Hittite mythology in the context of "Tarḫunna"

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⭐ Core Definition: Hittite mythology

Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites, who created an empire centered in Anatolia from c. 1600–1180 BC.

Most of the narratives embodying Hittite mythology are lost, and the elements that would give a balanced view of Hittite religion are lacking among the tablets recovered at the Hittite capital Hattusa and other Hittite sites. Thus, "there are no canonical scriptures, no theological disquisitions or discourses, no aids to private devotion". Some religious documents formed part of the corpus with which young scribes were trained, and have survived, most of them dating from the last several decades before the final burning of the sites. The scribes in the royal administration, some of whose archives survive, were a bureaucracy, organizing and maintaining royal responsibilities in areas that would be considered part of religion today: temple organization, cultic administration, reports of diviners, make up the main body of surviving texts.

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👉 Hittite mythology in the context of Tarḫunna

Tarḫunna or Tarḫuna/i was the Hittite weather god. He was also referred to as the "Weather god of Heaven" or the "Lord of the Land of Hatti".

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Hittite mythology in the context of Hurrians

The Hurrians (/ˈhʊəriənz/; Hurrian: 𒄷𒌨𒊑, romanized: Ḫu-ur-ri; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia.

The Hurrians were first documented in the city of Urkesh, where they built their first kingdom. The largest and most influential Hurrian kingdom was Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia included a large population of Hurrians, and there is significant Hurrian influence in Hittite mythology. By the Early Iron Age, the Hurrians had been assimilated with other peoples. The state of Urartu later covered some of the same area. A related people to the Hurrians are the Urarteans.

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Hittite mythology in the context of Arinna

Arinna was the major cult center of the Hittite sun-goddess known as UTU Arinna or "Sun-Goddess of Arinna", who is also sometimes identified as Arinniti or as Wuru(n)šemu. Arinna was located near Hattusa, the Hittite capital.

The Sun-Goddess of Arinna is the most important one of three important solar deities of the Hittite pantheon, besides UTU nepisas 'the sun of the sky' and UTU taknas 'the sun of the earth'.

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Hittite mythology in the context of Telipinu (mythology)

Telipinu (Hittite: 𒀭𒋼𒂊𒇷𒁉𒉡𒌑, romanized: Te(-e)-li-pí-nu(-ú); Hattic: Talipinu or Talapinu, "Exalted Son") was a Hittite god who most likely served as a patron of farming, though he has also been suggested to have been a storm god or an embodiment of crops. He was a son of the weather god Tarḫunna (Taru) and the solar goddess Arinniti in the system of their mythology. His wife was the goddess Ḫatepuna, though he was also paired with Šepuru (de) and Kataḫḫa at various cultic centres.

Telipinu was honored every nine years with an extravagant festival in the autumn at Ḫanḫana and Kašḫa, wherein 1000 sheep and 50 oxen were sacrificed and the symbol of the god, an oak tree, was replanted. He was also invoked formulaically in a daily prayer for King Muršili II during the latter's reign.

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