3/10/2015 Sumerian_language: palaeolithic pidgin/creole language of land of Cush. [Land of Cush as coded language meaning "empire of Kish"] The land of Cush mentioned in the bible (Gen 2:13) is connected to the city of Kish in Mesopotamia. Kish was a city state in Mesopotamia. But it was also the centre of an ancient Empire. The title "King of Kish" is connected to expressions such as "King of the 4 quarters World" or "King of the World". Modern Archaeologists assume that the later Akkadian kings Sargon I, Naram-Sin created such titles. [A History of the Ancient Near East, By Marc Van De Mieroop p.73] But if you study what is said about the ancient king Etana, then it is possible that such titles are much older than Sargon. It is probable that Sargon knew of the Etana and that Sargon copied the ancient achievements of Etana. When Etana united the nations, it is possible that Etana became "King of the World". i.e. Etana was a King of Kish, and it is possible that Etana became "King of the World" after he united the ancient nations. ---------------------------- [The meaning of Whole Earth (Kish Empire)] In genesis Chapter 11, When the bible speaks about the whole world, or whole earth, it could mean those nations associated with the Persian Gulf trade centre. during ice ages, human populations became cut off from each other. So each technology centre. i.e. The Persian Gulf trade centre became the "world" of Cush, as various nations migrated there and survived during the ice age. And the Black Sea trade centre became the "world" of Shem & Japheth as various OTHER nations migrated there and survived during the ice. The ice age cut off the contact between the Persian gulf centre and the Black Sea centre so they became different "worlds". The bible mentions the existence of various worlds in ancient times. This interpretation makes sense also in the context of the later Akkadian Kings Sargon and Naram-Sin calling themselves "King of the World". These Akkadian king did not subjugate every nation on earth. They subjugated only those surrounding nations that they knew about. The Ethiopian Nimrod/Etana was much earlier than the Semitic Sargon and Naram-Sin. so when Nimrod/Etana became King of Kish he became "King of the World" by subjugating those nations surrounding the Persian Gulf trade centre,Havilah and Mesopotamia. So the Whole Earth of Genesis 11 is probably the Empire of Nimrod/Etana. i.e. the Whole Earth of Genesis 11 is probably the Kish Empire. --------- The bible mentions the existence of various worlds (plural) in ancient times. .. [Hebrews 1:2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 2 Peter 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;] --------------------------- [Kish Empire :very ancient unification of nations perhaps extending back into the Stone Age.] Given that Kish was founded by Ethiopians, and the Genetic evidence suggests that Ethiopians were crossing into Arabia and Mesopotamia as long ago as 30,0000 years, the empire of Kish might have ancient beginnings, perhaps reaching into the Stone Age (Paleolithic), perhaps reaching into ice ages. In documentaries such as "Cradle of the Gods" archeologists describe such stone age religion was associated with bringing people together and building structures. This religion is similar to what is described under the Nimrod Kingdom in Mesopotamia (Genesis 11). The empire of Kish might be connected to stone Age religion such as the temples of Gobeklii Tepe. Perhaps such temples were first being built inside the Persian Gulf trade centre during the ice age, but later in the era after the ice ace/after the flood migrated into Havilah and Mesopotamia. Perhaps such temples were first being built inside the Persian Gulf trade centre during the ice age, but later in the Natufian era migrated outside the trade centres and into further areas like Southern Turkey. The Nimrod Kingdom and Havilah Kingdom are adjacent to the Persian Gulf,and so perhaps such temples became connected with Nimrod religion after the ice age,or after the flood as described in Genesis 11. See the map aethiopa.jpg. So the Kish empire might be something very ancient.The Kish empire or "Land of Cush" might be a unification of tribes/peoples/nations extending back into stone age times (paleolithic or old stone age). The Kish Empire or Land of Cush might be a "religio-political system" based on a stone age religion of people coming together and building temples on hills: temples of the type seen in Gobeklii Tepe. And after thousands of years, this transformed into a religion of building pyramids(ziggurats) and putting temples of the dead on top of the pyramids(ziggurats) to commune with god(s). The pyramids(ziggurats) were artificial hills/mountains.Sometimes pyramids were built in stone as in Egypt, and sometimes pyramids were built with mud bricks as in Mesopotamia,depending on what resources were available. -------------------------------- When speaking about the Kish empire, it is probably more ancient than the city of Kish. The Kish empire might be a religio-political entity going back into the stone age. The "land of Cush" probably existed thousands of years before the city of Kish. So the Kish empire might be connected to the existence of the "land of Cush" and Havilah. So the land of Cush possibly existed for thousands of years, and Kish city was established in the last stages of the land of Cush. i.e. Ethiopian descendants briefly became civilized in Mesopotamia,founded Kish city, but then disappeared, superseded by the Sumerian race. Archaeology suggests Kish was possibly founded 3200 B.C . But the existence of the Kish tablet might contradict that dating. Perhaps Kish was founded earlier around 3500 B.C. However,still the founding of Kish is relatively recent. The land of Cush is probably connected to existence of Havilah. Havilah might be an ancient African culture in Arabia, thousands of years older than Kish city. So,in some ways,perhaps the Sumerians were possibly the descendants of Havilah. And perhaps the Nimrod kingdom was a colony from Havilah: so the nimrod kingdom briefly existed as a civilization but then disappeared. -------------------------------- [One language United the Kish Empire. The Stone Age Language of Kish Empire. Sumerian as a paleolithic creole/pidgin language.] Stone age religion united various nations into an ancient Empire. In order to communicate with each other, the Ethiopian kingdoms created a pidgin language to communicate with the various other nations. The were possibly many Scythian people among the subjugated nations, so the pidgin language was influenced by Scythic(Ural-Altaic) and African languages. Over time this pidgin language became more complicated and formed a creole language. This creole language was Sumerian. ==================================================================================================== June 2016 ANOTHER VIEW: Ubaidian as the original "one language". Sumerian as the paleolithic creole of the Persian Gulf basin. Ubaidian as the original "one language" of the Kish Empire(Nimrod Empire). But Ubaid culture lacked writing, so Ubaid language is lost to modern people. Sumerian culture became stronger than Ubaid when the Sumerians invented writing. So Sumerian culture/civilization replaced Ubaid culture in the fertile crescent, and became the second "one language". --------- Story of the tower of Babel & confusion of the languages possibly about a time when people could build cities but they had no writing. They could build an empire but they didn't have writing to unify their empire. They lacked writing, so administration was harder to do. So that first empire collapsed, and became a distributed culture. i.e. The Nimrod kingdom collapsed and became "Nimrod Culture" in various lands. <------ Nimrod Culture is probably Ubaid culture. Writing was like people having one language. Without writing, it was difficult for different nations to understand one another, so the empire collapsed. Without writing, it was difficult for different nations to be administered. Without writing it was difficult to unify different nations, so this first empire became dispersed. i.e. When the empire started it was easy to administer because it was small and everyone spoke the same language. But as the empire grew, new people ,new nations were added to the empire. So eventually in the larger empire,people were speaking different languages, but they lacked a writing system to unify them. Notice Nimrod is a a mighty hunter but then he builds cities of fired-mud-brick (Genesis 11:3). This a hint about hunter-gatherers settling down by building the first cities. These builders had no stone so they discovered how to harden clay bricks. But these first city builders had no writing. [Small settlements could be built out of stone, but to build large cities fired-mud-brick technology was required. Mesopotamia lacks stone resources.] --------- From an archaeological perspective, Ubaid culture could build cities but it had no written language. For a long time, Ubaid culture was dominant in Mesopotamia. Later , the Sumerians invented writing and became the dominant culture in Mesopotamia. Sumerians were originally part of the Ubaid cultural empire, but Sumerians found a way to become stronger than Ubaid culture. Perhaps for a period of time, Sumerians were ruled over by a Ubaidian Kings. But those kingdom(s) collapsed and became a dispersed culture.<--- Etana is possibly a Ubaidian King.Ubaidian kings could have been Ethiopian(Sahelian) or Ethiopian descendants. Originally, Sumerians were a national group that followed Ubaid culture. Sumerians were originally in the Persian Gulf basin & eastern Rhub Al Khali region (see "Arabian Bifacial Tradition"). <--- downriver from the Raamah culture. Ubaid culture perhaps controlled the north of the Persian Gulf basin. The Sumerians controlled the south of the Persian Gulf basin. Ubaid culture became widespread in the fertile crescent first. Later the Sumerians invaded/occupied the cities in the Ubaid heartland region,and they were able to invent writing to unify/administer those cities. So Sumerians were able to hold on to those cities for many centuries. So the Ubaid culture tried to unite people. But when the Sumerians invented writing, perhaps they could unite nations more efficiently than Ubaid. [However, the Sumerians never became a unified empire. Sumer remained as a diffuse network of city states competing with each other over centuries. Then the Akkadians became briefly dominant and created the Akkadian Empire.] ------------- Genesis 11:4 - 'Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.' This idea of building a city and tower ,is probably the idea of building a city based around a central temple. The temple is a way of reaching the gods in the heavens. This conforms to the idea of a "temple-town". Temple-towns are something archaeologists associate with Ubaid culture. So it is possible that Genesis 11 is about a time when the first temple towns appear (during the Ubaid cultural period). ------------- In the Sumerian records, it is the god Enki who confuses the languages. [see "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta". Enki is mentioned in this Sumerian story. And it is in this Sumerian story that the invention of writing occurs (as a way to help the Sumerian ambassador to remember messages.) ] Perhaps Enki is the god who confuses the "one language" of the Nimrod Kingdom, but maybe this occurs in another Sumerian story that is lost to modern people. In the story of "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta" it is prophecised that although Enki confused the languages, Enki will one day create a single language again. Enki is said to be god of wisdom/craft/knowledge. So Enki is probably the god of writing. Perhaps Enki withheld the knowledge of writing from Nimrod(Etana), and perhaps Enki gives writing to the Sumerians. So maybe Enki ensures the demise of Ubaid culture, and the dominance of Sumerian culture by giving writing to the Sumerian Enmerkar. Is "Aratta" a land dominated by the more ancient Ubaid culture? =========================================================================== sources: 1."Exploring the Roots of Mesopotamian Civilization: Excavations at Tell Zeidan,Syria",lecture by Dr Gil J. Stein at The Oriental Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QHDPGUuAjIo ============================================== return to main page: http://sumerdecoded.com/index_.htm