Ḫepat

Ḫepat or Ḫebat (in Ugarit : ḫbt ) was the wife of the weather god Teššup in Hurrian mythology , who was also included in the mythology of the Hittites . Ḫepat was first mentioned in texts from Ebla , in which she is referred to as Ḫabatu, which is possibly a derivative of * Ḫalbatu, and can be interpreted as the goddess of Ḫalab . Afterwards she was originally the wife of the weather god of Aleppo . In the Hittite-Hurrian kaluti lists she heads the goddesses.

Family and staff

Depiction of the goddess Ḫepat and her family in the Hittite rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya. From left to right these are: Tašmišu (brother of Teššup), Teššup, Ḫepat, Šarruma, Allanzu and Kunzišalli.

Ḫepat and Teššup had three children: the son Šarruma and the daughters Allanzu and Kunzišalli . All three are shown together with their parents in the Hittite rock shrine of Yazılıkaya . According to the annals of Ḫattušili I , she is the daughter of the Allatu .

With the Hurrites, Ḫepat had his own divine vizier , whose name was Zumewa, and otherwise a whole circle of predominantly goddesses in their entourage.

Adoration by the Hittites

Together with Teššup von Ḫalab, Ḫepat formed the supreme pair of gods of the Hittite empire. and was equated with the sun goddess of Arinna as well as Teššup with the supreme Hittite god Tarḫunna . Various important incarnations of the Ḫepat were the Ḫepat of Ḫalab, the Ḫepat of Uda and the Ḫepat of Kizzuwatna in the Hittite period .

Adoration in post-Hittite times

In hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions of the neo-Hittite states she was called Hiputa or Hipatu and was considered the wife of the weather god Tarhunza . Her husband Hurrian teshub appeared (as Fortis sa rare or Tisupa) on in Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. Two of Ḫepat's children were also worshiped, namely Sarruma and Alanzuwa. On the Sele von Darende she was shown sitting on a throne with a drinking bowl, while Sarruma is shown standing behind her on a panther. King Arnuwanti of Malitiya pours a libation before the two deities .

Among the Lydians , Ḫepat was possibly worshiped as a meter hipta until the Roman Empire . In the Orphic Mysteries, Meter Hipta was considered the nurse of the god Dionysus . Hierodules wrote confessional inscriptions to this goddess.

literature

• Walther Sallaberger : Pantheon A. II. With the Hittites. In: Dietz-Otto Edzard , Michael P. Streck (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Volume 10, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2004, pp. 294-316.
• Piotr Taracha : Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8 .
• Volkert Haas , Heidemarie Koch : Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9 .
• Maciej Popko : Peoples and Languages ​​of Old Anatolia . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-447-05708-0 .
• Annick Payne: Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions . Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta 2012, ISBN 978-1-58983-269-5 .
• Christian Marek , Peter Frei : History of Asia Minor in Antiquity . Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-59853-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 233.
2. ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 94.
3. ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 118 f.
4. ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 85.
5. ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 91.
6. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 234.
7. ^ Maciej Popko: Peoples and Languages ​​of Old Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2008, p. 80.
8. ^ Christian Marek, Peter Frei: History of Asia Minor in antiquity . Munich 2010, p. 597.
9. ^ Christian Marek, Peter Frei: History of Asia Minor in antiquity . Munich 2010, p. 637.