| Ḫepat | |
|---|---|
Tutelary goddess of Aleppo and wife of the weather god | |
 | |
| Other names | Ḫalabatu |
| Major cult center | Aleppo,Kummanni |
| Genealogy | |
| Spouse |
|
| Children | Šarruma,Allanzu and Kunzišalli |
| Equivalents | |
| Hittite | Sun goddess of Arinna |
| Ugaritic | Pidray |
Ḫepat (Hurrian:𒀭𒄭𒁁,dḫe-pát; also romanized asḪebat;[2]Ugaritic 𐎃𐎁𐎚,ḫbt[3]) was a goddess associated withAleppo, originally worshiped in the north of modernSyria in the third millennium BCE. Her name is often presumed to be either a femininenisba referring to her connection to this city, or alternatively a derivative of therootḫbb, "to love". Her best attested role is that of the spouse of various weather gods. She was already associated with Adad inEbla and Aleppo in the third millennium BCE, and in later times they are attested as a couple in cities such asAlalakh andEmar. InHurrian religion she instead came to be linked withTeshub, which in the first millennium BCE led to the development of a tradition in which she was the spouse of hisLuwian counterpartTarḫunz. Associations between her and numerous other deities are described in Hurrian ritual texts, where she heads her ownkaluti [de], a type of offering lists dedicated to the circle of a specific deity. She commonly appears in them alongside her children,Šarruma,Allanzu and Kunzišalli. Her divine attendant was the goddessTakitu. InHittite sources, she could sometimes be recognized as the counterpart of theSun goddess of Arinna, though their respective roles were distinct and most likely this theological conception only had limited recognition. In Ugarit the local goddessPidray could be considered analogous to her instead.
The oldest evidence for the worship of Ḫepat comes from texts from Ebla, though she was not a major goddess inEblaite religion. In later times she was worshiped in the kingdom ofYamhad, as well as inEmar. She was also incorporated into Hurrian religion, though most of the related evidence comes exclusively from western Hurrian polities such asKizzuwatna, where her cult center wasKummanni. InUgarit, as well as among the eastern Hurrian communities, her importance was comparably smaller. She was also incorporated intoHittite andLuwian religion through Hurrian mediation, and as a result continued to be worshiped in the first millennium BCE in states such asTabal andSamʾal. The goddessHipta, known fromLydia and from laterOrphic sources, is sometimes presumed to be a late form of her. A less direct connection between her and another figure known from classical sources,Ma, has also been proposed.
Thetheonym Ḫepat was written incuneiform asdḫé-pát ordḫé-pá-at,[2] while in theUgaritic alphabetic script asḫbt.[3]Romanizations with the middleconsonant rendered as bothp andb can both be found in modern literature, with the former being an attempt at representingunvoiced consonants present in theHurrian language.[4] The breve under the first consonant is sometimes omitted.[5][6] A variant of the name withoutt is attested in primary sources.[7] It occurs particularly commonly intheophoric names.[8] Examples include the names ofMittani princessesKelu-Ḫepa andTadu-Ḫepa,[9]Hittite queenPuduḫepa[10] andAbdi-Heba ("servant of Ḫepat"), a ruler ofJerusalem known from theAmarna correspondence.[11] InEgyptian texts, it could be rendered asḫipa.[10] In older publications this variant is sometimes romanized as Khipa.[12]
According to Alfonso Archi, the theonymdḫa-a-ba-du (/ḫalabāytu/) known fromEblaite texts can be considered an early form of Ḫepat's name and indicates it should be interpreted as anisba, "she of Ḫalab (Aleppo)".[13] He romanizes the Eblaite theonym as Ḫalabatu.[14] He concludes that the later form of the name developed through the process ofvelarization, with the loss of thel resulting in a change froma toe, similarly to cases of loss ofḥ,ʿ orġ well documented in variousAkkadian words.[15] An alternate proposal is to interpret it as Ḫibbat, "the beloved", from therootḫbb, "to love".[16] Lluís Feliu notes it is not impossible both options are correct, which would reflect a case ofpolysemy.[17] Doubts about the validity of both etymological proposals have been expressed byDaniel Schwemer [de], though he also supports interpreting the Eblaite goddess as an early form of Ḫepat.[7] The assumption that both names refer to the same goddess is also supported by other researchers, for exampleGary Beckman[18] andPiotr Taracha [de].[19]
In early scholarship attempts have been made to show a linguistic connection between the theonym Ḫepat and thebiblical given name Ḥawwat (Eve),[8] but as stressed byDaniel E. Fleming they are phonologically dissimilar.[20]
Variousepithets could be employed to designate Ḫepat as a deity who held a high position in the pantheon, for example "queen", "lady of heaven" and "queen of heaven".[21] The last of them occurs in Hittite treaties.[10][22] She could also be linked to the institution of kingship.[23] A Hurrian ceremony dedicated to her was concerned with the concept ofallašši, "ladyship", in analogy toTeshub's ceremony ofšarrašši, "kingship".[24] Ḫepat also had maternal characteristics,[25] and could be invoked in rituals connected withmidwifery.[26] While this aspect of her character is only directly documented in texts fromHattusa, Thomas Richter argues that it might have already been known inSyria in theOld Babylonian period, as she was invoked particularly commonly in Hurrian theophoric names attributing the birth of a child to the help of a specific deity, one example being Uru-Ḫepa, "Ḫepat let the girl exist".[27]
Ḫepat's best attested characteristic was her status as the spouse of variousweather gods, especially those associated withAleppo.[16] It is possible that this connection went as far back as the twenty seventh century BCE.[28] It is assumed that she and Hadda (Adad) of Aleppo were already viewed as a couple in theEblaite texts.[29] Outside of this area, this tradition was also followed inAlalakh.[30] Evidence is also available fromEmar,[31] where she occurs alongside the local weather god in a festival focused on the NIN.DINGIR priestess.[32]Daniel E. Fleming argues that he was also linked withAshtart in local tradition, rather than exclusively with Ḫepat,[33] though he accepts that the ritual texts only acknowledge the latter pair.[34]Daniel Schwemer [de] suggests that two pairings, one belonging to the tradition of Aleppo and the other reflecting coastal beliefs, coexisted in Emar.[35] Further east inMesopotamia the spouse of the weather god was usuallyShala instead.[36] Additionally, inUpper Mesopotamia in theOld Babylonian period local goddesses might have been recognized as his partners, for example Bēlet-Apim or Bēlet-Qaṭṭarā.[37] Schwemer suggests that Ḫepat might have nonetheless been recognized as his spouse in the Mesopotamian kingdom ofMari, though he admits there is no evidence that she was worshiped in the localtemple dedicated to him.[38] Shala is attested in theophoric names from this city, though all of them areAkkadian and belonged to people hailing from neighboringBabylonia.[39]
InHurrian tradition Ḫepat's spouse wasTeshub.[28] The earliest evidence for this pairing has been identified in Old Babylonian sources from Mari.[8] However, according to Lluís Feliu it is not impossible that among eastern Hurrian communities Shala was regarded as Teshub's wife instead, which might explain her appearance amongHurrian deities in the treaty betweenŠuppiluliuma I andŠattiwaza.[40] InUgarit, Ḫepat was recognized only as the spouse of Teshub, venerated there as the god of Aleppo,[41] while the local weather god,Baal,[a] was most likely considered to be unmarried.[43]
InTabal in the eighth century BCE Ḫepat was paired with theLuwian weather godTarḫunz,[44] which reflected the development of a new tradition presumably dependent on considering him analogous to Teshub.[45] She also retained her role as the spouse of the weather god inCarchemish in the first millennium BCE, and in inscriptions from this city Tarḫunz appears alongside "Ḫipatu".[46]
In Hurrian sources various deities were included in thekaluti, or offering lists, dedicated to Ḫepat, and as such formed a part of her circle: her sonŠarruma, her two daughtersAllanzu and Kunzišalli,Takitu,Hutena and Hutellura,Allani,Ishara,Shalash,Damkina, (Umbu-)Nikkal,Ayu-Ikalti,Šauška (alongside her servantsNinatta and Kulitta),Nabarbi,Shuwala,Adamma,Kubaba, Hašuntarḫi,Uršui-Iškalli, Tiyabenti, as well as "ancestors of Ḫepat"[b] and various cultic paraphernalia connected with her.[48] A similar group of deities follows Ḫepat and her family on the reliefs from theYazılıkaya sanctuary: Takitu, Hutena and Hutellura, Allani, Ishara, Nabarbi, Shalash, Damkina, Nikkal, Aya, Šauška and Shuwala are identified by name in accompanying inscriptions, while six other goddesses are left unnamed.[49]
Ḫepat could also form a dyad alongside one of her children, usually Šarruma, though attestations of Allanzu and Kunzišalli in this context are known too.[26] Another deity who in ritual texts could form a dyad with her was Mušuni,[50] "she of justice."[51]Piotr Tarcha [de] assumes that she can be considered a personified attribute or epithet of Ḫepat.[52] However, it has been proposed that she was a separate goddess associated with the underworld, and in one case she appears in a ritual alongside Allani and Ishara.[50] Another dyad consisted of Ḫepat and the otherwise unknown deity Ḫašulatḫi.[53]
Two deities are attested in the role of Ḫepat'ssukkal (divine attendant), Takitu[54] and Tiyabenti.[55] While only Takitu appears in myths, she and Tiyabenti coexist in ritual texts, where both can accompany their mistress, which according to Marie-Claude Trémouille indicates that the view that one of them was merely anepithet of the other is unsubstantiated.[55]
In an effort to harmonize the dynastic pantheon of theHittite kings, which was influenced byHurrian religion, with the state pantheon consisting ofHattic and Hittite deities, attempts were made to syncretise Ḫepat and theSun goddess of Arinna.[56] The best known source attesting it is a prayer of queenPuduḫepa, the wife ofḪattušili III:
O Sun-goddess of Arinna, my lady, queen of all the lands! In Hatti you gave yourself the name Sun-goddess of Arinna, but the land which you made that of thecedar, there you gave yourself the name Ḫebat.[57]
However,Piotr Taracha [de] considers it impossible that this idea was adopted into everyday religious practices of the general Hittite population.[57]Gary Beckman refers to it as a "rare and exceptional" example.[58]Daniel Schwemer [de] notes that the character of the goddess of Arinna was dissimilar to that of Ḫepat, and that unlike the latter she had a well established individual role in the pantheon.[59] Furthermore, Ḫepat never replaced her in her traditional position in treaties and similar documents.[60]
InAleppo during the existence of the kingdom ofYamhad Ḫepat seemingly belonged to the circle of deities associated withDagan, presumably due to her connection to his son, Adad.[17] Lluís Feliu suggests that she might have been viewed as the daughter of the former[61] and his wifeShalash.[62]
A list of deities fromUgarit identifiesPidray as the local counterpart of Ḫepat.[63] Wilfred H. van Soldt suggested that intheophoric names from this city the theonym Ḫepat might have been used as a stand-in for Pidray.[64] According to Daniel Schwemer, it is unlikely that this equation reflected a tradition in which Pidray was the wife of the local weather god,Baal.[43]
The worship of Ḫepat had its roots in the north of modernSyria.[32]Eblaite texts indicate that under the early form of her name, Ḫalabāytu, she was worshiped inEbla and inAleppo in the third millennium BCE.[13] She is first attested during the reigns ofEblaite kingsIrkab-Damu andIšar-Damu and theirviziersIbrium andIbbi-Zikir.[65] However, she was not a goddess of major importance inEblaite religion.[66] She always appears in association with Aleppo in Eblaite sources, though she is very sparsely attested in this text corpus.[67] She received offerings of various golden and silver objects, as well as cattle.[65] In the offering list TM.76.G.22 she is the seventh deity mentioned, afterAdad, Adad of Aleppo,Dagan ofTuttul,Hadabal of Arugadu, theEblaite sun deity,Resheph of Aidu (a sparsely attested minor settlement) andIshtar of Šetil (another small, poorly known settlement).[14] Another text, written during the sixth year of Ibbi-Zikir and focused on offerings to the weather god of Aleppo, mentions that the king of Ebla offered a buckle to her.[68]
A singletheophoric name invoking Ḫepat is known from Ebla from the second millennium BCE.[69] A local ruler, one of the possible members of a dynasty which ruled in the city in the twentieth century BCE, was named Igriš-Ḫeba (ig-ri-iš-ḪI-IB, with the last two signs read asḫe-ebax).[70] She is also depicted on aseal which might have belonged to a son of another local ruler,Indi-Limma.[71]
It is presumed that Ḫepat continued to be worshiped in Aleppo through theOld Babylonian period.[72] In one of the texts fromMari from the same period, a letter toZimri-Lim, she is mentioned alongsideDagan andShalash in an account of thepagrā’um, a mourning ceremony combined with the offering of sacrificial animals to deities, which in this case was held in honor of kingSumu-Epuh of Yamhad by his successorHammurapi in the royal palace in Aleppo.[73] In another letter an anonymous woman mentions she will pray for Zimri-Lim to her and a weather god (dIŠKUR), possiblyTeshub.[74] Notheophoric names invoking Ḫepat occur in sources from Mari, with examples cited in older literature being now considered misreadings or otherwise dubious.[72] Five examples are however attested in texts fromAlalakh documenting the period when the city was under the control of the kingdom of Yamhad: Ḫebat-allani, Ḫebat-DINGIR (reading of the second element is uncertain), Ḫebat-muhirni, Ḫebat-ubarra and Ummu-Ḫebat.[75] She is also one of the three deities, the other two being Adad and the city goddess of Alalakh, here designated by the logogramdIŠTAR (in the past erroneously interpreted as an epithet of Ḫepat), who are invoked in the curse formula in a text detailing howAbba-El I's brotherYarim-Lim became the ruler of this city after the destruction ofIrride.[76]
The worship of Ḫepat is also documented in texts fromEmar.[77]Herbert Niehr [de] suggests that the double temple discovered during excavations was dedicated jointly to her and the local weather god.[78] However, as stressed byDaniel E. Fleming in textual sources she occurs in "a fairly narrow setting" compared to deities such asdNIN.KUR.[79] She was commonly associated withsikkānu stones, often interpreted by researchers as aniconic representations of deities,[80] though this view is not universally accepted.[81] The use of such objects is documented in texts fromUgarit, Mari and Ebla as well, and it is presumed it was a distinct feature of religious practice in ancient Syria from the third millennium BCE to the end of theBronze Age.[82] Theanointing of asikkānu dedicated to her is mentioned in instruction for the initiation of a NIN.DINGIR priestess of the local weather god, and offerings to it were made during thezukru festival.[80] It was apparently located inside the city.[83] Furthermore, an inventory of metal objects belonging to Ḫepat has been identified among texts discovered in Emar.[84] Theophoric names invoking her are attested in sources from this city too.[77] Examples include Asmu-Ḫebat and Ḫebat-ilī.[35]
As argued by Daniel E. Fleming, Ḫepat's role inHurrian religion is best known today.[32] According to Alfonso Archi, after the fall of Ebla she and a number of other deities belonging to the pantheon of the city, such asAdamma,Ammarik,Aštabi andŠanugaru, did not retain their former position in the religion of theAmorites, who became the dominant culture inSyria, and as a result were reduced to figures of at best local significance, eventually incorporated into the religion of theHurrians when they arrived in the same area a few centuries later.[85] She is particularly well attested in sources originating in western Hurrian communities.[40] She was the highest ranked Hurrian goddess in the traditions of Aleppo and the kingdom ofKizzuwatna,[86] where she was worshiped inKummanni andLawazantiya.[87] However, she only acquired this position by displacingŠauška from her position attested in sources from most Hurrian centers in the east, such asNuzi.[86] In addition to Ḫepat herself, her various cultic paraphernalia could be venerated too, for example her throne.[88]
Ḫepat was among the Hurrian deities worshiped in Ugarit.[3] She appears exclusively in texts belonging to the Hurrian milieu in this city.[89] However, her position in the local variant of the Hurrian pantheon was relatively low,[15] and it is presumed that Šauška retained the role of the foremost goddess.[86]
In the text RS 24.261, a ritual combining Hurrian and Ugaritic elements and focused on the local goddessAshtart and her Hurrian counterpart Šauška,[90] Ḫepat is listed betweenPišaišapḫi andDaqitu in a sequence of deities who were recipients of offerings during it.[91] RS 24.291, a bilingual text dealing with another ritual, which was focused on the bed ofPidray,[92] prescribes offering a single ram to Ḫepat during the first day of the celebrations, and two of the same animal and then separately a cow on the second.[93]
Fifteen theophoric names invoking Ḫepat have been identified in the corpus ofUgaritic texts, though one of them belonged to a person from outside the city.[94] A letter sent by kingŠauška-muwa [de] ofAmurru indicates that a temple of Ḫepat existed in the proximity of Ugarit in the settlement ‘Ari.[95]
While Ḫepat was not regarded as one of the major deities in the eastern Hurrian polities, she was not entirely unknown there.[96] It has been proposed that she was perceived as a deity of high status by the royal family of theMitanni Empire,[97] where she is attested in theophoric names of princesses.[98] The attested examples areKelu-Ḫepa andTatu-Ḫepa, both from the fourteenth century BCE.[99] In Nuzi names invoking her are uncommon.[97] Two examples are known, Šuwar-Ḫepa and Šatu-Ḫepa; both of these individuals were relatives of a local prince.[9]
While western Hurrian literary texts describe Ḫepat as a deity worshiped inKumme, likely located east of theKhabur, it is not certain if she was venerated in this location.[97]
Ḫepat also came to be incorporated intoHittite religion.[100] She is mentioned for the first time in Hittite sources in an account ofḪattušili I's expedition againstḪaššum, during which he seized the statues of deities worshiped in this Hurrian polity, among them this goddess, as well asLelluri,Allatum, Adalur and thegod of Aleppo [de].[101] The statue was then deposited in a temple ofMezulla.[8] In later times she andTeshub were the two main deities in the dynastic pantheon which according toPiotr Taracha [de] first developed when a new dynasty originating inKizzuwatna came to reign over the Hittite Empire.[102] In theŠunaššura treaty, Ḫepat and Teshub, described as the deities of Aleppo, appear directly after the three main deities of the Hittite state pantheon,[103] the weather god (Tarḫunna), thesun goddess of Arinna, and a "tutelary deity of Hatti" (designated by thesumerogramdLAMMA, to be read asInara orInar).[104] However, this placement of the pair is unique.[103] Typically Ḫepat was not listed among the most major deities in treaties.[105] She is also attested in theEgyptian version of the treaty between the Hittite Empire and Egypt,[106] presumably originally compiled when peace was established in 1259 BCE (twenty first year ofRamesses II's reign), following earlier hostilities which led to thebattle of Kadesh.[107] However, the Egyptian scribe apparently misunderstood Ḫepat as the name of a male deity, treating thedeterminativeDINGIR as analogous to masculine EgyptianpꜢ-nṯr, even though she is designated in this text by the feminine title "queen of heaven" (tꜢ-ḥmt-nswt n tꜢ-pt; translation of cuneiform SAL.LUGAL.AN).[10][c]
In the Hittite Empire Ḫepat was worshiped inHattusa.[100] She is depicted standing on the back of a leopard and accompanied by her children (Šarruma,Allanzu and Kunzišalli) on the central relief of the nearbyYazılıkaya sanctuary, which was dedicated to the worship of deities of Hurrian origin.[1] The procession of goddesses who follow them reflects the order of thekaluti (offering lists).[49] Alongside Teshub Ḫepat formed the main pair in the local pantheon ofŠapinuwa, where Hurrian deities were introduced in the beginning of the reign ofTudhaliya III, when the king temporarily resided there during a period of political turmoil.[109] During the reign ofMuwatalli II she was venerated inŠamuḫa, though it is possible she, Teshub andŠauška were already introduced to the local pantheon during the reign of Tudhaliya III, when he had to relocate the capital to this city after theKaška burned down Hattusa.[110]Muršili II introduced the worship of Ḫepat toKatapa [de], where he resided near the end of his reign.[111] During the reign ofTudḫaliya IV, she was worshiped alongside other deities associated with Teshub during a section of theAN.TAḪ.ŠUM [de] taking place in the local temple ofKataḫḫa.[112] There is also some evidence that the worship of Ḫepat spread to cities located in the north of the Hittite sphere of influence, including Ḫurma and Uda.[113]
Ḫepat was also worshiped by theLuwians, initially as a result of Teshub displacing the native storm godTarḫunz in the pantheons of their easternmost communities.[44] She appears in Luwian ritual texts originating in Kizzuwatna, where Hurrian and Luwian traditions coexisted.[114] However, as noted byManfred Hutter, she did not yet belong to the coreLuwian pantheon and only in the first millennium BCE she became a "Luwianized" deity.[115] She was worshiped alongside Tarḫunz in theNeo-Hittite kingdom ofTabal,[44] which reflected the development of a new partially Hurrianized Luwian local pantheon.[116] She might also be depicted on anorthostat fromSam’al.[117]Herbert Niehr [de] argues that her presence in this kingdom might indicate that despite lack of attestations she was still worshiped inAleppo in the first millennium BCE.[118]
It is possible thatHipta (Ἵπτα[119]), a goddess regarded as the consort ofSabazios and attested in four Greek inscriptions fromKatakekaumene, a region located in historicalLydia, was a late form of Ḫepat.[120] Later on Hipta was incorporated into theOrphic tradition.[121]Proclus maintained that one ofOrpheus' works was focused on her.[119] He describes her as responsible for receiving the newbornDionysus, and states that she carried a ritualwinnowing basket (liknon) and a snake.[122] Her actions and the aforementioned god's birth from the thigh ofZeus are reinterpreted by this author as "the reception of the intelligible forms by the world soul, participating in the 'mundane intellect' of the world, that is to say Dionysus".[121]Orphic Hymn number 49, possibly composed between the second and third centuries CE, is dedicated to Hipta and similarly describes her as the nurse of Dionysus:
I call upon Hipta, nurse of Bacchos, maiden possessed,
in mystic rites she takes part, she exults in the worship of pure Sabos,
and in the night dances of roaring Iacchos.
O queen and chthonic mother, hear my prayer (...).[123]
Rosa García-Gasco additionally argues that Mystis fromNonnus'Dionysiaca can be considered analogous to Hipta, and that while he did not invent this name, he was the first to apply it to a preexisting Orphic figure.[123] She suggests that the change was meant to further highlight herallegorical status and to facilitateword play.[124] Laura Miguélez instead concludes Mystis was based on artistic portrayals of Dionysus in the company of nurses, and on vague knowledge that women fulfilling such roles played a role in some of the cults dedicated to this god.[125]
René Lebrun has proposed that an indirect connection might have existed between Ḫepat andMa,[126] a deity worshiped in classicalComana, commonly assumed to correspond to Bronze AgeKummanni.[127] He argues that possibly the site was initially associated with Hittite Mamma (Ammamma), who later came to be conflated by Ḫepat, acquiring an indirect connection with theSun goddess of Arinna by extension, which in turn after Hurrian theonyms ceased to be used in the region might have led to the emergence of Ma, whose name might be ahaplologic variant of Mamma and who as sometimes argued might have had solar traits.[128] However, he ultimately considers Ḫepat and the possible forerunner of Ma to be two originally separate figures.[129]
The proposal that theLycian deitypddẽxba was a local form of Ḫepat is implausible according to Rostislav Oreshko, as most of the attested Lycian deities find no direct correspondence with other figures worshiped in ancientAnatolia, and the second element of the name is more likely to be related to the word-xba-, "river", instead.[130]
In Hurrian myths belonging to the so-calledKumarbi Cycle, which deal with the struggle over kingship among the gods between the eponymous figure and his sonTeshub, Ḫepat appears as one of the allies of the latter.[131] She is mentioned in passing in theSong ofḪedammu whenEa warns Teshub that if the conflict between him and Kumarbi continues, the gods' human followers might be harmed, which would lead to him, Ḫepat andŠauška having to work to provide themselves with food.[132] She also appears in theSong ofUllikummi, in which the eponymous monster blocks the entrance of her temple, making her unable to communicate with other gods, which prompts her to task her servantTakitu with finding out the fate of her husband Teshub after his initial confrontation with Ullikummi.[133] The fragment describing her journey and return are poorly preserved.[133] Later Teshub's brotherTašmišu manages to bring a message from him to Ḫepat, which almost makes her fall from the roof of her temple, though her servants manage to stop her.[133] Her isolation is also mentioned by Ea when he asks the giantUpelluri if he is aware of the impact of Ullikummi on the world.[134]
In the mythCTH 346.12 Ḫepat instructs Takitu to travel through the lands ofMitanni toŠimurrum on her behalf.[135]
