Karhuha

Karhuha was the patron god of the city of Karkamis and Paredros was the city goddess Kubaba .

Karhuha is often mentioned in Luwian inscriptions during the time of the neo-Hittite country of Karkamis and formed the urban triad with the weather god Tarhunza and Kubaba, the "Great Queen of Karkamis" . He is depicted in a stele near Arslantepe (end of the 10th century BC): The bearded god with a plait and a horned helmet stands on a lion. He wears a short skirt with a sword and in his right hand holds a downward pointing lance. Opposite him, Kupapa is enthroned on a bull. The rare spelling of his name with the Luwian deer god hieroglyph (CERVUS ₃ + ra / i-hu-ha) identifies him as a protective god, which means that an approach to the deer god Runtiya is possible but not mandatory, even if Kubaba with Ala , the companion of Runtiya merged. King Maza-Karhuha, who cannot be assigned in time, is named after this god.

The god is documented for the first time for the year 1325 BC. When the Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I conquered the city of Karkamiš. His son Muršili II commented on this event: "But when my father conquered the city, in awe of the gods he did not allow anyone into the upper city to the temples of the Kubaba and the protective deity ( ^d LAMMA)." Probably for the first time he named in the contract between Šuppiluliuma I. and Šarri-Kušuḫ , where the deities Kar [ḫuḫi] and Kupapa stand side by side. Finally, the pair of gods is mentioned again in a contract of Šuppiluliuma II. As Kupapa and Karḫuḫiš ( ^d Kar-ḫu-u-ḫi-iš). These Bronze Age evidence shows that the god, like Kubaba, was firmly connected with the city from ancient times.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volkert Haas : History of the Hittite Religion (= Handbook of Oriental Studies . Volume 1.15). Brill, Leiden 1994, ISBN 978-9-004-09799-5 , p. 578