ORIGIN Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian) [Iraq]. God of primordial waters.
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 1900 BC to circa 200 BC.
SYNONYMS Ea-sˇarru; ENKI (Sumerian).
CENTER(S) OF CULT Eridu, Babylon.
ART REFERENCES glyptics and other carvings.
LITERARY SOURCES cuneiform texts including Enuma Elisˇ, Epic Of Gilgamesˇ, Nergal and Eresˇkigal etc.
One of the major deities in the old Babylonian-Akkadian pantheon who evolved from the model of Enki. God of sweet water and of wisdom. His consort is DAMKINA and his temple is the Apsu house or E-engurra in Eridu (lost). By the neo-Babylonian period his popularity as a major deity had waned and he was relegated to the role of father of the god MARDUK.
Witch's Well 