The origin of the garden of Eden

Not only Sumerian was an artificial language but is also a very poetic language. The scribes who operated the Sumerian idiom were very sophisticated people. You have to be a pot yourself to understand the building blocks of Sumerian tongue. One of the most spectacular words in Sumerian tongue is the garden of Eden or the back of a country. The scribe who coined this particular phonetic value was a poet because he transferred the word donkey in Akkadian to the back of a donkey and the countryside where donkeys roamed about. The phonetic value of this Sumerian word is important because it is a pure Akkadian word without any abbreviation so it is easy to detect Semitic traces on its structure.

eden [PLAIN] (5x: ED IIIb, Old Babylonian) wr. eden "plain, steppe, open country" Akk. edinu

[1]

eden (edimx(EDIN), edin)

2 distinct forms attested; click to view forms table.

plain, steppe, open country (5x/100%)

~ LEX/ED IIIb/Ebla [[eden]] = EDEN = i₃-ti-num₂ Ebla Sign List 55. LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippuredin OB Nippur Lu 822.

~ daĝal[wide]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [edin] daĝal OB Nippur Lu 823.

See: abula eden; e eden.

Akk. edinu "desert, steppe".

eme [DONKEY] (354x: ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. eme₃; eme₆; eme₅;eme₇; eme_x(|SAL.EN|) "female donkey" Akk. atānu

[1]		SAL.ANŠE	eme3
[2]		ANŠE.SAL	eme6
[3]		SAL.HUB2	eme5
[4]		SAL.AL	eme7
[5]		SAL.EN	emex(|SAL.EN|)

9 distinct forms attested; click to view forms table.

female donkey (354x/100%)

~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₃(SAL.ANŠE) OB Nippur Ura 3 253; eme₅ OB Nippur Ura 3 254; [[eme₆]] = = ANŠE.SAL = a-ta-nu OB Diri Nippur Seg.6, 19. LEX/Old Babylonian/unknown [[eme₆]] = = ANŠE.SAL = a-[ta]-nu-um OB Diri "Oxford" 439.ELA/Old Akkadian/Umma 4(u) la₂ 3(aš@c) eme₃ [edin]-na USP 74 1; 1(aš@c) eme₃ edin-na 1(aš@c) USP 74 5; 5(aš@c) eme₃ libir 1(aš@c) USP 75 4. ELA/Ur III/Drehem 4(diš)eme₆ AnOr 07, 012 4; 3(diš) eme₆ ArOr 25, 561 19 1; 3(diš) eme₆ Babyloniaca 8, Pupil 26 1. ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(diš) eme₆ 1(diš) dur₃ BAOM 2, 35 90 2; 2(diš) eme₆ BCT 2, 017 1; 1(diš) eme₆ šu-gi₄ BCT 2, 017 2. ELA/Ur III/Nippur 1(diš) eme₆ geš NATN 714 2; 1(diš) eme₃ geš NRVN 1, 057 1; 2(diš) eme₃ NRVN 1, 221 1. ELA/Ur III/Umma1(diš) eme₃ ga AAS 063 1; 1(diš) eme₃ ga AnOr 07, 264 o iv 1; [x] eme₆ mu 1(diš)BCT 2, 004 6. ELA/Ur III/Ur a-na sipa eme₃ UET 3, 1231 3; 3(diš) eme₆ šu-gi₄ UET 3, 1254 1; 2(diš) eme₆ šu-gi₄ UET 3, 1255 1; 1(diš) eme₆ mu 2(diš) UET 3, 1256 6; 1(diš)eme₆ mu 3(diš) UET 3, 1256 9. unknown/Ur III/Drehem 1(diš) eme₆ MVN 15, 231 1; 1(u)7(diš) eme₆ Ontario 1, 101 2; 2(diš) eme₆ Utah 02 2; [...] eme₆ SANTAG 7, 135 1.unknown/Ur III/Girsu 1(diš) eme₃ ASJ 19, 290 14 6; 1(diš) eme₃ ASJ 19, 290 14 8; 1(diš)eme₃ 5(diš) gin₂ SNAT 135 4; 1(diš) eme₆ SAT 1, 227 1; 2(diš) eme₆ mu 3(diš) SAT 1, 227 3. unknown/Ur III/Umma 1(diš) eme₆ mu 2(diš) MVN 16, 0637 5; 1(diš) eme₆ gaMVN 16, 0639 3; 1(diš) eme₆ mu 3(diš) MVN 16, 0693 6.

~ uLEX/1st millennium/unknown ama ga-x ED Animal List B 49; ama [...] ED Animal List B 50.ELA/Ur III/Drehem 3(diš) eme₆ JCS 23, 114 28 2. ELA/Ur III/Girsu 3(diš) eme₆ HLC 251 (pl. 126) o i 12; [x] eme₃ ITT 2, 00877 o ii 16; [x] eme₃ ITT 2, 00877 r vi 4; [x] eme₃ITT 2, 00988 o i 25; 1(diš) eme₆ x Zinbun 18, 096 01 o ii 1. ELA/Ur III/Umma 1(diš) eme₃[...] MCS 1, 37, BM 106055 r ii 3; 3(diš) eme₃ [x] TIM 06, 55 o iv 4. unknown/ED IIIb/Isin1(aš@c) eme₆ MVN 03, 013 o iii 10. unknown/ED IIIb/unknown [...] eme₃ AMA ITT 5, 09211 r i 2. unknown/Ur III/Umma 1(diš) eme₆ [...] MVN 18, 511 4; [x] eme₆ UTI 3, 2281 r ii 9.

~ amar[young]ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(diš) eme₆ amar [ga] BCT 2, 017 6; 1(aš@c) eme₆ amarga BE 01/02, pl. 56 126 r i 10; ŠU+NIGIN 1(aš@c) eme₆ amar ga BE 01/02, pl. 56 126 r v 10.

~ amarga[calf]ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(diš) eme₃ amar-[ga] MVN 06, 294 r ii 26.

~ anše[equid] kunga[equid]ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(diš) eme₃ anše kunga₂ ITT 2, 01008 4.

~ dusu[equid]ELA/Old Akkadian/Girsu [x] eme₃ dusu₂ DPA 51 2. ELA/Ur III/Drehem 2(diš)eme₆ dusu₂ AnOr 07, 001 1.

~ ĝeš[penis] zu[know]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₅ ĝiš₃ zu-zu OB Nippur Ura 3 259; eme₅ĝiš₃ nu-zu OB Nippur Ura 3 260.

~ ib[hips] gig[sick]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₅ ib₂ gig OB Nippur Ura 3 261.

~ kunga[equid]ELA/ED IIIb/Girsu 3(aš@c) kuš eme₃ kunga₂ VS 14, 117 o i 1; 1(aš@c) eme₃kunga₂ VS 27, 014 o i 1. ELA/Old Akkadian/Umma [1(diš)] eme₃ kunga₂ Nik 2, 054 1.ELA/Ur III/Girsu 2(aš@c) eme₆ kunga₂ Zinbun 18, 096 01 o i 3; 2(diš) eme₆ kunga₂ 2(diš)Zinbun 18, 096 01 o i 7. unknown/ED IIIb/Girsu 1(aš@c) bir₃ eme₃ kunga₂ DP 075 o ii 1;1(u@c) eme₃ kunga₂ mu 2(diš) DP 238 o i 1; 2(aš@c) eme₃ kunga₂ RTC 050 o i 1.

~ libir[old] amar[young]unknown/Ur III/Girsu 5(diš) eme₆ libir amar ga TCTI 2, 04189 5.

~ mah[cow]ELA/Ur III/Drehem 1(diš) eme₃ mah₂ PDT 1, 385 4. ELA/Ur III/Girsu 5(diš) eme₃mah₂ CT 07, 29 BM 018383 1; 2(diš) eme₃ mah₂ CT 07, 29 BM 018383 8; 3(u) 2(diš)eme₆ mah₂ HSS 04, 148 1. ELA/Ur III/Umma 2(diš) eme₃ mah₂ AnOr 01, 076 3; [x] eme₆mah₂ BCT 2, 004 1; [x] eme₆ mah₂ BCT 2, 004 1. ELA/Ur III/Ur 1(diš) eme₆ mah₂ UET 3, 1256 1; 1(diš) eme₆ mah₂ UET 3, 1257 1; 1(diš) eme₆ mah₂ UET 3, 1257 4;ŠU+LAGAB 4(diš) eme₃ mah₂ UET 9, 1071 r iii 13. ELA/Ur III/unclear 1(diš) eme₆ mah₂geme₂^*-gu₂-edin-na mu^*-bi MCS 2, 74, BM 105360 1; 1(diš) eme₃ mah₂ YOS 04, 127 3. unknown/Ur III/Umma 1(diš) eme₆ mah₂ MVN 16, 0693 5; 2(diš) eme₆ mah₂ SNAT 417 12; 2(diš) eme₆ mah₂ UTI 3, 2091 7.

~ niga[fattened]ELA/Ur III/Drehem 1(diš) eme₆ niga NYPL 050 1.

~ peš[thick]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₅ ŠAG₄ OB Nippur Ura 3 255.

~ šag[heart] sur[press]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₅ šag₄ sur OB Nippur Ura 3 262.

~ šagan[~pig]ELA/Ur III/Girsu eme₆ šagan_x(AMA)^gan UDT 001 7.

~ šagpeš[pregnant]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₅ šag₄-peš₄ OB Nippur Ura 3 256.

~ utud[bear]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₅ u₃-tu OB Nippur Ura 3 257; eme₅ nu-u₃-tu OB Nippur Ura 3 258.

See: amar eme; amar eme dusu; sila eme.

Akk. atānu "she-ass".

atānu  [EME₃ : 
 , EME₅ : 
 , EME₆ : 
 ]  (n. ; 
 ; ; 
 also [EME₅.ANŠE : 
 ])

[Animals]

jenny, female donkey , 
 : a mare ; 
 : atānu nāri : (a water fowl) ;

Comparison with other Semitic languages :

Proto-Semitic : ^*ʾatān

Arabic : ʾatān  أَتَان

Hebrew : aton  אתון

Ugaritic : ảtnt  

~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme₃(SAL.ANŠE) OB Nippur Ura 3 253; eme₅ OB Nippur Ura 3 254; [[eme₆]] = = ANŠE.SAL = a-ta-nu OB Diri Nippur Seg.6, 19. LEX/Old Babylonian/unknown [[eme₆]] = = ANŠE.SAL = a-[ta]-nu-um OB Diri "Oxford" 439.ELA/Old Akkadian/Umma 4(u) la₂ 3(aš@c) eme₃ [edin]-na USP 74 1; 1(aš@c) eme₃ edin-na 

anše-eden-na anše'edenak [EQUID]

Sumeruan word for horse ANŠE is the metathesis of Akkadian a-ta-nu-um 

Sumeruan word for steppe EDEN = i₃-ti-num₂ is a direct derivative of Akkadian a-ta-nu-um [donkey of the steppe].

Sumerian eme [DONKEY] is the first chopped syllable of Akk. imēru

anše [EQUID] (2957x: ED IIIa, ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Lagash II, Ur III, Early Old Babylonian, Old Babylonian) wr. anše "donkey; equid" Akk. imēru

The Sumerian scribe used the phrase eme₃ [edin]-na [donkey of the steppe] as a riddle where the Sumerian edin-na not only reflects the Akkadian a-ta-nu-um but also Akkadian word formation. The origin of the garden of Eden is the name of a female donkey in Akkadian. The scribes seemed to have a lot of fun playing with Sumerian words which means that they had total freedom tearing the artificial language apart and making fun of the gods and religious beliefs. This is extremely important because we think that freedom of speech is a western concept and it comes along with the concept of democracy but Semitic scribes have proved that writers can find the way of expressing their freedom of speech by inventing an artificial idiom.

---