Ḫannaḫanna (from Hittite ''ḫanna-'' "
grandmother
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maxi ...
") was a
Hittite mother goddess
A mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated the Earth, sky, ...
.
Myths
Ḫannaḫanna appears in a number of Hittite myths, and tends to help in solving the problems faced by other gods in them. Most of them are myths dealing with the disappearance of deities, a common theme in Hittite myths.
The myths of Telepinu
After
Telepinu disappeared, his father, the Storm-god
Tarhunna, complained to Ḫannaḫanna. She then sent him out to search for his son, and when he gave up, she dispatched a
bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...
, charging it to find Telepinu. The bee did that, and then purified and strengthened him by stinging his hands and feet and wiping his eyes and feet with
wax.
In another myth about Telepinu's disappearance she recommended to Tarhunt that he should pay
Aruna the bride price for the Sea-god's daughter, so she can wed Telepinu.
Myth of the disappearance of Inara
In yet another myth the
Inara went missing and when Ḫannaḫanna was informed of this by the Storm-god's bee, she apparently began a search with the help of her female attendant.
Myth of the disappearance of Ḫannaḫanna
In a fragmentary myth, Ḫannaḫanna herself disappears for a while in a fit of anger. While she is gone, cattle and sheep are suffocated, and mothers, both human and animal pay no attention to their children. After her anger is banished to the
Dark Earth
In geology and archaeology, dark earth is a substratum, up to thick, that indicates settlement over long periods of time. The material is high in organic matter, including charcoal, which gives it its characteristic dark colour; it may also con ...
, she returns rejoicing, and mothers care once again for their kin. Another means of banishing her anger was through burning brushwood and allowing the vapor to enter her body.
[H. A. Hoffner, ''Hittite myths'' (2nd ed.), 1998, p. 29-30]
See also
*
Hittite mythology
Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the 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 would give ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannahanna
Hittite deities
Mother goddesses