Pentikalli

Outside Mesopotamia

According to Alfonso Archi, in Hurrian sources Ninegal was referred to as Pentikalli. The name is also sometimes transcribed as Pendigalli. Archi assumes that the Hurrians received her from Syria, and that her importance in Mari played a role in her spread. Marie-Claude Trémouille describes her as a goddess from the circle of Hebat from Halab (modern Aleppo). In Hurrian texts, she is designated as a concubine of Teshub. She was assimilated with Pithanu, described as a goddess who sits on Teshub's throne. The later name likely meant "daughter from Hanu," and should be understood as a sign of her association with the middle Euphrates area. Depictions of Pentikalli are mentioned in texts from Hattarina and Lawazantiya. She is also known from texts from Ugarit, where her name is spelled alphabetically as pdgl, and possibly appears in a personal name, annpdgl, theoretically reconstructed as Anani-Pendigalli. It has also been proposed that the Ugaritic goddess b'lt btm/nhtm, "lady of the house," was derived from Belet Ekalli.