Lore24 Jan 20: Atar-Numash, the Unconquerable Sky Father

The Sky Father is known by many names, but in the territories of the former Ippur Empire he is called Atar-Numash, the Unconquerable. He is said to have given two invaluable gifts to mortals: cattle and horses (or local equivalents, for societies using different livestock), and for these gifts he is to be praised, and praised often. He is the brother or husband of Hath-Ur, depending on whether the latter is male or female in the context of the relevant culture, story, or rite. (Hath-Ur is both male and female, but not at the same time, and is always definitely one or the other.) According to legend the first Sorcerer-Kings received the codes of law directly from Atar-Numash, and he is often called upon to punish those who break their vows, or do not hold to contracts. He is also commonly held to be able to see and hear everything that happens under the open sky.

He is usually depicted as tall and muscular male, with a long beard and piercing eyes. He usually wears minimal clothing. In the myths he fights with his bare hands, wrestling monsters, giants, and other gods into submission. His symbols are eagles, wooden disks (symbolizing the gas giant almost always visible in the sky), and blue gems.

To his priests and champions he grants the power to see and hear distant places as if one were there, the ability to stop stampeding cattle by tapping their walking stick to the ground, and prodigious strength in wrestling. From his champions he expects to punish oath-breakers, criminals, and for them to always keep their word.

His holy days are the fifteenth of each month, when a bull or a horse is sacrificed, then ritualistically eaten by the priests. In cultures practicing human (well, mortal) sacrifice, captured enemy Sorcerer-Kings are usually sacrificed to him as well.

 

Image by Andrew Whyte

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