Ḫiriḫibi
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Ḫiriḫibi is the conventional vocalization of ḫrḫb, a name of a deity known only from a single Ugaritic text, the myth Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh. It is presumed that he was a Hurrian god in origin, and that his name is derived from that of a mountain located somewhere to the north or northeast of historical Assyria. In the narrative he appears in, he seemingly functions as a marriage broker mediating between Yarikh and the family of Nikkal. It has also been proposed that he was her father, though this assumption continues to be disputed due to relying on a speculative restoration of a damaged passage.
The nature of the deity whose name is written as ḫrḫb in the Ugaritic alphabetic script is uncertain, though most authors agree that he was a Hurrian god in origin.[2][3][4] This theory was already considered plausible in early scholarship in the late 1930s and 1940s.[5] The name is commonly vocalized as Ḫiriḫibi or Ḫiriḫbi.[5][4] Sometimes romanizations without breves such as Khirikhbi[6] or Hirhib are used.[7] Less commonly the name is vocalized as Harhab.[1] The meaning of the name Ḫiriḫibi in Hurrian would be "he of mount Ḫiriḫi".[5][4] The suffix -bi is well attested in the names of Hurrian deities, such as Kumarbi and Nabarbi,[4] respectively "he of Kummar" and "she of Nawar".[8]
Based on evidence from texts from the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I, Mount Ḫiriḫi was located in the area Assyrians referred to as Ḫabḫi, located to the north and northeast of Assyrian lands, close to the land of Pabḫi, presumed to be the area around Mount Judi, and to the upper sections of the rivers Khabur and Great Zab.[5] The name of this mountain most likely has Hurrian origin, and it is assumed that it was derived from a word referring to a specific species of trees, as a Hurrian text from Emar mentions a type of wood called gišḫi-ri-ḫi.[5]
Nicolas Wyatt's proposal that ḫrḫb corresponds to the Hurrian sun god, Šimige, is regarded as implausible.[4]