In the Sixth Century B.C.E. (beginning some 600 years before the current era), something absolutely extraordinary happened. Prior to this time, religion for mankind was essentially based on doing what the Gods and Goddesses (aka, the “Anunnaki”) wanted man to do. If a god (or goddess) wanted you to go to war, you went to war. If not, you went at your own very substantial risk (and often paid a heavy price). However,
Beginning about 600 B.C.E. true philosophy (ethics, individual responsibility, personal relationship with God, etceteras) became available to the mainstream of societies.
This time period can be illustrated in part by noting a few dates of influential philosophers and thinkers. For example:
Zarathustra (627-585 BCE) promulgated the Dualism of Good and Evil,
Lao-Tzu (604-531 BCE) wrote the Tao de Ching,
Confucius (580?-479 BCE) “flaunted his agnosticism”,
Buddha (565-483 BCE) taught a “godless wisdom”,
Xenophanes (550 BCE) criticized Greek polytheism,
Pythagoras (550 BCE) taught sacred geometry and mathematically based science,
Isaiah (550 BCE) taught “the first true monotheism in history”,
Theagenes (525 BCE) “rationalized Homer”, and
Hecataeus (500 BCE) “mocked the Greek myths”.
Circa 500 B.C.E., the Olmecs brought forth their calendar and mathematics; Heraclitus talked about universal flux and rhythm, Parmenides wrote about the oneness of Being, Empedocles about the unity of opposites, and Democritus about atoms and progress.
Continuing along this track, history encountered Thucydides (400), Trial of Socrates (399), Plato’s Academy (387), Aristotle (335), Indian Artha-sastra (politically rationalistic), Zhuangzi (mystical idealism), Shang Yang (legalism), Euclid (geometry), the latter arriving all in the Fourth Century B.C.E.
In Chinese History, for example, 1000 B.C.E. marks the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, which emphasized very strongly the Emperor’s “mandate of heaven” and “obedience to Gods”. But beginning in 772 B.C.E. in Southern China (and extending until 481 B.C.E.), the so-called “Springs and Autumns Period” began. This consisted of eight lesser periods, when life and limb were cheap, barbaric, and toward the end, “philosophy became more important than war.” This is when Lao Tzu and Confucius had arrived on the scene.
Meanwhile, Judaism [which traditionally began during the time of Abraham (circa 2000 B.C.E.)] was, in its early beginnings, primarily concerned with Yahweh, Yahweh’s chosen people, and those same chosen people doing precisely what Yahweh wanted them to do.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica : “The prophets were first and foremost teachers of religion, not of ethics. Their supreme concern was the will of God, rather than the rule of righteousness.” However, in the 6th century, B.C.E. Jeremiah and Ezekiel began to emphasize “individual responsibility and sought to restore to the people a sense of personal relationship with God, which they had lost under the impact of pagan influence.” “This was a time of general national disintegration, when religious and social organizations were rapidly breaking up.”
It is likely that the “sense of personal relationship with God”, which Jeremiah and Ezekiel wanted to “restore”, may have originated in the earliest Sumerian ethics, where doing right was valued above obeying the dictates of any god or goddess. But said ethics likely came down from Enki. It is Enki who should be considered to be the true father of mankind, the first to arrive on earth, and likely, the Anunnaki who set down the early ingredients of civilization. (Evidence for this derives from the ancient Sumerian story of the Sumerian goddess, Inanna “stealing” the attributes of civilization -- The Me -- from Enki.)
At the same time, the Enki and Enlil conflict undoubtedly led to the needs and dictates of Enlil wherein obedience probably contributed to very early Judaism’s departure from this ideal, and became a religion of discipline to the god in charge -- in this case, Enlil. Such a situation was obvious from the time of Abraham, when Yahweh (Enlil) was intimately involved with his chosen people in the day-to-day intervention in earthly affairs.
Laurence Gardner, the esteemed author of Bloodline of the Holy Grail, Genesis of the Grail Kings, and Realm of the Ring Lords has noted that outside Biblical references, “there is no documented reference to the ‘one’ Jehovah god, as such, before” 600 B.C.E. “Onwards from c.586 BC, when the Israelites were captive in Babylonia, they began to compile the Old Testament. The Genesis stories which they grafted onto their ancient history came out of Mesopotamia, and much else in the OT [Old Testament] was added later from Palestinian and Egyptian records.
“The perceived Jehovah figure first appeared in around 530 BC and, since the earlier Mesopotamian, Palestinian and Egyptian accounts (re. the said patriarchs, etc.) were very Elohim/Anunnaki based, the new Jewish One God concept (which did not exist before their return to Judah after the captivity) was applied retrospectively to all their ancestral accounts. In reality, the beliefs of those such as Noah, Abraham, Moses & co. were based on the old notions of the plurality of gods, with the only monotheistic concept being the Aten culture of Amarna (c.1360 BC). This was ready-made for the Israelite writers, who converted the word to Adon (Lord) and applied the principle back to the beginning of time.”
Gardner goes on to describe the relevant Jewish History which leads him to the conclusion that: “Noah, Abraham and the patriarchs were all part of the original Elohim/ Anunnaki culture and knew nothing about the One god ideal that was to be invented and thrust upon their memory centuries later.” 
[Note: If Immanuel Velikovsky is to be believed, then the “culture of Amarna” might be more accurately dated as c.780. Moreover, the same culture was Egyptian, and Egypt has always been considered as one of the early bastions of Enki.]
Quite a bit further east, “The earliest phase of Hinduism is rooted in the religion of the Vedas,” which was composed between 1000 and 600 B.C.E. Essentially appendices, “the Aranyakas (circa 600 B.C.E.) and Upanishads (circa 600 to 300 B.C.E.) respectively expound the symbolism of the more recondite rites and speculate on the nature of the universe and man’s relation to it. When Vedic religion gradually evolved into Hinduism between the 6th and 2nd centuries B.C.E., these texts taken collectively became the most sacred literature of Hinduism.” 
The key here is to have the humans performing rites actually understand what the rites are about (a very empowering concept), as well as begin to comprehend how man relates to the rest of the universe. Additionally, “By perhaps 600 B.C.E., the new doctrine of the continual process of reincarnation (samsura) was known to comparatively small circles of ascetics and was coupled with the idea of karma, the fundamental law of cause and effect by which the evildoer is reborn in unhappy conditions. It spread very rapidly, and seems to have been accepted almost universally in the time of Buddha (6th century). It’s origin and rapid diffusion are not yet satisfactorily explained.” 
The last statement is noteworthy in that an origin and rapid diffusion is readily explained, if one assumes that a “god” such as Enki had determined that in the Age of Pisces, -- when he was in charge -- that humans would have access to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and that he had the means to spread the word.
Also in this same time frame, we have Lao Tzu, et al, i.e.: Lao Tzu (b. c. 600 B.C.E.), Confucius (b. 551 B.C.E.), Zarathustra (born c. 630 B.C.E.), and Gautama Buddha (b. 563 B.C.E.), all of whose philosophies both reject the pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, and simultaneously, proclaim non-exclusive human philosophies that were not dependent upon the will of gods and/or goddesses, but upon human free will to make individual choices. The type of material that the God of Wisdom (Enki) would condone.
The relevant question is: Why was there a fundamental change in philosophy and religion (at least philosophy available for humans) beginning about 600 B.C.E., and possibly continuing for some 200 to 300 years thereafter?
One possibility is as suggested by Laurence Gardner, “Early Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and other religious bases also became more tightly formulated and defined from around 600 BC for the same reasons of control by the outward spread of the empires - Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian and Roman. People of the occupied lands began to get very philosophical - looking for reasons for their subjugation, and looking inwardly for the community identities which they had lost in terms of birthright, but could perhaps reinstate by way of fraternal religion.” 
This is, of course, a distinct possibility. But Gardner also notes: “In the midst of this some truly academic philosophers emerged (Pythagoras, Confucius, etc.), who were not looking for vindication for the past and present - but for new routes to the future.”
This would suggest that the philosophies that originated in the Sixth Century B.C.E. time era were not wholly based on “where’d we go wrong?” But that there was the allowance for a new manner of thinking, one which actually disseminated itself into the mainstream societies of the ancient world. A related question, therefore, is what is meant by the implication of such considerations being “allowed”?
A possible answer derives from considering the Age of Pisces, as a factor.
Pisces is astrologically associated with the planet Neptune, which in turn is very much associated with the god, Enki. There is also evidence to suggest that the Anunnaki were appreciative of Sacred Geometry and Astrology, and gave the god or goddess to which the current age was associated, unprecedented power or authority over the affairs of human beings. These “ages” last some 2,160 years each (and perhaps longer for constellations which span a greater than 1/12th portion of the Zodiac -- Pisces being the most notable exception and the prior constellation of Aries being comparatively one of the smallest spans of the Zodiac). It is possible, therefore, that Enki has ostensibly been in charge of the affairs of earth since as far back as 600 B.C.E., and may continue to be in overt control until roughly the present day. One estimate is until the end of the Mayan Calendar -- currently believed to end on or about 21 December 2012 A.D.
Enki, being the father of mankind, may have a much greater investment in the future of human beings than say, Enlil. It was Enlil, after all, who was instrumental in allowing humankind to perish in Noah’s flood, while Enki was busily providing the patriarch with boat plans! Enki may have decided to use his “age” to provide human civilization with a religion of philosophies, and more than just a religion of obedience to the whims of any member of a dysfunctional family of extraterrestrials (aka gods and goddesses).
This makes sense if the credit is given to Enki as the father of mankind (the Anunnaki who with his half-sister, Ninki, was instrumental in the DNA manipulation that combined the genes of Homo erectus and the Anunnaki themselves in order to produce Homo sapiens sapiens. As a “parent”, Enki may have taken the position of allowing his creation enough free will to hang themselves, i.e. let them grow up without constant supervision and/or interference. Parents do that sort of thing.
This is not to suggest that during the time Enki is the “official” god of choice, that all the other Anunnaki who might be construed as anti-Enki or anti-human, are simply biding their time, and sitting on the sidelines. There is reason to believe other Anunnaki factions may be covertly managing human affairs until the beginning of the Age of Aquarius (which is associated with Uranus and Anu, the latter, Enki and Enlil’s father), and therefore, the age in which a whole new set of rules may be in effect.
[As for the Age of Aquarius, the Nibiru Cycle upon which Anu may reside, suggests that Anu is unlikely to be available of consultation or management of Earth -- the ultimate absentee landlord! -- any time prior to about 3400 A.D. But instead of more of the same, the Enki and Enlil rivalry may return with a vengeance, circa December 21, 2012 A.D.!]
I.e., it is highly unlikely Enki would be allowed to operate in a completely autonomous fashion. The Anunnaki are, based on their history, not so inclined. However, the anti-Enki factions may have switched from their previous overt dictatorial means to covert, conspiratorial, and devious means by which they influenced their dominions. In effect, for the last two and a half millennia, the anti-Enki faction(s) have been very busy maintaining control over an obstinate, and increasingly dangerous human race.
A dangerous human race because the basic problem with humans is they breed like rabbits, develop extremely rapidly (a likely result of their comparatively short lives with respect to the very long lived Anunnaki), and may have the potential to outstrip their gods and goddesses in a host of ways. While an ant is trivially easy for a human to step on and dispatch to the hereafter, army ants are virtually unstoppable by mere man. Similarly, large masses of humankind may be considered to be dangerous to their overlords, even when it is simplicity itself to eliminate specific humans on a one-on-one basis. Furthermore, the potential for human to take the next step in their evolution may be especially troublesome to those Anunnaki best described as control freaks and anal retentives.
Alternatively, Gardner has also noted that despite the work of the Sixth Century B.C.E. philosophers, such as Phythagoras and Confucius, the search for new routes to the future have been seriously led astray. “Heaven only knows what Enki and the original good guys would have thought of the rest, and of where their institutions have led mankind since. Perhaps they threw up their hands in despair - and probably a good while before 600 BC. There is no social similarity anywhere now with the harmonious environment that Enki appeared to uphold, and from c.600 BC the idea of territorial dominion by imperial conceived regimes moved to a widespread international scale.
“It might appear that people were moved towards more free-will and choice from 600 BC, but in fact those choices which actually affected nations were made (then as today) by the few who controlled the many. The people in general were only afforded (then as today) superficial choices of a day-to-day nature - so they appeared to have more freedom, but actually had no real influence in terms of community management.” 
This is true in many respects, i.e. the alleged freedom of so-called citizens of the Western World being pretty much the same as that of Greek or Roman Citizens -- provided you don’t offend the powers that be (Socrates), or go against the desires of a Caesar. But one can distinguish between free will and freedom. One can have free will, the god-given inalienable right to freely choose the mode of one’s thinking and how they react to a given situation, and simultaneously live in a society with very little freedom.
The question is whether or not Enki and others are allowing as much freedom as possible, while covertly others are attempting to sabotage the Human Race Freedom Experiment.
Laurence Gardner’s thoughts on this are noteworthy: “I doubt that Enki has been actively in charge of anything for a long time, or we wouldn't be in such an undignified international mess. Guess he's just sitting with his feet up and a bottle of wine, while we screw things up - - until (I hope) the day when the message dawns that there must be another way. But for that to happen, we need a whole new mindset, a new breed of leaders, revised social ideals, and a reconsidered concept of where we should correctly be headed. Once we discover this unified Holy Grail, I guess the precepts of Enki can be reinstated to return the wasteland to fertility. Meanwhile, I wish he'd drop me an email to let me know the game plan!” 
Yeah, Enki! And please copy me as well!
 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol 13, pg 103, 1966.
 Laurence Gardner, Genesis of the Grail Kings, Bantam Press, New York, 1999.
 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol 11, pg 507, 1966.
 Laurence Gardner, private communication.
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