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Dick Osseman | all galleries >> Ankara pictures >> Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum >> Orthostats hall > Slaying of the dragon Illuyanka
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23-SEP-2004

Slaying of the dragon Illuyanka

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The sky god killing Illuyanka, the dragon (850-800 BC). The limestone relief was a part of the Lions Gate at Milid / Arslantepe (7 km northeast of modern Malatya).
Neo-Hittite sculpture in traditional style. (Source: Website of ‘hittitemonuments.com’ ).

From the Enc. Britt.: Scattered through the Prophets and Holy Writings (the two latter portions of the Hebrew Bible) are allusions to other ancient myths—e.g., to that of a primordial combat between Yahweh and a monster variously named Leviathan (Wriggly), Rahab (Braggart), or simply Sir Sea or Dragon. The Babylonians told likewise of a fight between their god Marduk and the monster Tiamat; the Hittites told of a battle between the weather god and the dragon Illuyankas; while from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit),in north Syria, has come a Canaanite poem relating the discomfiture of Sir Sea by the deity Baal and the rout of an opponent named Leviathan. (Originally, this myth probably referred to the annual subjugation of the floods.)

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Guest 21-Oct-2005 15:51
This orthostat is from Arslantepe (Milid, Malatya).