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Kumarbi, a MythSource painting
Anatolian

Kumarbi

01Identity

Kumarbi in Anatolian tradition

Kumarbi bit the genitals of Anu, the sky god, and swallowed them. This made him pregnant with Anu’s children. They included the Storm God, identified with the Hurrian Teshub, and three other siblings. Midwives treated Kumarbi as a woman of the bed, and he gave birth from his good place. The Storm God later defeated him and took kingship. In another account, Kumarbi tried to eat Teshub but failed. He then lost his rule, while Teshub became king of the gods. Kumarbi also fathered monsters. He begot Hedammu with the daughter of a sea god and produced Ullikummi by impregnating a stone pillar. Kumarbi and the Storm God were both city gods. Kumarbi lived in Urkes, thought to be the first Hurrian capital, and settled the lawsuits of all lands satisfactorily. His stories belonged to the written collection called Kingship in Heaven and to Hurrian-Hittite tradition.

  • Kumarbi was a deity in Hurrian-Hittite tradition. (Hesiod's Theogony)
  • Kumarbi was part of violent divine succession myths. (Hesiod's Theogony)
Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Kumarbi’s family, at a glance

Anu
Kumarbi
Ḫedammu
03The names

The names Kumarbi answers to

Kumarbis

variant name of Kumarbi

SourceDictionary of Mythology

04The myths

The myths of Kumarbi

2 myths, with sources recorded for each.

Kingship in Heaven

The story belonged to the Kingship in Heaven cycle. Its first song told of Kumarbi, the son of Alalu, and Anu, the sky god. Kumarbi seized power from Anu during a violent struggle. He grabbed Anu’s loins and swallowed his manhood.

The act made Kumarbi pregnant with Anu’s children. The children included the Storm God, known in Hurrian tradition as Teshub, and three other siblings. Midwives treated Kumarbi like a woman. He later gave birth from his good place. Teshub was therefore fathered by Anu and mothered by Kumarbi.

The succession between the gods continued when Teshub grew to manhood and challenged Kumarbi. Kumarbi tried to eat him but failed. One account clearly says that Teshub defeated Kumarbi and became king of the gods. Another survives in a badly broken passage and leaves the overthrow as the probable outcome. Either way, Teshub’s rise avenged Anu’s earlier fall.

The story thus moved from Anu’s overthrow, through Kumarbi’s pregnancy and the birth of rival gods, to Teshub’s rise. Later songs continued the struggle between Kumarbi and the Storm God through new challengers, including Ullikummi. Ullikummi went on to defeat Teshub and take the old primeval gods, led by Ea, as his supporters, but was later deposed in turn, and Teshub was reinstated as king.

Kingship in Heaven, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-09-02

  1. 1Babylonian Creation MythsT1
  2. 2Hesiod's TheogonyT1
  3. 3The Oxford Companion to World MythologyT1

The Song of Ullikummi

Kumarbi seized power from Anu, the sky god, by grasping and swallowing his sexual organs. Kumarbi was the son of Alalu. This act made Kumarbi pregnant with Anu’s children, including Teshub and three other gods. Midwives treated him like a woman in childbirth, and he gave birth from his body. Teshub later grew to manhood and defeated Kumarbi, becoming king of the gods.

Kumarbi then sought another champion. He fathered the stone giant Ullikummi by impregnating a stone pillar. The giant was made to overthrow Teshub. Kumarbi also fathered Hedammu, a sea monster, as part of a series of monsters that opposed the Storm God.

Ullikummi rose as a stone pillar and challenged Teshub. The old primeval gods supported the monster for a time. Teshub nevertheless gathered the gods at their place of assembly before attacking the rock giant. The struggle continued until the gods faced the problem of how to destroy a creature made of stone.

Ea proposed an ancient cutting instrument. It was probably a saw, and it was the tool that had once separated heaven and earth. The gods used this old instrument against Ullikummi and severed him from his stone support. The monster became helpless and was toppled. Teshub’s city gained victory, and Teshub was restored as king after Ullikummi’s defeat.

The Song of Ullikummi, a MythSource painting of the scene

6 sources· checked 2026-09-02

  1. 1Hesiod's TheogonyT1
  2. 2Hesiod's TheogonyT1
  3. 3Hesiod's TheogonyT1
  4. 4Dictionary of MythologyT1
  5. 5The Oxford Companion to World MythologyT1
  6. 6Babylonian Creation MythsT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Kumarbi, each on that figure’s page.

05Different accounts

Different accounts

›One receipt described Kumarbi’s defeat by the weather god as probable because the passage was badly broken. Another presented Teshub’s defeat of Kumarbi as a clear event.

    The accounts that differ: Babylonian Creation Myths, K 4349E 7; Ba V 655 23).; Hesiod's Theogony, Chapter 4).

    From “Kingship in Heaven”

    ›One receipt said Kumarbi gave birth to sons including the weather god. Another specified Teshub and three other siblings.

      The accounts that differ: Babylonian Creation Myths, K 4349E 7; Ba V 655 23).; Hesiod's Theogony, Chapter 4).

      From “Kingship in Heaven”

      ›One receipt said that Ea appeared later but that his origin was unexplained. Another said that Ea led the primeval gods who supported Ullikummi.

        The accounts that differ: Babylonian Creation Myths, K 4349E 7; Ba V 655 23).; The Oxford Companion to World Mythology

        From “Kingship in Heaven”

        ›One account said Ea rendered Ullikummi helpless. Another said Ea proposed the ancient cutting instrument, while a further account described the gods using it to topple the monster.

          The accounts that differ: Dictionary of Mythology, Part Fish; Babylonian Creation Myths, Ii 193; Hesiod's Theogony, Section 66). An Old Copper Sickle Used Long Ago To Separate Heaven And Earth Is

          From “The Song of Ullikummi”

          ›One account said the old primeval gods supported Ullikummi and were led by Ea. Another described Ea as the figure who suggested the cutting instrument used against the monster.

            The accounts that differ: The Oxford Companion to World Mythology; Babylonian Creation Myths, Ii 193

            From “The Song of Ullikummi”

            ›One account focused on the gods gathering before attacking Ullikummi. Another described the monster as being defeated and Teshub being reinstated after a later struggle for kingship.

              The accounts that differ: Hesiod's Theogony, Chapter 4).; The Oxford Companion to World Mythology

              From “The Song of Ullikummi”