Hittite/hurrian mythology

LegendofJoe

Active Member
I just finished a great book on a little known mythology: Hittite
The Hittites lived in what is today modern Turkey. They had a great empire at around the time
the Egyptians had theirs. Their civilization was not discovered until the 20th Century.
Up until then they were only a shadowy people mentioned in the Bible.
There is a cycle of myths called the Kumarbi cycle that I found interesting and even a bit funny.
The stories have come down to us because it is part of Hittite literature, but it is believed they originated with another civilization: the Hurrians.
Briefly, I will relate the stories.
The god Alalu was king of the gods.
A rival god, Anu, wanted to be king so in a battle, he took it away and assumed control.
Anu was then attacked by Kumarbi, the son of Alalu. Anu flew up into the sky,
but Kumarbi grabbed him by his ankles and bit off his testicles.
Although victorious, Anu told him that this probably was not smart since by swallowing his testicles
Kumarbi will now become pregnant with Anu's son and avenger: the storm god Teshub.
In time Teshub did take the throne for himself by defeating Kumarbi.
Kumarbi then proceeded in creating a series of gods/monsters that would take down Teshub.
The first was Lamma. He was placed on the throne with the aid of Ea, a god sympathetic to
Kumarbi. But he was innaffectual, so was dismissed.
The next god was Silver. He was born not knowing his father and was considered
an orphan. When he pressed his mother as to who was his father, she admitted it was the god Kumarbi.
Silver then proceeded to search for his father, a theme that is common in mythology.
When father and son reunited, Silver took the throne from Teshub.
But Silver was a tyrant, he even pulled the sun and moon from the sky and cast the world into darkness.
He was quickly gotten rid of.
Kumarbi still wanted someone of his own line to be king. So he married the sea god's daughter and she gave birth to a sea monster named Hedammu. He defeated Teshub in battle and Teshub's sister thought of a plan. She made herself beautiful and approached Hedammu.
He allowed her to get him drunk. The tablet breaks off here, so we are not sure what happens, but probably, in his drunkenness, he was dispatched by Teshub or his sister.
Kumarbi would try again. This time he found a huge rock that was miles long.
The rock apparently was female because she had lady parts. He slept with her and she gave birth to a stone monster. For protection he was placed on the right shoulder of Ubelluri, an Atlas figure who holds up the earth and heavens.
He kept growing and growing. Out of the sea his height soon reached the heavens itself.
Teshub tried to fight him, but was defeated.
Teshub's sister thought she could seduce the stone giant, whose name was Ullikummi, but he was blind and deaf, so he would not notice her.
By this time Ea had switched his allegiance to Teshub. To help the storm god, he travelled to the bottom of the universe to talk with Ubelluri. He asked him if he noticed a huge stone weight pressing down on him. Ubelluri mentioned that he did have a pain on his right shoulder. Ea travelled to that area and saw the huge Ullikummi standing there. He noticed that the source of his strength was because he was attached to the shoulder itself.
Ea then advised Teshub to find the ancient copper cutting tool. This was used to separate heaven from earth in primordial times and is strong enough to sever Ullikummi from the shoulder of Ubelluri.
The mysterious weapon was found after consulting some secret books and Ullikummi was cut away from the shoulder.
In all of his thundering majesty, Teshub made a second attack on Ullikummi.
Unfortunately, the tablet breaks off again and we do not know the conclusion.
But it is not a big jump to surmise that the weakened Ullikummi is defeated.
This story has parallels with other Meditteranian mythologies.
It is believed that the struggle between Teshub and his allies, and Kumarbi and his allies, is a battle between celestial beings and those of the Netherworld, with Teshub representing the heavenly beings.
So, what do you think??
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
That's a lot to take in. Sounds not too unlike Ragnarok, the Norse war of the gods. Of course the Hittite is more back and forth between the foes as the family lines descend. I will have to get back to you with a more in depth response after I read it a few more times.

LegendofJoe, would you mind taking a look at my post for The First Human? It is something I am still working on, but not having any luck with. It is also in General Mythology.
 
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