to the underworld or fled there and found a new role there might have existed, though it is not directly preserved save for a possible allusion in an incantation. A single incantation places them in the Abzu, which is presumed to be a part of a broader pattern of references to underworld deities instead dwelling there. The names of the primordial deities associated with Enlil could be invoked in exorcisms against evil spirits, though according to Wilfred G. Lambert relevant sources postdate the Old Babylonian period and might represent a tradition which only developed relatively late. However, according to Andrew R. George earlier examples also exist, and typically make Enki and Ninki the figures by which demons are forced to swear oaths in specific exorcisms. As primordial deities, they might have been invoked in this context as a representation of the state of the universe before the emergence of forces they were meant to counter. Attestations The oldest references to the ancestors of Enlil have been identified in the Fara and Abu Salabikh god lists from the Early Dynastic period. They have been dated to the middle of the third millennium BCE. They are also present in a short passage from an early literary text: They are also mentioned in relation with the underworld in the zame hymn dedicated to Nergal. The residence of this god is described in it as "the big dwelling, whose shadow spreads in the west over the Enki and Ninki". Ninki alone is mentioned in the oath formula on Eannatum's Stele of the Vultures, where it is stated that if Umma were to break the promises made, this goddess would punish the city. This formula differs from these assigned to all the other deities invoked in the same text (Enlil, Ninhursag, Enki, Suen and Utu). In incantations dated to the middle of the third millennium BCE, Enki and Ninki are mentioned in association with roots of the tamarisk. Two examples, presumed to be copies of southern Mesopotamian texts, are known from Ebla: Presumably the tree was believed to "mediate" between Enki and Ninki, who resided in the underworld, and An, who resided in heaven. A single offering to a goddess named Ninki, made by the queen, is mentioned in another text from Ebla, but according to Alfonso Archi most likely this figure is to be distinguished from the primordial deity bearing the same name. He