Abzu

The Abzu or Apsu (also called Engur in the Sumerian language) is a Mesopotamian deity, primordial being, or mythological figure that personifies fresh water. All sources of fresh water — lakes, springs, rivers, and the like — were thought to draw their water from the apsu.

In modern scholarship, Assyriologists and Sumerologists interpret the Abzu as the name for fresh water that is drawn up from underground aquifers. While in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, the Apsu refers to the Primeval Sea with the void space of

The fresh waters of the Abzu (rising up from underground aquifers) were given a sacred, spiritual, and fertilizing quality within Mesopotamian religion of the Sumerians and Akkadians. A symbol which endured. In courtyards of Babylonia and Assyria (descendant cultures of the Sumerians and Akkadians) tanks of holy water, probably for ritual bathing, were called Abzu ((apsû). The Jews practice a form of ritual purification by immersion in water in tanks of water called mikvot (just as their ancestors did in abzu), which is similar to washing pools in Islamic mosques, and to the baptismal font found in the churches of various Christian denominations (including the Mormons).

The Sumerian god Enki was said to have made his home in the Absu, where he lived since time immemorial, long before humanity had been created. Enki lived in the Abzu with his wife Damgalnuna / Damkina, his advisor Isimud, his mother Nammu, the gatekeeper Lahmu, and a whole host of beings who served Enki. For these reasons, Enki is the prototype of the Greek god Poseidon who also made his home deep under the sea, where he lived with his family, entourage, and the creatures who served him.

Abzu as a Deity in Sumerian Cosmology

The only time that the Abzu is personified in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian mythology is in the Babylonian Epic of Creation, the Enuma Elish, where the Abzu is personified as the male component of the primeval pair of deities responsible.

In the Enuma Elish (recovered from the Library of Ashurbanipal who flourished c.650 BCE) the Abzu was personified as a being, a primordial deity whose consort was Tiamat, who was represented as salt water. From their union a number of primordial beings were generated, including the gods of Sumer and Akkad — just like the ancient Greek and Roman traditions — who eventually grew to misbehave, causing Apsu to suggest their destruction. They revolted against their father, ultimately killing him, only to incur the wrath of their mother Tiamat.

Notes

In the end this is what I believe and this is what I must do… I need to concentrate all of my energy… I know that this is precisely what I need to do. I can feel that it is coming… Especially if I focus my attention deeply, and get this shit done.

Resources

1. Abzu. Wikipedia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abzu>. Accessed 19 Sept 2023.