Political Religion and Religious Policy: How the Hittite King Chose His Patron Gods

Abstract

The manner in which Hittite kings chose the supreme deities of the state or the dynastic pantheon to be their divine patrons must be considered in terms of ‘political religion’. In the Old Hittite Period, the king was empowered to rule by contract with the Storm-god of Ḫatti and the Sun-goddess of Arinna, the supreme deities of the state pantheon. Furthermore, the War-god and the Throne-goddess were connected in particular with the ideology of kingship in the original Hattian tradition. Changes in Hittite ‘political religion’ during the Empire Period resulted in a change of royal ideology.This new ideology is to be attributed to Mesopotamian ideas relating to concepts of royal legitimacy based on the authority of the Sun-god as a guardian of the cosmic order.Yet, the Hurrianized dynasty of the Empire Period had the Storm-god Teššub as its divine protector. Hence, it was Teššub and not the Sun-god who was a natural choice for the patron god of Hittite kings. Mursili II and Muwattalli II conceived a number of hypostases of Teššub with various Luwian and Hurrian epithets as their divine protectors, perceived to be identical with the supreme god of the state and dynasty. In this connection, worthy of note is the political career of Ḫattusili III, who had chosen his patron deities, the Storm-god of Nerik and šauška of Samuḫ, long before his accession to the Great Kingship of Ḫatti.