Ḫepat

Ḫebat, also transcribed Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living".[1]

Hebat
Other namesKhepat
Spouse(s)Teshub
ChildrenSarruma
Alanzu

Mythical family

Hebat had a companion in Teshub and was the mother of Sarruma and Alanzu, his companion being the daughter of the dragon Illuyanka.

Name derivation
Queen Kubaba may have been deified, becoming Hebat.

It is thought that Hebat may have had a Southern Mesopotamian origin, being the deification of Kubaba, the founder and first ruler of the Third Dynasty of Kish. The name may be transliterated in different versions: Khepat with the feminine ending -t is primarily the Syrian and Ugaritic version.

In the Hurrian language, Ḫepa is the most likely pronunciation of the name of the goddess. In modern literature, the sound /h/ in cuneiform sometimes is transliterated as kh.

It bears noting that the most active ancient goddess to come out of the near east was Inanna/Ishtar, and was also known in many sources as "Queen of Heaven and Earth".

Arinniti

The Hittite sun goddess Arinniti was later assimilated with Hebat. A prayer of Queen Puduhepa makes this explicit:

To the Sun-goddess of Arinna, my lady, the mistress of the Hatti lands, the queen of Heaven and Earth. Sun-goddess of Arinna, thou art Queen of all countries! In the Hatti country thou bearest the name of the Sun-goddess of Arinna; but in the land which thou madest the cedar land thou bearest the name Hebat.[2]

Widespread veneration

Ḫepat was venerated all over the ancient Near East. Her name appears in many theophoric personal names. A king of Jerusalem mentioned in the Amarna letters was named Abdi-Heba, possibly meaning "Servant of Ḫepat".[3]

See also

References
  1. Beckman, G.: Pantheon A. II. Bei den Hethitern. In: Edzard, D. O. et al. (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie. Munich, 2010.
  2. Bach, Alice Women in the Hebrew Bible Routledge; 1 edition (3 Nov 1998) ISBN 978-0-415-91561-8 p.171
  3. Donald B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, Princeton University Press, 1992 p.270.
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