With war-gods and sometimes also with the deity GAL.ZU. Finde of zoomorphic vessels

from central. Anatolia, * defmitely growing in number starting with the Assyrian

Colony period, confirm a long tradition of using vessels of this kind in the local cults.

The god could also take on an aniconic form. 318 Mention has been made already

Of the kursa and the Throne-goddess Halmasuit, who appears to have never had any

Anthropomorphic image. Solar discs could represent sun-goddesses and New Hittite

texts descrihe Images of mountain-gods in the form of a '“TUKUL (‘weapon’), pos-

Siblv a kind of Standard or mace, which was adomed occasionally with a solar dise

319

and a lunar crescent. ' It is not always easy to distinguish between an aniconic

Image of a god and Ms deified attributes, but the question concerns mainly later

Times (see 3.2.6).

A stela (Hittite huwasi) often constituted a cult object, commonly made of stone,

Less offen of wood or even silver. 320 Occasional relief decoration facilitated its Identifica

Tion with a specific deity. Stelae were mounted in temples or in different places around

Town, but most offen in a sanetuary outside the city, in a forest or grove, for example.

A deity could have been worshiped in the form of both an anthropomorphic figure

KUB 25.18 ii 6ff. Cf. Haas 1970: 65f. with n. 4; 1994a: 818f.

KUB 15.22, 12’, de Roos 1984: vol, II, 247f.; 2007: 183, 185; cf. also Haas 1994a: 587.

316 Carmba 1967; Popko 1978: 87ff.: Güterbock 1S83: 212ff.; Haas 1994a: 530ff.

Tuchelt 1962.

318 Güterbock 1983: Popko 1993.

319 Cf., e,g„ KUB 38.23 10f.: KUB 38.29 obv. 23’f., Hazenbos 2003: 174, 176.

320 Darga 1969: Gurnev 1977: 25ff., 36ff.; Güterbock 1983: 21511; Popko 1978: 1 23fr.: 1993: 324f.;

Hutter 1993: Nakamura 1997; cf. also Hazenbos 2003: 174f.; Fick 2004.

Hittite Anatciua

and a huwasi. Düring ritual cerenionies the god’s figure was carried from the temple to

The extramural sanctuary where it was set up either in front of or behind the stela;

Afier that, the rite was observed and sacrifices made to the god present in both forms.

The eult of the most important deities of the state pantheon and of other gods of

Supraregional importance spread in various centers of the kingdom, most often as

The outcome of the king’s religious policies. Naturally, the cult of a given god could

Be introduced in a new place or in a new form due to other reasons, too, for in-

Stance, ander a vow (see 3.2.7) or in the sequel of a dream in which a deity demand-

Ed a new cult (3.2.8). Relevant texts, which also provide Information on the mecha-

Nism involved in the emergence of new hypostases of a god, are of later date, but it

Is extremeiy likely that the cult practices described in them existed already in the

Old Hittite period. One can even surmise that they were common in different re-

Gions and cultures of the Ancient Near East. It was believed that the god kept Ws

current ‘body’ in the form of the existing statue or Statuette, but shared Ms divinity

With a new cult image which was subsequently treated as a separate deity endowed

with her own ‘body’ and thus requiring a cult of her own. 321 Texts from later times

Draw a picture of several figures and aniconic Images of the same deity, erected on

Different oceasions, being present in a single temple. Beside the chief god, the temple

May have had figures of other deities and their divine attributes and Symbols, too,

822

such as the scepters of gods,' and ritual equipment.

The adytum where the deity resided was worshiped on a par with her through

sacrifices offered in a set Order to the ‘holy places,’ that is, the most important el-

323

ements of the architeetural furnishings and equipment inside the shrine.' Lists of

these numina loci appear in many festivai descriptions. The ‘places’ mentioned most

often are the hearth, window, and ‘wood of the holt,’ occasionally also the ceremo-

Nial throne and the pillar supporting the ceiling. Sacrifices were made also on or

324

Near the altar that should not be mistaken for an offering fable. The altar

Was a pedestal, mostly made of wood, on which statues of gods and cult Utensils

Were placed. The hearth played a special role, also in domestic cults; according