Further Biblical materials for your annoyance, Min.
A HISTORY OF THE BRONZE AGE
PART I: PATRISTIC TIMES
E.P. Grondine
epgrondine@hotmail.com
Hello Benny -
For the past several years I have circulated several notes to Conference participants on bronze age asteroid and comet impact events, notes which set forth my best understanding of both the chronology of those impact events and their effects on the peoples of the regions affected.
Several recent developments have prompted this collection and updating of some of those notes on the Bronze Age, but most particularly the publication by Robert Drews of his new book on the end of the Bronze Age, a book which bears directly on the events surrounding the ca 1150 BCE encounter of planet Earth with Comet Enke.
In this otherwise fine and insightful book, which should be of great interest to many Conference participants, as it has particular bearing on the collapse of the Bronze Age, and of which more later, at the appropriate time, Drews makes several very significant and critical errors. The first of Drews' errors is his assignment of the Bible's Joshua materials to the late Bronze Age, when it can be shown pretty well from both contemporary documents and from the archaeological evidence that those materials relate to events which occured ca. 1585 BCE. Drews second major error lies is in his description of the Achaeans as a northern greek people, where it is well known from contemporary Hittite documents that these people were in western Anatolia at this time. Drews third major error is his hypothesis of a Pax Mycenica, a Mycenean peace, when it can be shown that the times were far from peaceful.
For several reasons confusion among anthropolohists over materials from the Bible and Homer is extremely prevalent. One of those reasons must be with certainty that the writings of the Bible and Homer touch immediately on the modern national identities of Israel and Greece respectively. Another of the certain reasons for this confusion must be that for centuries these documents have provided modern man with his only insight into those Bronze Age times, and because of this they have acquired a large baggage of interpretation.
The situation has changed. Contemporary documents from Bronze Age times are now for the most part either nearly completely or substantially well read. Given this, to give primary reliance to writings which were either composed fairly late, or have a substantial history of transmission through centuries, does not seem to me to be a very good course of action.
Further, we now have the tools of catastrophism, the study of both volcanic eruptions and of asteroid and comet impact events, to sort out at least a broad chronology of the Bronze Age; because of the unmistakable and massive devastation caused by these catastrophic events, fine tools they are.
I suppose I should be upfront and admit at the very start of this summary my own nationalistic biases. I am neither particularly fascinated by either the ancient Israelites or the Greeks. Instead, my own fascination lies with the "Minoan" peoples, and for the most part they are dead. While I had read of their societies when I was eight years old, I suppose that the fascination began when I was about twelve or thirteen, and read books illustrating their palaces and picturing their magnificent frescoes. Those pictures showed peoples thoroughly enjoying life, living in an advanced state, peoples who disappeared pretty much without much trace. What happened?
There things remained, until my interest in those peoples was re-kindled with the discovery of the remains of the massive explosion of the volcano at Thera. Here lay an explanation for what happened to them, and the possibility that there would be discovered additional works in their writing system, enough works so that their langauage could be read, and finally their history and their insights into living could be learned.
But enough about my personal interest. It is now time to move on to my faults. I suppose that if I had studied ancient Egyptian, Mycenean Greek or Hittite in college instead of economics, the following collection of worknotes would be much improved. As it is, they will surely contain errors, and given the heat with which some hold their views on those times, those errors are likely to be seen as being as bad as those of Drews. Given that heat, and I suppose there is no way of avoiding it, perhaps the best thing to do is to jump right in, with an examination of the Ullikummi impact event and the Patristic times of the Old Testament
THE ULLIKUMMI IMPACT EVENT AND THE DATING OF PATRISTIC TIMES
In my note to Conference participants entitled "WORKNOTES ON MAN IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND IMPACT EVENTS"
I argued that the Rio Cuarto Impact Event could be used to date the times of the rule of Sargon of Akkad.
THE TZ'UK OF 2360 BCE AND THE DATING OF SARGON
From what can be puzzled out with a great degree of difficulty, and thus not all that clearly, the Maya were pretty insistent that an impact event occurred around 2360 BCE; as a matter of fact, the Maya appear to insist that it occurred exactly on 25 October, 2360 BCE. Fortunately for us, the Maya never developed a clock, as we would now have to puzzle that out as well.
Some here will remember that this impactor appears to have entered on an angle, and that Masse had assembled myth materials from throughout South America which indicated that the whole of the continent of South America east of the Andes in an area stretching from today's Guiana in the north to Argentina in the south was set on fire by the heat thrown off from this impactor's entry:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/373938.asp
The Maya reported that torrential rains washed away the "Mud People", torrential rains which most likely were precipitated by the ash from this massive fire. Recent NASA studies have shown that in the Northern Hemisphere, such ash induced rains will most likely result in a lack of rain, in other words drought, occurring further east:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast22may_1.htm
Now following one of the typical conflicts between the Sumerian city states for suzzerainity, the Semetic Akkadians under the leadership of Sargon managed to seize control of the city of Kish from the non-Semetic Sumerians. After Sargon, the Akkadian's first ruler, conquered Sumer proper in the south, he then went on to conquer a wide sweep of land extending up the Euphrates River and on to the coast of the Mediteranean Sea. It must be kept in mind that both Cyprus as well as the Jordan River-Dead Sea Valley were copper and tin sources, and that Sargon needed the bronze made from the copper and tin from these areas to manufacture the weapons he needed to equip his armies.
The low chronology dates for the Akkadian rulers are given as Sargon 2334-2279 BCE, Rimush 2279-2270 BCE, Manishtusu 2269-2255, and Naram-Sin 2254-2214 BCE. If the low chronology is correct, then possibly an earlier influx of Semetic peoples from the impact drought stricken areas to the east of Sumer may account for Sargon's ability to take control of the city of Kish. On the other hand, the middle chronology dates for the Akkadian rulers are Sargon 2398-2343 BCE, Rimush 2343-2334 BCE, Manishtusu 2333-2319, and Naram-Sin 2318-2278 BCE. With the middle chronology, the impact produced drought would have led to to the revolt which Sargon faced mid-way through his reign.
As will be seen later, the Akkadian middle chronology best explains all of the data, including that from Egypt.
THE ULLIKUMMI IMPACT AND STELA OF NARAM-SIN
Dr. Courty has long been arguing that an impact occured in the Tel Leillan area, and in an earlier note to Conference participants I relayed the account of an impact event which was recorded by the Hurrians in their "Song of Ullikummi". I now think that it may be possible to date this impact to the time of Sargon's later successor, the Akkadian king Naram-Sin, 2318-2278 BCE by the middle chronology. A victory stela of Naram-Sin has survived the ages, and it appears to show this impact event:
http://www.louvre.fr/anglais/collec/ao/sb0004/ao_f.htm
As Naram-Sin himself put it:
"Whereas, for all time since the formation of humankind there has never been a king who overthrew Armanum and Ebla with the weapon of Nergal (as) did Naram-Sin, the mighty, open the only path and he (Nergal) gave him Armanum and Ebla. He (Nergal) bestoyed upon him (Naram-Sin) the Amanus too, (and) the Cedar Mountain (the Jordan Valley), and the Upper Sea (the Mediterranean Sea), and by the weapon of Dagan, exalter of his kingship, Naram-Sin, the mighty, defeated Armanum and Ebla. Then, from the hither face (far west side) of the Euphrates (River), he (Naram-Sin) smote the river bank as far as Ulusium, as well as the people whom Dagan had for the first time bestowed upon him, and they bear for him the burden of Ilaba his god. The Amanus too, the Cedar Mountain, he conquered completely."
In this passage "with the weapon of Nergal" is a very important qualifier, since Sargon had conquered Ebla earlier, and this fact was well known by all Akkadians. On the other hand, Sargon had never had an impactor strike his enemies and deliver them to him, as Naram-Sin had, and Naram-Sin fell into delusions of grandeur, elevating himself to the status of a god, as may be seen by the horned headress he shows himself wearing in his victory stela.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE TEL LEILAN IMPACT EVENT IN A HITTITE MYTH?:
THE SONG OF ULLIKUMMI
While looking through Hittite materials, I stumbled across "The Song of Ullikummi", which pretty clearly is a myth describing a fairly massive impact event, and most likely the Tel Leilan impact event itself.
In the main the text here is from "The Song of Ullikummi: Revised text of the Hittite version of a Hurrian Myth, Hans Gustav Guterbock, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, publisher The American Schools of Oriental Research, New Haven, Connecticut, 1952", with the following significant changes:
1) In an attempt to relate some of the poetic qualities of the Song, Guterbock made his translation as nearly interlinear as he possible could. Guterbock acknowledged the awkwardness of the result, and here word order has been modified slightly to give the translation an easier flow.
2) It is clear that the logogram (d)U, usually translated as "Storm God" or "Weather God", is better translated by "Sky God", as it is evident that (d)U is supposed to control not only the weather but also impactors. In a similar way "nepisi", translated as "Heaven" by Guterbock, is clearly no mythical place, as in Christian tradition, but instead a very real place, a "Celestial Realm", which is used here.
3) Guterbock was puzzled (page 55) as what kind of stone (NA)kunkunuzzi was. It is clearly a meteorite-stone, having received its name onomatopoetically from the sound of the explosion, kunkun, that impactors made when they hit.
4) Some changes come from alternatives suggested by Guterbock in the commentary: (GIS)siiattal is clearly best translated as "spear point", as Guterbock suggested (page 54) and not as "blade", which he used.
5) The enclitic -ma, which Guterbock always translated as "but", is sometimes replaced by "while", when the opposition in sense is weak, or it has been dropped entirely. Other changes substitute synonyms; and the pronoun "the" has been replaced in the conversation formula by "these" where appropriate.
6) units of measure
[My asides are initialed - epg]
[DEDICATION - epg]
[Who....]
[And] in [whose] mind there is [....]
[Into his mind] wisdom he takes.
Of Kumarbi, Father of all the Gods, I shall sing.
[BEGINNING - epg]
Kumarbi takes wisdom into his mind,
and he raises as evil a bad day.
And against the Sky-God he plans evil,
and against the Sky-God he raises a rebel.
Kumarbi [takes] wisdom into his mind,
and sticks it on like a bead.
[This may be a reference to crenelation work in jewelry making. - epg]
When Kumarbi had taken wisdom into his mind,
he promptly rose from his chair.
He took a staff into his hand,
he put the swift winds upon his feet as shoes.
And from (his) town of Urkishh he set out;
And to the Cold Pond he came.
[The meaning of "ikunta luli", "cold pond" is unclear, but it is someplace
in space. Guterbock (page 4) identifes "urkish" as being probably east
of the tigris, in the easternmost part of the hurrian realm, but possibly it
is a mythical land in the east where the earth, the sky, and the celestial
realm meet.
Guterbock used "League" in his translation in an approximate and not
in an exact way as a unit of measurement. Absolute values for both "league" " " and " " " " have been recoverd from Ugarit and they are enclosed in brackets to the right. - epg]
When Kumarbi arrived,
There lay in Cold Pond
A great Rock.
Her length is three "leagues",
while her width is [1] "league"
and a half "league".
What she has below,
Upon this [...]
His mind sprang forward.
And with the rock he slept,
And into her his manhood [flowed],
And he took her five times,
And he took her ten times again.
[A break in all the tablets occurs. When the tablets continue, for some reason the Sea-God has begun to suspect what has happened. Since the sea was hit by an earlier impactor, as will be seen later in the song, the sea-god has sent his vizier Impaluri to make sure that Kumarbi is not planning to hit him again. The tablets pick back up at the end of Impaluri's visit to Kumarbi. - epg]
[...Kumarb]i, the Father of the Gods,
Remains upon his throne.
(...Impaluri) saw Kumarbi,
(...Impaluri) went to the Sea-God.
And Impaluri to the Sea-God began to speak these words:
"What my lord [...] me,
close to the Sea-God[...]
I [...]
[On his throne] Kumarbi, Father of the Gods,
remains seated."
When the Sea-God heard Impaluri's words,
The Sea-God began to speak again to Impaluri:
"O Impaluri, my Vizier,
The words which I speak to you,
[to my words] hold (your) ear,
Go and speak these strong words to Kumarbi,
Go, and say to Kumarbi:
"Why did you come in anger against my house?
So that trembling seized (my) house,
And fear seized (my) servants?
For you, cedar resin has long been broken;
For you, dishes have long been cooked;
For you, by day and night, the singers hold set the lutes.
Get up, and come to my house.'"
And he got up, Impaluri,
And Impaluri went before him [Kumarbi].
And Kumarbi [came out of his] house,
And Kumarbi traveled,
And he went into the Sea-God's house.
And the Sea-God spoke:
"They shall set a stool to sit on for Kumarbi;
They shall set a table before him;
They shall bring him (things) to eat and to drink,
And they shall bring him beer to drink."
The cooks brought dishes,
And the cup-bearers brought sweet wine to drink to him.
They drank once;
They drank twice;
They drank three times;
They drank four times;
They drank five times;
They drank six times;
They drank seven times.
And Kumarbi began to speak to his vizier Mukishanu:
"O Mukishanu, my Vizier,
The word which I speak to you,
To me hold (your) ear:
Take a staff into (your) hand,
Put shoes upon your feet.
Now go [...]
And into the waters [...]
And speak these words before the waters:
[A break in all the tablets occurs. It appears that Kumarbi and the Sea-God
reach an agreement, as the Sea-God's vizier Impaluri later works as a
messenger for Kumarbi. The tablets pick back up with the birth of Ullikummi,
the comet which will impact. - epg]
When the night [...]
When the middle night watch came,
[...] came.
The Stone [...] the Stone,
And [...],
And [...they] brought him to birth,
[...] the Rock [...]
[...] Kumarbi's son [...]
They brought him to birth [...the midwives],
and the Fate-Goddesses and the Mother-Goddesses took the child,
and they placed him on Kumarbi's knee.
Kumarbi began to rejoice over this son,
and he began to fondle him,
and he began to give a dear name to the child.
[The birth of the comet and presage of the next part of the song follow immediately. The comet is compared to a spear point at this time, but it will grow in length as it goes sunward, as will be seen. Guterbock (page 5) identifies Kummiya, the residence of the Sky-God, Tesub,
as being located in the mountains of south-eastern anatolia, and the name Ulli/kummi is probably derived as a compound of the place name Kummiya. Tashmishu is the Sky-God's brother. - epg]
Kumarbi in his own mind began to speak:
"What name shall I put on him,
On the son whom the Fate-Goddesses and Mother-Goddesses gave me?
Out of (her) body like a spear point he sprang -
He shall go!
Ullikummi shall be his name!
He shall go up to the Celestial Realm to kingship!
Amd he shall press down the beloved town of Kummiya!
He shall hit the Sky-God,
and he shall pound him (into) salt,
and he shall crush him like an ant with his foot,
He shall break off Tashmishu like a [...] reed!
He shall scatter all the Gods down from the Celestial Realm like birds,
And he shall break them like empty vessels!"
[Kumarbi now realizes he will have to hide his son Ullikummi, the comet, from his intended victims, lest they discover ullikummi and stop him. The "dark earth" is best understood as the void of cosmic space.- epg]
When Kumarbi had ceased to speak (these) words,
He began to speak (again) in his own mind :
"To whom shall I give him, this son?
Who will take him,
And treat him as a gift?
And who will [...]
And who will carry him to the [dark] earth (/the void of cosmic space/)?
(So that) the Sun-God of the Celestial Realm
And the Moon-God shall not see him?
He shall not see him,
The Sky-God, the brave king of Kummiya,
and he shall not kill him?
She shall not see him,
Ishtar, queen of Nineveh,
and she shall not break him off like a [...] reed?"
Kumarbi began to speak to Impaluri:
"O Impaluri,
I speak to you these words,
to my words hold your ear:
Take a staff into your hand,
Put upon your feet as shoes the swift winds!
And go to the Irshirraas-Gods,
and speak before the Irsirras-Gods these strong words:
'Come.
He calls you,
Kumarbi, Father of the Gods,
to the House of the Gods.
But the matter about which he calls you,
(that you know not).
Now come promptly!'"
When Impaluri [heard these words],
He took the staff into his hand,
He put the shoes upon his feet,
and Impaluri traveled forth.
And he came to the Irsirraas,
[And Impaluri] began to speak the words again to the Irshirraas-Gods:
"Come.
He calls you,
Kumarbi, Father of the Gods!
But the matter about which he calls you,
You know not.
Now hurry, come!"
When the Irshirraas-Gods heard the words,
They hurried, hastened,
and they [rose from their throne],
And they covered the way at once (in an instant),
and they came to Kumarbi.
[Kumarbi tells the Irshirraas-gods to take Ullikummi and put him on the
shoulder of Upelluri, an Atlas-like god who carries on his back both the
celestial realm and the earth. - epg]
And Kumarbi began to speak to the Irshirraas-Gods:
"Take [this child],
And [treat] him as a gift,
And carry him to the dark earth (/the void of cosmic space/).
Hurry, hasten!
And put him as a spear point
upon Upelluri's right shoulder!
[Description of growth of the comet's tail as it approaches sunward.
In the translation "yard" and "furlong" stand in for unknown units of
measurement. Description of the comet's coma - epg]
In one day he shall grow a "yard";
In one month he shall grow a "furlong";
The stone which is at his head,
His face shall cover."
When the Irshirraas-Gods heard these words,
They took [the child] from Kumarbi's knees.
The Irshirraas-Gods lifted the child,
And they pressed him unto their breast like a garment.
And they lifted him like [th]e win[ds],
and they placed him on Enlil's knees.
And Enlil lifted his eyes,
and he saw the child.
The child was standing before the Deity:
The child's body (was) made of stone,
of meteorite-stone.
And Enlil began to speak in his own mind:
"Who is he, this child,
Who the Fate-Goddesses and Mother-Goddesses raised again?
Who would see them [any longer],
the great Gods' strong battles?
This is an evil plan
of no one but Kumarbi!
(Just) as Kumarbi raised the Sky-God,
so he raised this Meteorite-stone as (a) rebel against him!"
[The comet now appears in the celestial realm and approaches the sun. - epg]
When Enlil [ceased to speak] these words,
they put the child as a spear point
upon Upelluri's right shoulder.
He grew up, the Meteorite-stone,
and the strong [...] raised him:
In one day he grew one "yard",
In one month he grew one "furlong";
The stone which was at his head,
his face covered.
[Either ca 43 days (one month and 15 days), or 15 days alone, pass between the comet's
first appearance and the collision of fragments from it with the Sun. - epg]
When the fifteenth (15th) day came,
The Stone had grown high.
And he stood in the sea on his knees (point)
like a spear-point.
The Stone, he stood out of the water,
and his height was like [...],
and the Stone reached from the sea like a garment
up to the "Place of the Belt".
The Stone, like a [...] he was lifted,
And he reached up to the temples and chamber
in the celetial realm.
[Fragments from the comet now impact with the sun - epg]
The Sun-God looked down from the Celestial Realm,
and he saw Ullikummi.
And Ullikummi saw the Sun-God of the Celestial Realm [as well].
And the Sun-God began to speak in his own mind:
"What swift God [is standing] in the sea?
His body is not like that of the [...] Gods."
The Sun-God of the Celestial Realm turned [his face],
and he went out to the sea.
And when the Sun-God came out [to the sea],
The Sun-God held (his) hand to his forehead.
[...]
and from his anger
his [...] became altered.
[A second day goes by. The Sun-God leaves the celestial realm and visits
the Sky-God in Kummiya. After a feast, the Sun-God returns to the
celestial realm. It seems likely that a fragment of the comet hit the earth,
the dust blocked out the sun for a short period of time, the dust settled,
and the sun reappeared. - epg]
When the Sun-God of the Celestial Realm saw the Stone,
the Sun-God [crossed] again the horizon for a second time.
[...u]p he traveled,
and to the Sky-God he went.
And when he saw the Sun-God coming,
Tashmishu (the Sky-God's brother) began to speak these words to the Sky-God:
"O Sky-God, my lord!
Why does he come,
The Sun-God of the Celestial Realm,
[The king] of the land?
That matter about which he comes,
(that) matter is grave,
it is not to be cast aside.
It is strong, the struggle!
It is strong, the battle!
It is the uproar of the Celestial Realm!
It is the land's hunger and death!"
The Sky-God began to speak to Tashmishu:
"They shall set up a chair,
for his seating;
They shall lay out a table,
for his eating."
While they were speaking thus,
The Sun-God arrived [at] their [house].
They set up a chair for his seating,
But he did not sit down;
They laid out a table for his eating,
But he did not reach out;
They gave him a cup,
But he did not put his lips to it.
And he, the Sky-God, again began to speak to the Sun-God:
"Is the chamberlain bad,
who set up the chair,
so that you did not sit down?
Is the steward bad,
who set the table,
so that you did not eat?
Is the cup bearer bad,
who gave you the cup,
so that you did not drink?"
[End of first tablet. Beginning of second tablet badly fragmented. - epg]
The Sky-God again [began to speak to the Sun-God:]
"[Why] do you not eat [...?]
[...] pleasant [...?]"
[The Sun-God] again began to speak [to the Sky-God:]
"[...] refused [...]
[...] about wh[at ...]"
[All tablets break off here. When they pick back up, the sky-god has
learned about ullikummi from the sun-god. - epg]
[When] the Sky-God heard [these words],
his [appearance] became altered from his anger.
And the Sky-God again began to speak [to the Sun-God of the Celestial Realm]:
"The bread on the table shall become pleasant.
Now eat!
The sweet wine in the cup shall become pleasant.
Now drink!
Eat, and fill yourself.
Drink, and satisfy yourself.
Then get up,
and go up to the Celestial Realm."
When the Sun-God of the Celestial Realm heard [these words],
his mind within him rejoiced.
The bread on the table became pleasant,
[and] he ate.
The sweet wine in the cup became pleasant,
and he drank.
And the Sun-God got up,
and he went up to the Celestial Realm.
[The Sky-God, his brother Tashmishu, and Ishtar go to Mount Hazzi,
identified by Guterbock, (page 5), as semitic Zaphon, greek
Kasion Oros, at the mouth of the Orontes River in North Syria. From
there they see the meteorite-stone. - epg]
After [the departure of the Sun-God of] the Celestial Realm,
The Sky-God took wisdom into his mind.
And the Sky-God and Tashmishu took each other by the hand,
and they came out of the chamber, the temple.
Ishtar came with bravery from the Celestial Realm,
And Ishtar again spoke in her own mind:
"Where do they run, the two brothers?
I shall go and see them."
Ishtar instantly took a stand,
and she stood up before her two brothers.
And they (all) took each other by the hand,
and up to Mount Hazzi they went.
And the King of Kummiya set his face,
He set his face upon the dreadful Meteorite-stone,
And he saw the dreadful Meteorite-stone,
and from his anger his [...] became changed.
And the Sky-God sat down on the ground,
and his tears flowed forth like streams.
The Sky-God, his eyes tearful, spoke these words:
"Who can endure it any longer, this one's violence?
And who can fight any longer?
And who can endure it any longer, this one's fearfulness?"
Ishtar again spoke to the Sky-God:
"O my brother!
Neither [....]
nor little does he know,
but bravery has been given to him ten fold!
And the son whom [...] beget for themselves,
[...] you know not.
[...] in Ea's house we were,
[... if] I were a man,
You would [...]
I shall go [and ...]
[The tablets break off. When they continue, Ishtar has gone to the sea to seek help. Ishtar throws a pebble in the water to raise a great wave, which magical right probably reflects memory or myths of an earlier impactor which produced a tsunami. - epg]
But [she took] a harp and a galgalturi,
[...] she lifted.
and a song [she began to sing],
[...] of the Earth [...].
And Ishtar, she sang,
And the sea's (?)
She put a pebble on.
Then out of the sea a great wave rose,
The great wave spoke to Ishtar:
"Who do you sing in front of?
Who do you fill your mouth with [...] in front of?
The man is deaf, and does not hear.
He is blind in his eyes, and does not see.
And he has no mercy.
Go away, O Ishtar,
And find your brother:
As long as he has not yet become brave,
As long as his head's skull has not yet become dreadful."
When Ishtar heard thus,
She quenched the [...],
She threw away the harp and the galgalturi,
She [...] golden [ornaments]
And wailing [...] she went,
[...]
[The tablets break completely here. They continue as the Sky-God prepares
for battle and gives orders to Tashmishu. In the translation "furlong" is
used in an approximate and not exact way as a unit of measure. This section
contains a description of the impact balst itself, and note that
through some kind of magical thinking, the power of the impactor has been
transferred to our heros, the Sky-God and his brother Tashmishu. - epg]
[...] they shall mix fodder,
and they shall bring perfumed oil,
and they shall annoint Serisu's horns,
while they shall cover with gold Tella's tail,
while they shall turn the axle.
And they shall bring strong [...(harnesses)] to their inside,
while to the outside, they shall set strong stones as blinders.
They shall call forth the thunder-storms:
The rains and winds which break the rocks for ninety "furlongs",
while they cover them for eight hundred "furlongs".
They shall call forth the rains and the winds!
They shall bring out of the sleeping room
the lightning, which strongly flashes,
And they shall bring out the carts.
Now arrange, set them,
and bring me back word."
When Tashmishu heard the words,
he hurried, hastened.
[He brought] Serisu from the pasture,
while he brought Tella from (Mount) Imgarra.
And he [... them] in the outer porch,
and he brought perfumed oil,
and he annointed Serisu's horns,
while [he covered with gold] Tella's tail,
while he [...] the axles,
while he set strong stones to the outside [as blinders].
He called forth the thunder-storms:
The rains and winds which break the rock for nintey "furlongs",
[...]
[The tablets break off at this point. They continue as the battle is joined.
"Yards", "leagues", and "furlongs" are used in the translation in an
approximate and not exact way. This passage contains a description of the
growth of the blast cloud. - epg]
[...] one thousand "yards",
[... The Sky-God] took a stand to fight.
Then he took the battle gear,
and he took the carts,
and he brought the clouds from the Celestial Realm.
And the Sky-God set his face on the Meteorite-stone,
and he saw him.
And his height was [...]
and again his height one hundred and eighty [or three times][...] was turned.
The Sky-God began to speak to T[ashmishu]:
"The cart [...]
[ALL TABLETS BREAK OFF AT THIS POINT. THEY CONTINUE AFTER TASHMISHU HAS
CARRIED THE SKY-GOD'S INSTRUCTIONS TO ANOTHER GROUP OF GODS, WHO NOW
JOIN THE BATTLE. - EPG]
[THE COMET APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTH,
FRAGMENTS ON ENTERING THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE,
AND THE FRAGMENTS FALL INTO THE "SEA". - EPG]
When the Gods heard the word,
They took their place in the carts.
[...] they assigned.
Astabi sprang [upon his cart...],
and on the cart he [...].
[...] the carts he arrayed,
[...].
And Astabi, he thundered,
and Astabi let go with thunder down towards the sea.
And they drew [...water].
And Astabi [...];
[...] Seventy Gods took.
But still he was not able [...]
And A[stabi ....],
and the Seventy Gods [fell] down into the sea.
[...]
[THE INITIAL IMPACT - EPG]
[...] the Meteorite-stone his body [...]
[...]
and he shook the Celestial Realm.
[...] he [...]ed
The Celestial Realm [...] like an empty garment he [...]ed.
And the Meteorite-stone [...] became high:
Before [...] one thousand nine hundred "leagues",
[...] "leagues".
And the Meteorite-stone stood down on the Earth,
like a [...], the Meteorite-stone, he was lifted,
and he reached the chamber and the temple.
[THE BLAST CLOUD GROWS. IT BLINDS HEBAT, THE SKY-GOD'S WIFE. - EPG]
The Meteorite-stone, [his height was] nine thousand "leagues",
while his width was nine thousand [...].
And he took his stand in Kummiya like a [...],
And the Meteorite-stone rose above Hebat and the temple:
So that Hebat could not hear news of the Gods,
(and) she could not see with her eyes the Sky-God and Suwaliyatta.
[HEBAT, THE SKY-GODS WIFE, SENDS HER ATTENDANT TAKITI TO FIND OUT WHAT HAS
HAPPENED TO HER HUSBAND, BUT THE ROAD HAS BEEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED
BY THE IMPACT. - EPG]
Hebat began to speak these words to Takiti:
"I hear not the weighty word of the Sky-God;
I hear not news of Suwaliyatta and the Gods.
This Meteorite-stone Ullikummi of whom they speak,
Perhaps he has defeated him, my husband, the weighty [King...]!
Hebat began to speak again to Takiti:
"Hear my words!
Take a staff into your hand,
Put the sw[ift winds] upon your feet as shoes,
[...] Go!
When Takiti heard the words,
She hurried, hastened,
[...] out draw[n...]
[...] went:
And there was not a road!
[Takiti return]ed,
and she came to Hebat.
[Takiti again began to spe]ak [to Hebat]:
"My Lady, [...] me
[...]
[ALL TABLETS BREAK OFF HERE. THE AUDIENCE, AS WELL AS HEBAT, IS KEPT IN
SUSPENSE AS TO THE COURSE OF THE BATTLE FOR SOME TIME. AS THE TABLETS
RESUME, THE SKY-GOD HAS DISPATCHED HIS BROTHER TASHMISHU TO CARRY NEWS TO
HIS WIFE HEBAT. - EPG]
When Tashmishu heard the Sky-God's words,
He promptly rose.
He took a staff in his hand;
He put the swift winds as shoes upon his feet.
And he went up into a high tower,
and he took [his place] opposite Hebat, saying:
"The Sky-God bade me to go to a humble place,
until he will have fulfilled the years that are decreed for him."
When Hebat saw Tashmishu,
Hebat almost fell from the roof.
Had she taken a step,
she would have fallen from the roof.
But the palace women held her,
and did not let her (go).
[THE TEXT BECOMES MORE AND MORE MAGICAL FROM THIS POINT ON. THE
SKY-GOD AND TASHMISHU GO TO EA, AN OLDER GOD, WHO IN TURN SPEAKS WITH
UPELLURI, THE ATLAS-LIKE GOD WHO CARRIES BOTH THE EARTH AND THE
CELESTIAL SPHERE ON HIS SHOULDERS. IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MAGICALLY CONCLUDED
BY THE MYTH'S CREATORS THAT SINCE THE COMET WAS NO LONGER IN SPACE, THE
GODS HAD DEFEATED HIM. BUT THE TABLETS BECOME TOO FRAGMENTARY, AND IT IS
CLEAR FROM THE TALE ITSELF THAT THE ACCOUNT OF THIS IMPACT WAS COMBINED WITH
OLDER MYTHICAL MATERIAL, THE "TABLETS OF THE FORMER WORDS". - EPG]
When Tashmishu had ceased to speak the word,
he stepped down from the tower,
and he went to the Sky-God.
Tashmishu again began to speak to the Sky-God:
"Where shall we sit down?
Shall we sit down on (Mount) Kandurna?
[If] we sit down on (Mount) Kandurna,
another will be seated upon (Mount) Lalapaduwa.
Where shall we carry [the ...]?
There will be no king above in the Celestial Realm."
Tashmishu again began to speak to the Sky-God:
"O Sky-God, my lord!
Hear my words!
The words which I speak to you,
To my words hold your ear inclined!
Come! Let us go to Apsuwa, before Ea,
[...] we shall ask again for the tablets of the former words.
Now when we arrive before the gate of Ea's house,
We shall bow before Ea's door five times,
and again before Ea's inner door five times,
While when we arrive before Ea,
then before Ea we shall bow fifteen times.
[And to] Ea it will perhaps [...],
and Ea perhaps will listen,
and he will have mercy upon us,
and he will assign us (our) former rule."
When the Sky-God heard Tashmishu's words,
he hurried, hastened.
From his chair he promptly rose.
[The Sky-God and Tasmis]u took each other by the hand,
and they covered the way at once (instantly, immediately),
and [they arrived] at Apsuwa.
[And the Sky-God] went to Ea's house,
and before Ea's first door he bowed five times,
and before the inner door he bowed five times,
[while when] they arrived before Ea,
before Ea he bowed fifteen times.
[...] stood up,
[...] began to speak:
[...]
[ALL TABLETS BREAK OFF AT THIS POINT. THEY CONTINUE AS EA CONTEMPLATES
A COURSE OF ACTION. - EPG]
[...] the word [in] (his) mind not [...],
Ea [took] wisdom [into his mind],
and he stood up,
and he went [...] into the courtyard.
Ea [...],
and all the Gods stood up [before] him,
and the Sky-God, the brave king [of Kummiya],
[stood up be]fore [him].
Ea saw the Sky-God,
[and] from (his) anger his [appearance] became changed.
[...]
[ALL TABLETS FRAGMENTARY. AS THEY RESUME, ENLIL APPEALS TO EA TO HELP
THE SKY-GOD. NOTE ALSO THAT EA SEEMS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
DURING THE YEAR: THUS ENLIL'S PLEA IS SEEKING TO STAVE OFF CLIMATIC
COLLAPSE. - EPG]
By the hand they [took each other],
[...]
While [...]
[...] came out of the assembly.
[Enlil ...]
and he began to wail:
[...]
"May you live, O Ea!
[...] who comes back and forth,
[...] of the Gods' propitiation [...].
Why did you transgress it [...]?"
Ea began to speak to Enlil:
["Do you not know, O Enlil?]
[Has no one brought] you a word?
Do you not know him,
the rebel who Kumarbi fashioned against the Sky-God,
[the Meteorite-stone who in the water] grew?
His he[ght ...]
[And] like [a...] he is lifted."
[FRAGMENTARY. EA RESPONDS TO ENLIL'S PLEAS, AND GOES TO UPELLURI.
NOTE THAT EA RECOUNTS THE IMPACT ITSELF TO UPELLURI, AND THAT THIS
PASSAGE DOES NOT RELATE TO ULLIKUMMI'S BIRTH. THUS MAGICALLY, SINCE
THE COMET IS NO LONGER VISIBLE IN SPACE, THE GOD WILL DEFEAT THE
COMET, AND FULFILL THEIR ROLES AS PROTECTORS. - EPG]
When Ea ceased to speak the words,
He went to Upelluri,
[...],
And Upelluri [lifted] (his) eyes,
[and he saw Ea.]
Upelluri began to speak to Ea these words:
"May you live, O Ea!"
And he stood up,
[and Ea in turn began to wish] life to Upelluri:
"May he live, Upelluri,
upon the dark earth (/in the void of cosmic space/),
(he) upon whom [the Celestial Realm and Ear]th are built!"
Ea began to speak again to Upelluri:
"Do you not know, O Upelluri?
Has no one brought you word?
Do you not know him,
the swift God whom Kumarbi fashioned against the Gods?
And that Kumarbi [has made] death plans against the Sky-God,
and fashions a rebel against him?
The Meteorite-stone who grew in the water,
do you not know him?
And like a [...] he is lifted,
And (that) he covered the Celestial Realm, the holy temples, and Hebat?
Is it because you, Upelluri,
are remote from the dark earth (/cosmic space/),
that you do not know this swift God?"
Upelluri again began to speak to Ea:
"When they built the Celestial Realm and Earth upon me,
I knew nothing.
(And) when they came,
and they cut apart the Celestial Realm and Earth with a cutter,
this, too, I did not know.
Now, something makes my right shoulder hurt,
but I do not know who he is, this God."
When Ea heard these words,
He turned Upelluri's right shoulder,
and there on there on Upelluri's right shoulder
stood the Meteorite-stone like a spear head!
Ea again began to speak to the Former Gods:
"Hear my words, O Former Gods,
Who know the former words!
Open them again, the old fatherly, grandfatherly, store-houses,
and bring the Former Fathers' seal,
and with it seal them again!
And they shall bring out the former saw,
with which they cut apart the Celestial Realm and Earth,
[And...] saw under the feet of Ullikummi, the Meteorite-stone,
whom Kumarbi raised as a rebel against the Gods."
[ALL THE TABLETS BREAK OFF AT THIS POINT. WHEN THEY CONTINUE, TASHMISHU
IS TELLING EA ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION THAT THE IMPACT CAUSED. - EPG]
But Tashmishu [...],
[before Ea] he prostrated himself,
[...] began to speak:
"[...]
[the ...] in his body have been altered,
[on his] head the hair has been altered."
Ea again began to speak to Tashmishu:
"Go ahead with my son!
Do not stand up before me!
My mind within me became angry:
With my eyes I saw the dead [...] on [... the] Earth:
They are dust,
while the [...] are standing up!"
Ea began to speak again to Tashmishu:
"First I struck him, Ullikummi, the meteorite-stone.
Now you go and fight him again!
The Meteorite-stone shall no longer stand as a spear-point!"
Tashmishu [...] began to rejoice,
and he shouted three times,
and he went up to the Celestial Realm,
and the Gods heard it.
He shouted twice,
and the brave King of Kummiya,
the Sky-God heard it.
And they came to the assembly place,
and all the Gods began to bellow like bulls
against Ullikummi, the Meteorite-stone.
Then the Sky-God sprang upon his cart like a [...],
and he went with thunder down to the sea.
And he fought him,
The Sky-God fought the Meteorite-stone.
The Meteorite-stone began to speak the words to the Sky-God:
"What shall I tell you?
O Sky-God, Keep fighting!"
And also his (whose?) [...] stands within his mind.
"What shall I tell you?
O Sky-God, Keep fighting!"
Kumarbi stuck wisdom into his mind like a bead.
"I will go up to the Celestial Realm, to kingship;
and I will take Kummiya, the dear town, temple, and dwelling;
while I will scatter the Gods down from the Celestial Realm like birds."
{The remainder is fragmentary. - epg]
THE NEW HURRIAN ARCHIVE
When one considers that Guterbock had no idea of the underlying
physical phenomena which was being described in the myth, cometary impact,
his work in restoring the Song becomes truly remarkable. Now that the
phenomenon is positively identified, it will be up to those far more
skilled than I am to give us a new edition of the text: I am completely
ignorant of the work which must have been done on it since 1952.
What can be learned from the text at this point? If the myth has an
actual basis in a real event, and given the efforts which were put into
it by the ancients, one can not but conclude that it does; then if there
are no other destruction layers in the Tel Leilan area, one can conclude
that it is an account of the Tel Leilan impact event itself.
The Tel Leilan impactor can be identified as a comet.
If the "belt" which the comet's tail reached to could be identified, then
the absolute size of it could be determined. While I am ignorant of Hittite
astronomical terms, I am bold (or foolish) enough to suggest that perhaps
the Hittites saw the Milky Way as Upelluri's (Atlas's) belt. If so, the
size of the comet was staggering, and one is left to wonder if any of its
fragments still remain in orbit.
The comet traveled either one month and 15 days or 15 days alone from its
first appearance until fragments from it collided with the Sun. It struck
the Earth coming in the direction of the Earth's orbital travel, instead of
directly.
It seems probable that the comet's fragments spread out, and that one
fragment from the comet hit the Earth a day before the fragment at Tel Leilan,
and that this impact was sufficiently large to raise a dust cloud which
obscured the Sun.
The town of Kummiya was in the impact area.
Approximate estimates for the real distances of the Hittite words which
Guterbock translated as "yards", "leagues", and "furlongs", have undoubtedly
been made since 1952, and if they were to be substituted into the text,
perhaps approximate estimates of the size of the impactor and the blast could
be made.
Given the involvements of other older Gods in this impact myth, it seems
most likely that there was an earlier impact which caused a large tsunami
which flooded the region.
Somewhat fittingly, it has been raining and thundering here for the last
two days. In closing this introduction, I echo Guterbock, "That this
interpretation is not final goes without saying." Someone with far greater
abilities than mine (and with far better resources at hand) needs to work
through these texts.
THE CURSE OF AGADE
Naram-Sin was not the only leader to desire the impact depopulated Hurrian lands. A short time later the Guteans (possibly an Indo-European people) entered the area, and then they descended upon the Akkadian's capitol city of Agade. We have a much later account of their victory preserved in the morality tale "The Curse of Agade":
http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr215.htm
DATING THE DROUGHTS:
NARAM-SIN'S CONQUESTS AND PHAROAH PEPI I's RESPONSE
Clearly Naram-Sin had enough time between his victory and the Gutean migration/invasion to produce his stela. While it is still uncertain whether the droughts which affected this area were caused by volcanic eruptions, comet dust, dust rasied by the impacts of other fragments of the Ullikummi Impactor, long term climatic shifts, or a combination of any or all of the above, it is fairly certain that one of these droughts may be dated toward the end of Nara-Sin's reign.
Naram-Sin's attempts to take control of the the copper deposits of the Jordan Valley provoked a response by Pharoah Pepi I of Egypt, as the Egyptians had enjoyed uninterruped use of these resources from pre-dynastic times:
http://weber.ucsd.edu/Depts/Anthro/clas ... oject.html
And an account of these campaigns was preserved by the Pepi I's military commander, Wenis:
http://members.tripod.com/~ib205/weni.html
http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/pepii_in_palestine.htm
http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn6.htm
The dates for Pepi I's reign are usually given as 2289-2255 BCE, and an overlap with Naram-Sin, 2318-2278 BCE, is only possible if the middle chronology is used. Thus a box of years from 2289 to 2278 BCE presents itself as the most likely time for the beginning of this particular drought.
DATING THE DESTRUCTION OF EBLA
As was mentioned before, Sargon had gone into the Jordan Valley before Naram-Sin, and one of the problems currently under discussion between the excavator of Ebla, Paolo Matthiae, and his chief linguist, Giuvanni Pettinato, is "Who destroyed Ebla, Sargon or Naram-Sin?"
In Weni's Autobiography we find that he claims to have enlisted the support of the Yam-Nubians, or Yam-foreigners in the north. In contrast to other semetic people who used "El" as a word for god, the Eblaites used "Ya" as their term for god. Since the Eblaites are mentioned in Weni's autobiography, clearly Sargon did not destroy Ebla, but Naram-Sin did.
DATING THE PHAROAHS OF THE FIFTH DYNASTY
Roughly comtemporaneous with Sargon (2398-2343 BCE) was Pharoah Izi Niuserre (2416-2392 BCE), the sixth king of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Not surprisingly, Pharoah Izi undertook at least one campaign against the "asiatics", undoubtedly in response to Sargon's attempt to secure the copper and tin resources of the Jordan Valley.
We should find both the Rio Cuarto Impact drought of about 2360 BCE and the Naram-Sin drought of sometime between 2318-2278 BCE recorded in the Egyptian records. After Izi, the Egyptian Pharoahs were Menkauhor(2396-2388 BCE), Djedkare Izezi(2388-2356 BCE), Wenis(2356-2323 BCE), and Teti(2323-2291 BCE). A famine is recorded under Weni, while Teti was murdered by his own officials for reasons which are currently unknown. My guess is that they were probably drought related.
NEW STRATA FROM HAZOR, THE MIDDLE CHROONOLOGY, AND THE JOSHUA IMPACT EVENT
There are two sites in the area between Akkad and Egypt where it appears likely that cuneiform records may be recovered which could resolve these chronological problems. These are the archaeological sites of the cities of Megiddo and Hazor, and these cities would have been in "contact" with both the Akkadians and the Egyptians during the period under study here.
The excavation of Megiddo is currently focused on (some might say fixated on) the recovery of late Iron Age dates:
http://www.tau.ac.il/~archpubs/megiddo/chronology2.html
Thus the near term excavations of Megiddo will probably not be of much help in resolving the problems of the chronology of far earlier periods.
The news from the second site, Hazor, is much more promising:
http://unixware.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/2001.htm
There the search for the archive of the Early Bronze Age palace is on.
Hazor was also the leading Canaanite city at the time of Joshua's invasion, and its king led the coalition of Canaanite cities which formed against the ancient Israelites. Last year's excavations uncovered a destruction level dating to Joshua's destruction of the city. The excavators ascribed this destruction level to Thutmose III's campaign, even though it was not likely that Thutmose III was out to attack the cities of Canaan, which had earlier allied themselves with Egypt against Akkad. It is far more likely that the new defensive citadel built atop this destruction level was Thutmose III's work.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
First, when dealing with any impact materials, it is important to remember that over a suitably long enough period of time the people living in any one region will be affected by impact events several times. When dealing with their records it is important to keep this in mind, and not to conflate together accounts of separate impact events.
Second, ancient man in the Near East was affected by catastrophe a number of times, and not all of these catastrophes were impacts or impact related. A number were volcanic, such as the volcanic explosion of Thera, and a number were climatic catastrophes of still undetermined cause. What impact events can do, because of their scale, is help with the dating of these events, and thus help with the determination of their causes, and thus hopefully with their future amelioration.
Third, not all of the catastrophes which affected man in the ancient Near East were produced by natural causes: a number of these catastrophes man made. Here is one area where one could certainly at least hope that modern social technologies have advanced to that point where the suffering caused by these catastrophes may be reduced.
Well, Benny, that's it for now.
Best wishes -
Ed
By the way, while I disagree with several of the details of his conclusions, I found the insights and materials gathered by Danish researcher Claus Fentz Krogh to be of great help in working through this problem:
http://www.geocities.com/genesispatriarchs/
and I need to thank him here for that work. Despite its difficulties, Krogh's English is much better then my Danish, which is non-existent, and I especially want to thank him for the effort he made in translating his work into another language so that he could share it with others.
krough on patristic times
recount naram sin/hurrian impact
Song of Illukummi update
red crown cranes at african caustic lake
symbolism - migratory birds
earthquake releases caustic lake into nile
leads to plagues of bible
1628 BCE dating of thera explosion
nature of minoan society:
Plato's description of Minoan culture
admiral's house frescos show Troy - Ilios - Helios - Wilusa
sun is totem of Helios/Ilios
Brown's work on Linear A
readings of the spiral incriptions
Joshua Impact
achaean migration
Tel Dab and Hyksos
Bietak to Cline
Exodus
Isuwa is Israel; kizzuwadna is Kahoath faction, same as Hyksos
Earlier known to be under Ebla, as central god's name given as El
but at copper deposits at south end of Dead Sea
Due to parallels in Old Testament
known to be in contact with NW semetic peoples at Ugarit
location from Astour's book on Ugarit
list of cities from hittite document
Egyptian invasions - children of amon = children of Amun Ra
Egyptian/Hittite peace
Drews point - Use of massed infantry against chariots
attack by Aleksandrus on Greece
and on Sidon and Mysia in Arzawa from the Cypria
Homeric edits
first attack comes from west as Plato states
Atlantic mega-tsunami date and impact on trading network
Iliad - the achaeans resist, as Plato states
collapse - babylonian omen texts?
broad timeline
Hatusili I (Hattushilish) 1639-1604 by middle chronology