Part-4 "Turkish-Sumerian
Kinship": about the name "Ki-en-gir"
Part-4 About the name "KI-EN-GI(R)"
(ShUMERU or SUMER)
By POLAT KAYA
Sumerologists tell
us that in the language of Sumerians the name
KI-EN-GI(R) was the
name of Sumerians and their land (country).
Sumerologist John
L. Hayes writes about the name KI-EN-GI as follows:
[52]
""Ki-en-gi
This GN is always written syllabically. The etymology is
unsure; this is
discussed below. The word ended in a /r/, not
reflected in the
script. The Akkadian equivalent of Kiengi was
Shumeru. This
Akkadian word may be a dialectical pronounciation of
the word Kiengi(r).
The English word "Sumer" is usually thought to
derive from the
Akkadian form.
The first appearance
of Ki-en-gi is in an inscription of Enshakushanna
of Uruk (who ruled
approximately 2432-2403 B.C.) , who refers to
himself as :
EN-KI-EN-GI LUGAL-KALAM-MA, "the lord of Sumer, the king
of land".
In the Sumerian
expression EN-KI-EN-GI LUGAL-KALAM-MA, the
monosyllabic word
EN meaning "lord" is a form of the Turkish word HAN
meaning
"lord", "KI-EN-GI(R)" Sumer, LUGAL (king) equivalent to
Turkish "ULU
AGA OLA" meaning "Great Lord Man" compressed into
"LUGAL",
and KALAM meaning "land". There is the Turkish word "ULKAM"
(ülkem) meaning
"my country" which is similar to KALAM.
Thus the Sumerian
expression "EN-KI-EN-GI LUGAL-KALAM-MA", translated
as "the lord
of Sumer, the king of land". may also be translated as
"THE LORD OF
SUMER, THE GREAT LORD MAN (KING) OF MY COUNTRY" using
these Turkish words.
In the Sumerian
word KI-EN-GIR (Akkadian SHUMERU) each monosyllable
word is identified
in Turkish as follows:
KI can be
identified with 3 Turkish words: a) "KÖY" meaning "village",
b) "KÖY"
(göy, gök) meaning "sky"; and c) KaIa" (kaya, gaya) meaning
"large rock,
mountain, earth";
EN can be
identified with 3 Turkish words: a) "HAN" meaning "Lord",
and additionally,
b) "HAN" meaning "palace, palace-complex, house";
and c) the ancient
Turkish plurality suffix in the form of EN/AN
corresponding to
present LER/LAR. The Sumerian sign for the word EN is
a representation of
a "throne".
Thus the Sumerian
KI-EN can be taken as: a) "Köy Han" meaning "Village
Lord" or
"Country Lord"; and b) "Köy Han (Göy-Han) meaning "Sky-Lord"
which refers to a
sky deity ("Sky-God"); c) "Kaya Han" meaning "Earth
Lord".
The name
"Göy-Han" (Gök-Han) was the name of one of the six sons of
OGUZ-KAGAN in the
Turkish Oguz-Kagan Epic. And similarly, "Dag-Han",
meaning
"Mountain Lord", was the name of another one of his six sons.
Thus the name or
title KI-EN (GÖY-HAN), being a Turkic expression,
identifies
Sumerians as Tur/Turk peoples.
The third Sumerian
morpheme read as GI(R) in the name KI-EN-GI(R) is
written as
"GIR" in many sources. This Sumerian monosyllabic word
"GIR"
could have been Turkish "GÖR" meaning "see",
"GOR" (KOR) meaning
"fire",
"KÖR" meaning "blind", "GIR" (KIR/KUR) meaning
"country side"
(plains and/or
mountains) indicating that it is a word having multiple
forms for different
meanings in Turkish, and it could have been so in
Sumerian also.
Thus the Sumerian
"KI-EN-GIR", as the name of Sumer people, can be
identified with the
following Turkish expressions:
a) KÖY-HAN
KOR" (GÖY-HAN KOR) meaning "Sky-Lord Fire" referring to the
ancient Turanian
"Sun-God".
b) KÖY-HAN
GÖR" ((Göy-Han Görü)" meaning "Seeing Sky-Lord" referring
to the ancient
Turanian "Sky-God seeing all things on earth with his
Sun-Eye and his
Moon-Eye". Both the Sun and the Moon and of course the
Sky-Father-God in
general were regarded as "all seeing". Only with
the Sun's
illumination is seeing possible.
c) KÖY-HAN
KÖR" (GÖY-HAN KÖR) meaning "Blind Sky-Lord". In ancient
Turaninan religious
culture, the Sky-Father-God had the "sun" (Gün,
günesh) and the
"moon" (ay) as his "eyes" but only the "Sun" had
its
own
"light". The "Moon" was just a reflector (Turkish "gök
aynasi"
meaning "sky
mirror", or "felek aynasi" meaning "god's mirror") of
sun-rays. Hence
"one eye" of the Sky-God (i.e., the Moon) did not have
any 'light"
(nur) of its own and therefore did not "see". In Turkish
if a person has
lost the sight of one of his eyes, he is called
"blind"
(KÖR).
It must be noted
that the Turkish words KOR, KÖR and GÖR being almost
the same is not a
coincident but rather by ancient religious design.
Here we can recall,
for example, ancient Egyptian (Masarian) prime God
ASAR (Osir, Osiris)
which is Turkish "AS ER" meaning "ONE/Peerless
Man" is
identified with an "EYE" sign (GÖZ in Turkish) in hieroglyph
writing system.
[53] Similarly the two divine eyes of God Ra were the
Sun and Moon and
are indicated with the right and left "eye" signs.
[54] This equates
these sky deities with Turkish "O-GÖZ" (OGUZ)
meaning "that
Eye".
Parallel to this
expression is the ancient Turkish expression "ULU KOR
GÖZ" meaning
a) "Great Fire Eye" referring to the Sun, "ULU GÖR GÖZ"
meaning "Great
Seeing Eye" again referring to the Sun and the
Sky-Father-God, and
c) "ULU KÖR GÖZ" meaning "Great Blind Eye"
referring to the
Moon which has been disguised into Greek "LYCURGUS"
meaning "Great
Blind Eye".
Thus the Sumerian
expression "KI-EN-GIR" has multiple meanings
indicating the
trinity aspect of the ancient Turanian Sky-God concept
as regarded at that
time by the Turanian peoples. Hence "KI-EN-GIR",
with the above
explained meanings, is a name for Sumerians and their
country formulated
after their sky-deities - but in Turkish.
Now I want to bring
to the attention of the reader an ancient Turkish
name for a well
known Turkish people. From Chinese sources we learn
that ancient Kirgiz
Turks were called "KI-EN-GU-EN" ("Kien-kuen",
"Kie-khu",
"Kie-kia-se" and "Ki-li-ki-se") [55] and
("K'i-ku" and
"Kien-kun").
[56] Evidently this name "KI-EN-GU-EN" is very much like
the name KI-EN-GIR
that the Sumerians used for themselves. This is not
a coincidence.
Now let us examine
this name.
The name
"KI-EN-GU-EN" ("KIEN-KUEN") for KIRGIZ Turks is very much
the
Turkish expression
"GÖY HAN GÜN" meaning "Sky-Lord Sun" which verifies
KIRGIZ Turk's
ancient tradition of worshipping the "Sun". In the
ancient Turanian
tradition, the tribal names were formulated after the
attributions of the
Sky-Lord who has many attributions.
Again in this name
"KI-EN-GU-EN", we have the following monosyllabic components:
KI : a) in Turkish
"KÖY" meaning "village", b) "KÖY" (göy, gök)
meaning
"sky"; c) KaIa" (kaya, gaya) meaning "large rock,
earth".
EN : a) Turkish
"HAN" meaning "Lord", b) "HAN" (hana, hane)
meaning
"palace,
palace-complex, house"; c) ancient Turkish plurality suffix
in the form of
EN/AN corresponding to present LER/LAR.
GI/GU : a) Turkish
suffix "CI/CU" (GI/GU) indicating "tradition,
occupation, those
who follow a concept and/or belief."
GU-EN : Turkish
word GUN (GÜN) meaning "sun".
With this basic
information, "KI-EN-GU-EN", as an ancient name for
KIRGIZ Turks, has
the following meanings in Turkish:
a)
"KÖY-HAN-CI-LAR" ("Göy Hancilar", Göy-Han'a tapanlar)
meaning
"those who
worship Sky-Lord".
b) "GÖY-HAN
GÜN" meaning "Sky-Lord Sun".
c)
"KÖY-HAN-CI-LAR" ("Köy hancilar" yani "köyde evlerde
oturanlar")
meaning "those
who live in houses in the village". This may be taken
as meaning that
"living in village homes" may have started in Central
Asia (Turan) and
spread to other places.
Additionally, if EN
were to change position with other monosyllabic
Turkish words in
this name, its new form would be "EN-KI EN-GU" which
embodies the
Sumerian name "EN-KI". This new form "EN-KI EN-GU" would
transliterate into
Turkish as HAN-KAYA - HAN-GUY meaning "Lord of
Earth - Lord of
Sky".
Culturally the
Sumerians meet all of these attributions. That is, they
were "Sky-God
and "Sun-God worshippers", and also "village dwellers".
Hence, with the
knowledge of the name "KI-EN-GU-EN" as a name for
KIRGIZ Turks, it
can be stated with confidence that the so-called
"SUMERIANS"
were: a) Turanians, b) Tur/Turk peoples, and c) a branch
of the ancestors of
"KIRGIZ" Turks.
Historically it is
also known that Turks had an empire named "Gök
Türks" meaning
"Sky Turks". Thus it is clear that there is a
continuing name
relationship between Turkic peoples, the "Sumerians"
(i.e., Ki-En-Gir)
and the "sky" and/or "sky-god". Even the present
name
"KIRGIZ" of the KIRGIZ Turks is very much related to the
following Turkish
expressions:
a)
"KOR-GÖZ" meaning "Fire-Eye" referring to the
"sun" as the "fire
eye of the
Sky-God",
b)
"GÖR-GÖZ" meaning "Seeing Eye" referring to the
"Sky-Father-God and
Sun-God" as
the "seeing eye".
c) "KÖR-GÖZ"
meaning "Blind Eye" referring to the "moon" as the
"blind
eye of the
Sky-God".
d) Additionally
with the name "KI-EN-GU-EN", i.e., "Göy Han Gün"
meaning
"Sky-Lord Sun"
Thus all of these
names for the "KIRGIZ" Turks are well aligned with
the ancient Sumerian
name:
a)
"KI-EN-GIR", i.e., "Göy Han Kor" meaning "Sky-Lord is
Fire"
referring to Sun,
b)
"KI-EN-GIR", i.e., "Göy Han Gör" meaning "Sky-Lord is
Seeing"
referring to Sun
and Sky-Father-God, and
c)
"KI-EN-GIR", i.e., "Göy Han Kör" meaning "Sky-Lord is
Blind"
referring to Moon.
The name
KI-EN-GIR" (GÖY-HAN-GIR) also reminds us of another Turkish
name, that is,
"CI-HAN-GIR" meaning "Lord of the world" or "Lord of
the universe"
which describes in one hand "the Sky-God" and in the
other any
"king" who regards himself as the "ruler of the world" or
the "conqueror
of the world". Redhouse Turkish-English Dictionary
falsely attributes
the word to Persian, [57] yet the word has been
part of Turkish all
along since ancient times. Many meanings are
attached to this
name which are those of the Sky-God (Tanri). Many
Sumerian kings are
described not only as the "ruler of Sumer" but also
"the rulers of
the four corners of the world". As a "king title", the
name elevates the
king to the level of "Sky-God" but also ennobles him
like a
"god". The source of this tradition is from ancient TURAN and
Turanian Tur/Turk
peoples.
In view of this
background information, if Sumerians were the
ancestors of the
KIRGIZ Turks, then there must have been other Turkish
speaking Tur/Turk
peoples in the ancient Middle East also. It is no
wonder that most of
the ancient Middle Easterners had agglutinative
and phonetic
languages similar to Turkish. Additionally, when we
examine the names
of ancient Middle East peoples such as Canaan-ite,
Amor-ite, Ugar-ite,
and many more, we find that the ending "ITE" in
these names is the
Turkish suffix "ITI" meaning "it was" or "it is".
Thus this Turkish
suffix is not a part of the main tribal name.
Therefore the
remaining names such as CANAAN (Tr. KANAN, KAN-HAN,
GUN-HAN), AMOR (Tr.
"O MOR"), "UGAR" (Tr. "U GÖR", "U KOR",
"U KÖR")
are all very Turkic
names, yet they have been falsely claimed as
"SEMITIC".
For example the name UGAR could have been an arm of the
UIGUR Turks.
Similarly, the KASSITES (KASS-ites, KASh-idi) could have
been the
forefathers of the "GAShGAI" Turks who still live on the
Zagros mountains
just like the KASSITES did before they established
their Kassite
Empire in Mesopotamia.
Yet all of these
names have been put under the misleading religious
term of
"SEMITE" or "SEMITIC" which wrongly portrays these ancient
Tur/Turk peoples as
being ethnically "SEMITIC" - which, of course,
they weren't. The
Sumerians, like all other Tur/Turk peoples, were
ethnically
Turanians and had no ethnic relationship with the
"SEMITES".
When we remove the "ite" ending from the word SEMITE it
becomes
"SEM" (SAM). But this word is a distorted form of the Turkish
word
"ESME" meaning "blowing" and referring to the blowing of the
"Wind".
It is no wonder that the Babylonian Akkadians and other
"SEMITES"
were so keen in creating the Wind-God ENLIL (Turkish
"HAN-YEL"
meaning "Lord Wind") from the ancient Sumerian pantheon. It
appears that this
"ENLIL" (Lord Wind) cult has worked its way into
present times but
in a totally disguised way. Of course the followers
of the cult who
have not been told the true identity of the "deity"
that they are
invited to believe in, have been conned and exploited in
many ways.
When Genesis 11-1
speaks of: "Now all the earth continued to be of one
language and of one
set of words", that unnamed language must have
been Turkish since
all evidences point to "Turkish". And that is why
it has been decided
that they should confuse this language so that its
speakers (i.e., the
Tur/Turk peoples) would not understand each other
anymore. Of course
when people of same background are broken off from
each other due to
language barrier, they become alienated although
they are the same
people. Ancient missionaries must have been assigned
this religious
order for doing the required confusion, as they do
presently. It must
be understood that if that "one language" that the
world spoke back
then was the language of the confuser, then there
would have been no
need to confuse it. After all, nobody would want
to confuse their
own language.
There has been a
parallel to this Genesis 11 situation in modern
times. For example,
under the Soviet Empire, the name "Turk" for the
multitudes of
Turkish people in the Empire was forbidden from use. In
other words, these
Turks were not allowed to identify themselves as
"Turks".
If they did, they would be punished. However, they could
call themselves as
"moslems" which is an identity obliterating term,
i.e., a melting
pot. This was just like suppressing the God name TUR
from Sumerian
texts. Additionally, the Soviets artificially fragmented
the Turkish people
in their Empire into separate groups - labelling
them as different
people with different languages. The reality, of
course, was that
they were all Turkish people speaking different
dialects of Turkish.
The conclusion to
this study is that the Sumerian name KI-EN-GIR for
themselves and the
ancient name KI-EN-GU-EN of the KIRGIZ Turks were
one and the same.
With all the evidences discussed above, it can be
confidently stated
that Sumerians were one group of the Tur/Turk
peoples who came to
the Middle East from Turan and most likely were a
branch of the
ancestors of "KIRGIZ" Turks.
REFERENCES:
[52] John L. Hayes,
"A Manual Of Sumerian Grammar and Texts", Undena
Publications,
Malibu, 1990, p. 48.
[53] Sir E. A.
Wallis Budge, "An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary",
Dover Publications,
Inc, New York", p. ciii, item 1 under "Gods
and Goddesses".
[54] Sir E. A. Wallis
Budge, "An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary",
Dover Publications,
Inc, New York", p. cvi, items 15, 16 and 17
under "Members
of the Body".
[55] Hüseyin Namik
Orkun, Eski Türk Yazitlari", Türk Dil Kurumu
Yayinlari:529,
Ankara, 1987, s. 426-427.
[56] "Türk
Dünyasi El Kitabi, Cilt I", Türk Kültürünü Arastirma
Enstitüsü
Yayinlari No. 121,
1992, p. 150.
[57] Redhouse
Turkish - English Dictionary, Redhouse Yayinevi,
Istanbul,1987, p.
229.
Best wishes to all,
Polat Kaya
10/03/2005
(Copyright © 2005
Polat Kaya)