Tašmišu (Tashmishu) was a

Hurrian god The Hurrian pantheon consisted of gods of varied backgrounds, some of them natively Hurrian, while others adopted from other pantheons, for example Eblaite and Mesopotamian. Like the other inhabitants of the Ancient Near East, Hurrians regarded th ...

. He was regarded as a brother of

Teshub Teshub was the Hurrians, Hurrian weather god, as well as the head of the Hurrian pantheon. The etymology of his name is uncertain, though it is agreed it can be classified as linguistically Hurrian language, Hurrian. Both Phonetics, phonetic and L ...

, and it is assumed he had a warlike character.

Character

Volkert Haas Volkert Haas (1 November 1936 – 13 May 2019) was a German Assyrologist and Hittitologist. __NOTOC__ Life Volkert Haas studied Assyrology and Near Eastern archaeology at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Marburg from 1963 to ...

proposed that Tašmišu's name was derived from the

Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...

word ''tašmi'', which he translates as strong. The suffix -''šu'' is also known from the name of one Teshub's bulls, Šerišu, and various Hurrian personal names, such as Anniwašu or Ekammešu. Tašmišu was one of the multiple warrior gods in the Hurrian pantheon. Other such deities were Ugur,

Aštabi Aštabi (, ''aštb''), also known as Aštabil, was a god worshiped in the third millennium BCE in Ebla, later incorporated into Hurrian beliefs in locations such as Alalakh and Ugarit and as a result also into the religion of the Hittite Empire. ...

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...

and

Ḫešui Ḫešui, also known as Ḫišue, was a Hurrian religion, Hurrian war god. He was also incorporated into the Hittite mythology and religion, Hittite pantheon. He is sparsely attested in known sources, and his origin and the meaning of his name rem ...

. In myths, his position appears to be that of a subordinate of his brother

, and in one passage from the ''Song of Ullikummi'' he outright addresses him as "my lord." He served as his

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 com ...

(attendant deity), though as noted by Daniel Schwemer this role in ritual texts could also be attributed to the god Tenu. He proposed that the latter was adopted from the religious tradition of ancient Aleppo, where a month was named after him. However, Alfonso Archi ascribes Hurrian origin to Tenu.

Associations with other deities

Tašmišu was regarded as the "pure brother" of Teshub. Their sister was the goddess

Šauška Šauška (Shaushka), also called Šauša or Šawuška, was the highest ranked goddess in the Hurrian pantheon. She was associated with love and war, as well as with incantations and by extension with healing. While she was usually referred to as ...

. Their parents were Anu and

Kumarbi Kumarbi, also known as Kumurwe, Kumarwi and Kumarma, was a Hurrian god. He held a senior position in the Hurrian pantheon, and was described as the "father of gods". He was portrayed as an old, deposed king of the gods, though this most likely ...

. Tašmišu's wife was the goddess

Nabarbi Nabarbi or Nawarni was a Hurrian goddess possibly associated with pastures. She was one of the major deities in Hurrian religion, and was chiefly worshiped in the proximity of the river Khabur, especially in Taite. It has been proposed that s ...

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

identified Tašmišu with their god

Šuwaliyat Šuwaliyat was a Hittite god associated with vegetation. He was worshiped in Kanesh, Ḫupišna and Ḫunḫuišna, as well as in Hattusa. In a number of ritual texts he appears alongside the grain goddess Ḫalki. A close connection between ...

, who had old Anatolian ( Hattian) origin. However, Tašmišu never acquired the latter's association with vegetation. Both of them could be associated with Mesopotamian

Ninurta Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...

. As a result, instances where Tašmišu's name is written logographically as ^dNIN.URTA are known. Another attested logographic writing is ^d URAŠ. Furthermore, a god list from

Emar Emar (, ), is an archaeological site at Tell Meskene in the Aleppo Governorate of northern Syria. It sits in the great bend of the mid-Euphrates, now on the shoreline of the man-made Lake Assad near the town of Maskanah. It has been the sourc ...

identifies him with

Papsukkal Papsukkal () was a Mesopotamian god regarded as the sukkal (attendant deity) of Anu and his wife Antu in Seleucid Uruk. In earlier periods he was instead associated with Zababa. He acquired his new role through syncretism with Ninshubur. C ...

Worship

In Hurrian offering lists, Tašmišu usually follows Teshub. Worship of him is best attested from the Hurrian kingdom of

Kizzuwatna Kizzuwatna (or Kizzuwadna; in Ancient Egyptian ''Kode'' or ''Qode'') was an ancient Anatolian kingdom, attested in written sources from the end of the 16th century BC onwards, but though its origins are still obscure, the Middle Bronze Age in Cili ...

, where he appears in various festivals related to Teshub of

Šapinuwa Sapinuwa (sometimes Shapinuwa; Hittite: ''Šapinuwa'') was a Bronze Age Hittite city at the location of modern Ortaköy in the province Çorum in Turkey about 70 kilometers east of the Hittite capital of Hattusa. It was one of the major Hittite ...

. He is also attested among the gods worshiped in

Lawazantiya Lawazantiya (URULa-wa(-az)-za-an-ti-ya) was a major Bronze Age city in the Kingdom of Kizzuwatna and the cultic city of the goddess Šauška. It was famous for its temple that got purification water from its seven springs. Today the best candida ...

. In Emar, both Tašmišu and Tenu were worshiped as members of the entourage of Teshub.

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. 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 Šimige was the Hurrian sun god. Known sources do not associate him with any specific location, but he is attested in documents from various settlements inhabited by the Hurrians, from Kizzuwatnean cities in modern Turkey, through Ugarit, Alala ...

. Later he reveals Teshub's fate after the initial confrontation with the monster to his wife Hebat. 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 Abzû or Apsû ( Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ), also called (Cuneiform:, ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: – recorded in Greek as ), is the name for fresh water from underground aquifers which was given a religious fertilising quality in ancie ...

, in the Hurrian myth assumed to be a city rather than a body of water. After Ea agrees to listen to them, Tašmišu shows his gratitude.

References

Bibliography

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