Ḫuwaššanna

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Ḫuwaššana is a Luwian goddess who played a central role in the local cult of the city of Ḫupišna (modern Ereğli ). The Hittite festival descriptions of the cults of Ḫupišna contain Luwian phrases and words, and certain details point to the Luwian character of the cults of this goddess. The function of the goddess, however, is unknown.

Cults

Ḫuwaššana, whose name could logographically be written as d GAZ.BA.AA, was the main deity in the local cult of the city of Ḫupišna. The cult stood outside the official Hittite state cult and appears to have been carried out by private individuals.

Temple staff assisted the celebrations with a variety of tasks. The most important participant in the festival was the sacrificial client (EN.SISKR), who had to provide a certain service to the temple depending on their property. The alḫuitra priestesses made sacrifices together with him, with a singer and the ḫuwaššanalli priestess named after the goddess reciting songs and sayings. In addition, the maššanama priest (to Luw. Maššan- "God, deity") is mentioned.

At least two festivals are known, such as the multi-day annual festival ( EZEN witaššiyaš ) and the šaḫḫan festival. A fragment of the table seems to indicate a wedding feast.

At the festivals, holy wine was drunk and various types of pastry were offered. A ritual that did not occur in Hittite cults was the cultic kiss, which is otherwise only known for the cults of the city of Ištanuwa , where the Luwian element also predominates.

A three-day cleansing ritual performed by the ḫuwaššanalli priestess Bappi served to heal a sick person who had incurred the wrath of the goddess Ḫuwaššana. Oil, honey, figs and raisins are offered to the goddess in order to befriend the person concerned. Several types of pastry with Luwian names were also sacrificed.

The upišna circle of gods

The main deities of the city were the weather gods and the sun gods of the sky, which means the Luwian gods Tarḫunz and Tiwaz . Then the "sublime patron god" ( d LAMMA šarlaimi ), for whom a separate temple and priest is attested, and the land deity d Imralli and the battle god Zababa , whose native name is unknown. The male name Ḫuwaššana- d LAMMA also indicates a closer relationship between these two deities.

In addition, a dozen lower deities were named, such as d Anna , possibly a mother goddess (Luw. Anna / i- "mother"), the sea ( d Aruna), the river goddess d Šarmamma and the mountain deities d Muli and d Šarpa (presumably the Arısama Dağı at Emirgazi). Only the name of the other deities is known and nothing can be said about their function.

In the town of Kuliwišna, the location of which is unknown, Ḫuwaššanna was worshiped together with the mother goddess and Ištar , although it is unknown which indigenous deities are behind these goddesses.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfred Hutter : Aspects in Luwian Religion. In: H. Craig Melchert (Ed.): The Luwians (= Handbuch der Orientalistik. Volume 1.68). Brill, Leiden 2003, ISBN 90-04-13009-8 , p. 244 f.

literature

  • Manfred Hutter : Aspects in Luwian Religion. In: H. Craig Melchert (Ed.): The Luwians (= Handbuch der Orientalistik. Volume 1.68). Brill, Leiden 2003, ISBN 90-04-13009-8 . Pp. 243-247
  • Hans Gustav Güterbock : Rituals for the goddess Ḫuwaššanna. In: Oriens 15, 1962, pp. 345-351.