The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies. Part II

Storm-gods of the ancient Near East are surveyed here by god and tradition, concentrating on Teššub, Ba'lu and the Anatolian gods Taru and Tarhun(t), and then taking up the storm-god’s victory over the sea, other deities with storm-god traits and iconography. Schwemer presents the survey as a synthesis and as a response to A. Green’s account of ancient Near Eastern storm-gods, and closes with selected additions and corrections to his Wettergottgestalten. The evidence is myths, hymns, prayers, rituals, offering lists, treaties, royal correspondence, personal names, god-lists and inscriptions, set beside seals, stelae and other representations, with attention to where texts are fragmentary or the identification of a pictured deity is uncertain.

Teššub is a Hurrian god whose cult spread through Mittani and whose traditions entered Hittite religion. The Kumarbi-cycle presents him as a younger divine king who defeats his father’s attempts to regain power. His circle includes Šawuška, Tašmišu, the bulls Šēri(š) and Ḥurri, and the mountain-gods Ḥazzi and Nanni (pp. 3–8).

Schwemer distinguishes the use of ba'lu as an epithet from its later use as the storm-god’s name. In Ugaritic tradition Ba'lu struggles for kingship, defeats Yammu, builds a palace, and is defeated by Mōtu before returning from the underworld. Ba'lu at Emar and the later development of Ba'alsamêm complete this section (pp. 8–16).

Taru and Tarhun(t) appear in layered Hattic, Hittite and Luwian traditions. Schwemer discusses the storm-god’s place beside the sun-goddess, his local manifestations, and myths and rituals that link storms, rain, fertility and royal protection, then compares storm-god victories over the sea and reviews other divine figures with storm-god characteristics (pp. 17–31).

Attestations run from the Akkad and Old Babylonian periods through the Bronze and Iron Ages to Hellenistic and Roman evidence. In the iconography, associations with lion-dragons, bulls, chariots, weapons and lightning symbols change over time. Schwemer argues that study of these gods needs evidence from many periods, regions and text groups, that local manifestations and linguistic traditions must be kept apart, and that similar names or motifs do not by themselves establish identical gods, beliefs or traditions. Schwemer stresses that images need interpretation in their own regional and historical contexts (pp. 32–36).