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94Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies
www.aaatec.org ISSN 2310-2144
The Three Skies of the Indo-Europeans
Arnaud Fournet
Independent researcher, Paris V René Descartes, France, foumet.amaud@wanadoo.fr
Abstract
The paper aims to describe the approach that Indo-Europeans had about cosmogony and the structure of the sky. It especially relies on the Greek, Latin and Hurrian conceptions. It is shown that the Indo-European cosmogony envisions the sky as three layers: the Upper-Sky, the Middle-Sky and the Lower-Sky. The gods and celestial bodies in each sky are different and have specific roles, names, colors and attributes. An appendix at the end lists the words and roots discussed in the paper.
Keywords: Indo-European, Comparative Mythology, Cosmology, Greek, Hurrian Introduction
The paper aims to describe the approach that Indo-Europeans had about cosmogony and the structure of the sky. It especially relies on the Greek, Latin and Hurrian conceptions, which are quite close, though some comparative differences can be noted. In that respect, the Sumero-Akkadian approach is significantly different. It is shown that the Indo-European cosmogony envisions the sky as three layers: the Upper-Sky, the Middle-Sky and the Lower-Sky. The gods and celestial bodies in each sky are different and have specific roles, names, colors and attributes. Comparative analysis permits to reconstruct the core theory of the Indo-Europeans, sieving probable conservatisms and probable innovations.
General features of the Indo-European cosmogony
Similarities between the Greek and Hurro-Anatolian cosmogonies have long been noticed. The relevant myths belong to the so-called Kumarbi Cycle (Hoffner, 1990, pp. 40-65). It narrates how successive gods fought each other to conquer the throne of kingship. A bibliographical account and summary of the Cycle is given in Hoffner (Hoffner, 1990, pp. 4042).
Contrary to the Biblical account of the Genesis, which is peaceful, the cosmogony depicted in the Kumarbi Cycle is fairly conflictual and gods are in a kind of perpetual warfare. The other main feature is the three layers of rule over the sky.
The first primeval god is Alalu, who is dethroned by Anu, who in turn is dethroned by Kumarbi, the son of Alalu. Anu is not a relative of Alalu and Kumarbi, and seems quite obviously borrowed from Sumerian AN 'sky'. To some extent, Anu appears to be a usurper and an intrusive component in the regular line of inherited kingship, so to speak, a Semitic graft onto the original narrative. Alalu is usually also considered to be from Semitic. The Ergative form Alal-us
with u, instead of the most frequent -i(s), is in favor of a Semitic origin, but a link with PIE *al-'to feed, grow (tall)' is nevertheless thinkable.1 Human accepts adjectives with u-ending like asmu 'fat' or musu 'just', so Alalu may be a native adjective, similar to Latin altus. The native origin of Alalu is thinkable, so much so as Semitic *?ilu 'god' normally does not have a-vowel. So a native reduplicated adjective *al-al-u- 'very high' is thinkable.
Kumarbi wants to emasculate Anu to make sure he would not beget any new adversary to his own rule, but, on emasculating Anu, Kumarbi gets impregnated by Anu's manhood and begets Tessub. A fierce war then begins between Kumarbi and his son, the storm-god Tessub.
The Human triplet: Alalu, Kumarbi, Tessub is parallel to the Greek triplet: Ouranos, Kronos, Zeus. Etymologically, Alalu may derive from PIE *al- 'to feed, grow (tall)'. I have proposed to analyze Kumarbi as *km-arbi 'hundred-years old', the equivalent of Kronos, usually depicted as a very old god.2 As for Tessub, it is from *dey-sub - 'sky-storm'.3 Zeus and Tessub therefore share the same root *dey(w)- 'day, daylight'. Tessub has counterparts in Urartian Teiseba and Kassite Tispak.4 Kronos does not have a received and clear etymology, a link with PIE *ger- 'old' is thinkable, admitting a transition through a language that devoices initials as in Greek rcupyo^ 'tower' (< *bhrgh-). Kronos (the 'old one') and Kumarbi (the 'hundred-years old') are therefore synonymous. Zeus-Tessub is Latin Jove the 'young' god. The preform of Ouranos is *owrn-, which in my opinion is a borrowing of Hurrian hawurni 'sky', as explained below in more detail.
In Latin, Saturn does not have a father and the Upper-Sky does not have a name, nor a ruling god. It is nevertheless hard to believe that people would not perceive that the stars and Milky Way are not on the same footing as bigger and mobile objects like the sun or the moon.
The structure of the cosmogony is therefore:
color Latin Greek Hurrian
Upper-Sky stars black ? Ouranos Alalu
Middle-Sky sun, moon red Saturn Kronos Kumarbi
Lower-Sky daylight white Jupiter Zeus Tessub
Each sky has a specific color. The Upper-Sky has the color of night: black. The Lower-Sky normally has the color of light: white.5 And, as a bit counter-intuitive as it might seem, the color of the Middle-Sky, which contains bright objects like the sun, the moon or Planet Venus, is red, the color of sunset and sunrise. Ancient Greeks held red to be a mixture of black and white. This belief does not reflect actual reality, which should be gray, but rather expresses the intermediary position of the Middle-Sky.6
1 Cf. Latin altus 'high' and the late Greek equation Alalu = "Yyicxoi; 'Highest'.
2 It is common among German hurritologists to derive Kumarbi from a root *kum- 'to build' (2012-BGDH, pp. 221-22). The main problem is that this verbal root *kum- is a lexicographic fiction, nowhere attested. Besides, another word kumti 'tower' allegedly derived from the root *kum- is in fact a borrowing of Semitic qimtu 'roof top', with inverted vowels as in ziz > Hurrian izuzi 'spelt'. The speculations proposed by the Germans are to be rejected.
3 Cf. for example, Lithuanian siaub-ti 'to storm, rage'.
4 Further comparanda are Etruscan Tinas and LinearA te-se-ba in the Person name su-ki-ri-Te-se-ba, which is standard Hurrian Sugri-Tessub.
5 Haudry (Haudry, 2016, p. 93) mentions a Hittite ritual (Hisuwa) resorting to three colors: black, red and blue (instead of white).
6 See Haudry (Haudry, 2016, pp. 82-94) for an extensive discussion of the colors in cosmologies across Indo-European peoples.
Incidentally, black is also the color of earth, ^ p,sXaiva yq, but, in a cosmological context, the
n
black color rather applies to the nocturnal sky. Additional remarks
Incidentally, Kumarbi also begets the Aranzah (Tiger) river, which may be an indication where the original Hurrian homeland lies. In historical times, Hurrians occupied a vast swath of land, from the Kizzuwadna to Nuzi, and in the upper-courses of the Euphrates and Khabur.
It can be noted that Kassite Harbe, the variant form of Hurrian hawurni 'sky', is equated to Sumerian Enlil 'the god of winds and atmosphere'. This raises an issue because Harbe and Enlil normally do not belong to the same layer. This contradiction can certainly be solved by the fact Sumerian does not seem to have a layered sky. Enlil can therefore be equated with any layer. The apparent contradiction only exists in the Indo-European point of view.
Besides, if a connection between Latin caelum 'sky' and the Hurrian Person Names Kae-Tessub, Kae-Tilla (NPN 222) is accepted, then the stem *ka(H)e- is the name of the Lower-Sky, confirming that hawurni is the Upper-Sky, as suggested by the Greek borrowing.
Some people have tried to etymologize Greek oùpavôç as *wrs-an-, suggesting that oùpavôç was a kind of reservoir of rain (drops). In the approach developed here, this etymology is impossible and fundamentally flawed, as rain does not fall from as high as the stars.
Hoffner (1990:41) claims that "Kumarbi is a netherworld god, whereas Tessub is a celestial god." This conception is false. Both are celestial but belong to two different layers of the sky. Another point is that two Hurrian words have so far remained undistinguished. One is kiyasi 'sea' and the other is keyase 'lightning'.8 Tablets found in Meskene-Emar show that keyase is equated with the Elamite thunder-god (AN 218). As a result, dkeyase cannot be the same word as kiyasi 'sea' and probably means 'lightning'.
Last but not least, the three Skies of the cosmogony should not be confused with the famous tripartite socio-political ideology of Dumézil, which distinguishes three functions: sovereignty, warfare and wealth. Cosmogony and social organisation are two different topics.
The Upper-Sky - Heaven and stars
There is not much to say on the Upper-Sky as its ruling god is to a large extent a Deus otiosus, an idle god, who does not intervene much in the world as we know it.
Stars belong to this cosmogonic layer and were associated with fire: *H2s-ter < PIE *H2es- 'to burn, be hot'. The same idea surfaces in Semitic *kab-kab- 'star' as noted by Bomhard (Bomhard, 2019). Another example is Kassite dagas 'star', possibly from *dhegh(w- 'to burn'.
An interesting point is meteorites and stones fallen from the sky. To which layer of the sky do they belong?
In the Epic of Gilgames, Enkidu is compared to a stone fallen from the sky. Gilgames had a dream, which is explained to him by his mother (Tablet I lines 260-70):
260. Ninsun was clever, she was wise
261. she knew everything, she said to Gilgames:
262. "The stars of Heaven appeared before you,
7 I here defer from the proposals of Haudry (Haudry, 2016), who does not seem to consider a black sky.
8 Cf. Fournet (2019-NGDH, pp. 95, 98).
263. like a lump of rock from the sky one of them fell toward you, [...]
265. You picked it up and set it down at my feet,
266. and I, I made it your equal, [...]
270. His strength is as mighty as a lump of rock from the sky.9
This would suggest that objects fallen from the sky belong to the Upper-Sky, where stars belong. But the situation is not so clear, because the Akkadian tradition does not seem to separate the sky into several layers, in spite of having a plural word for 'sky' samsu.
It appears that, in the Human conception, celestial stones are an attribut of Istar-Sauska, hence belong to the Middle-Sky. Here daya azzalli 'attribut d'lstar' in Laroche (1980-GDLLH, p. 67) needs to be discussed. Human azzalli means 'stone'.10 The word Adaya azzalli, which Laroche (1980-GDLLH) or Richter (2012-BGDH) left unglossed, probably means 'celestial stone, meteorite'. As Sauska belongs to the Middle-Sky, this logically means that the ddaya azzalli, meteorite or lump of rock from the sky, also belongs to it.
The Middle-Sky - Sun, Moon and cyclical phenomena
The Middle-Sky contains cyclical bodies, most prominently: the sun, the moon, the planets Venus and Mars. Apart from being cyclical, these bodies have a period of disappearance and are not constantly visible, contrary to stars. This feature can easily be associated with seasons and plant growth in a Neolithic earth-tilling society.
Each of the bodies rules over a cyclical phenomenon. The sun over day and year, the moon over months, Venus over fertility, and less happily so, Mars over war.
A feature of the Hurrian cosmogony is that each of the celestial bodies is associated with a tutelary deity. In Greek and Latin, the sun and moon are their own deities.
Another difference between Hurrian versus Greek and Latin is the tendency to marry a god with a goddess. In Hurrian, this sort of marriages seems to be a fashion under Semitic influence. It would seem that the original cosmogony of the Indo-Europeans did not include such divine marriages. Hebat, the spouse of Tessub, is quite possibly from Semitic hawwa(t) 'life'. Several maidservants of Hebat also bear Semitic names, like Daqita 'the small one'. Another indication is the marriage of the Lower-Sky Zeus to the Middle-Sky Hera, a structural oddity, which also exists between Jupiter and Iuno, daughter of Saturn. Such marriages make sense only after Zeus began to cumulate features belonging to the Lower-Sky and the Middle-Sky.
The Middle-Sky - Sun and Moon
The number of roots used to name the sun is relatively limited. On the contrary the names of the moon are exceedingly numerous.
The Indo-European name of the sun: *seH4w-l/n- is linked to Hurrian sawali, Urartian sali 'year'. This root has Caucasic comparanda in Abkhaz *(a)zwd 'year' and Nakh *so 'year'. Obviously, the sun is the basis for measuring years. Similarly, *dey(w)- 'day, daylight' can be compared with Nakh *de (oblique *den-) 'day'. It is unclear if Urartian siwini 'sun' derives from *seH4w-n-. In all cases, Urartian siwini is phonetically closer to *seH4w-n- than to Hurrian Simegi, which derives from another root.
9 The translation follows George (George, 2003).
10 Cf. Fournet (Fournet, 2015, p. 44). Akkadian kisir 'lump of rock' is translated by Hurrian azzalli.
The Latin equivalent of the Middle-Sky god is Saturnus (< *seH4-t-) from the same root as Latin solis 'sun'. The connections of Saturn with the sun and the winter solstice are obvious. The Saturnalia, a major religious festival in the Roman calendar, celebrated the harvest and sowing, and ran from December 17-23. Besides, the renewal of light and the coming of the new year was celebrated in the later Roman Empire at the Dies Natalis of Sol Invictus, the 'birthday of the unvanquished sun', on December 25.
Interestingly, Hoffner (Hoffner, 1990, p. 111) defines Kumarbi as "a grain deity", consistent with the Latin god of agriculture Saturnus. The equivalence is therefore strong.
The original name of the sun is kept in Hurrian hami, which translates Hittite Suwaliya in KBo 32.13 Ro I 9. The original root is *H2em- 'sun', exemplified in Greek ^p,spa or Armenian op or 'day'. For unknown reasons, German hurritology does not seem to accept the obvious equation: hami = Suw aliya of KBo 32.13 Ro I 9.11 Neu (Neu, 1996, pp. 244-46) contortions and winces to deny the obvious at all cost ('ham- allerdings unbekannter Bedeutung').
The words moon and month are directly derived from *meH1-, itself a Kortlandt variant of
*med- 'to measure'. This is doubtless not the oldest root for 'moon'. It is unclear if Abkhaz
— 12 *(a)m(a)za (< ? *(a)maH1-za) 'month, moon' is a cognate, presumably so. If accepted, it would
suggest that the so-called Kortlandt effect (*d ~ *H1) is much older than PIE itself, as it would
13
exist in Abkhaz, a group that is a sister or maybe even a cousin of PIE.13 See below the discussion of Luvian massan(i)- 'god' and Hurrian misu.
Latin has two words in relationship with the moon: luna moon' and idus (f. pl) 'mid-month'. Latin luna has Indo-European comparanda and derives from *luk-sna 'bright one'.14 Latin idus is an isolated word, which may nevertheless be inherited. It has distant comparanda in Basque il-hargi 'moon (shine)'15 and Hieroglyphic Egyptian ih (< *yidhah)16 'moon'. These words are based on a scarcely attested Nostratic proto-root *yidh- 'full moon, mid-month', which seems to be the original name of the (full) moon and not a adjectival epithet like *luk-sna 'bright one' as in PIE or *H2erg- 'shining' as in Basque.
The Hurrian word for 'moon' is not clear. Kusuh is the Moon-god, not the moon itself. The root *kus- is probably derived from a third synonymous adjective *kwei-s/t- 'bright, white'. This root has other derivatives in Hurrian like kusurni 'attribute of goddesses'. Greek EsX^vn is based on the noun osXa^ 'light'.17
Finally, most Caucasic words for 'moon' are based on the root *bheH- 'to shine, show up',
18
which may have originally referred to the 'new moon'. Some languages have a back vowel -o-, some have -a-, Nakh has an alternation between butt and oblique betta-.
The Middle-Sky - Tutelary gods
In Hurrian, the sun hami and the moon *kus- have tutelary gods, respectively Simegi and Kusuh. The word Simegi can be understood as *dy-megh-i 'master of day(light)'. Here, a major
11 Hami is listed without translation in Richter (2012-BGDH, p. 123).
12 With full-grade: Adyghe, Kabardian maza, with zero-grade: Abkhaz a-mza, Abaza mza, Ubykh maja, a-mja.
13 Most regrettably, current macro-comparative studies have embarked on a course, where Caucasic is deemed closer to Chinese than to Indo-European languages. This doubtless cannot be accepted as a working hypothesis.
14 Macro-comparison suggests that this root contains a particular lateral *tluk-. See below *zuk.
15 Basque il < *yidh- is regular.
16 Egyptian *dh > f is regular.
17 It is not clear which god(dess) hides in Urartian <dsi-e-la-ar-di-e>, possibly a moon-god(dess).
18 Note that two languages have initial m-: Avar moc:, Chadakolob moc as in West Caucasic.
difference surfaces between Latin Ju-piter 'father of day(light)' and Human *dy-megh-i 'master of day(light)'. Jupiter is the Latin equivalent of Zeus, the thunder-god, and should belong to the Lower-Sky. Hurrian Simegi (< *dy-megh-i) 'master of day(light)' is different from Tessub and belongs to the Middle-Sky, where he rules over the sun hami. Latin fused Zeus, the thunder-god, of the Lower-Sky with the 'master, father of day(light)' of the Middle-Sky. Jupiter combines the Middle-Sky name with Lower-Sky attributes like thunder and day(light).
The differences can be shown in the following table:
Greek Hurrian Latin
Year, sun *seH4- 'year' Helios Kronos (sawali) Kumarbi Sol Saturnus
Sun, day *H2em- 'sun' (■q^épa) Si-megi Ju-piter
Day(light) *dey(w)- 'day' Zeus Tessub
Hurrian sawali and Greek ^p,spa are not deified.
Noticeably, contrary to the usual warfare between Kronos-Kumarbi and Zeus-Tessub, the Romans had a peaceful conception of the relationship between Jupiter and Saturnus. The former just prevailed over the latter, who is demoted to agriculture and periodic renewal. This probably reflects rearrangements of the Indo-European pantheon of Neolithic dating.
As mentioned before, the Lower-Sky Zeus is married to the Middle-Sky goddess Hera, while Jupiter is married to Iuno, daughter of Saturn. Iuno can reasonably be compared to Latin aevum and Greek airov from *Hayw- 'life, duration'. Hera is similarly linked to ropa from *yoH1r- 'year, season, moment'. Both roots are unattested in Anatolian languages, but seem inherited. The meanings of the root are fully consistent with the cyclical features of the Middle-Sky.
The Middle-Sky - Planets Venus and Mars
Another major component of the Middle-Sky is the planets: Venus and Mars. Their respective tutelary deities in Hurrian are Sauska and the war-god Astabi.
The assignment of the red Planet Mars to the war-god is certainly due to the color of blood. The theonym Astabi is probably linked to Old Persian arsta-bara 'lance-bearer'. Another name for the war-god is Hurrian Tasmisu. Both equate Sumerian Ninurta. It seems that Tasmisu is the original Hurrian name while Astabi is a Mittani-Aryan borrowing. Both are attested at Bogaz-koy, but only Astabi is attested at Ugarit. Tasmisu is the son of Kumarbi, which makes him a god of the Middle-Sky.
Now, Tasmisu is the traditional reading of <dta-as-mi-su->, but the sign as can also be read rum. So, an alternative reading of Tasmisu is Tarummisu. Which is better? On account of Dadmis, possibly the Goddess of Love, it would seem that mis(u) means 'god(dess)' or 'divine'. If compared to Luvian massan(i)- 'god', then the root is *m(o)H1-s-. Hurrian i in zero-grade mis(u) is compellingly *H1. Luvian massan(i)- 'god' is full-grade. Then, Taru(m) may mean 'burning', while Tas- 'gift' makes little sense. So our opinion is that the traditional reading Tasmisu is probably false, better is Tarummisu 'the burning god, the god of (war) fire'.
The case of Planet Venus is a bit more difficult, because two conceptions of womanhood need to be distinguished. Serious womanhood is about healing, protection, fertility, conjugality and victory. This form is represented by Sauska-Hera-Iuno. Frivolous womanhood is about love and sex. That latter form is represented by Aphrodite-Venus. The correct equivalent is probably
Human Dadmis, a somewhat obscure goddess, mostly attested in Syria. The word Dadmis is probably derived from the Akkadian verb dadu 'to love'.
The traditional equation Istar = Sauska is a bit misleading, because Istar blurs the distinction between serious and frivolous womanhood, that exists between Hera vs Aphrodite, and Iuno vs Venus. Considerable interferences exist between the (North-West) Semitic cult of Istar-Astarte and the Indo-European goddesses. Interestingly, Plato, in his Symposium 180e, asserts that two entities are to be separated: Aphrodite Ourania 'Heavenly Aphrodite' and Aphrodite Pandemos 'Aphrodite for all the people'. This is precisely the distinction between serious and frivolous womanhood. Stricto sensu, Aphrodite-Venus is not a celestial goddess, but Sauska-Hera-Iuno definitely is.
The theonym Sauska is usually analyzed as meaning 'the swollen one', in relationship with child-bearing.
The Lower-Sky
The Lower-Sky is the atmosphere. Its most prominent god is the storm-god: Zeus-Tessub. As seen before, Tessub means *dey-sub- 'sky-storm'. Zeus and Tessub share the same root *dey(w)-'day, daylight'. Tessub has counterparts in Urartian Teiseba and Kassite Tispak.
Among the attributes of Tessub is keyase 'lightning, thunderbolt', which should not be confused with Human kiyasi 'sea',19 another is ASertab-Suruhi 'Silver-light has gleamed'. The
verb sert- means 'to gleam, be splendid'. The word Suruhi can be compared with Indo-Aryan
20
sukra- 'white, pure' and some Iranian words like sukka- 'clear'. These Indo-Iranian words do not
21 ^ seem to be inherited, so it is probable that Hurrian Suruhi is not inherited either and is a
Mittani-Aryan borrowing. Besides, the Hurrian word for 'silver': isuhni, ushuni seems to be from
22
the same source (*zu(r)k-, *zuk-(r)-). Hurrian does not admit voiced initials and has added a prosthetic vowel to the root.
Tessub has a vizier, classically called Impaluri. In my opinion, this reading is false. < im-pa-lu-ri> should be read <dIM-pa-lu-ri> where dIM is an ideogram which means Tessub. Correct is the name Tessub-aluri. The morpheme (H)aluri also appears in Hude-lluri (vs Hude) a goddess of life and childbirth, and possibly also Ube-lluri, Talmi-lluri. Its exact meaning is unclear, seemingly 'servant', 'helper' or 'feeder'.
The emblematic animal of Zeus-Tessub is the eagle (fig. 1), in Hurrian Eribuski 'the golden eagle', in Greek asxo^ Ato^.
Under Semitic influence, the storm-god Tessub has been assigned a spouse, Hebat, from Semitic hawwa(t) 'life'. But, contrary to the Sumerian pantheon, as a rule, divine marriages are not a feature of the Indo-European cosmogony.
In the Ancient Near-East, lions were associated with war. Piringal, literally the 'Great Lioness' to whom the Temple of Urkes is dedicated, is a lion-goddess of war.
19 Hoffner (Hoffner, 1990, p. 42) considers that dSertab-Suruhi is the daughter of the Sea God [sic], and dImpaluri [sic] is the vizier of the Sea God [sic]. All this makes no sense, and results from an accumulation of confusions and misreadings.
20 It can also be applied to soma and sperm. The variant sukla- can describe silver in Old Indian.
21 See Mayhofer's dictionaries of Indo-Aryan.
22 This root *zuk- is possibly the Caucasic reflex of the Nostratic root *iuk- 'bright'. Cf. Lezgian *jagwar-, Abkhaz a-skwakwa, Abaza skwakwa 'white'. A change *zauk- > *zakw- seems to have occurred.
Figure 1. The eagle of Zeus riding a thunderbolt23
Bulls are associated with the sun. There are two of them: Hurrian Tilla (< *dey-lla) 'days' and Hurri 'night', consistent with the daily cycle of the sun. Laroche (1980-GDLLH) considers them to be the bulls of Tessub, but, logically, they should rather be the bulls of Simegi. In Urartian art Teiseba is depicted standing on a bull. This is possibly an imitation of the Akkadian storm-god Adad, who is indeed represented standing on a bull. But this feature does not seem to occur with Tessub.
In the late Neolithic approach, the sun crosses the sky on a charriot. Obviously, this cannot be very ancient, as the Indo-European pantheon definitely predates the invention of charriots.
Distorsions of the original pantheon
As seen before, Latin fused Zeus, the thunder-god, of the Lower-Sky with the 'master, father of day(light)' of the Middle-Sky. Jupiter combines the Middle-Sky name with Lower-Sky attributes like thunder and day (light).
Figure 2. Tessub with a sword, an ax and a thunderbolt24
23https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle of Zeus#/media/File:T%C3%A9tradrachme du royaume Lagide %C3%A0 l'ef figie de Ptol%C3%A9m%C3%A9e.jpg (Available 26.12.2019)
Another distorsion can be found in Indo-Iranian. The word dyau- 'sky' is not a god, just a noun, contrary to Greek or Latin. It is the war-god Indra who combines the attributes of the thunder-god, in particular Indra's weapon, the vajra-sword, is obviously a metaphor of lightning. The vajra-diamond is also obviously linked to lightning. In other words, the Indo-Aryan pantheon blurs the difference between the Lower-Sky and the Middle-Sky.
The semantic connection is confirmed in Baltic: Lettish milna is the 'hammer of thunder, Old Prussian mealde is 'lighning', and Old Norse: Mjollni-r is the hammer of Thor (= Zeus), myln is 'fire'. Besides, it can be noted that the Finnish borrowing vasara (< vajra-) means 'ax'. This is probably the original meaning of vajra- at a time when metallurgy did not exist yet.
What is more, the one who kills the Snake (Illuyanka) is Tessub in the Hurrian approach, but Indra in the Indo-Aryan approach, confirming that the war-god Indra has been reassigned a number of features and attributes originally belonging to the storm-god (fig. 2). In Greek, Zeus kills Typhon (Tu^arov or Tu^rosu^), which is consistent with Hurrian (fig. 3).
Figure 3. Zeus killing Typhon25
Conclusions
In the paper, we surveyed the cosmogonies of several Indo-European peoples: Greek, Latin and Hurrian. It can be established that their original cosmogony involved three skies. An Upper-Sky with the stars, a Middle-Sky with cyclical bodies like the sun, the moon and Planets Venus and Mars, a Lower-Sky with the storm-god.
Some minor distorsions can be observed where attributes of the storm-god are reassigned to deities of the Middle-Sky. They are quite easy to detect.
The principle of divine marriages was probably absent in the original pantheon and results from Semitic influences. The Semitic cult of Istar also caused some confusion between serious womanhood as per Sauska-Hera-Iuno and frivolous womanhood as per Aphrodite-Venus.
24 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Weather God.jpg (Available 26.12.2019)
25 http://corpussignorum.org/dictionary/Dict/image/Zeus2.jpg (Available 26.12.2019)
Appendix 1 - The Euro-Caucasic family
A word needs to be said on the miserable state of present-day (macro-)comparative studies.
As the paper shows, Hurrian is intimately linked to Greek and Latin, lexically and culturally.
So far, Indo-Europeanists have refused to acknowledge my claim that Hurrian and Urartian are the closest relatives of Anatolian and Post-Anatolian Indo-European languages, a claim that began to be put to paper in 2010 in a coauthored draft with Allan R. Bomhard, but is several years older than 2010 as far as I am concerned.
Unfortunately, current Indo-European Studies more or less amount to a scientific fraud, where Improved-Proto-Sanskrit, the model inherited from the 19* century, is supposed to equate Proto-Indo-European. One century after the realization that Hittite was an Indo-European language, there still exists no reconstruction of PIE. In addition, etymological dictionaries are based on a flawed system with only three laryngeals when four are (obviously...) necessary.
Besides, Improved-Proto-Sanskrit, as it currently stands, is a hotchpotch of genuine PIE, Caucasic and Kartvelian words, that is in urgent need of being sorted out.
Basque and Caucasic have been rightly held to be related. Though Bengtson's ideas cannot all be accepted, enough good comparanda are already assembled to make sure Basque is a kind of Caucasic language.
Now, undoubtedly, the most demented idea currently propagated by some comparatists is the claim that Caucasic would be closer to Chinese than to PIE. There is on the contrary no doubt that Caucasic (together with Basque) is a close relative of PIE. Though related to PIE, Uralic is not the closest relative of PIE.
The following list of words and roots bears testimony to the fact PIE and Caucasic are intimately related. There are nevertheless some clear isoglosses between both groups: Caucasic has a stressed a-prefix and the reflex of the Nostratic lateral fricative *s is z, not l as in PIE.
The structure of the Euro-Caucasic family is as follows:
Branch A - Anatolic (no a-prefix, Nostratic *s, *l > l)
^ A1 - Western Anatolic (aka orthodox Indo-European) (P1 sg is *H1e-g-) ^ Anatolian: Hittite, Luvian,
^ Post-Anatolian: Latin, Greek, etc. (heavily mixed with Caucasic words)
^ A2 - Eastern Anatolic (P1 sg is *H1e-s-)
^ Hurrian, Urartian, Kassite, Carian26 ^ (Possibly Etruscan) ^ Nakh (Caucasified, though not Caucasic) Branch B - Caucasic (a-prefix)
^ Caucasic (without Nakh) (Nostratic *s > z, *l > l) ^ NW Caucasic ^ NE Caucasic
^ Basque (Nostratic *s, *l > z)
^ Numerous substratic words in Post-Anatolian languages
26 NB: the pseudo-decipherment of Carian alphabets cannot be accepted. This is another demented claim. Carian is to a large extent an offshore dialect of Hurrian.
NB: Kartvelian is a sister of the Euro-Caucasic family, rather than a third branch. It appears that cognates are quite scarce between Euro-Caucasic and Kartvelian.
Appendix 2 - List of Euro-Caucasic roots and words
Appendix 2 lists the words and cognates discussed in the paper.
*H4el- 'high', (derived meaning) 'god of the Upper-Sky'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Latin altus 'high', Middle-Irish alt 'height'
HU ^ Human Alalu 'the ruling god of the Upper-Sky', Urartian alawi(ni) 'lord'
*bheHx- 'to shine, appear', (derived meaning) 'moon' PIE ^ Post-Anatolian *bha-. Greek ^aivro 'to shine' HU ^ Nakh *butt 'moon', oblique *betta-
CAU ^ Avaro-Andian *bore:i, Tsezian *boc-, Khinalug wae 'moon', Lak barz, Dargwa *bac:, Lezgian *waz 'moon, month'.
*dey(w)- 'day(light)', (derived meaning) 'god of the Lower-Sky'
PIE ^ Anatolian: Hittite siu-s 'god', siwatt- 'day'(with spirantized *d > s)
^ Post-Anatolian: Latin deus 'god', dies 'day', Greek Zeus, etc. HU ^ Hurrian Tessub, Urartian Teiseba, Kassite Tispak (< *dey-s(e)ub -) 'the storm-god of the Lower-Sky', dTessub-aluri 'vizier of Tessub', Simegi (< *dy-megh-i) 'master of day(light)', Tilla (< *dey-lla) 'days' ^ Etruscan Tinas
^ Nakh: Chechen de, Ingus di, Bacbi de 'day', oblique: Chechen dina-, Ingus deno-, Bacbi din-a? 'every day', Chechen dela, Ingush dala, Batsbi dal, dale 'god'
*degh(w- 'to burn', (derived meaning) 'star' 27
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian *dhegh(w)- 'to burn', Toch. A, B tsak- 'to burn', tsak- 'to illuminate' HU ^ Kassite dagas 'star'
*ghweyH4- 'shining', (derived meaning) 'the Lower-Sky'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Slavic *gvezda 'star', Greek ^aiSpo^ 'bright, beaming' 28 HU ^ Hurrian Person Names Kae-Tessub, Kae-Tilla, Hurrian keyase 'lightning' ^ Etruscan > Latin caelum 'sky'
*H2em- 'sun', (derived meaning) 'day'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian. Greek ^p,spa or Armenian 0 p or 'day' HU ^ Hurrian hami 'sun'
*H2erg- 'shining', (derived meaning) 'moon', 'silver' PIE ^ Anatolian: Hittite harki- 'white, clear' ^ Post-Anatolian: *arg- stem for 'silver' CAU ^ Basque il-hargi 'moon (shine)'
*H2ey- '(life) time', (derived meaning) 'Iuno'
27 Kartvelian dg-es and Substratic Germanic *dag- 'day' probably belong here as well.
28 Baltic *jw aizd- 'star' is irregular as regards tone and initial.
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian. Greek airov 'period, lifetime', Latin Iuno 'daughter of Saturn' HU ^ (?) Nakh */an 'time, age', obl. Chechen xena-, Ingus xano, Bacbi xani- (< *H2eyn-)
v 2Q
*km- 'palm of hand', (derived meaning) 'one hundred' PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: *km-tom 'one hundred'
HU ^ Human Kumarbi (< *km-arbi) 'the ruling god of the Middle-Sky (lit. the hundred-
year-old god)' CAU ^ Chamalal q:anta 'palm of hand'30
*kow- 'high', (derived meaning) 'Upper-Sky'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Germanic *hau-ga- 'high', Tocharian A koc, B kauc (PT *keuc) 'high up, above'
HU ^ Hurrian hawurni (< *kow-rn-), Kassite Harbe 'the Upper-Sky' ^ borrowed in Greek Ouranos, and Latin Uranus 'the Upper-Sky'
*kwei-s/t/n- 'bright, white', (derived meaning) 'moon' PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Germanic *hwit- 'white' HU ^ Hurrian Kusuh 'the Moon-god', Akusurni 'attribute of goddesses' CAU ^ (?) Avaro-Andian *kwani 'light, torch', Tsezian *kwa (obl. *kana-) 'torch'
*tuk- 'bright', (derived meaning) 'moon', 'silver'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: *luk-sna 'moon', *leuk-o- 'white'
CAU ^ zuk- 'bright': Lezgian *jagwar-, Abkhaz a-skwakwa, Abaza skwakwa 'white' 31 ^ borrowed in Hurrian as isuhni, ushuni 'silver', ASertab-Suruhi ^ borrowed in Indo-Iranian as sukra-, sukka- 'white, pure'
*med-, *meH1- 'to measure', (derived meaning) 'moon, month' *m(o)Hi-s- 'god of the Middle-Sky'
PIE ^ Anatolian: Luvian massan(i)- 'god'
^ Post-Anatolian: *meH1-n- 'moon, month' HU ^ Hurrian mis(u)- 'god' 'god(dess)' in Dad-mis and Tarum-misu CAU ^ With full-grade: Adyghe, Kabardian maza, with zero-grade: Abkhaz a-mza, Abaza mzs, Ubykh ms^a, a-mja 'month, moon' (< ? *m(o)H1-s-)
*megh- 'power, master'
PIE Post-Anatolian: *megh-, also *megh- 'to be able' HU ^ Simegi (< *dy-megh-i) 'master of day(light)'
*par-, pir- 'lightning', (derived meaning) 'thunder-god'
PIE ^ (? Substratic32) Slavic *PerUn, Baltic PerkUnas 'thunder-god', Old Indian Parjanya
33
'rain god', Old Norse Fjorgyn 'the mother of the thunder-god Thor'
29 Cf. Uralic *kame-(ne) 'palm of hand', Mordvin kemen 'ten'.
30 This word interferes with *qa?t- 'hand'.
31 Cf. Kartvelian suk 'light'.
32 The geographic distribution is quite unbalanced. It is unclear to which extent the comparanda are inherited.
33 Cf. Erzya Mordvin thunder god Pur'gine-paz 'thunder-god'.
CAU ^ Avaro-Andian *piri, Tsezian *pir, Lakparannu, Akushapalr, Lezgian *par-/*rap-'lightning'
*seH4u- 'year', (derived meaning) 'sun' PIE ^ Anatolian: Hittite Suwaliya 'sun' ^ Post-Anatolian: *seH4w-l/n- 'sun'
^ Post-Anatolian: Latin Saturnus (< *seH4-t-) 'the ruling god of the Middle-Sky' HU ^ Hurrian sawali, Urartian sali 'year', Urartian siwini 'sun'
^ Nakh: *so 'year', oblique: Chechen sera-, Ingus sero-, Bacbi sari-CAU ^ Abkhaz *(a)zwd 'year'
*sel- 'light', (derived meaning) 'moon'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian. Greek EsX^vn 'moon', osXa^ 'light' HU ^ (?) Urartian <dsi-e-la -ar-di-e> 'an unclear god(dess)' ^ (?) Nakh: Chechen sa 'light', oblique: sin- (without l) CAU ^ Dargwa *s:ala 'light'
*seubh- 'storm'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: siaub-ti 'to storm, rage'
HU ^ Hurro-Urartian: Hurrian Tessub, Urartian Teiseba, Kassite Tispak (< *dey-s(e)ubh-) 'the storm-god of the Lower-Sky'
*toH3-i- 'to burn', (derived meaning) 'meteorite, star'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Substratic (popular) Latin titio 'burning brand' HU ^ Hurrian daya azzalli 'meteorite' ^ Nakh: Batsbi t ^ejri 'star'
*yeH1-r- 'year, season, moment'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Greek ropa, Hpa CAU ^ (?) Lak arz 'prime of life', Dargwa arz 'age' ^ (?) Basque urte 'year'
*yidh- 'full moon, mid-month'
PIE ^ Post-Anatolian: Latin idus (f. pl) 'mid-month' CAU ^ Basque il-hargi 'moon (shine)
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