📜 Dictionary

A page dedicated to M Quad terms and historical names/places/things that serves as a quick reference for listeners of the show.

Abzu (Location): The Sumerian term for the subterranean freshwaters beneath the earth. Equivalent to the Hebrew “tehom” which appears in Genesis 1:2 and 7:11 as “deep”.

Adapa (Person): A Mesopotamian figure that was denied eternal life. The figure is often equated to Adam due to vague thematic parallels, but there are also significant differences within the myth (see “Adapa (The Myth)”)

Adapa (The Myth): The myth of Adapa is a tale where Adapa breaks the “wing of the wind” and is summoned by Enlil to give an account for his actions. Enki imparts Adapa with wisdom on how to handle the encounter, and Adapa ends up winning the favor of Enlil and the other gods. Adapa is offered the food of eternal life, but Enki had warned this would actually be the food of death, and Adapa was not to partake. The text states it was actually the food of eternal life, and then ends. But the question remains: did Enki intentionally deceive Adapa, or was it a mistake?

Aggad (Location): See Akkad.

Akkad (Location): Akkad (or Aggad) can refer to either the short-lived empire of the Akkadians, or the actual city itself (which has not yet been discovered). The recount of the fall of the empire can be found in “The Cursing of Aggad” and was discussed on Episode 045 of the show.

Akkadian (Language): The Akkadian language is a Semitic language that was used in the entire Mesopotamian region (and as a standardized trade language for the area) from before 2000 BC all the way until the end of the BC era.

Angel (Entity): A term used to describe an unfallen messenger of God, typically encompassing Cherubim, Seraphim, and potentially others.

Anzu (Entity): The lion headed-eagle that Ninurta fights in the “Anzu” myth. The depiction is akin to a cheribum, and sometimes Anzu is depicted as having a serpent like form. This invokes the visual of Satan/the serpent in the garden. Check out Episode 043 of the podcast for a deep dive!

Anzud (Entity): Another name for the Anzu bird: this title is used here in reference to another Anzud bird that makes an appearance as a force for good in the tale of Lugalbanda. Check out Episode 048 for more information on this tale!

Ark (Object): The Ark refers to the boat that is described in various mythology accounts. In each account, it tends to have a very different description: the Epic of Gilgamesh describes a vessel with the length and width “in harmony” which is understood to mean a cube. Other texts suggest a coracle like vessel. Genesis tells of a vessel with a 6:1 length to with ratio, which matches modern cargo ships.

Baal Cycle (Myth): A Ugarit/Canaanite mythology tale involving an account of the gods, a death, and rebirth of Baal.

Balih (Person): Ruler on the Sumerian King List, son of Etana.

“Be a Steven” (Phrase): A title encouraging people/listeners to be more open minded with genuine, unoffended curiosity as to what the objective truth is on any and every subject. Inspired by our listener, Steven, and his kind/open minded approach to genuine curiosity.

“Black Headed People” (Term): What the Sumerians often called themselves in ancient texts, almost undoubtedly due to the color of their hair.

Bitumen (Substance): A tar like substance, used in buildings, art, and even in the construction of the ark in various texts.

Book of Enoch (Document): An ancient text dating to the late BC/early AD time period, claiming to tell the story of Enoch himself from before the flood. It’s unlikely this is a direct, unedited eyewitness account. However, it is still useful for context clues for the time period, and common beliefs held.

Bull of Heaven (Entity): A divine bull, sent to judge Enkidu and Gilgamesh for rejecting Inanna. See Gugalanna.

Cuneiform (Writing System): Cuneiform is often treated as a blanket statement for Sumerian and/or old writing, but it’s far more than that. Cuneiform is an impression based writing system (on clay, stone, or other 3D mediums – not designed for paper) used to encode Sumerian (language isolate), Akkadian (Babylonian + Assyrian, Semitic family), Ugarit (North of modern day Israel, Semitic), and Hittite (Indo-European). Proto-cuneiform was not a language, but a trade writing system: it’s own pictographic “language” with around 1000 symbols.

Ea (Diety): Enki in Akkadian. See Enki.

Eabzu (E-Abzu, Sumerian word): The Sumerian name for Enki’s temple/house in Eridug.

Eanna (E-Anna, Sumerian word): The Sumerian name for Inanna’s temple/house, located in Uruk (Unug).

Eduranki (E-dur-an-ki, Sumerian word): A Sumerian title for Ekur, which literally means “House-Umbilical Cord-Heaven-Earth”. Taken more poetically, it infers the meaning of “the connecting point between heaven and earth”.

Ekur (E-kur, Sumerian word): The Sumerian name for Enlil’s temple at Nippur, which literally translates to “House-Mountain”.

Enki (Deity, also known as Ea in Akkadian): The Mesopotamian god of water, and wisdom. Wisdom to the ancients also included the use of magic, so Enki is also the god of crafts. His role is to help maintain divine order for the world. In many texts, he predicts exactly what is going to happen accurately in giving advice to others, something the other gods seem to have no interest in generally. He is the ruler of the abzu.

Enkidu (Person): The wild man in the Epic of Gilgamesh that is civilized by the prostitute (harlot), challenges Gilgamesh, becomes best friends with Gilgamesh, helps slay Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, and then falls ill due to defying the gods. His death drives Gilgamesh on his quest for immortality.

Enlil (Deity, sometimes is seen as “Ellil” due to Semitic language influence): The chief Mesopotamian deity in the Sumerian pantheon. The name translates from the Sumerian signs for En-Lil to “Lord” and “Wind/Storm/Spirit”. This has implication of a broad understanding of Enlil’s influence: likely as far more than just “the god of lightning”. It implies spiritual rule: reflecting the same root as seen in “Lilith”, although there is no basis to assert Enlil = Lilith.

Etana (Person): One of the early kings/lords of the kingdom of Kish from the Sumerian King List. Also featured in the tale of Etana, where he ascends to the heavens to receive the plant of birth for an heir.

Etana (The Myth): A tale of Etana ascending to the heavens for the plant of birth on a divine eagle. While there are different versions of the story that claim both success and failure of Etana’s quest, its important to note that Balih, his son, is featured on the Sumerian King List specifically succeeding him as ruler, and is one of the few names from the kingdom of Kish that is identified as being the son of a previous ruler.

4th Dimension (Location): The 4th Dimension, as referred to on the show, is the geometric fourth dimension that is used to describe the spiritual realm: a dimension of space beyond our comprehension.

Gilgamesh (Person): A king of Uruk, two thirds god, one third man. The Sumerian King List names his father as a Lillu (a male night spirit/demon), adding a layer of complexity to Gilgamesh’s lineage. Gilgamesh is the hero who stars in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the most classic and well-known tale in modern literature from ancient Sumer.

Gugalanna (Entity): Gugalanna is the first husband to Ereshkigal, the Sumerian goddess of death. Gugalanna means “bull of heaven”, so there’s some debate of overlap here. I believe there is a different spelling and/or determinative used for Gugalanna vs the Bull of Heaven in Gilgamesh (this entry will be updated at a later date to reflect this research).

Imdugud (Entity, Sumerian Word): The Sumerian name for Anzu/Anzud bird. See those entries for more info.

Inanna (Entity): The goddess of fertility and war in Sumerian mythology. She is the patron deity of Uruk (Unug).

Ishtar (Entity): The Akkadian name for Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of fertility and war.

Kur (Sumerian Word): It means “mountain” in Sumerian. Relevant for understanding the “Ekur” and the conversation on Episode 061 of the podcast. “Kur kur” often means “all of the lands”, not just mountains.

“Laughably Sophomoric” (Phrase): A callback to when Josiah from M Quad challenged Dan McClellan to back up a historical claim with historical evidence, and Dan’s response was that “We don’t need evidence – that’s laughably sophomoric”. All claims of history MUST be vetted by the historical method: there’s no “new methodology” that can circumvent evidence via literary analysis. It’s just bad methodology.

Lilith/Lilitu (Spirit): A female night spirit in Hebraic/Akkadian tradition, also appearing as “lilitu” in Akkadian readings. A medieval tradition equates Lilith as being the “first wife of Adam”. But as explored in Episode 044 of M Quad’s podcast, there is no serious grounds to argue this story as legitimate since it is written thousands of years after the event would’ve supposedly taken place. Lilith is far more likely the first (or one of the first) Nephilim that then was made to inhabit the world as a disembodied spirit (as 1 Enoch claims).

Lilu (Spirit): A male night demon, the counterpart to Lilith/Lilitu. Appears on the Sumerian King List as the father of Gilgamesh: which adds an interesting dynamic to Gilgamesh’s dilemma of being “2/3s god and 1/3 man”, which may not have just been poetic. The word listed on the Sumerian King List is for this name is the “lil” sign primarily (see Enlil for a breakdown of this sign), which requires more research as to if this means literal spirit, or wind. This entry will be amended later to reflect the research.

Nephilim (Entity): A name for the giants of old, the sons and daughters of the fallen angels. These beings are believed to be completely corrupted with evil.

Nibiru (Location): An illusive description of “a crossing point” and possibly a specific star in the sky. Sitchin often correlates this to a lost planet the Anunnaki descend from, but my research shows (thus far) the planet ONLY makes an appearance in the Enuma Elish, and is not once directly correlated to a 3600 year orbital cycle. It does not seem to appear in the Mul.Apin (Babylonian star chart).

Nibru (Location): Another name for Nippur. See Nippur.

Nippur (Location): A Sumerian city located in modern day Iraq. The cult center for Enlil, and where the Ekur/Eduranki is located.

Proto-Semitic (Theorized Language): Proto-Semitic is the hypothetical common ancestor of all Semitic languages, including Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Hebrew. It was never written down, and our understanding of it comes entirely from linguistic reconstruction: comparing consistent patterns and shared roots across Semitic languages. For example, the root for “deep” or “watery abyss” appears as tehom (Hebrew), thmt (Ugaritic), and is reflected mythologically in Tiamat (Akkadian). Similarly, the word for “silver” appears as kaspum (Akkadian), ksp (Ugaritic), and kesef (Hebrew), all preserving a common root. The Semitic languages are believed to have evolved from this common ancestor due to regional separation and isolation, much like how Australians and Americans developed distinct forms of English in just a few centuries. Over millennia, these differences compounded, giving rise to entirely new Semitic languages like Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Hebrew: each with shared roots but unique forms.

Saphon/Zaphon (Location): The mountain of Baal in Canaanite/Ugarit literature and belief. Located on the southern border of Turkey, overlooking Syria. Next to the Mediterranean.

Shamash (Entity, Akkadian Word): Shamash is both the Akkadian word for “sun” and the name for the deity Shamash in Akkadian, the sun god who is responsible for overseeing that divine justice is delivered on the earth according to Mesopotamian mythology.

Sharratum (Title, Akkadian Word): The Akkadian word for “queen”, often used on the show to refer to Madison, one of the co-hosts.

Sumerian (Language): The oldest known written language, Sumerian used a logo-syllabic script: symbols representing both words and syllables. It is a language isolate, meaning it has no known relatives, living or dead. Sumerian grammar relies heavily on complex verb structures that carry much of the sentence’s meaning, often encoding subject, object, tense, and other details into a single word.

Sumerian King List (Document): A cuneiform text, often inscribed on clay prisms, that records the rulers of Sumer and the cities where kingship was held. Multiple versions exist, with slight variations, but the core structure remains: a series of long-reigning antediluvian (pre-flood) kings, followed by post-flood dynasties with more realistic reign lengths. Kingship is portrayed as a divine institution that moves from city to city: beginning in Kish, then passing to Uruk, Ur, and others. Legendary figures such as Etana and Gilgamesh are included.

Ur (Location): The city of Ur is a Sumerian city in modern day Iraq. Also known as Urim in Sumerian. Seat of Ur-Nammu’s dynasty, who fielded the last resurgence of Sumerian before its eventual death as a language.

Uruk (Location): The city of Uruk is a Sumerian city in modern day Iraq. Appears as “Unug” in Sumerian. Seat of the kingship numerous times on the Sumerian King List, and home to Gilgamesh from his epic.

User123 (Phrase): Reference to a user that sent in a useful critique to the show, requesting a summary/overview + recap for our episodes. It’s a template we follow now!

Utu (Entity, Sumerian Word): The Sumerian name for Shamash: the sun god and overseer of divine justice according to the Sumerians.

Watcher (Entity): A fallen angel. Fallen in part due to lust. Specifically in reference to the Book of Enoch.