| Dark Gods | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Dark Ones, Heptad, Dark Heptad |
| Affiliation | Iyarri, Šanda |
The Dark Gods or Dark Ones, also known as the Heptad, were a group of malevolent deities from the religions of the ancient Anatolian peoples.
| Dark Gods | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Dark Ones, Heptad, Dark Heptad |
| Affiliation | Iyarri, Šanda |
The Dark Gods or Dark Ones, also known as the Heptad, were a group of malevolent deities from the religions of the ancient Anatolian peoples.
This group of deities was known in Luwian as DINGIR MEŠ Marwāinzi (𒀭𒈨𒌍𒈥𒉿𒀀𒅔𒍣) [1] and ᴰMarwayanza (𒀭𒈥𒉿𒅀𒀭𒍝), and in Hittite as ᴰMarkuwayaš (𒀭𒈥𒆪𒉿𒅀𒀸), all meaning lit. 'the Dark Ones'. [2] [3]
The Dark Gods were also referred to in Hittite as ᴰŠēpittaš (𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉 and 𒀭𒊺𒂊𒅁𒁉𒀉𒋫𒀸), [4] that is the Heptad. ᴰŠēpittaš was a loanword from the Akkadian ilū sebitti, meaning lit. 'seven gods', due to its similarity for the Proto-Indo-European term for this number, * septḿ̥ . [5] [6]
In the ritual text KUB 59.26, this group of gods was referred to as "the Dark Heptad" (Hittite : 𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉𒀭𒈥𒆪𒉿𒅀𒀸, romanized: ᴰŠēpittaš ᴰMarkuwayaš). [2]
The Dark Gods and the plague-god Iyarri to whom they were associated might have originated from the Babylonian Erra and the Sebitti who accompanied him, with whom they were identical. [7]
Despite their foreign origin, the Dark Gods and Iyarri had cult places primarily in Central Anatolia and the regions inhabited by Luwians, and Iyarri appeared in Anatolian theophoric names, thus attesting that the people who gave these names saw these deities as being part of their own culture, thus showing that they had become firmly rooted in the Hittite and Luwian religions and had not been transmitted to the Anatolian peoples through the intermediary of Hurrian religion. [5] [8]
The Dark Gods are attested in the Hittite Empire, where they featured as assistants of the god Iyarri. [2]
The Dark Gods were also mentioned in the rituals of Malli and Uḫḫamuwa from Arzawa. [2]
The Heptad was also present in the religion of the Hurrian populations of Kizzuwatna: [9]
The name "the Dark Ones" not only assigned an awe-inspiring appearance to this group of deities, but also ascribed to them a negative role. [2] [10] This is also visible in how one text referred to them as the "terrifying Heptad" (Hittite : 𒄩𒁺𒂵𒂊𒌍𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉, romanized: ḫadugaēš ᴰŠepittaeš) and another text called them the "evil Heptad" (Hittite : 𒄷𒌋𒉿𒀊𒉺𒂊𒌍𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉, romanized: ḫūwappaēš ᴰŠepittaeš). [10]
The Dark Gods were conceived as consisting of 14 male deities, hence why their name was written in cuneiform using the Sumerogram ᴰIMIN.IMIN.BI, where the duplication of the cuneiform sign for the number 7 (𒐌) represented a double Heptad. [4]
As suggested by their collective name, the Dark Gods were considered to have a malevolent nature, [2] which is also attested through their function in the Uḫḫamuwa ritual from Arzawa, where they represented pernicious forces. [4]
In the text KUB 17.16 I, describing a ritual to be performed when humans, cattle and sheep are dying frightfully, several gods are invoked while the Dark Gods are considered to be responsible for the plague. [4]
During the Hittite Empire, the Dark Gods were associated with the god Iyarri who, like the Greek Apollo, shot his arrows at those he hates. In the Dandanku ritual, meant to prevent the plague in an army by convincing Iyarri to attack enemy countries instead of the Land of Ḫatti, the Heptad were his assistants as the Dark Gods of Iyarri (𒊭𒀭𒄿𒅀𒅈𒊑𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉, ᴰIyarriyaš ᴰŠepittaš). [2]
The Dark Gods were not only associated with deities having negative roles, and in the ritual text KBo 34.48 they were associated with the Tutelary God of the Hunting Bag to eliminate evil, although these deities had different roles, since the performers of the ritual sought, during it, to obtain favour from the Tutelary God of the Hunting Bag but to keep the Dark Gods, referred to in the text as the "terrifying Heptad" (𒄩𒁺𒂵𒂊𒌍𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉, ḫadugaēs ᴰŠepittaeš), at bay. [11]
In the ritual text Vs. I 16, the Dark Gods were associated with several solar deities, including the Sun, the Sun deity of the Ominous Signs, and the Sun goddess of the Earth, while the Dark Gods themselves appeared as the Heptad of the Sun (𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉𒊭𒀭𒌓). [12]
A Heptad of Tarḫunna (𒊭𒀭𒌋𒀭𒐌𒐌𒁉) also appears in a list structured like a kaluti- of the Hurrian tradition of Kizzuwatna, which itself describes a late ritual connected to the Hattian myth of the Moon falling from Heaven out of fear of the thunder, lightning and rains of the storm-god. The Heptad also appears in the AN.TAḪ.ŠUMSAR festival, where the Anatolian god Tarḫunna and the Hurrian god Teššub merge with each other, and during which offerings are given to the cart, weapons, thunder, clouds, dew, rains, father-gods, and vizier of Teššub, as well as to the pastistilas Heptad. [13]
During the 8th century BCE, the Dark Gods were associated with the war-god Sanda, who was himself similar to Iyarri. [14]
According to records of a festival celebrated by a prince in relation to the restoration of cults in the region of Nerik, a priest of the Dark Gods officiated in a temple of his god. The festival itself involved favourable deities, such as Tarḫunna, Telepinus, Kattaḫḫa, Ḫalki and Ḫasammili, and during it the priests of the Dark Gods, of Telepinus and of Kattaḫḫa acted together. [6]
Teshub was the Hurrian weather god, as well as the head of the Hurrian pantheon. The etymology of his name is uncertain, though it is agreed it can be classified as linguistically Hurrian. Both phonetic and logographic writings are attested. As a deity associated with the weather, Teshub could be portrayed both as destructive and protective. Individual weather phenomena, including winds, lightning, thunder and rain, could be described as his weapons. He was also believed to enable the growth of vegetation and create rivers and springs. His high position in Hurrian religion reflected the widespread importance of weather gods in northern Mesopotamia and nearby areas, where in contrast with the south agriculture relied primarily on rainfall rather than irrigation. It was believed that his authority extended to both mortal and other gods, both on earth and in heaven. However, the sea and the underworld were not under his control. Depictions of Teshub are rare, though it is agreed he was typically portrayed as an armed, bearded figure, sometimes holding a bundle of lightning. One such example is known from Yazılıkaya. In some cases, he was depicted driving in a chariot drawn by two sacred bulls.
Šarruma, also romanized as Šarrumma or Sharruma, was a Hurrian god. He could be depicted in both anthropomorphic form, sometimes riding on the back of a leopard, and in the theriomorphic form as a bull. His character is not fully understood, though it is known that he could function as a mountain god. He was regarded as a son of Ḫepat and Teshub. He was also linked to various moon deities. Additionally, the only mythological text he appears in addresses him as a messenger (sukkalu) of Kumarbi. He was worshiped by Hurrians in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria, for example in Kummanni and Lawazantiya in Kizzuwatna. From this kingdom he was introduced to the Hittite pantheon as well. Hittite influence in turn resulted in his introduction to cities such as Aleppo, Emar and Ugarit. He was also venerated in Luwian religion in the first millennium BCE, with theophoric names invoking him attested from as late as the Hellenistic period in Cilicia and Lycia.
Ḫepat was a goddess associated with Aleppo, originally worshiped in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. Her name is often presumed to be either a feminine nisba referring to her connection to this city, or alternatively a derivative of the root ḫbb, "to love". Her best attested role is that of the spouse of various weather gods. She was already associated with Adad in Ebla and Aleppo in the third millennium BCE, and in later times they are attested as a couple in cities such as Alalakh and Emar. In Hurrian religion she instead came to be linked with Teshub, which in the first millennium BCE led to the development of a tradition in which she was the spouse of his Luwian counterpart Tarḫunz. Associations between her and numerous other deities are described in Hurrian ritual texts, where she heads her own kaluti, a type of offering lists dedicated to the circle of a specific deity. She commonly appears in them alongside her children, Šarruma, Allanzu and Kunzišalli. Her divine attendant was the goddess Takitu. In Hittite sources, she could sometimes be recognized as the counterpart of the Sun goddess of Arinna, though their respective roles were distinct and most likely this theological conception only had limited recognition. In Ugarit the local goddess Pidray could be considered analogous to her instead.
Kumarbi, also known as Kumurwe, Kumarwi and Kumarma, was a Hurrian god. He held a senior position in the Hurrian pantheon, and was described as the "father of gods". He was portrayed as an old, deposed king of the gods, though this most likely did not reflect factual loss of the position of the head of the pantheon in Hurrian religion, but only a mythological narrative. It is often assumed that he was an agricultural deity, though this view is not universally accepted and the evidence is limited. He was also associated with prosperity. It was believed that he resided in the underworld.
Kušuḫ, also known under the name Umbu, was the god of the moon in Hurrian pantheon. He is attested in cuneiform texts from many sites, from Hattusa in modern Turkey, through Ugarit, Alalakh, Mari and other locations in Syria, to Nuzi, located near modern Kirkuk in Iraq, but known sources do not indicate that he was associated with a single city. His name might be derived from the toponym Kuzina, possibly the Hurrian name of Harran, a city in Upper Mesopotamia, but both this etymology and identification of this sparsely attested place name remain uncertain. He was a popular, commonly worshiped god, and many theophoric names invoking him are known. In addition to serving as a divine representation of the moon, he was also associated with oaths, oracles and pregnancy. Some aspects of his character were likely influenced by his Mesopotamian counterpart Sin, while he in turn was an influence on the Ugaritic god Yarikh and Luwian Arma.
Kamrušepa was a Hittite and Luwian goddess of medicine and magic, analogous to Hattic and Palaic goddess Kataḫzipuri. She is best known as one of the deities involved in the Telepinu Myth, in which her actions were crucial to pacify the anger of the "missing" vegetation god.
Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites, who created an empire centered in what is now Turkey from c. 1600–1180 BC.
The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who chiefly inhabited the north of the Fertile Crescent. While the oldest evidence goes back to the third millennium BCE, it is best attested in cuneiform sources from the second millennium BCE written not only in the Hurrian language, but also Akkadian, Hittite and Ugaritic. It was shaped by contacts between the Hurrians and the various cultures with which they coexisted. As a result, the Hurrian pantheon included both natively Hurrian deities and those of foreign origin, adopted from Mesopotamian, Syrian, Anatolian and Elamite beliefs. The culture of the Hurrians was not entirely homogeneous, and different local religious traditions are documented in sources from Hurrian kingdoms such as Arrapha, Kizzuwatna and Mitanni, as well as from cities with sizeable Hurrian populations, such as Ugarit and Alalakh.
Maliya was a goddess worshiped by Hittites in the Bronze Age. She was most likely a deified river in origin, but she was also associated with gardens and with artisanship, specifically with leatherworking and carpentry. The oldest attestations of her have been identified in the Old Assyrian texts from Kanesh. This city continued to be associated with her in later tradition, though she was also worshiped in Hattusa and elsewhere in the Hittite Empire. She is also present in texts originating in Kizzuwatna, which indicate she had a temple in Kummanni, where she was worshiped alongside various Hurrian deities.
The Sun goddess of the Earth was the Hittite goddess of the underworld. Her Hurrian equivalent was Allani and her Sumerian/Akkadian equivalent was Ereshkigal, both of which had a marked influence on the Hittite goddess from an early date. In the Neo-Hittite period, the Hattian underworld god, Lelwani was also syncretised with her.
Luwian religion was the religious and mythological beliefs and practices of the Luwians, an Indo-European people of Asia Minor, which is detectable from the Bronze Age until the early Roman empire. It was strongly affected by foreign influence in all periods and it is not possible to clearly separate it from neighbouring cultures, particularly Syrian and Hurrian religion. The Indo-European element in the Luwian religion was stronger than in the neighbouring Hittite religion.
Kubaba was a goddess of uncertain origin worshiped in ancient Syria. Despite the similarity of her name to these of legendary queen Kubaba of Kish and Phrygian Cybele, she is considered a distinct figure from them both. Her character is poorly known. Multiple local traditions associating her with other deities existed, and they cannot necessarily be harmonized with each other. She is first documented in texts from Kanesh and Alalakh, though her main cult center was Carchemish. She was among the deities worshiped in northern Syria who were incorporated into Hurrian religion, and in Hurrian context she occurs in some of the Ugaritic texts. She was also incorporated into Hittite religion through Hurrian intermediaties. In the first millennium BCE she was worshiped by Luwians, Arameans and Lydians, and references to her can be found in a number of Greek texts.
Goddess of the Night (Sumerian: 𒀭𒈪, DINGIR.GE6) was a deity worshiped in the Hurrian kingdom of Kizzuwatna, and later also in Šamuḫa in the Hittite Empire. Only the logographic writing of her name is known, and multiple attempts at identifying her have been made. Most researchers assume that she was at least partially similar to goddesses such as Ishtar, Šauška and Išḫara. She most likely represented the night sky, and was also associated with dreaming.
Nupatik, in early sources known as Lubadag, was a Hurrian god of uncertain character. He is attested in the earliest inscriptions from Urkesh, as well as in texts from other Hurrian settlements and Ugarit. He was also incorporated into Hittite religion. A similarly named deity continued to be venerated in Arbela as late as in the Neo-Assyrian period.
Iyarri, also known as Yarri, was a god worshiped by Hittites and Luwians in Anatolia in the Bronze Age. He was associated with plague and war, and was portrayed as an archer whose arrows inflicted people with illnesses. While it is generally assumed that Iyarri was male, a female form of this deity is mentioned in a single text. It has been proposed that Iyarri might have developed from the Mesopotamian god Erra, or that he was influenced by him. A different proposal considers his name a cognate of that of Greek Ares, though the evidence in favor of this view is not conclusive.
Allanzu, later known under the name Alasuwa, was a Hurrian goddess regarded as a daughter of Ḫepat. She was described as a youthful deity and in known texts often appears in association with her mother and siblings. She was also worshiped by Hittites and Luwians.
Karhuha (Karḫuḫa), also known as Karḫuḫi, was the tutelary god of the ancient city of Carchemish. He was associated with deer, and it is presumed his character was similar to that of Hittite Kurunta. He is first attested in texts from the second half of the second millennium BCE, and there is no agreement among researchers if he was a Hurrian god in origin or if similarly to closely associated goddess Kubaba he predated Hurrian control over the region. He appears in a variety of Hittite and Luwian texts, and continued to be worshiped through the first millennium BCE.
Šeri and Ḫurri were a pair of theriomorphic Hurrian gods who almost always appear together in known sources. They were believed to pull the chariot of Teššub, the Hurrian weather god. Šeri additionally could function as a deity mediating between petitioners and his master, but no individual role was ever assigned to Ḫurri. In addition to appearing in Hurrian offering lists and theophoric names, for example from Nuzi, Šeri and Ḫurri are also attested in Hittite and Mesopotamian sources. While the Hittites incorporated them into their pantheon alongside Teššub and other deities from his circle, in Mesopotamia they instead came to be associated with Adad.
Namni and Ḫazzi were two mountain gods who belonged to the Hurrian pantheon. They are usually mentioned together in known texts. Ḫazzi corresponds to Jebel al-Aqra, while the identification of the mountain Namni represented is disputed. Both of them belonged to the court of the Hurrian weather god, Teššub, and it is possible they were worshiped alongside him in Aleppo. They are also attested in a variety of Hurrian and Hittite religious texts. They do not play an active role in known myths of Hurrian origin, though allusions to a conflict involving them have been identified in texts dealing with other deities.
Pišaišapḫi was a Hurrian mountain god. His name was derived from that of the associated mountain, Pišaiša, which was most likely located next the Mediterranean coast. He is attested in Hurrian and Hittite ritual texts from cities such as Hattusa, Šapinuwa and Ugarit. A Hittite literary text known as Myth of Pišaiša is focused on him, though its origin and the reading of the names of other deities who play roles in it remains a matter of debate among researchers.