Hattusili III, 1000 sheep were given to the Storm-god of Nerik on the occasion of

the purulliiya) festival celebrated in. the dahanga (cult room?) of Ms temple.* 90 The

Meat of animal offerings was naturaliy used to prepare meals for participants in

These festivals that lasted a number of days.

Every town had its own calendar of festivals connected with the agricultural cycle

And a tradition rooted in Old Hittite times (3,1.3). Among the more important festi

vals of Hattian origin that lasted infco the later period was the purulliiya) festival in

The spring “when the land prospers and thrives.” 780 Some scliolars Claim that it was

The festival of the New Year, but this finds no confirmation whatsoever in surviv-

Mg texts. Neither is there any conclusive evidence to prove that the texts connected

with the cult of the goddess Teteshapi are part of a description of the purulliiya)

Festival.. These festivals appear to have been celebrated independently in Hattu

sa, * but also in Ziplanda and Nerik.' In the latter town, the local purulliiya)

Festival started being celebrated again after the reconquest of the northern terri-

Tories; the importance of these celebrations is emphasized by the fact that their

KUB 38.12 iii 227. Cf. Hazenhos 2003: 175.

794 KUB 51,1++ i lff„ Haas - Jakob-Rost 1984: 40, 44; KUB 53.14 iv 35’, Haas - Jakob-Rost 1984:

Cf. also Haas 1994a: 743.

KUB 48.119 obv? 9’ff., Haas 1994a: 696.

Haas 1970: 43ff.; KeHerman 1981; Haas 1988c; 1994a: 696ff.; Popko 1.995a: 149: Hoffner 2007:

122, 1301,

Haas 1994a: 69311.; Garcla Trabazo 2002: 77f., 83 with n. 16.

Contra Pecchioli Daddi 1987a: 366ff., 1987b: 55ff.; 1988.

/99 In Hattusa the purulliiya) festival was celebrated for Lelwani in the hestü- house. Cf. KBo 2.5 iii

If-, Goetze 1933: 188ff,; Haas - Wegner 1992: 247: Arehi 2007a: 51 with n. 2; IBoT 2.17, Haas

. Wäfler 1977; 95.

The Empire Period 137

description was contained on 32 tahlets.’"’* Düring the eeremony, the so-called

Illuyanka myth about the straggle between the Storm-god and the Serpent was re-

802

CitedA Two versions of the myth are included in a kind of faymn to Zashapuna,

Main goddess of Kastama, whose cult was also introduced at Nerik (3.2.3). Sur-

Viving versions of the myth come from the Empire period. 80,5

With the spread of the cult of Hurrian and Luwian divinities, the number of

Festivals that were celebrated increased. This concerns especially Hattusa. An In

struction for temple personnel (CTH 264) lists eighteen of many regulär festivals

Taking place in the Capital, the proper Organization of which was the priest,s’ duty:

“The festival of the month, the festival of the year, the festival of the stag, the f[al] l

festival, the |fe]stival of the spring, the thunder festival, the [fejstival of /iiyarra, 804

the festival of pudaha, 80 ' 3 the festival of hisuwa, the festival of [sajtlassa, the festi

val of the rhyton, the festivals of the sacred SANGA-[priest], the festivals of the ‘old

Rner; the festivals of the AMA.DINGIR-priestesses, the festival of dahiya, the

Festival of the upati-me n, the festivals of the lot, the festivals of raking, or whatever

Festival (there is) up in Hattusa.” 807 Some of these festivals belonged to the old tra

Dition. while the festivals of thunder, fpiyarra, pudaha and satlassa were celebrated

For Tessub of Halab and deities from his circle. The last three were mentioned among

thirteen regulär festivals in the cult of Tessub and Hebat of Halab of Hattusa, 803

Which in the opinion of some scholars were celebrated in a monthly cycle (with the

Thirteenth month in a leap year). 808 The festivals of filling storage jars (after the

Harvest) and opening them (before the sowing) (see 3.1.3), celebrated outside of

Cf. KUB 30.42 i 5f.

802 CTH 321, Beckman 1982; Ünal 1994b: 808ff,; G. Beckman apud Beckman - Hoffner 1997: ISÖf.;

Hoffner 1998: lOff.; Garcla Trabazo 2002: 75ff.; Haas 2006: 971t; Hoffner 2007.

803 According to Hoffner (2007;!2Öf.), the original form of the composition derlves from the Old

Hittite. The surviving text, however, is rather a Compilation of motifa of different dato and origin.

Tremouille 1997: 98ff.; Hutter 2002.

Tremouille 1997: 94ff.

806 For the institutional role of the ‘old men’ in Hittite Anatölia, see Klengel 1965b.

KUB 13.4 i 39ff., Taggar-Cohen 2006a: 43, 72; now also Hutter 2008: 75f.