Enki and the World Order

Enki and the World Order is a long hymnic myth celebrating the god Enki's role in organising civilisation. After an opening of self-praise, Enki sails to various lands — Meluhha, Magan, Dilmun — establishing their character and prosperity. He sets the Tigris and Euphrates flowing, fills them with fish, appoints divine stewards over farming, brickmaking, cattle, weaving, and the scribal arts. Inanna, however, was overlooked. She appears before Enki and complains, cataloguing the powers she already holds — warfare, lamentation, rejoicing, travel, the sexual act, lying, decision-making. Enki responds, characteristically slippery, that she already holds everything she claims and need not complain. The poem ends inconclusively, Inanna somewhat mollified. The text provides the most comprehensive picture of the Sumerian understanding of me — the divine decrees governing all aspects of civilised life.