6.
Kingship in Heaven:
the
combat of the gods of Mitanni
In
the beginning was nothing but chaos.
Alalu
dwelt there, the great god of darkness.
Energy
swirled, but of matter was none.
Nothing
existed save only the god.
Seven
long ages then Alalu reigned
in
darkness and chaos where nothing existed.
Then
arose Anu and challenged his father,
fought
him and beat him and drove him away.
Anu
the Sky-God reigned now in the heavens.
Stars
he created to brighten the night.
Seven
long aeons reigned Anu the Sky-God,
then
came Kumarbi and rose up against him.
Kumarbi
the son of Anu the Sky-God
revolted
against him. Long ages they fought.
Stars
fell from heaven and others exploded,
caught
in the struggle and rage of their fight.
The
blows of Kumarbi rocked Anu the Sky-God.
The
blood of Kumarbi rained down on the earth.
In
flames it erupted from wounds of Kumarbi,
congealing
as lava it covered the land.
Enraged
was Kumarbi: he could not kill Anu.
Long
ages they wrestled, destroying the world.
They
struggled for mastery, scratching and biting,
evenly
matched, not an end to their combat.
Then
Anu the Sky-God upended Kumarbi,
ready
to cast him right out of the cosmos.
Kumarbi
then thrust his great head in the groin of
Anu
and bit off his cock and his balls.
Anu’s
blood spouted in flames from his body
and
spread across heaven, then cooled to white ashes
and
there you can see it across the sky streaking
from
that day to this as a sign of their fight.
Anu
then screamed at Kumarbi, “My curse be
upon
you, Kumarbi, for this wicked deed.
Revenge
is already about to defeat you,
for
into your body you’ve taken my seed.
“Listen,
Kumarbi, to this my prediction:
My
seed will grow in you and three
gods will form.
Three
will defeat you and cast you to chaos.
There
where there’s nothing but darkness you’ll stay.
Kumarbi
then spat from his mouth what he’d bitten,
deep
in a rock he then drove Anu’s seed.
Deep
in the rock were then two new gods formed:
Tigris
and Tašmišu, sons of the Sky-God.
Teshub,
the eldest, was inside the form of
Kumarbi
considering how to get out.
Wormlike
he forced himself down through the penis,
arrived in the world with a
shattering shout.
Anu
and Teshub seized hold of Kumarbi,
combining
their strength to defeat him at last.
Out
into chaos they hurled the destroyer.
and
there he remains though long ages have passed.
Anu
then took the whole sky as his kingdom.
Teshub,
the Storm-God was ruler of Earth.
Ḥepa,
the Mother, he took as his consort.
The
Sun-Goddess, Ḥepa, brought all life to birth.
The
Sun-Goddess, Ḥepa, gave light and gave warmth,
and
Teshub, the Storm-God sent rain to the fields.
All
should have prospered through sunshine and showers
increasing
each season the crops and the yields.
Kumarbi
sent dragons and monsters from chaos.
Teshub
must fight Illuyanka and beat him.
The
monsters keep coming,
the Storm-God must fight them.
He
never relaxes, for sleep could defeat him.
Born
in the violence of combat he never
is
free of the rage that had brought him to birth.
Fury
may come after gentlest of showers,
tempests
may follow the calmest of breezes.
Lightning
may strike without warning and flatten
the
house of the farmer who tends to the lands.
Fear
him and worship him, Teshub the Storm-God,
Lord
of the Tempest, your life’s in his hands.
Fear
him and tremble before his great rage.
Bow
down before him. Placate him with cattle,
sheep
and all creatures and captives from battle,
Teshub
the Storm-God, for this is his age.
