The Weather god of Nerik is a Hittite

weather god A weather god or goddess, also frequently known as a storm god or goddess, is a deity in mythology associated with weather phenomena such as thunder, snow, lightning, rain, wind, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Should they only be in ch ...

, who was mainly worshipped in the Hittite city of

Nerik Nerik ( Hittite: ''Nerik(ka)''"Nerik(ka)." ''Reallexikon der Assyriologie.'') was a Bronze Age settlement to the north of the Hittite capitals Hattusa and Sapinuwa, probably in the Pontic region. Since 2005–2009, the site of Nerik has been i ...

, whose cult was relocated to Kaštama and Takupša for two hundred years after the Hittites lost Nerik to the

Kaskians The Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabalian Kasku and Gasga,) were a loosely affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European tribal people, who spoke the unclassified Kaskian language and lived in mountainous East Pontic Anatolia, known from Hittite sour ...

. He was also referred to as Nerak or Nerikkil. In ancient Anatolia, weather gods were the rulers of the sky and the mountains. They cast down thunder, lightning, clouds, rain and storms.Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: ''Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran''. Göttingen 2011, p. 228. The weather god of Nerik was also worshipped as a sender of rain, and as a fertility deity. In the official Hittite state pantheon, the Weather god of Nerik was considered the son of the Weather god of Ḫatti and the

Sun goddess of Arinna The Sun goddess of Arinna, also sometimes identified as Arinniti or as Wuru(n)šemu, is the chief goddess and companion of the weather god Tarḫunna in Hittite mythology. She protected the Hittite kingdom and was called the "Queen of all lands." ...

. However, at his cult centre in Nerik he was instead considered to be the son of the Hattian god and the

Sun goddess of the Earth The Sun goddess of the Earth ( Hittite: ''taknaš dUTU'', Luwian: tiyamaššiš Tiwaz) was the Hittite goddess of the underworld. Her Hurrian equivalent was Allani and her Sumerian/Akkadian equivalent was Ereshkigal, both of which had a marked ...

. The partner of the Weather god of Nerik was the goddess , the Lady of the Palace. During droughts, the winter and after the harvest, it was said that the Weather god of Nerik was asleep in Tešimi's lap. In Nerik, Tešimi was also considered to be the partner of the god Telipinu. After the return of the Weather god of Nerik from the exile in Kaštama, his statue was worshipped in his temple in Nerik, along with the image of the goddess , the city goddess of Kaštama. This does not necessarily mean that they were considered to be a couple since the Weather god of Nerik was already partnered with the goddess Tešimi and Zašḫapuna also had a partner already, the mountain god .Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia.'' Wiesbaden 2009, p. 104.

References

Bibliography

Volkert Haas Volkert may refer to: People * Edward Charles Volkert (1871–1935), American painter * Georg Volkert (1945–2020), German footballer * Stephan Volkert (born 1971), German rower * Volkert Doeksen (born 1963), Dutch money manager * Volkert van der ...

Heidemarie Koch Heidemarie Koch (17 December 1943 – 28 January 2022) was a German Iranologist. Life and career Koch was born in Merseburg, Saxony, Prussia, Germany. She studied mathematics as her major between 1963 and 1966. Subsequently, she worked as a teac ...

: ''Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran.'' Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, . * Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia.'' Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, {{ISBN, 978-3-447-05885-8. Hittite deities Hattian deities Sky and weather gods Agricultural gods