In view are just a few points made in the Annunaki website’s article Who Were the Nephilim? I have previously written about the issue of Annunaki and Apkallu with relation to the Nephilim in a series found under Origin of Watchers.
The article does a good job reviewing the two main Judeo-Christian views on the issue (Angel vs. Sethite, see here) as well as the Sumerian view regarding the Annunaki and Apkallu and we will get into the correlation below.
The article touches upon a common conception thusly, “angels are traditionally seen as sexless beings, so in theory they should be incapable of procreation. Of course, we may not know all there is to know about angels. And perhaps fallen angels are different. Maybe their sins reflected not just a change in their actions, but also a shift in their nature. All of this is supposition…”
Well, speaking biblically, this is actually a common misconception as Angels look just like human males (no wings, no halos) and are just as physical (are not spirits) yet moreso: they appear to inhabit glorified or resurrected bodies such as Jesus’ meaning physical enough to eat, be touched, etc. and yet able to walk through closed doors, appearing and disappearing, etc.
Thus, regardless of that which we do not know about Angels, we know that much. Also, we have no indication that fallen Angels are any different: that they changed form, look “creepy,” have bat-like wings or horns or any such thing.
The article notes that the Anunnaki “represent the deities of the ancient Mesopotamians (Marduk, Enlil, etc.). They were the gods worshipped by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Akkadians…I am referring primarily to their original role as Sumerian deities” and not the subsequent pop-view of them being “reptilian alien visitors who came to earth” such as has been “popularized by author Zecharia Sitchin as well as David Icke” and I will add Erich Von Daniken and the whole crowd who turned his ancient astronaut theory into the neo-ancient aliens fad.
It is noted:
Those who believe that the Anunnaki are reptilians from space believe that Nibiru is the homeworld of the Sumerian gods…it has a very long orbit and rarely comes close to Earth. The last time it did, the gravitational effects of its presence caused the Great Flood.
The article further noted:
In Judeo-Christian lore, the story about the Nephilim takes place right before the Great Flood. The Book of Jubilees actually states in 7:21-25 that God flooded the earth specifically to get rid of the Nephilim:
“21 For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which they chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness.”
Find more details in Book of Jubilees on the Nephilim.
It is noted, “The Apkallu were seven demigods created by Enki, one of the chief Sumerian gods…Enki referred to as ‘Ea,’ which is the name he was later given in Babylonian and Akkadian mythology.” As a styled sidenote, see Seven gods of chaos. Also, you may recall the reference to Enkin in Is the Bible an Anunnaki control mechanism?
The article notes that as per the Sumerian mythology “These beings were sent by Enki to teach human beings the arts of civilization: agriculture, writing, building, and so on.” Which correlates to the Book of Enoch noting that various Angels called “Watchers” taught humanity various skills.
It is noted that “At some point after the Flood, four Apkallu-human hybrids [resulted from] Apkallu and humans…interbreeding” which is why this is said to correlate to the Nephilim who are the result of interbreeding between the sons of God Angels and human daughters of men.
As the article puts it:
Do not forget, in Biblical lore, the Nephilim are the children of fallen angels, not fallen angels…If anything, the Nephilim can probably be equated to the Apkallu-human hybrids, not the Anunnaki themselves. Remember, the Anunnaki were gods. The Apkallu were demigods.
Since ancient mythology/legend tends to change over time I am uncertain of the article’s source of the post-flood timeline however, I can cite Constance E. Gane’s 2012 AD dissertation for a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley which is titled, “Composite Beings in Neo-Babylonian Art” and refers to “antediluvian sages or apkallu” thus pre-flood as well as “the primordial apkallu sages, who taught the wisdom of civilization to humans…After the great Flood, the crucial wisdom of the apkallu was accessible…through the priestly scholars…”
The article concludes:
It is clear that the Nibiru story and the Biblical story are both referring to the same cataclysmic event. The stories may differ as to the cause of the Flood, but both narratives connect to a mysterious race of powerful beings which used humanity for its own ends. It seems likely that they are referring to the same race of overlords.
Note that Sumerian civilization is thought to have existed circa 3500-1750 BC. Thus, Jonas Carl aka Chaim Yonah Greenfield (1926-1995 ADO, et al, think it, as the article puts it, that “it is possible that the Nephilim story in the Bible is actually derived from Sumerian mythology.”
The article ends by stating:
*** Remember, All Stories are Interpretive ***
There are many people who believe that their religions are literal truth, perfect in every detail…There is no such thing as objectivity in storytelling…Which story about the Nephilim is true? It could be that all of them are true in some respects—and false in others. In other words, none of these stories are the truth. They are simply different versions and interpretations of the same set of events.
As for “All Stories are Interpretive” just keep in mind that in any case, all interpretations are not created equal. For example, some are based on taking a text out of context to make a pretext for a prooftext and some based on considering that grammatical context, historical context, cultural context, etc.
It may very well be that different myths and legend could be providing various details. My view is that humanity’s dispersal throughout the Earth after the Tower of Babel event caused common history to become myth and legend and change on this or that point as it became the bedrock of various cultures.
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