his return, with appropriate liturgies and ritualistic activity to
welcome him home.
Other Hittite myths too have to do with renewal of life at the
beginning of spring. One of the major spring events on the
religious calendar was known as the Purulli Festival, which lasted
just under a month. Presided over by the king and queen, its
ceremonies began in Hattusa, but then the festival procession
travelled through a number of Hittite cities, stopping in them
to repeat or carry out further sacred rites, before reaching its
destination in the northern homeland city of Nerik, a major cult
centre of the Storm God.
The myth of the dragon Illuyanka, representing the forces of evil
and destruction, plays an important part in this festival. The
opening of one of two versions of the myth reads thus:
This is the text of the Purulli Festival [...]. When they speak
thus:‘Let the land prosper and thrive, and let the land be
protected’–and when it prospers and thrives, they perform
the Purulli Festival.^3The myth tells of Illuyanka’s emergence from the bowels of the
earth to do mortal battle with the Storm God. It’safierce battle,
and far from one-sided. The god has to call on both divine and
human assistance before hefinally triumphs and kills the dragon.
Once more the land is safe. But Illuyanka will rise from the dead
again the next year, and the battle will have to be fought all over
again. Mortal participation reflects the cooperation needed
between gods and humans to ensure that the land is kept safe
from evil forces.
I believe that the story of Illuyanka and his conflict with the
Storm God was actually acted out, in a dramatic performance
before the festival participants, probably repeatedly at various
venues along the festival route. Actors would have taken the roles of
Illuyanka, the Storm God and other participants in the drama.
No doubt they were decked out in appropriate costumes, and
equipped with weapons and other accoutrements normally kept
with other ritual paraphernalia in the temple storerooms.^4
252 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA