Appu (Hurrian)
The Story of Appu is a mythological
Hittite text
(CTH 360). The text is fragmentary, and the sequence of events in the story is a reconstruction.
The text is usually taken as an account of a
Hurrian myth,[1] but it does not itself contain any Hurrian names or other vocabulary to support this judgement. The geographical setting is in Mesopotamia.[2]
The reconstructed argument of the text is as follows: Appu is a rich man, but he is unhappy because he has no son. The text hints at the possibility that Appu doesn't know anything about
sun-god
appears and advises him to get drunk and then have sex with his wife.
Eventually, Appu's wife gives birth to a first son, named Idalu (mḪUL-lu) "bad, evil". At this point the text alludes to a rite of Song of Ullikummi, where the newborn is set on the knee
of the father.
Appu's wife later gives birth to a second son, named Ḫandanza (mNÍG.SI.SÁ-an) "good, righteous".
When both sons have reached adult age, Idalu suggests that they divide the paternal estate among them.
He argues that, as each of the gods has cow. But the sun-god blesses the cow and restores her fertility
. At this point the first tablet ends and the rest of the story is very fragmentary.
It appears to deal with litigation between the brothers; Idalu seems to take Handanza to court before the sun-god at Sippar. When the god rules in favour of Handanza, Idalu curses, and the sun-god refuses to conclude the case, sending the brothers to
References
- Geoffrey William Bromiley, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4, ISBN 978-0-8028-3785-1, 1995, p. 82.