“After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug.” Sumerian Kings List.
Seven Sages Sumerian Kings: According to Babylonian tradition, seven apkallu (“wise men” or “sages”) lived before the Flood. Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian ritual texts give there names and the seven cities from which they were believed to come, although there are variant traditions which cannot be fully reconciled one with another. Other antediluvian figures are also said to have been apkalla; notably Adapa of Eridu. The Seven Sages should be distinguished from the Seven (Gods) (Sebittu) because Neo-Assyrian instructions for rituals including protective figurines prescribe sets of figures of the Seven followed by those of the Seven Sages. Figures of different forms of the Seven Sages are to be made, some apparently in human form, some wearing fishes’ skins, and winged figures with birds’ faces. The tradition of the Seven Sages seems to be preserved by Berossos’ account of eight creatures who appeared from the sea in the ‘first days’ beginning with Oannes and ending with Odakon. In the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, the Seven Sages are credited with building the walls of Uruk.
Fish: Fish offerings were made in Mesopotamia from early times. The fresh waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, which was believed to well up from the Abzu, teems with fish, mostly species of carp, and it was natural for the fish to be associated with the water god Enki. Since he was the wise god, the fish also symbolizes wisdom.
