![Yazilikaya Sonnengott des Himmels](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Yazilikaya_Sonnengott_des_Himmels.jpg)
The Sun god of Heaven (
Hittite: nepišaš Ištanu) was a
Hittite solar deity. He was the second-most worshipped solar deity of the Hittites, after the
Sun goddess of Arinna. The Sun god of Heaven was identified with the
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 ...
solar deity,
Šimige __NOTOC__
Šimige (in Ugaritic: ''ṯmg'') was the Hurrian sun god. From the 14th century BC he was also worshiped by the Hittites as the Sun god of Heaven. In the Hittite cliff sanctuary at Yazılıkaya, he is depicted as one of the chief deities ...
.
From the time of
Tudḫaliya III, the Sun god of Heaven was the protector of the Hittite king, indicated by a winged solar disc on the royal seals, and was the god of the kingdom ''par excellence''. From the time of
Suppiluliuma I (and probably earlier), the Sun god of Heaven played an important role as the foremost oath god in interstate treaties.
As a result of the influence of the
Mesopotamian Sun god
Šamaš
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
, the Sun god of Heaven also gained an important role as the god of law, legality, and truth.
[Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia''. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 89.]
See also
*
List of solar deities
A solar deity is a deity who represents the Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this ene ...
References
Bibliography
*
Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia''. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, .
* Calvert Watkins: "The Golden Bowl: Thoughts on the New Sappho and its Asianic Background." ''Classical Antiquity.'' 26, 2007, pp. 305–324.
*
Volkert Haas Volkert may refer to:
People
* Edward Charles Volkert (1871–1935), American painter
* Georg Volkert (1945–2020), German footballer
* Stephan Volkert (born 1971), German rower
* Volkert Doeksen (born 1963), Dutch money manager
* Volkert van der ...
,
Heidemarie Koch
Heidemarie Koch (17 December 1943 – 28 January 2022) was a German Iranologist.
Life and career
Koch was born in Merseburg, Saxony, Prussia, Germany. She studied mathematics as her major between 1963 and 1966. Subsequently, she worked as a tea ...
: ''Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran''. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, .
*
Maciej Popko Maciej (Polish pronunciation: ) is a Polish given name, the etymological equivalent of Matthias. Its diminutive forms are Maciek, Maciuś.
Namedays according to Polish calendar: 30 January, 24 February, 14 May
Maciej may refer to:
Arts and e ...
: ''Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens''. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, {{ISBN, 978-3-447-05708-0.
Hittite deities
Solar gods