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

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 Su...

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Príomhchruthaitheoir: Steitler, Charles Wayne
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Foilsithe / Cruthaithe: Firenze University Press 2023
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author Steitler, Charles Wayne
author_browse Steitler, Charles Wayne
author_facet Steitler, Charles Wayne
author_sort Steitler, Charles Wayne
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description 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.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1116882025-07-17T10:01:23Z Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion Steitler, Charles Wayne Hittite religion Anatolian religion chthonic deities solar deities festivals thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History 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. 2023-08-05T04:00:41Z 2023-08-05T04:00:41Z 2023-08-03T15:07:34Z 2023 chapter ONIX_20230803_9791221501094_132 2612-808X https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/74936 9791221501094 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/111688 eng Studia Asiana open access image/png image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/74936/1/9791221501094-15.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/74936/1/9791221501094-15.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0109-4.15 10.36253/979-12-215-0109-4.15 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a Theonyms, Panthea and Syncretisms in Hittite Anatolia and Northern Syria 9791221501094 31 Florence open access
spellingShingle Hittite religion
Anatolian religion
chthonic deities
solar deities
festivals
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
Steitler, Charles Wayne
Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion
title Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion
title_full Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion
title_fullStr Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion
title_full_unstemmed Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion
title_short Chapter Solar and Chthonic Deities in Ancient Anatolia: The Evolution of the Chthonic Solar Deity in Hittite Religion
title_sort chapter solar and chthonic deities in ancient anatolia the evolution of the chthonic solar deity in hittite religion
topic Hittite religion
Anatolian religion
chthonic deities
solar deities
festivals
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
topic_facet Hittite religion
Anatolian religion
chthonic deities
solar deities
festivals
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
url ONIX_20230803_9791221501094_132
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