THE ANCIENT HITTITES. 695 



The war chariot was also emplo3"ed for the chase. The animals 

 hunted are represented as the lion, the deer, and the hare. The lirst 

 was chased with dogs. On one of the gate slabs of Senjirli the god 

 of the chase is represented with human body and the head of a lion. 

 He holds in one hand a hare, in the other a I)oomerang, which, accord- 

 ingl}", must have been used in hunting. On each of his shoulders is 

 a bird, evidently a falcon, which alread}^ in ancient time was trained 

 for the chase. 



This peculiai' god image, a mixture of man and beast, lead.s to a 

 consideration of the religion of the Hittites. Here, too, the meager- 

 ness and obscurity of tradition, and the failure to decipher the inscrip- 

 tions is to be regretted. Only scattered details can, therefore, be 

 culled. With which of the Hittite peoples originated the names of 

 the gods in Asia Minor which the Greeks transmitted, and whether 

 their form is the correct one, can not yet be determined. More relia- 

 ble, but scanty, is the information of the cuneiform inscriptions. Some 

 knowledge can also be derived from personal names, as in the Orient 

 they are frequently composed with the names of gods. The pictorial 

 representations also teach us to a certain extent concerning the nature 

 of the gods. 



Everj'whei'e in Asia Minor and northern Syria tradition places in 

 the foreground the worship of a goddess which is sometimes desig- 

 nated as the "great mother." At Komana in Cappadocia she was 

 worshiped under the name of Ma. She wears upon the head the 

 so-called nuiral crown. Innumerable priests and priestesses served 

 her. The latter were called Amazons, and from the Greek legends 

 are known as warlike priestesses. The former, who were eunuchs, 

 bear the name of Galls, and constitute a peculiarity of Asia Minor 

 cult: (Comp. Der alte Orient, vol. iii, part 213, 2d ed., p. 61, note 1.) 

 The festivals of the goddess, to which large multitudes are said to 

 have flocked, were celel)rated with wild songs and dances accompanied 

 by noisy music, the priests on such occasions being thrown into such a 

 frenzy as to emasculate themselves. To be sure, this is related of the 

 cult of the great goddess at Hieropolis-Bambyke in northern Syria, 

 but this is the same goddess, even though she bears another name. 

 She is called Semiramis. Her sacred animal is the dove. In this 

 connection it is worthy of notice that the name-group of this goddess, 

 distinctly recognized in the pictorial inscriptions, though itcannotj'et 

 be read, contains the image of a bird. For an understanding of the 

 legend of her killing each of her lovers in succession reference may be 

 made to the man-hating Ishtar, and the legend of her concealing her 

 sex suggests the bearded Venus of classical antiquity. (Der alte Ori- 

 ent, Ihid.^ pp. 61 to 63.) Resides this goddess are mentioned Dionysos 

 and an unspecitied god who doubtless corresponds to her beloved, 

 Adonis-Tamuz (ibid., pp. 61, 62), as yearly a pyre is erected and a 



SM 1903 45 



