Tašmišu

Tašmišu
Attendant of Teshub
Genealogy
SiblingsTeshub, Šauška
SpouseNabarbi
Equivalents
HittiteŠuwaliyat

Tašmišu (also romanized without diacritics as Tashmishu) was a Hurrian god. He was regarded as a brother of Teshub, and it is assumed he had a warlike character.

Character

Volkert Haas proposed that Tašmišu's name was derived from the Hurrian word tašmi, which he translates as "strong".[1] The element-šu is a suffix attested in other names as well, such as the name of one Teshub's bulls, Šerišu, and various ordinary Hurrian personal names, such as Anniwašu and 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; in a passage from the Song of Ullikummi he addresses him as his "lord".[3] He served as his sukkal (attendant deity), though as noted by Daniel Schwemer in ritual texts this role could also be attributed to the god Tenu.[4] He proposes that the latter was adopted from the religious tradition of ancient Aleppo.[4][a]

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 his counterpart'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 dURAŠ.[13] Furthermore, a version of the Weidner god list from Emar identifies him with Papsukkal.[14]

Worship

In Hurrian offering lists (kaluti), 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, 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]

Notes

  1. ↑ A month named after Tenu is attested in the local calendar.[5] However, Alfonso Archi ascribes Hurrian origin to Tenu.[6]

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

  • Archi, Alfonso (2013). "The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background". In Collins, B. J.; Michalowski, P. (eds.). Beyond Hatti: a tribute to Gary Beckman. Atlanta: Lockwood Press. ISBN 978-1-937040-11-6. OCLC 882106763.
  • Bachvarova, Mary R. (2013). "The Hurro-Hittite Kumarbi Cycle". Gods, heroes, and monsters: a sourcebook of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern myths. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-064481-9. OCLC 967417697.
  • Haas, Volkert (2015) [1994]. Geschichte der hethitischen Religion. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1: The Near and Middle East (in German). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-29394-6. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  • Schwemer, Daniel (2001). Die Wettergottgestalten Mesopotamiens und Nordsyriens im Zeitalter der Keilschriftkulturen: Materialien und Studien nach den schriftlichen Quellen (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-04456-1. OCLC 48145544.
  • Schwemer, Daniel (2008). "The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies: Part II" (PDF). Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 8 (1). Brill: 1–44. doi:10.1163/156921208786182428. ISSN 1569-2116. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-01-05. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  • Taracha, Piotr (2009). Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3447058858.
  • Trémouille, Marie-Claude (2011), "Šauška, Šawuška A. Philologisch", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in French), retrieved 2022-04-10
  • Trémouille, Marie-Claude (2013), "Tašmišu", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in French), retrieved 2022-04-10
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