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Aštabi

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Aštabi
war god
A relief of Aštabi fromYazılıkaya
Major cult centerEbla
ConsortBaradu-madu (in Ebla)
Equivalents
Mesopotamian equivalentLugal-Marada,NinurtaorZababa
Ugaritic equivalentAttar

Aštabi(Ugaritic:𐎀𐎌𐎚𐎁,aštb[1]), also known asAštabil,was a god worshiped in the third millennium BCE inEbla,later incorporated intoHurrian beliefsin locations such asAlalakhandUgaritand as a result also into thereligionof theHittite Empire.

Name and origin

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The attested writings of the name are Aštabi (inAlalakhandHattusa), Aštabil/Ašdabil (in Ebla andMari),aštband possibly`ṭtpland`ṭtpr( Alpha betic spellings fromUgarit).[2]

Aštabi is regarded as one of the so-called "Syriansubstratedeities "by researchers. While present in the Hurrian pantheon and in earlier documents from Ebla, names of members of this group are assumed to have pre-Hurrianand most likely pre-Semiticorigin.[3]

Initially Hurrian origin had been ascribed to Aštabi by researchers[4]based on the similarity of his name to those ofKumarbiandNabarbi,but this is no longer regarded as plausible due to the existence of earlier forms ending with -bilrather than -bi.[5]While aSemiticorigin of the name has also been proposed, with a reconstructed hypothetical original form Yaštabi-El ( "Elhas satisfied himself "), it is regarded as implausible due to reliance on assigning presently unattested sign values toEblaitespellings of the name.[5]

Functions

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In the Hurrian (and by extension Hittite) pantheon Aštabi was a war god.[6]This aspect of his character is also well attested inUgaritic texts.[5]However, despite a considerable number of mentions in known documents, his original role in the pantheon of Ebla cannot be presently determined. The available information does not point at the warlike character known from later sources, as unlikeAdadhe did not receive weapons as offerings,[7]though Alfonso Archi does not consider it fully implausible that theoretically he could have been a war god in the third millennium BCE already.[8]

Worship

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The worship of Aštabi is well attested in documents from Ebla, and it was widespread in the area under the control of the city, with the names of at least three cult centers of this god appearing in records:Ba-šeki,Du-ubki(later Tuba), andÌr-kuki.[7]However, it is Ebla itself which was the primary site associated with him.[8]

One Eblaite document mentions statues of Aštabi and Baradu-madu.[9]Both of them are also involved in a purification ceremony meant to return the health of the prince Ir'aq-Damu.[10]

According to Alfonso Archi, after the fall of Ebla Aštabi was among the gods who did not retain their former position in the religion of theAmorites,who became the dominant culture inSyria.[5]He listsAdamma,Ammarik,ŠanugaruandHalabatuas other similar examples.[5]He assumes that they were reduced to the status of deities of at best local significance, and as a result were easily incorporated into the religion of theHurrianswhen they arrived in the same area a few centuries later.[11]In some cases, direct influence of earlier Eblaite tradition was nonetheless still present in later tradition, for example a "month of Aštabi" known from the Eblaite calendar is still attested in texts from Alalakh from the second millennium BCE.[12]

InYazilikayahe's represented as one of the gods followingTeshubin procession (figure 33); in front of him standsŠimigeand behind him Nupatik.[13]

Associations with other deities

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In 3rd millennium BCE Ebla he was sometimes associated withdBa-ra-du ma-du,[14]possibly to be read /BarD-u(m)/,[10]who was possibly his spouse.[8]She is sparsely attested in known texts, but Alfonso Archi notes this stands true for spouses of other gods as well,Baramaassociated withKuraand Halabadu (Hebat) associated with Adad.[10]While her character is uncertain, it is possible she was a divine representation of a river flowing near the city of Ebla, possiblyQueiq.[8]

In Hurrian sources he sometimes formed a triad withUgur(who in this context appears under the epithet "Šaumatar" ) andNupatik,according to Volkert Haas based on their shared association with warfare.[15]The character of Nupatik is generally regarded as uncertain,[16]though Haas is not the only author to ascribe the role of a warrior god to him, and especially the fact he received items related toarcheryas offerings is considered to be possible evidence supporting this theory.[17]

In god lists Aštabi was equated with a variety of other deities of similar characters. AnUgaritic"polyglot" list equated him with the local godAttarand MesopotamianLugal-Marada(a war god whose cult center wasMarad,analogous in part to bothNergalandNinurta),[5]while aBabyloniangod list equated "Aštabinu" with the war godZababa.[18]In Yazilikaya he's identified by the logogram "NIN.URTA."[13]

According to Meindert Dijkstra, inHittitesources he was sometimes equated withTašmišu,older brother andsukkalof Teshub.[19]However, both appear in the procession of deities in Yazilikaya.[13]

Alfonso Archi considers it possible thatNergal's name, found in early Hurrian inscriptions fromUrkesh,could be an ideographic stand-in for Aštabi's (similar to howShaushka's name was ideographically represent asdIŠTAR andTeshub's asdIŠKUR), though he notes that it's also been proposed that the god represented by it might be Kumarbi, and that it cannot be ruled out the Mesopotamian god might not merely be a logogram, as his sukkal Ugur is well attested in the Hurrian pantheon, making it plausible he was himself worshiped by the Hurrians.[20]

A number of ritual texts from Ugarit feature both Attar and a god bearing the name 'ṭtpl or 'ṭtpr, commonly identified as Aštabi by researchers.[5]It has been proposed that their origin is not necessarily Hurrian, but rather Semitic, and that they are responsible for the equation of these two deities in god lists.[2]

Mythology

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Aštabi appears in only one Hurro-Hittite myth, the so-calledSong ofUllikummi,part of the cycle of myths centered on the struggle between Teshub and Kumarbi.[21]After the initial defeat of Teshub in combat with the eponymous stone monster, the other gods provide Aštabi with chariots. Alongside his 70 unnamed allies he confronts the monster, but fails and as a result falls into the sea, while his adversary continues to grow until he reaches the city of the storm god, Kummiya. Eventually Teshub, rather than the war god, vanquishes Ullikummi.[21]The reference to "seventy gods" is unique in the light of known Hurrian and Hittite sources, and according to Noga Ayali-Darshan most likely represents a borrowing from western Semiticliterature, as similar terms are known from Ugarit ( "seventy sons ofAthirat") andEmar( "seventy gods of Emar" ).[22]

References

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  1. ^Archi 2013,p. 15.
  2. ^abArchi 1997,pp. 416–417.
  3. ^Archi 2013,pp. 15–16.
  4. ^Wilhelm 1989,p. 55.
  5. ^abcdefgArchi 1997,p. 417.
  6. ^Taracha 2009,p. 95.
  7. ^abArchi 1997,p. 416.
  8. ^abcdArchi 1997,p. 419.
  9. ^Archi 1997,pp. 414–415.
  10. ^abcArchi 1997,p. 415.
  11. ^Archi 1997,pp. 417–418.
  12. ^Archi 1997,p. 418.
  13. ^abcArchi 2013,p. 10.
  14. ^Archi 1997,p. 414.
  15. ^Haas 2015,p. 377.
  16. ^Wilhelm 1989,p. 53.
  17. ^Marchesi & Marchetti 2019,p. 530.
  18. ^Ayali-Darshan 2014,p. 98.
  19. ^Dijkstra 2011,p. 78.
  20. ^Archi 2013,p. 8.
  21. ^abAyali-Darshan 2014,p. 96.
  22. ^Ayali-Darshan 2014,pp. 96–98.

Bibliography

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  • Archi, Alfonso (1997)."Studies in the Ebla Pantheon II".Orientalia.66(4). GBPress - Gregorian Biblical Press: 414–425.ISSN0030-5367.JSTOR43078145.Retrieved2022-03-09.
  • Archi, Alfonso (2013)."The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background".In Collins, B. J.; Michalowski, P. (eds.).Beyond Hatti: a tribute to Gary Beckman.Atlanta: Lockwood Press.ISBN978-1-937040-11-6.OCLC882106763.
  • Ayali-Darshan, Noga (2014)."The Role of Aštabi in the Song of Ullikummi and the Eastern Mediterranean" Failed God "Stories".Journal of Near Eastern Studies.73(1). University of Chicago Press: 95–103.doi:10.1086/674665.ISSN0022-2968.
  • Dijkstra, Meindert (2011)."Ishtar seduces the Sea-serpent. A New Join in the Epic of Hedammu (KUB 36, 56+95) and its meaning for the battle between Baal and Yam in Ugaritic Tradition".Ugarit-Forschungen. Band 43.Münster: Ugarit Verlag.ISBN3-86835-086-1.OCLC1101929531.
  • Haas, Volkert (2015).Geschichte der hethitischen Religion.Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1: The Near and Middle East (in German). Brill.ISBN978-90-04-29394-6.Retrieved2022-03-11.
  • Marchesi, Gianni; Marchetti, Nicolò (2019)."The Deities of Karkemish in the Middle Bronze Age according to Glyptic and Textual Evidence".Pearls of the past: studies on Near Eastern art and archaeology in honour of Frances Pinnock.Münster: Zaphon.ISBN3-96327-058-6.OCLC1099837791.
  • Taracha, Piotr (2009).Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia.Harrassowitz.ISBN978-3447058858.
  • Wilhelm, Gernot (1989).The Hurrians.Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.ISBN978-0-85668-442-5.OCLC21036268.
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