When the Sun disappears, the frost demon Hahhima holds the land in his icy grip. An entity of cold and numbness, Hahhima has an arsenal of weapons including frost, snow, sleet, hail, extreme cold, freezing rain, ice, ice storms and blizzards at his command.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
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Hahhima is a demonic frost god of the Hittites. His father is the divine smith and home protector god, Hashamili. While demons themselves are not worshipped in ancient Anatolia, demon deities can hold places on the Hittite God Lists.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Hahhima is a contrasting force to his father who relates to fire. Demons can be invoked for protection. Specific songs, prayers and incantations are done to appease the many demons, so they hold off their destructive forces.
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Alternately, bright loud celebrations with firecrackers and bells can frighten evil spirits away. Supplicants might ask a demon to use destructive powers against other malignant entities. The relationship between Mesopotamian wind demon Pazuzu and baby-eating Lamashtu is a good example.
Disappearance of the Sun (Ishtanu, Ištanu)
When the gods search desperately for Ishtanu the Sun God of Heaven, they can't find him. Is he offended? Is he dead? Time goes by. Darkness and cold cause famine and sickness among the mortals. The people have no offerings to give. They freeze in their beds and plead for help.
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Tarhunna, god of storms, thunder and lighting, rainfall and snowstorms, sends Inar (Inarra; Luwian - Annari) to find the Sun. Inar is the god of wilderness and wild animals.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Ištanu the Sun God of Heaven is considered a male manifestation of the Sun Goddess of Arinna. His female dyadic partner is the chthonic Sun Goddess of the Earth, associated with the night time, when the Sun travels beneath the earth to rise again in the East.
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His name Ištanu denotes power and strength. It comes from an early proto-language meaning 'man' or 'masculinity'.
To find the Sun, the god Inar calls his wild animals together. He discovers the sea god Kiashe, an age-old enemy of the Gods of Heaven, spread a net to catch the Sun at dusk, where the Sun goes into the Earth. Hahhima holds the Sun prisoner while his icy fingers grasp the mortal domain.
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Inar travels to the realm of Hahhima. Winter mountains and caverns of ice tower all around him. Icicles hang from the sky and grow from the frozen earth. Cold mist clings to his face and hair.
His presence is detected by Hahhima. Even though Inar is a god, Hahhima has almost absolute power in his realm. Before Inar can react, Hahhimu freezes him solid and makes him part of the landscape.
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When Inar doesn't return, Tarḫunna decides to go himself into the realm of the destructive Frost God. Armed with bolts of lighting, strong and fierce, Tarhunna is a match for any demon.
War god Zababa of Kish, agriculture god Telipinu, the Sea God Aruna and other deities insist on coming along. Sparks fly as divine Smith Hashamili makes powerful weapons and armor for the battle.
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Demon god Hahhima carries the destructive force of the malevolent sea god Kiashe. The Gods and the Frost Demon battle for many days. The land shakes with the force of their blows.
Tarhunna hurls sizzling lightning bolts. The sword of Zababa cleaves through frost and ice to free Inar. The God of wild animals creates great white bears to harry the demon.
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Telipinu calls forth his powers, speaking spells of nurturing warmth and growth. Hashamili lets loose the fires of creation, and at last Hahhima is overwhelmed.
As he runs away to keep from melting beneath the deific onslaught, the heroes rescue the Sun. Light and fertility return to the earth.
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In the realms of gods and mortals, all is well once more.
This is only one version of the many stories, myths and legends of the ancient world. The Hittites love to adopt or assimilate deities, and their pantheon is one of the most complex of the Bronze Age.
Gods of the Hittite Empire can have Hatti, Hurrian, Luwian, pre-Hittite or other origins. Between cultures and kingdoms gods are introduced, paired, gender-changed or assimilated usually for political and diplomatic reasons.
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God adoption is evident in other cultures such as the Egyptians, who bring the household protector god Bes into their cosmology. People place figurines of deities like Bes around the house to ward off harmful magic and protect against the evil eye.
Above, he's made of Egyptian blue faience. Bes is originally from the mystical Land to Punt.
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