Hi guys, today I want to discuss some intriguing ancient carvings from Mesopotamia: the winged
genies holding both a handbag-like object and a “pine cone.”
Many reliefs display a stylized sacred tree in the center.
There are all kinds of speculations on what these items are and their true purposes, especially
the mysterious "handbags”.
They have been called “the handbags of Anunnaki” or “handbags of the gods."
One theory is that the bag represents the cosmos.
The semi-circle of the bag’s strap signifies the hemisphere of the sky while the square
base indicates the earth.
Some researchers argue that the sacred tree the genies are touching was in fact cannabis;
therefore, maybe the bags contained hallucinogenic drugs.
Some suggest that if the Sumerian gods Anunnaki were ancient aliens that visited earth and
taught humans technology as Zecharia Sitchin proposed, then the bags and cones might be
high tech tools that assisted these powerful aliens to perform wonders.
Some claim that the pine cone is related to the pineal gland where the human soul sits.
There is also the historical explanation that these bags were actually buckets; and the
bucket and cone duo were used in Mesopotamian rituals.
In the following video, I will provide you with my theories on this topic: what these
curious objects might really be, what were in these bags and what the Sumerian “tree
of life” was.
Let’ get started.
To begin with, I want to clarify that the handbags and cones are not held by the powerful
Sumerian Anunnaki.
Originally, the Anunnaki consisted of seven major gods described to be heavenly deities
with immense powers.
These gods did not carry bags or pine cones.
If the Anunnaki were truly ancient aliens, then their power did not come from the bag
or cone.
The winged genies that held the bags and cones are Apkallu who were semi-gods and not even
considered minor gods in Mesopotamia.
Apkallu means 'sage' or ‘expert’ in Akkadian and is associated with wisdom.
The Apkallu are depicted as fish-man hybrids, bird-headed or human looking beings with wings.
They are referred to as the Seven Sages and their duty was to introduce knowledge and
learning to humans as teachers and advisors.
Beside the handbags and cones, Apkallu also held other things, such as sprigs which are
small stems bearing leaves or flowers, scepters with diverse heads, a string of beads, and
even a baby goat.
The bag and cone are not always paired together either; sometimes the genie would just carry
a bag with the other hand making a gesture.
If the handbag represents the cosmos, then what meanings did these other special items
reveal?
Why would the significant symbol of the cosmos be linked to less important semi-gods instead
of the Anunnaki?
Thus, I find the cosmos hypothesis implausible.
To make an educated guess on what exactly these genies were doing with their bags and
cones, we need to have a contextual understanding involving correlated historical eras.
Why?
Because the meanings and scopes of Apkallu might have changed over the lengthy history
of ancient Mesopotamia.
For about five thousand years, the region between the Euphrates and Tigris experienced
the rise and fall of multiple interconnected civilizations, the best known ones were the
Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians.
Countless concepts, stories, myths and words were shared, inherited, adopted, combined
and repurposed amongst these cultures and neighboring ones.
The earliest known civilization of Sumer was established 6,500 years ago.
The earliest known record of Apkallu was in the Sumerian poem the Epic of Gilgamesh written
4,100–3,200 years ago.
Yet the large elaborate carvings of the winged genies were from the Neo-Assyrian period dated
to 9th century BC, about 2,900 years ago.
So there was at least 300 to 1,200 years separating the first Sumerian documentation of Apkallu
and the Neo-Assyrian carvings.
A lot of things could have happened in such a long time.
And the idea of the sages or Apkallu likely evolved as well.
With this in mind, let’s check the various contexts and eras of these genies.
I’ll start with the later reliefs since there is more data.
In the Neo-Assyrian era, most if not all apkallu appear in one of three scenarios.
Sometimes they are at the corners and gates of the room along with the protective spirits
lamassu.
Sometimes they flank a sacred tree, carrying a bag while holding a cone either approaching
or touching the flowers of the tree.
Other times they place the cone close to the king or another person.
Records around this period indicate that Apkallu were involved in apotropaic rituals.
For example, the sage Adapa’s name was used to invoke power in exorcism procedures.
The handbag is referred to as a 'banduddu' meaning 'bucket' in Akkadian.
The cone is called “mullilu” which means 'purifier'.
Many historians believe that the bucket and cone were used in rituals whereby a ‘cone’
was dipped into the bucket to sprinkle liquid on the king, his courtiers and palaces to
purify them.
That’s why the Apkallu figures are shown near doorways and in corners of rooms because
these areas were thought to be where evil spirits lurked.
Plaques of the Apkallu were also used in homes to ward off evil.
Therefore, at the time of the 9th century BC, Apkallu were deemed as protective spirits
who sprinkled liquid to bless people and places in order to defend them against evil.
Now what about the reliefs of the mystical beings standing by the sacred tree?
Were these genies using the bucket and cone to perform rituals to protect the tree?
That’s a strong possibility.
However, in this relief the two apkallu seems to be tending a young tree with no ritualistic
items.
Moreover, there is a long tradition in Mesopotamian art of representing figures facing a central
plant.
For instance, the temptation seal dating from 2200 to 2100 BC depicts two seated figures
with a tree in the center.
Here is another seal imprint of two beings flanking a tree from the 15th -13th century
BC.
Then we have this unusual seal from 12-11th century BC; a bird-headed apkallu stepping
on a branch, grabbing and twisting another branch; such actions doesn’t look like it
was meant for protecting the tree, right?
What was the being doing then?
Please note this seal was made over two hundred years before the protective apkallu at the
later Assyrian King’s palace.
It’s quite possible that these earlier artifacts were more accurate portrayals of the Sumerian
description of the apkallu.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the seven sages or the Apkallu are said to have built the
walls of the city Uruk.
They surveyed the foundations and examined the brickwork.
The wisdom of the sages at the much earlier Gilgamesh’s era was more practical if not
down to earth.
This fits the original concept that the mythological seven sages or "wise men" were the teachers
of humankind.
In this case, the genies tending trees or even grabbing a tree branch might have had
utilitarian purposes.
Such behaviors probably had a direct connection to what type of tree it is.
Even though the symbols of the sacred tree changed through different periods of Mesopotamia,
there are plenty of clues pointing to a single tree species.
The Neo-Assyrian sacred trees have numerous versions and are mostly stylized by a series
of flowering nodes or leaves with crisscrossing vines, though the center pieces are consistent.
The outer decorations of flowers or vines might vary due to design preferences, but
the core information never changed.
Look at the single unbranched tree trunk and the dramatic crown with fan-shaped fronds.
It must be a palm tree.
And not just any palm tree, but a date palm.
Other reliefs presenting the Assyrians’ life from the same period frequently exhibited
date palms which are easily recognizable from their hanging fruits.
Date palms are in the king’s garden where he was surrounded by servants.
Soldiers and horses were standing under date palms and people brought offerings in date
palm groves.
The interesting thing is: the much earlier seals also show date palms.
The tree in the temptation seal is a date palm with its fruits.
The apkallu was possibly grabbing the frond of a date palm.
The unbranched spiky trunk, the erected fronds on top and the dangling fruits are signatures
of date palms.
So, the sacred tree of Mesopotamia probably has always been a date palm.
Most of us are not aware of how quintessential those date palms were to the Mesopotamians
and their way of life.
There are very good economic and symbolic reasons why for thousands of years, these
ancient people articulated date palms in their art and clay tablets.
Date palm has been the most prominent native species to Mesopotamia for millennia.
In the 5th century BC, Herodotus wrote that palm trees grew in great numbers over the
whole flat country.
This region was the domestication center of the earliest crops, which included the oldest-cultivated
fruit: dates.
Evidence suggests that humans consumed wild date palm fruits in the Near East 8,000 years
ago.
Date palms are dioecious, which means they develop as either a male or female tree.
The males produce no fruit but the pollen from their flowers, which would wind pollinate
the female trees that will then produce the fruit.
The Sumerians discovered the dioecious nature of these trees.
Once they realized that one male palm produced enough pollen to fertilize 50-100 females,
they replaced most males in their groves with females and started hand pollination by at
least 3300 BC.
Hand pollination collects the male flower’s pollen and applies it manually to the female
flower.
This is still practiced today in the Middle East and North Africa, in a way very similar
to what people did on ancient plantations.
Some growers don’t even maintain any male plants, as male flowers are available at local
markets at pollination time.
The artificial pollination method was a turning point in Mesopotamian agriculture since it
enabled abundant crops while economizing on water, land and labor.
Date palms were and still are highly desirable: they start to bear fruit on year five and
can live to 150 years; a mature tree produces up to 140 kilograms or 300 pounds of dates
per harvest season.
The fruit has high sugar content which provides energy and they are resistant to spoilage.
Long before refrigeration, dried dates could keep for years, making them invaluable for
households and travelers afar.
They can be turned into honey by boiling and straining the fruit; in fact, the biblical
phrase “land of milk and honey” refers to honey from dates, not bees.
It was also one of the few crops that could be harvested all year, even during the dry
season.
Besides the fruit, every part of the date palm could be used: the leaves and timber
as building and manufacturing materials in Sumerian baskets, sandals, homes and temples;
fibers and thread came from the palm tree for mattresses and rope making.
A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of his generation stated in
his book: “No other fruit tree has received similar attention…Only in groves of date
palms did the garden play an important economic role in Mesopotamia.
The date palm was the only essential fruit tree in the region.”
Date palms were crucial to ancient Mesopotamians and truly deserve their prevalence in regal
art exhibitions, or the potential title: the tree of life.
Artificial pollination of date palms helped to ensure the world’s first city states
and empires to flourish in the ‘cradle of civilization’.
Back to the winged genies Apkallu standing by the trees.
The ones that held the cone to the flower of the trees surely look like they were pollinating
the female flower of the date palms.
Considering that pines, including Turkish pines are not native to this hot and arid
area, the so-called pine cones in all likelihood are not pine cones at all.
If you examine the reliefs closely, the cones held by apkallu resemble the male flower of
date palms which is also in a cone shape.
Nowadays, many date palm farms still use experienced workers to hand apply pollen.
Sometimes they shake male flower bundles on the female flower.
More often they place the collected pollen into a cloth, a bucket or a bag.
The workers may carry rolled up bags or buckets that contain pollen while climbing up the
trees, they then dab cotton or other appliers in the pollen bucket to fertilize the female
flower.
On that account, the bags or buckets that Apkallu carry near trees probably contained,
as you now know, pollen.
The apkallu with the bag and cone by the tree’s flower were displaying the method of artificial
pollination.
The outer embellished parts of the trees might also represent the protective covers for the
young offshoots and baby plants.
In order to improve the new date palm survival rate, it’s customary to use wired nets,
hessian wrappings or tents of date leaves to protect the fragile baby plants from harsh
climatic conditions like sun and wind during the first summer and cold the following winter
and against animals.
The seal of the apkallu twisting palm leaf might be a picture of trimming a palm tree
which is also a routine procedure.
So, the Apkallu, the seven sages in the Sumerian time, four to three thousand years ago, were
portrayed as wise teachers to pass knowledge on to humans.
They supervised city wall construction and possibly created artificial pollination.
In and around the 9th century BC of the Neo-Assyrian period, their role switched to more ritualistic
and apotropaic.
Despite this diversification, the significance of date palm farming persisted and the relationship
between the sages and artificial pollination was preserved – as we see on these beautiful
reliefs.
During this later Neo-Assyrian era, the winged genies became protective spirits too.
When they were placed near doorways, corners of rooms, or by a person, they performed apotropaic
rites by sprinkling holy water or other liquids to purify places and people.
For this purpose, their buckets were likely filled with water or certain liquids.
As a bag or a bucket, it is designed to carry all kinds of things.
Pollen or water; it really depends on the specific jobs these sages were supposed to
do.
It is fascinating to witness how historical elements evolve over time and what actually
lives on unchanged.
Although we don’t create art for artificial pollination anymore, this ingenious invention
is still thriving and benefiting us in modern times.
As I wrap this up, I want to point out that there is potentially something else which
also gets preserved from these ancient reliefs and is still practiced today: the ritual of
sprinkling water to purify people.
This tradition has also spread to a much greater population.
The Torah, the Old Testament of the Christian Bible explained how to take hyssop, a plant,
dip it in the water and sprinkle it as part of a Jewish ritual.
Most are familiar with the Christian aspergillum which is used to sprinkle holy water on a
person in liturgical services.
Did you know that Buddhism and Hindu ceremonies do this as well?
These rituals are almost identical, albeit the sprinkling instruments and plants are
revised to fit local preferences.
It’s well accepted that the use of holy water for sacred rituals predates Christianity.
Christianity originated in the city of Jerusalem which is on the Fertile Crescent and connected
to Mesopotamia.
It’s not far fetched to propose that this sprinkling ritual actually rooted from ancient
Mesopotamia.
Could the flower sprigs carried by the apkallu, be the predecessors of the Christian hyssop?
So much has changed and so much has remained.
Just like the ancient sages, today’s bishops and master monks are still performing similar
rituals that might date back to the earliest civilization on earth.
Aren’t we lucky that we still have these invaluable ancient artifacts that convey messages
and tell wonderful stories to us from thousands of years ago?
If you have any insights, please leave me a comment.
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This is Curious Being, I am Tina.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.