Nikkal

Template:Short description Template:Template otherTemplate:Wikidata imageTemplate:Compare image with Wikidata Nikkal (logographically ^dNIN.GAL,Template:Sfn alphabetically 𐎐𐎋𐎍 nklTemplate:Sfn) or Nikkal-wa-Ib (nkl wibTemplate:Sfn) was a goddess worshiped in various areas of the ancient Near East west of Mesopotamia. She was derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Ningal, and like her forerunner was regarded as the spouse of a moon god, whose precise identity varied between locations. While well attested in Hurrian and Hittite sources, as well as in Ugarit, she is largely absent from documents from the western part of ancient Syria.

Name and character

Nikkal was derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Ningal (Sumerian: "great lady"), wife of the moon god Nanna.Template:Sfn Similarly to deities such as Ea, Damkina, Aya or Pinikir she was introduced from Mesopotamia to Hurrian areas possibly as early as in the third millennium BCE.Template:Sfn Alfonso Archi assumes that the presence of Ningal in the pantheon of the kingdom of Mari in particular was in part responsible for her adoption by the Hurrians and her later prominence in their religion.Template:Sfn He stresses that Ningal she was already known in the west in the Ur III period.Template:Sfn

In Hittite sources Nikkal's name was usually spelled logographically as ^dNIN.GAL, though phonetic syllabic spellings such as ^dNi-ik-kal are also known, while in Hurrian texts the latter predominate.Template:Sfn An additional form of the name, Nikkal-wa-Ib ("Nikkal and Ib"), is known from Ugarit.Template:Sfn It is commonly accepted that the second element means "fruit" in Ugaritic and that it is analogous to a similar epithet of the Mesopotamian Nanna,Template:Sfn ^dIn-bi, "the fruit".Template:Sfn However, restorations of Ugaritic texts including the phrase ilat inbi, "goddess of fruit," are now regarded as erroneous and there is no evidence that such an epithet was ever applied to Nikkal independently from the name Nikkal-wa-Ib.Template:Sfn An alternate interpretation associates Ib with Umbu,Template:Sfn a name of the moon god in Hurrian sources which possibly originated in Upper Mesopotamia.Template:Sfn However, according to Mauro Giorgieri connecting this epithet with the Umbu, or treating the latter as an epithet of Nikkal, is problematic.Template:Sfn He concludes that instances where the name Umbu precedes Nikkal should be treated as references to a dyad of deities, the former being the name of the Hurrian moon god in this context.Template:Sfn The etymology of this theonym ultimately remains uncertain.Template:Sfn

Due to Nikkal's infrequent appearances in mythological texts discussion of her character is regarded as largely speculative.Template:Sfn In Hittite tradition she could function as one of the deities linked to oaths alongside Išḫara and the moon god.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn However, such attestations are not common.Template:Sfn

Association with other deities

The notion of Ningal being the wife of the moon god was retained by cultures who adopted her into their pantheons as Nikkal.Template:Sfn Hurrian texts feature Nikkal paired with the moon god under both of his names, Kušuḫ and Umbu.Template:Sfn The dyad Umbu-Nikkal is first attested in the fifteenth century BCE.Template:Sfn Template:Ill notes that it can be considered an example of a broader phenomenon of worship of dyads of deities in Hurrian religion, and compares this case to the pairing of deities such as Ḫepat and Šarruma, Ninatta and Kulitta, Hutena and Hutellura, Išḫara and Allani or two hypostases of Nupatik in cultic context due to their similar characteristics.Template:Sfn In Ugarit Nikkal is attested alongside Kušuḫ, but she was also regarded as the spouse of local moon god Yarikh.Template:Sfn

Maḫitti (singular) or Maḫittena (plural) are attested as members of Nikkal's circle in a Hurro-Hittite context.Template:Sfn Volkert Haas suggested that they were divine prophetesses, and interpreted their name as an Akkadian loanword in Hurrian based on the similarity to the terms maḫḫitu and maḫḫutu(m) attested in the Mari texts.Template:Sfn A ritual attributed to queen Nikkal-mati lists various further deities who belonged to the circle of Nikkal, including Zēdu (possibly her divine handmaiden), Alwil, Agaššari, the "gods of the father" of Nikkal,Template:Efn as well as other groups of deities not provided with individual names (širini, ḫawari and gate) divine hounds and piglets.Template:Sfn

The Hittite text known as "prayer of Kantuzzili" refers to Ištanu (the "Sun god of Heaven") as Nikkal's son.Template:Sfn

It has been proposed that a god known only from the Ugaritic myth Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh, ḫrḫb, might be Nikkal's father.Template:Sfn However, modern restorations of the text indicate explicit references to such a relation are lacking.Template:Sfn He is referred to with two epithets, with the first being agreed to mean "king of summer"Template:Sfn or "king of the summer fruit,"Template:Sfn while the meaning of the second is regarded as connected to the institution of marriage (proposals include "king of weddings," "king of the wedding season" and "king of marriage").Template:Sfn In the past interpretations such as "king of the raiding season" were also proposed.Template:Sfn He is assumed to be a deity of Hurrian origin,Template:Sfn and it is possible that his name might mean "he of the mountain Ḫiriḫ(i)", and end with the suffix -bi (Ḫiriḫ(i)bi).Template:Sfn This type of divine name would be similar to these of Hurrian deities Kumarbi and Nabarbi,Template:Sfn meaning respectively "he of Kumme" and "she of Nawar."Template:Sfn

Worship

Nikkal had a prominent position in the Hurrian pantheon, and Alfonso Archi highlights that she is the only spouse of a Mesopotamian deity incorporated into the Hurrian pantheon who also appears in Hurrian sources on her own.Template:Sfn Areas in which she was worshiped included the Hurrian kingdom of Kizzuwatna, the Hittite Empire and Ugarit.Template:Sfn It is assumed that in the latter two areas she was received through Hurrian intermediaries.Template:Sfn Volkert Haas attributed her introduction to the Hittite pantheon to queen Nikkal-mati, the wife of Tudḫaliya I.Template:Sfn Most Hittite ritual texts which mention Nikkal are assumed to be influenced by the culture of Kizzuwatna.Template:Sfn A prayer of Muwatalli II identified her as one of the deities of Kummanni.Template:Sfn In Hurro-Hittite sources she appears in the offering lists (Template:Ill) dedicated to the circle of the goddess Ḫepat.Template:Sfn She is also among the deities depicted in the Yazılıkaya sanctuary in a procession of deities compared to lists known from these texts, where she appears between Damkina and Aya.Template:Sfn However, in Ankuwa during the reign of Tudḫaliya IV she received offerings as a deity from the kaluti of Teshub instead.Template:Sfn A distinct kaluti centered on her is also known.Template:Sfn In the Kizzuwatnean ritual of Ammiḫatna Nikkal is among the goddesses mentioned in the context of offerings made to all the female deities (Hurrian: ḫeyarunna aštuḫina).Template:Sfn The fragmentary ritual text KUB 51.73 mentions offerings made to Nikkal and her throne.Template:Sfn

A number of Hittite theophoric names invoking Nikkal are known, including these of queen Nikkal-mati and her daughter Ashmu-Nikkal.Template:Sfn Haas pointed out that etymologically Hurrian theophoric names of queens invoking Nikkal and Ḫepat might point at a connection of the Middle Hittite royal house with southern Anatolia and northern Syria, where both of these goddesses were worshiped.Template:Sfn It is possible that Nikkal-mati was the queen who according to a Middle Hittite document presided over a private ritual to Nikkal, in which her two sons, a priest (possibly named Kantuzzili) and Tulpi-Teshub also took part.Template:Sfn

Ugaritic reception

In Ugarit Nikkal is attested in both Ugaritic and Hurrian texts.Template:Sfn Some researchers, for example Aicha Rahmouni, refer to her as a Hurrian deity even while discussing Ugaritic sources.Template:Sfn According to Template:Ill and Template:Ill the city can be considered a major cult center of Nikkal.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The text RS 24.250+ mentions a sanctuary dedicated to her, designated by the term ḫmn.Template:Sfn One of the texts from this site preserves a Hurrian hymn dedicated to her, accompanied by musical notation.Template:Sfn Its contents were originally published by Emmanuel Laroche alongside other Hurrian texts from Ugarit in 1968, while the first author to propose that the text might represent musical notation was Hans Gustav Güterbock in 1970.Template:Sfn Offerings to Nikkal are mentioned in Hurrian context in the text RS 24.254.Template:Sfn Another of the ritual texts in which she appears, KTU³ 1.111, combines Ugaritic and Hurrian elements and lists offerings to her alongside these to both Kušuḫ and Yarikh.Template:Sfn She is also among the deities mentioned in RS 24.261,Template:Sfn which similarly combines Ugaritic and Hurrian elements and focuses on Šauška and her counterpart Ashtart.Template:Sfn During a ritual which took place during the final month of the Ugaritic lunar calendar, Ra’šu-Yêni ("first wine"),Template:Sfn she received a cow as an offering directly after sacrifices to Yarikh.Template:Sfn

Multiple theophoric names invoking Nikkal are known from Ugarit as well.Template:Sfn Seven individuals bearing them have been identified as of 2016.Template:Sfn One of them was Template:Ill.Template:Sfn She is the only presently known Hittite princess who married into the Ugaritic royal family.Template:Sfn

A treaty between Ugarit and Carchemish indicates that Nikkal was also worshiped in two other nearby settlements, Gur'atu and Nubannu, both of which were under the control of the latter kingdom.Template:Sfn

Miscellaneous attestations

Nikkal is not attested in non-Hurrian non-Ugaritic sources from Bronze Age western Syria.Template:Sfn According to Gina Konstantopoulos, it is possible that a reference to Nikkal which she compares to the attestations of this goddess from Ugarit might be present in the treaty between Ashur-nirari V of Assyria and Mati-ilu of Arpad from the first millennium BCE, which invokes many western deities, for example Hadad of Aleppo, Karhuha and Kubaba from Carchemish or Melqart and Eshmun from Phoenicia, alongside Assyrian ones.Template:Sfn

In Egypt Nikkal is only attested in Leiden Magical Papyrus I dated to the reign of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt, in which she appears as a foreign deity implored to heal a specific affliction.Template:Sfn

Mythology

Nikkal appears in an Ugaritic text (CAT 1.24) describing the circumstances of her marriage to the moon god, Yarikh.Template:Sfn It is assumed that the myth is either a translation of a Hurrian text, or at least an adaptation of motifs pertaining to Nikkal and Kušuḫ in Hurrian mythology.Template:Sfn A possible indication that the text's forerunners originated outside Ugarit is also the presence of a reference to Dagan of Tuttul in it.Template:Sfn Through the text, Nikkal is referred to as glmt, "young woman."Template:Sfn Based on the use of the term in other Ugaritic texts, especially the Epic of king Kirta, it is assumed that it can designate a bride.Template:Sfn Yarikh wants to marry Nikkal, but Ḫrḫb initially proposes other prospective brides to him instead, Baal's daughter Pidray and Attar's daughter ybrdmy, which lead some researchers to propose he is simply the matchmaker, rather than Nikkal's father as often assumed.Template:Sfn Yarikh shows no interest in either of these goddesses.Template:Sfn After showing he is willing to offer a large amount of silver, gold and lapis lazuli and promising that he is capable of siring a child he secures a permission to marry Nikkal.Template:Sfn He states that he will "make her fields vineyards, fields of her love orchards," which is both a figurative and metaphorical reference to the marriage being fruitful according to Steve A. Wiggins.Template:Sfn It has been proposed that a poorly preserved section of the text describes a sexual encounter between Nikkal and Yarikh, but this remains uncertain.Template:Sfn