Английская Википедия:Hurrian primeval deities

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox deity Hurrian primeval deities were regarded as an early generation of gods in Hurrian mythology. A variety of Hurrian, Hittite and Akkadian labels could be used to refer to them. They were believed to inhabit the underworld, where they were seemingly confined by Teshub. Individual texts contain a variety of different listings of primeval deities, with as many as thirty names known, though many are very sparasely attested. Some among them were received from Mesopotamia, but others might have names originating in Hurrian or a linguistic substrate. No specific cult centers of the primeval deities have been identified, and they were not worshiped by all Hurrian communities. They were also incorporated into Hittite religion, presumably either from Kizzuwatna or Syria. Offers were made to them in sacrificial pits, examples of which have been identified in Urkesh and Hattusa. The primeval deities also appear in a number of Hurrian myths, including multiple sections of the Kumarbi Cycle and the Song of Release.

Terminology

In Hittitology and Assyriology, Hurrian primordial deities are variously referred to as “primeval deities”,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn “primeval gods”,Шаблон:Sfn “former gods”Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn or “ancient gods”.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In Hurrian they were described as enna turenna (“lower gods”) or ammatina enna (“divine ancestors”, literally “divine grandfathers”).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Andrea Trameri proposes that the term enna turenna had a broader meaning, and that it referred to all underworld deities, including a more specific group designated as ammatina enna.Шаблон:Sfn

In Hittite, the same group was called karuilieš šiuneš, “primeval gods” or kattereš šiuneš, “lower gods”.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn Both terms were calques from Hurrian.Шаблон:Sfn They could also be called taknaš šiuneš, “gods of the underworld” or “gods of the earth”.Шаблон:Sfn A logographic (“Akkadographic”) writing, A-NUN-NA-KE4, is also attested.Шаблон:Sfn This term initially referred to major deities belonging to the Mesopotamian pantheon, but in later times in Akkadian texts it came to function as a label designating underworld deities.Шаблон:Sfn Furthermore, the Hurrian group of primeval deities could be described with the Akkadian phrase ilū ša dārâti, “gods of eternity”.Шаблон:Sfn

Character

The primeval deities were regarded as members of early generations of gods which predated the rise of the head of the Hurrian pantheon, Teshub, to the rank of king of the gods.Шаблон:Sfn According to Alfonso Archi, Hurrians received the idea of multiple successive generations of deities from Mesopotamia.Шаблон:Sfn The primeval deities could be described as divine ancestors of other figures.Шаблон:Sfn They were believed to dwell in the underworld,Шаблон:Sfn which the Hurrians referred to as the “dark earth”, timri eže.Шаблон:Sfn This term might also have been loaned into Hittite as dankuiš daganzipaš.Шаблон:Sfn Based on a passage from a purification ritual (KBo 10.45 + ABoT 2.30), it was believed that they were driven there by Teshub, who subsequently made birds the standard offering for them in place of cattle and sheep.Шаблон:Sfn Presumably they came to live there aftermath of a confrontation which took place either during Teshub's quest for kingship among the gods or shortly after he was enthroned, mythical events which were believed to have taken place in the distant past, early on in the history of the world.Шаблон:Sfn As underworld deities, they were responsible for purification, and were meant to draw impurity and adversity to their realm.Шаблон:Sfn However, in the case of Mesopotamian deities who came to be incorporated into the Hurrian group, the association with the underworld was of secondary importance.Шаблон:Sfn Their inclusion in the group might have reflected their perception in areas on the periphery of the sphere of Mesopotamian cultural influence, where they plausibly could have been viewed as primordial figures.Шаблон:Sfn

Primordial deities were associated with Kumarbi,Шаблон:Sfn a high ranking Hurrian god.Шаблон:Sfn They appear as his allies in myths.Шаблон:Sfn They could also be linked with Allani,Шаблон:Sfn a goddess regarded as the queen of the underworld.Шаблон:Sfn In Hittite sources, they might instead appear alongside the Sun goddess of the Earth,Шаблон:Sfn who was identified with her.Шаблон:Sfn In the Hurrian ritual text KBo 17.94, the primeval deities are associated with Ishara.Шаблон:Sfn Presumably the connection reflects this goddess’ own ties to the underworld and the deceased.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonso Archi notes that the shared association with the primeval deities and with the underworld might have in turn influenced the well attested connection between Ishara and Allani.Шаблон:Sfn

Lists of primeval deities

Hurro-Hittite ritual texts did not establish a single canonical list of primeval deities.Шаблон:Sfn Their number in individual sources varies, with groupings of five, seven, eight, ten twelve and fifteen all attested.Шаблон:Sfn Of these, seven and twelve are the most recurring numbers.Шаблон:Sfn The latter represented completeness.Шаблон:Sfn A total of around thirty names of individual primeval deities are known, but the precise identity of many of them remains opaque.Шаблон:Sfn Most frequently listed sequence consists of Nara, Namšara, Minki, Ammunki, Ammizzadu, Tuḫuši, Alalu, Anu, Antu, Apantu, Enlil and Ninlil.Шаблон:Sfn The names of many of the primeval deities were arranged in texts in rhyming pairs, according to Шаблон:Ill for magical reasons.Шаблон:Sfn Triads are also attested.Шаблон:Sfn

Шаблон:Ill argues that the fact the group was referred to ammatina enna, “divine grandfathers”, indicates that the seven best attested deities belonging to this category (Nara, Namšara, Minki, Ammunki, Ammizzadu, Tuḫuši, Alalu) were all male.Шаблон:Sfn This assumption is also accepted by Amir Gilan.Шаблон:Sfn He additionally notes that the twelve primeval deities depicted in Yazılıkaya are male too, but also that in addition to the group of seven possibly male gods, female members of the group are attested in textual sources.Шаблон:Sfn Examples include ApantuШаблон:Sfn and Zulki.Шаблон:Sfn

Piotr Taracha interprets the lists of primeval deities attested in various texts as combinations of figures received from Mesopotamia and from a “local substrate”.Шаблон:Sfn He also states that some of their names are Hurrian.Шаблон:Sfn According to Gernot Wilhelm, many of the names which do not have Mesopotamian origin cannot be explained in any language, and might have originated in modern Syria.Шаблон:Sfn He also notes that the absence of the primeval deities from Mitanni sources makes it implausible that the group originated in Upper Mesopotamia, as sometimes suggested.Шаблон:Sfn Volkert Haas argues that their names were received by the Hurrians from a non-Semitic substrate language, with Mesopotamian deities added to the group later on.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonso Archi instead argues some of the names represent corrupted forms of Mesopotamian theonyms, possibly reflecting early transfer.Шаблон:Sfn

Attested individual names

Name Origin Details
Ābi HurrianШаблон:Sfn Ābi, “pit”, could be invoked among the primeval deities, as attested in the ritual CTH 446.Шаблон:Sfn According to Alfonso Archi, the name should be understood as a reference to a deified sacrificial pit used to summon the deities from the underworld.Шаблон:Sfn This figure might have been regarded as a personified deity, but played no role outside of rituals.Шаблон:Sfn Billie Jean Collis argues that the deification was only meant to reflect the supernatural properties inscribed to the structure.Шаблон:Sfn
Aduntarri
AdunteraШаблон:Sfn
SyrianШаблон:Sfn Aduntarri was regarded as a divine seer (ḪAL).Шаблон:Sfn The title indicates he was regarded as a male deity.Шаблон:Sfn He formed a triad with Irpitiga and Zulki in rituals.Шаблон:Sfn The suffix -tera is present in a number of theonyms presumed to originate in Syria, and on this basis it has been argued that he might have originally been a deity of a West Semitic speaking group from this area.Шаблон:Sfn
Alalu MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Alalu was regarded as the first “king in heaven” who was dethroned by Anu and had to flee to the “dark earth”.Шаблон:Sfn Wilfred G. Lambert suggested that this episode might have been derived from a presently unknown Mesopotamian myth.Шаблон:Sfn In some cases, Alalu appears in a sequence with Kumarbi, which might reflect the belief that they were regarded as father and son.Шаблон:Sfn
Amizzadu
AmazaШаблон:Sfn
MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn or SyrianШаблон:Sfn According to Alfonso Archi, Amizadu's name ends in a Semitic feminine suffix,Шаблон:Sfn though it has also been argued that it is masculine.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The similarity to the name of a Babylonian king, Ammizaduga, is accidental.Шаблон:Sfn She often appears alongside Alalu.Шаблон:Sfn Under the name Amaza, she was also worshiped in Emar in association with him, possibly as an underworld deity.Шаблон:Sfn It has been proposed that she was regarded as analogous to the Mesopotamian goddess Belili.Шаблон:Sfn
Antu MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Antu was in origin the spouse of the Mesopotamian god Anu.Шаблон:Sfn In some cases in treaties a triad consisting of them both and Apantu appears.Шаблон:Sfn
Anu MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Anu was the Mesopotamian god of heaven.Шаблон:Sfn In contrast with other members of the group, he was not believed to dwell in the underworld, and his connection to them relied entirely on his character as a primordial deity.Шаблон:Sfn
Apantu MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Apantu's character is not well known and she has been described as “colorless” by Alfonso Archi.Шаблон:Sfn She formed a pair with Antu in rituals.Шаблон:Sfn Gernot Wilhelm considers her to be a deity of Mesopotamian origin.Шаблон:Sfn According to Archi her name was created “in assonance with Antu”,Шаблон:Sfn and appears to end in a Semitic feminine suffix.Шаблон:Sfn
Eltara UgariticШаблон:Sfn While it has been suggested in early scholarship that Eltara is a corrupted form of Latarak,Шаблон:Sfn today it is assumed it is a combination of the name of the Ugaritic god El and the element -tara.Шаблон:Sfn Said suffix might be the same one present in the name of Aduntarri (Aduntera).Шаблон:Sfn A myth in which Eltara apparently acts as the king of the gods is known.Шаблон:Sfn He also appears in a ritual text, KUB 45.28, though he did not play a large role in the sphere of worship.Шаблон:Sfn He is also absent from treaties.Шаблон:Sfn
Enlil MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Enlil was originally a Mesopotamian god regarded as the head of the pantheon.Шаблон:Sfn While well attested in treaties, he only appears as one of the primeval deities in a ritual text once, alongside Apantu.Шаблон:Sfn
Irpitiga HurrianШаблон:Sfn Irpitiga was a male deityШаблон:Sfn addressed as the “lord of judgment”.Шаблон:Sfn While it has been argued that he was also known as the “lord of earth”,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn this might be a misunderstanding of a logographic writing of the former title.Шаблон:Sfn
Kumarbi HurrianШаблон:Sfn Kumarbi was one of the main Hurrian deities.Шаблон:Sfn In some treaties, he was counted among the primeval deities as one of the three old “kings in heaven”.Шаблон:Sfn He takes Apantu's usual place in such cases.Шаблон:Sfn
Minki and Amunki MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Minki (Munki) and Amunki formed a pair.Шаблон:Sfn It has been argued that they were both derived from the Mesopotamian pair Enki and Ninki,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn the first generation of ancestors of Enlil.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn Wilfred G. Lambert noted that their names might be phonetic variants of Enki and Ninki otherwise not preserved in writing.Шаблон:Sfn However, it remains unknown if Amunki and Minki were similarly a male-female pair, or instead two deities of the same gender.Шаблон:Sfn
Muntara and Mutmuntara possibly West SemiticШаблон:Sfn Muntara and Mutmuntara formed a pair,Шаблон:Sfn though both of them are also attested separately from each other.Шаблон:Sfn They appear only in rituals.Шаблон:Sfn Their name might contain the same suffix as these of Adunterri, Eltara and Mutmuntara, and as such might have West Semitic origin.Шаблон:Sfn One of the two might have been male and the other female according to Volkert Haas.Шаблон:Sfn
Namšara
NapšaraШаблон:Sfn
possibly MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn According to Alfonso Archi, the name Namšara might be a corrupt form of the Mesopotamian theonym Enmešarra, one of the ancestors of Enlil.Шаблон:Sfn An earlier proposal was that the name is a corruption of Namtar.Шаблон:Sfn
Nara possibly MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Nara formed a pair with Namšara in rituals.Шаблон:Sfn In Hittite treaties, they are the first of the pairs of primordial deities listed.Шаблон:Sfn It has been suggested that this theonym was a derivative or corrupted form of Narru, an epithet of Enlil, but this remains uncertain.Шаблон:Sfn In Malitta, Nara was worshiped in the form of a wooden statue of a bull.Шаблон:Sfn
Ninlil MesopotamianШаблон:Sfn Ninlil, who formed a pair with Enlil, was a Mesopotamian goddess in origin.Шаблон:Sfn She does not appear in ritual texts.Шаблон:Sfn
Taštara
TaištaraШаблон:Sfn
Taštara formed a pair with Eltara in rituals.Шаблон:Sfn According to Volkert Haas, it is possible one of these two deities was male and the other female.Шаблон:Sfn
Tuḫuši UnknownШаблон:Sfn Tuḫuši formed a triad with Minki and Amunki.Шаблон:Sfn
Zulki Zulki was regarded as a divine seer,Шаблон:Sfn specifically as a dream interpreter (MUNUSENSI).Шаблон:Sfn The title indicates she was a female deity.Шаблон:Sfn

In addition to the deities listed above, less well attested Hurrian primeval deities include Alammu, Elluita, Napirra, UndurupaШаблон:Sfn and the pairs Ašša and ApaštaШаблон:Sfn and Aunammudu and Iyandu.Шаблон:Sfn Furthermore, in a single Hittite treaty a deity designated by the Sumerogram NIN.É.GAL appears among them.Шаблон:Sfn Additionally, anonymous divine ancestors of multiple Hurrian deities, including Teshub, Ḫepat, Šauška, Šimige, Ningal and Lelluri, are mentioned in ritual texts from Kizzuwatna.Шаблон:Sfn In two cases, those of Šauška and Šimige, all of the ancestors are stated to be of the same gender, respectively female and male.Шаблон:Sfn

Worship

It is presumed that the worship of primeval deities was a part of the traditions of Hurrians living in Syria and Kizzuwatna, but it is not attested in Mitanni sources.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonso Archi on this basis concluded they cannot be considered pan-Hurrian deities.Шаблон:Sfn Ritual texts do not associate them with a specific cult center.Шаблон:Sfn

Communication with the primeval deities required the preparation of special pits, typically located outdoors.Шаблон:Sfn One example of such a structure has been identified during excavations of Urkesh.Шаблон:Sfn It dates to 2300 BCE, measures five meters in diameter and might be seven meters deep, though between 1999 and 2004 the excavators only reached six meters deep into the ground.Шаблон:Sfn Its purpose was initially uncertain, with an early proposal being to identify it as an elaborate cist burial, but it has eventually been established based on the presence of numerous faunal remains and other objects identified as offerings.Шаблон:Sfn However, while later sources indicate that underworld deities received birds as offerings, the Urkesh pit instead contains the remains of piglets, puppies, sheep, goats and donkeys.Шаблон:Sfn The first two of these animals were not typical sacrifices, and based on evidence from later rituals it is assumed they were used as agents of purification.Шаблон:Sfn

Hittite reception

Hurrian primeval deities were incorporated into Hittite religion.Шаблон:Sfn Most likely they were received in the fourteenth century BCE from northern Syria or Kizzuwatna.Шаблон:Sfn Hittites were aware of the tradition of making offerings to them in pits, and possible examples of such structures have been identified during excavations in Hattusa.Шаблон:Sfn Multiple terms were used to refer to the offering pits in Hittite texts, including ḫateššar, pateššar, wappu, āpi and the Sumerogram ARÀḪ (“storage pit”).Шаблон:Sfn As a group, the primeval deities received offerings in rituals such as CTH 446, 447 and 449.Шаблон:Sfn However, they had no established cult, and ceremonies related to them were only carried out in reaction to specific events.Шаблон:Sfn One example is a ritual meant to help purify a house from blood, which had to last two days and involved the preparation of statues of the primeval deities from clay from a riverbank sprinkled with oil and honey and the offering of birds to them.Шаблон:Sfn The text KBo 23.7 describes an invocation of the group performed by a SANGA priest on Mount Irrāna, during which a “Song of the Invocation of the Primeval Deities” was sung.Шаблон:Sfn

The primeval deities also appear as divine witnesses in treaties.Шаблон:Sfn The oldest example, which does not yet use their individual names, is CTH 139, dated to the reign of Arnuwanda I, where they are listed separately from “the gods of the heaven and the gods of the earth”, a grouping which according to earlier Hattian-Hittite tradition already included underworld deities of local origin.Шаблон:Sfn The received Hurrian idea of underworld deities differed from the earlier Anatolian one, which did not present them as an earlier generation.Шаблон:Sfn When their individual names are listed in Hittite treaties, twelve of them are enumerated, with the exception of the treaty with Alaksandu, which lists only nine,Шаблон:Sfn namely Nara, Napšara, Amunki, Tuḫuši, Ammezzadu, Alalu, Kumarbi, Enlil and Ninlil.Шаблон:Sfn

It is assumed that a group of twelve gods from the Yazılıkaya sanctuary reliefs dressed in pointy caps and armed with curved swords can be interpreted as a depiction of the Hurrian primeval deities.Шаблон:Sfn

Mythology

The primeval deities appear in multiple myths belonging to the so-called Kumarbi Cycle.Шаблон:Sfn In the Song of Emergence, also known as Song of Kumarbi or Kingship in Heaven,Шаблон:Sfn in the proem the narrator invites them to listen to the tale:

Шаблон:Blockquote

It is commonly assumed that the invocation of this group reflected their character as members of an earlier generation of gods who witnessed the described events firsthand.Шаблон:Sfn According to Alfonso Archi, the list of primeval deities used in Hittite treaties shows overlap with this enumeration, and might be derived from it.Шаблон:Sfn Amir Gilan considers it to be a literary device, and concludes that it cannot be assumed that it corresponds to invoking them in a ritual setting.Шаблон:Sfn

In the Song of LAMMA, the primeval deities are mentioned during an argument between the eponymous figure and Kubaba which revolves around the former's unwillingness to honor them.Шаблон:Sfn In a later section, Ea decides to dispose of LAMMA, who was temporarily made the king of the gods, and announces his plan to Nara, addressing him as a brother and ordering him to gather various animals for an unknown purpose.Шаблон:Sfn According to Volkert Haas’ interpretation, in the Song of Ḫedammu the primeval deities are addressed alongside Kumarbi by Ea when he berates him in the divine assembly due to the danger his plots pose to mankind.Шаблон:Sfn In the Song of Ullikummi, Ea requests the primeval deities to bring him a tool which long ago was used to separate haven from earth, which he subsequently uses to separate Ullikummi from the shoulder of Upelluri.Шаблон:Sfn

In a fragment of a myth (KUB 33, 105: 10), Teshub states that he received wisdom from Nara.Шаблон:Sfn According to Amir Gilan, a poorly preserved passage in the Song of Emergence might also allude to this event.Шаблон:Sfn

The banishment of the primeval deities to the underworld is alluded to in the myth Ea and the Beast.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn This composition, which might be a part of the Kumarbi Cycle, describes a long prophetic speech given by suppalanza, a hitherto unidentified animal, to Ea, which seemingly describes the deeds of Teshub, including the banishment of unspecified opponents to the underworld, where they will be kept in place with strings.Шаблон:Sfn A further fragmentary myth sometimes classified as a part of the same cycle, KBo 22.87, describes a period during which one of the primeval deities, Eltara, was the king of the gods.Шаблон:Sfn Apparently it involves the other primordial deities being lifted up from the underworld to reside with him in heaven.Шаблон:Sfn

In an episode from the Song of Release the interpretation of which remains a matter of debate, the primordial deities sit with Teshub during a feast held for him in the underworld by Allani.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Ill suggests that the scene might be meant to mirror rituals for deceased kings who were believed to feast in the underworld with their ancestors.Шаблон:Sfn

A possible reference to the primeval deities occurs in the so-called ritual of Шаблон:Ill (CTH 404), which alludes to an eschatological event when “the former kings” (karuilieš LUGALmeš), who Gary Beckman identifies as the same group rather than as deceased mortal rulers, “should return and examine the land and (its) custom(s)”.Шаблон:Sfn

Influence on other deities

Karel van der Toorn compares the Hurrian primeval deities, especially Alalu, with the Ugaritic god Ilib, who according to him developed as a similar figure meant to represent a divine ancestor who was believed to have reigned over the gods in the distant past.Шаблон:Sfn Alfonso Archi notes that the Hurrians living in Ugarit in turn developed the figure of eni attanni, “god father”, a “generic ancestor of the gods” meant to mirror Ilib.Шаблон:Sfn

The confinement of the Hurrian primeval deities in the underworld has been compared to the fate of Titans in later Greek myths.Шаблон:Sfn It has been suggested this group was based on the Hurrian deities.Шаблон:Sfn The contact zone in which Greeks would be introduced to Hurro-Hittite tradition might have been Cilicia, Cyprus or the Levant, but it is not certain if they were received directly from the Hittites or another culture.Шаблон:Sfn However, it has been noted differences between the two groups of deities also exist.Шаблон:Sfn Most notably, Titans rarely, if ever, appear in rituals.Шаблон:Sfn

Notes

Шаблон:Notelist

References

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Bibliography

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Шаблон:Hurrian mythology