ILLUYANKA & TARHUN

SOME FOLKS SAY that the Hittite god of storms and the weather was named Tarhun, while other accounts call him Taru, Tarhunt and Teshub. The ancient Hittite people lived in the lands that were part of Ancient Mesopotamia, now present-day Syria in the Middle East. In the folklore of these ancient Hittites, Illuyanka was a ferocious serpent dragon with multiple heads. There are several different versions of the story of Illuyanka, this one dates to approximately 1,000 B.C. This myth was traditionally retold every year on New Year's Day.

According to Hittite mythology, the Storm God Tarhun fought with Illuyanka and the great dragon defeated the Storm God. The dragon took the god's eyes and heart and Tarhun became powerless. Despondent, Tarhun lived a simple, quiet life and took the daughter of poor farmer for his wife. Together they raised a son they called Sarruma. When Sarruma grew up, Tarhun arranged that Sarruma should court and marry the daughter of the great dragon, Illuyanka.

The Weather God slays Illuyanka (shown with Sarruma on far left) from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara, Turkey

Tarhun instructed his son to ask his bride-to-be for the Storm God's eyes and heart from her father, the great Illuyanka, as a wedding gift. These were given to Sarruma who carried the eyes and the heart back to Tarhun. When he received these, Tarhun was restored to his powers as the Weather God and immediately set out to find and confront his adversary, Illuyanka. There was a second great struggle and this time Tarhun vanquished the dragon.

But Sarruma realized that he had been used. When Tarhun defeated Illuyanka, Sarruma begged his father, the Great Storm God, to take his life along with Illuyanka, the great dragon. Tarhun finally relented and killed his own son alongside Illuyanka in a great storm of rain and lightning.

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