It's all Subjective
"Truth seekers" approach this subject incorrectly by placing their modern understanding of certain terms over the ancient's view of what those terms mean, this gives us an entirely different story. Lets explore a few terms that are the cause of most of the confusion.

Earth
Our modern understanding of Earth is the entire planet we live on. This realization came to us in phases, beginning with Pythagoras and Eratosthenes who both calculated the earth's circumference sometime during or around the Greek classical Period. It was later demonstrated by the Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan around 1500CE.

Back in 600BCE, the Babylonians created what is referred to as the first world map, the Imago Mundi (Image of the entire world). This featured the Ancient Near East, while acknowledging the immediate surrounding regions such as Europe, Anatolia, Caucasia, etc. There is no evidence that implies the ancients had any recollection of regions beyond what is mentioned here.

In 3000BCE, the ancient's understanding of the term Earth is nothing more than the dirt beneath their feet. The early Sumerian writing system was developed from a pictographic script. There is no distinguishing Earth and land apart because they mean the same thing. In their texts, when the earth was flooded or destroyed, it referred to the Sumerian's land being flooded or destroyed.

Universe
Our modern understanding of the Universe is an expanding realm which contains a countless number of galaxies and stars. 100 years ago, our understanding of the universe was just our galaxy. As time goes on, we will surely gain more knowledge. With that said, as we dive deeper into the past, our understanding of the term is less correct.

In ancient Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria, the Universe was a term used to describe the collective 4 ancient regions of the near east. Subartu, Sumer, Elam, and Amurru. These 4 regions were the entire Universe. The rulers of these regions were considered rulers of the universe. In like manner, the kings who first established these regions were called creators of the universe.

God
Our modern understanding of God is an all powerful and omnipotent being who created the Universe, the Earth, Man, and more. This view comes to us from religious scripture, which as most are aware, are allegorized accounts of older Ancient Near Eastern literature.

The early Sumerian's understanding of the term God is much different from what scripture describes. In the early days of Sumer, the Sumerians had experienced a rebellion. Their lower class citizens defied their rulers. To quell this rebellion, the upper class decided to create a social hierarchy which elevated themselves to a status beyond the upper class. In their own texts, they referred to this new class of society as Godship. While those who rebelled would also be elevated, but to the status of the upper class or new elite. To summarize, the old upper class became gods, and their underlings became the new elite class. Of course this left a hole in society that the gods needed to fill, which is when the creation of man took place.

Man + Mankind
Our modern understanding of Man or Mankind is a term used to refer to any human being, regardless of race or social caste. However, in Sumerian times the term man was not used to refer to all humans. As mentioned above, early Sumer experienced a rebellion. The old lower class needed to be replaced since they were elevated to the status of new elites. One of the gods proposed to allow Ubaid migrants to enter the city in exchange for their service. Mentioned directly in cuneiform text, the gods said "Let us create a slave, man shall be its name." This new class of society was created by the ruling god. Man would serve the elites, while the elites served the gods.

#eatthefruitinc