Kizzuwatna in the context of Kummanni

The Luwians /ˈluːwiənz/ (also known as Luvians) were an ancient people in Anatolia who spoke the Luwian language. During the Bronze Age, Luwians formed part of the population of the Hittite Empire and adjoining states such as Kizzuwatna. During the Hittite New Kingdom, Luwian replaced Hittite as the empire's dominant language. In the early Iron Age, a number of Luwian-speaking Neo-Hittite states arose in northern Syria. The Luwians are known largely from their language, and it is unclear to what extent they formed a unified cultural or political group.

The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who chiefly inhabited the north of the Fertile Crescent. While the oldest evidence goes back to the third millennium BCE, it is best attested in cuneiform sources from the second millennium BCE written not only in the Hurrian language, but also Akkadian, Hittite and Ugaritic. It was shaped by contacts between the Hurrians and the various cultures with which they coexisted. As a result, the Hurrian pantheon included both natively Hurrian deities and those of foreign origin, adopted from Mesopotamian, Syrian (chiefly Eblaite and Ugaritic), Anatolian and Elamite beliefs. The culture of the Hurrians was not entirely homogeneous, and different local religious traditions are documented in sources from Hurrian kingdoms such as Arrapha, Kizzuwatna and Mitanni, as well as from cities with sizeable Hurrian populations, such as Ugarit and Alalakh.

Hurrian religion forms one of the best attested influences upon Hittite religion. The Hurrian pantheon is depicted in the rock reliefs from the Hittite sanctuary at Yazılıkaya, which dates to the thirteenth century BCE. Hittite scribes also translated many Hurrian myths into their own language, possibly relying on oral versions passed down by Hurrian singers. Among the best known of these compositions are the cycle of myths describing conflicts between Kumarbi and his son Teššub and the Song of Release. Hurrian influences on Ugaritic and Mesopotamian religion also have been noted, though they are less extensive. Furthermore, it has been argued that the Hurrian myths about a succession struggle between various primordial kings of the gods influenced Hesiod's poem Theogony.

Ḫepat (Hurrian: 𒀭𒄭𒁁, ḫe-pát; also romanized as Ḫebat; Ugaritic 𐎃𐎁𐎚, ḫbt) was a goddess associated with Aleppo, originally worshiped in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. Her name is often presumed to be either a feminine nisba referring to her connection to this city, or alternatively a derivative of the root ḫbb, "to love". Her best attested role is that of the spouse of various weather gods. She was already associated with Adad in Ebla and Aleppo in the third millennium BCE, and in later times they are attested as a couple in cities such as Alalakh and Emar. In Hurrian religion she instead came to be linked with Teshub, which in the first millennium BCE led to the development of a tradition in which she was the spouse of his Luwian counterpart Tarḫunz. Associations between her and numerous other deities are described in Hurrian ritual texts, where she heads her own kaluti (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 goddess Takitu. In Hittite sources, she could sometimes be recognized as the counterpart of the Sun goddess of Arinna, though their respective roles were distinct and most likely this theological conception only had limited recognition. In Ugarit the local goddess Pidray 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 in Eblaite religion. In later times she was worshiped in the kingdom of Yamhad, as well as in Emar. She was also incorporated into Hurrian religion, though most of the related evidence comes exclusively from western Hurrian polities such as Kizzuwatna, where her cult center was Kummanni. In Ugarit, as well as among the eastern Hurrian communities, her importance was comparably smaller. She was also incorporated into Hittite and Luwian religion through Hurrian mediation, and as a result continued to be worshiped in the first millennium BCE in states such as Tabal and Samʾal. The goddess Hipta, known from Lydia and from later Orphic 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.

Šimige was the Hurrian sun god. Known sources do not associate him with any specific location, but he is attested in documents from various settlements inhabited by the Hurrians, from Kizzuwatnean cities in modern Turkey, through Ugarit, Alalakh and Mari in Syria, to Nuzi, in antiquity a part of the kingdom of Arrapha in northeastern Iraq. His character was to a large degree based on his Mesopotamian counterpart Shamash, though they were not identical. Šimige was in turn an influence on the Hittite Sun god of Heaven and Luwian Tiwaz.

In Hurrian myths, Šimige is portrayed as one of the allies of Teshub. He plays an active role in the Song of Ullikummi, where he is the first to spot the eponymous monster, and as a result brings the news about his existence to the weather god.

Šauška (Shaushka), also called Šauša or Šawuška, was the highest ranked goddess in the Hurrian pantheon. She was associated with love and war, as well as with incantations and by extension with healing. While she was usually referred to as a goddess and with feminine titles, such as allai (Hurrian: "lady"), references to masculine Šauška are also known. The Hurrians associated her with Nineveh, but she was also worshiped in many other centers associated with this culture, from Anatolian cities in Kizzuwatna, through Alalakh and Ugarit in Syria, to Nuzi and Ulamme in northeastern Mesopotamia. She was also worshiped in southern Mesopotamia, where she was introduced alongside a number of other foreign deities in the Ur III period. In this area, she came to be associated with Ishtar. At a later point in time, growing Hurrian influence on Hittite culture resulted in the adoption of Šauška into the Hittite state pantheon.

In Hurrian myths, many of which are only known from their Hittite translations, Šauška commonly appears either as an ally of her brother Teshub, or as a heroine in her own right. Specific narratives describe her battles against the sea monster Ḫedammu, the diorite giant Ullikummi, the sea god Kiaše and the mountain god Pišaišapḫi. She also appears in a myth about Hašarri, a personified olive tree, who needs to be protected by her from various threats.

Ḫepat (Hurrian: 𒀭𒄭𒁁, ḫe-pát; also romanized as Ḫebat; Ugaritic 𐎃𐎁𐎚, ḫbt) was a goddess associated with Aleppo, originally worshiped in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. Her name is often presumed to be either a feminine nisba referring to her connection to this city, or alternatively a derivative of the root ḫbb, "to love". Her best attested role is that of the spouse of various weather gods. She was already associated with Adad in Ebla and Aleppo in the third millennium BCE, and in later times they are attested as a couple in cities such as Alalakh and Emar. In Hurrian religion she instead came to be linked with Teshub, which in the first millennium BCE led to the development of a tradition in which she was the spouse of his Luwian counterpart Tarḫunz. Associations between her and numerous other deities are described in Hurrian ritual texts, where she heads her own kaluti [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 goddess Takitu. In Hittite sources, she could sometimes be recognized as the counterpart of the Sun goddess of Arinna, though their respective roles were distinct and most likely this theological conception only had limited recognition. In Ugarit the local goddess Pidray 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 in Eblaite religion. In later times she was worshiped in the kingdom of Yamhad, as well as in Emar. She was also incorporated into Hurrian religion, though most of the related evidence comes exclusively from western Hurrian polities such as Kizzuwatna, where her cult center was Kummanni. In Ugarit, as well as among the eastern Hurrian communities, her importance was comparably smaller. She was also incorporated into Hittite and Luwian religion through Hurrian mediation, and as a result continued to be worshiped in the first millennium BCE in states such as Tabal and Samʾal. The goddess Hipta, known from Lydia and from later Orphic 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.

Šarruma, also romanized as Šarrumma or Sharruma, was a Hurrian god. He could be depicted in both anthropomorphic form, sometimes riding on the back of a leopard, and in the theriomorphic form as a bull. His character is not fully understood, though it is known that he could function as a mountain god. He was regarded as a son of Ḫepat and Teshub. He was also linked to various moon deities. Additionally, the only mythological text he appears in addresses him as a messenger (sukkalu) of Kumarbi. He was worshiped by Hurrians in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria, for example in Kummanni and Lawazantiya in Kizzuwatna. From this kingdom he was introduced to the Hittite pantheon as well. Hittite influence in turn resulted in his introduction to cities such as Aleppo, Emar and Ugarit. He was also venerated in Luwian religion in the first millennium BCE, with theophoric names invoking him attested from as late as the Hellenistic period in Cilicia and Lycia.