Lelwani

Lelwani or Lilwani is the Hittite deity of the underworld .

Originally Lelwani was the Hattic god of the underworld, who was adopted by the Hittites . Lelwani was the leader of the Hattic underworld deities who were worshiped in the ḫešta house in the ancient Ethite times , including Zilipuri . Even if often thought of as masculine, the underworld goddess Lelwani was of changing, not fixed sex.

In the 13th century BC Lelwani was adapted to the Hurrian underworld goddess Allani and then also to the Babylonian goddess Ereškigal . However, Lelwani was equated with the goddess Allani under her Mesopotamian-Hurrian synonym Allatu . The West Hurrian name Allani itself was used for the Luwian sun goddess of the earth , another underworld deity. The Hittites, for example, split the goddess Allani into the goddesses Allani and Allatu, which was alien to the Hurrites. The goddess Allatu also replaced Lelwani as the main deity, who was worshiped in the ḫešta house.

literature

• Volkert Haas , Heidemarie Koch : Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9 .
• Piotr Taracha : Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Piotr Tararcha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 49.
2. ^ Maciej Popko : Religions of Asia Minor. Warsaw 1995, ISBN 83-86483-18-0 , p. 118.
3. ↑ Piotr Tararcha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 63.
4. ↑ Piotr Tararcha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 49.
5. ↑ Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Göttingen 2011, p. 223.
6. ^ Maciej Popko: Religions of Asia Minor. Warsaw 1995, ISBN 83-86483-18-0 , p. 118.
7. ↑ Piotr Tararcha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 124.
8. ↑ Piotr Tararcha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 132.