Hurrian Gods
The Hurrians also Khurrites were a people of the Ancient Near East who lived in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age. The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia to a large part consisted of Hurrians, and there is significant Hurrian influence in Hittite mythology. By the Early Iron Age, the Hurrians had been assimilated with other peoples, except perhaps in the kingdom of Urartu.
The Hurrians (also Khurrites) were a people of the Ancient Near East who lived in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age. The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia to a large part consisted of Hurrians, and there is significant Hurrian influence in Hittite mythology. By the Early Iron Age, the Hurrians had been assimilated with other peoples, except perhaps in the kingdom of Urartu. The Hurrians spoke an ergative-agglutinative language, conventionally called Hurrian, unrelated to neighboring Semitic or Indo-European languages. The Iron Age Urartian language is closely related to or a direct descendant of Hurrian. Some linguists believe Hurrian is distantly related to the Nakh language of the Caucasas. The Hurrians adopted the Akkadian cuneiform script for their own language about 2000 BC. Texts in the Hurrian language have been found at Hattusa, Ugarit (Ras Shamra), as well as one of the longest of the Amarna letters, written by King Tushratta of Mitanni to Pharaoh Amenhotep III. It was the only long Hurrian text known until a multi-tablet collection of literature in Hurrian with a Hittite translation was discovered at Hattusas in 1983.
The Khabur River valley became the heart of the Hurrian lands for a millennium. The first known Hurrian kingdom emerged around the city of Urkesh (modern Tell Mozan) during the third millennium BC. There is evidence that they were allied with the Akkadian Empire indicating they had a firm hold on the area by the reign of Naram-Suen of Akkad. This region hosted other rich cultures (see Tell Halaf and Tell Brak). The city state of Urkesh had some powerful neighbors. At some point in the early second millennium BC, the Amorite kingdom of Mari to the south subdued Urkesh into a vassal state. In the continuous power struggles over Mesopotamia, another Amorite dynasty made themselves masters over Mari in the eighteenth century BC. The capital of this Old Assyrian kingdom called Shubat-Enlil was founded some distance from Urkesh at another Hurrian settlement in the Khabur River valley, modern Tell Leilan. The Hurrians also migrated west in this period. By 1725 BC they are found also in parts of northern Syria, such as Alalakh. The Amoritic-Hurrian kingdom of Yamhad is recorded as struggling for this area with the early Hittite king Hattusilis I around 1600 BC. Hurrians also settled in the coastal region of Adaniya in the country of Kizzuwatna. Yamhad eventually weakened to the powerful Hittites, but this also opened Anatolia for Hurrian cultural influences. The Hittites were influenced by the Hurrian culture over the course of several centuries.
The Hittites continued expanding south after the defeat of Yamhad. The army of the Hittite king Mursili I made its way down to Babylon and sacked the city. The destruction of the Babylonian kingdom, as well as the kingdom of Yamhad, helped the rise of another Hurrian dynasty. The first ruler was a legendary king called Kirta who founded the kingdom of Mitanni around 1500 BC. Mitanni gradually grew from the region around Khabur valley and became the most powerful kingdom of the Near East in c. 1450-1350 BC. The heart of the Hurrian lands, the Khabur river valley, became an Assyrian province. It is not clear what happened to the Hurrian people at the end of the Bronze Age. Some scholars have suggested Hurrians lived on in the country of Subartu north of Assyria during the early Iron Age. The Hurrian population of Syria in the following centuries seems to have given up their language in favor of the Assyrian dialect of Akkadian or, more likely, Aramaic. This was around the same time that an aristocracy speaking Urartian, similar to old Hurrian, seems to have first imposed itself on the population around Lake Van, and formed the Kingdom of Urartu.
Some Hurrian Gods;
Alalu(s) - He was the king in heaven in olden days and Anus was the first among the gods. Anus served as his cupbearer for 9 years before defeating him and dispatching him to under the earth.
Anu(s) - (Akkadian in origin) While Alalus was king in heaven, Anus was more powerful. He served as Alalus' cup bearer for nine years and then defeated him, dispatching him to under the earth. He took his seat on the throne and had Kumarbis as his cupbearer.
Kumarbi(s) - 'the father of all gods' according to the Hurrians. He is sometimes equated with Enlil and Dagan. His city is Urkis. He thinks wise thoughts and carries a staff.
Imbaluris - He is Kumarbis' messenger. He is sent to warn the Sea that Kumarbis' must remain the father of the gods.
Hannahanna(s) (Nintu, Mah) - the mother of all the gods. She is associated with Gulses. After Telepinu disappears, the Storm-god complains to her. She sends him to search himself and when he gives up, she dispatches a bee, charging it to purify the god by stinging his hands and feat and wiping his eyes and feet with wax.
Upelluri (Ubelluris) - Similar to Atlas, this giant carries the world on his shoulders. The olden gods built the earth and heaven upon him though he did not notice, even when those two were separated with a cleaver.
Seris (Serisu) - This is one of the bulls sacred to the Storm-god. In preparation for battle, the Storm-god has Tasmisus anoint his horns with oil and drive him up Mount Imgarra with Tella and the battle wagon.
Tella (Hurris) - This is another bull sacred to the Storm-god. In preparation for battle, the Storm-god has Tasmisus plate his tail with gold and drive him up Mount Imgarra with Seris and the battle wagon.
Aranzahas - The Tigris river deified. A child of Anus and Kumarbis, he was the brother of the Storm-god and Tasmisus, spat out of Kumarbis' mouth onto Mount Kanzuras. Later he colludes with Anus and the Storm-god to destroy Kumarbis.
Tasmisus - A child of Anus and Kumarbis, he is conceived along with the Storm-god and Aranzahus. The brother of the Storm-god and Aranzahus, he was spat out of Kumarbis upon Mount Kanzuras. Later he colludes with Anus and the Storm-god to destroy Kumarbis. He serves as the Storm-god's attendant.
Suwaliyattas - He is a warrior god and probably the brother of the Storm-god.
Hebat (Hurrian name) (Hepit, Hepatu) - The matronly wife of the Storm-god. She is sometimes depicted standing on her sacred animal, the lion. After the Storm-god and Astabis' failed attacks on Ullikummis, the giant forced her out of her temple, causing her to lose communication with the gods. She frets that Ullikummis may have defeated her husband and expresses her concern to her servant Takitis, charging him to convene the assembly of the gods and bring back word of her husband. Presumably she is brought word of his defeat. Tasmisus visits her in the high watchtower, telling her that the Storm-god is consigned to a 'lowly place' for a length of time. She is the mother of Sharruma.
Wurusemu, (Wuruntemu?) - 'Sun Goddess of Arrina', 'mistress of the Hatti lands, the queen of heaven and earth', 'mistress of the kings and queens of Hatti, directing the government of the King and Queen of Hatti'. This goddess is later assimilated with Hebat. She made the cedar land. She is the primary goddess in Arrina, with Taru as her consort. She is a goddess of battle and is associated with Hittite military victory. She is the mother of the Storm-god of Nerik, and thereby possibly associated with Ereshkigal. She aids in returning him from the underworld.
Sharruma (Hurrian name) - 'the calf of Teshub' The son of Teshub and Hebat, this god is symbolized by a pair of human legs, or a human head on a bull's body. He is later identified with the Weather-god of Nerik and Zippalanda.
Takitis - He is Hebat's servant. After Hebat was driven from her temple he is told of her concern for her husband and charged with convening the assembly of the gods and returning with word of her husband's fate.
Mezzullas - She is the daughter of the Storm-god and the Sun-goddess of Arinna. She has influence with her parents.
Zintuhis - She is the granddaughter of the Storm-god and the Sun-goddess of Arinna.
Telepinu(s) - 'the noble god' An agricultural god, he is the favorite and firstborn son of the Storm-god. He 'harrows and plows. He irrigates the fields and makes the crops grow.'
Ullikummi(s) - the diorite man He is born of Kumarbis and the Rock. This god is made entirely of diorite. He was born to be used as a weapon to defeat the Storm-godand his alliesSun-god (of Heaven) Probably an Akkadian import, this god is one of justice and is sometimes the king of all gods. An ally of the Storm-god, he notices the giant Ullikummis in the sea and visited the Storm-god, refusing to eat until he reports his news. After he has done so, the Storm-god proclaims that the food on the table shall become pleasant, which it does, and so the Sun-god enjoys his meal and returns to his route in heaven.
Hapantallis - He is the Sun-god's shepherd.
Moon-god (Hurrian Kashku) - He fell upon the 'killamar', the gate complex, from heaven and disappeared. Storm-god/Taru rain-stormed after him, frightening him. him.
Inaras - Daughter of the Storm-god and goddess of the wild animals of the steppe.
Illuyankas - the Dragon. He defeated the Storm-god in Kiskilussa. Later he was lured from his lair with his children by a well dressed Inaras with a feast. After they were too engorged to get into their lair again, the Storm-god, accompanied by the other gods, killed him.
Hedammu - He is a serpent who loved Ishtar.
Hapantalliyas/Hapantalli - He took his place at the Moon-god's side when he fell from heaven on the gate complex and uttered a spell.
Kamrusepa(s) (Katahziwuri) - She is the goddess of magic and healing. She witnessed and announced the Moon-god's fall from heaven on to the gate complex.
Astabis (Zamama, Akkadian Ninurta) - He is a Hurrian warrior god. After the Storm-god's first attack on Ullikummis is unsuccessful, he leads seventy gods in battle wagons on an attack on the diorite giant. They try to draw the water away from him, perhaps in order to stop his growth, but they fall from the sky and Ullikummis grows even larger, towering over the gate of Kummiya.
Uliliyassis - He is a minor god who, properly attended to, removes impotence.
Kubaba - She is the chief goddess of the Neo-Hittites, she became Cybebe to the Phrygians and Cybele to the Romans.
Yarris - He is a god of pestilence. A festival was held for him every autumn.
Hasamelis - He is a god who can protect travelers, possibly by causing them to be invisible.
Zashapuna - He is the chief god of the town of Kastama, held in greater regard there than the Storm-god, possibly gaining such influence through drawing lots with the other gods.
Papaya - One of the deities who sat under the Hawthorn tree awaiting the return of Telipinus.
Istustaya - One of the deities who sat under the Hawthorn tree awaiting the return of Telipinus.
Miyatanzipa - One of the deities who sat under the Hawthorn tree awaiting the return of Telipinu. (S)he? also sat under th ippiyas tree when Hannahanna found the hunting bag.
Uruzimu - A deity involved in returning the lost Storm-god of Nerik.
Hahhimas (Frost) - When the Sea-god captures the Sun-god, he takes hold of the other gods and of the land's plants and animals, paralyzing them. He is half-brother to Hasamili's brothers and spares them from his grip.