Feste tions of Telipinu from the towns of Tawiniya, Durmitta and Hanhana, oath

Deities Moon-god (sometimes with Ms consort Nikkal) and Ishara, various hypostases

Of Tessub’s sister Sauska and his wife Hebat, war-gods (among whom the three from

Hattusa, Illaya and Arziya were the most famous), gods of plague lyarri and Zappa-

Na, goddesses heading local pantheons: Abara of Samuha, Hantitassu of Burma, the

Queens of Ankuwa and Katapa, Ammamma of Taliurpa, Hailara of Dunna (Classi-

cal Tynna, now Porsuk Hüyük), 443 Huwassanna of Hubesna, Tapisuwa of Ishupitta,

Kuniyawanni of Lands, NIN.SEN.SEN ofKinza (Rades), gods of the mountain- and

Steppe-dwellers, all the gods and goddesses of the land of Hatti and Kizzuwatna,

Sun-goddess of the Earth (Luwian goddess of the netherworld, whose name is con-

Cealed under the notation of ERES.KI.GAL, sharing many traits with the Human Al-

Lani; see 3.2.4) and a group of primeval gods of the netherworld with Mesopotamian

And Human names (3,2.5), finally - mountains, rivers, springs, Great Sea, Heaven

And Earth, winds and clouds.

The lists express the idea of the ‘Thousand Gods of Hatti’ developed by court

Theologians. This peculiar product of political theology, an amalgam of Anatolian,

Human, Syrian and Mesopotamian religious traditions, had no ties with earlier ritual

Practice. Not accidentally, the Sun-goddess of Arinna does not appear with Mezzulla,

Her daughter and inseparable companion from the lists of gods to whom offerings

Were made during cult ceremonies. Tessub’s consort Hebat also retreats to a second

Ary Position, leaving the Position of the chief goddess of the land to the Sun-goddess

Of Arinna. Other gods, who are known to have played an insignificant role in the

Leb.ru n 2007.

Cf. Singer 1994; Karasu 2003.

The Empire Peeiod

Cult, owe their high Position to the importance of the center they originated from,

For example, the Storm-god of Arinna,

Standing out in this conception of a pantheon is the idea of a territorial state,

WMch nonetheless failed to eover all of the lands making up the Hittite Empire. In

Spite of the fact that the conquests of Suppiluliuma I and Mursiii II extended Hit

Tite rule from the Western coasts of Asia Minor to northem Syria, the state pan

Theon included foremost the gods of Hatti from the region in the bend of the Ki,hr

Mak. those of the Upper Land in the upper course of this river, the Lower Land

Incorporating the Konya Plain and eastern Pamphylia, and Kizzuwatna in south-

Eastern Anatolia. It is only exceptionally that the gods of northem Syria are men-

Tioned in treaties made by the Hittites with rulers from cities in this region.

The geographic character of the state pantheon is illustrated even more dis-

Tinctly by the royal prayers addressed to all the gods of the land. The best preserved

Example is a prayer of Muwattalli II (c. 1290-1273), CTH 381 (see 3.2.7). The

List of gods incorporated in it takes on the form of a roll of local pantheons listed by

Importance of particular centers at the time of the text’s redaction. The Order used

To change in reflection of the current Situation. Even so, the territorial extern of the

Hittite gods’ realm corresponded to that conveyed by the lists of divine witnesses to

The state treaties. The said prayer records the gods of Samuha and Katapa right

Alter those of the holy town of Arinna but before those of Hattusa, reflecting a Situ

Ation that existed at the beginning of the rule of Muwattalli II, when Samuha

443

Appears to have been his temporary residence. Katapa gained in importance as

a royal seat, in the later years of his father Mursiii II. >4 7 There is no mention as yet

Of the city of Tarhuntassa, whieh Muwattalli II made his Capital a few years into

His reign, taking with him from Hattusa the gods of the land and the ancestors of

The royal family. 448 In a later prayer of this ruler, Tarhuntassa is mentioned right

V.. 449

öfter Arinna and Hattusa, while Samuha is far down on the list. “ The gods re-