Tašmišu

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Tašmišu (Tashmishu) was a Hurrian god. He was regarded as a brother of Teshub, and it is assumed he had a warlike character.

Contents

Character

Volkert Haas proposed that Tašmišu's name was derived from the Hurrian word tašmi, which he translates as strong. [1] The suffix -šu is also known from the name Teshub's bulls, Šerišu, and various Hurrian personal names, such as Anniwašu or Ekammešu. [1]

Tašmišu was one of the multiple warrior gods in the Hurrian pantheon. [2] Other such deities were Ugur, Aštabi, Nergal and Ḫešui. [2]

In myths, his position appears to be that of a subordinate of his brother Teshub, and in one passage from the Song of Ullikummi he outright addresses him as "my lord." [3] He served as his sukkal (attendant deity), though as noted by Daniel Schwemer this role in ritual texts could also be attributed to the god Tenu. [4] He proposed that the latter was adopted from the religious tradition of ancient Aleppo, [4] where a month was named after him. [5] However, Alfonso Archi ascribes Hurrian origin to Tenu. [6]

Associations with other deities

Tašmišu was regarded as the "pure brother" of Teshub. [7] Their sister was the goddess Šauška. [8] Their parents were Anu and Kumarbi. [9] Tašmišu's wife was the goddess Nabarbi. [10]

Hittites identified Tašmišu with their god Šuwaliyat, [7] who had old Anatolian (Hattian) origin. [5] However, Tašmišu never acquired the latter's association with vegetation. [11] Both of them could be associated with Mesopotamian Ninurta. [5] As a result, instances where Tašmišu's name is written logographically as dNIN.URTA are known. [12] Another attested logographic writing is d URAŠ. [13] Furthermore, a god list from Emar identifies him with Papsukkal. [14]

Worship

In Hurrian offering lists, Tašmišu usually follows Teshub. [15] Worship of him is best attested from the Hurrian kingdom of Kizzuwatna, where he appears in various festivals related to Teshub of Šapinuwa. [11] He is also attested among the gods worshiped in Lawazantiya. [16]

In Emar, both Tašmišu and Tenu were worshiped as members of the entourage of Teshub. [17]

Mythology

The first myth of the so-called "Kumarbi cycle" describes the birth of Tašmišu. Like his brother, he was born after Kumarbi bit off the genitals of Anu. [18]

In the Song of Ullikummi , Tašmišu joins his siblings Teshub and Šauška when they go to see eponymous stone giant after being warned by the sun god Šimige. [19] Later he reveals Teshub's fate after the initial confrontation with the monster to his wife Hebat. [20] He also suggests to his brother that to find a way to defeat the new adversary they need to meet with the god Ea in his dwelling, Abzu, in the Hurrian myth assumed to be a city rather than a body of water. [21] After Ea agrees to listen to them, Tašmišu shows his gratitude. [21]

Related Research Articles

Dagon, or more accurately Dagan, was a god worshiped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attestations of his cult come from cities such as Mari and Emar as well. In settlements situated in the upper Euphrates area he was regarded as the "father of gods" similar to Mesopotamian Enlil or Hurrian Kumarbi, as well as a lord of the land, a god of prosperity, and a source of royal legitimacy. A large number of theophoric names, both masculine and feminine, attests that he was a popular deity. He was also worshiped further east, in Mesopotamia, where many rulers regarded him as the god capable of granting them kingship over the western areas.

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Kumarbi Hurrian father of the gods

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, and one of the parents of the storm-god Teshub, the other being Anu. His cult city was Urkesh.

Upelluri was a primordial giant in Hurrian mythology.

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Šauška (Shaushka), also called Šauša or Šawuška, was the highest ranked goddess in the Hurrian pantheon, associated with love and war, as well as with incantations and by extension with healing. While she was usually referred to as a goddess and with feminine titles, such as allai, references to masculine Shaushka are also known. The Hurrians associated her with Nineveh, but she was also worshiped in many other centers associated with this culture, from Anatolian cities in Kizzuwatna, through Alalakh and Ugarit in Syria, to Nuzi and Ulamme in northeastern Mesopotamia. She was also worshiped in southern Mesopotamia, where she was introduced alongside a number of other foreign deities in the Ur III period. In this area, she came to be associated with Ishtar. At a later point in time, growing Hurrian influence on Hittite culture resulted in the adoption of Shaushka into the Hittite state pantheon.

Tilla or Tella was a Hurrian god.

Allani Hurrian goddess of the underworld

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Hurrian religion Polytheistic religion in the Bronze Age Near East

The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who chiefly inhabited the north of the Fertile Crescent. While the oldest evidence goes back to the third millennium BCE, is best attested in cuneiform sources from the second millennium BCE written not only in the Hurrian language, but also Akkadian, Hittite and Ugaritic. It was shaped by the contacts between Hurrians and various cultures they coexisted with. As a result, the Hurrian pantheon included both natively Hurrian deities and those of foreign origin, adopted from Mesopotamian, Syrian, Anatolian and Elamite beliefs. The culture of the Hurrians were not entirely homogeneous, and different local religious traditions are documented in sources from Hurrian kingdoms such as Arrapha, Kizzuwatna and Mitanni, as well as from cities with sizeable Hurrian populations, such as Ugarit and Alalakh.

Aštabi, also known as Aštabil, was a god worshiped in the third millennium BCE in Ebla, later incorporated into Hurrian beliefs and as a result into the religion of the Hittite Empire.

Ninatta and Kulitta were two goddesses always invoked together who were the handmaidens of the Hurrian goddess Shaushka, the Hurrian counterpart of Mesopotamian Ishtar.

Belet Nagar Tutelary goddess of Nagar

Belet Nagar was the tutelary goddess of the ancient Syrian city Nagar. She was also worshiped by the Hurrians and in Mesopotamia. She was connected with kingship, but much about her role in the religions of ancient Near East remains uncertain.

Nupatik, also known as Lubadag, was a Hurrian god of uncertain character. He is attested in the earliest inscriptions from Urkesh, as well as in texts from many other Hurrian settlements, and possibly continued to be worshiped as late as in the neo-Assyrian period. However, his functions remain uncertain.

Shuwala (Šuwala) was a Hurrian goddess who was regarded as the tutelary deity of Mardaman, a Hurrian city in the north of modern Iraq. She was also worshiped in other Hurrian centers, such as Nuzi and Alalakh, as well as in Ur in Mesopotamia, Hattusa in the Hittite Empire and in the Syrian cities Emar and Ugarit.

Ugur or Uqur(dU.GUR) was a god worshiped in various parts of the Ancient Near East. He was connected with the Mesopotamian deity Nergal. Much like him, he was associated with war and death. He was also originally regarded as his sukkal.

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."

Nabarbi Hurrian goddess

Nabarbi was a Hurrian goddess worshiped in the proximity of the river Khabur, especially in the city Taite. It has been proposed that she was associated with the Syrian goddess Belet Nagar.

Takitu or Takiti was a Hurrian goddess who served as the sukkal of Hebat. Her name is usually assumed to have its origin in a Semitic language, though a possible Hurrian etymology has also been proposed.

Ḫešui, also known as Ḫišue, was a Hurrian war god. He was also incorporated into the Hittite pantheon. He is sparsely attested in known sources, and his origin and the meaning of his name remain unknown.

References

  1. 1 2 Haas 2015, p. 309.
  2. 1 2 Haas 2015, p. 363.
  3. ↑ Schwemer 2001, p. 448.
  4. 1 2 Schwemer 2008, p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 Haas 2015, p. 332.
  6. ↑ Archi 2013, p. 21.
  7. 1 2 Archi 2013, p. 10.
  8. ↑ Trémouille 2011, p. 101.
  9. ↑ Trémouille 2013, p. 475.
  10. ↑ Taracha 2009, p. 121.
  11. 1 2 Trémouille 2013, p. 476.
  12. ↑ Schwemer 2001, p. 499.
  13. ↑ Schwemer 2001, p. 500.
  14. ↑ Schwemer 2001, p. 553.
  15. ↑ Haas 2015, p. 473.
  16. ↑ Haas 2015, p. 581.
  17. ↑ Haas 2015, p. 569.
  18. ↑ Bachvarova 2013, p. 154.
  19. ↑ Haas 2015, p. 90.
  20. ↑ Bachvarova 2013, p. 175.
  21. 1 2 Bachvarova 2013, p. 176.

Bibliography

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