The Role of Aštabi in the Song of Ullikummi and the Eastern Mediterranean "Failed God" Stories Prevalent in the East Mediterranean, JNES 73 (2014), 95–103

The Role of Aštabi in the Song of Ullikummi and the Eastern Mediterranean “Failed God” Stories NOGA AYALI-DARSHAN, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Introduction the Song of Ullikummi recounts the struggle between Kumarbi and his son Teššub, the storm-god. Accord- Scholars generally regard the Song of Ullikummi (CTH ing to this account, Ullikummi—a rock rooted in the 345) as constituting the final section of the Hurro- netherworld whose body lay in the sea and whose head Hittite myth known as the Kumarbi Cycle, following filled the sky—is born to Kumarbi in order to enable the Song of Kumarbi (CTH 344),1 the Song of LAMMA him to overcome and succeed Teššub.3 The three tab- (CTH 343), the Song of Silver (CTH 364), and the lets that preserve this song relate the failure of Teššub Song of Ḫedammu (CTH 348).2 Like its predecessors, and his allies to defeat Ullikummi. The first to under- * This paper is an expansion of a short section of my PhD dis- take the feat was Šauška, the storm-god’s sister, whose sertation: “The Dispersion of the Story of the Combat between the attempt to seduce a deaf and blind rock was naturally Storm-god and the Sea in the Ancient Near East: Sources, Traditions abortive.4 Teššub himself then made an attempt, also and History” (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2012) (Hebrew). I would like to express my gratitude to Edward L. Greenstein, one of my supervisors, and the late Itamar Singer, who kindly read and Hurrian versions, see M. Salvini and I. Wegner, Die mythologischen critiqued the material upon which this article is based. I also thank Texte, ChS 1/6 (Rome, 2004). Greenstein and Dennis Pardee for their comments on earlier drafts. 3 According to CTH 345.I.1:5–8, 109–16 (cf. the Hurrian 1 In the absence of an original title, the Song of Kumarbi has KUB 45.61:1–15). While the Song of Ḫedammu presents Kumarbi been variously named by scholars. Recently, C. Corti, “The So- as employing a similar “strategy”—namely, siring a son who would Called ‘Theogony’ or ‘Kingship in Heaven’: The Name of the usurp his first offspring Teššub (CTH 348.I.1–I.2:5ff)—this motif Song,” SMEA 49 (2007): 109–21, has argued that it was known does not occur in the Song of LAMMA or the Song of Silver. It forms as SÌR GÁ × È.A, a phrase he understands as the “Song of the Begin- one among many other parallel motifs in the Song of Ḫedammu and ning”—or perhaps the “Song of the Going-Out/Departure” or the Song of Ullikummi. “Song of the Birth/Descendant/Genesis.” A. Archi, “Orality, Di- 4 Unlike her successful attempt to seduce Ḫedammu; cf. also rect Speech and the Kumarbi Cycle,” AoF 36 (2009): 219, n. 26, the parallels in the Egyptian Astarte Papyrus, ll. 2, x 17–19 and the prefers the meaning “Song of the Going-Out.” Hurro-Hittite fragment KBo 26.105. Cf. W. Helck, “Zur Herkunft 2 For the sequence and overview of the Kumarbi Cycle, see H. A. er Erzählung des sog. ‘Astartepapyrus,’” in Fontes Atque Pontes: eine Hoffner, Hittite Myths (2d ed.; Atlanta, 1998), 40–65; V. Haas, Die Festgabe für Hellmut Brunner, ed. M. Görg (Wiesbaden, 1983), hethitische Literatur: Texte, Stilistik, Motive (Berlin, 2006), 130–76. 215–23; P. H. J. Houwink ten Cate, “The Hittite Storm God: His For other songs that might also form part of the Kumarbi Cycle, see Role and his Rule According to Hittite Cuneiform Sources,” in also Archi, “Orality, Direct Speech and the Kumarbi Cycle.” For the Natural Phenomena: Their Meaning, Depiction and Description in [JNES 73 no. 1 (2014)] © 2014 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 022–2968–2013/7301–008 $10.00. 95 96 ) Journal of Near Eastern Studies failing. Following him, the war-god Aštabi, in alliance Aštabi in the Song of Ullikummi with seventy gods, made an equally unsuccessful bid to The sole reference to Aštabi in the extant Hurro-Hit- overcome the rock god. Finally—apparently through tite literature occurs following Teššub’s first attempt the intervention of the wise god Ea—Teššub achieved to overcome Kumarbi and preceding his final victory the desired objective.5 Unfortunately, the tablet(s) (See CTH 345.I.3–37, following page):8 containing this scene have yet to be discovered. This fragmentary text describes how the gods as- Although the extant text is primarily the Hittite signed chariots to Aštabi in apparent anticipation of version of the song, its Hurrian origin is revealed by his confrontation with Ullikummi following Teššub’s the Hurrian names of the gods, the eastern location defeat. Taking up the challenge, Aštabi rode thunder- of the cities, and some Hurrian fragments, which ap- ing into the sea, Ullikummi’s abode. This depiction pear to be the same song.6 Several features—the Syrian is a virtually verbatim account of Teššub’s second— names of several other gods (Ḫebat and Aštabi) in this successful—struggle against Ullikummi.9 Unlike song; a Syrian toponym (Mt. Ḫazi, i.e., Mt. Ṣpn on the Teššub, however, Aštabi fails to conquer Ullikummi Levantine coast); and an occurrence of a West-Semitic and, together with the seventy gods, falls into the sea; expression,“the seventy gods”—suggest that the Hur- unhindered, Ullikummi grows taller and taller until he rian version on which the Hittite one was based was reaches the gates of Kummiya, the city of the storm- composed after the Hurrians settled in north-western god and his spouse Ḫebat. Syria.7 The exceptional nature of this episode was noted early on by Volkert Haas, who pointed to the fact that the Ancient Near East, ed. D. J. W. Meijer (Amsterdam, 1992), it comprises the only reference to Aštabi in Hurro- 117–19. Hittite mythology.10 The seventy gods, who joined 5 For the evolution of the relationship between Ea and Teššub through the Kumarbi Cycle—which may reflect the order of the Aštabi, likewise not only appear here with no anteced- Cycle—see Hoffner, Hittite Myth, 41–42; cf. A. Archi, “The God ent, but are also absent from Hurro-Hittite literature Ea in Anatolia,” in Aspects of Art and Iconography: Anatolia and in general. The fact that the motif of seventy gods is its Neighbors, ed. J. M. Mellink et al. (Ankara, 1993), 29–30. The well known in Levantine literature, however—appear- positive figure of Ea in the Song of Ullikummi, as the assistant of the ing in texts from Ugarit and Emar, with allusions in protagonist in his second fight against his monstrous rival and as the savior of the gods and mankind in the Song of Ḫedammu, appears to have been influenced, however, by the Mesopotamian traditions “Semitic Elements in the Kumarbi Myth: An Onomastic Inquiry,” of Ea reflected in the Myth of Anzu and Atraḫasis (respectively). JNES 27 (1968): 175, to suggest that his name derives from the 6 H. G. Güterbock, “The Song of Ullikummi: Revised Text of Aramean root š-m-š (in the taqtil)—which signifies “to serve” in the Hittite Version of a Hurrian Myth,” JCS 5 (1951): 135, and cf. Aramean, Syrian, and Mishnaic Hebrew (but not in Hurrian). De- Haas, Die hethitische Literatur, 132, 156–57, 172, and references spite the relatively late occurrences of this root, its proximity in cited therein. For the unique Hurrian structure of the name Ulli- meaning to the Egyptian šms may testify to its antiquity. Astour, kummi, see M. Giorgieri, “L’onomastica hurrita,” La Parola del Pas- followed by Haas, has also proposed that Mukišanu, the servant sato 55 (2000), 283, n. 26; cf. M. Janda, “Tracce indoeuropee nel of Kumarbi, is of Syrian origin, apparently the god of the land of mito di Ullikummi,” in Anatolisch und Indogermanisch. Anatolico Mukiš: see M. C. Astour, Hellenosemitica: An Ethnic and Cultural e Indoeuropeo: Akten des Kolloquiums der Indogermanischen Gesell- Study in West Semitic Impact on Mycenaean Greece (Leiden, 1965), schaft, Pavia, 22–25. September 1998, ed. O. Carruba and W. Meid 218, n. 3; V. Haas, “Betrachtungen zum Ursprünglichen Schau- (Innsbruck, 2001), 193–203, for an Indo-European etymology of platz der Mythen vom Gott Kumarbi,” SMEA 22 (1980): 98. The this name. latter also assumes, however, that Tašmišu was an originally Hurrian 7 For Ḫebat at Ebla, see A. Archi, “Studies in the Pantheon of god, the name dTēnu occurring as a designation of a servant-god Ebla,” Orientalia 63 (1994): 249–52. For this goddess among the of Teššub in several conjectured Aleppine rituals: see D. Schwemer, western Hurrians, see (in brief) V. Haas, “Substratgottheiten des Die Wettergottgestalten Mesopotamiens und Nordsyriens im Zeitalter Westhurrischen Pantheons,” RHA 36 (= CRRAI 24, 1978): 65–66. der Keilschriftkulturen (Wiesbaden, 2001), 448, n. 3719. For Mt. Ḫazi, especially in the Song of Ullikummi, see I. Singer, 8 The most recent transliteration and translation of this epi- “The Cold Lake and its Great Rock,” in Sprache und Kultur 3 sode—which I follow—is that of E. Rieken et al. (ed.), “Exemplar (2002): 130; Haas, Die hethitische Literatur, 131; Archi, “Oral- A” (hethiter.net/: CTH.345.I.3.1, accessed September 2013). For ity, Direct Speech and the Kumarbi Cycle,” 214–15. For Aštabi at earlier translations, see H. G. Güterbock, “The Song of Ullikummi: Ebla and the local expression “the seventy gods,” see below, n. 22. Revised Text of the Hittite Version of a Hurrian Myth (Contin- It is possible that Tašmišu, the storm-god’s brother, was of Syrian ued),” JCS 6 (1952): 18–19; Hoffner, Hittite Myths, 62; Haas, Die provenance—or that his name is Semitic in origin, although no re- hethitische Literatur, 167, and Geschichte der hethitischen Religion cord of this exists in ancient Syrian (Eblaite) sources. The fact that, (Leiden, 1994), 91–92. despite being described as the storm-god’s brother, Tašmišu was 9 Cf. n. 12. actually his servant, addressing him “my lord,” led M. C. Astour, 10 Haas, Die hethitische Literatur, 167.  The Role of Aštabi ) 97 Excerpt from The Song of Ullikummi (CTH 345 I 3–37) 3 [n]u maḫḫan DINGIRMEŠ memiyan išt[amašer ?] When the gods hear[d?] the word [i.e., of the defeat of the storm-god] 4 nu GIŠMAR.GÍD.DAḪI.A anda ḫanta[er/ntat] (they) prepared the chariots 5 [. . .] maniyaḫḫer and assigned [them to Aštabi11]. 6D Aštabiš=kan [GIŠtiyaridaš šarā gagaštiyaš mān] watkut Aštabi leaped [upon the spindle, like a . . .]12 7 n=aš=kan GIŠMAR.GÍD.D[AḪI.A. . .] He, the chariot[s. . .] 8 GIŠ tiyarita nininkiš [ket ?] / [. . .] c[a]me to the spindle13 [. . .] 10 nu tetḫeškezzi DAšt[abiš. . .] / [. . .] Ašta[bi] thunders [. . .] 12 nu=kan tetḫešnanza dA[štabiš GIŠMAR.GÍD.DAḪI.A] With the thunder, A[štabi, the chariots,]14 13 Aruni GAM-anda tarnaš let go down to the sea. 14 nu GIŠ[MAR.GÍD.DAḪI.A . . .] ḫanēr The char[iots . . .] draw (water). 15 nu DAštabiš [. . .] Aštabi [. . .] 16 [. . .] 70 DINGIRMEŠ ēpper [. . .] the seventy gods took, 17 nu nam[ma. . .] UL tar(a)ḫta And aga[in. . .] did not defeat. 18 nu=kan DA[štabiš. . .] A[štabi . . .] 19 [. . .] 70 DINGIRMEŠ=ya=kan Aruni GAM-a[nda mauššer ?] [. . .] and the seventy gods [plunged?] down into the sea 20 [. . .] NA4ŠU.U-ziš NÍ.TEMEŠ-š [i ?. . .] The Kunkunuzzi (= Ullikummi) [his] body [. . .] 22 [n]u nepiš katkattinu[t] He [s]hook the sky, 23 [. . .w]ēḫta15 [. . .] t[u]rned around, 24 nepiš=šan ? [. . .d]annaran TÚG-an tore the sky lik[e an e]mpty garment16 [m]ā[n a]rḫa šargannet 25 nu=kan NA4Kunkun[uzziš ] [NÍ.TE=š ]i parkiš [ta] The Kunkun[uzzi], his [body] gre[w]; 26 nu=ši pargatar piran 1 LIM 9 MĒ=ya DANN[A] In the beginning his height (was) 1900 DAN[NA] 27 [palḫaštiš=ma=ši. . . D]ANNA [and his width . . . DA]NNA, 28 [nu=ka]n ? tankui dagānzipi katta artari he stood on the dark earth. 29 ma[lt]aniš [aš ] maḫḫan karp[išk]attari NA4ŠU.U-ziš The Kunkunuzzi is lifted up17 like . . . 30 nu ÉKuntarran ÉMEŠ DINGIRMEŠ=ya [a]nda wemišk[e]zzi (Now) he reaches the Kuntarra-shrine and the temples. 31 pargatar=šet 9 LIM DANNA His height is 9000 DANNA. 32 NA4 ŠU.U-zi[š ] IGI-anta(-)pili ? The Kunkunuzzi . . . 33 palḫašti=ma=ši 9 LIM DANNA His width is 9000 DANNA.18 34 n=aš=kan URUKummiya GIŠKÁ.GAL-aš [p]iraš 19 GIŠšiyatal He took his stand before the gates at Kummiya like a shaft. mān tiyat 35 nu=kan NA4Kunkunuzziš DḪepadun Ékarimni anda araiš The Kunkunuzzi blocked20 Ḫebat in the temple, 36 nu namma DḪepaduš DINGIRMEŠ-aš ḫalugan UL ištamašzi So that Ḫebat no longer hears the message of the gods, 37 UL=ma DU-an DŠuwaliya[tt]an=a IGIḪI.A-it aušzi nor does she see Teššub or Šuwaliat (= Tašmišu)21 with (her) eyes. 11 According to Haas, Die hethitische Literatur, 167. 12 Cf. ll. 265–267 which describe Teššub’s battle against Ullikummi: “The storm-god leaped upon the spindle, like a . . . / With thunder he came down to the sea. / The storm-god fought the Kunkunuzzi,” 265 Du-aš=kan GIŠtiyaridaš šarā gagaštiyaš mān watkut / 266 n=aš=kan tetḫešnaza katta Aruni āraš / 267 n=an zaḫḫeškezzi Du-aš NA4Kunkunuzzi. According to HED 4:17, the gagaštiya- is a type of saltatorial creature, an allusion to Aštabi’s motion here. 13 For GIŠtiyarit- as “spindle,” see F. Starke, Untersuchung zur Stammbildung des keilschrift-luwischen Nomens, SBT 31 (Wiesbaden, 1990), 218–20; Rieken et al., “Exemplar A.” For the alternate meaning of “chariot, wagon” identified with the Sumerogram GIŠMAR.GÍD.DA, see Hoffner, Hittite Myths, 62; Haas, Die hethitische Literatur; CHD L–N 441a. 14 Following Haas, Die hethitische Literatur. 15 An alternative restoration of ll. 23–24 reads: [nepiš GU]L-aḫta nepiš x-x “He [str]uck the sky”: see CHD L–N 450b; CHD Š2 264, and the discussion there. 16 Apparently an unornamented garment: see CHD Š2 264b; Rieken et al., “Exemplar A.” 17 CHD L–N 101b: “lifted itself.” 18 Alternatively, restore ll. 30–33 reads the past tense “Then later he reached. . . His height was. . . his width was. . .”: see CHD P 159b. 19 [p]iraš, instead of piran, may be explained as a Sandhi spelling, influenced by the following word (šiyatal): cf. CHD P 293a. 20 This translation, deriving from the stem area-, follows Hoffner, Hittite Myths; CHD L–N 387a; Güterbock, “The Song of Ullikummi . . . (Continued),” 19, translates “rose” (derived from arai-). While the latter is more appropriate grammatically, it carries less semantic sense in the context. For additional references, see Rieken et al., “Exemplar A.” 21 For the identification between the Hittite Šuwaliat and the Hurrian Tašmišu, see H. G. Güterbock, “The God Šuwaliat Reconsid- ered,” RHA 19/68 (1961): 1–18, esp. 14; E. Neu, Das hurritische Epos der Freilassung I, SBT 32 (Wiesbaden, 1996), 244–45. 98 ) Journal of Near Eastern Studies biblical literature and midrashim as well—suggests that written alphabetically as ʿṯtpl or ʿṯtpr,26 apparently the this scene was a West Semitic cultural borrowing.22 equivalent pronunciation of Aštabil. I propose that not only this motif but the story of The polyglot list (Ug. 5:137 iv b 16) indicates that Aštabi’s failure to replace the storm-god as a whole the people of Ugarit identified Aštabi with the Meso- was in fact originally a West Semitic tradition. Iden- potamian war-god Lugal-marda, in similar fashion to tification of such a tradition in local compositions the association of the Anatolian Aštabi with the war- would allow us to elucidate Aštabi’s role in the Song god Ninurta.27 The same roster also identifies Aštabi of Ullikummi and the reason for the narrative’s inser- with the god Aṯtar: tion into the Hurro-Hittite Song. L[UGAL.MÁ]R.D[A]? :: aš-ta-bi-[n]i ?:: aš-ta-ru28 The Aštabi and Aṯtar accounts in fact also share very Aštabi’s origin and character similar features. Like Aštabi, the Baal Cycle states that The first issue to be addressed is Aštabi’s provenance Aṯtar was appointed by the gods to take the place of and nature. The evidence from Ebla indicates that the storm-god in the wake of the latter’s most recent Aštabi was not Hurrian in origin.23 References to him defeat, failing in his mission just before the storm- (in the form Aštabil) occur in Eblaite documents from god’s final successful war. The fuller reference for this the twenty-fourth century B.C.E. as well as in Mari plot occurs in the narrative recounting the struggle texts from the eighteenth century.24 The Ugaritic between Baal and Mot (CAT 1.5–1.6). After Baal’s documents from the thirteenth century employ both defeat, El asks Aṯirat to appoint one of her children his Syrian and Hurrian names, the latter—also used at as king (tn ʾaḥd . b . b nk .ʾamlkn) in place of Baal Alalaḫ—being signified in alphabetical texts as ʾaṯtb (CAT 1.6 I). Aṯirat considers Aṯtar as the person most and syllabically in a polyglot list as aš-ta-bi-[n]i ? (Ug. suitable for the mission. Immediately following the 5:137 iv b 16).25 The Syrian name seems to have been proclamation of his kingdom (ymlk . ʿṯtr . ʿrẓ), Aṯtar thus ascended to the summit of Ṣpn, where he sat on 22 For the “seventy children of Aṯirat,” see CAT 1.4 VI 46. For the throne of mightiest Baal in the fashion expected the “seventy gods of Emar” to whom seventy lambs were sacrificed of his substitute. Ultimately, however, Aṯtar, failed to on the fourteenth day of the month of SAG.MU (“the head of the fulfill his mission. An amusing passage depicts how, due year”), see Emar 6/3 no. 373: 37–38. For the midrashic notation to his inability to sit on the throne, he descended and regarding the “seventy angels” representing the seventy nations, see went to rule elsewhere (see text, next page). 29 1 En. 89:59, 90:22–25. 4QDeutj and LXX suggest that Deut. 32:8, which refers to the “boundaries of people according to the num- ber of the sons of El,” also originally contained an allusion to this scription (2nd ed.; Winona Lake, IN, 2008), 164. Cf. also the motif. For the issue in general, see D. E. Fleming, Time at Emar: name daš-tu-u-bí-nu, which parallels the war-god Zababa in a later The Cultic Calendar and the Rituals from the Diviner’s Archive Assyrian copy of a Babylonian god list (CT 25.11 II:31): see Archi, (Winona Lake, IN, 2000), 57–58, n. 29, and passim; M. S. Smith “Studies in the Ebla Pantheon, II”: 416, n. 9. and W. T. Pitard, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, vol. 2 (Leiden, 2009), 26 CAT 1.107:41; 1.123:10; 1.46:4 (always with Aṯtar: see be- 629. For the theological correction in Deut. 32:8, see A. Rofé, low, n. 28). Deuteronomy: Issues and Interpretation (London, 2002), 49–50. 27 Cf. also the Babylonian equation between Aštubinu and the It may legitimately be asked whether the seventy offerings in the war-god Zababa (n. 25 above). biblical festival celebrated in the first month of the year—namely, 28 It is interesting that in other god list Aštabi and Aṯtar are set as the Feast of Tabernacles according to Numbers 29—constitute a a pair (ʿṯtr w ʿṯtpr), in analogy with Šaḥar and Šalim or Astarte and remnant of an ancient ceremony, as at Emar, originally related to Anat, bearing the same divine function. See the texts cited in n. 26 the seventy gods of Canaan. Rabbinic tradition—accepted by some above; cf. also Archi, “Studies in the Ebla Pantheon, II”: 416, n. 9. modern commentators (cf. J. Milgrom, Numbers [Philadelphia, 29 The meaning of the Ugaritic phrase wymlk . bʾarṣ ʾIl . klh is 1990], 247)—identifies the seventy offerings with the nations of obscure. An attractive possibility is the Egyptian epithet t3-nṯr (“the the world, a theme deriving from the same motif. land of the god”), associated with the region around Byblos: see 23 See D. Pardee, Les textes para-mythologiques de la 24e cam- A. F. H. Naccache, “El’s Abode in his Land,” in Ugarit, Religion pagne (1961), Ras Shamra-Ougarit 4 (Paris, 1988), 252–53; R. R. and Culture, ed. N. Wyatt et al., UBL 12 (Münster, 1996), 256–58, Stieglitz, “Ebla and the Gods of Canaan,” Eblaitica 2 (1980): and cf. N. Ayali-Darshan, “The Cedar Forest’s Traditions in the 81–82. Egyptian Tale of The Two Brothers and Genesis 2–3,” Shnaton 22 24 See A. Archi, “Studies in the Ebla Pantheon, II,” Orienta- (2013): 155–62 (in Hebrew). For the assumption that this phrase lia 66 (1997): 416–17; Haas, Geschichte der hethitischen Religion, relates to Aṯtar as the god of irrigation—an understanding which 545–46. lacks internal evidence in Ugarit or elsewhere, with the exception of 25 For the first, see CAT 1.110:6; 1.116:15; 1.125:10; for the the (poor) evidence from the late South-Arabian inscriptions—see second, cf. J. Huehnegard, Ugaritic Vocabulary in Syllabic Tran- below, n. 37.  The Role of Aštabi ) 99 Excerpt, CAT 1.6 I 59–64 59 pʿnh . ltmġyn His feet did not reach 60 hdm [.] rʾišh . lymġy (its) foot-stool nor his head 61 ʾapsh . wyʿn . ʿṯtr . ʿrẓ its top. And Aṯtar-the-strong-one30 speaks: 62 l ʾamlk . bṣrrt . Ṣpn “I would not be king on the summit of Ṣpn.” 63 yrd . ʿṯtr . ʿrẓ . yrd (Thus) Aṯtar-the-strong-one descends, descends 64 lkḥṯ . ʾalʾiyn . Bʿl from the throne of the mightiest Baal.31 An additional Ugaritic fragment which, while clearly ʾard 34. . . [. . .] b bh[t] [zbl .] Ym . b hkl . ṯpṭ . Nh[r]), related to the Baal Cycle, has yet to be definitively de- uttering a sentence which, although unclear in the ex- termined within the narrative’s order, describes Aṯtar’s tant text, appears to relate to his status as king (mlkt . abortive coup and his descent (CAT 1.2 III).32 Aṯtar’s as- [. . .]. . . . l mlkt . . .). piration to rule, in the face of Yamm’s election, is partially This scene, which appears to be comprised of some evident in this fragment from the sun-goddess Šapaš’s of the known motifs in the principal Baal traditions speech to Aṯtar concerning El’s preference for Yamm. (i.e., the “no-palace” motif related to Baal; Šapaš’s This speech forms an exact parallel to Šapaš’s speech to verbatim speech to Mot concerning El’s favoritism of Mot regarding El’s favoritism towards Baal, when Mot Baal),35 also represents Aṯtar as an “ersatz” Yamm, in challenges Baal’s rule (See CAT 1.6 VI, next page). precisely the same fashion that he serves as an inferior In response, Aṯtar laments the fact that he has no substitute for Baal in CAT 1.6. It is thus possible to palace (ʾin . bt [. l]y [. km .] ʾilm . w ḥẓr [. k bn qd]š)— infer that the two stories of Aṯtar—both of which were the symbol of the kingdom—just like Baal when he ultimately incorporated into the Ugaritic Baal Cycle— requests a palace for himself (CAT 1.3–1.4 passim). as a failed divine alternate, in fact derive from the same Unlike the latter, however, Aṯtar’s ambitions remain un- tradition and comprise variants of the same motif. fulfilled and he apparently descends to the sea (lbdm33 . Aṯtar and Aštabi: Failed substitute gods 30 The biblical parallels testify that the meaning of the root ʿ-r-ẓ is not negative but signifies “strength”: see J. C. Greenfield, The affinities between the two versions of Aṯtar’s de- “Baal’s Throne and Isa. 6:1,” in Mélanges bibliques et orientaux en scent in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle and Aštabi’s downfall l’honneur de M. Mathias Declor, ed. A. Caquot et al., AOAT 215 in the Hurro-Hittite Song of Ullikummi are striking. (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1985), 194–95. While this attribute might ac- In both texts, the gods in question replace the storm- count for Aṯtar’s identification with Lugal-marda in the polyglot god when he is defeated: in the Baal Cycle, El and list mentioned above, it is not a necessary inference, Aštabi himself possibly serving to link the two gods. Note that the “aggressive Aṯirat summon Aṯtar to act as a substitute for Baal convention” of Aṯtar led D. Arnaud to read DNIN.URTA in Emar as following the latter’s discomfiture at the hands of Mot D Aš-tar. The fact that the name DAš-tar occurs in the same text, as and in the Song of Ullikummi the (seventy?) gods call D NIN.URTA does, however, suggest that this parallelism is misleading: upon Aštabi to succeed Teššub in the wake of the lat- see D. Arnaud, Textes syriens de l’âge du Bronze récent, AuOr Suppl 1 ter’s defeat by Ullikummi. (Sabadell, 1991), 15; for a contrary reading, see D. E. Fleming, The Installation of Baal’s High Priestess at Emar: A Window on Ancient Despite endeavoring to fill the storm-god’s place, Syrian Religion, HSS 42 (Atlanta, 1992), 249 and n. 186. the replacements both fail: in the Baal Cycle, Aṯtar is 31 The translation below follows M. S. Smith, “The Baal Cycle,” forced off Baal’s throne because he cannot fit into it in Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, ed. S. B. Parker (Atlanta, 1997), and in the Song of Ullikummi Aštabi’s unsuccessful at- 153–54 in general. See also M. Dietrich and O. Loretz, Mythen tempt to “storm” Ullikummi leads to his fall into the und Epen IV, TUAT III (Gütersloher, 1997), 1187–88; D. Pardee, sea. While the latter motif—engulfment in the sea— “The Baʿlu Myth (1.86),” in Context of Scripture, ed. W. Hallo (Leiden, 1997), 1:247–248. does not appear in the account of Aṯtar in CAT 1.6, it 32 For the fragment’s proper location within the Baal Cycle, see is echoed in CAT 1.2 III, in the description of Aṯtar’s M. S. Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, vol. 1 (Leiden, 1994), 22–23; D. Pardee, The Ugaritic Texts and the Origins of West-Semitic Liter- 34 Cf. A. Herdner (CAT, 10:20), however, who suggests also ary Composition (Oxford, 2012), 69–70. the reading trd. 33 The third cuneiform sign in this word is debated. Since the 35 To these must be added the previous scene in which El or- whole sentence is unclear, it is difficult to determine whether this ders Koṯar-waḫasis to build a palace for Yamm (CAT 1.2 III:7–11), sign was ʾu, b, or d, and thus lbʾum (= lion), lbbm (= heart), or lbdm, which parallels El’s command to erect a palace for Baal. Cf. Smith, following the interpretation given above. Ugaritic Baal Cycle, 15–16. 100 ) Journal of Near Eastern Studies Excerpt, CAT 1.6 VI 15′–18′ 15′ . . . nrt [.] ʾilm [.] Špš . tšʾu . gh . w t[ṣḥ . šm]ʿ . The Lamp of the Gods, Šapaš, raises her voice and mʿ[ ʿṯtr] sp[eaks: “Hear] now [Aṯtar], 16′ [yṯ]ʾir . ṯr . ʾIl . ʾabk . l pn . zbl . Ym . l pn[ . ṯ]pṭ[ Bull El, your father [will take ven]geance?36 for .]Nhr Prince Yamm, for [J]udge River. 17′ [ʾik . ʾa]l . yšmʿk . ṯr . [ʾI]l . ʾabk . l ysʿ . [ʾa]lt [.] [(So) how, ind]eed, will Bull [E]l your father hear ṯbtk [.] l y[hpk] you? Surely he will remove [the su]pport from under your throne. Surely he will [overturn] 18′ [ksaʾ .] mlkk . l yṯbr . ḫṭ [.] mṯpṭk . [the seat] of your kingship. Surely he will break the scepter of your rule.” descending into the sea following his abortive coup. Arabian inscriptions.37 Several sources from the an- The disparity in this fragment between the delineation cient Near East indicate, however, that the Semitic of Yamm as the chosen ruler, on the one hand, and gods whose names derive from the root ʿ-ṯ/š/s-t-r pos- Yamm as the place to which Aṯtar descends, on the sessed astral aspects, customarily being identified with other, indicates that one of the two variants most likely the planet Venus. preceded the Ugaritic adaptation. Finally—and most Thus, for example, Daš-tar MUL (“Aštar the Star”) decisively, as the Ugaritic list adduced above demon- is mentioned in a text from Emar.38 In Ebla the di- strates—the protagonists in the two accounts (Aṯtar vine aš-dár was identified with the Sumerian goddess and Aštabi) are identified with one another. Inanna, the Morning Star, with whom later Mesopo- The links between Aštabi and Aṯtar, the divergent tamian sources clearly associated the Semitic goddess nature of the Aštabi story in Hurro-Hittite literature, Ištar.39 The South Arabian inscriptions designate Aṯtar and the use of the distinctively West Semitic motif of by the epithets šrqn (“the Eastern”) and šrqn wġrbn “seventy gods” lead to the conclusion that the ac- nwfn (“the high Eastern and Western”), signifying counts under discussion here reflect a West Semitic 37 In the South Arabian inscriptions, Aṯtar is designated tradition of a minor god appointed by his “superiors” mnḍḥhmw from the root n-ḍ-ḥ signifying “to moisten,” the name to take the place of a senior god. The former fails in his also being linked with ʿaṯtarî (= ʿnṯarî ), an allusion to artificially- mission and descends into the sea. What interpretation irrigated soil. See D. Nielsen, Ras Šamra Mythologie und biblische is to be given to this “failed substitute god” motif in Theologie (Leipzig, 1936), 55–58; A. Jamme, “La religion arabe Ugaritic and Hurro-Hittite literature? Why were Aṯtar pré-islamique,” Histoire des religions 4 (1956): 264–65. As stated and Aštabi chosen to be its protagonists, and why were above, despite the lack of any written evidence, several scholars have assumed that this aspect might have been known in Ugarit: see J. these two stories set within similar compositions, i.e., Gray, The Legacy of Canaan, SVTSupp 5 (2nd ed.; Leiden, 1965), a conflict initiated by the storm-god? 169–71; Oldenburg, Conflict between El and Ba’al, 39; W. Robert- Like the Syrian Aštabi, Aṯtar is a minor god, to son Smith, The Religion of the Semites (New York, 1972), 99–100; whom few references are made in Ugaritic literature, T. H. Gaster, Thespis: Ritual, Myth, and Drama in the Ancient Near thereby providing us with very little knowledge con- East (New York, 1975), 127. For recent discussion and references, see M. S. Smith, “The God Athtar in the Ancient Near East and cerning his attributes in his local setting. The prevail- His Place in KTU 1.6 I,” in Solving Riddles and Untying Knots, ed. ing theory that Aṯtar served as the god of irrigation Z. Zevit et al. (Winona Lake, IN, 1995), 627–40, esp. 638. It is is based on interpretations of the Ugaritic Baal Cycle possible, however (pace these scholars), that Aṯtar was bequeathed that rely on the unpromising evidence of late South this aspect within the South-Arabian context, being regarded as a substitute for Baal the storm-god in ancient Semitic cultures. 38 Emar 6/3, no. 378:39. 39 It is unclear whether Aštar at Ebla, identified with Inanna, 36 Although the meaning of the root ṯ-ʾ-r is uncertain, the con- was a masculine or feminine divinity: see Smith, “The God Athtar text intimates El’s preference of Yamm. The fact that other inci- in the Ancient Near East,” 629. Since our concern here lies with the dences of this root occur in the context of a banquet has led some root itself, however, this determination is irrelevant for the present scholars to portray El as conducting a feast in honor of Yamm: see, argument. The occurrence of an associated root in the Afro-Asiatic for example, J. C. L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends (2nd and Indo-European languages signifying “star” may strengthen ed.; Edinburgh, 1978), 38. U. Oldenburg, The Conflict between El the identification between Aṯtar/t and Inanna, the goddess of the and Ba’al in Canaanite Religion (Leiden, 1969), 131, adduces an Morning Star. For the spread of this root/meaning and further ref- Arabic etymology carrying the sense of “revenge”—an exegesis fol- erences to its affinities with the Semitic divinity Aṯtar/t, see A. Dol- lowed by Smith, The Ugaritic Baal, 251; Pardee, “The Baʿlu Myth.” gopolsky, Nostratic Dictionary (Cambridge, 2008), 2273.  The Role of Aštabi ) 101 the Morning and Evening Star (i.e., Venus).40 Like- (Mt. Ḫazi in the Hurro-Hittite tradition) while the wise, the Neo-Assyrian inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Sea is represented as an anthropomorphic figure hos- Assurbanipal speak of the Arabian god Atarsamain tile to him. Today we know that the story of the com- (“A[t]tar of heaven”).41 In fact, in South Semitic lan- bat of the Storm-god and the Sea spread through the guages (Tigre, Geez, and Amharic) the words derive ancient Near East in the second millennium B.C.E., from the root ʿ-s-t-r, all denoting “heaven” or “star.”42 as documented in Aleppo, Egypt, amongst the Hur- The latest evidence on this issue may come from the rians and in Ugarit, as well as later in Mesopotamia Byzantine Suida, in which Astarte is associated with and ancient Israel.45 Since several motifs in the Song of Aphrodite.43 Ullikummi appear to have been influenced by this ac- The astral aspect of the root ʿ-ṯ/š/s-t-r also cor- count, the existence of the episodes relating to Aštabi responds to Philo of Byblos’ first-second century C.E. and Aṯtar within the Song of Ullikummi and the Baal euhemeristic story of Astarte’s encounter with a falling Cycle respectively suggest that the aetiological account star: “While traveling around the world, she discov- of the “fallen star” found its way into the story of the ered a star which had fallen from the sky. She took it combat of the Storm-god and the Sea at a very early up and consecrated it in Tyre, the holy island” (cited stage. In other words, it is possible that the dissemina- in Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.10.31).44 In this context, it tion of this account in the second millennium came is significant that Aṯtar is referred to in another astral about through its integration into the combat of the work: the Ugaritic Hymn of the moon-goddess Nikkal Storm-god and the Sea story prevalent throughout and her groom Yariḫ (CAT 1.24.28). ancient Near Eastern culture. In light of these facts, it is possible to form a con- jecture that Aṯtar’s rise and descent represent an aetio- Aṯtar-Aštabi, Helel, and Phaeton logical explanation of the “falling star” phenomenon. In the ancient mythic tradition, this star assumed the In addition to the correspondences with Aštabi, the status of a minor god who was appointed to a higher Ugaritic account of Aṯtar’s descent has long been com- position, shone brightly for a moment, and then fell. pared with the well-known passage in Isaiah 14:12– This aetiological story in its mythic dress has not been 15. This portrays the Babylonian king as Helel, son of transmitted to us as an independent story but as an ad- Šaḥar, who sought to seat himself above the clouds on aptation forming part of a composite work. The story Mt. Ṣaphon like Elion but was punished and fell into of Aštabi—the old Syrian equivalent of Aṯtar—was the netherworld.46 The name Helel (“shining one”) incorporated into the Song of Ullikummi, alongside son of Šaḥar (“dawn”) indicates the astral aspect of other Syrian elements, and that of Aṯtar was attached this figure, analogous to the astral meaning of Aṯtar’s to the Baal Cycle in Ugarit. name.47 The site of Mt. Ṣaphon likewise parallels the Not surprisingly, the Song of Ullikummi and the Baal Cycle not only share this story but also narrate 45 For references and discussion, see now N. Ayali-Darshan, the incident of the war waged by the storm-god. The “The Dispersion of the Story of the Combat between the Storm- god and the Sea”; cf. also Archi, “Orality, Direct Speech and the latter is intimately linked, in these works, with Mt. Ṣpn Kumarbi Cycle,” 219–20; Schwemer, Wettergottgestalten, 226–34, 450–54. The Hurro-Hittite texts are: KBo 26.105 and perhaps 40 See Nielsen, Ras Šamra Mythologie und biblische Theologie; KUB 45.63 and the references in KUB 33.108: 17′; KBo 42.2 Jamme, “La religion arabe pré-islamique.” I:15–16; KUB 30.43 rs. III:2′-3′; KUB 30.66 vs. I: 1′. 41 See I. Eph’al, The Ancient Arabs: Nomads on the Borders of the 46 See, e.g., W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Fertile Crescent, 9th–5th Centuries B.C. (2nd ed.; Jerusalem, 1984), Israel (2nd ed.; Baltimore, 1946), 83–84; P. Grelot, “Isaie xiv 12– 129, 162, 163, 168. For other attestations of Ataršamain in Arabian 15 et son arrière-plan mythologique,” RHR 149 (1956): 18–48; sources, see Smith, “The God Athtar in the Ancient Near East,” G. Fohrer, Das Buch Jesaja (Stuttgart, 1960), 179–80; W. McKay, 633–34 and n. 51. “Helel and the Dawn-Goddess: A Reexamination of the Myth in 42 W. Leslau, Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Wiesbaden, Isaiah XIV 12–15,” VT 20 (1970): 451–64; P. C. Craigie, “Helel, 1987), 73. It is significant that Leslau includes Aṯtar, Astarte, Ishtar, Athtar and Phaeton (Jes 14:12–15),” ZAW 85 (1973): 223–25; etc. under the entry ʿastar. O. Kaiser, Isaiah 13–39: A Commentary (Philadelphia, 1974), 38– 43 A. Adler, Suidae Lexicon (Lipsiae, 1971), alpha 4221. It is 40; W. G. E. Watson, “Helel,” in Dictionary of Deities and Demons worth noting that the epithet Ἑωσφόρος given to Astarte herein, is in the Bible, ed. K. van der Toorn et al. (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids, that borne by Helel son of Šaḥar in the LXX to Isaiah 14. MI, 1999), 392–94. 44 H. W. Attridge and R. A. Oden, Philo of Byblos: The Phoenician 47 While commentators generally concur regarding this aspect History, CBQMS 9 (Washington, 1981), 54–55. of Helel’s name, they argue for its originality as Canaanite, South 102 ) Journal of Near Eastern Studies location of the throne of Baal on which Aṯtar attempts in origin.50 On the basis of the present analysis, we to seat himself in the Baal Cycle. would suggest that the story of Aštabi, Aṯtar’s coun- Prior to the discovery of the textual riches at Ugarit, terpart, who fell into the sea with his chariot (together Hermann Gunkel pointed to the common folklore mo- with the seventy gods) after creating a thunderstorm tif of hubris, drawing a parallel between Isaiah 14:12– should also be regarded as an example of this motif. 15 and Phaeton’s abortive attempt to drive Helios’ It would appear that, in the first millennium, the sun chariot, in consequence of which he plunged into tradition of Aṯtar/Aštabi was joined with that of the sea when Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt.48 It another astral figure, Helel son of Šaḥar, evidently is, indeed, difficult to ignore the similarities between prevalent in the Levant during this same period. The the Greek Φαέθων (= “shining one”) and the Hebrew phenomenon of transferring myths from one character ‫הילל‬, both figures bearing names whose etymologi- to another due to the latter’s prominence in the host cal meanings are synonymous and experiencing the culture (in this case—the first millennium Levant) is same fate. An early tradition in Hesiod’s Theogony (ll. well known in folklore and myth. In the process, the 986–91) further explicitly states that Phaeton’s mother protagonist’s identity is often transformed in the host was known as Ἕως (Eos), the Greek and Hebrew fig- culture while features alien to it may vanish or be as- ures thus both possessing a parent bearing the name similated.51 In our specific case, the central motif of an “Dawn.” According to this tradition, Phaeton was ap- astral god who attempts to take the place of a superior pointed to serve Aphrodite, who turned him into a god and fails was retained. Furthermore, while the shining night watchman—i.e., a star.49 traditions of Aṯtar and Helel have preserved some of Gunkel’s proposal has been developed by other the principal features of one version of the mythic scholars, who contend that the stories of astral divini- story—such as Mt. Ṣpn as the coveted throne—those ties—whether Aṯtar, Helel, or Phaeton—who failed regarding Phaeton and Aštabi have preserved ele- and descended from the heavens were all Canaanite ments of another version of the myth, including the protagonist’s fall into the sea while riding a chariot and the accompanying thunderstorm.52 Arabian, Babylonian, or Greek: see the overview in ibid. To the ref- erences adduced there should be added: J. C. Poirier, “An Illuminat- ing Parallel to Isaiah XIV 12,” VT 49 (1999): 371–89; M. S. Heiser, Conclusion “The Mythological Provenance of Isa. XIV 12–15: A Reconsidera- tion of the Ugaritic Material,” VT 51 (2001): 354–69; M. A. van der Sluijs, “Hll: Lord of the Sickle,” JNES 68 (2009), 269–82. This paper has focused upon the account of Aštabi 48 H. Gunkel, Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the which appears in the Song of Ullikummi and dif- Eschaton, trans. K.W. Whitney (Grand Rapids, MI, 2006), 90. An- fers significantly from other Hurro-Hittite works. It cient works which refer to Phaeton include Aeschylus’ The Heliads and Euripides’ Phaeton. The story is also briefly recounted in Pla- to’s Timaeus, later texts frequently citing this source; see J. Diggle, Euripides: Phaethon, Edited with Prolegomena and Commentary 50 Although Grelot (“Isaie xiv 12–15”) and McKay (“Helel”) al- (Cambridge, 1970), 4–32; M. A. van der Sluijs, “On the Wings of lege that the Helel story has been influenced by the Greek Phaeton Love,” JANER 8 (2008): 219–51. tradition, they argue that the latter exhibits Canaanite influence. 49 The fact that Phaeton is alternatively described as the son Craigie (“Helel”), on the other hand, convincingly argues for the of Helios and Eos has led scholars to distinguish between these Canaanite provenance of both. These sources are complemented traditions: see, for example, Diggle, Euripides, 10–15. Others (clas- by Philo of Byblos’s account, cited above, of Astarte’s discovery of sicists and biblical scholars alike) have attempted to reconstruct a a falling star, his euhemeristic tendency suggesting that this story single tradition: see, inter alia, U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, represents a description of Astarte herself: cf. Attridge and Oden, “Phaethon,” Hermes 28 (1883): 396–434; McKay, “Helel,” 463; Philo of Byblos, 88, n. 96. M. L. West, The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek 51 Cf. C. W. von Sydow, “Geography and Folk-Tale Oicotypes,” Poetry and Myth (Oxford, 1997), 476–77. See also West’s significant in Selected Paper on Folklore, ed. L. Bødker (Copenhagen, 1948): note regarding Aphrodite’s role at the end of Euripides’ play in 44–59; V. Propp, “Transformations of the Wondertales,” in Theory his Hesiod: Theogonie (Oxford, 1966), 428; cf. Poirier, “An Illumi- and History of Folklore, ed. A. Liberman (3rd ed.; Minneapolis, nating Parallel.” Although these scholars generally accept that the 1993), 82–99; L. Honko, “Four Forms of Adaptation of Tradi- Greeks identified Phaeton son of Eos with Eosphoros son of Eos tion,” Studia Fennica 26 (1981): 19–33. and Astarios, they dispute the date at which this took place; cf., 52 It should be noted that, while the Phaeton and Aštabi ac- however, West’s bold opinion: “It is hard to believe that Phaethon counts were known within Indo-European—Hittite and Greek— the son of Dawn and Phaethon the son of Helios were not originally cultures, the latter inherited these stories independently under one and the same.” Hurrian and West Semitic influence, respectively.  The Role of Aštabi ) 103 has demonstrated that this episode exhibits numer- In the wake of the collapse of the Ugaritic and ous similarities with the story of Aṯtar found in the Hurrian cultures and their assimilation into their sur- Ugaritic Baal Cycle. Both texts recount how a minor roundings, the “failed god” account of Aṯtar/Aštabi god was appointed by the other gods in order to take was transferred to another minor astral god who ap- the place of the storm-god in the wake of his most pears to have been quite prominent in the Levant of recent defeat, failing in his mission just prior to the the first millennium, namely, Helel son of Šaḥar—the storm-god’s ultimately successful war. Since Aštabi is equivalent of Phaeton (son of Eos) in Greek mythol- identified with Aṯtar in the god list, we suggest that ogy. In its new form, some of the basic elements of the Hurro-Hittite narrative concerning Aštabi and the the story survived while others were changed. Having Ugaritic depiction of the god Aṯtar reflect the same traced its origins, this extant version enables us to shed aetiological story of a “falling star” phenomenon. The more light both on the Aštabi tradition itself and on unique features of the Aštabi account in its context— the motif of the “failed god” story widespread in the in particular, the existence of the “seventy gods” motif eastern Mediterranean in ancient times. prevalent in Levantine texts—appear to corroborate the claim that the tradition of Aštabi’s failure and fall was originally a West Semitic tradition.