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Kiaše, also spelled Kiaže or Kiyaši was a
Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...
deity representing the sea. Sometimes in modern scholarship, he is simply referred to as "the Sea" or "the Sea God." Based on evidence from
Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = ...
,
Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Ag ...
and
Hattusa Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'',Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of t ...
, it is assumed that he was an actively worshiped deity, similar to his Ugaritic equivalent,
Yam Yam or YAM may refer to: Plants and foods *Yam (vegetable), common name for members of ''Dioscorea'' * Taro, known in Malaysia and Singapore as yam * Sweet potato, specifically its orange-fleshed cultivars, often referred to as yams in North Amer ...
. In myths he typically appears as an ally of
Kumarbi Kumarbi was an important god of the Hurrians, regarded as "the father of gods." He was also a member of the Hittite pantheon. According to Hurrian myths, he was a son of Alalu, and one of the parents of the storm-god Teshub, the other being Anu ( ...
and thus opponent of
Teshub Teshub (also written Teshup, Teššup, or Tešup; cuneiform ; hieroglyphic Luwian , read as ''Tarhunzas'';Annick Payne (2014), ''Hieroglyphic Luwian: An Introduction with Original Texts'', 3rd revised edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. ...
and Shaushka.


Name

The name Kiaše is an ordinary
Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...
noun meaning "
sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
." It was written as ''ki-a-še'', sometimes with the divine determinative preceding it, or as ''kyḏ'' in the alphabetic Ugaritic script. As attested by the existence of two separate writings of the
theophoric name A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deit ...
of a Hurrian woman from Alalakh, Agap-kiaše, it could be represented not only syllabically, but also logographically (A.BA.BA.). The same logogram was sometimes used to represent the
Ugaritic Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeolog ...
word ''ym'', which likewise corresponds to the name of a sea deity,
Yam Yam or YAM may refer to: Plants and foods *Yam (vegetable), common name for members of ''Dioscorea'' * Taro, known in Malaysia and Singapore as yam * Sweet potato, specifically its orange-fleshed cultivars, often referred to as yams in North Amer ...
.


Worship

The worship of the sea is attested in Hurrian texts from Hattusa and from Ugarit. A hymn to
Teshub Teshub (also written Teshup, Teššup, or Tešup; cuneiform ; hieroglyphic Luwian , read as ''Tarhunzas'';Annick Payne (2014), ''Hieroglyphic Luwian: An Introduction with Original Texts'', 3rd revised edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. ...
from Halab (modern Aleppo) also mentions Kiaše among the invoked deities. Yet another ritual text (KUB 27.38) mentions him alongside deified kings and the mountain gods Hazzi and Namni. ''Song of the Sea'', a text dealing with the eponymous god, was performed during a celebration connected to Mount Hazzi according to a ritual text (KUB 44.7). Both feminine and masculine Hurrian personal names containing the word ''kiaše'' are known, with some examples from Alalakh being Agap-kiaše (f), Ewri-kiaše (m) and Wandi-kiaše (m). Similar names are also known from Ugarit and from other areas which were inhabited by Hurrian communities.


Sea in religion of other ancient Near Eastern cultures

As noted by Aaron Tugendhaft, the position of the deified sea was similar in the pantheons of the Hurrians and in Ugarit, but not in
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
. Daniel Schwemer considers the Hurrian sea god and the Ugaritic Yam to be equivalents. Both Kiaše and Yam appear in god lists and as actively worshiped deities in ritual texts. In contrast, in Mesopotamia the evidence for worship of the sea and for personification of this part of nature is relatively scarce. In '' Enuma Elish'', the name of the monstrous sea personification
Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial cre ...
is written without the divine determinative, and she is otherwise mostly attested in explanatory texts depending on this myth. Deified sea, dA.BA.BA, also occurs in the '' Theogony of Dunnu'', and is identified as a female figure. According to Wilfred G. Lambert, this text is likely late, with the only known copy written in the
neo-Babylonian The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bein ...
or Persian period, and at least one of the figures appearing in it,
Ḫamurnu Earth and Heaven (Eše Hawurni) were worshiped by various Hurrian communities in the Ancient Near East. While considered to be a part of the Hurrian pantheon, they were not envisioned as personified deities. They were also incorporated into the Mes ...
("Heaven") has Hurrian origin. dA.BA.BA is not present in any Mesopotamian god lists. However, a god named Lugala'abba ( Sumerian: "lord of the sea") does appear in the god list ''
An = Anum ''An = Anum'', also known as the Great God List, is the longest preserved Mesopotamian god list, a type of lexical list cataloging the deities worshiped in the Ancient Near East, chiefly in modern Iraq. While god lists are already known from the ...
'', and it is assumed that he was an
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...
deity. He was worshiped in Nippur during the reign of
Samsu-iluna Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu''; c. 1750–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon, ruling from 1750 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor of ...
. Further Mesopotamian deities associated with the sea were Laguda, a god associated with the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
, and Sirsir, associated with sailors. The sea was also worshiped by the
Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...
, who likewise represented it as a male deity, Aruna, in myths. As this word has no plausible
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, ...
etymology, Gernot Wilhelm proposes that it was borrowed from Hattian. Aruna is also the name applied to the sea in the Hittite translation of the Kumarbi cycle. It seems more than one sea was venerated in
Hittite religion Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites, who created an empire centered in what is now Turkey from . Most of the narratives embodying Hittite mythology are lost, and the elements that wo ...
- the "Great Sea" can be identified with the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
, but the "''tarmana'' sea" remains unidentified.


Mythology

According to the myth ''Song of Hedammu'', Kiaše's daughter was Šertapšuruḫi. Gernot Wilhelm proposes that her names should be interpreted as "belonging to Šertapšuri," Šertapšuri being an otherwise unknown term or divine name. In an early scholarly article, Michael C. Astour characterized her as "a young person of impressive dimensions." In addition to highlight the size, the myth also compares her to sweet cream. Kiaše's
sukkal Sukkal (conventionally translated from Sumerian as "vizier") was a term which could denote both a type of official and a class of deities in ancient Mesopotamia. The historical sukkals were responsible for overseeing the execution of various comm ...
(attendant deity) was Impaluri. Volkert Haas notes that the suffix -''luri'' appears in the names of the mountain goddess
Lelluri Lelluri (also spelled Lilluri, Liluri) was a Hurrian goddess worshiped in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria. She was associated with mountains, and in known sources appears in connection with the god Manuzi. Character Lelluri most lik ...
, the primordial giant Upelluri, and also in some Hurrian mountain and stone names. According to Gernot Wilhelm, many myths about the personified sea known from Hittite translations have Hurrian or
Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indig ...
origin. One example of Hurrian texts known largely from their Hittite translations is the Kumarbi cycle, consisting out of ''Song of Kumarbi'', ''Song of LAMMA'', ''Song of Silver'', ''Song of Hedammu'' and ''Song of Ullikummi''. In the ''Song of Hedammu'', Kiaše makes an appearance as an ally of
Kumarbi Kumarbi was an important god of the Hurrians, regarded as "the father of gods." He was also a member of the Hittite pantheon. According to Hurrian myths, he was a son of Alalu, and one of the parents of the storm-god Teshub, the other being Anu ( ...
and meets with him in his dwelling to propose the marriage with his daughter to him. This alliance is part of a pattern present in all parts of the cycle - the allies of
Teshub Teshub (also written Teshup, Teššup, or Tešup; cuneiform ; hieroglyphic Luwian , read as ''Tarhunzas'';Annick Payne (2014), ''Hieroglyphic Luwian: An Introduction with Original Texts'', 3rd revised edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. ...
are gods associated chiefly in the sky, like Shaushka or Shimige, while Kumarbi cooperates with gods of the underworld and the sea. The eponymous Hedammu is a monster born from her union of Kiaše's daughter with Kumarbi. The sea god makes another appearance after Teshub's sister Shaushka discovers the monster - Kumarbi's sukkal Mukišanu summons him for another meeting with his master, and warns him to travel underground to avoid being spotted by Teshub and his allies. After the sea's arrival two of them participate in a feast together, but the rest of the scene is not preserved, and the next fragment describes a meeting between Teshub and Shaushka instead. The sea god also appears in the ''Song of Ullikummi'', in which he advises Kumarbi, much like in the ''Song of Hedammu''. In this myth, however, it is his sukkal Impaluri who asks Kumarbi to meet with his master, who seemingly does not understand why the latter is angry. Meindert Dijkstra proposes that Šertapšuruḫi also reappears, possibly as one of the midwives mentioned during the birth of
Ullikummi __NOTOC__ In Hurrian mythology, Ullikummi is a giant stone monster, son of Kumarbi and the sea god's daughter, Sertapsuruhi, or a female cliff. The language of the literary myth in its existing redaction is Hittite, in cuneiform texts recovered ...
, the eponymous antagonist, presumably acting alongside Hutena and Hutellura. The role Kiaše plays in ''Song of Ullikummi'' is one of its features used to argue that the connection between it and the Song of Hedammu was particularly close. Noga Ayali-Darshan notes that despite Kiaše's alliance with Kumarbi, a sea wave delivers information about Ullikummi to Shaushka, which might indicate that more than one tradition regarding the sea was combined by the compiler of this text. Another Hurrian myth involving the sea was the ''Song of the Sea''. Two texts, a ritual instruction prescribing the singing of ''Song of the Sea'' and an ancient literary catalog, attest its existence. A number of fragments of Hurrian texts are assumed to belong to it, but nothing can be said about the plot with certainty, other than that the sea, Kumarbi and the so-called "primordial deities" played some role in it. According to Ian Rutherford, this myth was either a description of the origin of the eponymous god, an account of a primordial
flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
, or perhaps of a conflict between the weather god Teshub and the sea god. He considers the third option to be the most likely, due to the location connected to the myth, the presence of vocabulary associated with the act of vanquishing enemies of the gods, and the presence of Kumarbi and his allies, the "primordial deities." Mount Hazzi, in connection with which the ''Song of the Sea'' was ritually performed, was another name for mount Saphon known from Ugaritic texts, where the conflict between the weather god
Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", " lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied ...
and the sea god Yam took place in the
Baal Cycle The Baal Cycle is an Ugaritic cycle of stories about the Canaanite god Baʿal ( "Owner", "Lord"), a storm god associated with fertility. It is one of the Ugarit texts, dated to c. 1500-1300 BCE. The text identifies Baal as the god Hadad, ...
. It has been proposed that ''Song of the Sea'' was a part of the Kumarbi cycle, but this remains uncertain. It is possible that it can be placed either right before ''Song of Hedammu'', with defeat at the hands of Teshub motivating Kiaše to offer Kumarbi his daughter in marriage, or between the ''Song of Kumarbi'' and ''Song of LAMMA'', in which case it would document Teshub's gradual rise to power. Further allusions to conflict between Teshub and the sea are present elsewhere in Hurro-Hittite literature: in the myth of Shaushka and
Pišaišapḫi Pišaišapḫi (also spelled Pišašapḫi) was a Hurrian mountain god. His name was derived from that of the associated mountain, Pišaiša, which was most likely located next the Mediterranean coast. He is attested in Hurrian and Hittite ritua ...
, the latter god in return for sparing him in spite of his misdeeds promises to tell her the story of Teshub's victory over the sea and the subsequent rebellion of the mountain gods against him. Ian Rutherford notes that the myth seemingly alludes to the mountain gods using the same weapon which Teshub used to defeat the sea god with to fight him, possibly indicating they stole it. These motifs have no parallel in the myths about Baal's combat with Yam. Another fragmentary text of Hurrian origin relays that at one point the sea caused a flood which reached the heavens, and demanded tribute of gold, silver and
lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mine ...
from the gods, with Kumarbi possibly urging the other deities to pay. The deity who brings the tribute to the sea is the "Queen of
Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern b ...
," Shaushka (d IŠTAR). It is possible that this is simply a fragment of the ''Song of the Sea'', rather than an independent composition. It has been pointed out that it resembles an Egyptian composition about the goddess
Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...
and the sea, known from the so-called "Astarte papyrus," though the latter bears similarities to the Baal Cycle as well. Noga Ayali-Darshan notes that it is likely based on a composition originally transmitted in a Western Semitic language (though it is not necessarily the Ugaritic Baal Cycle), rather than in Hurrian, as the personified sea is referred to as ''Ym'' rather than Kiaše. Fragmentary Hittite version of the ''
Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins wit ...
'' mentions the personified sea, seemingly accompanied by his Hurrian sukkal Impaluri. While
Gilgamesh sux, , label=none , image = Hero lion Dur-Sharrukin Louvre AO19862.jpg , alt = , caption = Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assy ...
bows down to the god and blesses him and his minions, he is cursed in response. Gary Beckman assumes that this episode reflected the sea's more pronounced role in the mythology of inhabitants of ancient Anatolia. He notes that multiple Hurrian and Hittite additions differentiating from the standard Babylonian version are known, indicating that the epic was sometimes adapted to suit sensibilities of non-Mesopotamian audiences.


References


Bibliography

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