Ḫuwaššanna

Ḫuwaššanna was considered a daughter of the male Hittite solar deity, Ištanu,^[7] who like her was one of the primary members of the pantheon of Ḫupišna.^[9] Nothing is otherwise known about her family.^[10]

The goddess Anna, originally the main deity of Kanesh, was worshiped alongside Ḫuwaššanna in Ḫupišna.^[11] In this context she appears as a member of a local group of primeval deities (ḫantezziuš DINGIR^MEŠ) which also included the deified sea, the river Šarmamma and the deity Zarnizza.^[9] However, Piotr Taracha notes it might be possible that a different deity with a homophonous name is meant, rather than the old goddess of Kanesh.^[12] Other deities associated with Ḫuwaššanna in the same city included Lallariya, Awatta, Kupilla, Liliya and Muli,^[10] the last of whom might have been a deified mountain.^[13] In Kuliwišna she was seemingly connected with two manifestations of Maliya and an anonymous tutelary deity instead.^[10]

In treaties, Ḫuwaššanna, always described as "Ḫuwaššanna of Ḫupišna", appears as one of the members of a group referred to as "queen goddesses" in modern publications, which also includes Ḫantitaššu of Ḫurma, Abara of Šamuḫa, Kataḫḫa of Ankuwa, ^dŠARRAT of Katapa, Ammamma of Taḫurpa, Ḫallara of Dunna, Tapišuwa of Išḫupitta, ^dBELTI, Kuniywanni of Landa and ^dNIN.PISAN.PISAN of Kinza.^[14]

In the oracle KUB 6.4 Ḫuwaššanna appears alongside a deity designated by the logogram ^dIŠTAR and the Weather god of Nerik, while in another text of this genre, IBoT 1.33, she is mentioned in a context also involving the Weather god of Aleppo [de] (^dU Ḫal-pa) and a royal palace.^[15]

Ḫuwaššanna was worshiped by both Hittites and Luwians.^[10] Piotr Taracha describes her as "one of the great goddesses of the Hittite state pantheon",^[9] while according to Manfred Hutter, she was one of the main goddesses in Luwian religion, next to Maliya and Kamrušepa.^[2] She was the main goddess in the local pantheon of Ḫupišna,^[4] a city corresponding to Cybistra of classical antiquity and modern Ereğli.^[11] She was also worshiped in Kuliwišna.^[7] A festival text from the reign of Tudḫaliya IV, KBo 12.59, indicates that the river Šalmaku was associated with her.^[15]

A number of unique functionaries were involved in the cult of Ḫuwaššanna.^[10] They included two types of priestesses, ḫuwaššannalli and alḫuitra.^[16] Neither title is attested in association with other deities, and the name of the former was derived from that of the goddess they served.^[17] A healing formula of one of such specialists, a certain Bappi, is known from multiple tablets and might have been believed to cure jaundice.^[14] In addition to the priestesses, EN.SISKUR, "lord of the offering", presumed to be a high-ranking member of the local population, was also involved in rites dedicated to Ḫuwaššanna which took place in Ḫupišna.^[18] A unique ritual object is also attested in texts pertaining to the worship of Ḫuwaššanna, ziyadu, presumed to be a ladle.^[17] For unknown reasons, the unique classes of clergy are not attested in Kuliwišna.^[19]

Multiple festivals focused on Ḫuwaššanna are known, including the fruit festival (EZEN₄.GURUN), the winter festival (EZEN₄ zenaš)^[14] and a celebration of installation of a new alḫuitra.^[18] Yet another festival, šaḫḫan, involved distribution of bread among the participants, after which the alḫuitra priestesses partaking in it kissed each other.^[17] It is commonly assumed that many attested celebrations of Ḫuwaššanna were performed in private.^[20] However, this conclusion is not universally accepted.^[21]

Ḫuwaššanna was no longer worshiped in the first millennium BCE.^[10]

• Frantz-Szabó, Gabrielle (1972), "Ḫuwaššanna", Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German), retrieved 2022-11-26
• Hutter, Manfred (2003). "Aspects of Luwian Religion". In Melchert, Craig (ed.). The Luwians. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East. Vol. 68. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-474-0214-6. OCLC 995012566.
• Polvani, Anna Maria (2010). "Identification of the goddess Ḫuwaššanna with the goddess GAZ.BA.YA". Orientalia. 79 (2). GBPress - Gregorian Biblical Press: 246–254. ISSN 0030-5367. JSTOR 43077914. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
• Taracha, Piotr (2009). Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Dresdner Beiträge zur Hethitologie. Vol. 27. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3447058858.