The Kumarbi Cycle (Song of Kingship in Heaven)
c. 1400–1200 BCE · Hittite Empire · Hattusa (Bogazköy), Turkey
The Kumarbi Cycle is a series of related Hittite mythological texts dealing with the succession of divine kingship in heaven, preserved among the archives of the Hittite capital Hattusa. In the beginning, Alalu holds kingship, served by the young god Anu. After nine years, Anu defeats Alalu. Kumarbi serves Anu for nine years, then attacks: as Anu flees into the sky, Kumarbi seizes and bites off his genitals, swallowing them. From this act Kumarbi becomes pregnant with three terrible gods: the storm god Teshub, the river Tigris, and Tasmisu. The cycle continues with Teshub's eventual defeat of Kumarbi. Kumarbi, displaced, plots revenge through successive champion-deities — most famously the stone monster Ullikummi — all of whom Teshub defeats with the help of older wisdom gods.
notes
The parallels with Hesiod's Theogony — particularly the castration motif (Kronos and Ouranos in Greek myth) — were first noted in 1948 and revolutionised understanding of Greek mythology's Near Eastern roots. The texts incorporate Hurrian mythological traditions.
currently held: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara
related texts
The Theogony, attributed to Hesiod of Boeotia, is the foundational Greek account of the origins of the cosmos and the genealogy of the gods, composed in hexameter verse. Before time there was Chaos, then Gaia (Earth), Tartaros, and Eros. Gaia produces Ouranos (Sky), with whom she mates to produce th…