Marduk

Traditional wisdom says that civilization started around the Fertile Crescent in Mesopotamia, slowly developing as people learned farming and irrigation etc. Is there any textural evidence for this?
Everything I’ve read from the first people of that area who could write, the Sumerians, tell a completely different story.
The say they are an artificial race created by the Annunaki ‘gods’ to be their slaves, build their cities, tend their gardens and grow their crops. As time went by they say civilization was taught to them by these gods. Every so often the ‘ME’s” (pronounced May’s) were given to mankind, laws and lessons in life etc.
The Sumerians seemed quite content with their lot in life as servants. Why do they say this?
If my boss comes around to hand out achievement awards I don’t tell him “No thanks, I had nothing to do with that project, some space dudes did it for me”
It’s always the Annunaki taught us how to make beer or the Annunaki did this and so on and so on.
If these beings are purely mythical as most believe where did humans get this slave mentality/inferiority complex? Why do humans ever since fall down and worship anything from stone statues to invisible old Jewish men? We can’t blame the Christians they weren’t around yet.
Here is a typical story from those days:
<a href="http://www.piney.com/Atrahasis.html" target="_blank">http://www.piney.com/Atrahasis.html</a>

What’s up with this weird ‘we suck and can’t do anything ourselves, the gods did it for us’ stuff?

“I see you are practiced at worshipping things that fly….good.. Kneel before Zod” Superman II

rainbow walking

Hi Marduck,
The Sumerians were likely the first to develop primitive writing skills. This means they were fairly advanced culturally in comparison to late stone early iron age man. I would say the bow and scrape mentality began much earlier in man's history and is a religious tool to manipulate and control the behavior of the masses. Here is a short story of how a god concept could possibly have become elevated into a useful tool:

Somewhere far away and long, long ago…

A group of 18 men, women and children are crouching in a small cave while outside a fierce storm has been raging for the better part of a week. This little tribe were not very successful on their last hunt as they followed the herd of gazelle for their sustenance. Now they were cowering in a cave petrified by the loud bursts of thunder and bright flashes of lightening, something they associated with death, because several months before one of their best hunters had been struck by lightening right before their eyes just hundreds of feet from the herd as they were moving in for another kill out on the plain.

Myle, the leader of the tribe, is standing by the mouth of the cave keeping a vigilant eye out for lions, his mate, Selina, is watching him in disgust as her belly growls with hunger and their sons cry for food. Selina and the other women had not been present when Og, their best hunter, had been burned alive by the bolt of lightening. Finally she can take no more and approaches Myle,

“Selina hungry!”

Myle looks away in shame and a touch of anger brushes across the stern features of his face.

“Myle go to herd. Bring food for Selina and childs.”

Myle shakes his head from side to side vehemently and points outside as another burst of thunder peels across the sky shaking the floors of their meager cave.

“Ya angry! Hurt Myle. Make Myle smoke like Og.”

(Ya was the beast who allegedly lived inside the volcano that occasionally erupted belching smoke and fire. The volcano, while not in the immediate vicinity of this tribe, was visible on the horizon to the east of their hunting grounds. Myle had been told that Ya was a fierce and evil beast who burned men with his eyes if they came too close to the volcano. The volcano had been showing signs of activity the last few months prior to Og’s unfortunate accident.)

Selina reaches her hand up to touch Myle’s face and softens her voice,

“Ya not hurt Myle. Myle not like Og. Og hurt Selina when Myle with herd. Ya no like Og. Og bad. Myle good. Myle go to herd take others like Myle."

Myle shakes his head vigorously again,

“Ya angry, not like Myle take from herd. Ya’s herd.”

Selina moves around in front of her mate and looks up into his eyes,

“Ya not hurt Myle. Ya not angry. Ya hungry like Selina and childs. Ya’s belly growl like Myle’s Myle go to herd, take many meats, go to mountain of smoke and fire, leave some meats for Ya, bring rest to Selina. Ya hungry no more, belly no growl like Selinas, Ya eyes no fire. Ya help Myle for meats. Is Ya way. Myle go now.”

(Myle, encouraged by Selina’s words, grabs his spear, grunts a command to his men and bolts out of the cave in the direction of the herd. Their hunt is successful and they do as Selina suggested taking five of the herd to the foot of the volcano. Before they arrive back at the cave the storm abates, further confirming the apparent truth of Selina’s brilliant assessment. Myle becomes known and famous as Ya’s friend and servant and continues to make ritual offerings at the foot of the very same volcano that Moses would one day climb in search of a conversation with YWYH while the Hebrews milled about at its base planning a worship service to a golden idol. Myle’s tribe prospers because they have overcome their fear of storms while all the other local tribes are still hiding in caves.)

Answerer

It seems that the Sumerians are something like the protoss while the Annunaki's gods are something like the Xel'naga.

Marduk

RW That sounds like a good explanation for the origins of making sacrifices to appease the grumpy god but not the idea of substitute achievement, the idea that this wasn’t done by us but the gods.
Take sheep and goats for example, for some odd reason these critters were said to be given to mankind by the gods, along with some domestic grains, Not cows or donkeys or camels but sheep and goats! What’s up with that?

Now I can see some clever old time conman making his tribe think he was a god, at least till his luck ran out, but the idea that all we had done was really the result of someone else puzzles me.
Not to mention the slave stuff.

Kosh

They were <a href="http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/universe/setting-3.html" target="_blank">Vorlons</a>

fwh

thanks for the thread Marduck.

It is common opinion that, whereas we moderns see nature and philosophy much as she really is, primitive man saw it all awry through the veil of a complicated systems of fancies and beliefs. I wonder...

Valentine Pontifex

That what Amb. Kosh wants you to think. They were really Shadows.

Marduk

This whole Vorlons vs. Shadows thing sounds very Biblical. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Help! I'm being taken up to Heaven in a fiery chariot!

emphryio

Marduck because they're just kissing ass some more. They're afraid of "Ya" or God or whatever so they offer meat and plus they kiss some hiney by showering him with praise. "You did everything good Ya. Etc".

Vorkosigan

From "Voices of Authority:"

FIRST ONE: Vorlons gnash gnarl Akjhcxi adxq!

Vorkosigan