Streams from Enki’s shoulders symbolize life-giving water, identified with the Tigris and Euphrates and linked in myth to Enki’s semen. Trees in the background represent male and female principles. Enki’s name means “Lord of the Earth,” and his symbols include fish and goat as fertility signs. He was associated with Eridu, the first city where gods established law, and appeared in written sources by the Early Dynastic period III, later becoming important to Akkadians as Ea. Evidence at Eridu indicates shrines dating back to the city’s founding around 5400 BCE. Enki’s names Enki, Ea, and Nudimmud refer to the same deity, while Ninsiku appears in a crafts and art aspect. He belonged to a triad with Anu and Enlil and was connected to Apsu and Nammu in genealogy, with Ninhursag as wife.
"Flowing streams run from his shoulders, emphasizing his association with life-giving water, while trees representing the male and female principles stand in the background. The streams are interpreted as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which, according to one myth, were formed from Enki's semen. His name means "Lord of the Earth," and his symbols are the fish and the goat, both representations of fertility, while his epithets Nagbu, Nissiku, and Nudimmud are thought to mean "prince.""
"Originally, Enki (then known as Enkig) was a Sumerian deity of freshwater and patron of the city of Eridu, considered by the Mesopotamians the first city established at the beginning of the world, where the gods established law. The god first appears in written works during the Early Dynastic period III (2600-2334 BCE) and was established as an important god of the Akkadians by circa 2400 BCE, who knew him as Ea."
"Excavations at Eridu, however, have uncovered evidence of a tradition of shrines to Enki dating back to the founding of the city circa 5400 BCE. At Eridu, he was known as Enki and later, at Akkad, as Ea; the two names are used interchangeably for the same deity, as is the Babylonian name Nudimmud. Enki was known as Ninsiku only in his aspect as patron of crafts and art, especially objects devoted to divine subjects."
"Along with Anu & Enlil, Enki made up an early Mesopotamian triad Which goVerned the high heavens, atmosphere, & earth. Enki was the son of Anu, the sky god, in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, and the son of Apsu, the primordial father, in Babylonian texts. He is also referred to as the son of the goddess Nammu, a primordial mother goddess who gave birth to the earth and heavens. Enki's wife was Ninhursag (also known, among many other names, as Ninmah and, originally, as Damgalnuna, the Assyrian Damkina), and their sons were Asarluhi (god of magical knowledge), Enbilulu (god of canals and dikes),"
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