The Sun god of Heaven (Hittite: nepišaš Ištanu[1]) was a Hittite solar deity. He was the second-most worshipped solar deity of the Hittites, after the Sun goddess of Arinna.[2] The Sun god of Heaven was identified with the Hurrian solar deity, Šimige.[3]
From the time of Tudḫaliya III, the Sun god of Heaven was the protector of the Hittite king, indicated by a winged solar disc on the royal seals, and was the god of the kingdom par excellence.[4] From the time of Suppiluliuma I (and probably earlier), the Sun god of Heaven played an important role as the foremost oath god in interstate treaties.[5]
As a result of the influence of the Mesopotamian Sun god Šamaš, the Sun god of Heaven also gained an important role as the god of law, legality, and truth.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Calvert Watkins: "The Golden Bowl: Thoughts on the New Sappho and its Asianic Background." Classical Antiquity. 26, 2007, p. 309.
- ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 90 f.
- ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 127.
- ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, pp. 89-90.
- ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 88.
- ^ Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 89.
Bibliography
edit- Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8.
- Calvert Watkins: "The Golden Bowl: Thoughts on the New Sappho and its Asianic Background." Classical Antiquity. 26, 2007, pp. 305–324.
- Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9.
- Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-447-05708-0.