A mythological capital of Kurds: Urkesh
TEL MOZAN (DİHA) - When the god of sun finds the giant master, he informs Teshub, the god of storm, king of all gods.
Teshub goes and observes the monster with the others. Ishtar tries to seduce Ullikum, the stone monster, yet fails. The god Kumarbi calls for a meeting with other gods. He is anxious because it is too late to defeat Ullikumi since he has grown so big that he is invincible. Teshub opposes the monster but cannot succeed. Ullikumi wants to wipe out all humanity by killing the God of storm. Ea defends humanity in the council of the gods. Ullikumi hides in heaven and hell which are situated on Upelluri’s shoulders.
Ea takes a knife from the creating God and tears at heaven and earth. So, Ea succeeds in detaching Ullikumi from Upelluri’s shoulders, which reduces the monster’s strength. The rest of the story in the Hurrian myth cannot be understood. It is unfinished. Both the language and the origins of the Hurrians are not well known. Hurrians that refer to the gods who lived before Hesiodos, the famous poet who is known to be the father of Ullikumi song and Greek didactic poetry, have myths as significant as Theogonisi. There is no meticulous research about this civilization. Some clay pieces pointing to the existence of the legendary capital have just been found and there are a few cuneiform inscriptions, as well. Although western historians do not often mention Kurds, many reliable sources see the Hurrians as ancestors of the Kurds.
Hurrians, who settled in North Mesopotamia and the Zagros mountains, founded small kingdoms there. Hurrians are known to have lived in the third millennia B.C. Marilyn Kelly- Buccelati and Giorgio Buccelati discovered Urkesh, which was a legendary capital of the Hurrians forty centuries ago, in 1995 in Tel Mozan thanks to their excavations that took 8 years. The village, named Gire Mozan in Kurdish, is 5 km away from the town of Amude. Buccelati, art history professor at Cal State, L.A., revealed that the Hurrians’ capital city of Urkesh, which lies between the Euphrates and Tigris, is not a myth. It is said that Kumarbi was a religious figure and that they were contemporaries of Sumerians.
The discovery of Urkesh has been a great opportunity to understand the Hurrians better. The Buccelatis have discovered a royal shop of 600 clay pieces and some ruins of a temple. It is estimated that 10 to 20 thousand Hurrians lived in the city. The name of the king was Tuphish. However, when the seal imprints were examined, it was understood that there was also an influential queen. Her name was Uktinum. In Akkadian, it means “the girl of lapis lazuli”. The name also makes a reference to an undiscovered capital of the Akkadian Empire.
Legislation has been passed to protect Urkesh
Tel Mozan is today in the Cizire Canton. During the Ba'ath regime, the region was not protected. Thanks to the Rojava revolution, it has been protected from the destructive effects of the war. There are still historical monuments in the region. Tourism and Environment Minister of Cizire Canton, Lokman Ehme, says that since the soil in the region is very thin, they have covered the site with protective cloth. He also says, “In the last two or three years no body came here” and they could only prevent digging in order to protect the site. The current protective method is not to let anyone dig there. YPG (People’s Defence Units) and security forces protect the area. Even legislation has been passed to prevent excavations without our knowledge. “To protect the historical monuments, walls and stores that are discovered …”
Years of work needed
Not only Gire Mozan but also other historical sites in Western Kurdistan are exposed to random digging and damage. The authorities in the Cizire Canton contacted UNESCO to receive help to protect the site better. Ehme says, “years of work is needed and thanks to YPG we protect the site but it is not enough. We are still trying to find out exactly where the discovered pieces were taken”. Pointing out that some were taken to Aleppo Museum, he adds, “However, we learned they are not original. The original pieces were taken to countries such as France, U.S.A., and Germany”.
How was this hill formed?
According to the information given by the ministry, two lion monuments and a seal with an angel figure have been found so far. Mentioning that the only city which was not under the Akkadian sovereign was Urkesh, the Tourism and Environment Minister Mr. Ehme adds, “We went to Hedade region of Tirbespiye and realized that the soil there and that in Gire Mozan is the same. Now, the most important question for us is ‘How was this hill formed?’ because the soil that constitutes the hill is not the same as the soil in the region”. Western Kurdistan offers a good opportunity to complete the unfinished mythology of the Hurrians and to understand Urkesh and the entire civilization. Thus, specialists are needed to make further discoveries.
(nt)
