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Nupatik

Nupatik,in early sources known asLubadag,was aHurrian godof uncertain character. He is attested in the earliest inscriptions fromUrkesh,as well as in texts from other Hurrian settlements and Ugarit. He was also incorporated into Hittite religion. A similarly named deity continued to be venerated inArbelaas late as in theNeo-Assyrian period.

Nupatik
God of uncertain character
A possible depiction Nupatik on theYazılıkayaprocession relief
Other namesLubadag, Nubadig, Nubandag
Major cult centerUrkesh,Carchemish

Name

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Nupatik's name is attested for the first time in an inscription of the Hurrian kingTish-atalofUrkesh,where it is spelled syllabically asdlu-ba-da-ga,rather thanlogographically,like these of otherHurrian deitiesmentioned in the same text.[1]Numerous spellings of this theonym are known,[2]for examplednu-pa-ti-ik,dlu-pa-ki-ta,dnu-ú-pa-ti-ga,dnu-pa-da-ak,and more.[3]He is also present in Hurrian texts from Ugarit, where his name is spelled in the localAlpha betic scriptasnbdg(𐎐𐎁𐎄𐎂).[1]This variant of the name can be vocalized as Nubadig.[4]

Both the meaning and origin of Nupatik's name are unknown.[3]While references to Hurrian deities in Mesopotamianlexical listsare rare, a late copy of an explanatoryBabyloniangod list, BM 40747, preserves a reference to Nupatik under the variant name Nupadak, and provides this theonym with an inventedSumerianetymology,dnu-pa-da-ak = šá la in-nam-mar(obverse, line 5), "who cannot be seen", withnuinterpreted asnegation,akas agenitiveending, andpadas averbalroot.[5]Wilfred G. Lambertremarked that apparently the Mesopotamian compilers of the list were equally clueless about the nature of Nupatik and the origin of his name as modern researchers, and he suggested that the invented etymology might have reflected this, as it is possible it was supposed to designate him as unknown, as opposed to invisible, which was enabled by the nuance involved in use of the wordpadand itsAkkadianequivalents.[5]

Character and attributes

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Nupatik's character, functions and genealogy are unknown.[6]He is also absent from known Hurrian myths.[3]According to hittitologistPiotr Taracha[de],Nupatik was regarded as a member of the category of Anatolian tutelary gods in Hurro-Hittite contexts.[7]It is accepted that the logogramdLAMMA might refer to him in some cases.[8][a]

According to a Hittite ritual text the items offered to him were a bow, arrows and aquiver.[3]Gianni Marchesi and Nicolò Marchetti propose that he was a warrior god based on this evidence.[10]This view is also supported by Volkert Haas, who notes that he belonged to a triad of gods which also includedUgur(under the epithet Šaummatar) andAštabi,who were known for their warlike character.[11]Suggestions that Nupatik can be identified with the Mesopotamian war godZababacan be found in literature, but according toGernot Wilhelm[de]this assumption is incorrect, and the latter corresponded toḪešuiinstead in the Hurrian pantheon.[3]Jean-Marie Durandproposed that "Nubandag" (Nupatik) worshiped in Carchemish according to texts fromMariis to be identified withNergal,but Marchesi and Marchetti reject this theory due to Nupatik and Nergal being distinct deities in Hurrian sources, such as an inscription ofTish-atal.[10]

Manfred Krebernik[de]notes that in one of the Hurrian ritual texts from Ugarit (CAT 1.125) Nupatik appears to play the role ofpsychopomp,a deity leading the dead to the afterlife.[12]

Worship

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Nupatik was one of the "pan-Hurrian" gods, and as such was worshiped by variousHurriancommunities all across theancient Near East,similarly toTeshub,ŠauškaorKumarbi,[13]He was already venerated inUrkeshin the third millennium BCE under the name Lubadag.[14]The local king (endan)Tish-atalmentions him in a curse formula in an inscription commemorating the erection of a temple ofNergal,alongsideBelet Nagarand Hurrian deities such asŠimige.[15]InCarchemishin the Middle Bronze Age he was known as Nubandag, and was one of the most commonly worshiped deities of the city, alongside Nergal andKubaba.[16]A letter from the merchant Ishtaran-Nasir to kingZimri-LimofMarimentions that at one point, a festival of Nubandag took priority over mourning the death of kingAplahanda,and the latter event were only revealed to his subjects and foreigners present in the city after it ended.[17]

Ugaritic textsindicate that Nupatik was also one of the Hurrian deities worshiped in the city ofUgarit.[4]In the text RS 24.254, which deals with a ritual focused mostly on Hurrian figures, though with localElandAnatalso mentioned,[18]he is the last of the gods listed in an instruction prescribing repeating a cycle of sacrifices seven times.[19]In RS 24.261, a ritual combining Hurrian and Ugaritic elements and dedicated to Šauška andAshtart,[20]he is listed among recipients of offerings after the pairNinatta and Kulitta,and then once again after the unidentified deityḫmnand before Anat.[21]In RS 24.291, which describes a three day long celebration of uncertain character focused on theUgaritic goddessPidray,[22]mentions that an ewe was sacrificed to him during it.[23]A singletheophoric nameinvoking him has also been identified.[24]Wilfred H. van Soldt notes that it belonged to a local inhabitant, rather than a foreigner.[25]

In the kingdom ofKizzuwatna,Nupatik was worshiped in settlements such as Parnašša and Pišani.[3]In a list of offerings to gods from the circle of Teshub (so-calledkaluti[de]) from this area, he appears betweenAštabiand Šauška.[7]In other texts belonging to this genre, he is placed between Aštabi and the war godḪešui.[3]During the Kizzuwatneanḫišuwa[de]festival, which was meant to guarantee good fortune for the royal couple, twohypostasesof Nupatik (pibitḫi- "of Pibid(a)" andzalmatḫi- "of Zalman(a)/Zalmat" ) were venerated alongside "TeshubManuzi",Lelluri,Allani,IšḫaraandMaliya.[26]Both of these epithets have Hurrian origin, though the locations they refer to are otherwise unknown.[3]According toGernot Wilhelm[de],pibitḫimight be connected tobbt,the name of a "god of the house" mentioned in a single Ugaritic ritual text.[3]Manfred Krebernik[de]instead suggests thatbbtmight refer to a place name, Bibibta, which in texts from Ugarit appears as a location associated with the worship of Nupatik and, more commonly,Resheph.[12]In another ritual (KUB 20.74 i 3–7, KBo 15.37 ii 29–33) both Nupatik hypostases are linked withAdammaand Kubaba.[27]

From the middle of the second millennium BCE onward, Nupatik was also worshiped by theHittitesinHattusa.[28]Figure 32 from the procession of gods fromYazılıkaya,which arranged deities similarly to Hurriankaluti,might represent him.[29]

It is commonly assumed that Umbidaki, a god worshiped in the temple ofIshtar of ArbelainNeo-Assyriantimes, was analogous to Nupatik, possibly introduced toArbelaafter a statue of him was seized in a war by the Assyrians.[30]

Notes

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  1. ^However, the deitydLAMMA known from one of the myths belonging to theKumarbiCycleis likelyKarḫuḫi,a tutelary god fromCarchemish.[9]

References

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  1. ^abArchi 2013,p. 11.
  2. ^Krebernik 2014,p. 316.
  3. ^abcdefghiWilhelm 1987,p. 173.
  4. ^abVálek 2021,p. 53.
  5. ^abLambert 1978,p. 134.
  6. ^Wilhelm 1989,p. 53.
  7. ^abTaracha 2009,p. 118.
  8. ^Rahmouni 2008,p. 230.
  9. ^Archi 2009,p. 217.
  10. ^abMarchesi & Marchetti 2019,p. 530.
  11. ^Haas 2015,p. 377.
  12. ^abKrebernik 2013,p. 201.
  13. ^Archi 2013,pp. 7–8.
  14. ^Taracha 2009,p. 119.
  15. ^Pongratz-Leisten 2015,pp. 93–94.
  16. ^Marchesi & Marchetti 2019,p. 532.
  17. ^Sasson 2015,p. 336.
  18. ^Pardee 2002,p. 89.
  19. ^Pardee 2002,p. 90.
  20. ^Pardee 2002,p. 93.
  21. ^Pardee 2002,p. 95.
  22. ^Pardee 2002,p. 96.
  23. ^Pardee 2002,p. 98.
  24. ^van Soldt 2016,p. 104.
  25. ^van Soldt 2016,p. 106.
  26. ^Taracha 2009,p. 138.
  27. ^Hutter 2017,p. 115.
  28. ^Haas 2015,p. 850.
  29. ^Taracha 2009,p. 95.
  30. ^MacGinnis 2020,p. 109.

Bibliography

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