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Tarḫunz (stem: Tarḫunt-) was the weather god and chief god of the Luwians, a people of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Anatolia. He is closely associated with the Hittite god Tarḫunna and the Hurrian god Teshub. The name of the Proto-Anatolian weather god can be reconstructed as *Tṛḫu-ent- ("conquering"), a participle form of the Proto-Indo-European root *terh2, "to cross over, pass through, overcome". It has cognates in Hittite tarḫu-, Latin trans-, Dutch door, German durch, and English through. The same name was used in almost all Anatolian languages: Hittite Tarḫunna-; Carian Trquδ-; Milyan Trqqñt-, and Lycian: Trqqas (A), Trqqiz (B), who has been identified with Zeus. Norbert Oettinger has argued that the functions of the Anatolian weather god ultimately come from the Proto-Indo-European god Perkwunos, but that they did not preserve the old name to coin instead the new epithet *Tṛḫu-ent- ("conquering"), which sounded close to the name of the Hattian Storm-god Taru. In Luwian cuneiform of the Bronze Age, his name appears as Tarḫunt- (Tarḫuwant- in the oldest texts). He is also named using the Sumerograms dU ("God 10") or dIM ("God Wind"). In hieroglyphic Luwian, his name was written as Tarhunza- and Tarhunta- or with the ideograms (DEUS) TONITRUS ("God Thunder"). According to scholarship, the name Tarhunt- is also cognate to present participle turvant-, also meaning "vanquishing, conquering", an epithet of Vedic deity Indra. The god's name often appears in personal names. The oldest example is "Tarḫuan", known from a 19th-century BC Hittite text from Kültepe. Among the Luwians, it was customary for people to bear a simple god's name, but names were often combined. In the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, these names are very common. The latest examples derive from Hellenistic southern Anatolia, like Tarkumbios (Ταρκυμβίος, luw. *Tarhun-piya- "Tarhun-Gift“) or Trokombigremis (Τροκομβίγρεμις; *Tarhun-pihra-mi- "Shining Tarhun") which are attested in Cilicia.

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Related concepts (13)

Luwian religion

Luwian religion was the religious and mythological beliefs and practices of the Luwians, an Indo-European people of Asia Minor, which is detectable from the Bronze Age until the early Roman empire. It was strongly affected by foreign influence in all periods and it is not possible to clearly separate it from neighbouring cultures, particularly Syrian and Hurrian religion. The Indo-European element in the Luwian religion was stronger than in the neighbouring Hittite religion.

*Perkʷūnos

Perkwūnos (Proto-Indo-European: 'the Striker' or 'the Lord of Oaks') is the reconstructed name of the weather god in Proto-Indo-European mythology. The deity was connected with fructifying rains, and his name was probably invoked in times of drought. In a widespread Indo-European myth, the thunder-deity fights a multi-headed water-serpent during an epic battle in order to release torrents of water that had previously been pent up. The name of his weapon, , which denoted both "lightning" and "hammer", can be reconstructed from the attested traditions.

Tarsus, Mersin

Tarsus (ˈtɑrsəs; Hittite: 𒋫𒅈𒊭 Tārša; Ταρσός Tarsós; Տարսոն Tarson; طَرسُوس Ṭarsūs) is a historic city in south-central Turkey, inland from the Mediterranean. It is part of the Adana-Mersin metropolitan area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey. Tarsus forms an administrative district in the eastern part of Mersin Province and lies at the heart of the Çukurova region. With a history going back over 6,000 years, Tarsus has long been an important stop for traders and a focal point of many civilisations.