FLYING SERPENTS AND DRAGONS

By R. A. Boulay 1990

Editorial Comments By Roberto Solàrion 1997

The antediluvian days are remembered as the reign of the god-kings in the Sumerian King List and as the era of the Patriarchs of the Book of Genesis. The sources make it clear that these leaders which formed the aristocracy that ruled in these days were of divine blood, that is, they were part-saurian.

A second group on Earth were the Nefilim or the Anunnaki who descended to live here and to intermarry with human women.

The third group to populate the Earth was Mankind, the Homo sapiens produced by the Anunnaki as a labor force to do all the menial tasks.

Of the three, we are concerned with the demi-gods, the priest-kings of the antediluvian period which are remembered in the Old Testament as the descendants of Adam and Eve.

TWO LINES OF DESCENT: CAIN AND SETH

The line of descent from Adam and Eve provided by the Book of Genesis poses many problems, for it not only lists the progeny of Cain but then adds the parallel line of Seth. It even duplicates some of the Cainite names and approximates some of the others.

It would therefore appear that there were two separate streams of tradition but both derived from the same distant source. The original center of dissemination was manifestly in Mesopotamia. While the name Methusael is clearly Akkadian (MUTU-SA-ILI or "man of god"), the rest of the names have nothing in common with their Mesopotamian antecedents; and it would seem that before they reached the Hebrews, they had gone through a secondary center of dissemination where they were transformed with local records and traditions.

There is a third list mentioned in the pseudepigraphic literature that has been neglected, presumably because it does not agree with the proposition in Genesis that Abraham inherited the mantle of priesthood from Noah. Provided by the Second Book of Enoch, this list of priest-kings ends with the Patriarch Melchisedek who is transported to the heavens just before the Deluge. It contains many strange and unfamiliar names that do not appear elsewhere in the Scriptures. Also called the Slavonic Apocalypse of Enoch, it is dated to the First Century AD and describes Enoch’s ascent to heaven, his deification, and his return to Earth. It is perhaps better known for its line of succession which avoids Noah and instead passes it on to his brother Nir and then to his son Melchisedek.

In Genesis, the line of Cain was discontinued suddenly, and presumably this change in attitude was related to the murder of his brother Abel. Cain was exiled to the lands east of Eden where he later produced a son also called Enoch who was reportedly the builder of cities, seven in fact, all named after his sons. It is perhaps coincidental that there were seven major cities built by the Sumerians before the Deluge and suggests a common source of origin.

Genesis continues the line of Cain, uneventfully, through Irad, Mehujael, Methusael, and then ends with Lamech. Not content with dropping the line here, the Scriptures left behind a puzzle, a cryptic verse that has been the bane of Biblical scholars. The verse which ends the line of Cain is as follows:

"Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zellah, hear my voice, O wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech; I have killed a man for wounding me, a boy for injuring me. If Cain be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-seven fold."

Genesis then drops all mention of the Cainite line and abruptly begins the genealogy of Seth. Obviously the verse contains the clues to this sudden change of policy. If the line was doomed, what were the reasons? The solution to this enigmatic verse which ends the line of Cain probably lies in the existence of the two, even three, parallel lines of descent.

THE CAIN-ABEL MURDER MYSTERY

The Biblical explanation for the first recorded murder in the history of Mankind is somehow not convincing for, according to Genesis, Cain killed Abel because his sacrifice was snubbed by the Lord in favor of Abel’s. Logically, this alone would not seem provocation enough to cause Cain to commit fratricide. It seems more like a spurious explanation invented by the ancient chroniclers. The answer lies elsewhere and the works of the pseudepigrapha bear this out. A more complete and sinister version of the crime is provided in the ancient document The Life of Adam and Eve.

When Eve conceived and bore Cain, she said, according to Genesis, "I have added a human being with the help of the Lord." In the case of Abel, however, the text says merely that "next she bore his brother Abel." Genesis thus suggests, although obliquely, that of the two, the birth of Cain involved the deity. Further clarifications of the paternity of Cain is found in The Apocalypse of Adam, a Gnostic document of the First Century AD, wherein Adam reveals to his son Seth that "the Lord, who created us, created a son from himself and Eve, your mother."

If the deity was the father of Cain, while Adam sired Abel, it explains many of the events which happened subsequently; for if the deity were his father, Cain would be semi-divine, part reptilian and more God-like. It would explain his fierce and bloodthirsty nature and account for the murder of his brother Abel. About the birth of Cain, this document observes that Eve "bore a son and he was lustrous." This is a good description of the shiny luminous hide of the reptile gods.

An unusual and somewhat bizarre description of the crime of Cain is also found in this document which narrates some episodes in the life of Adam. There are two versions - the Latin or Vita version, and the Greek or Apocalypse one. In the Vita version, Eve has a vision where it is "as is the blood of our son Abel was in the hands of Cain who was gulping it down in his mouth." The Apocalyptic version is somewhat more dramatic, as Eve tells Adam:

"My Lord, I saw a dream last night, the blood of my son Amilabes, called Abel, being thrust into the mouth of Cain his brother, and he drank it mercilessly... And it did not stay in his stomach but came out of his mouth. They got up to see what happened and found Abel killed by Cain."

The crime of Cain was, apparently, not only to commit fratricide but also to eat the flesh and blood of his brother. This behavior seems more reptilian than human, since Cain was sired by the deity, unlike his brother who had Adam as his father. Cain was therefore half-saurian. This may have been the main reason for aborting the line of Cain, to be superseded by that of Seth.

Whether provoked or not, Cain committed a serious crime, much more serious than just an error in offering a sacrifice. Cain not only killed Abel but ate his flesh and drank his blood. For this barbaric deed Cain was banished to the east to the land of Nod. Then as a sign that Cain came under the Lord’s protection, he placed a mark on Cain, the nature of which is not described in Genesis.

In order to protect his semi-divine progeny, the deity warned that "whoever kills Cain shall suffer vengeance seven fold." Strangely, this same statement is repeated in the verse on Lamech which ends the line of Cain, and obviously the two verses are related.

Cain is considered by the deity to be a bad experiment; but since he is semi-divine and his offspring, he cannot be destroyed but is exiled to a far land so that he nor his offspring can do no more harm. Cain is said to have married his sister Awan at the end of the Fourth Jubilee or about the 200^th year of Adam’s life.

Rabbinical sources indicate that he died in his 930^th year, that is, a year before the death of Adam. In the pseudepigrapha, Cain was reportedly accidentally killed by Lamech, thus fulfilling the curse of the seventh generation.

THE LINE OF SETH: ENOSH, KENON, MAHALA’EL, AND JARED

After Abel’s death and Cain’s banishment, a third son arrives on the scene. Like Abel, Seth is born of Adam and Eve; ostensibly, the deity has decided not to intervene in the affairs of Man and allow him to produce his own offspring. Seth marries his sister, and Enosh is born. Thus begins the line of Patriarchs which continues unbroken until the time of the Deluge. The heroes of the Old Testament, quite often and proudly, claim their descent from this Sethite line. Who then were these Patriarchs; and since they were undoubtedly residents of Mesopotamia, what evidence is there in the Scriptures and other ancient writings to link them with the Anunnaki or alien astronauts?

Of the first four Patriarchs, very little information is available in the Old Testament. Enosh means "mortal" or "human being"; and according to the Scriptures, he was considered to be the first mortal or human. It is during his era that the "faces of man became ape-like" according to the ancient Rabbinical sources. It would thus appear that the human countenance became less reptile-like and assumed mammal or ape-like features during the years of Enosh.

It is perhaps for this reason that the generation of Enosh is not treated well in the ancient sources. The Haggadah calls it the generation of the "counsel of the ungodly" since the contemporaries of Enosh were accused of practicing "the arts of divination and the control of heavenly forces." Man was beginning to show a spirit of independence and intellectual curiosity that apparently did not abide well with his reptilian masters.

[Comment: It is my contention that the Nibiruan Hierarchy would rather have not created Man in the first place. One might even go so far as to state that Man was a creature necessitated by their greed and sloth. Once created, however, Man had to be civilized and educated; thus, these Saurian Gods were saddled with this responsibility, like it or not. Probably today, they’d just as soon hope that they are free of us forever, that we are their burden no more.]

The days of Enosh were also marked with many earthquakes which caused untold misery. Drought and famine followed, and then there was a mass dying off of the population. According to the Third Book of Enoch, the Lord decided to remove his "shekinah" or space craft from the area of the garden of Eden in the days of Enosh and return to the heavens.

Sumerian sources reveal that at first the chief god An resided at Uruk, the Erech of the Bible, but for undisclosed reasons, decided to return to his heavenly abode, never to come back except on special occasions. He may have left because of the numerous earthquakes and bad conditions at the time of Enosh.

Enosh is said to have lived 905 years; at the age of 90 he begot Kenon or Cainan. Meaning "metalsmith" or "craftsman," little is known of Kenon from ancient sources. Since the second city built was called Badtibira or "city for metal processing," there seems to be an association whose meaning has been lost.

Kenon lived 910 years and begot Mahala’el at the age of 70. Mahala’el or "praiser of the Lord" lived 895 years; nothing is known of him. When he was 65, Jared was born or 460 years after Adam had left Eden. Thus Adam, Enosh, Kenon, Mahala’el, as well as Cain, would all still be living at the time we enter the era of Jared.

Jared was the first Patriarch not to marry his sister. Perhaps it is symbolic of the end of an era where intermarriage among siblings was not only condoned but practiced as a general custom as, for example, among the Egyptian royal family. The days of Jared would be, by calculation of the figures given in Genesis, from the year 460 AA to 1422AA (that is, AA = After Adam or the years elapsed since the birth of Adam).

William W. Hallo in his article on "Antediluvian Cities" (Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3) suggests that Jared or Yered, as it is sometimes given, means "he of Eridu." This would place Jared at the city of Eridu, just as Enosh was at Badtibira, and Enoch at Sippar.

The days of Jared are of major significance to human history for it was then that the Nefilim first descended. Jubilees state that,

"in his days the angels of the Lord, who were called Watchers (Nefilim), came down to Earth in order to teach the sons of Man, and perform judgment and uprightness upon the Earth."

The arrival of these astronauts during the days of Jared is also reported in the First Book of Enoch and later verified by documents found among the Dead Sea scrolls.

ENOCH OR ENMEDURANNA, THE FAVORITE OF THE GODS

The information on Enoch in Genesis is sparse and little mention is made of him. Enoch was 165 years old when his son Methuselah was born. Enoch then lived 200 more years at which time "Enoch walked with God, then was no more, because God took him." The phrase "walked with God" has been generally interpreted to mean that he ascended to heaven during his lifetime. This cryptic phrase implies, nevertheless, of the existence of some fuller narrative about Enoch, lost or omitted from the Old Testament.

Enoch became a hero in Jewish apocalyptic literature and two books were ascribed to him, the "Ethiopic" and "Slavonic" books. The figure of Enoch was especially significant in the spiritual movement from which the Dead Sea scrolls originated. His story and writings are treated in the Book of Jubilees, and he plays an active role in the Hebrew Apocalypse of Enoch which is ascribed to the Palestinian scholar Ishmael.

Enoch’s ascent to heaven is actually just the beginning of a fabulous career, wherein Enoch became "divine" and was made chief of the heavens, second only to the deity himself. After his ascent he came back to his family briefly to teach his son Methuselah the wisdom he had learned and written down in heaven.

After a brief stay here he returned to the space craft for six Jubilee years. During this period he apparently commuted between the space ship and Earth. The apocalyptic literature mentions his residence in Eden and on Mount Qatar, an unidentified place which could very well be the city of Sippar in Mesopotamia.

ENOCH’S "RISE" TO POWER

The elevation of Enoch to the status of a god is recounted in the Slavonic Enoch. Enoch himself reveals the experience:

"When 165 years were complete for me, I fathered my son Methuselah; and after that, I lived 200 years...On the assigned day of the first month, I was in the house alone...And I lay on the bed sleeping...Then two huge men appeared to me, the likes of which I had never seen on earth...And they stood at the head of my bed and called me by my names."

Enoch awoke and was terrified.

"Then these men said to me, ’Be brave Enoch, in truth do not fear, the eternal god has sent us to you. And behold, you will ascend with us to heaven today.’"

He was told to tell his sons and household that he was leaving. He was then taken up "on their wings" to the heavens.

Enoch was given a tour of the space ship. In one area he saw two hundred dejected "angels" and was told that they were the ones who had descended, committed many crimes, and were being held for trial. Enoch’s clothes were taken away, and he was "anointed" and given "clothes of glory," a symbolism to show that he was changed physically, made over like one of the gods.

This is just the reverse of what happened to Adam in the garden of Eden; he lost his "cloud of glory" and then was given clothes. It appears from what happened subsequently that Enoch received some form of "divinity" here at this time. Then a "pen for speed-writing" was given to Enoch, and books were read to him while he copied dictation about the "marvels and secrets of heaven."

He remained on the ship for sixty days, then was returned to Earth to spend thirty days to impart his knowledge to his sons. He was then picked up and flown back to the space ship where he was to be the chief investigator for the inquiry into the crimes of the Nefilim.

The Hebrew of Third Book of Enoch contains the testimony of Rabbi Ishmael, the famous Palestinian scholar, where he dreams he is taken to heaven and meets Metatron who appears to be the most powerful being there. "Why is your name like the name of your Creator with seventy names?" asks Ishmael. "You are greater than all the Princes, more exalted than all the angels, more beloved than all the Ministers." Enoch answers, "Because I am Enoch, the son of Jared." He then describes how he was made chief of the heavens over the objections of the angels.

Enoch is made acting chief with all the titles and powers of office.

He is given the "divine names," the seventy names which confer power over the heavens and earth. These names seem to be like the Tablets of Destiny or the MEs of the Sumerian gods. They are formulas of devices which give the owner absolute control over certain aspects and categories of life.

[Comment: Again we find similarities to the attributes of the mysterious "Archons of Destiny".]

Enoch served as Metatron (from the Greek "metathronos" or "the one who serves behind the throne") for six Jubilee years or 300 years. According to this document, he was resettled in Eden; and while little is known of these 300 years when he served as Metatron, he presumably commuted back and forth between a city on Earth and the space ship.

THE CRIMES AND TRIAL OF THE CRIMINAL ASTRONAUTS

Jubilees states that in the days of Jared "the angels of the Lord, who were called Watchers, came to Earth in order to teach the sons of man." These are the Nefilim who are described in Genesis 6:

"Now when men began to increase on Earth and daughters were born to them, the divine beings (elohim) saw how beautiful were the human daughters and took them as their wives any of them they liked . . . It was then that the Nefilim appeared on Earth - as well as later - after the divine beings had united with human daughters."

[Comment: My Revised Standard Version of The Bible describes it differently. Here is what my Bible says about this same event in Genesis 6:1-8.

["When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. Then the Lord said, ’My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.’

["The Nephilim were on the Earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

["The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, ’I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favour in the eyes of God."

[In the Jewish and Ethiopic traditions, Nefilim means "sky people."]

There were 200 astronauts who descended in the days of Jared onto Mount Hermon in northwest Palestine near Lebanon.

In the Babylonian records of creation, the Enuma Elish, a large group of divine beings descended to Earth. Tablet VI of the epic reveals that the Anunnaki were quite restless in their space ship.

Having achieved freedom from labor with the creation of Man, they were becoming increasingly bored and restless. It was then decided to resettle part of them on Earth. Accordingly, 300 of them descended to Earth while another 300 remained on the space ship. Called the "igigi," they were presumably the ones with specialized functions, the technicians of the space craft.

The well-intentioned plans of the Nefilim or Anunnaki appear to have changed for the worst, for soon thereafter they began to engage in a variety of activities that raised the wrath of both god and man. The Ethiopic Book of Enoch suggests that their descent was a secret and unauthorized act of a group of rebellious "angels."

"In those days, when the children of man had multiplied, it happened that there were born unto them handsome and beautiful daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw them and desired them and they said to one another, ’Come, let us choose wives for ourselves among the daughters of men and beget us children.’ And Semyaz, being their leader, said onto them, ’Let us all swear an oath and bind everyone among us by a curse not to abandon this suggestion but to do the deed.’ Then they all swore together and bound one another by the curse. And they were altogether two hundred."

[Comment: One would presume that if Cro-Magnon could interbreed with the Saurians in the first place, then this interbreeding is still possible. (It’s part of that "skin thing" again.) Also it is stated only that the saurian males interbred with the mammalian females. There is no mention of saurian females plotting to secretly "fornicate with" mammalian males. This leads to the thought that the birth-process physical-mechanism would predominate from the female side, since these recorded crossbreeds were born live, like other mammals. If saurian females interbred with mammalian males, they were obviously more discreet and more selective about it but probably bore their young encased in some sort of egg shell, for final incubation. So, it seems like "boys will be boys," no matter which planet you live on. Is this reassuring, or what?]

During this time, Enoch was performing the work of a scribe at a hidden location on Earth; "no one of the children of God knew by what he was hidden and where he was," notes the account, although it makes it clear he was among the Anunnaki of the Mesopotamian valley. He is then approached by the "Nefilim of Heaven" and told to go among the "Nefilim of Earth" and apprise them of their crimes.

"Enoch, scribe of righteousness," he is told, "go and make known to the watchers of heaven who have abandoned high heaven and have defiled themselves upon the Earth."

"Enoch approached the Nefilim and warned them that, ’There will not be peace with you, a grave judgment has come upon you. They will put you in bonds, and you will not have an opportunity for rest. You have shown to the people deeds of shame, injustice, and sin.’"

As a group "they were all frightened and fear and trembling seized them." They begged Enoch to draw up a letter of forgiveness and to petition the deity on their behalf. Enoch did as they requested.

At this time, the records say, Enoch was in the area of Dan, near Mount Hermon, where the Nefilim are said to have originally landed. Enoch flew up to heaven in a space craft or "fiery chariot" and in his words "the winds were causing me to fly and rushing me high up into heaven."

He was greeted by the deity who heard Enoch’s petition on behalf of the Earth-bound Nefilim. The deity was angry and not disposed to be merciful, mainly because it was not proper for a mortal to intercede for the Nefilim. It just was not done in the scheme of things. Rather it was more fit and proper for them to intercede on the behalf of Mankind.

He chastised them thoroughly,

"for what reason have you abandoned the high, holy eternal heaven?" He contended that they had been spiritual beings "possessing eternal life but have defiled yourselves with women and like them producing blood and flesh which will die and perish."

It seems that their offspring were more mammal than reptile, and again we see that equation, contrasting eternal life and the physiology of the Anunnaki with that of mortals of blood and flesh.

But the plans of the Nefilim on Earth went awry, and they produced creatures quite unlike their reptilian forbears. The "divine" race was becoming diluted, and the mammalian genes appeared to dominate the reptilian strain which became recessive. This factor may have been the main reason which led to the experiments in genetic engineering, one of the major crimes levelled against the Nefilim.

In order to redress the unforeseen and unwarranted dilution of the saurian strain, the Nefilim began experiments in changing the genetic codes, hoping in this way to reestablish their strain as the dominant one. These experiments apparently got out of control, for one of the accusations against the Nefilim was to practice "alchemy" by,

"changing a man into a horse or mule or vice versa, or transferring an embryo from one womb to another."

Other cryptic references indicate that these experiments also involved animals, for "they began to sin against birds, wild animals, reptiles, and fish." Monsters of all sorts were produced; these in turn oppressed mankind in the years before the Deluge.

The Nefilim then turned to cannibalism, not a great change morally to a race used to human sacrifice. The increase in human population and the catastrophes of the period produced extreme food shortages. The religious literature relates how,

"the giants consumed the produce of all the people until the people detested feeding them. So the giants turned against the people in order to eat them."

The gods in heaven were incensed over these activities and swore to eliminate the offspring of the Nefilim which caused havoc on Earth. The deity directed the "avenging angels" to,

"Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates and against the children of adultery; and destroy the children of adultery and expel the children of the Watchers from among the people. And send them against one another so that they may be destroyed in the fight."

The Athrasis Epic version of the creation describes a condition of famine and desperation just before the Deluge. The land had become barren because of the drought. People roamed about in despair due to disease and illness. The dead were everywhere and, as the tablets reveal, each family "devours" the other, and then finally eat their own young.

[Comment: As horrible as this may sound, it is not uncommon. A mid-20th Century famine in Vietnam resulted in parents eating their own young children.]

The actual trial of the children of god is not described in the books of Enoch, yet there was a decision handed down for Enoch to transmit to them.

"He testified about the Watchers who had sinned with the daughters of man; he testified against them all," relates the book of Enoch.

The verdict is given, and in Enoch’s words,

"Judgment is passed upon you. From now on you will not be able to ascend to heaven unto all eternity, but shall remain inside the Earth, imprisoned all the days of eternity. Before that, you will have seen the destruction of your beloved ones."

There are two parts to the verdict: the Nefilim will be imprisoned in the earth, and secondly their offspring will be destroyed. Their imprisonment in the Earth is reflected in the Mesopotamian epics where some of the Anunnaki suffer a similar fate.

In the Sumerian epic Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World, some of the Anunnaki live in the nether world where they are visited by the goddess Ishtar. [Inanna/Hathor/Aphrodite/Lakshmi] It is a "land of no return," a land of darkness and misery, where the "prisoners eat clay for bread and drink muddied water for beer."

ENOCH AS METATRON AND ENMEDURANNA

Enoch went to heaven in a fiery chariot according to the Haggadah, and here he was changed physically and made divine as the first step in becoming chief of the heavens, second only to the deity himself. The Hebrew Book of Enoch describes his ascent to power over the objections of the angels. Apparently, the deity did not trust the angels and brought Enoch up to the heavens to straighten things out.

Three of the ministering angels ask the Lord "what right has this one to ascend to the height of heights?" The Lord replies, "I have chosen this one in preference to all of you, to be a prince and ruler over you in the heavenly heights."

He is given the name Metatron and the title Prince of the Divine Presence. These titles and powers of Enoch have made it difficult for Biblical scholars to try to fit him into the doctrine of monotheism.

Enoch or Metatron is placed in charge of the heavenly staff and given access to all parts of the heavenly abode or ship. Enoch also assumes control over all the vehicles, rockets, and other technical equipment. In modern terms, Metatron is the Chief Executive Officer answerable only to the President or the Chairman of the Board.

The similarities between Enoch and Enmeduranna, the Sumerian king, is so striking as to indicate that the stories about Enoch and the stories of the legendary god-king of Sippar come from a common source.

While the Biblical records preserve a partly expurgated narrative of Enoch, many of the original mythological motifs of Enoch continued to exist in the oral tradition until they reached their present form in Jewish pseudepigrapha, medieval legends, and mystical literature.

Both Enoch and Enmeduranna were the seventh ruler before the Deluge, Enoch being the seventh Patriarch in the line of Seth, and Enmeduranna the seventh antediluvian king of the Sumerian King List. Often called a priest-king in the books bearing his name, Enoch ruled both on Earth and in the heavens.

Enmeduranna ruled at Sippar, the space port of the antediluvian gods. His name EN-ME-DUR-ANNA means "the Lord of the MEs that connect heaven and earth," or in other words, the king who controls the Tablets of Destiny that control the flights between heaven and Earth. This may be why Enoch is given so much importance among the Patriarchs because he was in charge of Sippar, the space port and the Sumerians’ most important city.

According to Jubilees, Enoch made incense offerings on Mount Qatar. Listed as one of the four sacred places on Earth, along with the garden of Eden, Mount Sinai, and Mount Zion, Qatar is otherwise not identified in the religious literature, except that it is referred to as the "mountain of the east."

Since the reference point of this entry in Jubilees is Mount Sinai, the mountain of the east would be in the general direction of Mesopotamia. It would logically be the ziggurat at Sippar, the artificial mountain where Enmeduranna was priest-king.

THE MYSTERIOUS LAMECH, THE SON OF METHUSELAH

Methuselah, the son of Enoch, is given little coverage in Genesis. His son Lamech, however, is the subject of an historical mystery. In both the Cainite and the Sethite tradition, Lamech is the son of Methuselah. Genesis devotes much space to explaining the activities of the line of Cain, and then drops the line altogether. Quite cryptic in nature, there is some meaning here that has been lost to antiquity.

According to this lineage, Lamech had three sons - Jabal, Jubel, and Tubal-Cain. His wives were Adah and Zillah. He was thus the first admitted polygamist, and the father of the founders of nomadism, the musical arts, and metalworking. Lamech is the seventh generation according to the Cainite lineage and the numbers 7 and 77 seem to play an important part in his poem in Genesis:

"Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, O wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech; I have killed a man for wounding me, a boy for injuring me. If Cain be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-seven fold."

The reference to killing a boy and a man, leading to a curse to the 77^th generation, has been a puzzle to scholars for centuries. Who then were these people who were so important as to bring such drastic retribution to Lamech?

The answer may be found in the Haggadah which provides details of the slaying of Cain. In the story, Lamech was reportedly old and blind; and when he went hunting, he was led by his son Tubal-Cain, who would tell his father when game came into sight, so that Lamech could shoot at it with his bow and arrow.

Once he aimed at some horned creature which Tubal-Cain thought to be a beast. In fact, it was Cain bearing the "sign of Cain," a horn in the forehead, according to the Haggadah, but more probably a pair of horns on the head.

Lamech killed him and in despair, he struck out inadvertently killing his son Tubal-Cain. Fanciful as the story goes, it accounts for the killing of a man and a boy, both of which were not just ordinary people. Cain’s slaying was serious since he was half-reptile and protected by the gods as one of their own.

By the days of Lamech, the Anunnaki or Nefilim had become the bane of mankind. The hatred for these barbaric ancestors may have led Lamech to murder Cain; and while it may have been applauded by mankind, the gods were certainly not pleased. There is an echo of this in the treatment of Melchisedek, the grandchild of Lamech, who was taken away by the Nefilim to prevent his being killed by the people.

As Priest-Kings, the Patriarchs were considered to be allies and friends of the gods, presumably because they themselves were part saurian. Reptile vestiges must have made them easily recognizable; and these characteristics, possibly a patch of scaly skin on the chest or face, or perhaps the remnants of reptilian features on the countenance, would be considered by humans as the so-called "badge of shame." This may have been why Noah was so upset when seen naked by his sons.

THE LAMECH OF THE LINE OF SETH

It would seem that there were two different traditions of the antediluvian Patriarchs that originated from the same source. Why the two Lamechs were so different is an interesting puzzle that seeks a solution. Perhaps some of this confusion can be traced to the events of the time.

Enoch appears to be the last of the Patriarchs beloved and trusted by the gods. He went up for the second time in 987 AA (Years After Adam) in our calculations, to become Metatron and preside over the trial of the Nefilim. The Nefilim reportedly descended during the days of Jared; and since he was born in 460 AA, the troubles caused by them were between 460 AA and 987 AA.

In Noah’s time a second group descended and again caused many problems for humanity. While there is no evidence that Methuselah, as a priest-king, was not trusted by the gods, the minimum amount of publicity he receives in all the ancient documents indicates he was not very popular. Neither was Lamech, for in the Slavonic Book of Enoch, Methuselah passes the mantle of priesthood to Nir, thereby bypassing the generation of Lamech; and what is more significant, skipping over Noah, his eldest son. Of this Lamech, Genesis 5 has this to say:

"Lamech was 182 years old when he begot a son. He named him Noah, which is to say ’This one will bring us relief from our work and the toil of our hands, out of the very soil which the Lord had placed under a ban.’ After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and begot sons and daughters. All the days of Lamech came to 777 years, then he died."

The Scriptures seem ambivalent when it comes to Lamech, torn between the evil-doer of Cain and the laudable one of Seth. What is not often perceived is that while the Patriarchs had prodigious lifespans, they dovetailed to such an extent that, according to the chronology of Genesis, the total elapsed time adds up to no more than 1656 years.

In fact, if this chronology is used, at the time of Lamech’s birth in the year 874 AA, all of the Patriarchs were still alive, Adam and Cain being the first to die in 930 and 931 AA, respectively.

Therefore, the events of the days of Jared, when the Nefilim first descended, through the generations of Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah, up to the Deluge, were probably no more than 700 or 800 years. The ends of the lifespans of Lamech and Methuselah coincide with the onset of the Deluge, leading one to believe that they both died in that catastrophe.

METHUSELAH AND THE PRIEST-KINGS NIR AND MELCHISEDEK

Although he was the longest lived of the Patriarchs - 969 years - little is known of Methuselah. He is mentioned in Pseudo-Eupolemus, a fragmentary source of the First Century BC, attributed to the Greek writer Eupolemus, who is believed to have drawn his knowledge from the works of Berossus and Polyhistor.

According to Eupolemus, Methuselah obtained knowledge from "the angles and passed this to mankind." This may refer to the knowledge that was passed by Enoch to his family on his first return to Earth. Like Enoch, Methuselah must have commuted freely between Earth and the space ship.

In a story from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Lamech was worried over the strange appearance of his new son Noah and asked his father Methuselah to see Enoch for an explanation. Methuselah apparently had no problem in reaching Enoch who was at that time in the orbiting space ship.

Methuselah was also warned of the coming catastrophe. The Slavonic Enoch reveals that 200 years before the event, he is told that "destruction of the Earth is drawing near." At the same time, he is told to summon Nir, the second son of Lamech, and to brief him on the coming disaster, "then I will preserve the son of your son Lamech, his first Noah."

While Methuselah’s grandson Noah is well known in the Scriptures as the hero of the Deluge, there are very few references to his second grandson Nir, the son of Lamech, nor is there much information of Nir’s son Melchisedek.

Both are considered to be Priest-Kings in the tradition of the Patriarchs. When Enoch left to return to the space ship after instructing his son Methuselah, the mantle of priesthood was passed to him. Then the Earth was plunged into darkness.

Methuselah and his brothers, with the sons of Enoch, built an altar and sacrificed sheep and oxen to propitiate the gods. It seemed to work; at least there was a respite of ten years before the world was disturbed again.

Just before Methuselah died, the deity told him to transfer the priesthood to Nir. For some reason, the generation of Lamech is passed over. Methuselah was also to brief Nir on the coming destruction of the world by earthquake and rising waters, and by "the great storages of the waters of heaven that will come down to Earth." Presumably, this refers to the collapse of the cloud canopy encircling the Earth.

It is at this time that Nir’s wife Sopanim, who had until then been sterile, suddenly conceived with child. She claimed that Nir nor any other man had slept with her, suggesting that the father was probably a Nefilim. Nir was not convinced of her innocence and banished her from his sight. Later, as she was about to give birth, he visited her; suddenly she died at his feet. They wrapped her in burial garments and placed her on the bed while they left to prepare her burial. They returned to the house to the surprise of their life. Sopanim had produced a child, and as the Slavonic Enoch states:

"And a child came out from the dead Sopanim, and he sat on the bed at her side. And Noah and Nir came in to bury Sopanim, and they saw the child sitting beside the dead Sopanim, and wiping his clothing. And Noah and Nir were very terrified with a great fear because the child was fully developed physically, like a three-year-old child. And he spoke with his lips, and he blessed the Lord. And Noah and Nir looked at him and behold, the badge of priesthood was on his chest, and it was glorious in appearance."

Noah and Nir dressed the child in priestly garments and gave him the name Melchisedek. Noah suggested to Nir that the presence of the child be kept secret from the people for they would not understand and put him to death. This "badge of priesthood" that he bore on his chest and that made him so unique that he was immediately recognized as part divine was none other than the "mark of the Nefilim," probably a patch of scaly lustrous hide.

This sign of divinity, a patch of scaly skin, is also mentioned in the Hindu classics. In the Mahabharata, one of the demi-gods Karna is born of the sun god Surya [Nibiruan equivalent as yet unidentified] and an Earth mother. As such he is born "clad in a coat of armor, like a divine being." Karna makes a pact with the gods to give up his divine armor in order to obtain a sophisticated weapon. After accepting the celestial weapon, Karna begins to keep his end of the bargain. He begins to cut off the "armor" from his body with sharp tools.

"The gods, the mortals, seeing Karna cut off part of his own body, roared with approbation, because no sign of pain was visible on his face, or were any scars left on his body."

Just as the Hindu sun god was Karna’s father, the same may have been true of Melchisedek. Melchisedek, also called Adonizedek (Joshua 10), means "My Lord is Zedek." Zedek was the Hebrew name for the Roman sun god Jupiter [= Enlil/Zeus/Osiris]. Noah probably also carried the "mark of the Nefilim" as we shall see.

Later Nir was informed that soon a great catastrophe would envelope the Earth and destroy mankind, but his son Melchisedek would not perish. A messenger appeared later to take Melchisedek away, for he said, "when the people find out about the child, they will seize him and kill him." Melchisedek was taken aloft to his new home, the ship orbiting the Earth.

THE MELCHISEDEK PRIESTHOOD

The tradition of the priesthood of Melchisedek is entirely dropped from the Old Testament, and instead it is vested in Aaron, brother of Moses, later to be replaced by the tribe of Levi or Levites. The priesthood of Melchisedek was kept alive, however, by the Mormons who gave this tradition precedence over all other priest in the Scriptures.

The higher priesthood of the Mormon Church, or more correctly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is called the Melchisedek Priesthood. Aaron and Levi are given less importance, for the lesser priesthood is called the Aaronic Priesthood of which the Levitical Priesthood is but a sub-division.

The Book of Mormon traces the origins of the Melchisedek Priesthood back to the days of Abraham, to the person of that name who was high priest and King of Salem (later Jerusalem) to whom Abraham paid homage and a tithe of ten percent.

THE STRANGE APPEARANCE OF NOAH

Genesis asserts that "Noah found favor with the Lord . . . Noah was a righteous man; he was without blame in that age. Noah walked with God." The only other Patriarch who "walked with God" was Enoch who became deified in his lifetime.

Although Noah was not deified or made divine in the religious literature, his Sumerian counterpart Utnapishtim was made immortal and sent to live with the gods. For some reason the Hebrew priesthood decided not to immortalize Noah.

Like his nephew Melchisedek, Noah was physically different. In the lost Book of Lamech, scraps of which have been recovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Noah was so physically different when he was born that Lamech appealed to his father Methuselah, who in turn asked Enoch, whether or not Noah had been conceived by the Nefilim.

Methuselah was told that Noah was not from one of the divine beings but was from his own son Lamech. What then is this physical difference that so disturbed Lamech? Was this the difference that caused such consternation to Noah and his sons after the Deluge?

Genesis 9 makes much of the incident after the Deluge when Noah, drunk from too much wine, collapsed in a drunken stupor in his tent. Ham entered and saw his father naked and told his two brothers, who proceeded to back into the tent with a cloth and covered the naked Noah. Finding out that his son Ham had seen him naked, Noah loses all sense of reason and puts a curse on Ham and his son Canaan.

One wonders about this irrational reaction. Was it because Noah wanted to hide the vestiges of his reptilian past? The sensitivity of Noah in being seen naked can only mean that he bore the "sign of the Nefilim."

Just like his nephew Melchisedek, it may have been a large badge-like area of scaly skin or hide on his chest.

Relations between humans and the Nefilim and their offspring were so severely strained just before the Deluge that open warfare had actually broken out, and any vestige of reptilian ancestry in man was considered to be a "badge of shame." Melchisedek was whisked away by the deity in order to prevent the people from killing him.