Ammarik, also transcribed as Ammarig or Hammarigu, was a god worshiped in

Ebla Ebla (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', , modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a Tell (archaeology), tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was ...

in the third millennium BCE. He was most likely a deified mountain. After the fall of Ebla, he was incorporated into the pantheon of the

Hurrians The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were 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 southeaste ...

Character

Ammarik was most likely a deified mountain in origin. It is possible that the corresponding landmark is located to the northwest of Ebla, in the proximity of

Church of Saint Simeon Stylites The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites () is one of the oldest surviving church complexes, founded in the 5th century. It is located approximately northwestern of Aleppo, Syria. It was constructed on the site of the pillar of Saint Simeon Stylites ...

. According to Hittite documents, it was located in the land of

Mukish Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished as an urban settlement in the Middle and Late Bronze Age ...

. A proposed identity is

Mount Simeon Mount Simeon or Mount Simon ( Jabal Simʻān ), also called Mount Laylūn (), is a highland region in Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The mountain is located in the Mount Simeon (district), Mount Simeon and A'zaz District, Aʻzāz districts ...

, which according to Alfonso Archi is visible from Ebla. In a Hittite document dealing with the borders of the areas under the control of

Carchemish Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo-Assyrian ...

, Ammarik is mentioned as a mountain, designated with the

determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they ...

ḪUR.SAG. In later periods, the mountain was apparently seen as the residence of a weather deity, as evidenced by the annals of

Ḫattušili I Hattusili I (''Ḫattušili'' I) was a Hittite king, king of the Hittite Old Kingdom. He reigned ca. 1650–1620 BC (middle chronology), or ca. 1640–1610 BC (low middle chronology). Family Ḫattušili was possibly a nephew of his predecess ...

Ammarik and Adarwan

In a ritual text from Ammarik occurs next to Adarwan, most likely also a deified mountain. Alfonso Archi considers him to be a god, but

Volkert Haas Volkert Haas (1 November 1936 – 13 May 2019) was a German Assyrologist and Hittitologist. __NOTOC__ Life Volkert Haas studied Assyrology and Near Eastern archaeology at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Marburg from 1963 to ...

describes Adarwan simply as the "

numen Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for "divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will". The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (), a god "whose numen everything obeys", ...

" of Ammarik. A village sharing the god's name, ''A-dar-a-nu^ki'', is also attested in the Ebla texts. Similarly, a village named after another deified mountain,

Saggar A saggar (also misspelled as sagger or segger) is a type of kiln furniture. It is a ceramic boxlike container used in the firing of pottery to enclose or protect ware being fired inside a kiln. The name may be a contraction of the word ''safeg ...

, also existed. An Eblaite incantation (ARET 5.16) refers to ''^dA-dar-wa-an'' BE ''ti''₈^MUŠEN.''ti''₈^MUŠEN, "Adarwan, lord of the eagles." Eagles were also a symbol of other mountain gods in ancient

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, for example a Hittite text describing the appearance of various deities mentions that the cult statue of the mountain god Kuwarri was accompanied by an iron eagle, while an eagle made out of ivory was an attribute of Iškiša. Documentation pertaining to the ''hišuwa'' festival mentions an eagle who sat on the shoulder of the mountain god

Manuzi Manuzi (also spelled Manuzzi) was a mountain god worshiped in Kizzuwatna. He shared his name with the mountain he represented and with a village. He is best attested from sources pertaining to the ''hišuwa'' festival, which indicate he was the hu ...

, Eribuški.

Worship

in Ebla, two golden bracelets were annually offered to Ammarik and

Aštabi Aštabi (, ''aštb''), also known as Aštabil, was a god worshiped in the third millennium BCE in Ebla, later incorporated into Hurrian beliefs in locations such as Alalakh and Ugarit and as a result also into the religion of the Hittite Empire. ...

. A single instance of a mace being offered to him is also known. He was one of the gods associated with figurines of silver human-faced bulls according to the Eblaite texts, the other ones being Hadda,

Resheph Resheph (also Reshef and many other variants, see below; Eblaite , ''Rašap'', , ''ršp'', Egyptian ', , ''ršp'', ''Rešep̄'') was a god associated with war and plague, originally worshiped in Ebla in the third millennium BCE. He was one of ...

and

Hadabal Hadabal (also spelled 'Adabal) was a god worshiped in Ebla and its surroundings in the third millennium BCE. He was one of the main gods of that area, and appears frequently in Eblaite documents. His character is not well understood, though it has ...

. In one offering list Ammarik appears alongside some of the most commonly mentioned Eblaite gods, such as Aštabi, Hadabal (of Luban), Ala (of Zik), Resheph (of Si'am) and Hadda. Ammarik, as well as an otherwise unknown deity named Dunnān, appear in an Eblaite incantation imploring the weather god Hadda to destroy evil with hail. Ammarik is specifically asked to help Hadda destroy snakes. Daniel Schwemer notes that if the common assumption about Ammarik's character is correct, this might be the oldest attestation of an association between weather gods and mountains in the entire region.

Hurrian and Hittite reception

Alfonso Archi proposes that after the fall of Ebla Ammarik was among the deities who did not retain their former position in the religion of the

Amorites The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Eg ...

, who became the dominant culture in

. He lists Adamma, Aštabi,

Šanugaru Saggar (also Šaggar, Sanugaru, Šanugaru) was a god worshiped in ancient Syria, especially in the proximity of Ebla and Emar, later incorporated into the Hurrian and Hittite pantheons. His name was also the ancient name of the Sinjar Mountains ...

and Halabatu as other similar examples. He assumes that they were reduced to the status of deities of at best local significance, and as a result were easily incorporated into the religion of the

when they arrived in the same area a few centuries later. Ammarik is attested in

Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...

texts from

Hattusa Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...

brought a statue of a storm god named Armaruk in Hittite from conquered Hurrian city Haššuwa. Armaruk or "lord of Armaruk" corresponds to Ammarik.

References

Bibliography