Hittite Religion
HITTITE RELIGION. The exact origin of the Hittites, an Indo-European people, is not known. Invading Asia Minor from the east, by the middle of the second millennium BCE they had established an empire covering the greater part of that region. Their empire declined after 1200 BCE, owing to Indo-European invasions and the growing power of Assyria.
Names of Gods
Knowledge about Hittite society, culture, and religion has increased since the deciphering of their cuneiform writing, on clay tablets found early in the twentieth century CE at Bogazköy (in Turkey). Hittite society was ethnically and linguistically diverse, with Hattian, Hurrian, and even some Semitic elements, and this diversity is evident in the divine names.
The earliest identifiable stratum is the Hattian. The Hattians were resident in central Anatolia before the Indo-European Hittites arrived. They had a long tradition of settled urban life. It is understandable that a people open to influences from its neighbors, as the Hittites were, would early adopt the worship of Hattian deities. Because the Hattic language is still very poorly understood, one can only partially understand the meanings of the divine names. Some are common nouns for elements of nature: Eshtan ("sun, day") Izzishtanu ("favorable day"), Kashku ("moon"), Kait ("grain").
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