comments by Patrick C. Ryan (1/18/98)
Sky and Earth
engendered the cosmic deities
by maintaining a connection;
however, the Sun and Moon were regarded
as the eyes of the sky-god.
We have seen that the ‘sky' could be designated as the ‘face' of the sky-god (Egyptian Hr) but another Egyptian metaphor for it — in fact, a very common one — is pt ("sky"), which on the basis of Coptic pe, I would emend to *pjt. I believe that Egyptian *pjt literally designates a canopy or tent- cover; and for a short discussion of this idea, click here.
As a consequence, I believe that Hurrian kum(i)-, which is an element in three important Hurrian divine names, can analogously be related to IE (s)keu- ("cover"), which, without further root extension is the basis for Old Icelandic sky:, "cloud, darkening"; and is attested with an extension in -m as Norwegian sku:me, "dark".
The first divine name of interest is Hurrian Kummi-ni, an epithet of Tešub, the storm-god (Laroche 1976, p. 154). I interpret this name as "the cloudy one" which seems a suitable name for a storm-god. That this is a correct analysis and attribution of the epithet to Tešub is supported by the name Ulli-kummi, a mythological being created by Kum-arbi to destroy Tešub. Kummi- obviously designates Tešub; and ulli- is probably derivable from ulli-, "destroy" (Laroche 1977, p. 279), so that the name appropriately means "destroyer of Kummi (Teshub)".
With that background, we can look more closely at the divine name Kum-arbi, which we can probably analyze as Kum-, "cloud" + -ar-bi, "*maker" (cf. ar-, "give" [Laroche 1976, p. 52-3]), i.e., "*Maker or Giver of Cloud(s)".
The well-known myth involving these characters begins by naming Alalu as the first "king of heaven", whom we can recognize as the Hurrian equivalent of Egyptian Nw(n)(w), the celestial ocean. It proceeds to tell us that he was deposed by Hurrian Ani, who is acknowledged by all to be equivalent to Sumerian An and Akkadian Anu(m), the sky-god. So far, the Hurrian myth has followed the familiar pattern: primeval ocean, then sky. Ani, in turn, is deposed by Kum-arbi, who bites off and swallows Ani's phallus; and becomes pregnant, though male, thereby with Teshub, the weather-god (Jupiter); Aranzah, the Tigris river (Venus); and Tašmišu, a minister to the gods probably representing Mercury (but possibly Mars).
So, what does Kumarbi represent? A further detail of the myth may elucidate it: Kumarbi cohabits with a Rock; and the Rock gives birth to Ullikummi. Since we know that the common pattern is that the Sky and Earth produce the cosmic gods, and Ani and Kumarbi produce the gods listed above to which we attach cosmic connections, it is perhaps justified to speculate that Kumarbi represents the Earth (Saturn). When we additionally learn that he slept with a rock, we may regard the rock as merely an extension of Kumarbi's essential nature, a necessary female component to enable his male component to create through sexual reproduction. But what should we make of his epithet "*Maker/Giver of Cloud(s)"? I believe that the most likely explanation is that Kumarbi represents the earth at its most dramatic — in the form of a volcano; and the description of Ullikummi, and his connection with Mount Hazzi, as well as the detail of his originally being hidden by the Irširra deities (who live in the "dark earth") — all point to Ullikummi as only a concrete expression of Kumarbi as a volcano. Additional details support this interpretation as well.
In addition to a general confirmation of the pattern, Hurrian attests an Ubelluri, who is an Atlas-like figure, corresponding to the well-represented World-Tree figures we have already seen.
I have parenthesized "and" because Verse 16 continues: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:" (17) "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: . . ."
It is obvious from this that the "tree of life . . . in the midst of the garden" (Gen. II, 9) is to be equated with "tree which is in the midst of the garden" (Gen. III, 3), which is the forbidden to be eaten "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. II, 17); and that the usual interpretation of the existence of two trees is incorrect. The "and" in Gen. II, 9, should accordingly be interpreted not as "and" but "also" (Gesenius 1951, p. 252), and introduces a further elaboration of what the "tree of life" is, an idea which connects ‘death/no-growth' with ‘evil' and ‘life/growth' with ‘good'.
The myth continues: ". . . she took the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
Here we must be reminded of the common theme that partaking of food in the underworld means death, and conversely in heaven means life (myth of Adapa; Jacobsen 1976, p. 116; and the myth of Demeter and Core, upon whose disappearance in the Underworld, Zeus announces to Demeter: "You may have your daughter again, on the single condition that she has not yet tasted the food of the dead" (Graves 1959, I, p. 91 [XXIV, f, Demeter's Nature and Deeds]).
Also, the recognition by Adam and Eve of their nakedness can be associated with the their state of being ‘dead' as Innana(k) is told by the underworld goddess, Ereškigal: "crouched and stripped bare, man comes to me" (Jacobsen 1976, p. 57).
Then, interestingly, in Verse 22: "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:" (23) "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden . . ."
And continues: ". . . and he placed at the east (qedem, here better "front") of the garden of Eden Cherubim (kerub-im; almost certainly the winged griffins seen in the Akkadian illustration above; see Gesenius 1951, p. 500; cf. Greek grúps, "griffin"), and a flaming (lâhaT) sword (ha-Hereb; perhaps better Hôreb, "Mt. Horeb"), which turned every way (ha-Tith-hapekh-eth, better "whirled" [Gesenius 1951, p. 529]), to keep the way of the tree of life" (perhaps reflecting a belief that the daytime columns of smoke from a volcano were equivalent to the nighttime Milky Way as a pathway among the worlds).
Now the word for ‘serpent' (naHaš), used in this myth, is almost certainly identified with Draco in the passage: "By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent."
And when we add the final telling detail: "And a river went out of Edin to water the garden . . ." (English 1948, p. 5 [Genesis 2, 10]), the repertory of elements we have come to expect in the patterned creation accounts is virtually complete for, if we let the "river" represent the Milky Way, the serpent — Draco; the whirling, flashing sword", the axis mundi (and Circumpolar Regions); and finally, Adam and Eve (originally, the 'earth' and 'sky', as we saw in Creation-3), transformed into male and female components of the seasonal World-Tree cycle.
Do we have any justification for this? Let us review the myth. Eve eats of the tree but is not gifted with eternal life! But if Adam eats of it again, he will be. I believe this can only be reasonably interpreted to me that Eve has initiated the half-cycle that begins with the summer-solstice by taking the fruit but for Adam to have eternal life, he must complete the self- renewing cycle by taking the fruit at the winter-solstice, his time of renewal.
Although we have little information about them, since the connections between the early Hebrews and Hurrians are well-known, it will come as no surprise to learn of a Hurrian divine triad of Adamma, Kubaba, and Hašuntarhi. Hurrian Kubaba lives on, of course, as Anatolian Cybebe or Cybele in Greece and Rome, whose relationship with the dying Attis, reiterates the renewing cycle of nature through alternately dying male and female deities. An additional detail virtually verifies these connections: the chief sanctuary of Cybebe/Cybele was at Phrygian Pessinus, of which the echo can be found in Pîsôn, the ". . . river [which] went out of Eden to water the garden . . . (11) The name of the first is Pison" (English 1948, p. 5 [Genesis 2, 10-11]).
In conclusion, we might speculate that the dying son of Adam and Eve, Abel (hebel), which is incredibly related by some to a root meaning "vapor, breath", is probably rather a composite of ha-, "the", and *?abel, signifying the ‘one who is mourned', the dying/dead Hebrew equivalent of Tamuzi(d), incidentally connected with agriculture. Cain (Qaîn, "acquirer???") is probably better connected with qînah, "dirge" so that the famous "mark of Cain" will, at origin, have been nothing more than some ritual disfigurement practiced in connection with lamenting the dead.
Finally, we have seen in the Sumerian section above the figure of Geštin-anna(k), who represents the axis mundi as a grape-vine. The word tin in Sumerian means both ‘grape(-leaf)' and ‘life'; this can hardly be a coincidence. And, is it simply coincidence that "a golden vine was one of the principal ornaments of the Temple of Jerusalem" (Graves 1959a, p. 189)?
Thus, we can see that the Hebrew tradition, though disguised by purposeful, doctrinally motivated misinterpretations of the myth, still reveals on closer inspection the elements we have come to expect and recognize in creation myths from around the world.
The explanation of the "tree" as partaking of "good and evil" is a reflection of the idea that growth in nature is welcomed, and the cessation of growth is feared.
As an addendum, we may notice the story of Jacob's Ladder.
a ladder set up on earth,
and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold
the angels of God ascending and descending on it."
"18. And Jacob rose early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put for his pillows,
and set in up for a pillar,
and poured oil upon the top of it.
19. And he called the name of that place Beth-el:
but the name of that city was called Luz at the first."
The detail of "ascending and descending" identifies Jacob's Ladder as a symbol of the axis mundi or World Tree as does the image of a "pillar". But the final confirmation is provided by the detail of the former name of the place: Lűz, which Biblical scholars have chosen to relate to Hebrew lűz, "bending", rather than to the rather obvious lűz, "almond-tree", which was perhaps "overlooked" because it suggests a tree-cult based on the World Tree.
Actually, the detail of the creation of what I suppose to be comets is rather incidental to the main line of the creation story.
The Pelasgian Creation Myth supplies us with details of the Titans:
"Next, the goddess (Eurynome) created the seven planetary powers, setting a Titaness and a Titan over each. Theia and Hyperion for the Sun; Phoebe and Atlas for the Moon; Dione and Crius for the planet Mars; Metis and Coeus for the planet Mercury; Themis and Eurymedon for the planet Jupiter; Tethys and Oceanus for Venus; Rhea and Cronus for the planet Saturn."
We are fortunate to have this version preserved in such marvelous detail. It illustrates an assignment of attributes to each of the planets that corresponds rather well with the assignment of characteristics to planets that I proposed in Creation (3), based on the interpretation of the names themselves.
And the word Titan (Greek Ti:tán), which was used by the Latin poets as a name for the ‘sun', probably is derived from IE kweit-, "bright", a suitable epithet for a shining planet/star.
However, in disguised form, we have the early idea of the sun as an eye of the sky-god in the form of Athene — the sun-goddess with her Gorgon-faced aegis, which represents the blinding sun-disk — who sprang forth full-armed the forehead of Zeus; and, who (Athene) in typical solar fashion, is intimately connected to ethical judgment (justice).
After Earth (Sedi) and Sky (Melo), who had been married, had been separated into their appropriate places, the Earth bore two daughters, and "When the little girls were old enough to walk, light began to shine for them, and day by day, the light grew brighter."
After dying of grief at the death of their nurse, to whom their mother had given them, the eyes of the dead nurse are found; and her eyes had captured the vital powers of the two dead daughters. After treatment of the eyes, the two daughters: Sedi-Irkong-Bomong, who represents the moon; and Sedi-Irkong-Bong, who represents the sun — are restored.
This myth, in a rather garbled fashion, introduces the Earth as the mother of the moon and sun but then promptly severs the relationship by her placing the luminous children in the care of a nurse (connection with the Milky Way and sky?). By the rejuvenation of the girls through eyes, it dimly remembers the idea that the sun and moon are the eyes of the sky-god (Melo), their father, which neatly parallels the Egyptian idea of the sun and moon as right and left eyes of the sky-god.
Next, two deities are formed which seem simply to be re-statements of Sky (Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto [Land-of-right-soil-of Augustness] and Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto [Rich-form-plain-of-Augustness]) and Earth (Uhiji-ne/i no Mikoto [Mud-earth-of-Augustness] and Suhiji-ne/i no Mikoto [Sand-earth-of-Augustness].
There follow these six deities: Oho-to nochi no Mikoto [Great-after-door-of-Augustness] and Oho-to mahe no Mikoto [Great-before-door-of-Augustness]; Omo-taru no Mikoto [Face- pleasing-of-Augustness] and Kashiko-ne no Mikoto [Awful-of-Augustness]; and Izanami no Mikoto [Male-who-invites-of-Augustness] and Izanagi no Mikoto [Female-who-invites-of- Augustness]. And, the texts assure us that these deities, "Being formed by the mutual action of the Heavenly and Earthly principles . . . were made male and female."
Since Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto then proceeded to produce the Sun- Goddess, Oho-hiru-me no muchi [Great-noon-female-of-possessor], and the Moon-God, it is likely that they are themselves earlier versions of these bisexual sky-deity while a sub-plot, involving the death of Izanagi no Mikoto and a visit to her in the Underworld by Izanagi no Mikoto suggests further parallels with the sky-derived female and male components of the World Tree (Dumuzi[d] and Inanna[k]).
If our sources contained more details, we probably would be able to identify these gods: for example, a plausible guess would be to see Venus and Mars in Omo-taru no Mikoto [Face-pleasing-of-Augustness] and Kashiko-ne no Mikoto [Awful-of-Augustness] while Oho-to nochi no Mikoto [Great-after-door-of-Augustness] and Oho-to mahe no Mikoto [Great-before-door-of-Augustness] might be the dawn and dusk; but this is only pure speculation.
In any case, Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto now begin to produce deities that by their associated functions can be reasonably assigned planetary identities: Sosa no wo no Mikoto [Impetuous-one-of Augustness], who is assigned to the Underworld (Mercury, as the swift- footed psychopomp?); Kagu-tsuchi [god of fire], who burns his mother so that she dies (Sun?) giving birth to Hani-yama-hime, the earth-goddess (Saturn?) and Midzu-ha-no-me, the water-goddess (Venus?).
After the death of Izanami no Mikoto, Kagu-tsuchi, with Hani-yama-hime, produces Waka-musubi [young growth], which may be the missing representative of the weather-god (Jupiter?).
Although the Japanese material from the Nihongi is suggestive, it is hardly, as of yet, conclusively confirmative but we do have attestation of the sun (left eye) and moon (right eye) as eyes of the sky-deity (Izanagi) in the Kojiki (Herbert 1967, p. 284).
We are fortunate to have explicit references to the sky and earth producing the cosmic deities and the sun and moon as eyes of the sky-deity in only a few traditions but I have no doubt that persistent investigation will reveal more with time.
return to Creation (4, a)?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aston, W. G. Translator. 1956. The Nihongi. London: George Allen and Unwin
Bauval, Robert, and Gilbert, Gilbert. 1994. The Orion Mystery. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.
Black, Jeremy and Green, Anthony. 1992. Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. Austin. University of Texas Press.
Bonnet, Hans. 1971. Reallexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter
Budge, E. A. Wallis. 1969 [1904]. The Gods of the Egyptians - or Studies in Egyptian Mythology. 2 vol. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Elwin, Verrier. 1958. Myths of the North-East Frontier of India. Calcutta: Sree Saraswaty Press
English, E. Schuyler, editor-in-chief. 1948. Holy Bible. Pilgrim Edition. New York: Oxford University Press
Freidel, David, Schele, Linda, and Parker, Joy. 1993. Maya Cosmos - Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path. First Quill Edition. New York. William Morrow
Gesenius, William. (as translated by Edward Robinson). 1951 (1906). A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament — with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Gottlieb, Alma. 1992. Under the Kapok Tree - Identity and Difference in Beng Thought. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press
Graves, Robert. 1959. The Greek Myths. 2 vol. New York: George Braziller, Inc.
Graves, Robert. 1959a. The White Goddess. New York: Vintage Books
Hebert, Jean. 1967. Shintô - At the fountain-head of Japan. New York: Stein and Day
Jacobsen, Thorkild. 1970. Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Jacobsen, Thorkild. 1976. The Treasures of Darkness - A History of Mesopotamian Religion. New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Laroche, Emmanuel. 1976/1977 Glossaire de la Langue Hourrite. M. E. Laroche. Revue Hittite et Asianique, Éditions Klincksieck, Tome XXXIV (A-L) and XXXV (M-Z). Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck
Leach, Maria. 1956. The Beginning. New York: Funk and Wagnalls
Piankoff, Alexandre. 1969. The Pyramid of Unas. Bollingen Series XL • 5. Princeton: Princeton University Press
the latest revision of this document can be found at
HTTP://WWW.GEOCITIES.COM/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/creation-4b.htm
Patrick C. Ryan * 9115 West 34th Street - Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 * (501)227-9947
PROTO-LANGUAGE@email.msn.com