Kotharat
Kotharat | |
---|---|
Tutelary goddesses of marriage, conception, pregnancy and birth | |
Major cult center | Mari, Ugarit |
Parents | hll (Hulelu?)[1] |
Equivalents | |
Mesopotamian equivalent | Šassūrātu |
Hurrian equivalent | Hutena and Hutellura |
Kotharat (
Name
The name Kotharat (Kôṯarātu
Ugaritic texts indicate that the word Kotharat is plural,[10] and it is conventionally assumed that it refers to a group of seven goddesses.[6] However, occasionally smaller number, either four or six, is postulated as an alternative.[11]
Possible individual names
Individual names of the Kotharat might be attested in the Ugaritic myth Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh.[12] Gabriele Theuer restores them as follows: ṯlḫh, mlgh, yṯtqt, bq’t, tq’t, prbḫṯ, dmqt.[11] Wilfred G. E. Watson gives a similar list,[5] but excludes yṯtqt.[11] However, not all experts agree that these words are given names.[5] Theuer, who accepts that each of these words is the name of a single goddess, considers ṯlḫh either a cognate of Hebrew šillûḥîm, which might refer to dowry, or alternatively of Akkadian šalāḫu, "to tear out," which she assumes might indirectly refer to removing the infant from mother's womb.[13] She points out the similarity between mlgh and Akkadian mulugu, a term referring to the property a bride brought from her father's house.[14] The word yṯtqt might be derived from the root ṯtq, possibly "to split off," "to separate," and as such designate the goddess as a responsible for cutting the umbilical cord.[14] Similarly, the root bq’, from which bq’t might be derived, refers to splitting, and possibly refers specifically to splitting the womb in this context.[14] The term tq’t is most likely derived from tq’, "to hit with a hand," presumably referring to enthusiastically clapping hands to celebrate the birth of a child or possibly indirectly alluding to determination of a favorable fate.[15] The compound prbḫṯ according to Theuer is presently impossible to translate and might be a Hurrian loanword in Ugaritic.[16] Finally dmqt, seemingly designated as the youngest of the Kotharat, might mean "the good" or "the kind" and like tq’t refer to the ability to determine a positive fate for the infant.[16] Aicha Rahmouni assumes that dmqt might instead refer to the whole group, not necessarily to a single goddess, and translates it as either "fairest ones" or "fairest one."[17]
Another translator, David Marcus, does not assume that the passage refers to individual goddesses:
Let her partings gift and dowry
Be weighed out (?) for her
Bursts (?) of handclapping for prbḫṯ,
The fairest and youngest of the Kotharat.[18]
He argues that prbḫṯ is the name of a mortal woman, presumably a bride, poetically compared to one of the Kotharat.[18] This interpretation is also supported by John Gibson, who presumes the Kotharat are invoked to bless her in her marriage.[19] He considers it possible that the text was recited during wedding ceremonies in Ugarit and the name prbht is simply a placeholder.[19]
Character
The Kotharat were chiefly associated with conception, pregnancy and birth.
One of the Ugaritic texts describes them with the term snnt.[22] Especially in older literature, it is often assumed to be a cognate of Akkadian sinuntu, "swallow."[22] However, many researchers, for example Dennis Pardee and Aicha Rahmouni, favor the explanation "shining" or "brilliant," based on similarity to Arabic sanā, "to shine," "to gleam" or "to be exalted" (used to refer to stars), as well as its Aramaic cognate referring to refining metal or glittering.[22] The proponents of the latter theory point out that there is no precedent for Ancient Near Eastern deities being referred to as "swallows," while various epithets highlighting luminosity are attested in Mesopotamian and Eblaite texts, as well as in the Hebrew Bible.[22]
Associations with other deities
According to Ugaritic texts, the god hll was the father of the Kotharat.[23][22] The vocalization of his name is uncertain, though a god named Hulelu, whose origin is presently unknown,[24] was worshiped in Emar and might be related to Ugaritic hll.[25] The meaning of the name is not known, though a similarity with the Arabic word hilālun, "crescent moon", has been pointed out.[25] Based on this possible relation he is often considered an astral deity, possibly a lunar god specifically associated with the crescent phase.[25] Another proposed translation of his name is "star."[6] Dennis Pardee instead suggests the name might mean "purity,"[25] while Wilfred G. E. Watson favors "brightness."[5] Yet another theory connects hll with the senior Mesopotamian god Enlil.[25]
Lists of deities from Ugarit and Mari indicate that the Kotharat were understood as analogous to the
Wilfred G. E. Watson argues that in the myth Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh (KTU 1.24), the Kotharat function as handmaidens of the eponymous goddess.[5]
Despite their names being cognates, there is no direct indication in any known sources that the Kotharat were ever associated with the god Kothar.[21]
Worship
The Kotharat originated in inland Syria.[7] They were worshiped by Amorites in various cities located in the north of this region.[27] According to Alfonso Archi, they spread through the Middle Euphrates area in the early second millennium BCE.[6] They are attested in offering lists from Mari.[6] They were also worshiped in Emar, though there is no indication that they had a temple there and they are absent from known theophoric names.[33] Marten Stol also tentatively suggests that a relief from Tell Chuera depicting seven goddesses might be an indication that the Kotharat or a similar group of birth goddesses were worshiped in this location.[9]
The
Uncertain and disproved attestations
Dennis Pardee argues that the genealogy of deities presented by
Two purported attestations of the Kotharat postulated by William F. Albright, on a tablet from Beth Shemesh and in verse 7 of Psalm 68, are no longer accepted in modern scholarship.[21]
Mythology
The Kotharat are among the deities appearing in the Ugaritic myth Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh, sometimes referred to with the title Nikkal and the Kotharat instead.[19] They apparently oversee the birth of a son of Nikkal and Yarikh, and might also be invoked to bless a mortal woman, prbḫṯ due to her own upcoming wedding,[19] though it has also been proposed that the passage enumerates the individual names of the Kotharat.[11]
They also appear in the
References
- ^ Rahmouni 2008, pp. 102–103.
- ^ a b Pardee 2002, p. 16.
- ^ Wyatt 2007, p. 74.
- ^ a b c d e Lewis 2012, p. 68.
- ^ a b c d e Watson 1993, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Archi 2013, p. 14.
- ^ a b Beckman 2002, p. 44.
- ^ Theuer 2000, p. 157.
- ^ a b c Stol 2000, p. 83.
- ^ a b Pardee 1999, p. 491.
- ^ a b c d Theuer 2000, p. 192.
- ^ a b Theuer 2000, p. 158.
- ^ Theuer 2000, pp. 193–192.
- ^ a b c Theuer 2000, p. 193.
- ^ Theuer 2000, pp. 193–194.
- ^ a b Theuer 2000, p. 194.
- ^ Rahmouni 2008, p. 79.
- ^ a b Marcus 1997, p. 218.
- ^ a b c d e Gibson 1999, p. 201.
- ^ a b Archi 2013, p. 18.
- ^ a b c Pardee 1999, p. 492.
- ^ a b c d e Rahmouni 2008, p. 102.
- ^ Theuer 2000, p. 127.
- ^ Beckman 2002, p. 43.
- ^ a b c d e Rahmouni 2008, p. 103.
- ^ a b Feliu 2003, p. 271.
- ^ a b Archi 2013, p. 17.
- ^ Stol 2000, pp. 80–82.
- ^ Stol 2000, p. 82.
- ^ Taracha 2009, pp. 124–125.
- ^ Archi 2013, p. 15.
- ^ a b Taracha 2009, p. 125.
- ^ Beckman 2002, p. 51.
- ^ Watson 1993, pp. 49–53.
- KTU2 1.47, 1.118
- ^ Pardee 2002, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Pardee 1999, pp. 492–492.
- ^ a b Pardee 2002, p. 23.
- ^ Pardee 2002, p. 280.
- ^ Feliu 2003, pp. 271–272.
- ^ Lewis 2012, p. 84.
Bibliography
- Archi, Alfonso (2013). "The Anatolian Fate-Goddesses and their Different Traditions". Diversity and Standardization. De Gruyter. .
- Beckman, Gary (2002). "The Pantheon of Emar". Silva Anatolica: Anatolian studies presented to Maciej Popko on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Warsaw: Agade. OCLC 51004996.
- Feliu, Lluís (2003). The god Dagan in Bronze Age Syria. Leiden Boston, MA: Brill. OCLC 52107444. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- Gibson, John (1999). "The Mythological Texts". In Watson, Wilfred G. E.; Wyatt, Nicolas (eds.). Handbook of Ugaritic Studies. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-10988-9. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- Lewis, Theodore J. (2012). "Family, Household, and Local Religion at Late Bronze Age Ugarit". In Bodel, John P.; Olyan, Saul M. (eds.). Household and family religion in antiquity. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. OCLC 795712914.
- Marcus, David (1997). "The Betrothal of Yarikh and Nikkal Ib". Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Atlanta: Scholars Press. OCLC 36180933.
- Pardee, Dennis (1999), "Kosharoth", in van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; van der Horst, Pieter W. (eds.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Eerdmans Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0-8028-2491-2, retrieved 2022-07-22
- Pardee, Dennis (2002). Ritual and cult at Ugarit. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. OCLC 558437302.
- Rahmouni, Aicha (2008). Divine epithets in the Ugaritic alphabetic texts. Leiden Boston: Brill. OCLC 304341764.
- Stol, Marten (2000). Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean Setting. Cuneiform Monographs. Brill Styx. ISBN 978-90-72371-89-8. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- Taracha, Piotr (2009). Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3447058858.
- Theuer, Gabriele (2000). Der Mondgott in den Religionen Syrien-Palästinas: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von KTU 1.24. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis (in German). Vol. 173. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- Watson, Wilfred G. E. (1993). "Goddesses in Ugarit" (PDF). Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente Antico. 10. ISSN 2239-5393.
- Wyatt, Nicolas (2007). Word of tree and whisper of stone and other papers on Ugaritian thought. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. OCLC 171554196.