ABSTRACT
While Enki and the World Order describes the whole range of Enki’s powers and considers the legitimacy of his position in the established Sumerian pantheon, Enki and Ninhursaga concerns Enki’s relationship with female deities and aspects of sexuality and fertility. Both works are classed as ‘praise’ (za. mì) of Enki, but where the former was programmatic and unanimous in the eulogy of Enki’s suitability, the latter introduces a threat to the god’s very survival and there is an element of tension in the composition. As Enki’s sexuality is an important theme, the language is full of word plays, allusions and doubles entendres. The innuendo here suits the personality of Enki, who is a witty as well as a sexy god. Present understanding of Sumerian seriously limits our appreciation of these linguistic displays and no translation can possibly do justice to the original. 2 In the following synopsis I am trying to highlight the ambiguity of key passages.
