The Moon that Fell from Heaven

There is an intriguing text from Anatolian myth with regards to the Moon falling from Heaven;

The Moon God fell from the sky and fell upon the gate complex, but no one saw him. The Storm God sent rain after him; he sent rains after him. Fear seized him; anxiety seized him. The god Hapantali went there. He stood beside him and uttered over him the words of a spell.

The goddess Kamrusepa looked down from the sky and said: "What in the world has happened here?

A good question from Kamrusepa there then, but the text is fragmentary and partial and the matter isn't really explained, so anyway the first question then is were was this gate complex and why couldn't he, the Moon, be seen having landed. My consideration is that the gate complex is that of the Cilician Gates, and that the Moon can no longer be seen as he has infused the Taurus Mountains with Silver.



That region did relate to the Silver Mountains as several sources mention and was a major centre for the trade in Silver at Kultepe/Kanes;

The essence of the trade was to ship tin, woolen textiles and lapis lazuli to Anatolia to sell it there in order to acquire, directly or indirectly, silver and gold, which was shipped back to Assur. Tin, essential for the Anatoian production of bronze was imported in Assur from Susa, perhaps by Elamite caravans, and ultimately originated from Central Asia.

Assyrian trade colony at Kanes

There are a great many tablets related to this trade recovered from Kultepe, on these sometimes can be seen the Taurus bull that bears upon it's back the Silver Mountain.



Also seen beneath on that example is the Scorpion which was likely also an ideogram based upon the Cilician gates and greater region, also the symbol of Ishara the Goddess of the Silver Mountain and related to concept idea of the Moon within the Underworld, her symbolic metal silver and purity through refinement, the Temple of Ishara being at Kanes or Nesi to the Hurrians.

There were a great many ideas bound up within this symbolism then, including in Cosmological terms the entrance into the underworld being above Taurus in Gemini, and it's opposite point of emergence in Scorpio, according to the inter-section point of the Galactic and Ecliptic planes.



Were this gets interesting is that there is a Hurrian myth that relates to a conflict in the primeval period named The Song of Silver involving their tutelary God Tessub and his ongoing issues with Kumarbi, God of Destiny;

Among Tessub, the Sun God of the Sky, Sauska Nineveh's Queen, and all the gods, no one worships him, although his power is greater than their power.

His word is greater than their words, his wisdom is greater than their wisdom, his battle and his g1ory are greater than theirs.

It is Silver the Fine of whom I sing. Wise men to1d me the story of the fatherless boy.

It did not exist. Long ago Silver's Father had disappeared. And they do not know his sp1endor. Heroic men ran to battle. Abundance did not exist. And grain did not grow only hunger

The Songs of the Kumarbi cycle can contain veiled allegory regarding ethnic disputes such as i outlined here with regards to Byblos and Ebla, it is likely the same in this case, conflict with the region of Nesa and the Silver Mountains, this however relating to a much earlier period, potentially also this relates to conflict from the Heavens as Silver could be named Kubbabar-Anzu as noted here the association with Anzu in conflict with Tessub relating to the same with Ninurta in the Sumerian mythos, and that seemingly from Anatolia.



The identification of Silver as DUMU also correlates with the Sumerian notion of the Divine child as Damu, often seen as the basis for the cult of Dumuzid, were it was also the case that the City of Dumuzid, Bad-Tivira, was the centre of the Sumerian metallurgy industry.

Silver is described in this text as a wannumiyas DUMU, which means a child whose father is dead or missing. Hittitologists generally translate this as "orphan," Silver's consternation at being told by the orphan boy that he too was an orphan need not mean that he was discovering this for the first time.

The Song of Silver again is fragmentary but does seem to involve Silver at some point establishing his power;

Silver seized power with his hands. Silver seized the spear. He dragged the Sun and Moon down from heaven. The Sun and the Moon did reverence. They bowed to Silver. The Sun and the Moon began to speak to Silver: O Silver, our lord, do not strike/kill us! We are the luminaries of heaven and earth. We are the torches of what lands you govern. If you strike/kill us, you will proceed to govern the dark lands person-ally." His soul within him was filled with love.He had pity on them

In dragging the Sun and the Moon down from Heaven again it could be considered that is what had infused the Mountains with Gold and Silver, but also it could relate to the establishment of the cults of Allani and Ishara at the time of silver, the spiritual qualities brought down to Earth.



Hopefully in the future more complete accounts of these texts will emerge as they are most intriguing and almost completely overlooked apart from specialists in the field, which is a pity as they are more interesting than most.

a reply to: Kantzveldt



This is kinda big big syncronicity and very interesting I just wrote a short story about the Guy that made it fall wierd....
Didn't know this at all in the story it came down in the Black sea...

here

still digesting... will be back...

a reply to: frenchfries

And so you did and so stars and a flag for your tale...

The Morning star wasn't a star at all it was a little Moon. My little Moon, and yes my big sword of Damocles which I used to crush this beautiful species.

What in the world has happened here...

Apart from this being a possible tradition of The Fall outside of Hebrew culture, there's another minor mystery here bugging me with regards to creatures seen on the seals, that are ostrich like'



it appears there that apart from not having any heads they perhaps have ingots placed around their necks, these from Kanes the centre of the metals trade, and again on this one they are seen central;



Those are rather strange.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

I am not sure that I believe the connections. These two stories have similar patterns elsewhere; the first made me think of the Egyptian story of Sekhmet (the eye of Re) going off into the Western desert and nobody can find her until Ptah seeks her out. It's also similar to the story "the Drowned Moon."

The Silver story also sounds like the type of Why story told about the origin of metalsmiths (who were believed to have magical powers and seems typical for an Orphan Gains Power type story (innumerable Jack tales are a good example, as are stories of magical children.)

I think those are much older stories retold and do not relate to events.

a reply to: Byrd

Well if you don't believe in these connections then you don't believe in the Neolithic expansion , which is up to you, interest in metallurgy in that region dates back at least 10,000 years, it was the most advanced on Earth for thousands of years in terms of urbanization, agriculture, religious development.

Of course these stories are archaic as they developed to provide explanation of sorts as to why there was so much gold and silver in those mountains, what conflict this had caused, and the religion developed in conjunction with the mythological premise, it's no co-incidence that Allani/Sun Goddess of Arinna and Ishara symbolized by gold and silver respectively and underground Goddesses held such prominence in the region, that they related not only to the spiritual but also the material.

It was also the case that their cosmology followed the same basis, thus a culture were everything was intrinsically related, once that is exported though wide ranging trade connections and influence things can unravel and become increasingly obscure, but as far as magic mountains or pyramids go this was the cultural heartland, and they had no need to build one.

Sure the Song of Silver relates to metal smiths, the worlds first, the Sumerians considered Bad Tibura as their establishment of metal working but as the city of Dumuzid they had only repeated the archetypes of Anatolian Dumu.

in ancient times, Bad-tibira was a city situated at the edge of marshlands. This was important, for it was known mostly for it’s reed-burning furnaces and smelteries. Raw ore was brought via the Euphrates and Iturungal Canal to the kilns. Mostly copper, but also gold and silver, were exported from Bad-tibira to artisan shops all over ancient Sumer. These urban centers included: Uruk, Ur, Umma and Adab. Bad-tibira was also a cult-center for the god Lulal, the son of Inanna. Although Dumuzi was named as king of Badtibira, Lulal remained as the tutelary deity of the city.

It also provides though this mythology a narrative which can be related to the Hebrew tradition of the Fall, the only one outside that culture as i mentioned, North Western Semitic culture was greatly influenced by the Anatolian in it's early development and merchants of Proto-Hebraic Ebla are known to have traded at Kanesh, their principle Goddess was Ishara at that time.

But anyway what do you think of there seemingly being ostriches at Kanesh as seen on their seals, status symbol of merchants indicating trade with Egypt...?

It's interesting to consider the gender ambiguity of the Sun and the Moon in Anatolian tradition, were when internalized they are Feminine and when externalized they are Masculine.

The same holds for the Cult of Dumuzi, were Dumu-zi-abzu, "`noble`Child of the Abyss" was a Goddess seen as within the Abzu;

In Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian god and goddess of the city Kinirsha, near Lagash in the southeastern marshland region. At Kinirsha Dumuzi-Abzu was a goddess for the power of fertility and new life in the marshes, while at Eridu a god considered son of Enki.

This then also the reason for the common epitaph of Dumuzid as ama-ušumgal-an-na, the Great Dragon Mother of the Heavens, which also related to the planet Earth as Uras.

The gender ambiguity is reflected in the courtship of Inanna and Dumuzid;

Inanna ran to ask Ningal, the mother who bore her. Ningal counseled her daughter, saying: “My child, the young man will be you father. My daughter, the young man will be your mother. He will treat you like a father. He will care for you like a mother.

And were despite being aware of the ambiguity Inanna still refers to Dumuzid as Dumuzi-Abzu

“My blossom-bearer, your allure was sweet. My blossom-bearer in the apple orchard, My bearer of fruit in the apple orchard, Dumuzi-abzu, your allure was sweet.

Courtship of Inannad

The point being then that the gender fluctuation of the Sumerian Dumuzi was probably derivative of the Anatolian cult of Dumu as silver were gender shift between the internalized and externalized is central to their Theology, and naturally Dumuzid in his dual aspect of underworld Deity and a God of external nature finds full expression.

The constellation of the Divine child was the swine or to the Greeks Delphinus;

Swine (Probably Delphinus) The Swine is sacred to Damu, ‘the Child’. His cult is closely related to that of Dumuzi who died every summer and was subsequently reborn every winter. Myths relate how Damu escaped from the underworld via a river and it is thus appropriate that his sacred constellation should rise just after mid-winter.

It was also the case that the Mother of Dumu was considered Nin-Isina, and that she played both the role of Mother and Father in creating the Child through artificial means, thus the Anatolian suggestion of the child with an unknown Father with regards to Silver/Dumu.

She takes in her hands the august divine powers.She tests the surgical lancet; Nininsina sharpens the scalpel. She has made perfect the divine powers of medicine My lady searched intensively on her own , concerned herself with things that otherwise one does not bother with, directed her attention to things that otherwise one does not do.

Proudly she took the rank of Mistress, and my lady took away all the divine powers established for it. At that time, the jewellery of cuba stones did not exist; no jewellery of cuba stones was worn on the neck. Nininsina invented it: it was she who ploughed with the cuba stones, she who made them into seeds.

To create offspring for thousands of young women, to make things in order like a potter, to cut the umbilical cord, to determine destinies, to let the human child scream loud and long after it is received in the embrace

All things considered it is likely the Sumerians had been the elder culture of Anatolia, that they had been displaced by Indo-European tribes moving down from the North, and that the Song of Silver reflected that conflict, that this culture had it's origins in the artificial creation of life though science, or Silver.

Anunnaki born upon Earth

i am no fool as regards the knowledge acquired since the time that mankind was, from heaven above, set on its path: when I have discovered tigi and zamzam hymns from past days, old ones from ancient times, I have never declared them to be false, and have never contradicted their contents. I have conserved these antiquities, never abandoning them to oblivion.