FLYING SERPENTS AND DRAGONS
By R. A. Boulay 1990
Editorial Comments By Roberto Solàrion 1997
Dilmun has probably aroused more curiosity than any other place mentioned in the cuneiform records of Mesopotamia. Many books have been written about this land of mystery, probably second only to that of Atlantis. Unlike Atlantis, however, there are many recorded references to Dilmun which assures us that it was a geographic location somewhere in the Middle East. Dilmun was a land intimately associated with Sumer and Akkad, and just like Meluhha (Africa) and Magan (Egypt) supplied their cities with many economic necessities either through tribute or by commercial exchange. Dilmun was also a sacred or holy land often called the residence of the gods, a sort of garden of Eden, often referred to as "the land of the living," that is, the land of immortality. Despite the references to Dilmun in Mesopotamian literature and myths, its location is still in dispute among scholars. We know for sure that Dilmun was not just a literary fiction for it is mentioned in economic texts as early as the 24th Century BC and as late as the First Millennium BC. Recent theories identify it as the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. This was proposed by Geoffrey Bibbey in his study Looking for Dilmun. This identification, however, relies heavily on the inscription of Sargon of Assyria, circa 720 BC, who asserted that among the kings paying him tribute were "Uperi, king of Dilmun, whose abode is situated like a fish in the midst of the sea where the sun rises." Despite the discrepancy on the sunrise, the statement of Sargon has been taken to mean that Dilmun was an island and that the sea was the Persian Gulf. [Comment: Assuming that this statement is correct, then this "King of Dilmun" was still around at the time of Sargon. This is further proof that the Planet Nibiru was still "parked in orbit" in "the North Country" of "Hyperborea" before the last departure sequence began in earnest, culminating in the events of the year 687 BCE. The correct placement of Sargon was crucial to the completion of Dr. Velikovsky’s historical reconstruction.] Others like Samuel Noah Kramer, as in his book The Sumerians, have placed it in the Indus River Valley based on the references that it was located where the sun rises, that is towards the east of Sumer. This theory is based largely on the Sumerian Deluge myth which states that the Sumerian Noah was given immortality and transplanted to the "mouth of the rivers" and to "the place where the sun rises." In both instances, the geographic placement of Dilmun seems to be contingent on the statement that it was in the west toward the rising sun. A more recent analysis by Zecharia Sitchin in his book The Stairway to Heaven identifies the Sinai peninsula as the Land of Dilmun (Tilmun). The difficulty in locating the land of Dilmun is due largely to modern translations of the Sumerian and Akkadian texts where arbitrary interpretations are given to the original texts. A major source of information on this land are the accounts of the travels of Gilgamesh. Two epics are often mentioned in this respect, the famous Gilgamesh Epic which is in twelve cuneiform tablets, and the lesser known but complete poem called Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living.
THE LAND OF IMMORTALITY AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN Dilmun was looked upon by the Sumerians as a blessed paradise that was intimately related to Sumer on a religious or spiritual level. The land of Dilmun is described in the myth Enki and Ninkhursag as a bright, clear, and pure land, called the "land of the living" where there is no illness and death does not exist. Dilmun is thus a land of immortality. The land is in charge of Enki who orders Utu to bring up fresh water from the ground, thereby turning it into a paradise, a divine garden green with fruit-laden fields and meadows. It is a veritable garden of Eden. Although it is not mentioned by name in the myth Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living, it obviously refers to this land where no one got sick or died. In this story, Gilgamesh sets out to a distant land to fell and bring back some of its famous cedars, and to make a "name" or "shumu" for himself. He is told by his friend and co-adventurer Enkidu that Utu/Shamash is in charge of the land and that Gilgamesh must first secure his permission and support.
[Comment: Valiant Prince Utu was Saurian Space Commander, the Greek Apollo, the Roman Helios, the Hindu Rama, the South American Tamendonare, the Slavonic Varpulis.] To obtain immortality, Gilgamesh would journey to this cedar land in order to set up a shumu, and for this he required the permission of Utu, the chief astronaut.
While the Semitic term "shumu" is traditionally translated as "name," it presents difficulties in understanding the text. As we have noted before, the term "shem" which is used in the Old Testament is the same as the "shumu" of the Sumerians. In the incident of the tower of Babel, man wanted to erect a "shem" to reach the gods just as Gilgamesh wished to do. As previously discussed, the shem of the Bible is also used in conjunction with the Kabod or vehicle of the Biblical God. The kabod is called the "kabod ha-shem" or more correctly "the chariot of the shem or rocket." In the epic Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living, he must defeat the monster Humbaba (sometimes called Huwawa) which appears to be a mechanical device that guards the cedar land from intruders. Although the land Gilgamesh journeys to is not mentioned as Dilmun, it is a paradise land, a land of cedars, and one controlled by Utu or Shamash. In the Gilgamesh Epic he also makes a journey to a distant cedar land where he hopes to achieve immortality. He meets and destroys a monster called Humbaba who protects the cedar forest. Humbaba is described as a fearsome monster: "his roaring is like that of a storm, his mouth is fire, and his breath is death." The two epics involving the adventures of Gilgamesh to a distant cedar land, under the control of Utu or Shamash, and guarded by a mechanical monster are obviously related and may actually be part of the same story.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE GILGAMESH EPIC Many scholars have noted the disjointed condition of the story that is narrated in the twelve cuneiform tablets that make up the so-called Gilgamesh Epic. The most complete version available is the one in Semitic Akkadian, composed in the Middle Babylonian Period about the 13th Century BC. Most translations follow this traditional twelve tablet format. Fragments of this epic have also been found in other forms or languages such as Old Babylonian Semitic, Hittite or northwestern Semitic, and in the original Sumerian as well. Some of these fragments date as far back as 2000 BC, confirming the view that the exploits of Gilgamesh were well known all over the Middle East in the Third Millennium BC. Other versions of the Gilgamesh epic, and stories of the exploits of this legendary king, were current in Sumerian and Akkadian literary form when the Middle Babylonians produced their form of the epic. These Semitic Babylonians considered themselves the bearer of Sumerian culture and civilization, and it appears reasonable to assume that they simply combined the contemporary texts into one continuous story which over a period of time became an epic in itself. The fact that it is a compilation of many Gilgamesh stories is obvious in its structure.
There are many stories which relate in some way to the Gilgamesh Epic. Many of these have been found only in fragmentary form, such as the one dealing with Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven, and another called the Death of Gilgamesh. It is obvious that the epic is a composite or selected summary of many stories dealing with the experiences of the hero.
SUMMARY OF THE GILGAMESH STORY By putting the various stories together, we can reconstruct the exploits of Gilgamesh. He was born semi-divine but yet he feared that he was not immortal. He sought to reach the gods since only they could grant it. A companion is created for him by the gods taking a primitive man and putting him through a "civilizing" process of sexual activity with a goddess. Accompanied with this friend and a contingent from the city of Uruk, he decides to journey to the land of Lebanon, also called the "land of the living," the paradise of the gods, the cedar forest, and the home base of Shamash. Sailing up the Euphrates, the ship is wrecked in a storm and only Gilgamesh and Enkidu continue the trip. Presumably following the trade route from Mari, through Tadmor, and down to Damascus, they approach the mountains of Lebanon through the eastern entrance. Here they meet the guards who are equipped with stinging type weapons but are allowed to pass because of Gilgamesh’s semi-divine appearance. They encounter the mechanical monster Humbaba which guards the mountain approaches and destroy it. They pass through a tunnel for twelve double-hours and finally reach light and the city of Baalbek. Gilgamesh is refused a shumu or rocket by Shamash to reach the gods in the orbiting space ship. Ishtar comes to his assistance if he will become her lover. She provides a shuttle for him and he reaches the space ship and meets his grandfather Utnapishtim, who relates to Gilgamesh the story of the Deluge. Not to let his grandson go home empty-handed, he tells him of a magic plant that will rejuvenate Gilgamesh. The hero obtains the plant on the way home but has it stolen by a snake which then sheds its skin. Arriving at Uruk empty-handed, Gilgamesh reneges on his promise to Ishtar who becomes incensed and sends a divine weapon to destroy Gilgamesh and Enkidu. They manage to disable it. The gods in council decide that someone has to pay for this and Enkidu is condemned to die. Enkidu is sent to the Nether World, Gilgamesh eulogizes his friend, and in a later story Gilgamesh manages to rescue Enkidu from the underworld.
LEBANON AS THE LAND VISITED BY GILGAMESH There is only one cedar land in the Middle East worthy of the name. In ancient times it covered all of Lebanon as well as part of Syria. In fact the Gilgamesh Epic refers to it as the "forest that runs for ten thousand leagues." When Humbaba roared it is said that "it shook the land of Saria (Syria) and Lebanon." Despite these specific references to the land of Lebanon, it has been ignored by scholars. This cedar forest where Humbaba roamed is called the "home of the gods, and the throne base of Irnini." Irnini is another name for the goddess Ishtar who seems to have used Dilmun as a home base. Ishtar was also known under the name of Siduri, the so-called Barmaid who helped Gilgamesh to reach the gods. In his adventures Gilgamesh reaches the mountains whose name is "mashu," which guards the entrance to the place where Shamash "comes and goes." The word MA-SHU has not been understood by scholars who seem to have overlooked its obvious meaning, that of "the place of the (space) ship." MA is the Sumerian term for boat or vehicle, as we have seen in Magur as a river boat, and SHU applies to a geographic place or location as in the city of Shuruppak. Gilgamesh is met by the scorpion men, that is, sentries with a stinging type weapon, who immediately challenge him. Gilgamesh is instantly recognized by the sentries as one of their own kind for "the one who has come to us, his body is the flesh of the gods." They notice that he is partly divine, that he has vestiges of a reptilian hide. The scorpion men who guard the Sumerian paradise correspond to the "cherubim with the fiery revolving sword" who were stationed at the eastern entrance to the garden of Eden to guard the tree of immortality and to prevent Adam and Eve from re-entering. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden according to Genesis, and sent "east of Eden" and that entrance guarded by the cherubim. After the Deluge the land of the gods had been moved to Lebanon from the delta area of the Tigris-Euphrates. It explains why Adam and Eve were expelled "east of Eden" and that entrance guarded by the cherubim. It is pertinent to note that Damascus is due east of this entrance to the land of Lebanon. Damascus is the oldest continuously occupied city in the world and claims that it was founded by Adam and Eve after they left Eden. Gilgamesh travelled through a series of tunnels in the mountains to reach the home base of Shamash. The path he took was called "harran Shamash," or the road to Shamash. After going for twelve double-hours, he saw light at the end of the tunnel and finally broke out into the open where he saw an area of bright crystal and colored stones. It was Baalbek, the Space City. Much of the remainder of the text is missing. When Gilgamesh finally reached Utnapishtim, he related the story of the Deluge and how he was made immortal and sent to live in Dilmun. In the Old Babylonian version of the epic, Utnapishtim was given immortality by Enlil after the Deluge and tasked with repopulating the world. In conventional translations, he was sent to a distant land, to the land of Dilmun which was "in the east" and at the "mouth of the rivers." The distant land at the mouth of the two rivers has been interpreted to mean the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates, the location of the antediluvian garden of Eden. Others, notably Kramer, have suggested the delta of the Indus River as more probable. Although the delta of Mesopotamia was the Edin of the Sumerians and the Eden of the Old Testament before the Deluge, it was decided after the catastrophe to move it to a more secure place, less accessible, and not subject to the caprices of nature, especially to periodic flooding. Thus the sacred place of the gods was moved to Lebanon and the space city established there. This is clear in a more recent and accurate translation of these crucial words. A different translation of the phrase in question appears in the recent translation of the epic by John Gardner and John Maier in their book Gilgamesh. Their suggested translation is "the source of the rivers" rather than "the mouth of the rivers." Of course, this gives a completely different meaning to the passage, for the delta of Mesopotamia or any other delta cannot be the land of Dilmun. A search for the place in the Middle East where two rivers originate in the same area leads us back again to Lebanon, particularly to Baalbek, for it is there that the Orontes and Litanni rivers begin, one flowing north and the other south. A Sumerian version of the adventures of Gilgamesh verifies this interpretation of the passage. Called Ziusudra in the early Sumerian version, Utnapishtim is sent to live in "the land of Dilmun, the place where the sun (shamash) rises." A translation of this passage states that he went to live in "the land (or mountain land) of crossing," where the sun or shamash rises. The "land of crossing" appears to refer to the place where shamash took off and landed each day, in order words, where he crossed over from Earth to the heavens. The phrase "land of crossing" can also be translated as "the mountain land of crossing" since the word lends itself to either definition. again, this rules out the flatlands of the delta regions.
DILMUN, THE LAND WHERE THE SUN (SHAMASH) RISES Supposedly situated where the sun rises, scholars have located it in the direction of the east or dawn. The word for sun is "shamash" and the passage could also be read as "where Shamash rises," thus firmly placing it in the land of the cedars. Further evidence that Dilmun should be sought in the west rather than the east is contained in the statement of Sargon the Great who ruled about 2300 BC. [Comment: This is a different Sargon than the one mentioned earlier.] Sargon boasted that "the Sea Lands three times I circled, Dilmun my hand captured." It indicates that Dilmun had to be near the Sea Lands, which was the Mesopotamian term for the Mediterranean Sea coast. The cities of the Sea Lands were none other than the coastal cities of Lebanon, later to become the Phoenician League. Furthermore, Sargon’s statement would indicate that the cities of the Sea Land were actually part of what he called Dilmun. Dilmun had to be near Magan (Egypt) and Meluhha (Africa) according to the epic where Enki conducted what appears to be an inspection trip of the lands which he controlled, that of Magan, Meluhha, and Dilmun. Dilmun is, in fact, often associated commercially with the lands of Magan and Meluhha which dictates that its location had to be in the west near Egypt rather than somewhere far distant in the east. The route taken by Gilgamesh to the land of Shamash is provided in Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living. It also indicates a journey to Lebanon. For the trip, he had mobilized an expedition from his city of Uruk. Since they planned to depart by water they built a "Magan ship," that is, an Egyptian type river boat, since they were going part of the way by water. This type of ship precludes passage by the Persian Gulf and up the coast since it would require a more seaworthy ship able to survive the open sea. Gilgamesh and his group must have planned to sail up the Euphrates as far as possible and then take the overland trade route to the west. Mari would be the choice since it was the transfer point with the trade routes to the Mediterranean. It went to Palmyra (ancient Tadmor) and then divided, with one route going southwest to Damascus and the other west to Homs (Hims) at the northern entrance to Lebanon. Either route led to the land of Lebanon or Dilmun, for just as today they are the two major routes into the mountain land from the east. [Comment: As a linguist and historian, Palmyra has always been one of my favorite words!] Gilgamesh’s expedition was ill-fated and the ship foundered in a storm in the river Euphrates and all hands were lost except Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The heroes of the epic continued their journey on foot and finally reached the land of Shamash or the mountains of Mashu, the "place of the space craft." Although Gilgamesh took the most direct route to Baalbek through the mountain pass near Damascus, it is noteworthy that at the northern entrance to the valley of Lebanon there sits the ruins of an ancient city known as Kadesh, which guarded this entrance. Its origin is lost in antiquity, although Kadesh is the Semitic term for "sacred city" and the reason for its holy appellation has been lost.
DILMUN, COMMERCIAL GIANT OF THE ANCIENT WORLD Dilmun was not only an earthly paradise - the famous garden of Eden, the meeting place of the gods, the land of well-being, and the home grounds of Enki, Shamash, and Ishtar - it was also one of the richest and most powerful countries in the ancient world. To judge from the economic documents, Dilmun has a long commercial history that extended for at least two thousand years. The ships of Dilmun anchored at the docks of the Mesopotamian cities alongside those of Egypt and Ethiopia since at least the mid-third Millennium BC. As early as the days of the Akkad Dynasty, Dilmun is mentioned as a place on the coast of the Mediterranean. Sargon the Great, circa 2300 BC, boasted that he had traversed the mountains and encircled the Sea Lands and captured Dilmun. Since the Sea Lands were on the Mediterranean, Dilmun must have been nearby, if not actually part of this complex. Much has been made of the location of Dilmun as an island as was indicated by the account of Sargon II, the Assyrian ruler of the Eighth Century BC, who announced that,
[Comment: It has not been made clear exactly what a "double-hour" is. Earlier I assumed that 12 double-hours meant a 24-hour period. This reference to 30 double-hours would therefore indicate a period of two and a half days. Can someone enlighten this editor in this regard? Thanks!] The account of Sargon II undoubtedly refers to the Western Lands and to the coastal cities of Phoenicia which were still a commercial power in the Eighth Century BC, although their influence had waned since their heyday from the 14th to the 9th Century BC. [Comment: This is quite revealing, since, as we know, the Saurian Planet Nibiru was "docked" at "Hyperborea" from 1587 till 687 BCE.] At that time, Tyre dominated the league of cities and, in fact, the title King of Tyre was synonymous with that of King of Phoenicia. Located on an island offshore (as Alexander the Great was distressed to find when, to capture it, he had to build a causeway from the mainland), it exercised control over the commercial cities of Aradus, Byblos, Sidon, and Akka. Originally part of the Egyptian Empire, the Phoenician cities became independent with the fall of the Middle Kingdom in the disasters of the mid-15th Century BC. Tyre retained its independence until 586 BC at which time it fell to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after a siege of thirteen years. Thus the account of Sargon II reveals that he claimed control over the area from Bit-Iakin, an unlocated city but believed to be Jericho, near the Bitter Sea, which can only be the Dead Sea, as far as the borders of Lebanon or Dilmun. He had subjected the coastal cities and particularly Tyre which lay "in the midst of the sea." Mainland Dilmun was not claimed by Sargon II for the simple reason that it had been devastated fifteen centuries earlier. [Comment: The next chapter of this book is titled "The Space City and Facilities Destroyed." It is to be assumed here that Boulay will describe the destruction of the Sinai and Baalbek Spaceports, events that transpired at the behest of Princess-Royal Inanna and her lover/co-conspirator Prince Utu during their struggle with Baron Marduk and Baroness Sarpanit to recover the stolen MEs which had precipitated the Pyramid Wars, all of which is discussed in great detail by Sitchin in "The Wars of Gods and Men."] The economic significance of the cities of Dilmun, especially Tyre, is revealed in the Ebla economic accounts of the late Third Millennium, where its name served as a royal standard for gold, which is usually referred to as "gin-dilmun" or "dilmun shekels." In his account of Ebla, Pettinato in The Archives of Ebla reported that the shekel in the trade accounts of Ebla is always written with the Sumerian term "gin" and accompanied by the word "dilmun," thus indicating that the unit of weight and purity was set by and originated in Dilmun. All kinds of products flowed from the ports of Dilmun since it was an entrepôt, that is, a trans-shipment point for goods from Europe, Africa, and the lands of the Mediterranean. [Comment: It was also from Dilmun that Duke Dumuzi, under the command of King Nergal and Queen Ereshkigal, the African Gold Consortium CEOs, dispatched all his kidnapped "slave-laborer Adamus" to their horrible fate in "The Underworld" gold mines of South Africa, probably in and around what is known today as "The Ruins of Zimbabwe." Since the Planet Nibiru is docked precisely above the North Pole, it cannot be seen by anyone positioned below the Equator. Thus, when one travelled to "The Underworld," "Heaven" would seem to "disappear from view."] Thus the goods which arrived in Mesopotamia in the boats from Dilmun were as varied as the lands they came from - copper, gold, lapis lazuli, ivory and ivory products such as inlaid tables, figurines, combs and boxes, furniture, semi-precious stones, cedar and other timbers, and agricultural delicacies such as dates and onions. In her book Babylon Joan Oates reports that in the ruins of Hammurabi’s Babylon, circa 1780 BC, there was unearthed a house of one official called Ea-Nasir who was an "alik-dilmun," that is, a Dilmun trader, who dealt mainly in copper and copper products. He apparently was a middle-man in the trade of copper from Dilmun. While the literary evidence seems to indicate that there were two Dilmuns, they were actually part of the land today known as Lebanon. There was a mainland Dilmun, that of the Bekaa Valley and the home of the space port at Baalbek, and across the mountains the coastal plain of Dilmun with its commercial cities. The mainland of Dilmun ceased to be a paradise and space port of the gods in the reign of Naram-Sin, the demented despot of the Akkad Dynasty, when he invaded and destroyed these lands in 2225 BC. Although the mainland territory was laid waste and avoided by everyone for over a thousand years, the coastal cities continued to flourish as independent city-states under the aegis of Egypt and later as the Phoenician League.
THE COASTAL CITIES OF LEBANON The coastal area of Lebanon was inhabited by Canaanites who later came to be called Phoenicians by the Greeks. The first of these cities to step on the threshold of history was the city of Gubla (Byblos to the Greeks) where its history goes back to 3500 BC. Byblos and later the other cities of Tyre, Sidon, Berytus, and Aradus emerged under the control of Egypt about 2700 BC when they were noted exporting cedar wood, olive oil, and wines to Egypt. Evidence of trade with Egypt goes back to pre-dynastic times and continued uninterrupted for many centuries. The mountainous land provided wood for the palaces, temples, and boats of the Pharaohs. The 60-foot [about 20-meter] funerary barge of the Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops, circa 2550 BC, which was found in 1954 hermetically sealed in a limestone crypt at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, was constructed of Lebanese cedar wood. Canaanite pottery was found in the tombs of the First Dynasty, about 2900 BC, and rich offerings to the Temple at Gubla were made by the Pharaohs of the Second Dynasty. Egyptian pectorals and jewelry were also found at Gubla. In his history of Lebanon, Philip K. Hitti observes that at this ancient city, the Canaanite temple of Baal stood side by side with the Egyptian temple of Isis. Canaanite princes not only took pride in decorating themselves in the Egyptian style but also called themselves "sons of Ra," the chief Egyptian solar deity. [Comment: As we know from Sitchin’s work, Baal refers to Baron Marduk and Isis to Queen Ninkhursag. Once again it is unclear here whether this "Ra" refers to Amon-Ra, the equivalent of Baron Marduk, or to Aten-Ra, the hypothetical equivalent of Duke Dumuzi.] As a nation, Phoenicia emerged about 1400 BC. Sidon first dominated her sister cities, but eventually Tyre took the lead, and by the time of the Hebrew kings, the title King of Tyre began to mean King of Phoenicia. In the days of Hiram, the forests had yet to be denuded, and the lumber and agricultural products of Lebanon flowed out to the world through its numerous seaports. With the expulsion of the Hyksos or Amalekites by the joint forces of Ahmose and Saul, the land was divided between the three leaders. Egypt retained a strip of land along the coast all the way to Phoenicia which gave her control of the coastal highway. Solomon took over Palestine, Syria, and to a certain extent the lands to the west. For example, he built a fortified city at Tadmor which controlled the rich trade route across the desert from Mari on the Euphrates. The area of Lebanon, from Ugarit in the north to Philistia in the south, came under the control of Hiram, king of Tyre. Hiram also inherited the mantle of responsibility for what remained of the sacred sites of Lebanon and the city of Baalbek. Although Dilmun is not mentioned by name in the Scriptures, there is much information on the littoral city of Lebanon. The evidence that Hiram held a special position in the religious and political affairs of the time is reflected in the Book of Ezekiel, where he is considered to be semi-divine and have special relations with the deity. In Ezekiel 28 the prophet relates in a diatribe against the enemies of Israel that "no secret is hidden from him." Apparently Ezekiel expressed the view of his day that while Hiram had been a good friend of Solomon, his descendants failed Jerusalem in her hour of need. Ezekiel begins,
Ezekiel continues his accusations and reveals Hiram’s divine status and the reasons for his downfall. He is here repeating the words of the deity:
Ezekiel is referring to the raised platform at Baalbek - "the holy mountain" - and the brilliant rocket exhaust - "the stones of fire." It is also the land of the garden of Eden and the guardian cherubim. [Comment: One can take issue with Boulay’s fast-and-loose use of the term "Garden of Eden" for Dilmun or Lebanon. The original "garden" at "Edin" was where the first Saurian Spaceport was located and was the site for the genetic cross-breeding experiments carried out by Saurian Chief Geneticist Queen Ninkhursag and her brother, Maritime Commander Prince Enki.] Ezekiel continues,
It is apparent that the garden of Eden is now located in the area controlled by Hiram. The cherubim who acted as the guardian of Hiram at the Mountain of God is reminiscent of the cherubim with the fiery revolving sword or the scorpion-men who guarded the cedar forest, the land of Shamash. There is also strong evidence that the land of Punt, the fabled land which the Egyptians referred to as "god’s land," "the divine land," and the "land of incense" was also the land of Lebanon. The Land of Punt was intimately associated with Egyptian history and religious tradition and, when written in hieroglyphics, does not have the symbol for foreign land, which indicates that the Egyptians considered this land to be historically part of Egypt. Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty made a trip to this fabled land which she describes in detail on the reliefs of the walls of her temple near Thebes. The reliefs state that upon her arrival to this land by ship, she is met by the royalty of the Land of Punt who inquired whether she arrived by "the ways of heaven or by the sea." It was legendary in the Land of Punt that the gods, or those favored by the gods, could arrive to this land by either seaship or airship. [Comment: As Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky has so brilliantly shown in Ages In Chaos, Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt was the legendary Ethiopian Queen of Sheba. The Biblical visit by the Queen of Sheba to the land of King Solomon is reflected in Egyptian "ghost history" as the visit by Queen Hatshepsut to the Land of Punt. One is referred to that book for additional details. If, however, Egypt still controlled a portion of the coastline from what is now Port Suez northward to modern Beirut, then this Land of Punt would have not been considered a foreign country to them at the time.]
LEBANON, GARDEN OF THE MIDDLE EAST Because of its geographic location and integrated borders, Lebanon has always enjoyed a certain degree of natural protection from outside excursions. Protected by mountains on three sides and the sea in the west, it avoided much of the tribulations of invading armies from the east. Being considered as the sacred or holy land also gave it a certain modicum of protection. Its religious tradition as the land of the gods was a safeguard, but it also was the cause of her demise. Geographically, Lebanon has four regions:
The coastal plain is a narrow fertile area, at times just a ribbon where the mountains come down to the sea, widening to about eight miles [about 12 kilometers] at the most. It is the site of a number of principal seaports which became the Phoenician city-states. The coastal mountain range, called the Lebanon Mountains, runs the entire length of the country, averaging about 35 miles wide [about 56 kilometers] in the north and six miles [10 kms.] in the south. The eastern mountain range, or Anti-Lebanon Mountains, forms the eastern boundary of the country. At its southern end it is anchored by Mount Hermon, the country’s highest peak at 9,055 feet [about 3,000 meters]. Its name means "sacred," and it is the site of the descent of the Nefilim before the Deluge. [Comment: The above statement is a perfect example of how once we know all the facts about this hidden history, each new detail always falls precisely into its place.] The Bekaa plateau is sandwiched between the two mountain ranges, and it is a fertile undulating plain about 75 miles long [120 kms.], and from six to ten miles wide. It owes its fertility mostly to the Litani River which originates near Baalbek, and flows south to empty in the Mediterranean near Sidon. Baalbek is also the watershed for the Orontes River which flows north and exits into the Mediterranean near ancient Antioch. In the south, the plain is separated from the Jordan Valley by a range of hills whereas in the north it opens into the Syrian plain at Homs. The Lebanon landscape is today considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world. The land is full of sparkling gushing springs, the climate is moderate, and the lands are luxuriant. In July, normally the hottest month of the year, the daily average at Beirut if 87 degrees F [30 degrees C] while in Damascus just 50 miles [80 kms.] away to the east it is 96 degrees F [35 degrees C]. The coastal plain receives 33 inches [83 cms.] of rain a year, twice that of the corresponding coast of California. In the past, Lebanon must have been a veritable paradise. Its mountains were covered with cedar and other hardwoods, and teeming with wildlife, like panthers, bears, and wolves. Its fabled city of Baalbek overlooked a luxuriant fertile valley watered by the two rivers and numerous springs. Its wealth was enhanced by the bustling commercial seaports on the coast. Besides lumber it exported agricultural products like wheat, olives, and incense. It was famous for its purple dye which gave the coastal area its name. The Egyptians called it the "land of incense" for it was a major source of frankincense and myrrh. Lebanon was a natural selection by the Sumerians after the Deluge to be the site of the new Eden, the paradise of the gods. Its remoteness and protected borders also enhanced its value as a private resort and the location of the new space port. The lands were assigned to Utu/Shamash, the chief astronaut, with the city of Baalbek as his headquarters. Called Beth-Shemesh in the Bible, it was literally the House of Shamash. His activities in the land of Lebanon are graphically described in the myth Enki and the World Order.
Utu or Shamash is described as being "in charge of the entire universe," and since we know he had no administrative or political function, it presumably is assumed as a metaphor of his ability to move about at will and survey the known universe from the air. It is from Baalbek that he "roars like a lion" and "proudly displays his power," referring to the noise and commotion of the rocket launchings at the space port.
A SHORT HISTORY OF DILMUN
[Comment: Space Commander Prince Utu had his personal residence in "Hyperborea," indicating that he must have shuttled back and forth from the Baalbek Airport and Sinai Spaceport to the docked Planet Nibiru. Air Commander Princess-Royal had her primary residence at her "Shangri-La" palace in the "Land of Indra"; she and her lover-boy Duke Dumuzi regularly shuttled back and forth between Lebanon and India.]
[Comment: As we know from Sitchin’s The Lost Realms, Emperor Anu and Empress Antu ordered Prince Enki to rebuild the new spaceport complex at Nazca and Machu Picchu, Peru. The trident of Enki/Poseidon (below image) is still visible on the cliffs at Nazca, on the approaches to the new spaceport.]
CANDELABRA Lines etched into the Nazca Peruvian Desert
[Comment: The last three dates in the above chronology are incorrect. The Exodus is actually dated at 1587 BCE. Solomon built his Temple between the years 995-991 BCE. And Nebuchadnezzer ascended the Throne of Babylonia in 584 BCE and did not completely conquer the Levant until 566 BCE.] |
