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.
~ daal[wide]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [edin] daal 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; emex(|SAL.EN|) "female donkey" Akk. atnu
[1
]

SAL.ANE

[2
]

ANE.SAL

[3
]

SAL.HUB2

[4
]

SAL.AL

[5
]

SAL.EN

eme3
eme6
eme5
eme7

9 distinct forms attested; click to view forms table.

emex(|SAL.EN|)

female donkey (354x/100%)

~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme3(SAL.ANE) OB Nippur Ura 3 253; eme5 OB
Nippur Ura 3 254; [[eme6]] = = ANE.SAL = a-ta-nu OB Diri Nippur Seg.6,
19. LEX/Old Babylonian/unknown [[eme6]] = = ANE.SAL = a-[ta]-nu-um OB Diri
"Oxford" 439.ELA/Old Akkadian/Umma 4(u) la2 3(a@c) eme3 [edin]-na USP 74
1; 1(a@c) eme3 edin-na 1(a@c) USP 74 5; 5(a@c) eme3 libir 1(a@c) USP 75
4. ELA/Ur III/Drehem 4(di)eme6 AnOr 07, 012 4; 3(di) eme6 ArOr 25, 561 19
1; 3(di) eme6 Babyloniaca 8, Pupil 26 1. ELA/Ur
III/Girsu 1(di) eme6 1(di) dur3 BAOM 2, 35 90 2; 2(di) eme6 BCT 2, 017
1; 1(di) eme6 u-gi4 BCT 2, 017 2. ELA/Ur III/Nippur 1(di) eme6 ge NATN 714
2; 1(di) eme3 ge NRVN 1, 057 1; 2(di) eme3 NRVN 1, 221 1. ELA/Ur
III/Umma1(di) eme3 ga AAS 063 1; 1(di) eme3 ga AnOr 07, 264 o iv
1; [x] eme6 mu 1(di)BCT 2, 004 6. ELA/Ur III/Ur a-na sipa eme3 UET 3, 1231
3; 3(di) eme6 u-gi4 UET 3, 1254 1; 2(di) eme6 u-gi4 UET 3, 1255
1; 1(di) eme6 mu 2(di) UET 3, 1256 6; 1(di)eme6 mu 3(di) UET 3, 1256
9. unknown/Ur III/Drehem 1(di) eme6 MVN 15, 231 1; 1(u)7(di) eme6 Ontario 1, 101
2; 2(di) eme6 Utah 02 2; [...] eme6 SANTAG 7, 135 1.unknown/Ur
III/Girsu 1(di) eme3 ASJ 19, 290 14 6; 1(di) eme3 ASJ 19, 290 14
8; 1(di)eme3 5(di) gin2 SNAT 135 4; 1(di) eme6 SAT 1, 227
1; 2(di) eme6 mu 3(di) SAT 1, 227 3. unknown/Ur
III/Umma 1(di) eme6 mu 2(di) MVN 16, 0637 5; 1(di) eme6 gaMVN 16, 0639
3; 1(di) eme6 mu 3(di) 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(di) eme6 JCS 23, 114 28 2. ELA/Ur
III/Girsu 3(di) 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(di) eme6 x Zinbun 18,
096 01 o ii 1. ELA/Ur III/Umma 1(di) eme3[...] MCS 1, 37, BM 106055 r ii
3; 3(di) eme3 [x] TIM 06, 55 o iv 4. unknown/ED IIIb/Isin1(a@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(di) eme6 [...] MVN 18, 511 4; [x] eme6 UTI 3, 2281 r ii 9.
~ amar[young]ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(di) eme6 amar [ga] BCT 2, 017
6; 1(a@c) eme6 amarga BE 01/02, pl. 56 126 r i
10; U+NIGIN 1(a@c) eme6 amar ga BE 01/02, pl. 56 126 r v 10.
~ amarga[calf]ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(di) eme3 amar-[ga] MVN 06, 294 r ii 26.
~ ane[equid] kunga[equid]ELA/Ur III/Girsu 1(di) eme3 ane kunga2 ITT 2, 01008 4.
~ dusu[equid]ELA/Old Akkadian/Girsu [x] eme3 dusu2 DPA 51 2. ELA/Ur
III/Drehem 2(di)eme6 dusu2 AnOr 07, 001 1.
~ e[penis] zu[know]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme5 i3 zu-zu OB Nippur Ura 3
259; eme5i3 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(a@c) ku eme3 kunga2 VS 14, 117 o i
1; 1(a@c) eme3kunga2 VS 27, 014 o i 1. ELA/Old
Akkadian/Umma [1(di)] eme3 kunga2 Nik 2, 054 1.ELA/Ur
III/Girsu 2(a@c) eme6 kunga2 Zinbun 18, 096 01 o i 3; 2(di) eme6 kunga2 2(di)Zinbun
18, 096 01 o i 7. unknown/ED IIIb/Girsu 1(a@c) bir3 eme3 kunga2 DP 075 o ii
1;1(u@c) eme3 kunga2 mu 2(di) DP 238 o i 1; 2(a@c) eme3 kunga2 RTC 050 o i 1.
~ libir[old] amar[young]unknown/Ur III/Girsu 5(di) eme6 libir amar ga TCTI 2, 04189
5.

~ mah[cow]ELA/Ur III/Drehem 1(di) eme3 mah2 PDT 1, 385 4. ELA/Ur

III/Girsu 5(di) eme3mah2 CT 07, 29 BM 018383 1; 2(di) eme3 mah2 CT 07, 29 BM
018383 8; 3(u) 2(di)eme6 mah2 HSS 04, 148 1. ELA/Ur
III/Umma 2(di) eme3 mah2 AnOr 01, 076 3; [x] eme6mah2 BCT 2, 004
1; [x] eme6 mah2 BCT 2, 004 1. ELA/Ur III/Ur 1(di) eme6 mah2 UET 3, 1256
1; 1(di) eme6 mah2 UET 3, 1257 1; 1(di) eme6 mah2 UET 3, 1257
4;U+LAGAB 4(di) eme3 mah2 UET 9, 1071 r iii 13. ELA/Ur
III/unclear 1(di) eme6 mah2geme2*-gu2-edin-na mu*-bi MCS 2, 74, BM 105360
1; 1(di) eme3 mah2 YOS 04, 127 3. unknown/Ur III/Umma 1(di) eme6 mah2 MVN 16,
0693 5; 2(di) eme6 mah2 SNAT 417 12; 2(di) eme6 mah2 UTI 3, 2091 7.
~ niga[fattened]ELA/Ur III/Drehem 1(di) eme6 niga NYPL 050 1.
~ pe[thick]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme5 AG4 OB Nippur Ura 3 255.
~ ag[heart] sur[press]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme5 ag4 sur OB Nippur Ura 3 262.
~ agan[~pig]ELA/Ur III/Girsu eme6 aganx(AMA)gan UDT 001 7.
~ agpe[pregnant]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme5 ag4-pe4 OB Nippur Ura 3 256.
~ utud[bear]LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme5 u3-tu OB Nippur Ura 3 257; eme5 nu-u3tu OB Nippur Ura 3 258.
See: amar eme; amar eme dusu; sila eme.
Akk. atnu "she-ass".
atnu [EME3 :

, EME5 :

also [EME5.ANE :

, EME6 :

] (n. ;

;;

])

[Animals]
jenny, female donkey ,

: a mare ;

: atnu nri : (a water fowl) ;

Comparison with other Semitic languages :

Proto-Semitic : *atn
Arabic : atn
Hebrew : aton
Ugaritic : tnt
~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur eme3(SAL.ANE) OB Nippur Ura 3 253; eme5 OB Nippur
Ura 3 254; [[eme6]] = = ANE.SAL = a-ta-nu OB Diri Nippur Seg.6, 19. LEX/Old
Babylonian/unknown [[eme6]] = = ANE.SAL = a-[ta]-nu-um OB Diri "Oxford"
439.ELA/Old Akkadian/Umma 4(u) la2 3(a@c) eme3 [edin]-na USP 74
1; 1(a@c) eme3 edin-na
ane-eden-na ane'edenak [EQUID]

Sumeruan word for horse ANE 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-nuum [donkey of the steppe].
Sumerian eme [DONKEY] is the first chopped syllable of Akk. imru
ane [EQUID] (2957x: ED IIIa, ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Lagash II, Ur III, Early Old
Babylonian, Old Babylonian) wr. ane "donkey; equid" Akk. imru
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.