Šarruma or Sharruma was a

Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

mountain god, who was also worshipped by the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

and

Luwians The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fam ...

Name

The original source and meaning of the name is unknown. In Hittite and Hurrian texts, his name was linked with the

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

''šarri'' ("King") and could be written with the

Sumerogram A Sumerogram is the use of a Sumerian cuneiform character or group of characters as an ideogram or logogram rather than a syllabogram in the graphic representation of a language other than Sumerian, such as Akkadian or Hittite. Sumerograms are no ...

for King, LUGAL-''ma''. In

Hieroglyphic Luwian Hieroglyphic Luwian (''luwili'') is a variant of the Luwian language, recorded in official and royal seals and a small number of monumental inscriptions. It is written in a hieroglyphic script known as Anatolian hieroglyphs. A decipherment was pr ...

, his name was written with a pair of walking legs, which is transcribed as SARMA.

Description

Šarruma is a son of the weather-god

Teshub Teshub (also written Teshup, Teššup, or Tešup; cuneiform ; hieroglyphic Luwian , read as ''Tarhunzas'';Annick Payne (2014), ''Hieroglyphic Luwian: An Introduction with Original Texts'', 3rd revised edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p.& ...

and the goddess

Ḫepat Ḫebat ( xhu, 𒀭𒄭𒁁, ), also transcribed Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living". She was a popular deity, and her name appears in many Theophoric name, theophoric personal names. A king of Jer ...

and brother of the goddess

Inara Arwa Damon (born September 19, 1977) is an American journalist who is a senior international correspondent for CNN International, CNN, based in Istanbul. From 2003, she covered the Middle East as a freelance journalist, before joining CNN in 20 ...

. He is often depicted riding a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

or panther and carrying an axe (cf.

labrys ''Labrys'' ( gr, , lábrus) is, according to Plutarch (''Quaestiones Graecae'' 2.302a), the Lydian word for the double-bitted axe. In Greek it was called (''pélekus''). The Ancient Greek plural of ''labrys'' is ''labryes'' (). Etymology P ...

). He is depicted behind his father on the Illuyanka's relief found in

Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city ha ...

(dating 1050-850 BC), on display in the

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations ( tr, Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi) is located on the south side of Ankara Castle in the Atpazarı area in Ankara, Turkey. It consists of the old Ottoman Mahmut Paşa bazaar storage building, and the Kurş ...

in Ankara,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. His wife is the daughter of the dragon

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 Hattusa ...

Development

Šarruma was originally a bull-shaped mountain god of the Anatolian borderlands. Early research suggested that Šarruma was originally the partner of the goddess Ḫepat and had subsequently been replaced by Teššup and demoted to be the goddess' son. Newer research indicates that Ḫepat was always the partner of the weather god of Aleppo and that early depictions of Ḫepat and Šarruma as a pair understood them as mother and son.

Hittites

There was a prince named after him: Ašmi-Šarruma, son of king

Arnuwanda I Arnuwanda I was a king of the Hittite Empire. He became a ruler by marriage and was very religious. He ruled c. 1390–1380 BC (middle chronology). Biography Arnuwanda became a king by marriage. His wife was Ašmu-nikal, daughter of king Tudha ...

. After the Hittite king

Šuppiluliuma I Suppiluliuma I () or Suppiluliumas I () was king of the Hittites (r. c. 1344–1322 BC (short chronology)). He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant New Kingdom of Egypt, Egyptian Empire for con ...

installed his son Telipinu as Priest of Aleppo, the cult of Šarruma was adopted and became popular among the Hittites. King

Tudḫaliya IV Tudhaliya IV was a king of the Hittite Empire (New kingdom), and the younger son of Hattusili III. He reigned c. 1245–1215 BC (middle chronology) or c. 1237–1209 BC (short chronology). His mother was the great queen, Puduhepa. Biograph ...

chose him as his personal guardian god, while his father's wife

Puduḫepa Puduḫepa or Pudu-Kheba (fl. 13th century BC) was a Hittite queen, her companion being the King Hattusili III. She has been referred to as "one of the most influential women known from the Ancient Near East." Biography Early life and marriage ...

had a dream in which she vowed to build twelve shrines for him in the mountains. The seal of

Mursili III Mursili III, also known as Urhi-Teshub, was a king of the Hittites who assumed the throne of the Hittite empire (New Kingdom) at Tarhuntassa upon his father's death. He was a cousin of Tudhaliya IV and Queen Maathorneferure. He ruled ca. 1282–1 ...

as crown prince depicted him being embraced by Šarruma. In the procession of the Hittite gods at

Yazılıkaya :'' Yazılıkaya, Eskişehir, also called Midas City, is a village with Phrygian ruins.'' Yazılıkaya ( tr, Inscribed rock) was a sanctuary of Hattusa, the capital city of the Hittite Empire, today in the Çorum Province, Turkey. Rock reliefs ar ...

, he stands behind his mother on a leopard and is depicted in chamber B as Tudḫaliya's protector. On the Hanyeri relief he is depicted in the form of a bull. As the double god Šarrumanni, Šarruma was invoked as an intermediary and protector.

Luwians

In the Iron Age, Šarruma continued to be worshipped in Syria and Southern Anatolia. The king of

Tabal Tabal (c.f. biblical ''Tubal''; Assyrian: 𒋫𒁄) was a Luwian speaking Neo-Hittite kingdom (and/or collection of kingdoms) of South Central Anatolia during the Iron Age. According to archaeologist Kurt Bittel, references to Tabal first appear ...

Wasusarma Wasusarma (Assyrian Wassurme or Uassurme, ''hieroglyphic Luwian wa/i''4''-su-SARMA-ma-sa'') was a neo-Hittite king from Tabal, who ruled from around 740/38–730 BCE. He carried the titles of great king and hero, like his father Tuwati II (m ...

, who is attested in the

inscription of the was named after him and records him in second place in his list of the gods, immediately behind the weather god Tarhunza.Annick Payne: ''Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions''. Atlanta 2012, p. 54–59.

Name

Description

Development

Hittites

Luwians

See also

References

Further reading