THE PRIMEVAL GODS

The volcanic islands of this region, therefore, would seem to be the 'primeval gods' created by Apsu and Tiamat. The next portion of the creation epic goes on to describe these 'children' of the creator god and goddess.

Lahmu and Lahamu emerged, their names pronounced [1]
As soon as they matured, were fully formed
Anshar and Kishar were born, surpassing them. [2]
They passed the days at length, they added to the years.
Anu their first-born son rivalled his forefathers:
Anshar made his son Anu like himself,
And Anu begot Nudimmud in his likeness.
He, Nudimmud, was superior to his forefathers: [3]
Profound of understanding, he was wise, was very strong at arms.
Mightier by far than Anshar his father's begetter,
He had no rival among the gods his peers.

[1] Lahmu and Lahamu - 'the hairy one', perhaps also 'muddy'; term for a primeval hero with three pairs of curls, shown naked except for a tripple sash. Creature of Ea in the Apsu. Ea's temple in Eridu contained fifty of them. They controlled the bolt of the sea and the availablity of fish. Often shown holding the overflowing vase.

[2] Anshar and Kishar - Anshar means 'whole sky'. He is sometimes assimilated with Assur or Asher by phonetic similarity. Anshar is also defined as the base or flame of nucleous; the nuclear seed. Kishar means 'whole sky'. An=sky; Ki=earth.

[3] Nudimmud - "the origin of materials; the nucleous of substance and elements. Another name for Ea, the first-born son of the elder god/goddess, Earth and Sky.

Lahmu and Lahamu have always seemed curious creatures to me. They're 'hairy', perhaps even 'muddy'. Strange descriptors for gods. I cannot help but associate the word 'lahar' with them, which is a volcanic mud-slide. Hairy? Could this be a description to indicate this appearance...?

The way in which the lava is flowing out of this cone certainly looks 'hairy'. The pahoehoe lava that erupts from Pelee and the Hawaiian volcanos, that appears to twine around itself is called 'Pelee's braids'. Thin strands of volcanic glass drawn out from molten lava have long been called Pelee's hair, named for Pelee, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes. A single strand, with a diameter of less than 0.5 mm, may be as long as 2 m. The strands are formed by the stretching or blowing-out of molten basaltic glass from lava, usually from lava fountains, lava cascades, and vigorous lava flows (for example, as pahoehoe lava plunges over a small cliff and at the front of an `a`a flow). Pele's hair is often carried high into the air during fountaining, and wind can blow the glass threads several tens of kilometers from a vent. The definition above goes on to say that these were creatures of Ea's residence and there were fifty of them; also that they controlled the 'bolt of the sea' and the 'availability of fish'. As you can see from the map below, there are fifty (count 'em) volcanos on Sumatra (from Sorikmarapi), Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timor up through Bandi Api. These would certainly control the ability of man to access passage through to the Indian Ocean from the Java and Banda Seas if they were in ugly moods.

Even in Mesopotamia, Ea's province of Eridu is to the south of Ur, Uruk and Nippur - the seat of Ellil's power - as a mirror of earlier times (?). The fact that Lahmu and Lahamu are said to 'emerge' would indicate that they are rising up. From what? The waters, would be the most logical thought here, as they are the children of the two watery parents, Apsu and Tiamat. 'Their names pronounced'...? Generally, when a volcano emerges out of the sea, it is accompanied by loud pyroclastic explosions, which could be construed as the volcano 'announcing itself'. So, it would seem that these first two 'primeval gods' were belching mud and lava that allowed them to mature to full formation. It is the mud and lava coming out of the caldera or mouth that forms the 'earth' of a volcanic cone. Most of the volcanoes from around the Pacific Ocean are composite, which means that they are composed of layers of ashes, mud and lava. The fact that Anshar, Kishar and then Nudimmud surpass their elder siblings in might and grandeur would only seem to indicate that subsequent volcanic 'birthings' produced bigger and bigger mountains.