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Hutena and Hutellura (also spelled Hudena and Hudellura; ''ḫdn ḫdlr'' in
alphabetic An alphabet is a standard set of letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from another in a given ...
Ugaritic texts The Ugaritic texts are a corpus of ancient cuneiform texts discovered in 1928 in Ugarit (Ras Shamra) and Ras Ibn Hani in Syria, and written in Ugaritic language, Ugaritic, an otherwise unknown Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic langua ...
) were goddesses of fate and divine midwives in Hurrian mythology.


Number

An unresolved problem in scholarship is the number of goddesses referred to with the names "Hutena and Hutellura." Piotr Taracha notes that only two figures depicted on the Yazılıkaya reliefs are labeled as such, but at the same the names appear to be plural. However, he also notes that based on equations in god lists the name Hutellura seemed to refer to a singular goddess, corresponding to Mesopotamian Ninmah, Nintu or Aruru. He concludes that it can be assumed they were a pair worshiped together, like
Ninatta and Kulitta Ninatta and Kulitta were a dyad of Hurrian goddesses regarded as the handmaidens of Šauška. They were primarily considered divine musicians, though they also had a warlike aspect. They are attested in western Hurrian sources from Ugarit and Hat ...
or
Ishara Ishara may refer to: * Išḫara, a Hurrian deity *Ishara, a small town in Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the n ...
and Allani. Alfonso Archi assumes that the development of Hutena and Hutellura in Hurrian religion was influenced by the Syrian midwife goddesses, known as Kotharāt in Ugarit or Kûšarātum in Mari (both derived from the Semitic root ''kšr'', "to be skilled"), who were regarded as a group of seven. According to god lists, Hutena and Hutellura were equated both with them and with Šassūrātu (derived from ''šassūru'', "womb," a Sumerian loanword in Akkadian), assistants of the Mesopotamian birth goddess. As attested in the myth ''
Enki Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and ...
and Ninmah'', the latter group consisted of seven goddesses:
Shuzianna Shuzianna (Šuzianna; 𒀭𒋗𒍣𒀭𒈾 '' dŠu-zi-an-na'') was a Mesopotamian goddess. She was chiefly worshiped in Nippur, where she was regarded as a secondary spouse of Enlil. She is also known from the enumerations of children of Enmesha ...
,
Ninimma Ninimma was a Mesopotamian goddess best known as a courtier of Enlil. She is well attested as a deity associated with scribal arts, and is variously described as a divine scholar, scribe or librarian by modern Assyriologists. She could also serv ...
, Ninmada, Ninšar, Ninmug, Mumudu and Ninnigina. On this basis, he proposes that Hutena and Hutellura should also be understood as a heptad.


Character

Emmanuel Laroche proposed that their names are both derived from the
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) ...
verb ''ḫut'', perhaps to be translated as "to favor." Another proposed translation for the root word is "to raise." Alfonso Archi suggests the translation "those of favoring" for Hutena and notes that while derived from the same root, Hutellura most likely needs to be understood as analogous to the word ''hutelluri'', "midwife." He assumes the names reflected their benevolent nature. A connection existed between Allani and Hutena-Hutellura, possibly due to the belief that the determination of each person's fate took place in the
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
. While in theory it can be assumed that Hutena-Hutellura were regarded as responsible for premature deaths, such cases were often explained as divine wrath affecting a community. The character of the fate goddesses themselves was regarded as benevolent. In addition to determining fates, Hutena and Hutellura were also goddesses of birth and midwifery. As such, they were likely believed to be responsible for shaping the fetus during pregnancy.


Worship

Hutena and Hutellura appear in ''kaluti'' (offering lists) of the goddess Hebat and her circle, usually following her servant Takitu and preceding the pair Ishara and Allani. In the Yazılıkaya sanctuary, they are likewise placed right behind Hebat, her daughters and Takitu, with the figures representing them labeled as 47 and 48 in modern scholarly sources. An exception is known from the Hurrian offering lists from Ugarit, where Hebat is followed by Ishara and Allani, while Takitu, Hutena and Hutellura are placed behind this pair. Hutena and Hutellura were most likely originally incorporated into Hebat's court in ancient
Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
. In rituals they could also appear in relation to Ea, Damkina and Izzummi (the Hurrian name of Isimud), who in Anatolia were part of the Hurrian pantheon.


Mythology

Hutena and Hutellura appear in the myths ''Song of Hedammu'' and ''Song of Ullikummi'', both of which belong to the cycle of
Kumarbi Kumarbi, also known as Kumurwe, Kumarwi and Kumarma, was a Hurrian god. He held a senior position in the Hurrian pantheon, and was described as the "father of gods". He was portrayed as an old, deposed king of the gods, though this most likely ...
. In the latter text, they are present during the birth of the eponymous stone monster, and present him to his father Kumarbi. In Hittite translations both of this cycle and other Hurrian myths and ritual texts they are substituted with the Gulšeš and DINGIR.MAH.


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Hurrian mythology Hurrian deities Hittite deities Ugaritic deities Time and fate goddesses