Tawiniya
Tawiniya was an important Hittite cult city, its main deity was the vegetation god Telipinu . It was near the capital Ḫattuša . Due to the name it is equated with the ancient place Tavium . Alternatively, it is also equated with Tonea, the location of which is unknown.
History and location
The place is first mentioned in documents of the ancient Assyrian trading post of Kültepe , as kārum Tamnia or Tawinia. At that time it was the capital of a city-state with its own king.
It was already an important cult city in the ancient times of the ancient Hittites, and it was visited by the Hittite great king to perform rituals at important festivals such as the AN.TAḪ.ŠUM festival or the KI.LAM festival . In Ḫattuša, from which it was no further than a day's march, there was a Tawiniya gate, which is believed to be near the lion gate.
The city is equated with the ancient tavium, which is believed to be in today's Büyüknefes, about 20 kilometers southwest of Ḫattuša. This place had been inhabited since the Chalcolithic and was an important central place during the Bronze Age. Even after the fall of the Hittite Empire, the place retained its central function.
Cults
Tawiniya was an important station in cult trips that were carried out on the occasion of various festivals. On the fourth day of the AN.TAḪ.ŠUM spring festival, the kurša hunting bag , which symbolizes the god Zitḫariya , was brought from Ḫattuša to Tawiniya, and the next day continued to iyašna, the location of which is unknown. During the nuntarriyašḫa festival, a torchlight ceremony was held in Tawiniya.
Tawiniya was the main place of worship of the originally Hattic god Telipinu, of whom it is said in a Hittite birth ritual that the "terrible" Telipunu chose his seat in Tawiniya. The second important deity was the goddess Tetešḫapi ( hatt . "Great Goddess"). In her honor, a hunting festival lasting several days was held during the purulliya festival in Tawiniya. A Hittite document stipulates that the goddess Kattaḫḫa (hatt. "Queen") should be worshiped in Tawiniya as long as her temple is not in the neighboring town of Ḫadanta.
According to Strabo , a colossal statue of Zeus Tavianos was venerated in Tavium during antiquity .
literature
- Tavinija. In: Michael P. Streck (ed.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Volume 13, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-030715-3 , p. 490.