Editing Hurrians (section)

==Religion==
{{main|Hurrian religion}}
The Hurrian culture made a great impact on the religion of the Hittites. From the Hurrian cult centre at Kummanni in Kizzuwatna, Hurrian religion spread to the Hittite people.<ref>Görke, Susanne, "Hurrian and Luwian Elements in the Kizzuwatna Religious Texts", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 148-157, 2022</ref><ref>Güterbock, Hans Gustav, "The Song of Ullikummi Revised Text of the Hittite Version of a Hurrian Myth", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 135–61, 1951</ref> [[Syncretism]] merged the Old Hittite and Hurrian religions. Hurrian religion spread to Syria, where [[Baal]] became the counterpart of Teshub. The Hurrian religion, in different forms, influenced the entire ancient [[Near East]], except [[ancient Egypt]] and southern Mesopotamia.

While the [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] and [[Urartian language|Urartian]] languages are related, there is little similarity between corresponding systems of belief.<ref>G. Wilhelm, ''The Hurrians'', 1989, p. 41</ref>

[[File:Hurrian incense container.JPG|thumb|Hurrian incense container]]
[[File:Chamber_A,_Yazilikaya_06.jpg|thumb|The [[Hittites|Hittite]] gods Teshub and Hebat, chamber A, Yazilikaya, Hittite rock sanctuary, Turkey]]

The main gods in the Hurrian pantheon were:
* [[Teshub]], ''Teshup'', the mighty weather god.<ref>D. Schwemer, ''[http://library.mibckerala.org/lms_frame/eBook/THE%20STORM-GODS%20OF%20THE%20ANCIENT%20NEAR%20EAST.pdf The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies: Part II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105075331/http://library.mibckerala.org/lms_frame/eBook/THE%20STORM-GODS%20OF%20THE%20ANCIENT%20NEAR%20EAST.pdf |date=5 January 2023 }}'', ''Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions'' 8(1), 2008, p. 3</ref>
* [[Hebat]], ''Hepa'', his wife,<ref>A. Archi, [https://www.academia.edu/7003610/The_West_Hurrian_Pantheon_and_Its_Background ''The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background''] [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski (eds.), ''Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman'', 2013, p. 9</ref> the mother goddess, later equated with the [[Sun goddess of Arinna|main sun goddess]] of the Hittites<ref>P. Taracha, ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia'', 2009, p. 92</ref>
* [[Sarruma]], ''Šarruma'', their son, a mountain god of Syrian origin.<ref>P. Taracha, ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia'', 2009, p. 94</ref>
* [[Kumarbi]], grain god,<ref>D. Schwemer, ''[http://library.mibckerala.org/lms_frame/eBook/THE%20STORM-GODS%20OF%20THE%20ANCIENT%20NEAR%20EAST.pdf The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies: Part II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105075331/http://library.mibckerala.org/lms_frame/eBook/THE%20STORM-GODS%20OF%20THE%20ANCIENT%20NEAR%20EAST.pdf |date=5 January 2023 }}'', ''Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions'' 8(1), 2008, p. 5-6</ref>  the father of [[Teshub]] and a "father of gods" similar to Enlil;<ref>F. Simons, [https://www.academia.edu/33992533/A_New_Join_to_the_Hurro_Akkadian_Version_of_the_Weidner_God_List_from_Emar_Msk_74_108a_Msk_74_158k_ ''A New Join to the Hurro Akkadian Version of the Weidner God List from Emar (Msk 74.108a + Msk 74.158k)''],  ''Altorientalische Forschungen'' 44, 2017, p. 86</ref> his home as described in mythology is the city of Urkesh.
* [[Shaushka]], ''Šauska'', the Hurrian counterpart of [[Ishtar]], and a goddess of love, war and healing.<ref>P. Taracha, ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia'', 2009, p. 122-123</ref>
* [[Šimige|Shimegi]], ''Šimegi'', the sun god.<ref>A. Archi, [https://www.academia.edu/7003610/The_West_Hurrian_Pantheon_and_Its_Background ''The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background''] [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski (eds.), ''Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman'', 2013, p. 7-8</ref>
* [[Kushuh]], ''Kušuh'', the moon god and a guardian of oaths.<ref>P. Taracha, ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia'', 2009, p. 85</ref> Symbols of the sun and the crescent moon appear joined together in the Hurrian [[iconography]].
* [[Nergal]], a [[Sumer]]ian deity of the [[Underworld|netherworld]], who had a prominent temple in Urkesh in the earliest period of recorded Hurrian history.<ref>G. Wilhelm, ''The Hurrians'', 1989, p. 11</ref> Possibly a stand-in for a god whose Hurrian name is presently unknown.<ref>A. Archi, [https://www.academia.edu/7003610/The_West_Hurrian_Pantheon_and_Its_Background ''The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background''] [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski (eds.), ''Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman'', 2013, p. 8</ref>
* [[Enki|Ea]], ''Hayya'', the god of wisdom, who was also Sumerian in origin.<ref>A. Archi, [https://www.academia.edu/7003610/The_West_Hurrian_Pantheon_and_Its_Background ''The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background''] [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski (eds.), ''Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman'', 2013, p. 10</ref>
* [[Allani]], goddess of the netherworld.<ref>A. Archi, ''[https://www.academia.edu/7003669/The_Anatolian_Fate_goddesses_and_their_different_traditions The Anatolian Fate-goddesses and their different traditions]'' [in] E. Cancik-Kirschbaum, J. Klinger, G. G. W. Müller (eds.), ''Diversity and Standardization. Perspectives on ancient Near Eastern cultural history'', 2013, p. 4</ref>
* [[Išḫara|Ishara]], a goddess of Syrian origin.<ref>A. Archi, [https://www.academia.edu/7003610/The_West_Hurrian_Pantheon_and_Its_Background ''The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background''] [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski, (eds.) ''Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman'', 2013, p. 16</ref>
* [[Aštabi]], a war god.<ref>A. Archi, [https://www.academia.edu/7003610/The_West_Hurrian_Pantheon_and_Its_Background ''The West Hurrian Pantheon and Its Background''] [in:] B. J. Collins, P. Michalowski, (eds.) ''Beyond Hatti. A tribute to Gary Beckman'', 2013, p. 15-16</ref> 
* [[Nupatik]], a prominent god of uncertain function.<ref>G. Wilhelm, ''The Hurrians'', 1989, p. 55</ref>
* [[Hutena and Hutellura]], fate and birth goddesses.<ref>P. Taracha, ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia'', 2009, p. 109</ref>

Hurrian [[cylinder seal]]s often depict mythological creatures such as winged humans or animals, dragons and other monsters. The interpretation of these depictions of gods and demons remains  uncertain. They may have been both protective and evil spirits. Some are reminiscent of the Assyrian [[shedu]].

The Hurrian gods do not appear to have had particular home temples, like in the [[Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian]] or [[Ancient Egyptian religion]]. Some important cult centres were Kummanni in Kizzuwatna and Hittite [[Yazilikaya]]. [[Harran]] was at least later a religious centre for the moon god, and Shauskha had an important temple in [[Nineve]], when the city was under Hurrian rule. A temple of [[Nergal]] was built in Urkesh in the late third millennium BC. The town of [[Tell Barri|Kahat]] was a religious centre in the kingdom of Mitanni.

The Hurrian myth "The Songs of Ullikummi", preserved among the Hittites, is a parallel to [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]''; the castration of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] by [[Cronus]] may be derived from the castration of [[Anu]] by [[Kumarbi]], while [[Zeus]]'s overthrow of Cronus and Cronus's regurgitation of the swallowed gods is like the Hurrian myth of Teshub and Kumarbi.<ref>Güterbock, Hans Gustav: "Hittite Religion"; in ''Forgotten Religions: Including Some Living Primitive Religions'' (ed. Vergilius Ferm) (NY, Philosophical Library, 1950), pp. 88–89, 103–104</ref> It has been argued that the worship of [[Attis]] drew on Hurrian myth.<ref>Suggested by [[Jane Lightfoot]] in the ''Times Literary Supplement'' 22 July 2005 p 27, in her account of Philippe Borgeaud, ''Mother of the Gods: from Cybele to the Virgin Mary'', Johns Hopkins 2005 {{ISBN|0-8018-7985-X}}.</ref>