| Ullikummi | |
|---|---|
| Stone giant | |
| Parents | Kumarbi and daughter of the sea god |
| Siblings | Teshub |
In Hurrian mythology,[1] Ullikummi is a giant stone monster, son of Kumarbi and the sea god's daughter. The narrative of Ullikummi is one episode, the best preserved and most complete,[2] in an epic cycle of related "songs" about the god Kumarbi, who aimed to replace the weather god Teshub and destroy the city of Kummiya; to this end Kumarbi fathered upon a rock cliff a genderless, deaf, blind, yet sentient pillar of volcanic rock, Ullikummi, which he hid in the netherworld and placed on the shoulder of Upelluri. Upelluri, absorbed in his meditations, did not feel Ullikummi on his shoulder. Ullikummi grew quickly until he reached the heavens. Ullikummi's brother Teshub thundered and rained on Ullikummi, but it did not harm him. Teshub fled and abdicated the throne. Teshub asked Ea for help. Ea visited Upelluri and cut off the feet of Ullikummi, toppling him.
The "song of Ullikummi" was recognized from its first rediscovery as a predecessor of Greek myths in Hesiod. Parallels to the Greek myth of Typhoeus, the ancient antagonist of the thunder-god Zeus, have been elucidated by Walter Burkert, Oriental and Greek Mythology, pp. 19–24, and Caucasian parallels in his "Von Ullikummi zum Kaukasus: Die Felsgeburt des Unholds", Würzburger Jahrbücher N. F., 5 (1979) pp. 253–61.
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