Luwian religion was the religious and mythological beliefs and practices of the

Luwians The Luwians (also known as Luvians) were an ancient people in Anatolia who spoke the Luwian language. During the Bronze Age, Luwians formed part of the population of the Hittite Empire and adjoining states such as Kizzuwatna. During the Hittite ...

, an Indo-European people of

Asia Minor 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 ...

, which is detectable from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

until the early

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. It was strongly affected by foreign influence in all periods and it is not possible to clearly separate it from neighbouring cultures, particularly Syrian and

Hurrian religion The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who chiefly inhabited the north of the Fertile Crescent. While the oldest evidence goes back to the third millennium Common Era, BCE, it is ...

. The Indo-European element in the Luwian religion was stronger than in the neighbouring

Hittite religion Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the religion, religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites, who created an empire centered in Anatolia from . Most of the narratives embodying Hittite mythology are lost, and the elements that w ...

Periodisation

The Luwian religion can be divided into two periods: the Bronze Age period and the Iron Age or Late Luwian period. During the Bronze Age, the Luwians were under the control of the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

. They spoke the

Luwian language Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

, a close relative of the

Hittite language Hittite (, or ), also known as Nesite (Nešite/Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people of Bronze Age Anatolia who created an empire centred on Hattusa, as well as parts of the northern ...

. Although a hieroglyphic script existed in the Bronze Age, which was used for writing Luwian, there are only a few known religious texts of the Luwians from the Bronze Age. After the collapse of the Hittite empire, several Late Luwian states formed in northern Syria and Southern Anatolia, which came partially under

Aramaean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered cent ...

influence and were conquered by the

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

by the 8th century BC. Important Luwian centres in this period included

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 ...

Melid Arslantepe, also known as Melid, was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. It has been identified with the modern archaeological site of Arslantepe near Malatya, Turkey. It was na ...

, and Tabal. The Luwian religion is attested up to the early Roman period in southern Anatolia, specially in

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

, mostly in theophoric personal names.

Bronze Age

The earliest evidence of the Luwians comes from the Old Assyrian archive of traders at the Karum of Kaneš (c. 1900 BC), where some people bear clearly Luwian names, including theophoric names. These indicate that Šanta and Runtiya were worshipped as deities in this period. In Hittite text, pieces of Luwian language often appear in magic rituals, intended to bring rain or heal the sick. These give an important role to the goddess Kamrusepa. However, local cults are also attested, like

Ḫuwaššanna Ḫuwaššanna was a goddess worshiped in Hittite religion and Luwian religion in the second millennium BCE. Her name could be written phonetically or using the logogram dingir, dGazbaba, GAZ.BA.BA and its variants. She was the main goddess of the ...

Ḫubišna Cybistra or Kybistra, earlier known as Ḫubišna, was a town of ancient Cappadocia or Cilicia. The main city of Kybistra/Ḫubišna was located at the site corresponding to present-day , about 10 km northeast of the modern town of Ereğ ...

(modern Ereğli, Konya). The pantheon of the city of Ištanuwa, which is thought to be in the area of the

Sakarya River The Sakarya (; ; ; ) is the third longest river in Turkey. It runs through the region known in ancient times as Phrygia. It was considered one of the principal rivers of Asia Minor (Anatolia) in Greek classical antiquity, and is mentioned in th ...

, belongs to the Luwian religious zone.

Iron Age

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations082 kopie1jpg

Luwian rulers and traders left behind several inscriptions, from the 11th century BC onwards, which provide rich evidence about the religion of the Iron Age Luwians. Among these are depictions of the deities, in the form of statues or rock cut reliefs in the style of Hittite rock reliefs. Many images are known from Melid in particular, which were created by one especially pious king of the 10th century. The reliefs show the king giving libations before a number of deities. One of them also depicts an image of the weather god's battle with a snake-like demon, which recalls the Hittite myth of

Illuyanka In Hittite mythology, Illuyanka was a serpentine dragon slain by Tarḫunz (), the Hittite incarnation of the Hurrian god of sky and storm. It is known from Hittite cuneiform tablets found at Çorum-Boğazköy, the former Hittite capital Hat ...

and the Greek myth of

Typhon Typhon (; , ), also Typhoeus (; ), Typhaon () or Typhos (), was a monstrous serpentine giant and one of the deadliest creatures in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod, Typhon was the son of Gaia and Tartarus. However, one source has Typhon as t ...

Classical Anatolia

According to the evidence of theophoric personal names from ancient Anatolia, mainly

and

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; , ''Lykaonia''; ) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by Phrygia and Pisidia, while to ...

, the Luwian religion survived into the Roman period. The cult of

Šanta Šanta (Santa) was a god worshiped in Bronze Age Anatolia by Luwians and Hittites. It is presumed that he was regarded as a warlike deity, and that he could additionally be associated with plagues and possibly with the underworld, though the latt ...

is attested at Tarsus, where he was identified with

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

. Similar traces, but with clear differences, can be seen in the religion of the

Lycians Lycians () is the name of various peoples who lived, at different times, in Lycia, a geopolitical area in Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). History The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the ''Solymoi'' (or ''Solymi''), also kn ...

and

Carians The Carians (; , ''Kares'', plural of , ''Kar'') were the ancient inhabitants of Caria in southwest Anatolia, who spoke the Carian language. Historical accounts Karkisa It is not clear when the Carians enter into history. The definition is ...

, who were close relatives of the Luwians.

Deities

The Luwian pantheon changed over time. Tarhunt, Tiwad, Arma, Runtiya, and Šanta can be pointed to as the typical Luwian gods, which were always worshipped (the Syrian

Kubaba Kubaba (, ) was a legendary Mesopotamian queen who according to the ''Sumerian King List'' ruled over Kish for a hundred years before the rise of the dynasty of Akshak. It is typically assumed that she was not a historical figure. Name Kubaba' ...

probably also belongs to this group). 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) ...

element, which included Syrian and Babylonian influences, becomes visible later on, with deities like Iya, Hipatu, Šaruma, Alanzu, and Šauska. Unlike the Hittite religion, the Luwians were not significantly influenced by . In the Iron Age, there was also direct influence from Babylonian religion (e.g. Marutika =

Marduk Marduk (; cuneiform: Dingir, ᵈAMAR.UTU; Sumerian language, Sumerian: "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) is a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of Babylon who eventually rose to prominence in the 1st millennium BC. In B ...

) and Aramaean religion (Pahalat = Baalat/Baltis), especially in the way the gods were depicted.

Luwian deities

Tarhunz / Tarhunt

Tarḫunz Tarḫunz (stem: ''Tarḫunt-'') was the weather god and chief god of the Luwians, a people of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Anatolia. He is closely associated with the Hittite god Tarḫunna and the Hurrian god Teshub. Name The name of the Pro ...

/Tarhunt (Nominative: Tarḫunz, Tarhunzas) was the weather god and chief god of the Luwians. Unlike Hittite

Tarḫunna Tarḫunna or Tarḫuna/i was the Hittite weather god. He was also referred to as the "Weather god of Heaven" or the "Lord of the Land of Hatti". Name Tarḫunna is a cognate of the Hittite verb ''tarḫu-zi'', "to prevail, conquer, be pow ...

and Hurrian

Teššub Teshub was the Hurrian weather god, as well as the head of the Hurrian pantheon. The etymology of his name is uncertain, though it is agreed it can be classified as linguistically Hurrian. Both phonetic and logographic writings are attested. As a ...

, his chariot was pulled by horses, not bulls. Usually, the weather god takes on clear traits of a fertility god, as in Late Luwian images showing Tarhunza with bunches of grapes and ears of grain. One of his epithets, ''piḫaššašši'' ("of the thunderbolt") was especially venerated in

Tarḫuntašša Tarḫuntašša ( and : ) was a Bronze Age city in south-central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) mentioned in contemporary documents. Its location is unknown. The city was the capital of the Hittite Empire for a time and later became a regional power ...

, which was at one point the capital of the Hittite empire. Tarḫunt piḫaššašši was even chosen as the personal guardian god of King

Muwatalli II Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish; meaning "mighty") was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology. Biography He was the eldest son of Mursili II ...

. It is assumed that the Greek winged horse,

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

, which carried Zeus' thunderbolt, derives its name from this Luwian epithet. According to Late Luwian texts, Tarhunz gave the king royal power, courage, and marched before him in battle. He brought victory and conquests. In curse formulae, Tarhunz is called upon to "smash enemies with his axe." Often he is referred to as "Tarhunz of the Heavens". His most important cult centre was

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 ...

, where a cult went back to the Bronze Age. The Hittite king

Šuppiluliuma I Šuppiluliuma I, also Suppiluliuma () or Suppiluliumas (died c. 1322 BC) () was an ancient Hittite king (r. –1322 BC).Bryce 2005: xv, 154; Freu 2007b: 311 dates the reign to c. 1350–c. 1319 BC; Kuhrt 1995: 230 dates him within the range 1370 ...

had appointed his son Telipinu as priest and king of Aleppo. As "Tarhunza of the vineyard" (''Tarhunzas Tuwarsas''), he was worshipped in Tabal. King Warpalawas of Tuwanuwa depicted him with ears of grain and bunches of grapes on the İvriz relief. Near the relief is a natural spring, which underlined the fertility aspect of the weather god. Cows and sheep were offered to him as sacrifices, in the hope that he would make the grain and the wine grow. In late Luwian reliefs, Tarhunza is depicted as a bearded god with a short skirt and a helmet. In his right hand he bears an axe or a hammer and in his left hand he holds a bundle of thunderbolts. Often he is shown standing on a bull, like the . Late Luwian inscriptions from Arslantepe also indicate local weather gods, of which nothing more is known than their names.

Other deities

Tiwad (Nom.: Tiwaz) was the Sun god. The Luwians had no female sun deity like the Hittite

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

. One of Tiwad's epithets was ''tati'' ("father"). The Late Luwian king Azatiwada ("Beloved of Tiwad") referred to him as "Tiwad of the Heavens". Kamrušipa was the wife of Tiwad and mother of the guardian god Runtiya. She played an important role in magic rituals. In Late Luwian sources, she is not attested. Arma was the moon god and appears in a large number of theophoric personal names (e.g. Armaziti,Adam Hyllested: "Hittite arma- 'moon' and Indo-European rites of passage." IE Matters Even More, Copenhagen 2011.p.1 "Man of Arma"), suggesting that he was a popular deity. In the Iron Age he completely merged with the moon god

Sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...

and is often referred to in inscriptions as "Harranian Arma". He is depicted as a winged and bearded god with a crescent moon on his helmet. His name was written in Luwian hieroglyphs with a lunette. In curse formulae he is asked to "spear" the victim "with his horn." Runtiya was a guardian god. His animal was the deer and his name was written in hieroglyphs with a deer's antlers. In Late Luwian texts, he is connected to the wilderness and serves as a god of the hunt. He is depicted as a god armed with bow and arrow, standing on a deer. His partner is the goddess Ala, who was identified with Kubaba in Kummuh.

/Santa was a death-bringing god, named along with the dark Marwainzi, as is Nikarawa in Late Luwian texts. This largely unknown deity was called upon in curses to feed an enemy to his dogs or to eat the enemy himself. Šanta was identified with the Babylonian god

in the Bronze Age. His cult endured in Cilician Tarsos until classical antiquity where he was identified with Sandan-Herakles. The goddess of fate and the plague god Iyarri are only attested indirectly in Late Luwian names. In the Bronze Age, the former was known as Gulza.

Deities adopted from elsewhere

Kupapa was one of the most important goddesses of the Late Luwian pantheon. Her attributes were a mirror and a

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

. Her partner was Karhuha. Originally she was the civic goddess of

, but in the Iron Age, her cult spread over the whole of Anatolia and she was adopted by the

Lydians The Lydians (Greek language, Greek: Λυδοί; known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform Wikt:𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭, 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were an Anatolians, Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spo ...

as Kufaws/Kubaba. Whether the Phrygian goddess

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya, Kubeleya'' "Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian: ''Kuvava''; ''Kybélē'', ''Kybēbē'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest ...

derives from Kubaba remains uncertain. The late Luwian king of Carchemish invoked her as "Kupapa, great queen of Carchemish". In curses, Kupapa is called upon to attack the enemy from behind or to unleash her ''hasami'' hound on them. Hipatu or Hiputa was the Late Luwian name of the Hurro-Syrian goddess

Ḫepat Ḫepat (, ; also romanized as Ḫebat; Ugaritic 𐎃𐎁𐎚, ''ḫbt'') was a goddess associated with Aleppo, originally worshiped in the north of modern Syria in the third millennium BCE. Her name is often presumed to be either a feminine nis ...

. She is depicted as an enthroned goddess together with Saruma (Hurrian

Šarruma Šarruma, also romanized as Šarrumma or Sharruma, was a Hurrian god. He could be depicted in both anthropomorphic form, sometimes riding on the back of a leopard, and in the theriomorphic form as a bull. His character is not fully understood, t ...

), standing on a mountain, who was her son according to Hittite sources. The latter is often named with Alanzu, who is his sister according to Hittite texts. Along with Tarhunz he marches ahead of the general in battle and "seizes victory from the enemy." His epithet is "mountain king." Sauska is depicted on the Late Luwian relief at

as a winged goddess with an axe, standing upon two birds. Kumarma was a grain goddess, who was worshipped along with Matili and the wine god Tipariya. She is related to the Hurrian god

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 ...

References

Bibliography

* H. Craig Melchert (Ed): ''The Luwians''; HdO, Bd. 68, Boston 2003. * Maciej Popko: ''Religions of Asia Minor''; Warschau 1995. . * Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of second millennium Anatolia''. . *

Manfred Hutter Manfred Hutter (born 6 June 1957) is a professor at Bonn University. He is usually interested in writing about minority religion A minority religion is a religion held by a Minority group, minority of the population of state or which is otherwise ...

: ''Aspects in Luwian Religion.'' In: H. Craig Melchert (Hrsg.): ''The Luwians'' (= ''Handbuch der Orientalistik.'' Band 1,68). Brill, Leiden 2003, , S. 211–280.