Kumarbi was an important god of the Hurrians, regarded as "the father of gods." He was also a member of the Hittite pantheon. According to Hurrian myths, he was a son of

Alalu Alalu or Alala was a primordial figure in Mesopotamian and Hurrian mythology. He is also known from documents from Emar. While his role was not identical in these three contexts, it is agreed that all three versions share the same origin. Hurria ...

, and one of the parents of the storm-god Teshub, the other being

Anu , image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg , caption=Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE , ...

(the Mesopotamian sky god). His cult city was Urkesh.

Syncretism

God lists from

Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = ...

equate Kumarbi with the Mesopotamian

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Ba ...

and the local El; other sources equate him with the Syrian Dagan as well, and he was even called "the Dagan of the Hurrians." It's also been proposed that a Hurro-Akkadian god list from Emar equates Ishtaran with him for uncertain reasons. Due to particularly close syncretism between Dagan and Kumarbi due to their shared role as "fathers of gods" in Syria, Dagan's wife Shalash was also viewed as his spouse, though he has other consorts in myths: an unnamed mortal woman and Sertapsuruhi, daughter of

the sea god ''The Sea God'' is a 1930 American pre-Code adventure film written and directed by George Abbott. The film stars Richard Arlen, Fay Wray, Eugene Pallette, Ivan Simpson, Maurice Black, and Bob Perry. The film was released on September 13, 1930, ...

Kumarbi cycle

Kumarbi is known from a number of mythological texts, sometimes summarized under the term "Kumarbi Cycle." These texts notably include the Song of Emergence (also known as ''The Kingship in Heaven'', ''Song of Kumarbi'', or the "Hittite Theogony", CTH 344), the ''Song of Ullikummi'' (CTH 345), the ''Kingship of the God KAL'' (or LAMMA; CTH 343), the ''Myth of the dragon Hedammu'' (CTH 348), the ''Song of Silver'' (CTH 364). The entire cycle purposely creates a contrasting image of the allies of the two combatants, Kumarbi and Teshub: the former is aided by chthonic and marine gods and monsters, such as the sea god, the fate goddesses (who seem to reside in the underworld),

, the sea serpent Ḫedammu and the diorite monster Ullikummi grown in the underworld, while the latter is assisted by his sister Shaushka, his other siblings, his wife Hebat, the sun god

Šimige __NOTOC__ Šimige (in Ugaritic: ''ṯmg'') was the Hurrian sun god. From the 14th century BC he was also worshiped by the Hittites as the Sun god of Heaven. In the Hittite cliff sanctuary at Yazılıkaya, he is depicted as one of the chief deit ...

and the moon god Kušuḫ, all of them either celestial or earthly gods. After his initial defeat he raises a number of challengers (they are often called ''tarpanalli'' – "substitute" – in the texts) to destroy Teshub, but the storm god and his allies supposedly manage to defeat all of them. It is possible that the sea god (called Aruna in Hittite,

Kiaše Kiaše, also spelled Kiaže or Kiyaši was a Hurrian deity representing the sea. Sometimes in modern scholarship, he is simply referred to as "the Sea" or "the Sea God." Based on evidence from Ugarit, Alalakh and Hattusa, it is assumed that he wa ...

in Hurrian; both meaning "sea") serves as Kumarbi's ally because a separate myth detailed the conflict between him and Teshub. The myths of the Kumarbi cycle differ slightly from the content of god lists - Alala (Alalu) is usually regarded as an ancestor of Anu in them; meanwhile Enlil, who appears in an unclear role in the Song of Ullikummi as a separate character from Kumarbi, was equated with him in such sources. Many researchers in the past, for example Gernot Wilhelm, assumed Alalu was the father of Anu while Kumarbi was the son of Anu, but

Gary Beckman Gary Michael Beckman (born 1948) is a noted Hittitologist and Professor of Hittite and Mesopotamian Studies from the University of Michigan. He has written several books on the Hittites: his publication ''Hittite Diplomatic Texts'' and ''Hittite ...

notes there are two separate "dynasties" of gods involved, with Teshub representing a fusion of them.

Song of Kumarbi

The ''Song of Kumarbi,'' "Song of Emergence" or ''Kingship in Heaven'' is the title given to a Hittite version of the Hurrian Kumarbi myth, dating to the 14th or 13th century BC. It is preserved in three tablets, but only a fraction of the text is legible. * tablet A. KUB 33.120 + KUB 33.119 + KUB 36.31 + KUB 48.97 * tablet B. KUB 36.1 * tablet C. KUB 48.97 The song relates that

, a primordial king of the gods, was overthrown by his cupbearer Anu after a symbolic period of 9 years. Anu was in turn overthrown by Kumarbi, a descendant of Alalu, under similar circumstances. When Anu tried to escape to heaven, Kumarbi bit off and swallowed his genitals. Anu told him that he was now pregnant with Teshub,

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

, and

Tašmišu Tašmišu (Tashmishu) was a Hurrian god. He was regarded as a brother of Teshub, and it is assumed he had a warlike character. Character Volkert Haas proposed that Tašmišu's name was derived from the Hurrian word ''tašmi'', which he transla ...

, the storm god's vizier, whereupon Kumarbi spat the semen upon the ground, causing it to become impregnated with two children. Kumarbi's head was then split apart by the god Ea to deliver Teshub; it seems Kumarbi was then tricked into devouring a stone instead of his newborn son. Teshub, presumably aided by Anu, eventually managed to depose Kumarbi, but was not yet granted kingship, and seemingly expressed displeasure, cursing the older gods.

Song of LAMMA

Under unclear circumstances Ea and Kumarbi agree to make a god whose name is written with the sumerogram LAMMA the new king of gods. LAMMA battles Teshub and his siblings and initially wins. However, he neglects his duties despite the advice of the goddess

Kubaba Kubaba (in the ''Weidner'' or ''Esagila Chronicle''), sux, , , is the only queen on the ''Sumerian King List'', which states she reigned for 100 years – roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500–2330 BC) of Sumerian history. A co ...

and as a result Kumarbi and Ea grow displeased with him, which seemingly leads to his downfall.

Song of Silver

Silver, a human boy raised by a single mother, learns that his father is the god Kumarbi, and that his half-siblings are Teshub and Shaushka. Following the advice of his mother he leaves his home to seek Kumarbi in his cult city, Urkesh. He learns that the god is currently absent and he should seek him in the nearby mountains. The rest of the myth is poorly preserved, but evidently Silver confronts the heavenly gods and despite initial success is eventually defeated by them. A ritual text addresses both him and Ḫedammu as "kings" (''ewri'', ordinary Hurrian term for rulers) and explains Kumarbi created them to serve as ''šarra'' – an epithet of Teshub as king of gods; a related term, šarrena, referred to deified historical and legendary rulers.

Song of Ḫedammu

After meeting with the sea god, Kumarbi decides to have a child with his daughter Sertapsuruhi. The result of this union, Ḫedammu, is seemingly subsequently defeated by Shaushka, who seduced and drugged him. This part of the cycle also marks a change in Ea's attitude. He initially supported Kumarbi, but in the tale of Ḫedammu he instead points out his disregard for the safety of humans, who maintain the temples of all gods involved in the conflict. This myth is of particular interest to researchers due to a number of similarities between it, other Hurrian compositions dealing with combat with the sea or sea monsters, the Ugaritic Baal cycle, and the Egyptian Astarte papyrus, and between the role played by Shaushka, Ashtart and Astarte in them.

Song of Ullikummi

In what is generally agreed to be the final section of the myth, Kumarbi engenders the most powerful challenger yet, an enormous stone giant named Ullikummi ("Destroy Kummiya" - Kummiya being the city of Teshub), whose mother is an enormous boulder rather than a goddess or mortal woman. He grows hidden in the underworld, attached to the shoulders to the primordial entity

Ubelluris Upelluri or Ubelluri was a primordial giant in Hurrian mythology. He is only known from the ''Song of Ullikummi'', which is one of the few Hurrian texts offering a view of this culture's cosmology. It was believed that Upelluri was already alive ...

. As it turns out, he cannot be defeated by conventional means by Teshub and his allies, and due to being an unfeeling stone monster cannot be seduced by Shaushka like Ḫedammu either. He blocks the access to the temple of Teshub's wife Hebat, trapping her inside. Seemingly the gods only manage to defeat the creation of Kumarbi with the help of Ea, now firmly on their side, who consults Ubelluris, the "former gods" residing in the underworld and

and recovers a primordial tool which was used to separate earth from heaven long ago. He either severs the connection between Ullikummi and Ubelluris himself, or makes it possible for Teshub to do so. The final fate of Kumarbi is unspecified in the surviving fragments, though the myth obviously ends with Teshub's kingship being confirmed once and for all. The decorations visible on the bowl of Hasanlu might represent events from the Kumarbi cycle and the Song of Ullikummi in particular.

Other myths

Some researchers propose that the text ''Ea and the beast'' (KUB 36.32, KUB 36.55), a poorly preserved text about the sea (KBo 26.105) and a fragment dealing with the reign of a god named Eltara (KBo 22.87) were a part of the Kumarbi cycle. It is also possible more than one version of the cycle existed, or there were multiple cycles of myths featuring Kumarbi and similar themes. In the poorly understood ''Song of Hasarri''(CTH 776.2), Kumarbi appears to advise Shaushka to seek the help of Ea. A Hittite text records the belief that a spring which "flows under the throne of Kumarbi (...) reaches the head of the Sun-goddess of the Earth."

Cult

Kumarbi was regarded as a cthtonic god and associated with grain. However, he wasn't a purely agricultural god, but rather one regarded as a source of prosperity in general, similar to his Syrian equivalent Dagan. The worship of Kumarbi is attested in many Hittite and Hurrian documents, and additionally in Ugarit and Mari. It survived in Neo-Assyrian times in the city

Taite Taite (called ''Taidu'' in Assyrian sources) was one of the capitals of the Mitanni Empire. Its exact location is still unknown, although it is speculated to be in the Khabur region. The site of Tell Hamidiya (Tall al-hamidiya) has recently been id ...

(Taidi). As a god of that location Kumarbi appears in an Assyrian ''takultu'' text, alongside two other Hurrian deities, Nabarbi and Samanuha.

Comparative mythology

From the first publication of the ''Kingship in Heaven'' tablets scholars have pointed out the similarities between the Hurrian myth and the story from

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...

Cronus In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) an ...

, and

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

. The account of Teshub's birth from Kumarbi's split skull is regarded as similar to the myth of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

's birth.G. Beckman,
Primordial Obstetrics. "The Song of Emergence" (CTH 344)
' n:''Hethitische Literatur. Überlieferungsprozesse, Textstrukturen, Ausdrucksformen und Nachwirken'', 2011, p. 29

Citations

References

*Güterbock H. G. (1948), ''The Hittite Version of the Hurrian Kumarbi Myth: Oriental Forerunners of Hesiod'', American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 52, No. 1, 123–34. *Laroche E. (1971), ''Catalogue des textes hittites'', Paris {{Hurrian mythology Hurrian deities Hittite deities Ugaritic deities Chthonic beings