RELIGION IN ANATOLIA IN TIMES OF A THOUSAND GODS

Abstract

The “Thousand Gods” period of Anatolia is the Hittite age, which took its place on the stage of history in the first quarter of the second millennium BC and created a unique religious structure. The political and cultural relations they established with many contemporary civilizations from the Aegean Sea to the Persian Gulf, from the Black Sea to Egypt were decisive in the process of creating the "thousand gods" of this ancient Anatolian civilization, which called itself the inhabitants of a country with a "thousand gods". The archaeological remains, cuneiform and hieroglyphic documents of this civilization, which was born in Anatolia and was one of the power centers of its age with its cosmopolitan structure, military and diplomatic strategies, shed light on the past. For this reason, the study of the Hittite language and culture is of great importance in understanding many aspects of today's Anatolian culture. The aim of this study is to examine the religious structure in Anatolia of the Hittite period, which created a large group of gods, from ancient Anatolian civilizations such as Hatti, Luwi and Pala to the gods of neighboring civilizations such as Sumerian, Hurrian, Assyrian and Babylon, from theology to the history of religions; to contribute to many disciplines that carry out studies on religion and belief, from cultural history to psychology of religion.

Keywords

• Ancient Anatolia
• Religion
• Hittite
• God
• Ritual

BİN TANRILI ZAMANLARINDA ANADOLU’DA DİN

Abstract

Anadolu’nun ‘Bin Tanrılı’ zamanları, MÖ. II. Bin yılın ilk çeyreği itibariyle tarih sahnesinde yerini alarak özgün bir din yaratan Hititlerin zamanıdır. Kendilerini “bin tanrılı” bir ülkenin sakinleri olarak adlandıran bu eski Anadolu uygarlığının, “bin tanrıyı” oluşturma sürecinde belirleyici olan, Ege Denizi'nden Basra Körfezi’ne Karadeniz'den Mısır’a kadar birçok çağdaş uygarlıkla kurmuş oldukları siyasi ve kültürel ilişkilerdir. Kozmopolit yapısı, askeri ve diplomatik stratejileri ile çağının güç merkezlerinden biri olan bu uygarlıktan, günümüze ulaşan arkeolojik kalıntılar, çivi yazılı ve hiyeroglif belgeler Anadolu’nun kültür tarihine ışık tutmaktadır. Bu kadim dilin ve kültürün incelenmesi, günümüz Anadolu kültürünün birçok yönünün anlaşılmasında büyük önem arz etmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı nüfuz alanlarındaki Hatti, Luvi, Pala gibi eski Anadolu uygarlıklardan Sümer, Hurri, Asur, Babil gibi komşu uygarlıkların tanrılarına, kalabalık bir tanrı topluluğu yaratan Hitit zamanı Anadolu’sundaki dini yapıyı inceleyerek teolojiden, dinler tarihine; kültür tarihinden din psikolojisine “din ve inanç” eksenli çalışmalar yürüten pek çok disipline katkı sağlamaktır.

Keywords

• Eski Anadolu
• Din
• Hitit
• Tanrı
• Ritüel

References

1. Atay, Tayfun. Din Hayattan Çıkar, İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2004.
2. Beckman, Gary. “The Religion of the Hittites”, Biblical Archaeologist 52/2-3 (1989), 98-108.
3. Beckman, Gary. “The Hittites Serve Their Gods”, The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible, Ed. Samuel E. Balentine, , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, 1-21.
4. Beckman, Gary. “Under the Spell of Babylon: Mesopotamian Influence on the Religion of the Hittites”, From Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C., Ed. Joan Aruz, Sarah B. Graff and Y. Rakic, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013, 284–297.
5. Belmonte, Juan Antonio. From the Atlas to the Caucasus: The Other Side of the Mediterranean Before Islam, Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture 15, (2000), 78–94.
6. Belmonte, Juan Antonio- González-García, A. César. The Pillars of the Earth and the Sky: Capital Cities, Astronomy and Landscape, Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 1/1, (2015), 9–38.
7. Brown, Nina-McIlwraith, Thomas- González, Laura Tubelle de. Perspectives: An Open Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Arlington: The American Anthropological Association, 2020.
8. Collins, Billie Jean. “Hittite Religion and the West”, Pax Hethitica: Studies on the Hittites and Their Neighbours in Honour of Itamar Singer, Ed. Yoram Cohen, Amir Gilan- Jared L. Miller, Wiesbaden, 2010, 54–66.

9. Demirci,Kürşad, Eski Mezopotamya Dinlerine Giriş, İstanbul: Ayışığı Kitapları, 2013.
10. Dewey, John. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991.
11. Dinçol, Ali M. “Ašḫella Rituali (CTH 394) ve Hititlerde Salgın Hastalıklara Karşı Yapılan Majik İşlemlere Toplu Bir Bakış [Das Ritual von Ašḫella (CTH 394) und ein Überblick über die magischen Handlungen gegen die Seuchen bei den Hethitern]”, Belleten 49, (1985): 1-40.
12. Eliade, Mircae. Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1954.
13. Eliade, Mircae. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. New York: Harcourt, 1957.
14. Furlani, Giuseppe. “The Basic Aspect Of Hittite Religion”, The Harvard Theological Review 31, (1938), 258-261.
15. Giovagnoli, Raffaela. Rituals: Philosophical Perspectives And Normative Aspects. Roczniki Kulturoznawcze, 2021, 93-107.
16. Görke, Susanne. “Hints AT Temple Topography and Cosmic Geography From Hittite Sources”, Heaven on Earth Temples, Ritual, And Cosmic Symbolism in The Ancient World, Ed. Deena Ragavan, Chicago, Illınois: The Oriental Institute Of The University Of Chicago Oriental Institute Seminars, 2012.
17. Gruenwald, Ithamar. Rituals and Ritual Theory: A Methodological Essay, The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible, Ed. Samuel E. Balentine, 109-123, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
18. Gilan, Amir. “Religious Convergence in Hittite Anatolia: The Case of Kizzuwatna.” Religious Convergence in the Ancient Mediterranean, Ed. Sandra Blakely- Billie Jean Collins, Atlanta: Lockwood Press, 173-190.
19. Gurney, Oliver. Some Aspect of Hittite Religion, Oxford: Oxford University Press/The British Academy,1977.
20. Haviland, William A. (2002), Kültürel Antropoloji, çev. Hüsamettin İnanç-Seda Çiftçi, İstanbul: Kaktüs Yayınları, 2002.
21. Hutter, Manfred. “Religion In Hittite Anatolia. Some Comments On Volkert Haas: Geschichte Der Hethitischen Religion”, Numen 44, 1997, 74-90.
22. Jeremias, Alfred. Das Alter der babylonischen Astronomie. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909.
23. Koch-Westenholz, Ulla. “Mesopotamian Astrology at Hattusas”, Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens: Beiträge zum 3. Grazer Morgenländischen Symposion Ed. H. D. Galter, 1993, 231–246.
24. Krupp, Edwin C. Skywatchers, Shamans, & Kings – Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power. New York: John Wiley, 1997.
25. Krupp, Edwin C. “Sacred Sex in the Hittite Temple of Yazılıkaya”, Archaeology Odyssey, (2000), 42–45.
26. Krupp, Edwin C. “Bedroom Politics and Celestial Sovereignty”, Current Studies in Archaeoastronomy: Conversations Across Time and Space, Ed. John W. Fountain- Rolf M. Sinclair, Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2005, 413–429.
27. Masson, Emilia. Les douze dieux de l’immortalité: croyances indo-européennes à Yazılıkaya, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1989.
28. Metcalf, Christopher. New parallels in Hittite and Sumerian praise of the Sun, Die Welt Orients 41/2, (2011), 168-176.
29. Otten, Heinrich., Souček, Viladimir, Ein althethitisches Ritual für das Königspaar (StBoT8),Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1969.
30. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy, London, Glasgow,Edinburg: Oxford University Press, 1928.
31. Popko, Maciej. Religions of Asia Minor, Warsaw: Academic Publications Dialog, 1995.
32. Rieken, Elisabeth. Hittite Prayers and Their Mesopotamian Models, Religious Convergence in the
33. Ancient Mediterranean, Ed. Sandra Blakely and Billie Jean Collins, Atlanta, GA: Lockwood Press, 2019.
34. Reyhan, Esma. “Hitit Büyü Ritüellerinin Uygulama Şekilleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme”, Archivum Anatolicum-Anadolu Arşivleri 6, (2003), 11-142.
35. Reyhan, Esma. “Hitit Arşivlerinde Kizzuwatna Kökenli ‘Tanrıları Çağırma Ritüelleri”, Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Tarih Bölümü Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 35/60, (2016), 1-38.
36. Sashur Henninger-Rener, “Religion”, Perspectives - An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, Ed.
37. Nina Brown, -Thomas McIlwraith,- Laura González, Laura de Tubelle, Arlington: The American Anthropological Association, 2020.
38. Sørensen, Jesper. “The Question of Ritual A Cognitive Approach”, Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, Rowman Altamira, 2003, 207-220.
39. Süel, Aygül, “Ortaköy’ün Hitit Çağındaki Adı”, Belleten LIX/225, (1995), 271- 283. Taracha, Piotr. Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2009.
40. Warbinek, Livio. Defining the Hittite “Pantheon”, its Hierarchy and Circles: Methodological Perspectives, Theonyms, Panthea and Syncretisms in Hittite Anatolia and Northern Syria, Ed. E. Livio Warbinek, Federico Giusfredi, 2022, 181-191.
41. Winckler, Hugo. “Himmels- und Weltenbild der Babylonier als Grundlage für die Weltanschauung aller Völker”, Der alte Orient 3/ 2–3, (1903), 37–67.
42. Weidner, Ernst F. “Astrologische Texte aus Boghazköi. Ihre sprachliche und kulturhistorische Bedeutung”, Archiv für Keilschriftforschung 1, (1923), 1–8.
43. Zangger, Eberhard, Krupp Edwin C., Demirel, Serkan- Rita Gautschy. “Celestial Aspects of Hittite Religion, Part 2: Cosmic Symbolism at Yazilikaya.” Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 7,(2021), 57-94. Zoric, Snjezana. Ritual between Anthropology and the.Science of Religion, Narodna Umjetnost 33/1, (1996), 233-245.