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Shuwala
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Shuwala
Shuwala (Šuwala) was a Hurrian goddess who was regarded as the tutelary deity of Mardaman, a Hurrian city in the north of modern Iraq. She was also worshiped in other Hurrian centers, such as Nuzi and Alalakh, as well as in Ur in Mesopotamia, Hattusa in the Hittite Empire and in the Syrian cities Emar and Ugarit.
An association between her and the goddess Nabarbi is present in many Hurrian documents. It is also assumed that she was an underworld goddess, and she frequently appears alongside other deities of such character, Allani and dU.GUR, possibly a logographic spelling of the name of Nergal.
Multiple writings of the name are attested: šu-a-la in documents from Ur from the Ur III period, šu-u-wa-a-la, šu-u-wa-la, šu-u-wa-u-la, šu-wa-a-la and šu-wa-la in Hurro-Hittite documents from Hattusa; and ṯwl in a Hurrian text from Ugarit written in the local alphabetic script.
The variety of spelling in the Hittite sources in particular is regarded by researchers such as Marie-Claude Trémouille as evidence that the name did not originate in an Anatolian language. Reference works classify her as Hurrian in origin. However, Piotr Taracha regards her as one of the so-called "Syrian substratum" deities, similar to Išḫara, Kubaba and Astabi.
Identification of Shuwala with Shala, wife of the Mesopotamian weather god Ishkur (Adad), proposed by Edward Lipiński based on the similarity of the names, is regarded as unsubstantiated. The similarity between names of the Hittite god Shuwaliyat and Shuwala is also regarded as accidental due to distinct areas of origin of these two deities. The view that Shuwala was merely an abbreviated form of Shuwaliyat, present in a number of older scholarly publications, is regarded as unsubstantiated.
Hurro-Hittite ritual texts from Hattusa indicate that Shuwala was regarded as one of the goddesses belonging to the circle of Hebat, which consisted of Hurrian and Syrian deities. She was associated with the goddess Nabarbi in Hurrian sources, though she sometimes occurs in the proximity of the underworld goddess Allani (Allatum), the war god Aštabi, and an otherwise unknown deity named Alḫe as well. In Ugarit, she occurs together with Kumarbi and Nupatik.
It has been proposed that the connection between Shuwala and Nabarbi, which is particularly common in known sources, relied on the accidental similarity between the names of Shuwala and Shuwaliyat, Nabarbi's husband in Hurro-Hittite tradition. However, it is also possible that it indicates both of these goddesses originated in the proximity of the Habur river. Worship of pairs of goddesses (for example Išḫara and Allani, Hutena and Hutellura, Ninatta and Kulitta) as dyads was a common feature of Hurrian religion.
In Emar Shuwala appears in rituals alongside dU.GUR. dU.GUR has been interpreted as the logographic writing of either the name of Nergal or Resheph, though it is also possible it is meant to be read as Ugur, as a syllabic spelling of this name is known from Hurrian texts from both Emar and Nuzi. Ugur was in origin a sukkal of Nergal, replaced in this role by Ishum in later periods. In Mesopotamian sources his name was used to logographically represent the name of Nergal from the Middle Babylonian period onward.
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Shuwala
Shuwala (Šuwala) was a Hurrian goddess who was regarded as the tutelary deity of Mardaman, a Hurrian city in the north of modern Iraq. She was also worshiped in other Hurrian centers, such as Nuzi and Alalakh, as well as in Ur in Mesopotamia, Hattusa in the Hittite Empire and in the Syrian cities Emar and Ugarit.
An association between her and the goddess Nabarbi is present in many Hurrian documents. It is also assumed that she was an underworld goddess, and she frequently appears alongside other deities of such character, Allani and dU.GUR, possibly a logographic spelling of the name of Nergal.
Multiple writings of the name are attested: šu-a-la in documents from Ur from the Ur III period, šu-u-wa-a-la, šu-u-wa-la, šu-u-wa-u-la, šu-wa-a-la and šu-wa-la in Hurro-Hittite documents from Hattusa; and ṯwl in a Hurrian text from Ugarit written in the local alphabetic script.
The variety of spelling in the Hittite sources in particular is regarded by researchers such as Marie-Claude Trémouille as evidence that the name did not originate in an Anatolian language. Reference works classify her as Hurrian in origin. However, Piotr Taracha regards her as one of the so-called "Syrian substratum" deities, similar to Išḫara, Kubaba and Astabi.
Identification of Shuwala with Shala, wife of the Mesopotamian weather god Ishkur (Adad), proposed by Edward Lipiński based on the similarity of the names, is regarded as unsubstantiated. The similarity between names of the Hittite god Shuwaliyat and Shuwala is also regarded as accidental due to distinct areas of origin of these two deities. The view that Shuwala was merely an abbreviated form of Shuwaliyat, present in a number of older scholarly publications, is regarded as unsubstantiated.
Hurro-Hittite ritual texts from Hattusa indicate that Shuwala was regarded as one of the goddesses belonging to the circle of Hebat, which consisted of Hurrian and Syrian deities. She was associated with the goddess Nabarbi in Hurrian sources, though she sometimes occurs in the proximity of the underworld goddess Allani (Allatum), the war god Aštabi, and an otherwise unknown deity named Alḫe as well. In Ugarit, she occurs together with Kumarbi and Nupatik.
It has been proposed that the connection between Shuwala and Nabarbi, which is particularly common in known sources, relied on the accidental similarity between the names of Shuwala and Shuwaliyat, Nabarbi's husband in Hurro-Hittite tradition. However, it is also possible that it indicates both of these goddesses originated in the proximity of the Habur river. Worship of pairs of goddesses (for example Išḫara and Allani, Hutena and Hutellura, Ninatta and Kulitta) as dyads was a common feature of Hurrian religion.
In Emar Shuwala appears in rituals alongside dU.GUR. dU.GUR has been interpreted as the logographic writing of either the name of Nergal or Resheph, though it is also possible it is meant to be read as Ugur, as a syllabic spelling of this name is known from Hurrian texts from both Emar and Nuzi. Ugur was in origin a sukkal of Nergal, replaced in this role by Ishum in later periods. In Mesopotamian sources his name was used to logographically represent the name of Nergal from the Middle Babylonian period onward.