The Opening of The Bottomless Pit.

Excavations began in 1984 at a site in Syria near modern Tell Mozan which was determined to be the site of the ancient Hurrian city of Urkesh of the 3rd millenium BC, it was further discovered there a ritual entrance into the Earth. which has been considered to relate to communicating with the Gods of the Underworld, the term for this âbi

The texts relating these rituals are found in the Hittite archives dating some 1000 years after our structure, but there is no doubt that they refer to the same religious tradition. It is from these texts that we know the ancient name was âbi.

While the structure,in its simplest form, is a deep circular shaft going back to the early third, and possibly the fourth millennium,it was at about 2300 B.C. that it came to be covered by a corbelled vault and expanded by means of an antechamber.

This was also the time when the Palace of Tupkish was built, in a position immediately adjacent to the underground structure

Guide to the site of Urkesh



The term abi or api is the same as the stem of the Sumerian Ap-su or Akkadian Ab-zu, meaning deep and indeed the original pit was dug very deep, they don't appear to have excavated to the bottom even after seemingly going 6 metres down, but it was the case that the pit was gradually filled over time with ritual pit offerings involving puppies and piglets and small items, each of which was then covered over, thus may small holes or pits had been dug within the greater.

The stone structure consists of two chambers: the circular one, constructed first, and the square chamber added later to the circular portion by removing a part of the stone wall on the western side of the circle. The resulting structure has a keyhole shape.

Presumably the perimeter of the circle, which was later removed for the construction of the square, contained the original stair since it is not present in the excavated portion of the circular structure.

The square portion did have a preserved entrance through a very narrow doorway and steep stone steps.

The final structure, including both the circle and the square, is over 7.5 meters in length near the top of the walls as preserved. The width of the circular chamber is about 4 meters in diameter near the top.

At this point the excavated depth of the circle is almost 6 meters, but the base of the stones has not yet been reached.

It's considered that the narrow entrance into the chamber was constructed thus to facilitate easy blocking after rituals were performed, that it was considered best to contain the Underworld Deities within that complex, but the question for me is whether the chamber was originally constructed to perform the shallow pit rituals, this seems unlikely as generally they could be performed beside riverbanks or springs or pretty much anywhere, it seems more likely that the complex had been intended as an Apsu type shrine and that the water level had been dug down too, there are similaraties between it's overall site location and that of the Abzu shrine on the island of Dilmun

In these Hurrian-Hittite texts the netherworld deities themselves are called forth, never the spirits of the dead. This indicates that the rituals are not necromantic in nature. The rituals are centered on the passage of the deities of the Underworld for purposes of purification and the giving of offerings.

The shaft with its steep, narrow entrance facing the setting sun was blocked when we first discovered it.

The time of day for these rituals is either the time of the setting sun or at night The Urkesh example is monumental, while many others are small, ephemeral pits. It may well have been that the Urkesh shaft was rare even in third millennium

It may have been the case then that practise developed around the ancient shaft which was other than originally practised though i'm sure the conceptual premise of access to the spiritual forces of the Nether regions remained the same, curiously though it did remain a fact that in Hurrian and Hittite tradition the connection to the Underworld was through emerging sources of subterranean waters, so i would have thought retaining access to that preferable to the gradual infilling.

The position of the shaft within the city of Urkesh is an important consideration. We know that it predated the construction of the palace since the southern exterior wall of the formal wing is stepped back to accommodate it.

The ritual texts connected with pits sometimes do speak of the participation of the king and queen and one explicitly states that after participating in the rituals the king is to proceed directly back to the palace.

The overall Deity of Urkesh was Kumarbi, the Hurrian equivalent of Enlil who was succeeded and consigned to the Underworld by his son Teshub, equivalent to Ninurta and head of the Pantheon by progression from Alalu-Anu-Kumarbi, the Goddess most closely related to the connection to the Underworld through springs was the Goddess Ishara.

In the cuneiform texts, it seems that there are a number of attributes given to Goddess Išhara. In the prelude of Kumarbi Mythos and a ritual of it is mentioned that God Enlil and Goddess Ab-andu was the parent of Goddess Išhara.

It is generally agreed that the parent of Išhara was “the mighty and immortal gods” or the gods belonged to the “Ancient Gods” generation.

In this context, it was invoked Ancient Gods and Underground ones banished to the Underground by the Storm god , in order to purify the house and the town from all evil things

There was so the question of the revenge of Kumarbi for being consigned into the Underworld, the basis for the ULLIKUMMI mythos in which a form of new world order arises that Teshub/Ninurta must overcome, related to the Theogony of Hesiod, so really many intriguing aspects to the tradition of the connection to the Gods of the Underworld and what might be contained therein.



A Hurrian passage to the Netherworld

Excavations at ancient Urkesh

a reply to: Kantzveldt

I'm not familiar with Urkesh or what has been found there, this thread was informative and has some great photos and sources.

Ancient sites like this fascinate me. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be alive at the time of it's construction (or it's additions later on, for that matter).

Kantzveldt delivers on another great thread, thank you!!!

a reply to: Kantzveldt

This is a interesting take on the area .

This.

This is the content that brought me to ATS!

a reply to: the2ofusr1

This site at Mozan is in Northernmost Syria close to the Turkish border, very ancient also, there are finds from Urkesh pre-dating the Halaf period 7,000 years ago, it is unknown really at which date the shaft was first constructed.

originally posted by: Butterfinger
This.

This is the content that brought me to ATS!

I was just thinking to say that this is what keeps me here. One or two times a week gems pop up. I haven't read about this site yet, thanks Kantz. After I get into it, I will share my insights. Thanx again!

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Quite interesting...thanks. Will have to re-read. Can you please address the general implications of this site disappearing? Why it was not resurrected and maintained if so important?

I can get its purpose, and why these amazing places vanish...yet the common person like myself have a harder time understanding why something so amazing wasnt brought back sooner...perhaps in a generation or so after disappearing from war, disease etc.

Sorry for the question, but would appreciation a simple explanation as to its disappearance for good?

Thanks*
MS

*will read, and re-read...perhaps the answer is evident

a reply to: mysterioustranger

There long seems to have been conflict in that region and populations and cultures change, i'm not convinced the Hurrians were using the shaft as intended but more likely in a manner which related to their own customs but also related to the former function, by the time the shaft was filled with ritual offerings it's original purpose would have been long forgotten and no longer practical, whatever that was it would have helped to excavate down to the bottom in terms of understanding, or perhaps they did and are not telling...

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Thank you so much for the explanation. Perhaps one day we will fully understand all the implications of its full purpose and abandonment.

I will be following your thread here. Great topic. Thanks again. Much appreciated!

Mysterioustranger

Great story and research.

Hmmm Âbi..

Welcom to the Abyss

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Nice work. Thanks.

Just posting to get this on my list.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

I can't be sure of how serious you are about the heading.
But I thought this was indeed striking.

. The resulting structure has a keyhole shape.

Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

Always SnF

Fantastic thread thanks for sharing this info

a reply to: randyvs

Now that is interesting, what was that star...... Wormwood?

SnF for all the great work Kantzveldt

Really nice thread, Kantz. I recall not too long ago there was a lot of furor over claims Urkesh was Ur Kasdim or "Ur of the Chaldees," but I believe that was put to rest as false.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Ah gosh. Kantzveldt, what a wonderful thread.

As you know, my only insight in to anything Sumerian has only come to me through your posts at ATS, and I prefer it that way.

God, the size of that orifice, right?

But I cant' help but think...

the pit was gradually filled over time with ritual pit offerings involving puppies and piglets and small items...

...how historically significant this is.

Thanks X1000!

a reply to: Dan00

Right in terms of significance there are recycling issues here, the Hurrian ritual of the shallow pit and humble offering to the Earth had it's origin in natures essentials, from that the transference of spiritual malaise often manifest as bowel disturbance back into the Earth through ritual involving puppies and piglets that had a fondness for excrement, none of these everyday practises necessitated the construction of monumental shafts that extended down into the very Abzu, in essence they were shallow, and dumping on the pure source of the Abzu not a good idea at all.

I can only imagine then that the water source had dried up and the shaft was put to a secondary use, but matters are further complicated by the Hurrian and often Semitic notion that Deities also at some point should be consigned to the Underworld related to tribal practise of succession, that there can only ever be one supreme God this dependent on being the meanest, the Sumerians had seen things more in terms of inter-generational happy families and i think they were right, so all those Deities consigned to the Underworld present a problem, and it seems foolish to have to nip out in the middle of the night into a Hellish pit in order to consult them.

Not that there shouldn't be Deities down there performing their given roles, but the idea of a place of punishment for the deposed is problematic, particularly when this involves Enlil, there was also of course the greater concern of the recycling of the dead but that didn't involve the principle of the impure and corrupt, indeed purity and perfection were considered essential qualities toward resurrection, otherwise it was simply a case of down the pan, so not altogether unrelated to the removal of the undesirable.


a reply to: randyvs

I was pretty serious they don't appear to have got to the bottom pf it and so we should at this point until proven otherwise take into account that it might not have one, but anyway the practise involved did give rise to the idea behind your quote, that former primeval rulers of the Cosmos could be consigned into a bottomless or at least very deep pit and at some point would look to return with a vengeance,

a reply to: Kantzveldt

Another great thread as usual. In the light of the invasion of Iraq and Husseins rumoured rebuilding of Babylon and Stargates etc; Do you suspect there is more to the Syrian crisis and the loggerheads that the USA and Russia find themselves in currently?

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

There is always more to things than meets the eye, and as i pointed out Urkesh/Urkis is the city of Kumarbi whose myth cycle involves the arising of a new world order figure to challenge the Heavens, that's at least a 1,000 if not up to 2,000 years older than the Hellenistic/Babylonian inspired Book of Daniel and Hesiod Theogony

Kumarbi thinks out wise thoughts in his mind. He nurses the thought of creating misfortune and an evil being. he plots evil against the Storm-god. He nurses the thought of raising up a rival for the Storm-god. Kumarbi thinks out wise thoughts in his mind and strings them together like beads. When Kumarbi had thought out the wise thoughts in his mind, he instantly rose from his seat. He took his staff in his hand, put swift shoes on his feet. He set forth from Urkis, his city

When night[...; when night] stood in the [...] vigil, stone moved stone.[...], they attended her when she gave birth [...] the Rock [...] forth [...and] Kumarbi's son made his appearance.

Kumarbi Cycle

originally posted by: Kantzveldt
The term abi or api is the same as the stem of the Sumerian Ap-su or Akkadian Ab-zu, meaning deep and indeed the original pit was dug very deep,

The Sumerian word for Deep was "burud"

Apsu/Abzu means "cosmic underground water" and is a determinative for water. named after a natural spring which featured in the original Temple of Enki at Eridu, which was situated next to a marsh, with brackish water. I can see it being the same if the original use of the pit was as a well.

So sorry to piss on your fire, I'm quite pedantic over linguistics, let me apologise by offering you this, which I've spent days looking at
babel.massart.edu...