Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion

Abstract: The “Sun-goddess of the earth” and the less clearly defined category of “chthonic solar deities” of Hittite religion have been the objects of various studies in recent years. This paper aims to examine the significance of these categories of deities within the Hittite festival texts. Although the Sun-goddess of the earth achieves some prominence in local cult contexts, such as at Zippalanda and Nerik, she otherwise remains a marginal deity. This contrasts with her general significance in Hittite magical rituals. The chthonic solar deities represent a less tangible deity type that is associated with death and the netherworld, but that also does not attain overarching significance in the Hittite state pantheon. Finally, the paper addresses the question, to what cultural milieu can we trace the beginnings of the Sun-goddess of the earth? Efforts to identify her origins in the Hattian milieu of north-central Anatolia will be critiqued, favoring the Luwian milieu instead as the most likely from which the tradition of the Sun-goddess emerged, and later flourished in the magical traditions especially that became widespread in Hittite society of Late Bronze Age Anatolia.

In the ancient Near Eastern cuneiform texts, it was common practice to write divine names with logograms. This in itself required a degree of categorization of deities into different types. For the Hittite texts, this process implies that the terminology for the panthea of Syria and Mesopotamia was adapted in order to describe Anatolian deities2.

This of course has the potential to skew the nature of the deity being designated. As for the most significant deities in the Hittite texts, their names occur more frequently in logographic writings than in syllabographic. Though fewer, the syllabographic writings provide us with valuable evidence for the proper (often Anatolian) names of the deities so commonly concealed behind logograms. However, even if we know the Hittite, Luwian, Palaic or Hattic proper name of a deity, this alone does not necessarily allow us to identify the exact nature of that deity. For example, even though many of the logographic writings for the names of solar deities can be identified as Ištanu-, this name in itself does not necessarily specify a particular solar deity or type of solar deity3. The name Ištanu – derived from Hattic eštan (Soysal 2004, 276) – may refer to a Hattian Sun-goddess. On the other hand, the prayer of Kantuzzili also employs Ištanu as the name of the solar deity. There, however, the solar deity in question can be identified with Sumerian Utu or Akkadian Šamaš, and refers to the type of the Mesopotamian Sun-god (see Metcalf 2011).

Epithets or bynames of a deity are particularly helpful in identifying a deity more specifically. Examples are the Sun-goddes of Arinna, the Sun-god of heaven, or the Sun-goddess of the earth. Yet, epithets can be employed inconsistently. Thus, any onomastic study (dealing with names, logograms and epithets) of a deity or deities must be systematically supplemented by broader cultural, linguistic and religious historical observations in order to identify a particular deity or deity type occurring in a text composition.

Despite recent studies, the chthonic solar deities – both the goddess explicitly identified by her epithet as the “Sun-goddess of the earth” as well as those solar deities whose chthonic nature can be surmised from the contexts in which they occur, but who lack an explicit epithet such as “earth” – remain in many respects enigmatic4. In particular these implicitly chthonic solar deities have yet to be studied in-depth, due in part to the very limited relevant text sources available5.

This paper will revisit the category of the “Sun-goddess of the earth” as well as the less tangible group of implicitly chthonic solar deities. The scope of this paper is largely limited to a discussion of the Sun-goddess of the earth in the festival rituals, including the Empire Period texts (which were not treated exhaustively in Steitler 2017). Attention will also be given to solar deities whose chthonic nature is less obvious than that of the Sun-goddess of the earth, but nevertheless implied by the contexts in which they occur. I will also respond to a recent identification of an explicitly chthonic solar deity in the Palaean pantheon. The Luwian solar deity of the earth will only be dealt with on the periphery of this article due to a very recent claim that this solar deity was originally male (Yakubovich 2022). Finally, the observations from the cited texts will be summarized, and implications will be drawn from these regarding the origin and nature of the Sun-goddess of the earth and other chthonic solar deities in Anatolia.

In the local pantheon of the city of Zippalanda, the three highest ranking deities were the Storm-god of Zippalanda, the Storm-god (of heaven) and the Sun-goddess of the earth; the latter two were considered the father and mother of the Storm-god of Zippalanda6. This constellation is reflected both by offerings presented to the deities within the cult of Zippalanda as well as recitations addressing the Sun-goddess of the earth or the Storm-god of Zippalanda that also refer to their mother-son relationship. The following text describes offerings of bread to these three deities within a festival performed in Zippalanda7:

The ḫamina- man places three ḫarzazu- breads on the altar for the Storm-god of Zippalanda.

He turns around (and) he places (bread) three times before the Storm-god of heaven.

He turns around (and) he places (bread) three times for the Sun-goddess of the earth.

Other texts from the cult of Zippalanda include invocations addressing the Storm-god of Zippalanda or the Sun-goddess of the earth and referring to their mother-son relationship.

KUB 20.66 obv. III 10’-15’ (CTH 635.4.A, LNS; restored according to duplicate Bo 6679, CTH 635, LNS, r. col. 7’-10’) obv. III:

But the ḫamina- man offers one sheep to the Sun-goddess of the earth. He speaks the invocation as follows: “Sun-goddess of the earth, my lady. Here, the Storm-god [of Zippalanda] your son [ … ] on Mt. Daḫa [ … ] … the Sun-goddess [ … ] be!” (Popko 1994, 228-31)

In KUB 57.29, also pertaining to the cult of Zippalanda, “his mother” (obv. II 9’) likely refers to the Sun-goddess of the earth as the mother of the Storm-god of Zippalanda, both of whom are mentioned in the text just a few lines later (12’ and 11’ respectively).

[ … ] “Here it to him/her [ … ] may this glowing?9 oven [ … ]. His mother [ … ] opened it again. [ … ] before the Storm-god of Zippalanda [and] the Sun-goddess [of the earth … ] may he be!” (Popko 1994, 280f.)

The Storm-god of Zippalanda and the Sun-goddess of earth also appear in the cult of Zippalanda in proximity to other deities pertaining to the chthonic realm, for example with Ḫašammili and Wašḫulili:

He p[erforms] an ambašši offering of beer-wine outside. The cupbearer of the Storm-god of Zippal[anda] carries out the round of offerings twice (for) the Storm-god of Zi[ppalanda] and Mt. Daḫa. The small Inanna instrument (plays, and) [they sing.]

The deity a[rrives] in the gate house. He carries out the round of offerings four times (for) the Storm-god of Zippa[landa], the Sungoddess of the [ear]th, Ḫašamm[ili and Wa]šḫulili. The small [Inanna instrument (plays, and) they sing.]

Ḫašammili is associated with Lelwani, a Hattian goddess of the netherworld (Torri 1999, 10-6). The deity Wašḫulili is poorly understood, but his name might be connected with a concept of the netherworld, a question to which I will return subsequently.

In the text cited earlier, KUB 28.91 + KUB 58.6 obv. I 2’/13’-5’/16’, offerings to the three main deities of Zippalanda (the Storm-god of Zippalanda, the Storm-god of heaven and the Sun-goddess of the earth) are followed by offerings to the “window (of?) the solar disc” (gišab šittar)10, then to Ḫašammili, the propitious day and other deities11. On the connection of the propitious day with the netherworld, see below.

The texts describing the cult of Zippalanda refer to a temple or sanctuary of the Sun-goddess of the earth. Occasionally, this temple is referred to elliptically as the “house of the deity” or “house of the solar deity”, whereas the context requires us to understand dingir or dutu as the “Sun-goddess of the earth”. For example, CHDS 3.2 obv. III 4’-6’ refers to the king’s entrance into the temple of a solar deity (dutu without epithet), while the queen steps in front of a ḫuwaši- cult stela. Then in rev. IV, the queen exits a ḫuwaši- precinct, and the priest and tazzelli- functionary are positioned opposite the temple of the Sun-goddess of the earth. This is likely the same temple of the solar deity into which the king was said to enter in obv. III 1’-2’, as already suggested by Popko (1994, 278).

[The king] goes [int]o the ḫalentuwa- building. But the [pr]iest and the tazzelli- man go into the temple of the Sun-goddess.

The queen, however, steps up in front of the ḫuwaši- cult stela. She ma[kes the round of offerings] for Ḫaratši. The small Inanna instrument (plays). The ḫalliyar[i-] men sing. The alam.zu₉ man recites. The kita- man cries out. But the man of the Storm-god and the woman of the Storm-god send out a message.

[The que]en comes out of (the precinct of) the ḫuwaši- cult stela. The priest (and) the [t]azzelli- man (are) in front of the temple of the Sun-goddess of the earth. They [step] up opposite [the king].

Another text refers to the temple of the “deity”, then subsequently to the temple of Ereškigal, whom we can identify as the Sun-goddess of the earth and who is the recipient of an offering alongside her son. Here too, it is possible that the temple of the deity and the temple of Ereškigal both refer to the same temple of the Sun-goddess of the earth in Zippalanda.

When on the next day the ‘helmeted’ priest, the tazzelli- man, the ḫamina- man, the anointed priest and the ‘men of the temple of the deity’ all come up to the temple of the deity.

Then within the temple of Ereškig[al] for the Storm-god of Zi[ppalanda] and the Sun-goddess [of the earth …] (Popko 1994, 270-71)

The reverse of this same tablet describes further rites, beginning with drinking rites for the Storm-god of Zippalanda and the Sun-goddess of the earth in KUB 41.30+ rev. IV, whereas rev. V is very fragmentary. Presumably, the setting remained the temple of the Sun-goddess of the earth, out of which the participants exited, as described in a fragment possibly belonging to the end of rev. VI of this tablet12:

When […] they take care of the [cups …], the tazze[lli- man, the prie]st, the ḫamina- man, the [anointed priest …] come out of the temple [of the Sun-goddess] of the earth, and […] they go. (Popko 1994, 274-75)

The text of KUB 11.30 describes how the Sun-goddess of the earth is brought out of the temple of the Storm-god, and then returned to her own temple, referred to as é dingir-lim-šu.

KUB 11.30+ (CTH 635.1, LNS; restored according to duplicate Bo 3496, CTH 635.1.E, NS) obv. III:

She/He g[oes] back. But they bring the Sun-goddess of the earth [out of the temple of the Storm-god]. (Popko 1994, 206-07)

Finally, I would like to note that in texts pertaining to the cult of Zippalanda, the Sun-goddess of the earth is occasionally replaced by the Sun-goddess of Arinna, as was recently pointed out by Torri (2019, 217-18). This seems to be the case in KUB 20.96, where the absence of the epithet taknaš combined with the presence of the goddesses Mezzulla and Zintuḫiya make it very likely that dutu in this sequence refers to the chief Sun-goddess (i.e. she of Arinna). One would instead have expected the Sun-goddess of the earth in this position between the Storm-god of Zippalanda and the Storm-god in the context of the cult of Zippalanda13.

When they arrive back from the [m]ountain, [the king] carries out the round of offerings six times (for) [the Storm-god of Z]ippalanda, the Sun-goddess, the Storm-god, [Me]zzulla, Zintuḫiya, and [Mt. D]aḫa. The small Inanna instrument (plays, and) they sing. [The alam].zu₉ man recites. The palwatalla- man [palwae-]s. The kita- man cries out.

In contrast to the texts earlier that refer to the Sun-goddess of the earth as the mother of the Storm-god of Zippalanda, the following text adresses the Sun-goddess of Arinna as his mother:

[The man] of the Storm-god speaks: “Arise, O Storm-god of Zippal[anda], from sweet [s]leep! Here, Tabarna, the king, the priest of your mother, the Sun-goddess of Arinna, brings you to your beloved Mt. Daḫa.”

This likely reflects an attempt to accommodate the structure of the official Hittite state pantheon, in which the Sun-goddess of Arinna was the wife of the Storm-god (Torri 2019, 218). This can also be seen in the prayer of Puduḫepa to the Sun-goddess of Arinna as well as a prayer of Ḫattušili III and Puduḫepa, both of which refer to the Sun-goddess of Arinna as the mother of the Storm-god of Zippalanda:

[ … You, Storm-god of Zip]palanda, my lord (are) a beloved son [t]o the Sun-goddess of Arinna. [What you] proclaim [to the Storm-god], your [father] and the Sun-goddess, your mother, [the Storm-god], your father, (and) the Sun-goddess, your mother, will not turn away your word, [ … ] they will listen to you.

(following Singer 2002, 105, Rieken et al. 2015ff.-c, TX 2017-10-29, TRde 17-10-29)

1 ⸢a⸣-na dutu urua-ri-⸢in⸣-na gašan-ia gašan ⸢kur.kurḫi⸣.a uruḫa-at-ti

To the Sun-goddess of Arinna, my lady, lady of the lands of Ḫattuša … Contrary to the other gods, you took for yourself as your share the lands of Ḫattuša, out of esteem for the Storm-god of Nerik, the Storm-god of Zippalanda, your son.

(following Singer 2002, 97, Rieken et al. 2015ff.-b, TX 2015-08-28, TRde 17-12-09)

A recent study by Torri (2019) explores the relationship of the Storm-god of Zippalanda not only to the Sun-goddess of the earth but also to Kataḫḫa—a goddess of the neighboring city of Ankuwa. Torri suggested that Kataḫḫa, like the Sun-goddess of the earth, should be understood as the mother of the local Storm-god (Torri 2019, 223). This raises the question of whether the name “Kataḫḫa” was actually an epithet that could refer to the same goddess also known as the “Sun-goddess of the earth” or to goddesses of the “mother goddess” type (see Torri 2019, 223)14.

The fact that the Sun-goddess of the earth only appears in Empire-period texts describing the cult of Zippalanda seems to imply that she did not play a role in the earlier epochs—especially since we have several pertinent OS and MS text fragments that never mention her. While Popko (1994, 36) recognized her absence in the older texts of the cult of Zipplanda, he nevertheless offered no explanation for her lack of attestations in the earlier cult traditions of the city. On the basis of a handful of other Old Hittite text compositions, Popko (1994, 36) claimed that the Sun-goddess of the earth did indeed belong to the Hattian religious milieu15. The attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth in these texts will be addressed subsequently.

The constellation of deities in the pantheon of Nerik, with the Storm-god of Nerik in the role of the son of the Sun-goddess of the earth, parallels that of Zippalanda. This is quite obvious in the Empire Period texts describing the cult of Nerik, but is not manifested in older text sources. The connection of the local Storm-god with the Sun-goddess of the earth seems to have originated in Zippalanda (see Torri 2019, 221-22)16. In the aforementioned prayer of Puduḫepa, the city of Nerik is even referred to as the beloved city of the Storm-god of Zippalanda in the portion of the prayer addressed to him. One would have expected this to be said of the Storm-god of Nerik, suggesting a certain interchangeability between these two local Storm-gods:

Also Ḫattušili, your servant, took pains for the god’s will, and he engaged his body and soul until he rebuilt Nerik, the beloved city [of the g]od, my lord (i.e. the Storm-god of Zippalanda). (following Singer 2002, 105, Rieken et al. 2015ff.-c, TX 2017-10-29, TRde 17-10-29)

An example of a late cultic tradition of Nerik is KUB 36.89 (CTH 671.1.A, NS), a hybrid composition combining elements of prayer or invocation as well as ritual, performed when the Storm-god of Nerik becomes angry and disappears and aimed at bringing about his return17. The Sun-goddess of the earth is referred to in the text by the Sumerian name Ereškigal. The text describes offerings to the Storm-god of Nerik, Ereškigal, Uru(n)zimu and the “eternal deities” that are offered down into a pit. After bread offerings, a Hattic incantation should be spoken:

10 nu-kán lúgudu₁₂ ḫa-at-te-eš-ni gam-an-da 3-šú ú-i ú-i pu-ru-ša-el pu-ru-ša-el ḫal-za-a-i

The anointed priest calls down into the pit three times, “ui ui purušael purušael”.

The recitations continue in Hittite and make reference to the mother of the Storm-god of Nerik, then shortly thereafter to Ereškigal:

39 [d]⸢ú⸣-ru-un-te-mu-u[n giškáḫi.a a-pa-ši-la] ge₆-aš ⸢ki-aš⸣ ḫé-e-eš-du

Below to your mother […] The word of my lady […] Ereškigal […] Come, o Storm-god of Nerik, my lord, Uruntemu [… He himself/She herself] shall open up [the gates] of the dark earth!

The deity name Uruntemu that occurrs repeatedly throughout this text and is variously spelled as Uruzimu, Urušemu, Uruntemu and Uruntipu can be loosely associated with the Hattic name Wuru(n)šemu that designates the Sun-goddess (i.e. of Arinna). This Hattic name can be analysed as follows: wur=un= “of the land (wur + gen. -un)” + ([*še-?] “*her”) “mother” (mu or šemu)” (Soysal 2004, 923, Steitler 2017, 59-64). The most common realization of this name in Hittite is Uru(n)zimu-. When translated into Hittite, Hattic wur is consistently rendered as utne- “land”, not tekan “earth”18. For this reason, I am reticent to connect the name Wurunšemu with the “Sun-godess of the earth”19. Wurunšemu is consistently identifiable with the Sun-goddess of Arinna, who is also explicitly mentioned in KUB 36.89. The Sun-god of heaven is also mentioned in this text, but he is decidedly uncharacteristic of the ancient Hattian religion. I have elsewhere assessed KUB 36.89 as a late composition that combines older and younger traditions (Steitler 2017, 63-4; 126 notes 379-80; 128, 460-61).

The question arises to what degree the prominence of the Sun-goddess of the earth (or Ereškigal) in late texts such as KUB 36.89 or KUB 36.90+ might reflect older religious traditions of Northern Anatolia.20 When we consider those texts that are certainly or likely representative of an early cult tradition in Nerik, we discover several references to a solar deity who is possibly of a chthonic nature, but who is not specifically designated as the Sun-goddess of the earth (or Ereškigal), nor does this solar deity’s profile (e.g. as spouse of the Storm-god or mother of the local Storm-god) allow for an identification with the Sun-goddess of the earth.

In KBo 20.10+, an OS or MS text that likely belongs to the cult of Nerik, the offering sequences normally include the Sun-goddess, Mezzulla, the Storm-god, the Storm-god of Zippalanda, Zaliya, Zuwaši and Inar (obv. I 14-17). In one instance, however, the sequence was extended to include an additional solar deity before the deified day:

(They drink) the Sun-goddess (and) Mezzulla. The small Inanna instrument (plays). (They drink) the Storm-god (and) the Storm-god of Zippalanda. The small Inanna instrument (plays). A gift (is presented?). (They drink) Zaliu and Zuwaši. The small Inanna instrument (plays). (They drink) Inar. The Nešite singers sing.

(Offering of) fine flower(?). Sitting, they bow to the solar deity. They beat (an instrument). The cult singers sing. Sitting, they bow to the deified day. The cult singers sing. He breaks a large [loaf of br]ead. The troops […]

This can also be compared to the text Bo 5690, 5’-6’, likely in the context of an offering, where the Storm-god of Nerik is followed by a solar deity and the deified day. The deified day, later also known as the “propitious day” (dud sig₅), can bear chthonic connotations, perhaps designating the “day of death” (see Torri 1999, 13 with references to further literature). Another offering sequence in the cult of Nerik inserts the deity Izzištanu twice—once before and once after the propitious day:

[Tauri(t)?], [dutu], [Mezzulla], d10, d10 uruzipp[alanda], dkal, Izzi[štanu], [dud (sig₅?)],

No solar deity appears immediately adjacent to the deified day,21 but this sequence corresponds closely to the sequence of deities in the Hittite funerary ritual. The latter is extended to include the Sun-goddess of the earth and “his soul” (i.e. the soul of the deceased):

[Tauri(t)?], dutu, Mezzulla, d10, d10 uruzippalanda, dkal, [Izziš]tanu, dud sig₅,

A closely related variation of these two sequences may be present in KUB 44.18, in which a solar deity immediately precedes Telipinu within a sequence of drinking rites:

A better preserved offering sequence in another fragmentary festival text of the cult of Nerik inserts the deity Tuḫašael before a solar deity toward the end of the sequence:

The deity Tuḫašael appears in another sequence of deities attested in the local cult of Zikmar, which can be located in the region of Nerik. Corti has discussed the relevant tablet extensively, concluding that it represents a cultic journey of the king in the vicinity of Nerik, during which he stops at several towns to pay homage to the local pantheon (Corti 2018).

1 lugal-uš e-ša šal-li ḫal-zi-ia tuš-aš ⸢d⸣[t]a-ú-ri inanna ⸢gal⸣ gub-aš dutu dtap-pí-nu

2 gub-aš d10 uruḫa-pát-ḫa gub-aš d10 uru⸢iš⸣-[d]am-mu-tar tuš-aš d10 d10 uruzi-pal-da tuš-aš dtu-ḫa-⸢ša-il⸣

3 nindazi-pu-la-aš du-zi gub-aš d10 U[R]U⸢ne⸣-ri-ik ninda.gur₄.ra an-dur-za tuš-aš dza-li-ia-nu dta-zu-wa-š[i]

4 nindazi-pu-la-aš me-zi tuš-aš ḫur.sagk[u-k]u-mu-uš-ša tuš-aš púú-e-ri-ia-du-uš gub-aš d10 urune-ri-ik

The king is seated. ‘The assembly’ is called out. Sitting, (he offers? to) [T]auri. The large Inanna instrument (plays). Standing, (he offers? to) the Sun-goddess and Tappinu. Standing, (he offers? to) the Storm-god of Ḫapatḫa. Standing, (he offers? to) the Storm-god of Išdammutar. Sitting, (he offers? to) the Storm-god and the Storm-god of Zippalanda. Sitting, (he offers? to) Tuḫašail. He makes/presents? zipulaš bread. Standing, (he offers? to) the Storm-god of Nerik. A loaf of bread inside. Sitting, (he offers? to) Zaliyanu and Tazuwaši. He presents zipulaš bread. Sitting, (he offers? to) Mt. K[uk]umušša. Sitting, (he offers? to) the spring Weriyadu. Standing, (he offers? to) the Storm-god of Nerik. He sets up the tables.

Although this sequence in Zikmar lacks the Sun-goddess of the earth, it does include a spring-deity named Weriyadu. It is significant that Weriyadu is attested alongside a solar deity, referred to as Ištanu, at the end of a sequence of deities in several different festival decriptions associated with a local cult in the region of Nerik22. It thus seems that the spring Weriyadu was not only significant in the region of Nerik, but may also have been somehow connected with a (possibly local) solar deity23. Since spring goddesses are typically chthonic in nature, it seems likely that the solar deity associated with the spring Weriyadu was a chthonic goddess24.

In sum, while we do find indications of a chthonic solar deity in Nerik and its vicinity in the earlier text traditions, this deity was not explicitly referred to as taknaš Ištanu-. We should also be reminded that in the city of Nerik, a spring-goddess played a very important role in the local pantheon (Haas 1994, 326-27; 603-04; and Czichon 2020). Perhaps she was originally the primary chthonic goddess in Nerik. Over time, however, the—apparently less significant—local chthonic solar deity may have been assimilated to the established type of the Sun-goddess of earth, including her profile as the mother of the local Storm-god of Nerik (analogous to the pantheon of Zippalanda). Thus, as was also the case in Zippalanda and since we also lack of evidence for her in Nerik from the older text sources, it appears that the Sun-goddess of the earth did not occupy a prominent role in Nerik until the later period. This contrasts with some reconstructions of the role of the Sun-goddess of the earth in the earliest known religious traditions of northern Anatolia, a matter which I will address below.

Until recently, the only known reference to the Sun-goddess of the earth that could be connected with the corpus of Palaic texts or the texts describing the Palaean cult (especially the festivals for Ziparwa) was the ritual or invocation said to have been performed for the Sun-goddess of the earth in her temple immediately following the festival for Ziparwa in both the an.daḫ.šum and nuntarriyašḫa- festivals25. Recently, however, David Sasseville has suggested that the solar deity in the Palaean cult can be identified as the Sun-goddess of the earth, as reflected in two relevant entries in the online eDiAna Dictionary (Sasseville 2022a; 2022b). Sasseville proposed that the frequently attested epithet or byname of the Palaean solar deity, pašḫulla- as well as its derivation wašḫullati- correspond semantically to Hittite tekan-. Thus, when applied to the Palaean solar deity, pašḫulla-/wašḫullati- would allegedly render this as the Sun-goddess of the earth/netherworld.

In the sequence of deities of the Palaean cult, the solar deity usually occurs in the third position, immediately after Ziparwa and Kataḫzipuri, as is reflected in the following summary list:26

An example of the solar deity with the epithet pašḫulla- occurs in KUB 35.165 (CTH 751.1.A, MS). Following recitations addressed first to Ziparwa (obv. 1), then to Kataḫzipuri (obv. 16), a recitation addresses Tiyat, thus generally conforming to the aforementioned standard sequence. Here (obv. 21), the name Tiyat is preceded by the adjectival genitive of pašḫulla-:

The standard sequence of Palaean deities is also recognizable in DBH 46/2.139 (CTH 643.2.B, NS) l. col. 20’-r. col. 23’, where, however, following pašḫulla-, the name Tiyaz/dutu is either no longer preserved, or the epithet pašḫulla- simply stood alone in place of the usual name of the Palaean solar deity.

That pašḫulla- alone could designate the solar deity is suggested both by the divine determinative employed with it in the text just cited, as well as by a derivative of pašḫulla- that is also attested as standing alone: wašḫullati-. An example can be found in DBH 46/2.121, 9’-11’, which describes a sequence of drinking rites for Ziparwa, Kataḫzipuri and [dwaš]ḫullatiš.

[…] he sits down to eat. He as[ks] (for something) to drink. […] Standing, he drinks Ziparwa twice. […] …, he drinks Kataḫzipuri twice. … […] Sitting, he drinks [Waš]ḫullati twice […]

Further examples of wašḫullati- occur in KBo 19.154+ (CTH 751, MS?) rev. 9’ (in connection with the Ilaliyanteš deities) and in Bo 6431+ (CTH 750, LNS) 1’ (followed by the standard sequence, as described above). Attestations of wašḫullati- also occur outside of the standard sequence of the Palaean pantheon (summarized above) in KBo 19.152 rev. IV 10’ and KBo 19.153 rev. III 6’.

Sasseville’s interpretation of pašḫulla- as “earth, underworld (?)” (Sasseville 2022a), and by implication of wašḫullati- as “Sun-god(dess) of the earth (?)” (Sasseville 2022b), is based ultimately on a single text containing offerings to a sequence of Palaean deities:

8’/10’ ta l[ugal-u]š i-n[a da-a-i 1 ninda.gur₄.ra em-ṣa 1 n]inda.gur₄.ra k[u₇]

10’/12’ 1 n[inda.gur₄.ra k]u₇ a+na d⸢i⸣-[la-li-an-da-aš] pár-ši-i[a]

The king i[n … sets. One sour loaf of bread, one] sw[eet l]oaf of bread fo[r …] … the Sun-god … [ … he sets. One] s[our] loaf of bread, one [sw]eet l[oaf of bread] for the I[laliyanteš] deities he breaks.

While this text does not reflect the fuller sequence of deities of the Palaean pantheon in which the solar deity follows Ziparwa and Kataḫzipuri, as described above28, the connection of the solar deity with the Ilaliant(ik)eš deities is common in the Palaean pantheon29. The crux of Sasseville’s interpretation is the word or sign restored in KBo 38.70 + KBo 30.137 obv. II 9’/11’ between a+n[a and ]-pa dutu. The size of the break only allows for the restoration of one sign. Here, Sasseville would like to restore ki, and thus read the line as a+n[a ki]-pa dutu, where [ki]-pa is allegedly a logographic writing of daganzipa. Sasseville loosely equates the semantics of daganzipa- with that of tekan-.30 This interpretation can be criticized for at least three reasons:

1. Although ki can be used as a logogram for tekan- as well daganzipa-, the complementation with simple -pa for the absolutive form is unattested31. Furthermore, an alleged absolutive case would be very unexpected, if [ki]-pa is to be interpreted as a genitive preceding dutu.

2. The alleged absolutive case of daganzipa-, whether logographic or syllabographic, is never attested32.

3. daganzipa- (regardless of its ending) is never attested as an epithet of dutu. As a Hittite designation of the Sun-goddess of the earth, one could only expect the word taknaš33.

Even if the restoration as [ki]-pa = *daganzipa is incorrect, the semantic interpretation of pašḫulla- / wašḫullati- as a term for “earth, netherworld” is neither excluded nor confirmed. Support for this interpretation is found in the deity name Wašḫulili, which has been already been connected with Palaic pašḫulla- / wašḫullati- (Yakubovich 2008; Sasseville 2022a, 201) and likely designates a deity of a chthonic nature, as can be surmised from the various contexts in which Wašḫulili is attested. For example, VBoT 3, a text included in CTH 661 among other festival fragments with lists of kings possibly pertaining to a royal ancestral cult, describes a drinking rite for Wašḫulili, followed by a drinking rite for a solar deity (dutu) whose nature is unclear. That both Wašḫulili and the solar deity are chthonic deities is quite possible.

Sitting, he drinks [W]ašḫulili. The large Inanna instrument (plays). They sing. The alam.zu₉ man recites. The cupbearer takes up (something) with the zalḫai- vessel. The cupbearer brings one loaf of sour bread from outside. The chief of the palace servants breaks (it).

Sitting, he drinks the solar deity. The large Inanna instrument (plays). They sing. The alam.zu₉ man recites. The cupbearer takes up (something) with the zalḫai- vessel. The cupbearer brings one loaf of sour bread from [out]side. The chief of the palace servants [brea]ks (it). (Yoshida 1996, 229-30)

Two other texts also grouped in CTH 661, KBo 48.46 and KBo 61.180, mention a zalḫai- vessel, the phraše šēr ēpzi, and the bringing of sour-dough loaves from outside. Thus, the rites described in all three texts seem to be closely associated with one another. KBo 48.46 r. col. 3’-6’ includes a drinking rite to the deified day, whereas KBo 61.180 r. col. 3’-6’ describes a drinking rite to Izzištanu. Both the deified day and Izzištanu can be considered chthonic deities who were worshiped in connection with rites or offerings pertaining to deceased Hittite kings. These texts, and the deities revered in the rites described in them, should thus be understood as part of a single cultic tradition.

“Sitting, he drinks the deified day. […] The alam.zu₉ men re[cite. …] he takes up. The c[upbearer …] brings from outside. […]”

The king (and) the queen, sitting, drinkg Izz[ištanu]. The [large] Ina[nna]-instrument (plays). […] With the zalḫai- vessel he ta[kes] (something) up. […] The alam.zu₉ man recites. […]

In KBo 11.48 rev. 7-8, the proximity of Wašḫulili and dgal.zu in a list of deity names is reminiscent of the frequent collocation of the deified day and dgal.zu, frequently with Izzištanu as well, as for example in the Hittite funerary ritual. It is likely that the first deity in rev. 7 was the Sun-goddess, and the deity prior to Wašezzali in rev. 9 was the Storm-god (thus the restorations of Yoshida 1996, 156).

While these attestations of Wašḫulili are quite fragmentary, we should also again take note of the previously cited text that describes an offering to the Storm-god of Zippalanda, the Sun-goddess of the earth, Ḫašammili and Wašḫulili, suggesting the chthonic nature of the associated deity Wašḫulili:

He makes the round of offerings four times (for) the Storm-god of Zippa[landa], the Sun-goddess of the [ea]rth, Ḫašamm[ili and Wa]šḫulili. The [small Inanna] instrument [(plays). They sing.]

In the cult of Lelwani, which is usually associated with the ḫešta- house (Torri 1999, 5-37), a solar deity exists among the deities closely associated with Lelwani. These usually occur in the following sequence:

A typical example of this sequence of deities occurs in KBo 17.15, an OS text describing a festival celebrated in the ḫešta- house36. There, the chief of the cooks and the anointed priest offer the meat of five sheep for each of the following deities: Lelwani, Šiwatt, Tašammat, Tašimmet, the solar deity, Istuštaya, Papaya, Ḫašammili, and Zilipuri. Not only Lelwani, but also Šiwatt (the deified day), Ḫašammili, Ištuštaya and Papaya can all be associated with the netherworld on the basis of their occurences in other cultic contexts as well. By association, the solar deity appearing here also seems to have possessed some kind of chthonic nature.

In a fragmentary festival text, KBo 22.45, a solar deity – likely to be restored as the Sun-goddess of the earth – appears immediately before Lelwani and following a context referring to the gods of the father, the upper gods, as well as the ancient gods of the forefathers:

[… … mountain]s, rivers, gods of the father […] all the [upp]er gods […] the Sun-goddess [of the earth?], Le[lwani, … the anc]ient [gods of?] the forefathers […] (Yoshida 1996, 48 note 30)

This restoration of [ták-na-aš] in KBo 22.45, 4’ is supported by the sequences of the oath deities in treaties with Ḫukkana37, but now also by a cult inventory from Kayalıpınar (Šamuḫa) recently published as DAAM 1.30. In this text, a group of deities very similar to the sequence associated with Lelwani appears, but here the Sun-goddess of the earth is explicitly mentioned in obv. l. col. 10:

[…] ration of [n+] one loaf of bread for […, n+] one loaf of bread (for) the S[un-goddess] of the earth, [n+] one loaf of bread for the propi[tious] day, [n+ one] loaf of bread for the evil day, [n+ one loaf of bread] for Išdušt[aya], [n+ one] loaf of bread for Papaya, [n+ one loaf] of bread for … […, n+ one loaf] of bread for Pir[wa,38 … n+ one loaf] of bread for … […, n+ one loaf of bread] fo[r …] (Cammarosano 2019, 96-7)

Unusual aspects of this text passage are the divine determinative before the epithet taknaš (obv. l. col. 10) as well as the seemingly artificial inclusion of the (otherwise unattested) “evil day” as a counterpart to the “propitious day” (obv. l. col. 11-12). Despite peculiarities of this sequence, the presence of Išduštaya and Papaya, the Sun-goddess of the earth and the “propitious day” closely parallel the sequence of deities associated with Lelwani, thus further suggesting that the solar deity usually connected with Lelwani was indeed a chthonic Sun-goddess similar to the Sun-goddess of the earth39.

Another text, KUB 60.121 (CTH 500.344, MS), which seems to stem from the Kizzuwatnean milieu, describes repeated offerings to a group of three deities, consisting of Ḫašammili, the “propitious day” and the solar deity of dankuliya- (obv. 10’-16’; see Popko 1991; and Steitler 2017, 250-51). Popko suggested that dankuliya- means “darkness” and is a derivative of dankui- “dark” (similarly HEG T, D/1, 111), and furthermore that dankuli- might be the Hittite word for “tin”. This interpretation, however, should probably be ruled out based on the identification of Hittite arzil- as the word for “tin” by Soysal (2006), who, like Cohen (2010, 38), proposed that dankuli- is the translation of Akkadian s/šemiru “bracelet” on the basis of a trilingual text from Ugarit (Sumerian-Akkadian-Hittite). Based on this, I proposed that dankuli- may likely refer to the part of the body on which this item was worn (Steitler 2017, 251), i.e., the arm or hand. As an epithet of a solar deity, this allows for a comparison with the “Sun-god of the hand” who occurs in the ritual of Alli of Arzawa (KBo 12.126+, CTH 402.A, NS, obv. I 12; see Mouton 2010ff., TX 10.11.2014, TRfr 27.02.13; and Steitler 2017, 333-34).

Other attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth connected with the Kizzuwatnean milieu can be found in a list of the kaluti circle of female deities, KBo 33.212+ (CTH 664.1.B, MS?; see Wegner 2002, 303-04), naming various manifestations of Ḫebat (obv. III 2’-3’), followed by the Sun-goddess of the earth of different locations (4’-16’). Immediately after the Sun-goddesses of earth follow Lelwani and Dag[i-…] (rev. IV 1), and then the hypostases of Ištar, Ninatta, and Kulitta of different cities (3-6).

Another interesting context in which the Sun-goddess of the earth appears is a constellation of peripheral deities, numina and/or abstract concepts, such as I/Annari, Tarpi, the “small place”, the “righteous tongue”, the “cut-off moment”, “passing through the doorway”, and the propitious day in the context of a festival for the protective deities. Several of these terms are explicitly or implicitly connected with the concept of death or the afterlife:

[… to] a[ll] … […] to the male gods of the protective deity […] to Innari, Tarpi, the [cut-off] mo[ment, … the s]mall place, the [righteous] tonge […] and the propitious day he places.

[…] but [a]ll of the ḫarnantašši- (breads?) […] the king for Zitḫariya. But one […] the queen places for Zitḫariya.

[…] the kappi- vessel in the same way. In the middle of the hearth […] before the [hearth he places down for the Sun-goddess of the earth.

[…] kappi- vessels in the same way. One […] on this side on the hearth but one on that side he p[laces] for the gul-š- deities.

Note that the offering is presented “down” to the Sun-goddess of the earth (obv.? 11’). Significant is also the presence here of the “propitious day” (noted above) as well as the gul-š- deities, who are associated with fate (Waal 2014; 2019). Notably, a similar constellation of numina occurs in KUB 10.81 that also includes the na₄ḫekur- precinct of the deity, an institution that has often been associated with the royal mortuary cult (Singer 2009, 169-70). This text describes the festival for the protective deity of Tauriša on the 32nd day of the an.daḫ.šum festival and provides a further indication for the collective chthonic nature of these numina:

… [the šalawani-] d[eities] of the gate, the ḫekur of the deity, the small place, the righteous tongue, Annari, Tarpi, passing through the doorway, the propitious day and the night he drinks.

CTH 655 is an unusual description of a ritual, as it shares numerous characteristics with Hittite festival descriptions, but at the same time it also has much in common with Hittite magical rituals. This text refers to events that occurred under the historical king Ḫantili I (or II) and that made the performance of this ritual necessary in the first place. The ambiguity of this text’s genre (festival or magical ritual) requires us to relativize its significance for the role of the Sun-goddess of the earth in the festivals. The Sun-goddess of the earth is invoked to remove impurity brought upon the land:

On the next day (in?) the city of […] the anointed priests [and] the mother-of-the-deity priestesses [give] the Storm-god and the (other) gods (something) to eat (and) to dri[nk]. The singer of the large Inanna instrument [sings] (for) the Storm-god and the gods.

But (in?) Ḫattuša [he goes] to the temple of the Sun-goddess of the earth. He invokes the Sun-goddess of the earth as follows: “Why has bloodshed become widespread? [Why] have tears become abundant? O Sun-goddess of the earth, my lady, […] may you treat … benevolently!” (Beckman 2001, 54; 56-7)

Since the Sun-goddess of the earth is generally uncommon in festival texts, the overlap of CTH 655 with the magical rituals, where the Sun-goddess of the earth is quite common, seems to offer an explanation for the presence of this deity in this particular ritual. Thus CTH 655 should be given correspondingly little weight as an attestation of the Sun-goddess of the earth in a festival context.

Among the text fragments currently identified as descriptions of the an.daḫ.šum and nuntarriyašḫa- festivals, the Sun-goddess of the earth (explicitly designated as such) is only mentioned in connection with day 14 of the an.daḫ.šum and day 11 (or 12) of the nuntarriyašḫa- festival. According to the outline tablets as well as the colophons of day tablets of both itinerant festivals, in both of these contexts she is simply mentioned as the goddess for whom a ceremony was performed subsequent to the festival for the Palaean Storm-god Ziparwa (see above). However, detailed descriptions (i.e., daily tablets) of the festival for the Sun-goddess of the earth in these two festival contexts have yet to be recognized. Aside from this, in these itinerant festival traditions the solar deity associated with Lelwani is the only other apparently chthonic solar deity present in these festivals. Furthermore, it is especially surprising that in the portions of these festivals pertaining in part to the Hittite royal ancestral cult the Sun-goddess of the earth seems to play no role at all. For example, on the fifth day of the nuntarriyašḫa- festival the Hittite queen presents offerings to cult images of the Sun-goddess of Arinna, each of which was connected with a deceased Hittite queen, without any mention of the Sun-goddess of the earth. Nor do the texts describing days 16 and 18 of the an.daḫ.šum festival, when offerings were performed for statues of deceased Hittite kings40, make any reference to the Sun-goddess of the earth. This leads us to conclude that the Sun-goddess of the earth took on a very minor role in the cultic traditions amalgamated in the spring and fall festivals of the Hittite state.

Finally, we will examine attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth in texts that are connected with the city or region of Zalpa. These are perhaps the most significant, as they could point to the existence of the Sun-goddess of the earth in northern Anatolia in some of the earliest Hittite text traditions and in the pre-existing Hattian milieu of the same region. It is precisely on this basis that Corti has argued for the presence of the “Sun-goddess of the earth” already in the Hattian religion and on the coast of the Black Sea:

Taknaš dutu (identified only later with ereš.ki.gal) is already attested in a prominent position in the Old Hittite ‘Invocation for Hattian deities’ (CTH 733) as well as in the Empire period ‘Celebration in the Zalpuwa Land’ (CTH 667; here with the double hypostasis of ereš.ki.gal and Ammamma) and in CTH 3.2. She was therefore one of the deities of the pantheon of Zalpuwa from the beginning to the end of the Hittite Empire. It is interesting to note that the Sun-goddess of the Earth is almost never found in original Old Hittite texts. Also her identification with ereš.ki.gal and the association with the ancient gods cannot be traced before the Middle Hittite period. Apart from KBo 17.7++ rev. IV?, 7’-8’, the references in CTH 733 are the only direct testimony of her cult during the Old Hittite period. From early on the Sun-goddess of the Earth had a cult not only in North-Central Anatolia, but also in the Central Black Sea Region, an area that certainly belonged to the Hattian milieu; in light of this information the conclusion that the ‘Hittite’ taknaš dutu was a deity of southern origin or of the Luwian tradition must be re-examined.

Craig Melchert – referring to the same texts – strongly concurs with Corti’s conclusions, adding that solar deity is “resolutely male in the Indo-European tradition and … strictly celestial” (Melchert 2019, 242 note 11). However, I contest that the texts cited by both Melchert and Corti as evidence for the role of the Sun-goddess of the earth in the early Hittite religious traditions of northern Anatolia are as clear as they claim them to be. The following discussion aims to demonstrate that these texts are at best inconclusive for the debate of the origin of the Sun-goddess of the earth.

We begin with CTH 733, in which we find one of the only attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth in an Old Hittite text-composition, preserved in part in the Hittite section of a Hattic-Hittite bilingual text. KUB 60.20 is a NS text that duplicates VBoT 124+ (OS) and may loosely parallel KUB 8.41 (OS)41. For the sake of clarity, I present these three texts in separate transliterations, followed by a composite translation based on all three. Whereas the relationship between KUB 60.20 and VBoT 124+ as duplicate texts is straightforward, the only overlap of these texts with KUB 8.41 rev. III 1-4 is the toponym Ḫa[š]k[aḫaškiwat] partially preserved in rev. III 1. The subsequent text of KUB 8.41 rev. III 7’ff. diverges significantly from the other two texts, making it very uncertain to what degree KUB 8.41 rev. III corresponded to KUB 60.20 and VBoT 124+ at all. The reconstruction below largely follows that of Corti 2014. The portions of the translation based on KUB 8.41 are marked by dotted underlining in order to emphasize the uncertainty of this fragment’s relevance to the reconstruction of these lines:

KUB 8.41 (CTH 733.III.b.1.A, OS) rev. III43 (translation with dotted underlining):

(In?) the city of Ḫa[š]k[aḫaškiw]at […] c[onjure]s, but the singer [recites. “…] you have become […] among the [god]s, you are Kaštuwariti [… the qu]een (of?) Ḫaškaḫaškiwa[t …] It/him/her […] do not look [ins]ide. The Sun-goddess of the earth will see you.”

The critical attestation of the Sun-goddess of the earth is preserved in the NS copy (KUB 60.20 rev.? 6’!), presumably allowing for a corresponding restoration in VBoT 124+ (OS) obv.? 5’. Although this section conforms in general to the other invocations of the gods in CTH 733, which declare the deity’s name among the gods and among men, it remains fragmentary. We know neither the specific identity of the god invoked (aside from “queen (of?) Ḫaškaḫaškiwat”), nor the reason for the prohibition of “looking inside” combined with what sounds like the threat of an onlooking the Sun-goddess of the earth. This is only paralleled by the immediately following line in KUB 60.20 rev. 7’, which also occurs in a very fragmentary context.

Corti’s optimistic reconstruction of this passage has numerous weaknesses. His restoration of [ták-na-aš dut]u-uš in VBoT 124 obv.? 3’, which would allow us to identify the Sun-goddess of the earth as the addressee of the invocation, is speculative. While the hand copy of VBoT 124 permits the reading of utu, a recent photo of the fragment shows the sign before UŠ to be damaged beyond recognition (at least on the fragment in its current state).

Fig. 1. Traces of signs at the beginning of VBoT 124 obv.? 3’ according to the photo (left: YBC 16167, hethiter.net/: fotarch BF01915) and the hand copy (right: by Götze).

The restoration of taknaš in the gap just before alleged dut]u-uš is based on the fragment of a sign preserved at the end of KUB 8.41 rev. III 2. On both the hand copy as well as the photo, the remains of two horizontals and a broken vertical are visible. This would correspond to a very late form of the DAG sign, but KUB 8.41 is written in OS, so that if this were DAG, we should expect more than two horizontals, yet none are visible. Furthermore, there are traces of a sign before this and following what has been read as ti?, which may even be part of the final sign. Thus, it seems that the reading DAG must be excluded here.

Fig. 2. Traces of signs at the end of KUB 8.41 rev. III 2 according to the photo (left: Bo 865, hethiter.net/: fotarch BoFN00669b) and the hand copy (right: by Weidner).

A further problem is Corti’s interpretation of kù as a logographic writing for mišriwanda in KUB 8.41 rev. III 4 (analogous to KUB 60.20 rev.? 9’!), the end of which Corti identifies with the ]-da of KUB 60.20 rev.? 6’!. Although semantically, kù would seem to be an appropriate logogram for mišriwant-, no other attestations of this writing have been identified thus far.45 Finally, Corti inteprets the phrase lē šuwayeši as a transitive verb, with the enclitic pronoun -an of KUB 8.41 rev. III 4 as the accusative object (“do not look at her in her brilliance”, seemingly referring to the Sun-goddess of the earth). Such a meaning would be unique, as šuwaye- is normally intransitive construed with the dative-locative, allative or ablative cases (CHD Š 540-41, s.v. šuwaye- 1.). When used transitively, šuwaye- means “to regard (favorably)” and is usually combined with the adverb āššu (CHD Š 541-42, s.v. šuwaye- 2.). Thus, the phrase here must be understood as “do not look in (a location)” or “do not look favorably upon (someone)”.

I have explained the presence of the Sun-goddess of the earth in another OS text, a ritual performed for the Hittite royal couple (CTH 416), as the result of influence from the Luwian milieu (see Steitler 2017, 144-49; 233-34). Such an argument would be unconvincing for CTH 733, where the religious tradition seems to be genuinely Hattian and or north-central Anatolian, although one cannot completely rule out the possibility of very early mutual connections and influences between Hattian and Luwian religious traditions46. While this text passage does confirm the attestation of the Sun-goddess of the earth among the invocations described in CTH 733, the attestation remains nevertheless isolated – it only occurs in a NS copy – and we ultimately do not understand how to interpret the role of the Sun-goddess of the earth mentioned in this fragmentary context. This should prompt us to remain cautious about drawing too many conclusions from it.

Aside from CTH 733, the only other text that might reflect a connection between the Sun-goddess of the earth and the Hattian religious tradition is a magical ritual recorded on a NS Sammeltafel, KUB 17.28 (CTH 730) obv. I (see Collins 2006, 165-66; Steitler 2017, 234-35; 244-45). The ritual was occasioned by a lunar omen that negatively affected the ritual patient. As a remedy, a piglet was placed in a hole in the ground. Later, nails of different kinds of metal were driven into the piglet, and some parts of the piglet were eaten by the ritual participants while other parts were offered to the Sun-goddess of the earth. Unlike CTH 733, this ritual cannot be securely dated as an OH text composition, but the incantations in the Hattic language do suggest archaic origins in the Hattian milieu. The cultic-religious significance of pigs in Hittite Anatolia was studied by Collins (2006), who noted numerous instances of piglets sacrificed in pits and dedicated to the Sun-goddess of the earth in rituals from the Kizzuwatnean or more generally Hurro-Luwian milieus (Collins 2006, 173-76). It is plausible that in this ritual Hattic recitations of ancient northern or central Anatolian origin were combined with a magical practice that did not itself originate in the Hattian milieu, but whose popularity and perceived efficacy led to its inclusion with ritual incantations that would otherwise be unexpected. Thus we should be cautious about assigning this entire ritual, and the Sun-goddess of the earth specifically, to a Hattian tradition of north-central Anatolia.

Another group of texts cited by Corti (2018) supporting the existence of the Sun-goddess of the earth in ancient (Hattian) north-central Anatolia is CTH 667, a group of cultic texts that are associated with Zalpa or Zalpuwa in which the Sun-goddess of the earth is mentioned. The texts of CTH 667, however, are all NS or LNS tablets. Furthermore, there is little evidence for their continuity with the religious traditions described in CTH 733 or with what we otherwise know of the archaic traditions of Zalpa47. The references to the Sun-goddess of the earth in CTH 667 all employ the Sumerogram dereš.ki.gal, which is clearly a late scribal innovation. I do not consider this text group to be a reliable source for the archaic religion of northern Anatolian.

Finally, a reference to the Sun-goddess of the earth occurs in a fragmentary text attributed to the so-called Zalpa Tale: KBo 12.63. This NS fragment has been grouped with other fragmentary texts whose exact relationship to this text composition is unclear48. The fragment mentions the “sickness” of a solar deity and the Storm-god—perhaps referring to an offence committed against them. Then the Sun-goddess of the earth is called upon as a witness in this matter:

The sick[ness] of the solar deity and the si[ckness] of the Storm-god […]. O Sun-goddess of the earth […] may you be […] witness!

This corresponds to the general profile of the Sun-goddess of the earth—especially in the magical rituals, where she functions in the removal of evil, impurity, and sickness. As I have argued elsewhere, even if the Sun-goddess of the earth does play a role in the Zalpa Tale, this does not require us to conclude that she played a significant role in the Hattian religious milieu:

Given the central role of the city of Kaneš in the [Zalpa] narrative, we would expect to find deities reflecting the Hittite-Luwian milieu that was prevalent there during the O[ld] A[ssyrian] period and also predominant within the later Hittite concept of the “gods of Kaneš” (Steitler 2017, 221 note 718)

Thus, if she can be identified in the Old Hittite text composition of the Zalpa Tale, the Sun-goddess need not be attributed to the Hattian milieu, but could just as well belong to a Hittite-Luwian milieu existing in and around the city of Kaneš. In summary, the evidence for the Sun-goddess of the earth in the early Hattian or northern Anatolian religious milieus both scanty and debatable.

A solar deity of the earth is clearly attested in texts in the Luwian language as well as in texts belonging to the Luwian milieu. Most recently, Ilya Yakubovich (2022) has suggested that, contrary to previous assumptions, this solar deity (Tiwad tiyammaššiš) should now be understood as a male Sun-god of the earth on the basis of the epithets assigned to him. Due to the constraints of space, I will offer neither a confirmation nor a rejection of this theory here. However, I would propose a hypothetical counterargument that the Luwian solar deity of the earth may have been, like Ištar, identified in some contexts as male, in others as female. In any case, this deity’s female identity clearly becomes predominant at some point, whereas the male identity, if correct, can only be seen in a few isolated epithets.

The situation in the Palaean pantheon requires further examination. I interpreted the Palaean solar deity, Tiyat, as similar to the Luwian Sun-god, Tiwad49. This was based upon a degree of parallelism between the Luwian and Palaean religious traditions: in the Luwian pantheon, the Sun-god and Kamrušepa frequently act in tandem with one another, and we can posit a spousal relationship between them. In the Palaean pantheon, Kataḫzipuri – who can be approximated with Luwian Kamrušepa50 – is the spouse of the Storm-god, Ziparwa. However, a solar deity follows closely behind Ziparwa and Kataḫzipuri in offering sequences in Palaean cult contexts. Thus, even though the Palaean and Luwian panthea diverge one another, the proximity of the solar deity to Kataḫzipuri can be identified in both. One should also note the association of the solar deity and the Ilaliyanteš deities both he Palaean and the Luwian panthea.

Should the identification of the epithets pašḫulla- and wašḫullati- as Palaean terms for the netherworld be confirmed (see above), this would suggest the Palaean solar deity was a chthonic deity. One should, however, keep in mind that these epithets do not always accompany the name of the Palaean Sun-god. Furthermore, the interpretation of pašḫulla- / wašḫullati- as “earth, netherworld” ultimately remains uncertain. Even if Sasseville’s hypothesis is correct, this deity’s gender (Sun-god or Sun-goddess) would still remain an open question that would also have to be addressed in connection with an evaluation of the proposed male gender of the Luwian solar deity of the earth, thus Yakubovich, in contrast to the Sun-goddess of the earth in the Hittite pantheon.

In the festival rituals, most significant attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth are found in the local cults of Zippalanda and Nerik. There is no clear evidence that the roles of the Sun-goddess of the earth and the Storm-god of heaven as parents of the local Storm-god in the cult of Zippalanda were already established in the period when the OS festival texts pertaining to Zippalanda were written down. However, this tradition was well-established by the Empire period at the latest. The pantheon of Zippalanda may have served as a model for re-interpreting the local pantheon of Nerik51. As in Zippalanda, the role of the Sun-goddess of the earth in Nerik does not seem to crystallize until the later period, when she seems to have been artificially installed in a divine family analogous to the pantheon of Zippalanda. In Nerik, this might represent the continued evolution of an already-established prominent chthonic goddess there, who was secondarily subsumed under the Sun-goddess of the earth.

Outside of Zippalanda and Nerik, the Sun-goddess of the earth is quite rare in festival descriptions. When she does occur, she is usually invoked in magical incantations, thus her role is similar to that in the magical rituals. In CTH 655, for example, a ritual pertaining to transgressions of Ḫantili, she is specifically called upon to remove evil incurred upon the land. In the sequences of offerings spanning the major deities of the Hittite state pantheon that are typical of the festival texts, the Sun-goddess of the earth does not occupy a fixed position. When she does appear in particular offering sequences, this is conditioned by specific cultic contexts, as in the aforementioned examples of the local cults of Zippalanda and Nerik or (possibly) in the Palaean cult. Not surprisingly, the exhaustive lists of deities including local hypostases, such as some of the kaluti-lists, did not overlook the multiple manifestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth. The solar deities whom we propose to identify as chthonic, but which lack the epithet “of the earth”, appear in context together with other clearly chthonic deities (such as Lelwani) or in what could be described as “appendices” to the offering sequences. Many elements of these can be related to the netherworld (such as the propitious day or Ḫašammili), but, in general, they are peripheral to the Hittite state pantheon.

Some of the isolated attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth in Old Hittite text compositions, such as the Zalpa Tale or the Old Hittite Ritual for the royal couple, can be generally attributed to southern or south-eastern Anatolian milieus in which Luwian and, later, Hurrian traditions were especially prominent. Although a very few attestations of the Sun-goddess of the earth exist in texts of the Hattian or northern Anatolian milieus, such as in CTH 733 or KUB 17.28, the weight of the overall evidence continues to tilt the scales in favor of a Luwian origin of the Sun-goddess of the earth. The role of the Sun-goddess of the earth is quite insignificant in the Hattian-Hittite religious traditions attested early on in the Hittite kingdom, and the later festival descriptions give no reason to indicate that she rose to great prominence in the pantheon of the state cult.

A chthonic solar deity who was distinct from the Sun-goddess of the earth seems to have existed in the Hattian milieu, as attested in the cult of Nerik and the cult of Lelwani. The profile of this chthonic solar deity still remains quite vague, and has only minimal overlap with the profile of the Sun-goddess of the earth. In my estimation, the available evidence does not allow us to speak of these solar deities as belonging to one and the same deity type. To do so would be premature and unduly universalizing. This case exemplifies the general danger of employing deity types in descriptions of deities for whom we have very little or ambiguous data. Whether chthonic, celestial, male, female, or otherwise, it still at least seems possible to claim with a fair degree of confidence that the deities whose names were written as dutu can at least be described as “solar”.

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1 The research for this article was carried under the auspices of the long-term project, Das Corpus der hethitischen Festrituale (Mainz, Marburg, Würzburg) that is funded by the Akademienprogramm of the Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften. I would like to thank Giulia Torri for her helpful critique in providing a number of corrections, suggestions and text and bibliographical references that significantly improved this paper. I am solely responsible for any mistakes contained herein.

2 Typically, this phenomenon is represented by Sumerographic and Akkadographic writings of deity names, of which there are numerous excamples (see in general the deity names collected in van Gessel 1998–2001, vol. 2). Some of the most prominent include iškur or the number 10 (the sign U) for Storm-gods, utu for solar deities, nisaba for the grain-goddess Ḫalki, ištar for a variety of prominent female goddesses, and za-ba₄-ba₄ for the war-god Wurunkatte.

4 Although included in the scope of my book, the two chapters devoted to the “Sun-goddess of the earth” (Steitler 2017, 229-45; 417-23) were comparatively short for various reasons. First, a dissertation had recently been written on the Sun-goddess of the earth, which has since been published electronically (Lorenz-Link 2016). Second, my own study focused on the Old and Middle Hittite text sources, covering text compositions whose origins could be reasonably pinpointed in the corresponding historical epochs. There were comparatively few texts referring to the Sun-goddess of the earth that met these qualifications.

5 Steitler 2017, 247-53 gave attention to references to solar deities that lacked the epithet referring to the earth or netherworld (Hittite taknaš or Luwian tiyammi- / tiyammašši-), but that could nevertheless be characterized as pertinent to the chthonic realm. Because the type of the “Sun-goddess of the earth” seemed to be so consistently identified by the epithet taknaš, and because these solar deities occurred in texts describing local cults or contexts that strongly deviated from the “norms” of the Hittite state cult, I remain cautious about identifying these solar deities with the Sun-goddess of the earth, though I would not contest that they are chthonic deities. Note also that in later scribal traditions, the Sun-goddess of the earth was also referred to by a different logogram altogether: ereš.ki.gal. All of this suggests that the type of the “chthonic solar deity” was more heterogeneous than has been depicted to date in studies of Hittite religion.

6 On the chief deities of the pantheon in Zippalanda, see Haas 1994, 588-89; Popko 1994, 32-5; Torri 2019.

7 Popko (1994, 240) suggests the text could describe the nuntarriyašḫa- festival; see also Nakamura (2002, 172 note 14), who does not positively identify KUB 28.91+ as part of nuntarriyašḫa-. Similar offerings of crumbled bread are also described in the context of a spring festival performed in Zippalanda in KBo 11.50 (CTH 592.2.I.A, NS) rev. VI 3’-11’ (Popko 1994, 168-69).

8 The transliterations of all Hittite festival texts cited in this article have been adapted from the online Basiscorpus of HFR (https://www.hethport.uni-wuerzburg.de/HFR/bascorp_intro.php, last visited 02/08/2023).

9 The meaning of warrami- as “glowing” is suggested by Popko 1994, 284; see also HEG W-Z, 314.

10 Compare offerings to the “window (of?) the solar disc” in VSNF 12.16 (CTH 635, NS) obv. r. col. 4’ and KUB 20.92 (CTH 635.5, LNS) rev. VI(?) 5, both texts attributed to the cult of Zippalanda, thus further supporting the attribution of KUB 28.91+ to this local cult as well.

11 See Popko 1994, 242f. A slightly divergent sequence of offerings, including the Sun-goddess of the earth, the propitious day, the window (of?) the solar disc, the hearth, and Ḫašammili followed by other deities is also preserved in KUB 58.6 obv. II 3’-12’ (see Popko 1994, 242-43).

13 For comparison, see the sequences of offerings, as cited by Yoshida 1996, 254-60, in which the Storm-god of Zippalanda and the Sun-goddess of the earth occur in immediate proximity to one another.

14 In a personal communication to myself, Giulia Torri tentatively raised the question as to whether Kataḫḫa in earlier (i.e., Old or Middle Hittite) texts might in some cases refer to the Sun-goddess of the earth. I would extrapolate upon this idea by suggesting the possibility that in these instances Kataḫḫa refers to a chthonic goddess who was later given the epithet “Sun-goddess of the earth”. Whether such a goddess was also understood in her original milieu as some kind of solar deity remains to be seen.

15 The texts cited are KBo 17.7+ (CTH 416.B, OS), KUB 31.143a (CTH 733.II.b.1, OS) and KUB 60.20 (CTH 733.II.c.1, NS/OH); see the discussion, especially of CTH 733, below.

16 Torri, however, seems to argue for influence in the opposite direction, i.e., that the pantheon of Zippalanda was imitating that in Nerik. Contrary to Haas 1970, 107-09, Torri 2019, 221, claimed that even in the later period of the Hittite Empire, the cults of the Storm-god of Nerik and the Storm-god of Zippalanda, as well as the relationship of each to the panthea of the neighboring cults of Kaštama respectively of Ankuwa, remained distinct from one another. I am not arguing here for an assimilation of these two local Storm-gods, but am suggesting that the role of the Sun-goddess of the earth as the mother of the local Storm-god existed in Zippalanda, influenced the cult of Nerik.

17 Compare also a prayer to the Storm-god of Nerik, KUB 36.90 + Bo 10317 (CTH 386.1, LNS; see editions by Haas 1970, 175-82, Rieken et al. 2015ff.-d), where the Storm-god of heaven and the Sun-goddess of the earth are referred to as mother and father of the Storm-god of Nerik (KUB 36.90 obv. 11’–13’).

18 See Soysal 2004, 324, who also suggests that Hittite tekan- corresponds to Hattic šaḫḫu (Soysal 2004, 306).

19 Contra Taracha 2021, 228 note 33, who claims the name Wurunšemu is equivalent to ki-aš ama (without citation of any relevant texts) – apparently a reference to annaš daganzipaš in KBo 11.32 and KUB 43.30 (see footnote 33 below), or “mother of the earth” in the Zalpa Tale (see also Klinger 1996, 146-47).

20 The process of copying, damage or even loss of older texts in later periods of the Hittite kingdom may have given rise to misunderstandings about the cult and pantheon of Nerik. That such gaps had arisen in the transmission of texts describing the cult of Nerik is demonstrated by KUB 28.80 rev. IV 1’–11’ (see Dardano 2006, 204-05; my thanks to Giulia Torri for bring this text to my attention).

21 Attempts to identify Izzištanu either as a solar deity or as the propitious day are based solely on the hypothesis that this deity name contains Hattic ištanu. Such interpretations remain unconfirmed (see Steitler 2017, 34).

23 Note also the cult inventory text, KBo 39.48+ (CTH 527.9, LNS), in which an entry concerning the spring Weriyadu is immediately followed by an entry for a local manifestation of Ereškigal, i.e. the Sun-goddess of the earth (dereš.ki.gal urux[…]; rev. IV 1’–4’; see Cammarosano 2016, TX 2016-06-03 and Corti 2018, 55; 62).

24 As a point of comparison to Weriyadu, a divine spring in the region of Nerik, we should keep in mind that a spring with particular religious significance existed directly in Nerik. KUB 36.89 obv. 27–28 refers to this as the “deep cave” (ḫalluwaza ḫunḫuešnaza) from which the Storm-god is evoked. (Contra HW2 Ḫ III/2, 721, interpreting ḫunḫu(n)eššar- as “Wassermasse, Gewässer, Wasserflut, Welle, Woge”, Willemijn Waal [in a paper given in Prague, November 2015], convincingly argued that ḫunḫu(n)eššar- means “depth, hollow, cave, cavity”.) KUB 36.90 rev. 32, addressing the Storm-god of Nerik, refers to the “your beloved spring of Nerik” (see Haas 1994, 326-27; 603-04). In Oymaağaç, which is almost certainly to be identified with ancient Nerik, a spring has been excavated, located at the end of a staircase leading down into a cave where the water was collected in a pool (Czichon 2020). Czichon (2020, 160-61) proposes an identification of this grotto complex with the “deep cave” or “beloved spring” of Nerik.

25 Thus the outline tablet of the an.daḫ.šum festival, KBo 10.20 obv. II 25–27 (Güterbock 1960, 82; 86; and Houwink ten Cate 1988, 184-85), and the outline tablet of the nuntarriyašḫa- festival, KBo 14.76 obv. I 12’-16’ (Nakamura 2002, 62; 100-02).

26 This list generally follows the sequence as given by Yoshida 1996, 99, with variatiant spellings or heterographic writings given in parentheses.

28 The deities whose names are preserved in the immediately preceding context and who are also recipients of bread offerings include Ḫalki (obv. II 6’/8’) and the Kuwanšeš deities (7’/9’).

29 This connection is also attested in Hittite mythological texts connected with the Luwian milieu (Steitler 2017, 345-63), where, however, there are no indications that the solar deity might be a chthonic Sun-goddess.

31 Aside from the absence of attestations of ki-pa, in the file cards of the Hethitologie-Archiv (Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mainz) sub ki, there are very few attestations at all of phonetically complemented ki for daganzipa-: ki-pa-aš: KUB 41.8 rev. IV 1, KUB 7.41 rev. IV 23 (both CTH 446); ki-an-zi-pa-aš: KUB 17.8 rev. IV 8 (CTH 457.1.A); no attestations of ki-pa exist in the files at Mainz.

32 Absolutive daganzipa is not listed in Tischler HEG T, D/1, 35; Kloekhorst 2008; or the Mainzer files sub daganzipa-.

33 The occurrence of annaš daganzipaš immediately before dutu-uš in KBo 11.32 (CTH 645.1, NS) obv. 31-32 (compare also the parallel text KUB 43.30, CTH 645.7.A, OS, rev. III 5’-6’) cannot be understood as an epithet of the Sun-goddess. This list consists of pairs of deities: the Storm-god is paired with annaš daganzipaš, while the Sun-goddess is paired with Mezzulla. The pairing is in each case made explicit by the phrase katti=šši “together with him/her” in KUB 43.30 rev. 5’-11’, rendered slightly different in KBo 11.32 obv. 31 as gam=ši=ma=ši, and thereafter (obv. 32–lo. edge 39) elliptically with ki.min; see Steitler 2017, 61-2; 76-8.

35 Tašammat and Tašimmet are sometimes omitted from the sequence, as is the case in IBoT 3.1, where they are venerated separately and appear under the variant names of Ašammat and Tašammat (with abbreviated spelling of the latter as dta-ša) in rev. 55’-56’; see the discussion of this text by Torri 2015, 293-96.

36 KBo 17.15 (CTH 645.6.C, OS) obv. I! 8’–18’; see Haas and Wäfler 1976, 84-7; and Torri 1999, 10-1.

37 The sequence of Lelwani/Allatum followed by the Sun-goddess of the earth is known from the treaty of Šuppiluliuma I with Ḫukkana of Ḫayaša (KBo 5.3 obv. I 50, CTH 42, NS; Beckman 1999, 26-34, Devecchi 2015, 100-09) as well as from a fragment of another treaty with Ḫukkana (KUB 26.39 rev. IV 18’, CTH 78, MS; Devecchi 2015, 97-9). For a summary of the sequences of oath deities in these texts, see Yoshida 1996, 17; my thanks to Giulia Torri for bringing this sequence to my attention.

38 Giulia Torri (personal communication) pointed out another text, a plague prayer of Muršili II, KUB 31.121 + KUB 31.121a + KUB 48.111 (obv. I-II, CTH 379, NS; see Singer 2002, 66-8; and Rieken et al. 2015ff.-a), where the Sun-goddess of the earth, Lelwani and Pirwa occur together (obv. I 16’/7’-8’).

39 Giulia Torri (personal communication) considers this text to be a late or local corruption of a sequence in which originally only dutu (without taknaš) would have stood, attested in numerous other texts pertaining to the cult of Lelwani. The assumption by Archi 2013, 2f. that the solar deity associated with Lelwani should be identified as the Sun-goddess of the earth (Archi lists this deity in the sequence as “(taknaš) utu”) seems to be based on an equivocation of this epithet with Wurunšemu (Archi 2013, 3), which was rejected in the discussion above.

41 The correspondence of KUB 8.41 with KUB 60.20 and VBoT 124+ was proposed by Corti 2014.

43 Compares the discussion of the goddess Kaštuwarit in KUB 8.41 rev. III 1-4 in Klinger 1996, 177.

45 See CHD L-N, 297-99 and HEG L-M, 216-17. The attestations of the logogram kù in the files of the Hethitologie-Archiv are all writings of šuppi- or šuppiyaḫḫ-.

47 On CTH 667 in general, and the (dis)continuity with CTH 733 see Popko 2004; Corti 2010, 151-56; Steitler 2017, 270; 461.

48 Corti 2002 identifies this text as part of a ritual ceremony that might be connected with the Zalpa Tale (similarly Soysal 2005, 130-31), but that is also comparable to the Annals of Ḫattušili and the rituals for Labarna/Ḫattušili; see also Holland and Zorman 2007, 6.

51 See Torri 2019, 218-23, who claims influence moving in the other direction, namely, from Nerik to Zippalanda.

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