Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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Deity

Alalu

Hurrian Deities
Alalu Toppled Crown

Alalu is a primordial Hurrian deity who reigned as the first 'King in Heaven' at the very beginning of divine history, according to the succession myth known as the Kumarbi cycle. After a reign traditionally given as nine years, he was overthrown by the sky god Anu, who was in turn later overthrown by Alalu's own son Kumarbi, continuing the myth's pattern of successive divine kingships. Alalu's brief and defeated reign establishes him as the oldest generation of gods in Hurrian cosmology, a figure of origins rather than an active object of cult.

Facts
Attestation
Era of Attestation
from 1400 BCE 3
Veneration Today
Historically attested; no continuous cult 3
Historicity
Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1
Identity
Gender
Male 2
Belief
Theology
Polytheistic: many gods 1
Function
Domain / Function
Primordial being 1
Sources
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
2. Alalu, Structured Record (Wikidata Q)
WikidataWikidata property P21 (sex or gender)View the Source
3. Hittite Myths, 2nd edition
Harry A. Hoffner Jr. (Gary M. Beckman, ed.), Society of Biblical Literature (Writings from the Ancient World), 1998Alalu, Hurrian Kingship in Heaven mythView the Source
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