tradition, where we see of course some developments. Exciting is the connection of some aspects to
the ancient Egypt culture, which we touched only shortly and, where we need to do a lot of more
research work. Here in this work we just discuss some gods and aspects of the temple, in our coming
work on King Sulgi and his Hymn B we will discuss the temple rituals found in his text together with
the rituals found in the ancient scriptures of Agama and Tantric tradition.

We show lastly a picture showing the Sumerian, Egyptian and the Indian Mother Goddess next to
each other.

Picture 53 These three Goddesses from Sumer, Egypt and India are all the Mother Goddess, the Goddess of War and of
Love. Goddess In – Anna from Sumer, Goddess Qetesh from Egypt and Goddess Durga from India.

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