Huwasi stone

In Hittite mythology, a ritual standing stone

In Hittite mythology, a huwasi (meaning "standing stone") is a ritual standing stone to a deity usually situated in a temple.[1] Huwasi are sometimes identified as examples of baetyls.[2]

Larger huwasi stones were placed in an open area surrounded by trees and other plants. The stones were treated as gods and were given food and water and anointed and washed.

At any cult centre, the deities that could not be given a temple were worshipped at huwasi stones. The term huwasi was used to describe the housing of the sacred stela, the huwasi stone.[3][4]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Laneri 2024, p. 180.
  2. ^ Marinatos 2010, p. 87.
  3. ^ Bryce, Trevor (2002). Life and Society in the Hittite World. Oxford University Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-19-924170-5.
  4. ^ Becchio, Bruno; Schadé, Johannes P. (2006). Encyclopedia of World Religions. Foreign Media Group. p. 429. ISBN 978-1-60136-000-7.

Sources

  • Laneri, Nicola (2024). From Ritual to God in the Ancient Near East: Tracing the Origins of Religion. Cambridge University Press.
  • Marinatos, Nanno (2010). Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine. University of Illinois Press.
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