A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – EN.KI (“Lord of Earth”) was the Sumerian water god of Eridu, one of the earliest and most sacred cities of the Sumerians – Eridu (E.RI.DU – ‘Home in the Faraway Built’), located in the southern wetlands of what is today Iraq.
He was the god of the earth, healing, and groundwater. Enki was also the god of wisdom and the patron of craftsmen and artisans; he protected humans when the other gods sought to kill them.
Enki was known under other names, such as the Akkadian-Babylonian, Ea (“Whose House Is Water”), or NU.DIM.MUD (Nudimmud), “He Who Fashions Things”. He was wise and skillful at all crafts; he was a brilliant scientist, geneticist, and engineer.
Along with Anu, the god of heaven, his brother Enlil, the god of air, and Ninhursag, the earth mother, Enki was one of the most powerful gods of the Sumerian pantheon.