The Anunnaki Connection: From Human Origins to Armageddon by Heather Lynn

Author:Heather Lynn [Lynn, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781632657619
Google: Zr-tDwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The Solar Bird

As Gary points out, we find the Sumerians may have seen the Ankaa (an-ka) as a sky portal. The name Ankaa can be traced to the Arabic al-‘anqā’ “the phoenix” (Kunitzsch and Smart, 2006). Hence, the association of this star system and the Phoenix is steeped in many traditions, as is the symbol of the phoenix itself. The phoenix, the benu, the falcon, the eagle—indeed, all of these birds of prey represent a continuity of ideas in the ancient world creation story. As Robert Bauval postulates in his article “Investigation on the Origins of the Benben Stone: Was It an Iron Meteorite?” from the journal Discussions in Egyptology, the benben stone the Egyptians worshipped in the Mansion of the Phoenix might have been a meteorite (Bauval, 1989). The Egyptians may have seen the meteorite as a star that came down to the Earth, giving rise to the myth of the “seed” or sperm of Ra-Atum, the father of the gods.

However, since the stone is conical in shape, Bauval ponders the connection of the benben with the sun because it would not appear to fit in with how solar symbols are normally depicted as a disc. He goes on to suggest that while the phoenix represented the sun god’s self-creating power, its cosmic identification was not limited to the sun (Bauval, 1989). He states that in the Middle Kingdom, the phoenix was also said to be the moon or sometimes Venus and that his power of self-creation symbolized the rebirth of celestial bodies or gods. Yet it is difficult as historians to look back at the intentions of the ancients, as we unintentionally wear a biased lens of our own cultural framework. There are indeed many possible ways to try to understand the meanings behind these ancient texts. To broaden our understanding, I would like to introduce to the discussion another important mythical bird, the Ziz of Jewish mythology.

The Ziz was a very large bird of prey whose wingspan was said to be so big it could block out the sun. Rabbis have said that the Ziz is comparable to the Persian Simurgh, while some scholars compare the Ziz to the Sumerian Anzû and the ancient Greek phoenix (Wazana, 2009). The Bible also mentions the Ziz in Psalms 50:11 (KJV), stating: “I know all the birds of the mountains and Zīz śāday is mine”. In Enoch, the phoenix appeared as a companion to the chariot of the sun, along with another very large bird that together, “pull the chariot” and were “crimson like the rainbow.” The description goes on to say the birds “carry dew and heat, descend to earth, and ascend from it with the sun’s rays according to God’s orders” (Enoch 6:6–7). Likewise, in the Jewish pseudepigraphical text, 2 Baruch, written soon after the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in 70 CE, there is a passage that emphasized the mystical importance of birds as messengers and their connection to divine wisdom. The author, Baruch, says: “Nevertheless,

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