To Kill a Mighty Serpent

The Hittites, who settled in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) about five thousand years ago, ruled over a powerful empire that extended all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Here’s a story of one of their gods.

Teshub was the storm god who had usurped all of his father’s powers. Of course, Kumarbi, his father, could not really complain as he had taken over from his own father, Anu, the sky god, in a not-too-amicable way. Kumarbi tried in vain to contain his son many times but did not meet with much success.

Mighty though he was, there was one adversary Teshub could not vanquish—Illuyanka. Illuyanka was a powerful serpent with whom Teshub had fought many battles. After one very humiliating defeat, he decided that enough was enough. He’d find a way to put down the evil serpent. Maybe he needed to seek help from the other gods. It was his daughter Inara, the patron goddess of wild animals, who offered to help.

‘How will you do it?’ asked Teshub, who was willing to listen to other ideas for he really didn’t have one himself.

‘I’ll find a way,’ promised Inara. She went down to earth and sought out Hupasiya. Though Hupasiya was only a human, Inara had taken a fancy to him somehow. ‘Hupasiya, I need you to come with me on a mission. Abandon everything and come with me at once!’

Hupasiya, who in turn loved the beautiful goddess, agreed without even asking her what the mission was all about. On their way up to the heavens Inara explained her plan to him.

‘Illuyanka is a very dangerous serpent and a threat to gods and mortals alike. My father, Teshub, has tried several times to defeat him but has not been able to. My plan is to befriend the enemy and then ensnare him.’

‘What do I have to do?’ Hupasiya asked, because he was not exactly the warrior sort and was kind of wary of an encounter with a deadly serpent.

‘Oh, you and I are going to play hosts to a very spirited party.’ Inara was smiling as she said this.

‘For whom?’ asked Hupasiya, still looking puzzled.

‘Sup with the enemy, that’s what it’s going to be.’ Inara laughed and quickly explained her plan to Hupasiya.

Inara prepared a big feast and went to the lair of the serpent Illuyanka.

‘O, Iluyanka, you are the mightiest of all serpents and the most supreme of all creations. To celebrate your victory over all gods and mortals, I have prepared a grand feast. All in your honour! Please do come to my humble abode with all your sons and partake of it,’ Inara invited the serpent in her sweetest voice.

Flattered and surprised—pleasantly so, for he had never received a dinner invitation in his life—the unsuspecting Iluyanka slithered up with his entire family in tow.

Inara was dressed in all her finery and looked every inch a radiant hostess. Hupasiya, meanwhile, waited, hiding in a dark corner, unseen by the guests. What a feast it was! Barrels and barrels of wine were emptied as the merrymaking went on through the night. Inara made sure that every one of her guests was well-fed or, rather, well overfed!

As the night wore on, one by one, Illuyanka and his sons all started feeling bloated and drowsy. And snakes of any kind, as you know, when they eat a great deal, become all swollen and large. So when they slithered, sleepy and drunk, back into their den, they found that they were too big to squeeze in.

This was the moment Inara was waiting for. ‘Hupasiya, here’s your chance—quickly now,’ she called to the waiting mortal. Hupasiya took a thick, long rope and tied up Illuyanka and all his sons. The serpent was too far gone to even know what was happening and continued to doze, dead to the world.

Inara now alerted her father, the storm god. Tehsub came down with his great weapons of thunder and killed Illuyanka and all his sons. Finally, the great serpent was dead, thanks to dear Inara.

After killing the entire serpent clan, Tehsub scattered their remains over the earth, preserving all of creation for another year. As for Inara, she took Hupasiya up to the land of Tarukka where she set up home with him, high on a tall, isolated rock.