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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.

Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Kumarbi’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

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, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.

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.

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.

Kingship in Heaven, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-30

  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 2026-08-30

  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 appears in

The myths across MythSource where Kumarbi features, each on that figure’s page.