Philological Contributions to Hattian-Hittite Religion (I)

Abstract

AbstractIn the first part of the present study the frequent Hittite cult phrase d(GN) aku- / eku- "to drink a deity" is discussed as to whether it should be understood in the accusative or dative sense. The drinking act devoted to divine honor is accompanied chiefly by the accusative case of the deity name. There are also some exceptional cases in which the divine proper name is used in the dative case. In the light of a list of Hattian deities in KBo 21.85+ I 12'-25' it is proposed here that the divine name in the expressiond d(GN) aku- / eku- with ending -n may have been originally constructed in the dative case under influence of Hattian. Since the Hattian dative marker -n is formally the same as the Hittite ending -n for the singular accusative, it is possible that the Hittites had adopted this cult expression in their language in a manner where the divine proper name would function as accusative. This use may have been transformed later into the real "Hittite" accusative in -n.The second part deals with the cult object GIŠhalm/puti- (with other cognate designations) and with its possible connection to GIŠkalmuš-. Materially, these tools appear not to have the same functions, but on the philological level, both words may stem from the same Hattian root halwuutti-.