Mezulla

Mezulla was a Hittite goddess of low rank. Together with her daughter Zintuḫi, she belongs to the closest circle of the sun goddess of Arinna , with whom they formed a female triad . The goddess only had a local character and is missing in lists of oaths in Hittite state treaties.

family

Mezulla was the daughter of the sun goddess of Arinna and the weather god Tarḫunna . Her daughter Zintuḫi was a goddess with no special function. Only from the 13th century BC The grain god Telipinu and the two weather gods weather god of Zippalanda and Nerik are also named as their brothers.

Function and cult

Mezulla was like her mother Hatti origin and was also (Tappinu Hattic "her daughter") called. As the daughter of the two main Hittite deities, she was able to act as their mediator in prayers, especially her mother. She also served as an assistant in the campaign.

Mezulla had a temple in the holy city of Arinna , which was the second most important in the city after that of her mother. No temples for Mezulla are attested in other places, but the cultic veneration of the goddess is attested in the capital Ḫattuša , in Taḫurpa and other northern Hittite cities. Like her mother, she could be worshiped in the form of cultic silver discs.

Zintuḫi

Zintuḫi, whose name means “granddaughter” in Hattic , was revered as a female triad along with her mother Mezulla and her grandmother. Like her mother, she was able to act as a mediator for the sun goddess of Arinna, Queen Puduḫepa calls her with the inexplicable term “garment needle on the breast”. In Arinna she had her own temple, otherwise she was only called together with the sun goddess of Arinna.

literature

• Maciej Popko : Arinna. A holy city of the Hittites. (Studies on the Boğazköy Texts, Vol. 50). Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05867-4 .
• Volkert Haas : History of the Hittite Religion. (Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 1, Vol. 15). Brill, Leiden / New York / Cologne 1994, ISBN 90-04-09799-6 .