Depiction of the Sun god of Heaven at the Hittite cliff sanctuary of Yazılıkaya (At left, alongside the Moon god (Hurrian Kušuḫ, Hittite Arma)

The Sun god of Heaven (Hittite: nepišaš Ištanu[1]) was a Hittite solar deity. He was the second-most worshipped solar deity of the Hittites, after the Sun goddess of Arinna.[2] The Sun god of Heaven was identified with the Hurrian solar deity, Šimige.[3]

From the time of Tudḫaliya III, the Sun god of Heaven was the protector of the Hittite king, indicated by a winged solar disc on the royal seals, and was the god of the kingdom par excellence.[4] From the time of Suppiluliuma I (and probably earlier), the Sun god of Heaven played an important role as the foremost oath god in interstate treaties.[5]

As a result of the influence of the Mesopotamian Sun god Šamaš, the Sun god of Heaven also gained an important role as the god of law, legality, and truth.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Calvert Watkins: "The Golden Bowl: Thoughts on the New Sappho and its Asianic Background." Classical Antiquity. 26, 2007, p. 309.
  2. ↑ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 90 f.
  3. ↑ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 127.
  4. ↑ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, pp. 89-90.
  5. ↑ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 88.
  6. ↑ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 89.

Bibliography

  • Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8.
  • Calvert Watkins: "The Golden Bowl: Thoughts on the New Sappho and its Asianic Background." Classical Antiquity. 26, 2007, pp. 305–324.
  • Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9.
  • Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-447-05708-0.
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