Ḫaldi

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spears in front of the Ḫaldi temple in Muṣaṣir, Assyrian representation. Probably symbol of the god Ḫaldi

Ḫaldi ( d Ḫal-di, Chaldi ) is the supreme deity in the Urartian religion. As the state god of the Urartians since Išpuini , Ḫaldi watches over the kingdom and accompanies the army when they go into battle. The kings pretend to be leading their campaigns on his behalf. Haldi.jpg

history

The god Ḫaldi on the Rusa cylinder, drawing

Ḫaldi is not originally a Urartian god, but the city god of Muṣaṣir . Theophoric names with the component Ḫaldi have been documented since Central Assyrian times. Salvini points out that the oldest known Urartean inscriptions in the Sardursburg in Van Ḫaldi do not mention it. He assigns Išpuini the introduction of the Ḫaldi cult in Urartu and sees it as his "most important political act".

A Ḫaldi city (Ḫaldei pātare, d ḫal-de-i pa-a-ta-re) is evidenced by inscriptions in the Menua at Güzak on Lake Van and Kaisaran at Keşiş Gölü . In the stele of Yazılıtaş des Menua a city Ḫaldiriluḫi in Diaueḫe is mentioned, which Menua together with Baltuliḫi of Diaueḫe "tears away" and incorporated into his kingdom. Sagona wants to trace the name Ḫaldiriluḫi back to the god Ḫaldi and locates the city, like Diakonoff and Kashkai, on Lake Çıldır . This would be evidence of the worship of Ḫaldi outside of Urartu. Ephʾal assumes that Ḫaldi also owned a temple in ZʾTR in Mannai .

Rusa I built a fortress called d Ḫal-di-ei URU KUR on the steep rock above Nor Bayezit .

cult

Ḫaldi's cultic veneration clearly exceeds that of all other gods, both in the number of temples consecrated to him and the offerings made to him. For example, the Meher Kapısı inscription mentions: 17 cattle, 34 sheep, six lambs. Only six cattle and twelve sheep are sacrificed for the next higher god, the weather god Teišeba ; the vast majority of the gods receive only one ox and two sheep. Based on finds from the temple of Ayanıs , Çilingiroglu (2004) assumes that grain was also offered to the Haldi.

Ḫaldi was venerated in tower temples ( susi ). The Assyrian illustration of the temple in Muṣaṣir. shows an oversized spear on both sides of the door, perhaps a representation of Šuri .

iconography

Ḫaldi, relief from Erebuni .

In the early-Urartian cult Shield of Yukarı Anzaf the leading god wearing a flammenzüngelnden / radiant Speer ( GIS Suri ), his legs are surrounded by just such flames / rays while his upper body of longer-rays ( DASI is surrounded). After that, Haldi usually stands on a saddled lion. The saddle is provided with a saddle button, e.g. B. from the representations of bronze belts made of Karmir Blur known. His weapon is the GIS Suri , probably a spear. Images of his spear were found in Ayanıs, among other places, the weapon was made of brass and was therefore very shiny. Later Ḫaldi is apparently no longer depicted in figures, but his Šuri is depicted and venerated in the temple. Bernbeck assumes that Sargon in Musaṣir did not capture an anthropomorphic statue of Ḫaldi, but a Šuri.

The god Ḫaldi standing on a lion

literature

  • Oktay Belli, The Anzaf fortress and the Gods of Urartu. İstanbul, Galatasary, Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari 1999, Fig. 16.
  • Mirjo Salvini: History and Culture of the Urartians. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1995. ISBN 3-534-01870-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul E. Zimansky, Archaeological inquiries into ethno-linguistic diversity in Urartu. In: Robert Drews (ed.), Greater Anatolia and the Indo-Hittite Language family (Washington: Institute for the Study of Man, 2001), 18
  2. ↑ Miroslav Salvini: The Influence of the Urartu Empire on the Political Conditions on the Iranian Plateau . In: Ricardo Eichmann / Hermann Parzinger (eds.), Migration und Kulturtransfer (Bonn 2001) 345
  3. ^ Diakonoff and Kashkai, Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cuneiformes. Vol. 9, Geographical names according to Urartian Texts. Wiesbaden, Dr. Ludwig Reichert 1981, 38, UKN 301
  4. ^ Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cuneiformes. Vol. 9, Geographical names according to Urartian Texts. Wiesbaden, Ludwig Reichert 1981, 39
  5. ^ Antonio Sagona / Claudia Sagona, Archeology at the North-East Anatolian frontier, I. A historical geography and a field survey of the Bayburt province Ancient Near Eastern Studies 14, Louvain Peeters 2004, 29
  6. ↑ Israel Eph'al, The Bukan Aramaic inscription: historical considerations. Israel Exploration Journal 49, 1999, 120
  7. ↑ Г.А. Меликишвили, Урартские клинообразные надписи. Москва: Издательство АН СССР, 1960, No. 256
  8. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm König : Handbook of the Chaldic inscriptions . Archive for Orient Research. Supplement 8, Graz 1957. ISBN 3-7648-0023-2 , inscription no.10
  9. ↑ MPE Botta / ME Flandin, Monument de Ninive, Vol. 2, pl. 141
  10. ↑ Oktay Belli, The Anzaf fortress and the Gods of Urartu. Istanbul 1999, fig. 17
  11. ^ RW Hamilton, The decorated bronze strip from Gushchi. Anatolian Studies 15, 1965, 48
  12. ↑ Altan Çilingiroğlu / Miroslav Salvini, When was the Castle of Ayanıs built and what is the meaning of the word 'Šuri'? Anatolian Iron Ages 4, Proceedings of the Fourth Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium Held at Mersin, 19-23 May 1997. Anatolian Studies 49, 1999, 60
  13. ^ Reinard Bernbeck, Political Structure and Ideology in Urartu. Archaeological communications from Iran and Turan 35/36, 295