#ištanu

[nordseehexe]

„Ein Apfelbaum steht auf einer Quelle und ist über und über von blutroter Farbe. Es erblickte (ihn) die Sonnengöttin von Arinna, und sie bedeckte (ihn) mit ihrem glänzenden Gewand.“

– KUB 28.6 Vs. I 10’-13’ = II 10’-13’

[theshadowsong]

slightly improved character sheet sketches

Sin - god of the moon

his realm is on Storms Edge and in particular the Moonlight Enclave. There are some smaller villages, but no big city. Mostly he hunts murderers and the like. One day he just disappeared.

Demi-gods: most people worship one of their gods. There are 16 in total which stand for all kinds of aspects. New Ethis, for example, has the patron god Ishkur whose realm lies between Astria and New Ethis, in Emlin Forest. He is the god of war. His father is Tetok the god of death and Ištanu the goddess of the sun. Humans and other beings make offerings to them and pray for their blessings. The Demi gods are not really gods, they do not influence destiny, nor can they influence fate. Nevertheless, they derive their powers from the aspect to which they are assigned, whether that came before or after people started worshipping them, even the gods themselves don't know anymore. Nevertheless, they are powerful creatures that also feed on the people themselves, and the only way to fight one of them is to bind them to a place. Since they are immortal, they cannot be killed. However, binding a god is considered blasphemous.

[sisterofiris]

My religious space as of October 2019.

The altar to the left is dedicated to the Hellenic Gods, currently with statues of Artemis and Apollon. It also has a small offering bowl, an amulet against the evil eye, and, when I’m not wearing it, my devotional necklace to Artemis.

The altar to the right is dedicated to Ištanu, the Sungoddess of Arinna. It has an offering plate, along with a postcard of a lion (sacred to Ištanu) and a cuneiform tablet I made myself.

The items in the centre are consecrated to both pantheons and used for purification. The flask with pure water is for hand-washing and cleansing the altar surfaces, the incense burner is (surprisingly) for incense, and the olive oil in the bowl is for anointing the idols.

[limiculous]

Tawashishi, the Devoted 
Hail Arinitti, hail the All-Mother, Guardian of the Well of Souls Remember the dead in Your book, in Your house by the apple tree. Remember their courage and their kindness Remember their strength and their sacrifice Remember their duty and their diligence Remember their joy as Your joy, their hope as Your hope, their grief as Your grief. Remember them in song copied to tablet, On tablet copied to stone, Until stone, clay, and memory turn to dust, And the world falls to ruin. 
Tawashishi, devotee of Ištanu, is a young woman from the Kingdom of Hattusa, circa 1500 BCE. She is trained as a priestess and healer, in prayer and meditation, in wound-knitting and herbalism. She is a wide-eyed optimist, compassionate, principled, and fiercely determined to save every person that she can. Her faith has lead her far from home, and Shishi has no idea what to expect, only that her goddess is with her, and this is the path she is meant to travel. 
dollmakers: goddess, medieval woman, erte elegance, epic angel, dark mage, viking woman, fantasy avatar

[roguevexvoid]

Hecate may have originated among the Carians of Anatolia, where variants of her name are found as names given to children. Hecate was also worshipped in the ancient city of Colchis. William Berg observes, "Since children are not called after spooks, it is safe to assume that Carian theophoric names involving hekat- refer to a major deity free from the dark and unsavoury ties to the underworld and to witchcraft associated with the Hecate of classical Athens."[16] In particular, there is some evidence that she might be derived from the local sun goddesses (see also Arinna), based on similar attributes.[17] She also closely parallels the Roman goddess Trivia, with whom she was identified in Rome. Arinna was the major cult center of the Hittitesun goddess, (thought to be Arinniti) known as dUTU URUArinna "sun goddess of Arinna". Arinna was located near Hattusa, the Hittite capital.[1]The name was also used as a substitute name for Arinniti. The sun goddess of Arinna is the most important one of three important solar deities of the Hittite pantheon, besides UTU nepisas - "the sun of the sky" and UTU taknas - "the sun of the earth". She was considered to be the chief deity in some source, in place of her husband. Her consort was the weather god, Teshub; they and their children were all derived from the former Hattic pantheon. The goddess was also perceived to be a paramount chthonic or earth goddess. She becomes largely syncretised with the Hurrian goddess Hebat. In the late 14th century BC, King Mursili II was particularly devoted to the sun goddess of Arinna In addition to the Sun goddess of Arinna, the Hittites also worshipped the Sun goddess of the Earth and the Sun god of Heaven, while the Luwians originally worshipped the old Proto-Indo-European Sun god Tiwaz. It appears that in the northern cultural sphere of the early Hittites, there was no male solar deity.[1] The Sun goddess of the Earth (Hittite: taknaš dUTU, Luwian: tiyamaššiš Tiwaz) was the Hittite goddess of the underworld. Her Hurrian equivalent was Allani (de) and her Sumerian/Akkadian equivalent was Ereshkigal, both of which had a marked influence on the Hittite goddess from an early date.[1] In the Neo-Hittite period, the Hattian underworld god, Lelwani was also syncretised with her.[2] Lelwani is a Hittite god of the underworld, referred to as "King". Over time, he seems to have developed into a female deity. She lived in the dark earth, and her shrines were connected with charnel houses and mausoleums. The sun goddess of Arinna is the most important one of three important solar deities of the Hittite pantheon, besides UTU nepisas - "the sun of the sky" and UTU taknas - "the sun of the earth". She was considered to be the chief deity in some source, in place of her husband. Her consort was the weather god, Teshub; they and their children were all derived from the former Hattic pantheon. The goddess was also perceived to be a paramount chthonic or earth goddess. She becomes largely syncretised with the Hurrian goddess Hebat. 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 (de).[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 (Samas=Shamash=Utu(Samael)

[sisterofiris]

Hi there, you seem like the person to ask this question; but for pagans who are interested in minor deities such as Ariadne who don't have a lot of information (at least none that's easy to find) about their worship, what would you suggest for connecting to that kind of deity?

As a fellow worshipper of a little-known deity (not quite as little-known as Ariadne, but still), I feel you.

There’s basically two roads you can go down: the extreme academic road, which will lead you further and further into JStor reading obscure articles about possible cults of your deity; and the UPG road, which entails just jumping straight into worship and filling the gaps with personal experience. I personally recommend a healthy balance of both.

I believe research into the cult of a deity you want to worship is important, so that you can get the gist of who they are and how they should be approached. In the case of a minor deity, keep your expectations low; you likely won’t be able to reconstruct an entire cult, or even an entire ritual. You might not even find out what specific offerings the deity likes. But every scrap of information you find is useful, so gather those scraps.

That said, don’t let your research stop you from worshipping. Approach the deity in a way that is traditional to the pantheon they belong to: for example, for Hellenic deities, purify yourself, purify the space you’re going to use, invoke the deity, and offer something commonly offered (wine, honey, olives…). Spend time with the deity at your altar and away from your altar, in places where you feel their presence. Get to know how they “feel”. Remember that their very first worshippers didn’t have sources either - ultimately, all information that you’ll read was born from the experiences of people just like you.

Remember, also, that you don’t need to know the deity like you would know a friend. As a newbie polytheist, I used to believe that I should be able to describe my deities’ “personalities” like you would on a character sheet: she is severe and always expects the best out of people, but she also knows how to have a good laugh and she is very protective of her family. Her favourite food is honey biscuits and her favourite drink is coffee. In all honesty, I felt like a bad devotee because I couldn’t describe the deity I’m devoted to in those terms. But I’ve come to realise, since then, that none of these things matter as much as the tangible experience I have of my Gods. I have no idea what Artemis really thinks of her brother, but her presence has helped me through a lot. I have no idea whether my lady Ištanu has a sense of humour (if deities can even have one in a way we understand), but offering to her makes me feel calm and warm. Both those things mean infinitely more to me than anything a character sheet or an academic article could tell me.

You don’t need to understand a deity fully to worship them. You just need to worship them.

[sisterofiris]

Hey all!

As I announced in my previous recording, I’m very excited to share something new with you today: my first recording in Hittite! The Hittites were a people who lived in central Anatolia (modern Turkey) during the Bronze Age; at its greatest extent, in the 14th and 13th centuries BC, their empire included Syria to the south and reached the shores of the Aegean Sea to the west. The Hittite language is particularly interesting because it is the oldest written Indo-European language. This means several words are recognisable by modern-day English speakers, one of the most well-known being watar which means - you’ve guessed it - water.

The text chosen for this recording is a prayer known as the Prayer of Kantuzili. Kantuzili was a Hittite prince who suffered from some kind of sickness; seeking relief, he turned to the Sun-god Ištanu. I did not record the entire prayer, because it’s too long and several parts are damaged, making them difficult to read. Instead I chose what I found to be the most striking passages. I hope you enjoy listening to them.

A note on pronunciation: unlike Ancient Greek, Hittite pronunciation is near impossible to reconstruct, so the way I went about it is pretty much hit-and-miss. As a basis, I used variations in spelling, transliterations into other languages, and etymology. For example, it’s debated whether Hittite š was pronounced s, sh or something in between; I chose the middle road as a conciliation, and also, more subjectively, because I wanted Hittite to have a different sound quality from Ancient Greek.

Finally, for those of you who like my Ancient Greek recordings, fear not! I’m not going to stop making them anytime soon. Rather, I hope to expand the project to other languages while keeping the usual Ancient Greek hymns and poetry. Along with Hittite, you can expect Akkadian and possibly Sumerian in the future.

Thank you for your support, and as always, comments and suggestions are welcome! :)

TEXT

§2 Ammel šīunimi kuitmuza annašmiš ḫašta numu ammel šīunimi šallanuš. Numušan lāmanmit išḫieššamita zikpat šīunimi. Numukan āššawaš antuḫšaš anda zikpat šīunimi ḫarapta innarāwantimamu pēdi iyawa zikpat šīunimi maniyaḫta. Numuza ammel šīunimi Kantuzilin tukašta ištanzanaštaš ÌR-nantan ḫalzait. Nuza DUMU-annaz kuit šiunašmaš duddumar natkan šākḫi nat kanišmi.

§5 Ḫuišwatarmapa anda ḫingani ḫaminkan. Ḫinganamapa anda ḫuišwanniya ḫaminkan. Dandukišnaša DUMU-aš uktūri natta ḫuišwanza. Ḫuišwannaš šiwattuššiš kappuwanteš. Māmman dandukišnaša DUMU-aš uktūri ḫuišwanza ēšta manašta mān antuwaḫḫaš idāluwa inan arta manatwa natta kattawatar.

§10 Numu pirmet inani peran pittuliyaš pir kišat numu pittuliyai peran ištanzašmiš tamatta pēdi zappiškizzi. Nu wētti mieniyaš armalaš maḫḫan nuza ūka apeniššan kišḫat kinunamušan inan pittuliyaša makkēšta. Nat šīunimi tuk memiškimi.

TRANSLATION

§2 My God, since my mother gave birth to me, you, my God, have raised me. Only you are my name and my reputation, my God. Only you have joined me together with good people, my God, and to a position of strength, my God, only you have directed my deeds. My God, you have called me, Kantuzili, the servant of your body and your soul. Since childhood, my God’s mercy, I recognise and acknowledge it.

§5 Life is tied to death. Death is tied to life. A child of humankind does not live forever. The days of his life are counted. If a child of humankind could live forever, even if human ills and sickness arose, they would not be a grievance to him.

§10 But my house, because of the sickness, has become a house of anxiety, and because of the anxiety, my soul is dripping away to another place. Such as someone who is sick throughout the year, so have I become, and now the sickness and the anxiety have grown too great. My God, I keep saying it to you.

NOTES

ḫašta, “to give birth”, literally means “to open”

ÌR is the Sumerogram (a sign that stands for an entire word, taken from Sumerian) for “servant”. A Hittite would’ve read it out loud as the Hittite word. In this text, I have replaced several Sumerograms and Akkadograms with their Hittite equivalents (šīunimi for DINGIR-YA, annašmiš for AMA-YA) but unfortunately the Hittite word for “servant” is unknown, so I had to read out the Sumerogram instead.

the same goes for DUMU, “child”

manatwa natta kattawatar: until recently, researchers were unsure whether this was a rhetorical question (would they not be a grievance to him?) or an assertion (they would not be a grievance to him). The publication of a Sumerian hymn to the Sun-god Utu has shown that the sentence is directly adapted into Hittite from the Sumerian text, and that it is an assertion: if human beings could live forever, sickness wouldn’t matter anymore.

[sisterofiris]

More ‘drawing ancient people on uni blackboards’ shenanigans

(pictured: Gilgamesh and Enkidu, a Mesopotamian scribe, a Mycenaean mother and baby, and the Hittite God Ištanu with a child)