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96-623: The office sukkal is also known from various areas to the west and east of Mesopotamia, including the Hurrian kingdom Arrapha , Syrian Alalakh and Mari and Elam under the rule of the Sukkalmah Dynasty , while the concept of divine sukkals was incorporated into Hurrian religion , in which major gods such as Kumarbi or Hebat commonly appear in company of their sukkals, similar to their Mesopotamian counterparts. The word sukkal ( Akkadian : sukkallu ) has Sumerian origin and at first denoted

192-688: A genetic relationship to other language families (e.g., the Northeast Caucasian languages ), but none of these are generally accepted. The Hurrians adopted the Akkadian language and Cuneiform script for their own writing about 2000 BC. Texts in the Hurrian language in cuneiform have been found at Hattusa , Ugarit (Ras Shamra), as well as in one of the longest of the Amarna letters (EA 27), written by King Tushratta of Mitanni to Pharaoh Amenhotep III . It

288-580: A "☥" shaped amulet with a looped upper half. The ankh, it was believed, was surrendered with death, but could be preserved in the corpse with appropriate mummification and funerary rites . The supremacy of Re in the Egyptian pantheon was at its highest with the Fifth Dynasty , when open-air solar temples became common. In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt , Ra lost some of his preeminence to Osiris , lord of

384-883: A 'hundred-oared ship' of Surya in the Rig Veda , the golden boat of Saulė in Baltic mythology , and the golden bowl of Helios in Greek mythology . Numerous depictions of solar boats are known from the Bronze Age in Europe. Possible solar boat depictions have also been identified in Neolithic petroglyphs from the Megalithic culture in western Europe, and in Mesolithic petroglyphs from northern Europe. Examples of solar vessels include: The concept of

480-557: A bow and arrow to save the people of the Earth. In another myth, a solar eclipse was said to be caused by a magical dog or dragon biting off a piece of the Sun. The referenced event is said to have occurred around 2136 BC; two royal astronomers, Ho and Hi, were executed for failing to predict the eclipse. There was a tradition in China to make lots of loud celebratory sounds during a solar eclipse to scare

576-447: A class of human officials, responsible for the implementation of the commands of the king. Translations found in literature include " vizier ," "secretary," and "chancellor." Tonia Sharlach notes that "vizier" is considered to be the standard translation today. The same word is also conventionally employed as a translation of the name of another, unrelated, office, badalum , used in northern Syrian cities, such as Harran and Abarsal , in

672-496: A deity but also perceived as the eye of the sky father Dyeus . Three theories exercised great influence on nineteenth and early twentieth century mythography. The theories were the "solar mythology" of Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Max Müller , the tree worship of Mannhardt , and the totemism of J. F. McLennan . Müller's "solar mythology" was born from the study of Indo-European languages . Of them, Müller believed Archaic Sanskrit

768-510: A divine counterpart of the human officials. Due to more direct evidence present in myths compared to economic and administrative texts, their functions are better known than these of their human namesakes. A sukkal was the highest-ranked member of a deity's court, and in some cases in god lists could appear even before their children. At the same time, not every servant deity was a sukkal. Three distinct classes of divine servants can be found in various documents: advisers and representatives (including

864-561: A goddess, appears as the sukkal of Anu in a single lexical text . Sukkals could act as intercessory deities, leading to comparisons between them and another class of minor deities, lamma , in modern scholarship. Both of them could be depicted in similar scenes on cylinder seals , leading a human visitor to their divine master. The goddess Lammašaga was identified both as a sukkal and a lamma. A third class of deities involved in intercession were wives of major gods, and on occasion comparisons are made between them and sukkals too, for example

960-642: A great impact on the religion of the Hittites. From the Hurrian cult centre at Kummanni in Kizzuwatna, Hurrian religion spread to the Hittite people. Syncretism merged the Old Hittite and Hurrian religions. Hurrian religion spread to Syria, where Baal became the counterpart of Teshub. The Hurrian religion, in different forms, influenced the entire ancient Near East , except ancient Egypt and southern Mesopotamia. While

1056-613: A key to the understanding of Hurrian culture and history. The 2nd millennium Hurrians were masterful ceramists. Their pottery is commonly found in Mesopotamia and in the lands west of the Euphrates; it was highly valued in distant Egypt, by the time of the New Kingdom . Archaeologists use the terms Khabur ware and Nuzi ware for two types of wheel-made pottery used by the Hurrians. Khabur ware

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1152-521: A large population of Hurrians, and there is significant Hurrian influence in Hittite mythology . By the Early Iron Age , the Hurrians had been assimilated with other peoples. The state of Urartu later covered some of the same area. The Khabur River valley became the heart of the Hurrian lands for a millennium. The first known Hurrian kingdom emerged around the city of Urkesh (modern Tell Mozan) during

1248-708: A letter from the king of Shubria to an Assyrian magnate from the time of Sargon II was composed in the Hurrian language. Knowledge of Hurrian culture relies on archaeological excavations at sites such as Nuzi and Alalakh as well as on cuneiform tablets, primarily from Hattusa (Boghazköy), the capital of the Hittites, whose civilization was greatly influenced by the Hurrians. Tablets from Nuzi, Alalakh, and other cities with Hurrian populations (as shown by personal names) reveal Hurrian cultural features even though they were written in Akkadian. Hurrian cylinder seals were carefully carved and often portrayed mythological motifs. They are

1344-540: A monotheistic one, Atenism. All other deities were replaced by the Aten, including Amun-Ra , the reigning sun god of Akhenaten's own region. Unlike other deities, Aten did not have multiple forms. His only image was a disk—a symbol of the Sun. Soon after Akhenaten's death, worship of the traditional deities was reestablished by the religious leaders (Ay the High-Priest of Amen-Ra, mentor of Tutankhaten/Tutankhamen) who had adopted

1440-570: A mythological representation of the Sun riding in a boat ) is found in the later myths of ancient Egypt , with Ra and Horus . Several Egyptian kings were buried with ships that may have been intended to symbolize the solar barque, including the Khufu ship that was buried at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza . Solar boats and similar vessels also appear in Indo-European mythologies, such as

1536-586: A people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age . They spoke the Hurrian language , and lived throughout northern Syria , upper Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia . The Hurrians were first documented in the city of Urkesh , where they built their first kingdom. Their largest and most influential Hurrian kingdom was Mitanni . The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia included

1632-477: A region stretching from the Caucasus Mountains in the north, to the borders of northern Assyria and northern Ancient Iran in the south, and controlled much of eastern Anatolia. Some scientists consider Urartu to be a re-consolidation of earlier Hurrian populations mainly due to linguistic factors, but this view is not universally held. After the destruction of Mitanni by the Hittites around 1350-1325 BC,

1728-510: A sacred symbol in Bakongo culture, depicts these moments of the sun. The Sun ( Albanian : Diell-i ) holds the primary role in Albanian pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths, and legends. Albanian major traditional festivities and calendar rites are based on the Sun, worshiped as the god of light , sky and weather , giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye. In Albanian tradition

1824-537: A solar nature, fitting her role as a goddess of fire and light. In Chinese mythology (cosmology), there were originally ten suns in the sky, who were all brothers. They were supposed to emerge one at a time as commanded by the Jade Emperor. They were all very young and loved to fool around. Once they decided to all go into the sky to play, all at once. This made the world too hot for anything to grow. A hero named Hou Yi , honored to this day, shot down nine of them with

1920-456: A staff is present on the seal of Lugal-ushumgal , governor of Lagash during the reigns of Naram-Sin of Akkad and his son Shar-Kali-Sharri . A sukkal was expected to walk in front of their master, leading the way with their staff. Sukkals could be associated with doors as well. In literary texts, they could be tasked with screening visitors who wanted to see their master. The title of sukkalmaḫ could be applied to divine sukkals, though there

2016-477: A struggle between the pharaoh's soul and an avatar of Osiris. Ra travels across the sky in his solar-boat; at dawn he drives away the god of chaos, Apep . The "solarisation" of several local gods (Hnum-Re, Min-Re, Amon-Re) reached its peak in the period of the Fifth Dynasty. Rituals to the god Amun, who became identified with the sun god Ra, were often carried out on the top of temple pylons . A pylon mirrored

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2112-443: A sukkal served as an intermediary between the royal administration and foreign envoys. There is evidence that they often knew more than one language and acted as translators , and some were likely foreigners or children of foreigners who settled in Mesopotamia. In some cases, a specific foreign dignitary was always mentioned alongside the same local sukkal accompanying him. A related office, known from Early Dynastic Girsu and from

2208-502: Is Sunna . In the Norse traditions, Sól rode through the sky on her chariot every day, pulled by two horses named Arvak and Alsvid. Sól also was called Sunna and Frau Sunne. First century historian Tacitus , in his book Germania , mentioned that "beyond the Suiones [tribe]" a sea was located where the sun maintained its brilliance from its rising to its sunset, and that "[the] popular belief"

2304-484: Is assumed that it referred to a sukkal particularly emotionally close to their master. Deities referred to this way include Ninshubur (both male and female), Bunene , Ninpirig, Nabu and Muduggasa'a (in a bilingual text where he occurs as the equivalent of the former), and Innimanizi. The number of references to each of them is not equal, and only Ninshubur is referred to as SAL.ḪÚB 2 more than once or twice, with seven recorded instances currently known. In one case, she

2400-421: Is assumed to have been feminine, and several goddesses have been proposed as possibly solar in character. In Continental Celtic culture , the sun gods, like Belenus , Grannus , and Lugus , were masculine. In Irish , the name of the Sun, Grian , is feminine. The figure known as Áine is generally assumed to have been either synonymous with her, or her sister, assuming the role of Summer Sun while Grian

2496-451: Is characterized by reddish painted lines with a geometric triangular pattern and dots, while Nuzi ware has very distinctive forms, and are painted in brown or black. They were also skilled at glass working. The Hurrians had a reputation in metallurgy . It is proposed that the Sumerian term for "coppersmith" tabira / tibira was borrowed from Hurrian, which would imply an early presence of

2592-439: Is no evidence that a divine sukkalmaḫ was in charge of regular sukkals, and in some cases a deity had multiple sukkals but none of them was referred as a sukkalmaḫ, while in other a sukkalmaḫ was the only sukkal of their master. Most likely addressing a deity as a sukkalmaḫ was only meant to highlight the high position of their master in the pantheon. Deities addressed as sukkalmaḫs include Nuska (the sukkal of Enlil ), Ara (one of

2688-475: Is regarded by Assyriologists as "the earliest and most important" sukkal, the "archetypal vizier of the gods." The attribute associated with all sukkals was a staff. Papsukkal could be called bēl ḫaṭṭi , "lord of the staff." Similarly, Nuska bore the Sumerian epithet en-ĝidri , "lord of the scepter." Alla , Isimud and Ninshubur were depicted holding staffs too. One possible depiction of Ninshubur carrying

2784-535: Is sometimes referred to by its Latin name Sol or by its Greek name Helios . The English word sun derives from Proto-Germanic * sunnǭ . Predynasty Egyptian beliefs attribute Atum as the Sun god and Horus as a god of the sky and Sun. As the Old Kingdom theocracy gained influence, early beliefs were incorporated into the expanding popularity of Ra and the Osiris - Horus mythology. Atum became Ra-Atum,

2880-406: Is suitable for the sukkals of particularly well established deities: Ninshubur, Nuska, Bunene, Isimud and Alammuš, whose character was independent from that of their masters. It is sometimes argued that a sukkal had to match the gender for their master. However, Namtar , Ereshkigal 's sukkal, was male. The sukkal of the medicine goddess Gula , Urmašum, was a male deity too. Amasagnudi, regarded as

2976-483: The Amarna Letters during the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1353–1336 BC). Domestically, Mitanni records have been found at a number of places in the region including several Hittite sites as well as Tell Bazi , Alalakh , Nuzi , Mardaman , Kemune , and Müslümantepe among others. Another major center of Hurrian influence was the kingdom of Arrapha . Excavations at Yorgan Tepe, ancient Nuzi, proved this to be one of

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3072-568: The Bronze Age , and "my Sun" was eventually used to address royalty. Similarly, South American cultures have a tradition of Sun worship as with the Incan Inti . In Germanic mythology, the solar deity is Sol ; in Vedic , Surya ; and in Greek, Helios (occasionally referred to as Titan ) and (sometimes) as Apollo . In Proto-Indo-European mythology the sun appears to be a multilayered figure manifested as

3168-446: The Hurrian and Urartian languages are related, there is little similarity between corresponding systems of belief. The main gods in the Hurrian pantheon were: Hurrian cylinder seals often depict mythological creatures such as winged humans or animals, dragons and other monsters. The interpretation of these depictions of gods and demons remains uncertain. They may have been both protective and evil spirits. Some are reminiscent of

3264-479: The Japanese ( Amaterasu ). The cobra (of Pharaoh, son of Ra), the lioness (daughter of Ra), and the cow (daughter of Ra), are the dominant symbols of the most ancient Egyptian deities. They were female and carried their relationship to the sun atop their heads, and their cults remained active throughout the history of the culture. Later another sun god ( Aten ) was established in the eighteenth dynasty on top of

3360-680: The Sabines at the times of Titus Tatius . Copernicus describing the Sun mythologically, drawing from Greco-Roman examples: In the middle of all sits the Sun on his throne. In this loveliest of temples, could we place the luminary in any more appropriate place so that he may light the whole simultaneously. Rightly is he called the Lamp, the Mind, the Ruler of the Universe: Hermes Trismegistus entitles him

3456-684: The Ur III period mentions a nameless sukkal of the artisan goddess Ninmug . Frans Wiggermann argues that based on iconographic evidence it can be assumed that sukkals associated with Nanshe and Ningirsu also existed, though their names are unknown. The concept of sukkal was also incorporated into Hurrian religion . The Hurrian spelling of this word was šukkalli . All of the major Hurrian gods were believed to have their own sukkals. Hurrians The Hurrians ( / ˈ h ʊər i ən z / ; Hurrian : 𒄷𒌨𒊑 , romanized:  Ḫu-ur-ri ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were

3552-587: The cosmic renewal. The most famous representation of it is the constant battle between drangue and kulshedra , which is seen as a mythological extension of the cult of the Sun and the Moon, widely observed in Albanian traditional art. In Albanian traditions, kulshedra is also fought by the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun, who uses her light power against pride and evil, or by other heroic characters marked in their bodies by

3648-406: The crescent Moon , is commonly found in a variety of contexts of Albanian folk art, including traditional tattooing , grave art, jewellery, embroidery, and house carvings. Solemn oaths ( Besa ), good omens, and curse formulas, involve and are addressed to, or taken by, the Sun. Prayers to the Sun, ritual bonfires , and animal sacrifices have been common practices performed by Albanians during

3744-413: The fire – zjarri , evidently also called with the theonym Enji – worship and rituals are particularly related to the cult of the Sun. Ritual calendar fires or bonfires are traditionally kindled before sunrise in order to give strength to the Sun and to ward off evil . Many rituals are practiced before and during sunrise , honoring this moment of the day as it is believed to give energy and health to

3840-495: The hieroglyph for 'horizon' or akhet , which was a depiction of two hills "between which the sun rose and set", associated with recreation and rebirth. On the first pylon of the temple of Isis at Philae , the pharaoh is shown slaying his enemies in the presence of Isis, Horus, and Hathor. In the Eighteenth Dynasty , the earliest-known monotheistic head of state, Akhenaten , changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to

3936-451: The moon goddess Chang'e and her festivals are very popular among followers of Chinese folk religion and Taoism . The goddess and her holy days are ingrained in Chinese popular culture . In Germanic mythology , the sun is personified by Sol . The corresponding Old English name is Siȝel [ˈsijel] , continuing Proto-Germanic *Sôwilô or *Saewelô. The Old High German Sun goddess

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4032-611: The "solar chariot" is younger than that of the solar barge and is typically Indo-European , corresponding with the Indo-European expansion after the invention of the chariot in the 2nd millennium BC. The reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European religion features a "solar chariot " or "sun chariot" with which the Sun traverses the sky. Chariots were introduced to Egypt in the Hyksos period , and seen as solar vehicles associated with

4128-558: The Assyrian shedu . The Hurrian gods do not appear to have had particular home temples, like in the Mesopotamian or Ancient Egyptian religion . Some important cult centres were Kummanni in Kizzuwatna and Hittite Yazilikaya . Harran was at least later a religious centre for the moon god, and Shauskha had an important temple in Nineve , when the city was under Hurrian rule. A temple of Nergal

4224-569: The Aten during the reign of Akhenaten. In Kongo religion , Nzambi Mpungu is the Sky Father and god of the Sun, while that his female counterpart, Nzambici , is Sky Mother and the god of the Moon and Earth. The Sun is very significant to Bakongo people , who believe that the position of the sun marks the different seasons of a Kongo person's life as they transition between the four moments of life: conception ( musoni ), birth ( kala ), maturity ( tukula ), and death ( luvemba ). The Kongo cosmogram ,

4320-502: The Hurrian deity Teshub , and several Shubrian names have Hurrian origins. Hurrians formed part of the Shubrian population and may have been the predominant group. Some scholars have suggested that Shubria was the last remnant of Hurrian civilization, or even constituted the original homeland of the Hurrians. Karen Radner writes that Shubria "can certainly be described as [a] (linguistically and culturally) Hurrian" state. According to Radner,

4416-541: The Hurrians way before their first historical mention in Akkadian sources. Copper was traded south to Mesopotamia from the highlands of Anatolia . The Khabur Valley had a central position in the metal trade, and copper, silver and even tin were accessible from the Hurrian-dominated countries Kizzuwatna and Ishuwa situated in the Anatolian highland. Gold was in short supply, and the Amarna letters inform us that it

4512-491: The Moon and the Sun"); in others the Sun and the Moon are regarded as brother and sister, but in this case they are never considered consorts. Nëna e Diellit ("the Mother of the Sun" or "the Sun's Mother") also appears as a personified deity in Albanian folk beliefs and tales. Albanian beliefs, myths and legends are organized around the dualistic struggle between good and evil , light and darkness , which cyclically produces

4608-592: The Sun "God Visible". The Minotaur has been interpreted as a solar deity (as Moloch or Chronos ), including by Arthur Bernard Cook , who considers both Minos and Minotaur as aspects of the sun god of the Cretans , who depicted the sun as a bull. During the Roman Empire , a festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun (or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti ) was celebrated on the winter solstice —the "rebirth" of

4704-496: The Sun myth by proving that the gods of certain Rajput clans were actual warriors who founded the clans a few centuries ago, and were the ancestors of the present chieftains. The Sun was sometimes envisioned as traveling through the sky in a boat. A prominent example is the solar barque used by Ra in ancient Egyptian mythology . The Neolithic concept of a "solar barge" (also "solar bark", "solar barque", "solar boat" and "sun boat",

4800-514: The Sun was the chief cult object of the Illyrian religion . Finding correspondences with Albanian folk beliefs and practices, the Illyrian Sun-deity is figuratively represented on Iron Age plaques from Lake Shkodra as the god of the sky and lightning , also associated with the fire altar where he throws lightning bolts. The symbolization of the cult of the Sun, which is often combined with

4896-585: The Sun—which occurred on 25 December of the Julian calendar . In late antiquity , the theological centrality of the Sun in some Imperial religious systems suggests a form of a "solar monotheism ". The religious commemorations on 25 December were replaced under Christian domination of the Empire with the birthday of Christ. Much more ancient was the cult of Sol Indiges , supposed to have been introduced among Roman deities by

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4992-713: The Syrian Department of Antiquities. The tells, or city mounds, often reveal a long occupation beginning in the Neolithic and ending in the Roman period or later. The characteristic Hurrian pottery, the Khabur ware, is helpful in determining the different strata of occupation within the mounds. The Hurrian settlements are usually identified from the Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Late Bronze Age, with Tell Mozan (Urkesh) being

5088-591: The administrative texts of the Third Dynasty of Ur , was that of the sukkalmah (GAL.SUKKAL, sukkalmaḫḫu ). Tonia Sharlach proposes this term should be understood as the equivalent of a modern secretary of state . A sukkalmah was in charge of a number of sukkals. In Elam, this term was adopted as a royal title, possibly because the sukkalmahs of the Ur III state, who resides in Lagash , close to Elamite territory, were in charge of

5184-868: The ancient sites are the many dam projects in the Euphrates , Tigris and Khabur valleys. Several rescue operations have already been undertaken when the construction of dams put entire river valleys under water. The first major excavations of Hurrian sites in Iraq and Syria began in the 1920s and 1930s. They were led by the American archaeologist Edward Chiera at Yorghan Tepe (Nuzi), and the British archaeologist Max Mallowan at Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak. Recent excavations and surveys in progress are conducted by American, Belgian, Danish, Dutch, French, German and Italian teams of archaeologists, with international participants, in cooperation with

5280-692: The area of Kirkuk in modern Iraq by the Middle Bronze Age . Their presence was attested at Nuzi , Urkesh and other sites. They eventually occupied a broad arc of fertile farmland stretching from the Khabur River valley in the west to the foothills of the Zagros Mountains in the east. By this point, during the Old Babylonian period in the early second millennium BC, the Amorite kingdom of Mari to

5376-478: The body. As the wide set of cultic traditions dedicated to him indicates, the Albanian Sun-god appears to be an expression of the Proto-Indo-European Sky-god ( Zot or Zojz in Albanian). Albanians were firstly described in written sources as worshippers of the Sun and the Moon by German humanist Sebastian Franck in 1534, but the Sun and the Moon have been preserved as sacred elements of Albanian tradition since antiquity. Illyrian material culture shows that

5472-421: The coastal region of Adaniya in the country of Kizzuwatna , southern Anatolia. Yamhad eventually weakened vis-a-vis the powerful Hittites, but this also opened Anatolia for Hurrian cultural influences. The Hittites were influenced by both the Hurrian cultures over the course of several centuries. The city of Shibaniba (Tell Billa) may have also played an important role at that time. Possible Hurrian occupation

5568-470: The control of the Assyrians. The Hurrian entity of Mitanni, which first rose to power before 1550 BC, was first mentioned in the records of Egyptian pharaohs Thutmose I (1506–1493 BC) and Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC), the later most notably associated with the Battle of Megiddo in that pharaoh's 22 regnal year. Most of the time Egyptians referred to the kingdom as Naharin . Later, Mitanni and Hanigalbat (the Assyrian name for Mitanni) are mentioned in

5664-452: The eye as well as epithets associated with light. The theonym Sulevia , which is more widespread and probably unrelated to Sulis, is sometimes taken to have suggested a pan-Celtic role as a solar goddess. The Welsh Olwen has at times been considered a vestige of the local sun goddess, in part due to the possible etymological association with the wheel and the colors gold, white and red. Brighid has at times been argued as having had

5760-426: The horned-cow is one of the 12 daughters of Ra, gifted with joy and is a wet-nurse to Horus. From at least the 4th Dynasty of ancient Egypt , the Sun was worshiped as the deity Ra (pronounced probably as Riya, meaning simply ' the sun ' ), and portrayed as a falcon -headed god surmounted by the solar disk, and surrounded by a serpent. Re supposedly gave warmth to the living body, symbolized as an ankh :

5856-578: The main exception. The list includes some important ancient sites from the area dominated by the Hurrians. Excavation reports and images are found at the websites linked. As noted above, important discoveries of Hurrian culture and history were also made at Alalakh, Amarna, Hattusa and Ugarit. Sun god A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun or an aspect thereof. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The Sun

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5952-432: The morning or lie down at night. Left to themselves the old won't die; the young won't cry. Solar deities are often thought of as male (and lunar deities as being female) but the opposite has also been the case. In Germanic mythology , the Sun is female, and the Moon is male. Other European cultures that have sun goddesses include the Lithuanians ( Saulė ) and Latvians (Saule), the Finns ( Päivätär , Beiwe ) and

6048-431: The most important sites for our knowledge about the Hurrians. Hurrian kings such as Ithi-Teshup and Ithiya ruled over Arrapha, yet by the mid-fifteenth century BC they had become vassals of the Great King of Mitanni. At the end of the second millennium BC the Urartians around Lake Van and Mount Ararat rose in power forming the Kingdom of Urartu . During the 11th and 10th centuries BC, the kingdom eventually encompassed

6144-448: The nature of Lamma deities can be compared to modern idea of guardian angels . In addition to the sukkals listed above, according to the god list An = Anum the following deities had sukkals whose names are either not preserved or only partially preserved in known copies: Dingirmah, a goddess from Adab conflated with Ninhursag , Gishhuranki, the wife of Ashgi , Šulpae , Panigingarra , and Ninsun . An offering list from Umma from

6240-548: The other solar deities, before the "aberration" was stamped out and the old pantheon re-established. When male deities became associated with the sun in that culture, they began as the offspring of a mother (except Ra, King of the Gods who gave birth to himself). Sun worship was prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion . The earliest deities associated with the Sun are all goddesses: Wadjet , Sekhmet , Hathor , Nut , Bast , Bat , and Menhit . First Hathor, and then Isis, give birth to and nurse Horus and Ra , respectively. Hathor

6336-434: The rays of the setting Sun. Osiris became the divine heir to Atum's power on Earth and passed his divine authority to his son, Horus. Other early Egyptian myths imply that the Sun is incorporated with the lioness Sekhmet at night and is reflected in her eyes; or that the Sun is found within the cow Hathor during the night and reborn each morning as her son ( bull ). Mesopotamian Shamash played an important role during

6432-511: The related Hungarians . Sun goddesses are found around the world in Australia ( Bila , Wala ); in Indian tribal religions (Bisal- Mariamma , Bomong , 'Ka Sgni ) and Sri Lanka ( Pattini ); among the Hittites ( Wurusemu ), Berbers ( Tafukt ), Egyptians ( Hathor , Sekhmet ), and Canaanites ( Shapash ); in the Canary Islands ( Chaxiraxi , Magec ); in Native America, among the Cherokee ( Unelanuhi ), Natchez (Oüa Chill/Uwahci∙ł), Inuit ( Siqiniq ), and Miwok ( He'-koo-lās ); and in Asia among

6528-461: The ritual pilgrimages on mountain tops. In Albanian pagan beliefs and mythology the Sun is a personified male deity, and the Moon ( Hëna ) is his female counterpart. In pagan beliefs the fire hearth ( vatra e zjarrit ) is the symbol of fire as the offspring of the Sun. In some folk tales, myths and legends the Sun and the Moon are regarded as husband and wife, also appearing as the parents of E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit ("the Daughter of

6624-462: The role of a mediator between a major deity and worshipers played by Ninshubur in the cult of Inanna has been compared to that played by the spouses of other major gods, Aya in the cult of Shamash or Shala in Adad's. Sukkals have also been compared to angels in comparative scholarship, and some researchers, for example Jan van Dijk and Frans Wiggermann, tentatively label study of sukkals as "Sumerian angelology ." Similarly, it has been argued that

6720-416: The sacred beast away. The Deity of the Sun in Chinese mythology is Ri Gong Tai Yang Xing Jun (Tai Yang Gong/Grandfather Sun) or Star Lord of the Solar Palace, Lord of the Sun. In some mythologies, Tai Yang Xing Jun is believed to be Hou Yi. Tai Yang Xing Jun is usually depicted with the Star Lord of the Lunar Palace, Lord of the Moon, Yue Gong Tai Yin Xing Jun (Tai Yin Niang Niang/Lady Tai Yin). Worship of

6816-417: The south had subdued Urkesh and made it a vassal state. Urkesh later became a Mitanni religious center. The Hurrians also migrated further west in this period. By 1725 BC they are found also in parts of northern Syria , such as Alalakh . The mixed Amorite–Hurrian kingdom of Yamhad is recorded as struggling for this area with the early Hittite king Hattusilis I around 1600 BC. Hurrians also settled in

6912-500: The southeast, and later by the Assyrians to the east. At its maximum extent Mitanni ranged as far as west as Kizzuwatna by the Taurus mountains, Tunip in the south, Arraphe in the east, and north to Lake Van . Their sphere of influence is shown in spread Hurrian place names, personal names. Eventually, after an internal succession crisis, Mitanni fell to the Hittites, later to fall under

7008-454: The stones still standing were associated with observations of sunrise or sunset at the solstices and equinoxes. ) Those who practice Dievturība , beliefs of traditional Latvian culture , worship the Sun goddess Saule , known in traditional Lithuanian beliefs as Saulė. Saule is among the most important deities in Baltic mythology and traditions. The sun in Insular Celtic culture

7104-474: The study, Müller concluded that the Sun having many different names led to the creation of multiple solar deities and their mythologies that were passed down from one group to another. R. F. Littledale criticized the Sun myth theory, pointing out that by his own principles, Max Müller was himself only a solar myth. Alfred Lyall delivered another attack on the same theory's assumption that tribal gods and heroes, such as those of Homer , were only reflections of

7200-406: The sukkal), deities dealing with the personal needs of a god, and finally those tasked with upkeep of their household, such as divine cooks or gardeners . In myths, sukkals act both as traveling envoys of their masters, and as their advisors at home. Wisdom was frequently regarded as a trait of this class of deities. While most deities had courtiers, usually only these whose position in the pantheon

7296-507: The sun chariot is associated with the passage of time. For instance, in the poem Suffering from the Shortness of Days , Li He of the Tang dynasty is hostile towards the legendary dragons that drew the sun chariot as a vehicle for the continuous progress of time. The following is an excerpt from the poem: I will cut off the dragon's feet, chew the dragon's flesh, so that they can't turn back in

7392-566: The sun god in the subsequent New Kingdom period. A gold solar boat model from the tomb of Queen Ahhotep , dating from the beginning of the New Kingdom ( c.  1550 BC ), was mounted on four-spoked chariot wheels. Similarities have been noted with the Trundholm Sun Chariot from Denmark, dating from c.  1500 –1400 BC, which was also mounted on four-spoked wheels. Examples of solar chariots include: In Chinese culture,

7488-605: The swallowed gods is like the Hurrian myth of Teshub and Kumarbi. It has been argued that the worship of Attis drew on Hurrian myth. The agglutinating and highly ergative Hurrian language is related to the Urartian language, the language of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. Together they form the Hurro-Urartian language family . The external connections of the Hurro-Urartian languages are disputed. There exist various proposals for

7584-543: The symbols of celestial objects, such as Zjermi (lit. "the Fire"), who notably is born with the Sun on his forehead. In Armenian mythology and in the vicinity of Carahunge , the ancient site of interest in the field of archaeoastronomy , people worshiped a powerful deity or intelligence called Ara, embodied as the sun (Ar or Arev). The ancient Armenians called themselves "children of the sun". (Russian and Armenian archaeoastronomers have suggested that at Carahunge seventeen of

7680-545: The term Shubaru was used in Assyrian sources to refer to the remnants of the Mitanni in the upper Tigris valley. The Shubaru people revolted against the Assyrians multiple times in the last centuries of the second millennium BC. The term is related to Shubria , the name of a country located north of the upper Tigris River valley. Shubria was located between Urartu and Assyria and existed as an independent kingdom until its conquest by Assyria in 673–672 BC. The Shubrians worshipped

7776-399: The territories surrounding Susa when the state they served reached its maximal extent. The so-called Sukkalmah Dynasty ruled over Elam in the early second millennium BCE. Some lexical texts explain sukkal as pašišu , "salve priest," though the reason behind the equation of these two terms is not known. In Mesopotamian religion , some deities were designated as sukkals and functioned as

7872-464: The third millennium BC. There is evidence that they were initially allied with the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia , indicating they had a firm hold on the area by the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2254–2218 BC). A king of Urkesh with the Hurrian name Tupkish had a queen with the name Uqnitum, Akkadian for "girl of lapis lazuli". Hurrian names occur sporadically in northwestern Mesopotamia and

7968-561: The third millennium BCE. It is also the conventional term for the head of the Eblaite administration , most likely referred to as lugal sa-za . The word sukkal is attested in Eblaite documents, but seemingly designates a type of clergyman instead. This office of sukkal is also known from outside southern Mesopotamia, for example from Mari from Alalakh in western Syria, from the Hurrian kingdom of Arrapha in northeastern Mesopotamia, and from Elam . At least in southern Mesopotamia and Mari,

8064-402: The two sukkals of Enki ), Ninpirig (one of the sukkals of Utu ), Ninshubur (the sukkal of Inanna ) and Alammuš (the sukkal of Nanna). A further title used to describe some of the divine sukkals was SAL.ḪÚB 2 . In most of the texts where this word is attested, it occurs in parallel with "sukkal." It only ever designates gods, not human officials, and only a handful of attestations are known. It

8160-509: The west, and judge of the dead. In the New Empire period, the Sun became identified with the dung beetle , whose spherical ball of dung was identified with the Sun. In the form of the sun disc Aten , the Sun had a brief resurgence during the Amarna Period when it again became the preeminent, if not only, divinity for the pharaoh , Akhenaton . The Sun's movement across the sky represents

8256-439: Was acquired from Egypt. Not many examples of Hurrian metal work have survived, except from the later Urartu. Some small fine bronze lion foundation pegs were discovered at Urkesh. Among the Hurrian texts from Ugarit are the oldest known instances of written music , dating from c. 1400 BC. Among these fragments are found the names of four Hurrian composers, Tapšiẖuni, Puẖiya(na), Urẖiya, and Ammiya. The Hurrian culture made

8352-450: Was built in Urkesh in the late third millennium BC. The town of Kahat was a religious centre in the kingdom of Mitanni. The Hurrian myth "The Songs of Ullikummi", preserved among the Hittites, is a parallel to Hesiod 's Theogony ; the castration of Uranus by Cronus may be derived from the castration of Anu by Kumarbi , while Zeus 's overthrow of Cronus and Cronus's regurgitation of

8448-449: Was female. It has been argued that many sukkals simply represented the effect of their masters' actions: the fire god Gibil was served by a deified flame , Nablum, while the weather god Ishkur by a deified lightning , Nimgir. Other seem to be personifications of specific commands, for example Eturammi ("do not slacken"), Nēr-ē-tagmil ("kill, spare not") or Ugur ("destroy"). However, Frans Wiggermann points out that neither explanation

8544-464: Was identified at Tell Billa during the middle of the second millenium BC. In 2022 Tell Billa was proposed as the possible site of the city of Šimānum (possibly known as Asimānum during the Akkadian Empire). Šimānum was important during the Ur III period (ca 2100 BC). The Mitanni Empire was a strong regional power limited by the Hittites to the north, Egyptians to the southwest, Kassites to

8640-399: Was labeled as the "beloved SAL.ḪÚB 2 of Inanna," and appears right after Dumuzi in an enumeration of deities associated with her mistress, before some of her family members, for example her sister in law Geshtinanna . In some cases, terms such as MUNUS.SUKKAL (for example in the case of Sililitum) or nin -sukkal (in the case of Ninshubur and Amasagnudi ) was used to indicate a sukkal

8736-439: Was sometimes depicted as driving a fiery chariot. The Greek astronomer Thales of Miletus described the scientific properties of the Sun and Moon, making their godship unnecessary. Anaxagoras was arrested in 434 BC and banished from Athens for denying the existence of a solar or lunar deity. The titular character of Sophocles ' Electra refers to the Sun as "All-seeing". Hermetic author Hermes Trismegistus calls

8832-472: Was that "the sound of its emergence was audible" and "the form of its horses visible". In Greek mythology , Helios , a Titan , was the personification of the Sun ; however, with the notable exception of the island of Rhodes and nearby parts of southwestern Anatolia , he was a relatively minor deity. The Ancient Greeks also associated the Sun with Apollo , the god of enlightenment. Apollo (along with Helios)

8928-514: Was the Winter Sun. Similarly, Étaín has at times been considered to be another theonym associated with the Sun; if this is the case, then the pan-Celtic Epona might also have been originally solar in nature. The British Sulis has a name cognate with that of other Indo-European solar deities such as the Greek Helios and Indic Surya , and bears some solar traits like the association with

9024-528: Was the closest to the language spoken by the Aryans . Using the Sanskrit names for deities as a base, he applied Grimm's law to names for similar deities from different Indo-European groups to compare their etymological relationships to one another. In the comparison, Müller saw the similarities between the names and used these etymological similarities to explain the similarities between their roles as deities. Through

9120-443: Was the only long Hurrian text known until a multi-tablet collection of literature in Hurrian with a Hittite translation was discovered at Hattusa in 1983. Hurrian settlements are distributed over three modern countries, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The heart of the Hurrian world is bisected by the modern border between Syria and Turkey. Several sites are situated within the border zone, making access for excavations problematic. A threat to

9216-398: Was well established had sukkals, and sukkals of the major city gods were likely the oldest deities of this type. Instances of a sukkal having a sukkal of their own, while known, should be regarded as an anomaly according to Richard L. Litke. For example, Niĝgina , a sukkal of the sun god Utu , had her own sukkal, as did Alammuš , the sukkal of the moon god Nanna . The goddess Ninshubur

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