Luwian Religion

Luwian religion, the religious and mythological beliefs and practices of the Luwians of Asia Minor, was practiced from the Bronze Age until the beginnings of the Roman empire. It borrowed freely from others, so it is difficult to clearly distinguish it from neighbouring cultures, particularly Syrian and Hurrian religion. The Indo-European element in the Luwian religion was stronger than it was in the neighbouring Hittite religion. The earliest evidence of the Luwians dates from around 1900 BCE and comes from the Old Assyrian archive of traders at the Karum of Kaneš. Some recorded names are clearly Luwian, who oftern bore names that included the name of a deity (theophoric names). The archive indicates that Šanta and Runtiya (described at the end of this summnary) were worshipped as deities during this early period. In Hittite texts, pieces of the Luwian language often appear in magic rituals intended to bring rain or heal the sick which give an important role to the goddess Kamrusepa (goddess of medicine and magic). From the 11th century BC onwards, Iron Age Luwian rulers and traders created statues and rock cut reliefs which depict the deities of this era. The reliefs often portray the king offering libations to a number of deities. One of these features an image of the weather god struggling with a snake-like demon. In the Hittite myth of Illuyanka, the demon is eventually vanquished. This victory was commemorated by the Hittites and by the Hattian spring festival of Puruli. Unlike the Hittites, Luwians were not greatly influenced by Hattian religion, but eventually incorporated Hurrian deities (of Syrian and Babylonian origin) like Iya, Hipatu, Šaruma, Alanzu, and Šauska into their pantheon. In the Iron Age, there was also direct influence from the Babylonian religion (e.g. Marduk) and the Aramaean religion (e.g. Pahalat), especially in the way the gods were depicted. At the top of the Luwian pantheon stood weather god Tarḫunz/Tarhunt, analogous to Hittite Tarḫunna and Hurrian Teššub. The Luwian weather god's chariot was drawn by horses, and not bulls as was the case with his Hittite and Hurrian counterparts. Images of Tarḫunz/Tarhunt depict clear traits of a fertility god. Late Luwian images show Tarhunza with bunches of grapes and ears of grain. It is suggested that the Greek winged horse, Pegasus, which conveyed the thunderbolt of Zeus, derived its name from a Luwian epithet for their weather god; Tarḫunt piḫaššašši. Tiwad was the Luwian Sun god, a male, rather than a female like the neighboting Hittite Sun goddess of Arinna. Kamrušipa was the wife of Sun god Tiwad and mother of guardian god Runtiya. She played an important role in magic rituals. Arma was the moon god and appears in a large number of theophoric personal names which suggests that he was a very popular deity. In the Iron Age, Arma became completely merged with the Mesopotamian moon god of Harran. Runtiya was a guardian god. His animal was the deer and depicted with a bow and arrows. In Late Luwian texts, he is connected to the wilderness and serves as a god of the hunt. He was partnered the goddess Ala. Šanta was a death-bringing god, often invoked along with dark Marwainzi and Nikarawa in Late Luwian texts. Identified with Babylonian Marduk in the Bronze Age, this mostly unknown deity was called upon in curses to feed an enemy to his dogs or to eat the enemy himself. As noted, this native Luwian pantheon was enlarged after deities were imported from other cultured.