Iqbal Latif

Man made cuneiform clay tablets of 'The Sumerians' are the 'source code' of all religious myths and fables. What is man made should be worshipped and revered as man made.

We are product of our ancestors 'Tree of life!' Sumerian, Egyptian and the Harappan are mother civilisations and from their womb all scriptures were born! Our human religious myths and civilisation of today is a residual consequence of our historical comprehensive digressions over eons of the cultures, customs, thinking and philosophies of three riparian societies. These three centers of civilization all arose in the ancient near east. They were Sumerian, Egyptian and the Harappan culture of the Indus Valley. All these three great early civilizations gave birth to a wealth of god and goddess and legends that we humans have embraced today. Distorted versions of the river valley civilizational gods made way and created the fabric of the basic legends; 100's were exported around the world and passed on from generation to generation to the present time. At the heart of these myths are the gods and the relationship to afterlife. From the earliest times we humans are caught in forming deities, the concept of the spirit, paradise, hell, divine retributions and search of immortality. Adam, Eve and our over eager Abrahamic religion scriptures are product of this fundamental past time of man.

One motivating trait of these three civilizations is the time line for the appearance and growth of these cultures. They all started around 3500 BC and lasted until 2000 BC. given the long period of time where early human progress was only stone age one questions what triggered the inception of these three civilizations came into being at the same time - and relatively close to each other - was civilization was a "gift from the gods". so authoritative was its metaphors, sacrament and oral traditions that the religion of Sumer influenced the entire near east and beyond. These pagan beliefs were absorbed in all the cultures of River Civilizations. Indus Valley "script" remains yet to be cracked, Harappan imagery shows roots to Sumer and Egypt. The most obvious is the 'Tree of Life'. The story of the Tree of Life with all its diverse interpretations is the strongest consistent fable shared by the three great river valley civilizations. It is the Mes and Huluppu tree of Sumer, the Pipal to become the Bhodi tree of the Indus Valley and the sycamore-fig tree (Hathor's tree) in Egypt. From the marvel of the 'Tree 'gods were created, immortality was sought, wisdom was procured, cosmic and the concept of paradise and hell was born.er The 'Garden of Eden' and the Biblical description between the Tigris and Euphrates the 'human' Paradise Lost is just another such myth.

As late as two hundred years ago, the existence of Sumer was unknown. Scholars searching the Middle East for traces of the antique civilizations of Babylon and Assyria known to them from Greek classics and biblical references began discovering evidence of the seminal Sumerian civilization from which much of ancient and even modern civilization has evolved. Sumerians first appeared about 4800 B.C. at a place called Al-Ubaid. Archaeologists translated their forgotten cuneiform tablets and uncovered written accounts of prehistoric events. The clay tablets were written by the Sumerians whose earliest existence currently dates back to about 3500 BC. but suspect the Ubaid culture to be pre-Sumerian. These tablets richly describe their existence. With the creation of writing the straightforward village life could develop into multifaceted civilization. They urbanized schools for an cultured elite and for the many scribes who were essential for all the record-keeping and letter-writing they liked to do.

Theirs was mother of all civilisation, they left the myths that Homer built on and Genesis was written by someone who read these stories and corroborated them to almighty. Archaeologists find these Sumerians clay tablets as a key to unlock our human civilisation still vague chronological mysteries. They built the first cities, developed the first monarchy, had the first written language, had a highly developed art, their math was based on the decimal - units of ten, base 10, for commerce and base 60 for astronomy, invented the calendar and the zodiac. They also knew of metallurgy and knew how to make bronze alloy. The Sumerians also had a system of laws upon which the Hammurabi Code is based, and created the wheel? They created basis of Abrahamic myths of today. Noah's flood is not original story of the Genesis it was written 3000 BC on the tablet of Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Robert Temple is the earliest known written record describing a great Flood in the Gilgamesh Epic. During the next few centuries they established other cities primarily along the southern half of the Mesopotamian river system. Sumerians were creative writers and scrupulous record- keepers: their cuneiform tablets show the Sumerians established great city states at Ur and elsewhere, absorbing the indigenous peoples and extending their influence beyond Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Coast, the Arabian Peninsula, to Egypt, and India.

Greek myths are rooted in these tablets. The Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature.Human myths are continuity of stories and fables. The Sumerians, great epic poems of Gilgamesh and Arrata are root source of the oldest known Greek literary sources. The epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. The Iliad and the Odyssey’ two of the best Greek epics written by Homer, and ‘The Aeneid’ written by Virgil, the best known of Roman poets. The two common ideas woven into the Odyssey and the Iliad are custom and recklessness. The gods, to keep order, handed down customs. When men were wild, alluring the rage of the gods with hubris, they invited vengeance and bedlam by exalting themselves. In fact, if the laws of the gods were submissively followed, life had the probable for eternal good. In my modest estimation, most of the text of scriptures is the continuity of great epics.

The Homeric Hymns created Gods and strengthen religious myths. This was the era where we 'humans' considered ourselves at the centre of the universe. Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains a part of the Western heritage and language. Gods, myths and legends about after-life finds their roots in ancient Greek philosophy. Narration of ideologies is 3,000 years of hearsay based on which our modern contemporary practices we deem puritanical and unquestionable are founded on. Today, all history looks to be genuine as long as it is old enough, here we are talking about ancient times when there was no communication or any written records. Most of these fables do not stand any test based on logic and rationale and, therefore, in times to come, all these scriptures which are in terms of rhyme and structure, nowhere near Greek epics, will be treated as those epics. The reason this debate interests me is because of the fact that we as humanity at large are still victims of these near mythological and fiction stories which were interwoven by early man. We conscious beings from time immemorial to now have a preoccupation with 'The myths of origin or age of gods.'

Mayans cultivated the concept of "The Gods told us to do it." One precursor of consciousness is that a 'conscious being' does not want to die, he wants to live forever. The notion of heavens and hell originates from this inner most craving. The similarities of fear of death and yearning of afterlife by the mortal Kings, in the magnificence of Greek epics and fairy tale nature of religious sacred legends like that of Isaac or Ishmael strike a chord with me. Modern Religion and today's divinity is the refined form of our common heritage which is built upon these myths of our own fantasy of imaginations. 'The Histories' by Herodotus is considered as the earliest work of history in Western literature, The Greeks believed that the people who first worked with bronze and iron came from the same area, they called them Khaldi.as 'The Iliad and the Odyssey' two of the best Greek epics written by Homer, and 'The Aeneid' written by Virgil, the best known of Roman poets. The two common ideas woven into the Odyssey and the Iliad are custom and recklessness. The gods, to keep order, handed down customs. When men were wild, alluring the rage of the gods with hubris, they invited vengeance and bedlam by exalting themselves. In fact, if the laws of the gods were submissively followed, life had the probable for eternal good. In my modest estimation, most of the text of scriptures is the continuity of great epics.

Our narcissistic feeling that we are at the centre makes us unintentionally 'the masters of universe.' We fall into the fallacy of heavenly life and rewards in the next world; we consider righteousness and morality as a basic tool to judge others. The moment we understand our minuscule subsistence, the concept of heavenly rewards goes out of the window and we start respecting life and humans here in this world without judging them for what they believe in. Ironically Aristotle and Ptolemy, and most Greek philosophers assumed that the Sun, Moon, stars, and naked eye planets circle the Earth. Is it not strange that geocentric model of the universe, the Earth, is the centre of the universe and other objects go around it is part of Greek myths and legends.

Adam and Eve’s progeny is part of the Sumerian history. All these Goddess cults spring from the Tree of life of the Sumerians. The differing concepts from the Tree expressed themselves as a remarkable and far reaching cultural impact on mankind. The achievement of epic poetry was to create story-cycles and, as a result, to expand a new logic of fairy-tale chronology. I always called Homer as the first real prophet; the Greek myths were later on sophistically turned into refined theologies. Thus Greek mythology unfolds as a phase in the development of the world and of humans. The concept of life-after-death intrigued the earliest of conscious beings. The Pharaohs, the Egyptians believed that the mummified body was the home for this soul or spirit. If the body was destroyed, the spirit might be lost. The idea of 'akh' was complex perhaps translated as "spirit", which had to travel through the Underworld to the Final Judgment and entrance to the Afterlife. Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his afterlife.

Jews, Christians and Muslims agree: Abraham, the friend of God, is an example of unadulterated and unqualified virtue and belief. The worship that Abraham displayed towards God is clearly seen in Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only beloved son. All three religions do not dispute this fact. Where they do disagree on, however, is the identity of the sacrificial child.

Chronological accounts have to be understood in terms of first citing.Religious apologists refute evidence based on chronology and first coverage, which is the cause of a lot of confusion and hearsay. The scriptures are telling us diverse stories. Accusations are made that the word of Genesis had been transgressed with. Genesis stories are based on the stories of forgotten cuneiform tablets. The present opinionated conflict is based on this kind of unexamined reality. This is the kind of test which is very obvious but no one dares to undertake. It borders on profanity and blasphemy. It clearly indicates that myths not realities are strongly implanted in the ideological consciousness of mankind. It is clear that these myths have to be taken with equal pinch of salt like we take the Sword of Damocles, Midas's Touch or Achilles' Heel.

But religious scriptures have won the battle of myths. Their 'myths' are really practiced. Homer's Greek legions are just a part of movie material where Brad Pitt plays the role of Achilles.But till today, millions of faithful run between Safa and Marwa reincarnating the pains of Hagar, and people still tremble like pendulums in front of the Wailing Wall crying for sacrament and atonement. Religious scriptures have stamped practicality where forgotten cuneiform tablets and Homer could not. Therefore, my real prophet failed and the real prophets are the ones we follow and whose edicts are a part of our lives which we continue to follow. And the political divisions of the world today are based on these injunctions.

It an irony that it is to the Sumerians, we owe our original knowledge of not only the week but also the 60-minute hour. Sargon I, King of Akkad, after conquering Ur and the other cities of Sumeria, instituted a seven-day week, the first to be recorded. The Sumerians were great innovators in matters of time. It is to them, ultimately, that we owe not only the week but also the 60-minute hour.Where we stand today, we consider anything written within last few thousand years as a part of continued history, but that is wrong. All historians will have to have a chronological time line otherwise there is a void in the sequence of understanding of events. The only history which is factual is the one that goes along with geography, culture and innovation of science. There is an evolution of 4.5 billion years that yielded conscious life; even 200 years ago faithful considered the world was 5,000 years old. Therefore, the time has come to question these issues which are threatening the edifice on which the balance of mankind rests.

The episodes even fictional are more likely to be close to authenticity depending on who reports them first. Homer would explain myth of 'after life better' than Virgil or 'Genesis' and almost certainly Islamic historians after 3000 years of Abraham incident were in no capacity to comment on who was under the knife. Our children should be taught the history with continuity and space. They should be taught great respect towards all ideologies. But the toxin of rites and rituals and Puritanism has to be restricted; that is the malice which is creating divisions. Until we learn new history, there can be no real peace. In this 21st century, these engrained ideas of 'Holy Truth' need to be challenged. From the histories we get the best description of the Battle of Marathon. Despite being thousands of years old, many of the problems that ancient Greeks faced, we still face today. Enlightened leaderships of the world look to Herodotus' Histories to learn from mistakes the ancient Greeks made with democracy. If we don't learn from the past, we're doomed to repeat it.

Reason and science lead to freedom of mind from dogma and acquirement of rationalism, like the belief in the Theory of 'The Big Bang' instead of the 'Biblical concept of a 6000-year-old history of creation' that defies any judicious explanation supported by the history of civilisation. I am perfectly aware of the 'existence question' known as ''God Gamble is a Win/Win,'' - heads you win tails you win - but it is important that the way we live our life should be based on enquiry and truth. On that count alone, I will not give up my right to question and find the truth that is satisfactory to my faculty of reasoning. I like the God of singularity!

Thanks to Christianity I turned to Buddhism. Thanks to Buddhism, I began to doubt. Thanks to doubt, I became an atheist. Thanks to atheism, I became a nonbeliever. Thanks to nonbelief I turned to science. Thanks to science I learned how to think.

Ignots Pistachio