696 THE ANCIENT HITTITES. 



dirge recited in liis honor. For Lydia we have the names Heracles 

 or Sandon and Omphale transmitted, they are the sun and moon gods. 

 The former is said to have beeii worshiped also in Cilicia under the 

 name of Sandon. The chief act in his cult there is said to have been 

 the erecting of a p.yre (see above). In addition to Ma and Semiramis 

 the name of Cyl)ele is also found for the "great mother," especially 

 in Phrygia. Like Ma she also wears upon her head the mural crown. 

 Combined with her is Attis, her beloved, corresponding to Adonis- 

 Tamuz;. Rhea, another form of the great mother, was attended by 

 the Dactyles or deities considered as the inventors of metallurgy. As 

 the moon god worshiped in Asia Minor, the name Men is transmitted 

 to us. 



From the cuneiform inscriptions and from the personal names it can 

 be concluded that among the western Hittites, the god at the head of 

 their pantheon bore the nameTarku, while among the eastern Hittites 

 it was the storm god Teshup. Both names, but especially the latter, 

 are of comparatively frequent occurrence. Teshup is represented 

 (pi. iv), at least on the soil of northern Syria, as a warrior, holding in 

 one hand a bundle of three lightning forks, with the other swinging 

 the hanuner, the symbol of fertility. (Compare Tor with the hammer 

 Mioelnir.) In Cilicia u god Sanda, among others, was worshiped. 

 Among the Mitani w^e meet besides Teshup, the goddess Shaushkas, 

 corresponding to the Babylonian Ishtar, and perhaps a god Shimigi. 

 The so-called Van inscriptions (see p. 692) contain a large number of 

 names of gods, but we are little informed concerning the nature of most 

 of these deities. The god Teshup was probably received by the people 

 of the Van inscriptions from an earlier people belonging, however, to 

 the same race, for though he is often mentioned in their inscriptions, 

 the first place is held by the god Chaldis, who is scarceh- wanting irvany 

 of the incriptions. We also frequently meet with a triad of gods as 

 the most important ones, Chaldis and the storm god Teshup or, as he is 

 called is this dialect, Teishebas being joined by the sun god Ardis. 

 Rarely is the moon god Shelardis mentioned. Concerning the sacri- 

 fices to be offered to the gods on various occasions the inscriptions 

 contain detailed statements which, however, are not yet fully intelli- 

 gible. 



The monuments themselves present a series of religious scenes, the 

 most important being found at Boghazkeu — probably the ancient 

 Pteria — in Cappadocia. The living rock forms there in one place, in 

 a general manner, a rectangular room, without ceiling, one broad- 

 side of which, open in its entire wndth, forms the entrance. The stone 

 walls in the interior are perpendicular. On these walls a large relig- 

 ious scene is sculptured composed of about 70 persons advancing 

 one behind the other. Upon the rear wall, facing the entrance, is the 

 principal group (pi. ii) forming the center of the whole. Toward 



