Sea (Hurrian deity)

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The sea ( Hurrian Kiaši ) is a Hurrian deity named after the element it embodies. The sea is male. It is mentioned above all in the disaster myths of the Kumarbi cycle. The vizier of the sea is the god Impaluri .

In a myth known as "Song of the Sea", the sea god rages in the form of a storm surge. The god Kumarbi recommends that the gods should offer sacrifices to the sea to appease it. The gods follow his advice and throw gold, silder and precious stones into the water, but that is still not enough for the sea god and he demands the goddess Šauška . The ancient Egyptian Astarte papyrus , which reproduces a Canaanite myth of probably Ugaritic origin in ancient Egyptian , provides information about how the "Song of the Sea" might have ended . The sea god Pa-Jam suppresses the gods in that myth and demands tribute from them. The gods decide that the goddess Astarte should bring the tribute. She talks to Pa-Jam on the beach, and Pa-Jam agrees that he would respect the wishes of the gods if he also had Astarte as his wife. Thereupon the god Seth , who is equated by the Egyptians with the ancient oriental weather gods, fights with the sea. In addition, a Hittite text about the siege of Ḫalab states that the weather god of Ḫalab (Teššub) defeated the sea.

In the Ḫedammu myth, the sea also plays an important role. The god Kumarbi, who wants to take revenge on the weather god Teššub , woos Šertapšuruḫi , the daughter of the sea god. Šertapuruḫi, a true giantess, is several miles tall and a mile wide. It is also beautiful "like sweet milk". The sea promises his daughter to be the Kumarbi as wife when she is invited to a feast. The sea is brought back to his home with drums, tambourines and bronze pitchers. Once home, the sea sits down on a chair and waits for Kumarbi to come after seven days to pick up his bride. Šertapšuruḫi gives birth to Kumarbi the sea dragon Ḫedammu, which takes up residence in the sea.

The sea ​​god also appears in "Gesang von Ullikummi ". The sea receives a message through its vizier Impaluri, which is about Kumarbi, who sits on the throne. The sea tells Impaluri that he should invite Kumarbi to a feast in the name of the sea. The sea vizier brings the message and himself guides the expected guest to the meal, at which the sea and Kumarbi ate and drank beer and wine seven times.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 147.
  2. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 147.
  3. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 160.
  4. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 151 f.
  5. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 196 f.
  6. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 230.
  7. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 153 f.
  8. ↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Berlin 2006, p. 160.