So we have a single written language that for some reason was differentiated into three tongues: Mesopotamian, Egyptian/Hamitic, and Indo-European. Such a differentiation could have occurred by itself over time, distance, and geographical separation. Yet the Sumerian texts claim that it occurred as the result of a deliberate decision of the gods, once again initiated by Enlil. Sumerian stories on the subject are paralleled by the well-known biblical story of the Tower of Babel, in which we are told "that the whole Earth was of one language and of the same words." But after the people settled in Sumer, learned the art of brickmaking, built cities, and raised high towers (ziggurats), they planned to make for themselves a shem and a tower to launch it. Therefore "did the Lord mingle the Earth's tongue."
The deliberate raising of Egypt from under the muddy waters, the linguistic evidence, and the Sumerian and biblical texts support our conclusion that the two satellite civilizations did not develop by chance. On the contrary, they were planned and brought about by the deliberate decision of the Nefilim.
Fearing, evidently, a human race unified in culture and purpose, the Nefilim adopted the imperial policy: "Divide and rule." For while Mankind reached cultural levels that included even airborne efforts - after which "anything they shall scheme to do shall no longer be impossible for them" - the Nefilim themselves were a declining lot. By the third millennium B.C., children and grandchildren, to say nothing of humans of divine parentage, were crowding the great olden gods.
The bitter rivalry between Enlil and Enki was inherited by their principal sons, and fierce struggles for supremacy ensued. Even the sons of Enlil - as we have seen in earlier chapters - fought among themselves, as did the sons of Enki. As has happened in recorded human history, overlords tried to keep the peace among their children by dividing the land among the heirs. In at least one known instance, one son (Ishkur/Adad) was deliberately sent away by Enlil to be the leading local deity in the Mountain Land.
As time went on, the gods became overlords, each jealously guarding the territory, industry, or profession over which he had been given dominion. Human kings were the intermediaries between the gods and the: growing and spreading humanity. The claims of ancient kings that they went to war, conquered new lands, or subjugated distant peoples "on the command of my god" should not be taken lightly. Text after text makes it clear that this was literally so. The gods retained the powers of conducting foreign affairs, for these affairs involved other gods in other territories. Accordingly, they had the final say in matters of war or peace.
With the proliferation of people, states, cities, and villages, it became necessary to find ways to remind the people who their particular overlord, or "lofty one," was. The Old Testament echoes the problem of having people adhere to their god and not "prostitute after other gods." The solution was to establish many places of worship, and to put up in each of them the symbols and likenesses of the "correct" gods. The age of paganism began.
Following the Deluge, the Sumerian texts inform us, the Nefilim held lengthy counsels regarding the future of gods and Man on Earth. As a result of these deliberations, they "created the four regions." Three of them - Mesopotamia, the Nile valley, and the Indus valley - were settled by Man.
The fourth region was "holy" - a term whose original literal meaning was "dedicated, restricted." Dedicated to the gods alone, it was a "pure land," an area that could be approached only with authorization; trespassing could lead to quick death by "awesome weapons" wielded by fierce guards. This land or region was named TIL.MUN (literally, "the place of the missiles"). It was the restricted area where the Nefilim had reestablished their space base after the one at Sippar had been wiped out by the Deluge. Once again the area was put under the command of Utu/Shamash, the god in charge of the fiery rockets. Ancient heroes like Gilgamesh strove to reach this Land of Living, to be carried by a shem or an Eagle to the Heavenly Abode of the Gods. We recall the plea of Gilgamesh to Shamash:
Let me enter the Land, let me raise my Shem. . . . By the life of my goddess mother who bore me, of the pure faithful king, my father - my step direct to the Land!
Ancient tales - even recorded history - recall the cease-} less efforts of men to "reach the land," find the "Plant of Life," gain eternal bliss among the Gods of Heaven and Earth. This yearning is central to all the religions whose roots lie deep in Sumer: the hope that justice and righteousness pursued on Earth will be followed by an "afterlife" in some Heavenly Divine Abode. But where was this elusive land of the divine connection?
The question can be answered. The clues are there. But beyond it loom other questions. Have the Nefilim been encountered since? What will happen when they are encountered again?
And if the Nefilim were the "gods" who "created" Man on Earth, did evolution alone, on the Twelfth Planet, create , the Nefilim?