Page Content (OCR)
sons that may have been explained in missing parts of the texts, he went to Ea in the Abzu. Mutilated verses then deal with the appearance on the scene of the Storm God Teshub, who, according to the Sumerians, was En- lil's youngest son Ishkur/Adad. The Storm God annoys Kumarbi by telling him of the wonderful attributes and objects that each god will grant him, Teshub; among these attributes shall be Wisdom, which shall be transferred away from Kumarbi. "Filled with fury Kumarbi went to Nippur." Breaks in the texts leave us ignorant as to what went on there, at Enlil's headquarters; but after a stay of seven months Kumarbi went back to consult with Ea. Ea suggested that Kumarbi "ascend to heaven" and seek the help of Lama, who was "mother of the two gods" and thus, appar- ently, an ancestral matriarch of the two contesting dynasties. With some self-interest, Ea offered to transport Kumarbi to the Celestial Abode in his MAR.GID.DA (celestial chariot), which the Akka- dians called Ti-ia-ri-ta, "the flying vehicle." But the goddess, having found out that Ea was coming without the permission of the Assembly of the Gods, sent "lightning winds" against Ea's space- craft, forcing him and Kumarbi to return to Earth. But rather than go down all the way, Kumarbi chose to stay with the orbiting gods whom the Hittite/Hurrian text calls Irsirra ("Those Who See and Orbit"), the Sumerian IGLGI. With ample time on his hands, "Kumarbi was full with thoughts . . .thinking them out in his mind ... he nurses thoughts of creating misfor- tune ... he plots evil." The essence of his thoughts was that he should be proclaimed "the father of all the gods," the supreme de- ity! Gaining the backing of the orbiting Irsirra gods, Kumarbi "put swift shoes on his feet" and flew down to Earth. There he sent his emissary to the other leading gods, demanding that they recognize his supremacy. It was then that Anu decided that enough was enough. To van- quish once and for all the grandson of his adversary Alalu, Anu or- dered his own grandson, the "Storm God" Teshub, to find Kumarbi and kill him. Ferocious battles then ensued between the terrestrial gods led by Teshub and the sky-borne gods led by Kum- arbi; in one battle alone, no less than seventy gods participated, all riding in celestial chariots. Though most battle scenes are lost in the damaged text, we know that in the end Teshub had prevailed. But the defeat of Kumarbi did not end the struggle. We learn from additional Hittite epic tales in the Kumarbi Cycle that before THE WARS OF GODS AND MEN