Though heavily influenced by Mesopotamian mythology, the religion of the Hittites and Luwians retains noticeable Indo-European elements, for example Tarhunt the god of thunder, and his conflict with the serpent Illuyanka, which resembles, among other things, the conflict between Indra and the cosmic serpent Vrtra in Indo-Aryan mythology.
Tarhunt has a son, Telepinu and a daughter, Inara. Inara is involved with the Puruli spring festival. She is a protective deity (dLAMMA). Ishara is a goddess of the oath.
Kumarbi is the father of Tarhunt, his role in the Song of Kumarbi being reminiscent of that of Kronos in the Theogony of Hesiod. Ullikummi is a stone monster fathered by Kumarbi, reminiscent of Hesiod's Typhon.
The Luwian god of weather and lightning Pihassassa may be at the origin of Greek Pegasus. Depictions of hybrid animals (like hippogriffs, chimerae etc.) are typical for the Anatolian art of the period.
Arinna was the major cult center of the Hittite sun goddess, known as dUTU URUArinna "sun goddess of Arinna (Lycian Arñna, Greek Xanthos)".
The Hittites often worshipped their gods through Huwasi stones. These stones represented deities and would be treated as a sacred object.
Literature
- Gary Beckman, The Religion of the Hittites, The Biblical Archaeologist (1989).
- J. G. Macqueen, Hattian Mythology and Hittite Monarchy, Anatolian Studies (1959).
See also
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