TYPE: Weather god
ORIGIN: Hittite and Hurrian (Anatolia) [Turkey]
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 1800 BCE or earlier until circa 1100 BCE or later.
SYNONYMS: Tesup and possibly Sutekh
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Hattusas (Boghazkoy); Arinna; many other sanctuaries in the Taurus region and northern Syrian plain.
ART REFERENCES: seals and seal impressions; sculptures; monumental rock carvings.
LITERARY SOURCES: Cunieform and hieroglyphic texts from Boghazkoy, etc.
INFORMATION:
Tesub is the most important deity in the Hittite state religion, although he may be subservient to the sun god(dess) of Arinna. Principally a weather god, as befits mountainous region experiencing frequent storms adn otherwise changeable climate. Also a god of battle and "King of heaven, lord of the land of Hatti". His consort is generally identified as Hebat. According to legend, Tesub is involved in a typical confrontation battle with the forces of disorder in the form of a dragon, Illuyankas. He defeats the dragon, thus symbolizing the re-invigoration of the earth after winter and the triumph of life over death. The drama seems to have been enacted in a New Year spring festival of Purulliyas.
The king of the Hittite kingdom was Tesub's high priest. A fragmented document describes a ritual in which the statue of the god is taken, in company with temple prostitutes, to a Tarnu (cultic or bath) house in a sacred grove where various rites are performed over it. Tesub sometimes plays the role of the missing vegetation god (see Telepinu). Sculptures at Malatya identify ram sacrifices. Tesub is depicted holding a bow and standing on a horned animal or in a chariot drawn by bulls.
Tesub was imported into Greece during the Mycenaean period (circa 1500-1200 BCE). Bronze statuettes of the god have been discovered at Mycenae, Tiryns, Phylakopi and Delos.