Šanta
Šanta | |
---|---|
Warrior god | |
Other names | Sandas, Sandes, Sandon |
Major cult center | Tarsus |
Weapon | bow |
Animals | horned lion |
Personal information | |
Spouse | Iyaya (disputed) |
Equivalents | |
Greek equivalent | Heracles |
Šanta (Santa) was a god worshiped in
No references to Šanta are known from the centuries immediately following the fall of the Hittite Empire, but later Neo-Assyrian texts record theophoric names invoking which confirm he continued to be worshiped in the first millennium BCE. He is also attested in a number of Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. He was regarded as the tutelary god of the city of Tarsus, and possibly as its mythical founder. He was also venerated further west, in Lydia. He is also attested in a variety of Greco-Roman sources, in which he was referred to as Sandas, Sandes or Sandon. In the process of interpretatio graeca he came to be regarded as the equivalent of Heracles, but there is no evidence that the two ever fully merged. A distinct tradition, possibly originating in Tarsus, presented him as one of the Titans instead.
In addition to certain attestations of Šanta, a number of similar theonyms and figures associated with Tarsus are sometimes argued to correspond to him, including the Aramaic deity Ba’altars, "Baal of Tarsus", as well as Zas, Zantas and Sandakos from Greco-Roman sources.
Second millennium BCE attestations
Name and character
The original form of the name, Šanta, was written in cuneiform as dŠa-an-ta or dŠa-an-da.[1] The diacritic is sometimes omitted in transcription, leading to spellings such as Santa[2] or Sanda.[3]
The name Šanta could also be represented by the
Little information about Šanta's character has been identified in sources from the
Associations with other deities
According to Piotr Taracha Iyaya, a goddess associated with springs, could be regarded as Šanta's wife.[19] However, in Emar he was instead paired with Ḫandasima.[1] According to Volkert Haas this deity corresponds to better attested Luwian Ḫantašepa,[20] a type of deities believed to protector doorways,[21] but according to Gary Beckman the origin of this theonym is not certain.[22] Federico Giusfredi advises caution in interpreting the sources used to argue a connection existed between Šanta and Iyaya or Ḫandasima, as both are only attested with him once.[23]
Šanta could also be associated with
Worship
Oldest known attestations of Šanta comes from the eighteenth century BCE.
The worship of Šanta among the Luwians is well documented.[26] Most of the theophoric names invoking him are Luwian.[1] According to Piotr Taracha, while there was no single Luwian pantheon, attestations of him are known from all areas inhabited by Luwians, similarly as in the case of major deities such as Tarḫunz, Arma, Tiwad, Iyarri, Kamrušepa or Maliya.[26] He was present in a number of Luwian-influenced local pantheons in the basin of the Zuliya, presumed to correspond to the modern Çekerek River.[27] He was also worshiped in Tapparutani, though this settlement is only known from a single document mentioning a statue representing him located there.[10]
The oldest known Hittite source which mentions Šanta as a member of the state pantheon is a treaty between Šuppiluliuma I and Ḫukkana of Ḫayaša.[11] However, overall he is only rarely attested as a divine witness in such documents.[28] He is also present in a number of rituals connected with the worship of the deified sea.[29]
Šanta is also attested in Akkadian texts from Emar in Syria.[1] However, Anatolian deities did not belong to the local pantheon, and as summarized by Gary Beckman appear only in ritual texts documenting ceremonies "performed by the natives on behalf of the gods of their imperial masters".[30] Šanta appears in an offering list headed by a weather god with the Luwian epithet puttalimmi (possibly "stormy") and the Sun god of Heaven[20] as the recipient of a sacrificial sheep.[31] Alfonso Archi suggests that Šanta's presence in this text is one of the pieces of evidence which might indicate that the compiler was a priest familiar with the traditions of Kizzuwatna, possibly stationed in Carchemish.[32]
Later attestations
Neo-Assyrian, Luwian and Lydian sources
While no sources mentioning Šanta are known from between the fall of the
Neo-Assyrian sources mention a number of theophoric names invoking Šanta, including Sandauarri ("Šanta is my help"), a king of Kundi and Sissu during the reign of
Šanta was also worshiped in
Greco-Roman reception
In
Sandas appears on Greco-Roman coins from Tarsus, with some of the individual known examples being dated to the reigns of Antiochus VII Sidetes and Caracalla.[40] Typically he was depicted on them either alongside a structure conventionally referred to as the "Sandas monument" in scholarship, or alongside a horned lion.[41] It has been suggested that the latter might have inspired the Greek chimera.[42] Sandas might also be depicted on coins from Olba, though it is also possible that the figure shown on them is an unidentified local deity of similar character instead.[43]
-
Coin of Antiochus VIII Grypus. Reverse: god Sandas standing on the horned lion, in his pyre surmounted by an eagle.
-
Bronze sesterce from Tarsus with bust of Caracalla (211-217) on the obverse, and Sandas on the reverse.
-
Coin of Antiochus X Eusebes depicting Sandas.
At least in Tarsus, Sandas could be identified with
It has been argued that an annual festival in Tarsus apparently involved the preparation of a funerary pyre for Sandas.[48] However, the existence of such a commemoration of his supposed immolation relies entirely on the assumption that a reference to a festival dedicated to the immolation of Heracles described by Lucian in Amores refers to a celebration from Tarsus originally focused on the local god.[49] It has also been similarly argued that the Herakleia celebrated elsewhere in Cappadocia were a Hellenized form of an older festival of Sandas.[48]
A distinct tradition presented Sandas as a titan, as attested indirectly in the writings of Dio Chrysostom and directly later in these attributed to Stephanos of Byzantium, where "Sandes" is the offspring of heaven and earth and brother of Cronus, Rhea, Iapetus, Adanos, Olumbros and Ostasos.[39] Cronus, Rhea and Iapetus are well attested Hesiodic titans, while the other deities listed seem to be Cilician in origin: Adanos was the mythical founder of Adana, and based on the Karatepe bilingual inscriptions where king Azitawatas (the author of the Karatepe texts) speaks of himself as a lesser chieftain of the "Danuniyim" (the exact vocalization of the name is uncertain, but these people are the same as the Denyen (Danuna) mentioned in the 14th century BC in the Amarna letters) – his overlord "Awarkus" is given as the "king of the city of Adana" in the Hittite part of the text, while on the Phoenician side of the inscriptions he is described as "king of the Danuniyim" thus identifying the two names as virtually identical. A likely connection of the "Danuniyim" with the "Danaoi" of Greek mythology has been established, and as a consequence also between the eponymous founder of the Danaans, Danaus – and "Adanos".[50] Olymbros might be related to Olybris, an epithet of Zeus, and similarly tied to a specific Cilician city (perhaps to be identified with Hittite Ellibra, referred to as Illubra in later Assyrian sources), while Ostasos remains poorly known but is presumed to have some connection to the same area.[51] It is possible the portrayal of Sandas as a titan was a local tradition originating in Tarsus.[39]
Uncertain attestations
It has been proposed that the supposed theonym Santi, preserved in the
It has been argued
Zas and Zantos, theonyms known from the works of the sixth century BCE philosopher
A proposal that a connection existed between the name of Šanta and that of Sanerges, a deity belonging to the pantheon of the Bosporan Kingdom attested in sources from the late fourth century BCE, is not accepted by most researchers.[39]
According to the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Beckman 2011, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hutter 2003, p. 228.
- ^ a b Melchert 2002, p. 241.
- ^ a b Kammenhuber 1990, p. 191.
- ^ a b Taracha 2009, p. 98.
- ^ Mastrocinque 2007, p. 203.
- ^ Kammenhuber 1990, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Melchert 2002, p. 244.
- ^ Kim 2021, p. 56.
- ^ a b c d e Rutherford 2017, p. 82.
- ^ a b c d Haas 2015, p. 408.
- ^ a b Kammenhuber 1990, p. 192.
- ^ Cammarosano 2015, p. 206.
- ^ Melchert 2002, p. 242.
- ^ a b c d Taracha 2009, p. 113.
- ^ Haas 2015, pp. 370–371.
- ^ Taracha 2009, pp. 113–114.
- ^ a b Melchert 2002, pp. 242–243.
- ^ Taracha 2009, p. 114.
- ^ a b c Haas 2015, p. 569.
- ^ Haas 2015, p. 473.
- ^ Beckman 2002, p. 43.
- ^ Giusfredi 2019, p. 118.
- ^ a b c d e f Rutherford 2017, p. 81.
- ^ Taracha 2009, p. 27.
- ^ a b Taracha 2009, p. 107.
- ^ Taracha 2009, p. 100.
- ^ Schwemer 2022, p. 369.
- ^ Haas 2015, p. 467.
- ^ Beckman 2002, p. 53.
- ^ Haas 2015, p. 570.
- ^ Archi 2014, p. 155.
- ^ a b c Rutherford 2017, p. 83.
- ^ a b c Rutherford 2017, p. 90.
- ^ Hawkins 2015, p. 51.
- ^ a b c Melchert 2002, p. 243.
- ^ a b c Hutter 2017, p. 118.
- ISBN 978-90-04-46159-8.
The assured attestation of the god Santa in Lydia comes from the inscription LW 4a, where the triad sãntas kuf̣aw⸗k mariwda⸗k 'Santa, Kufaw, and Mariwda' occurs in the curse formula. In all the three instances, the deities under discussion seem to be of Luwian origin.
- ^ a b c d e f Rutherford 2017, p. 84.
- ^ Mastrocinque 2007, pp. 198–199.
- ^ Rutherford 2017, p. 85.
- ^ Mastrocinque 2007, p. 198.
- ^ Mackay 1990, pp. 2101–2102.
- ^ a b Rutherford 2017, p. 89.
- ^ Rutherford 2020, p. 329.
- ^ Rutherford 2020, p. 332.
- ^ Rutherford 2017, p. 87.
- ^ a b Mastrocinque 2007, p. 209.
- ^ Rutherford 2017, pp. 84–85.
- ^ Bury 1970, p. 365.
- ^ Rutherford 2017, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Melchert 2002, pp. 245–251.
- ^ Hutter 2003, p. 229.
- ^ a b Rutherford 2017, p. 86.
- ^ Rutherford 2017, p. 88.
- ^ Rutherford 2020, p. 330.
- ^ Watkins 2007, p. 123.
- ^ Franklin 2017, p. 509.
- ^ Franklin 2017, p. 512.
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- Kim, Sujung (2021). "Skanda, The Multifaceted God: Skanda in Korean Buddhism and Beyond". Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies. 66: 51–96. ISSN 1598-0642. Retrieved 2023-01-01.)
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