Enki was the Mesopotamian god associated with the number 40.
In Sumerian religion, Enki—known as Ea in Akkadian tradition—was the god of fresh subterranean water, wisdom, crafts, magic, and incantations. His sacred home was the Abzu, the deep freshwater realm beneath the earth, and his principal cult center was Eridu.
Numbers had symbolic and administrative importance in Mesopotamian divine rankings. The number 40 was assigned to Enki, while other major deities had their own conventional numbers. These numerical associations helped scribes distinguish gods in scholarly lists and reflected an ordered hierarchy within the pantheon rather than a simple count of a deity’s powers.
Enki is often confused with Enlil because both were major Sumerian gods and appear together in creation and kingship traditions. Enlil was strongly associated with wind, authority, and the city of Nippur, whereas Enki was the clever, resourceful god of the Abzu. In myths, his intelligence frequently helps gods and humans overcome dangerous or seemingly impossible problems.