| Allanzu | |
|---|---|
"Young woman of Ḫepat" | |
 A relief fromYazılıkaya depicting two figures identified as Allanzu and Kunzišalli. | |
| Other names | Alasuwa |
| Major cult center | Tabal |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Ḫepat andTeshub |
| Siblings | Šarruma, Kunzišalli |
Allanzu, later known under the nameAlasuwa,[1] was aHurrian goddess regarded as a daughter ofḪepat. She was described as a youthful deity and in known texts often appears in association with her mother and siblings. She was also worshiped byHittites andLuwians.
Allanzu's status as a youthful deity is regarded as her primary characteristic.[2] She could be referred to as the "young woman ofḪepat",dḪepat=(v)e šiduri.[3]Andrew R. George states that the termšiduri is particularly well attested as herepithet.[4] She was regarded as a daughter of Ḫepat andTeshub.[5]Gary Beckman tentatively suggests that similarly to how under Hurrian influence Teshub could take place of the Hittite weather godTarḫunna in Hittite sources, and Ḫepat of theSun goddess of Arinna,Mezulla might have been associated with Allanzu in an analogous manner.[6]
In Hurrian tradition Allanzu formed a dyad with her mother, and they could receive offerings together.[7] Worship of dyads of functionally related deities is a well attested feature ofHurrian religion, with some of the other examples includingIšḫara andAllani orNinatta and Kulitta.[8] Allanzu's siblings wereŠarruma[1] and Kunzišalli.[2] In sources from the first millennium BCE, Allanzu and Šarrumma were instead regarded as a couple, which might have been a development rooted in the religion ofTabal.[1]
In addition to the singular Allanzu, a pair of lesserhypostases of her, known as Allanzunni, is also attested, and reflects a broader tradition of northernSyria and southernAnatolia, other examples of which include for exampleMaliya's Maliyanni ("small Maliya goddesses") or Šarruma's Šarrumanni.[9] Beckman suggests they might have been regarded as her daughters.[10] The term Allanzunni is referenced in a prayer of queenPuduḫepa (KUB 15.1),[11] "O two Šarrummanni-s and one Alanzunni, you who from the womb of the god are sprung".[9]
Allanzu is attested alongside deities such as her siblings Šarruma and Kunzišalli, as well asTakitu,Nabarbi,Šuwala,Adamma,Kubaba and others as a member of the circle of Ḫepat inkaluti,[12] a type of Hurrian offering lists.[13] She is also among the deities mentioned in a ritual text focused on the Hurrian religious concept ofšarrena.[14]
According to Mary R. Bachvarova, Allanzu is mentioned alongside the storm gods ofAdalaur andAleppo, as well as the goddessesAllatum andLelluri in theHittite textAnnals ofHattusili when the eponymous king enumerates the deities he brought from the city ofHassum to a temple ofMezulla inHattusa, thus incorporating them intoHittite religion.[3] She was also worshiped alongside Ḫepat in the Hittite city ofAnkuwa, the cult center ofKataḫḫa.[15] Furthermore, two figures depicted alongside Ḫepat in theYazılıkaya sanctuary (reliefs number 45 and 46 in the standard listing used in modern literature) are presumed to be Allanzu and Kunzišalli.[5][16] An accompanying inscription refers to the former simply as the daughter of Teshub.[17]
Allanzu-Ḫeba, a feminine personal name known fromEmar, according toVolkert Haas might be connected to the well attested Ḫepat-Allanzu dyad.[16]
In the first millennium BCE, Allanzu continued to be worshiped byLuwians, who referred to her as Alasuwa.[18][19] The correspondence between these two names has been established based on the fact that both in most cases occur immediately after Šarruma, whether the text is written incuneiform orLuwian hieroglyphs.[20] One of the Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions fromAncoz,Ancoz 9 [de], mentions the offering of a gazelle toTarhunza, Ḫepat, Šarruma, Alasuwa and an unknown deity.[1] References to construction of temples dedicated to her are also known.[21]