Product Code Database
Šarruma, also romanized as Šarrumma or Sharruma, was a Hurrian god. He could be depicted in both Anthropomorphism form, sometimes riding on the back of a leopard, and in the theriomorphic form as a bull. His character is not fully understood, though it is known that he could function as a mountain god. He was regarded as a son of Ḫepat and Teshub. He was also linked to various moon deities. Additionally, the only mythological text he appears in addresses him as a messenger ( ) of Kumarbi. He was worshiped by Hurrians in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria, for example in Kummanni and Lawazantiya in Kizzuwatna. From this kingdom he was introduced to the Hittite pantheon as well. Hittite influence in turn resulted in his introduction to cities such as Aleppo, Emar and Ugarit. He was also venerated in Luwian religion in the first millennium BCE, with invoking him attested from as late as the Hellenistic period in Cilicia and Lycia.
The etymology of Šarruma's name remains uncertain, with no conclusively proven proposals postulated yet. refers to it as an "Anatolian" name, but acknowledges that its meaning cannot be established yet. Dennis Pardee and Gary Beckman classify it as Hurrian language.
A plural variant of the local form of the name, Ṯarrumannūma, is attested in the Ugaritic texts too. RS 1.001, the first text discovered during excavations in Ugarit, a set of instructions for a ritual taking place over the course of a single day and night, mentions that these deities were present in the royal palace alongside Shapash through the described night.
Šarruma was seemingly a multifaceted deity and his character is not fully understood. He is well attested as a protective deity. He could also take the role of an intercessor between worshipers and Teshub and Ḫepat. Modern authors additionally often describe him as a mountain god. argues it might have been his oldest characteristic. He could be referred to as the "king of the mountains", as indicated by an inscription from Hanyeri which labels him as MONS.REX in hieroglyphic Luwian. He might already be addressed as a mountain deity in an earlier prayer of Puduḫepa. Marie-Claude Trémouille has suggested that the names of a mountain located near the entrance of the realm of Mot in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle (KTU 1.4 VIII 1-20), which she vocalizes as Ṯarrummagi, might also be derived from Šarruma's name, which could be further evidence for his perception as a deity associated with mountains. However, this proposal is not universally accepted, and while it is agreed that the name does not originate in any Semitic language and might be Hurrian, Mark S. Smith and Wayne Pitard note linking it with Šarruma does not account for the fact that this toponym, which is rendered in the Ugaritic alphabetic script as ṯrmg, has a g as the final consonant. Ultimately its origin remains unknown.
Šarruma's father was Teshub. As attested in Hurro-Hittite sources, he could be referred to as the "calf" ( ḫubidi, AMAR -ti) of this god. It is possible that this title reflected the theriomorphic form of Šarruma. Schwemer notes it is one of the examples of a broader trend of associating bull gods with Teshub, also attested for Tilla, Šeri and Ḫurri. argues that the father-son relationship between Teshub and Šarruma constituted a late development. Schwemer dates it to the fifteenth century BCE, and presumes it originated in Kizzuwatna. Piotr Taracha notes that the connection between these two gods could be referenced in sources focusing on relations between members of the Hittite royal family, for example Urhi-Teshub while holding the position of the presumptive heir ( tuḫkanti) of his father used a seal depicting him with Šarruma. It has also been noted a single Hittite ritual (KUB XXXIX 97) names Teshub's counterpart Tarḫunna as Šarruma's father instead.
Two goddesses, Allanzu and Kunzišalli, were regarded of children of Teshub and Ḫepat like Šarruma and in some cases were listed after him in enumerations of deities. In sources dated to Neo-Hittite times, such as inscriptions 1 and 9 from Ancoz, he and Allanzu formed a couple instead.
Šarruma could also be associated with lunar deities, including Hurrian Kušuḫ (or Umbu), as attested in Hurro-Hittite sources, and Luwian Arma, as indicated by a dedication from Ordekburnu. In Hittite military oaths, he could be invoked after a lunar deity and Ishara. A reference to "Šarruma of Harran" in an inscription from Kululu is also considered to hint at a connection to lunar deities. This city was well known for its connection to moon worship.
A single Hurrian texts from Ugarit (RS 1.007 = KTU 1.44) refers to Šarruma as the messenger ( ) of Kumarbi. This constitutes the only reference to him in mythological context.
Numerous Hurrian invoking Šarruma are known from text corpora from Anatolia, typically with his name as the second element, for example Ari-Šarruma ("Šarruma has given"), Eḫli-Šarruma ("Šarruma, save!"), Ewri-Šarruma ("Šarruma is lord"), Ḫišmi-Šarruma ("Šarruma is shining") or Talmi-Šarruma ("Šarruma is great").
Šuppiluliuma I appointed his son Telipinu as the high priest of Šarruma and stationed him in Aleppo. In the same city his successor built a temple dedicated to the dyad Ḫepat-Šarruma (DEUS ḫa-pa-SARMA), though this god is otherwise unattested in sources from it. notes he was not a deity indigenous to the local pantheon, and Marie-Claude Trémouille attributes his introduction to the local pantheon to Hittite influence. suggests that this might have occurred during the life of Telipinu, who served as a priest in Kizzuwatna at first and might have introduced local theological conceptions to Aleppo after relocating there. Alfonso Archi points out that the inscription might be the oldest example of a hieroglyphic Luwian text chiseled in stone, and suggests its target audience were primarily Luwians, even though Aleppo's elite was culturally hurrianized and the local inhabitants spoke a vernacular West Semitic dialect. Attestations of Šarruma from Emar are also presumed to reflect Hittite influence. They are limited to personal names.
The king best known under the throne name Tudhaliya III was originally named Tašmi-Šarruma. Queen Puduḫepa reportedly saw Šarruma in a dream in which he required her to create a dozen sanctuaries for him. Tudhaliya IV considered him his personal protective deity. In Yazilikaya, in addition to a depiction of Šarruma in the procession of deities (figure 44, standing on a leopard behind his mother, in front of his two sisters), a separate relief shows him embracing Tudhaliya IV. It is possible that chamber B, where it is located, served as the burial place of said king, with the presence of Šarruma reflecting the belief that protective deities of specific individuals still fulfilled that role after their death with regards to their tombs.
Wilfred H. van Soldt notes that Šarruma was relatively commonly invoked in of the inhabitants of Ugarit. A total of twenty eight examples have been identified in texts dated to the period between 1350 and 1220 BCE, though three of them belonged to people from outside the city. Two children of the Ugaritic king Niqmepa and his wife Ahatmilku, who hailed from Amurru kingdom, bore Hurrian theophoric names invoking him, Ḫišmi-Šarruma and ÌR-Šarruma, which reflected a tradition typical for their mother's place of origin. However, this case is considered an outlier, as it has been noted that Hurrian personal names are otherwise uncommon among members of the Ugaritic royal family, with Arhalba being the only person with a Hurrian name to ever ascend to the throne.
|
|
