oddess Damkina, who was also called
Nin-ki, "lady of the earth". "May Ea make thee glad", chanted the
priests. "May Damkina, queen of the deep, illumine thee with her
countenance; may Merodach (Marduk), the mighty overseer of the Igigi
(heavenly spirits), exalt thy head." Merodach was their son: in time
he became the Bel, or "Lord", of the Babylonian pantheon.

Like the Indian Varuna, the sea god, Ea-Oannes had control over the
spirits and demons of the deep. The "ferryman" who kept watch over the
river of death was called Arad-Ea, "servant of Ea". There are also
references to sea maidens, the Babylonian mermaids, or Nereids. We
have a glimpse of sea giants, which resemble the Indian Danavas and
Daityas of ocean, in the chant:

Seven are they, seven are they,
In the ocean deep seven are they,
Battening in heaven seven are they,
Bred in the depths of ocean....
Of these seven the first is the south wind,
The second a dragon with mouth agape....[44]

A suggestion of the Vedic Vritra and his horde of monsters.

These seven demons were also "the messengers of Anu", who, although
specialized as a sky god in more than one pantheon, appears to have
been closely associated with Ea in the earliest Sumerian period. His
name, signifying "the high one", is derived from "ana", "heaven"; he
was the city god of Erech (Uruk). It is possible that he was developed
as an atmospheric god with solar and lunar attributes. The seven
demons, who were his messengers, recall the stormy Maruts, the
followers of Indra. They are referred to as

Forcing their way with baneful windstorms,
Mighty destroyers, the deluge of the storm god,
Stalking at the right hand of the storm god.[45]

When we deal with a deity in his most archaic form it is difficult to
distinguish him from a demon. Even the beneficent Ea is associated
with monsters and furies. "Evil spirits", according to a Babylonian
chant, were "the bitter venom of the gods". Those attached to a deity
as "attendants" appear to represent the original animistic group from
which he evolved. In each district the character of the deity was
shaped to accord with local conditions.

At Nippur, which was situated on the vague and shifting boundary line
between Sumer and Akkad, the chief god was Enlil, whose name is
translated "lord of mist", "lord of might", and "lord of demons" by
various authorities. He was a storm god and a war god, and "lord of
heaven and e