= Schwemer D., Religion and Power, in: HHE 355-418. [Ch. 8; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110661781-009. Abstract: This chapter surveys the religious traditions of Hittite Anatolia with a
special focus on the relationship between various forms of power on the one
hand and religious practices, concepts, and narratives on the other. Topics discussed
include the role of religious traditions in the authorization of royal
power and in the formation of statehood, both with regard to the internal structure
of the society of the Hittite kingdom and with regard to its external relations.
The deities of the Hittite pantheon are presented as extremely powerful, but otherwise
human-like beings, transcendent and removed from immediate grasp,
but, at the same time, very immanent to this world. The most prominent deities
are portrayed in some more detail according to the extant textual and iconographical
sources. Further sections are devoted to the mythological narratives
and various religious practices, including the temple cult and its festivals, apotropaic
and therapeutic rituals, prayer literature, and divinatory techniques. The
contribution emphasizes the dynamic plurality of cultural traditions and linguistic
milieus evident in the complex, ever-shifting texture of beliefs and practices
that we simplistically refer to as ‘Hittite religion.’] Neue Abfrage | New Search
