Sacred bullCattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honored bulls as sacred. In the Sumerian religion, Marduk is the "bull of Utu". In Hinduism, Shiva's steed is Nandi, the Bull. The sacred bull survives in the constellation Taurus. The bull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia or solar as in India, is the subject of various other cultural and religious incarnations as well as modern mentions in New Age cultures.
Dieu de l'Orage du HattiLe Dieu de l'Orage du Hatti est la principale divinité du panthéon des Hittites, grand dieu de la royauté et protecteur du souverain et de son royaume. Son nom en hittite est inconnu, dans les textes dans cette langue il est identifié par les idéogrammes (sumérogrammes) U ou IM. En hatti, son nom était Taru, en louvite Tarhun, Tarhunta ou Tarhunna. L'étymologie de Tarhunna signifie « Celui-de-la-Foudre ».
AstartéAstarté (du grec ) est une déesse connue dans tout le Proche-Orient, de l'âge du bronze à l'Antiquité, présentant un caractère belliqueux. Athtart (𐎓𐎘𐎚𐎗𐎚, ‘ṯtrt, ‘Aṯtart ou ‘Athtart) à Ougarit, Shaushka ou Shaushga chez les Hourrites, Ashtart (‘shtrt) en langue punico-phénicienne, Ashtoret ou Ashtarot (עשתרת) en hébreu, elle est l'équivalent quasi identique de la déesse mésopotamienne Ishtar (pour les Babyloniens) ou Inanna (pour les Sumériens). Elle fut implantée dans la mythologie égyptienne sous les .
MaliyaMaliya was a goddess worshiped by Hittites in the Bronze Age. She was most likely a deified river in origin, but she was also associated with gardens and with artisanship, specifically with leatherworking and carpentry. The oldest attestations of her have been identified in the Old Assyrian texts from Kanesh. This city continued to be associated with her in later tradition, though she was also worshiped in Hattusa and elsewhere in the Hittite Empire.
An (mythologie)thumb|Le signe AN/DINGIR aux périodes tardives. vignette|Anu est présent sur le registre supérieur de ce kudurru, à côté des deux autres dieux créateurs: Enlil et Enki, ses fils. An (en sumérien), Anu (en akkadien), était considéré dans la mythologie mésopotamienne comme le dieu du ciel, de la végétation ainsi que de la pluie ; il était vu comme le père des dieux. Il habitait un royaume dans les cieux ; on disait de lui qu'il avait le pouvoir de juger tous les criminels. Il était notamment le père d'Enlil et d'Enki.
ŠimigeŠimige was the Hurrian sun god. Known sources do not associate him with any specific location, but he is attested in documents from various settlements inhabited by the Hurrians, from Kizzuwatnean cities in modern Turkey, through Ugarit, Alalakh and Mari in Syria, to Nuzi, in antiquity a part of the kingdom of Arrapha in northeastern Iraq. His character was to a large degree based on his Mesopotamian counterpart Shamash, though they were not identical. Šimige was in turn an influence on the Hittite Sun god of Heaven and Luwian Tiwaz.
AranzaḫAranzaḫ (alternatively romanized as Aranzah), also known as Aranziḫ or Araššiḫ was a Hurrian deity who represented the river Tigris. He was believed to be one of the deities born as a result of Kumarbi biting off the genitals of Anu during a battle over kingship in heaven. He also appears in a myth focused on a hero named after him, Gurparanzaḫ, in which he acts as his ally. He is also attested in numerous Hurrian theophoric names. A handful of attestations of his name have been identified in Ugaritic and Mesopotamian texts as well.
*PerkʷūnosPerkwūnos (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.
King of the godsAs polytheistic systems evolve, there is a tendency for two deities to achieve preeminence as king and queen of the gods. This tendency can parallel the growth of hierarchical systems of political power in which a monarch eventually comes to assume ultimate authority for human affairs. Other deities come to serve in a Divine Council or pantheon; such subsidiary courtier-deities are usually linked by family ties from the union of a single husband or wife, or else from an androgynous divinity who is responsible for the creation.
IyarriIyarri, also known as Yarri, was a god worshiped by Hittites and Luwians in Anatolia in the Bronze Age. He was associated with plague and war, and was portrayed as an archer whose arrows inflicted people with illnesses. While it is generally assumed that Iyarri was male, a female form of this deity is mentioned in a single text. It has been proposed that Iyarri might have developed from the Mesopotamian god Erra, or that he was influenced by him.
