Can anybody confirm or dismiss this reference?

[OldHat]

I have a few texts that cite Hebat by name, others that cite the same Çatalhöyük goddess as simply a "mother-goddess", like on p 119 of THE HITTITES by J. G. Macqueen ISBN 0891585206 picture drawing
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3275[/ATTACH]

Professor Kenneth Harl, in his lecture course 'GREAT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA MINOR', suggests that the mother-goddess and Teshub were precursors of Cybele and Zeus:
In part 2 'First Civilizations in Anatolia', Prof Harl cites the finds at Çatalhöyük in central modern Turkey:

Source: GREAT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA MINOR

"...There's a famous mother-goddess figure flanked by two felines, ...they may be lionesses, we're not sure, but it looks like an early depiction of the mother goddess Kubele 0r Cybele, in Greek sources and Roman sources; we also have a remarckable 'Bull Room' as its called, and we're still not sure what it is, but it has various bones of the skeletal remains of the bulls that have been sacrificed, it looks like a ritual area, and its believed that these are offerings to a god associated with a bull, later known in Hittite and Greco-Roman mythology as Teshub or Zeus respectively, and this is the earliest version, probably, of the weather god of Anatolia that we have in Çatalhöyük..."

and later in part 4 'Hattusas and Hittite Imperial Culture' Prof Harl cites 'Hepat', citing how the Hurrian god names (Hepat and Teshub) replaced the Hittite names, King Hattusili III, and his wife, Puduhepa, had Hurrian backgrounds:

"...He (Hattusili III) was also apparently responsible for that first great cultural rewrite, he and his wife, Puduhepa, came from the Hurrian sections of the Empire. She was from a provincial aristocracy, and a high priestess of the goddess Hepat, or "Hepatu" , which was the Hurrian goddess, the principle Hurrian goddess. They consciously carried out, an assimilation of the Hittite gods to their Hurrian counterparts, so the weather god was renamed 'Teshub', his name in the Hurrian patheon, and the sun goddess of Arinna was renamed Hepat or 'Hepatu', the goddess of the Hurrians.
and there were a number of these equations, and the equations were really not very accurate for some cases. The sun goddess of Arinna, the weather god of Hatti,
...you notice the names are not pronounced. The Hittites, just as many ancient peoples, one thinks of the Hebrews, don't want to mention the name of the god, it's sacred. Just naming the god by a personal name, could be a profane act.
The Hurrians on the other hand, were quite willing to name their divinities, and had a whole elaborate mythology and literature and epics. All of this is being taken over by the Hittites to dignify and elevate their ancient Anatolean gods to the status of the gods that you would encounter in Mesopotamia and Syria, and therefore win respectability. Once again, if you need an analogy, think of the Romans. The Romans took Greek mythology and superimposed on their gods this Greek mythology, and made equations. And some of these equations are very unfortunate. Greek Aphrodite ending up being equated with Venus, and really they are very different goddesses. The mother of the Julia Gens in Rome, is not quite the same as Aphrodite, who is caught in the net with Aries by Hephaestus and, you know, the usual marvelous tales you get in Greek mythology. And there was this same equation going on in the Hittite Empire..." source

© Copyright Original Source

'Hebat' is cited by name in

Source: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS Michael Jordan p98-99 ISBN 0816029091

HEBAT
Origin Hittite and Hurrian (Anatolia), Patron goddess and mother goddess.

Known period of worship 2000 BC or earlier until 1300 BC or later.

Synonyms possibly Hepatu; Hannahannas; Kubaba.

Center(s) of cult Hattusas [Boghazkoy and Yazilikaya]; Arinna; other sanctuaries within the Hittite Empire extending down into the north Syrian plain.

Art references seals and seal impressions; sculptures; monumental rock carvings.

Literary sources cuneiform and hieroglyphic texts from Boghazkoy, etc.

Hebat was adopted from the Hurrian pantheon as the principle goddess of state religion in the Hittite Empire, though because of name changes her precise role is not always clear. She is described as the "great goddess." In some texts she is also the "sun goddess of Arinna" (a religious center near Boghazkoy thus far lost to archaeology) but her relationship to the sun god, in one fragmentary text called kumarbi and described as the king of the gods, god of right and justice, is unclear. She is more intimately linked with the weather god Tesub, "king of heaven, lord of the land of Hatti" and god of battle who, according to the same legend, displaced Kumarbi as king of the gods.
Hebat is often drawn as a matronly figure, without weapons, but generally in company with a lion. In a famous procession of gods carved on rock faces at Yazilikaya, the leading goddess is called Hepatu.
Source

© Copyright Original Source

and in the same encyclopedia text, Hebat is mentioned when cross ref Tesub and Arinna

Source: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS Michael Jordan

(p 256-257), TESUB "Tesub is the most important deity in Hittite state religion, although he may be subservient to the Sun God(dess) of Arinna. Principally a weather god, as benefits a mountainous region experiencing frequent storms and 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."

and p 25 Arinna (sun goddess of)
"Solar deity, Hittite and Hurrian. May have taken androgynous form, but also identified as the consort of the weather god Tesub. Probably the head of the Hittite state pantheon. There is little detail because the religious center of Arinna is known only from texts. The sun goddess was also perceived to be a paramount chthonic or earth goddess. She becomes largely syncretized with the Hurrian goddess Hebat."

© Copyright Original Source

And Hebat is cited in

Source: A HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD Chester G. Starr p 86 ISBN 0195066286

p 104 "In myth and art alike it is apparent that Hittite religion was much affected by Hurrian influence; no Indo-European deities appear, as among the Mitanni and the Kassites. One of the great monuments, the rocky cleft two miles from Hattusas now called Yazilikaya, "Inscribed Rock," is entirely Hurrian. On its walls great processions of gods and goddesses were carved. One procession was led by the Hurrian sun-goddess Hebat, whom the Hittites equated with their local sun-goddess of the holy city Arinna; the other was led by her husband, the Hurrian weather-god Teshub--a fit deity for a land of storms."
source

© Copyright Original Source

and another textbook shows the hieroglyphic form of 'Hebat'
FORGOTTEN SCRIPTS Cyrus H. Gordon p. 99 ISBN 046502484X
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3276[/ATTACH]

I wish these books were on Kindle. Though I wouldn't want to buy ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS Michael Jordan, I don't know who he is when I was trying to research him.

[Rushing Jaws]

From Encyclopedia Britannica

Source: Herbat

Hebat, also spelled Hepa or Hepatu, in the religions of Asia Minor, a Hurrian goddess, the consort of the weather god Teshub. She was called Queen of Heaven and was assimilated by the Hittites to their national goddess, the sun goddess of Arinna. Teshub and Hebat had cult centres at Kummanni (classical Comana Cappadociae) and at Aleppo (Ḥalab) and other cities in the region of the Taurus Mountains. Hebat is represented as a matronly figure either standing on a lion or seated on a throne. She survived during Hellenistic times as Hipta, a goddess of Lydia and Caria, but the goddess of Comana was then Ma, a warlike deity identified by the Greeks with Enyo and by the Romans with Bellona. From this it may perhaps be inferred that Hebat also had warlike characteristics, though this aspect of her nature is not apparent in the extant texts. Her name has been compared to Hebrew Ḥawwa (Eve) and with Greek Hecate.

Source

© Copyright Original Source

And here is something on Hebat in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible DDD who appears to be the same goddess. And another reference to Hebat in A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology.

## DDD is an excellent source.

The same info, generally speaking, is found in:

Gernot Wilhelm, "The Hurrians"
Oliver Gurney, "The Hittites"

See also Ben H. L. van Gessel, "Onomasticon of the Hittite Pantheon" vol.1 pp.115-147 (lists occurrences & readings of the name, and lists cult centres.)

[jordanriver]

Thanks rogue06!
I would especially like to note that the cult had a fairly strong presence in Syria and Palestine.

I have a few texts that cite Hebat by name, others that cite the same Çatalhöyük goddess as simply a "mother-goddess", like on p 119 of THE HITTITES by J. G. Macqueen ISBN 0891585206 picture drawing
page 119 THE HITTITES JG Macqueen.jpg

Professor Kenneth Harl, in his lecture course 'GREAT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA MINOR', suggests that the mother-goddess and Teshub were precursors of Cybele and Zeus:
In part 2 'First Civilizations in Anatolia', Prof Harl cites the finds at Çatalhöyük in central modern Turkey:

Source: GREAT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA MINOR

"...There's a famous mother-goddess figure flanked by two felines, ...they may be lionesses, we're not sure, but it looks like an early depiction of the mother goddess Kubele 0r Cybele, in Greek sources and Roman sources; we also have a remarckable 'Bull Room' as its called, and we're still not sure what it is, but it has various bones of the skeletal remains of the bulls that have been sacrificed, it looks like a ritual area, and its believed that these are offerings to a god associated with a bull, later known in Hittite and Greco-Roman mythology as Teshub or Zeus respectively, and this is the earliest version, probably, of the weather god of Anatolia that we have in Çatalhöyük..."

and later in part 4 'Hattusas and Hittite Imperial Culture' Prof Harl cites 'Hepat', citing how the Hurrian god names (Hepat and Teshub) replaced the Hittite names, King Hattusili III, and his wife, Puduhepa, had Hurrian backgrounds:

"...He (Hattusili III) was also apparently responsible for that first great cultural rewrite, he and his wife, Puduhepa, came from the Hurrian sections of the Empire. She was from a provincial aristocracy, and a high priestess of the goddess Hepat, or "Hepatu" , which was the Hurrian goddess, the principle Hurrian goddess. They consciously carried out, an assimilation of the Hittite gods to their Hurrian counterparts, so the weather god was renamed 'Teshub', his name in the Hurrian patheon, and the sun goddess of Arinna was renamed Hepat or 'Hepatu', the goddess of the Hurrians.
and there were a number of these equations, and the equations were really not very accurate for some cases. The sun goddess of Arinna, the weather god of Hatti,
...you notice the names are not pronounced. The Hittites, just as many ancient peoples, one thinks of the Hebrews, don't want to mention the name of the god, it's sacred. Just naming the god by a personal name, could be a profane act.
The Hurrians on the other hand, were quite willing to name their divinities, and had a whole elaborate mythology and literature and epics. All of this is being taken over by the Hittites to dignify and elevate their ancient Anatolean gods to the status of the gods that you would encounter in Mesopotamia and Syria, and therefore win respectability. Once again, if you need an analogy, think of the Romans. The Romans took Greek mythology and superimposed on their gods this Greek mythology, and made equations. And some of these equations are very unfortunate. Greek Aphrodite ending up being equated with Venus, and really they are very different goddesses. The mother of the Julia Gens in Rome, is not quite the same as Aphrodite, who is caught in the net with Aries by Hephaestus and, you know, the usual marvelous tales you get in Greek mythology. And there was this same equation going on in the Hittite Empire..." source

© Copyright Original Source

'Hebat' is cited by name in

Source: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS Michael Jordan p98-99 ISBN 0816029091

HEBAT
Origin Hittite and Hurrian (Anatolia), Patron goddess and mother goddess.

Known period of worship 2000 BC or earlier until 1300 BC or later.

Synonyms possibly Hepatu; Hannahannas; Kubaba.

Center(s) of cult Hattusas [Boghazkoy and Yazilikaya]; Arinna; other sanctuaries within the Hittite Empire extending down into the north Syrian plain.

Art references seals and seal impressions; sculptures; monumental rock carvings.

Literary sources cuneiform and hieroglyphic texts from Boghazkoy, etc.

Hebat was adopted from the Hurrian pantheon as the principle goddess of state religion in the Hittite Empire, though because of name changes her precise role is not always clear. She is described as the "great goddess." In some texts she is also the "sun goddess of Arinna" (a religious center near Boghazkoy thus far lost to archaeology) but her relationship to the sun god, in one fragmentary text called kumarbi and described as the king of the gods, god of right and justice, is unclear. She is more intimately linked with the weather god Tesub, "king of heaven, lord of the land of Hatti" and god of battle who, according to the same legend, displaced Kumarbi as king of the gods.
Hebat is often drawn as a matronly figure, without weapons, but generally in company with a lion. In a famous procession of gods carved on rock faces at Yazilikaya, the leading goddess is called Hepatu.
Source

© Copyright Original Source

and in the same encyclopedia text, Hebat is mentioned when cross ref Tesub and Arinna

Source: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS Michael Jordan

(p 256-257), TESUB "Tesub is the most important deity in Hittite state religion, although he may be subservient to the Sun God(dess) of Arinna. Principally a weather god, as benefits a mountainous region experiencing frequent storms and 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."

and p 25 Arinna (sun goddess of)
"Solar deity, Hittite and Hurrian. May have taken androgynous form, but also identified as the consort of the weather god Tesub. Probably the head of the Hittite state pantheon. There is little detail because the religious center of Arinna is known only from texts. The sun goddess was also perceived to be a paramount chthonic or earth goddess. She becomes largely syncretized with the Hurrian goddess Hebat."

© Copyright Original Source

And Hebat is cited in

Source: A HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD Chester G. Starr p 86 ISBN 0195066286

p 104 "In myth and art alike it is apparent that Hittite religion was much affected by Hurrian influence; no Indo-European deities appear, as among the Mitanni and the Kassites. One of the great monuments, the rocky cleft two miles from Hattusas now called Yazilikaya, "Inscribed Rock," is entirely Hurrian. On its walls great processions of gods and goddesses were carved. One procession was led by the Hurrian sun-goddess Hebat, whom the Hittites equated with their local sun-goddess of the holy city Arinna; the other was led by her husband, the Hurrian weather-god Teshub--a fit deity for a land of storms."
source

© Copyright Original Source

and another textbook shows the hieroglyphic form of 'Hebat'
FORGOTTEN SCRIPTS Cyrus H. Gordon p. 99 ISBN 046502484X
PAGE 99 FORGOTTEN SCRIPTS Cyrus H Gordon.jpg

[37818]

From Encyclopedia Britannica

Source: Herbat

Hebat, also spelled Hepa or Hepatu, in the religions of Asia Minor, a Hurrian goddess, the consort of the weather god Teshub. She was called Queen of Heaven and was assimilated by the Hittites to their national goddess, the sun goddess of Arinna. Teshub and Hebat had cult centres at Kummanni (classical Comana Cappadociae) and at Aleppo (Ḥalab) and other cities in the region of the Taurus Mountains. Hebat is represented as a matronly figure either standing on a lion or seated on a throne. She survived during Hellenistic times as Hipta, a goddess of Lydia and Caria, but the goddess of Comana was then Ma, a warlike deity identified by the Greeks with Enyo and by the Romans with Bellona. From this it may perhaps be inferred that Hebat also had warlike characteristics, though this aspect of her nature is not apparent in the extant texts. Her name has been compared to Hebrew Ḥawwa (Eve) and with Greek Hecate.

Source

© Copyright Original Source

And here is something on Hebat in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible DDD who appears to be the same goddess. And another reference to Hebat in A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology.

The Britannica quote is word for word the same as what it says in the Encyclopedia of World Religions.

[Quantum Weirdness]

From Encyclopedia Britannica

Source: Herbat

Hebat, also spelled Hepa or Hepatu, in the religions of Asia Minor, a Hurrian goddess, the consort of the weather god Teshub. She was called Queen of Heaven and was assimilated by the Hittites to their national goddess, the sun goddess of Arinna. Teshub and Hebat had cult centres at Kummanni (classical Comana Cappadociae) and at Aleppo (Ḥalab) and other cities in the region of the Taurus Mountains. Hebat is represented as a matronly figure either standing on a lion or seated on a throne. She survived during Hellenistic times as Hipta, a goddess of Lydia and Caria, but the goddess of Comana was then Ma, a warlike deity identified by the Greeks with Enyo and by the Romans with Bellona. From this it may perhaps be inferred that Hebat also had warlike characteristics, though this aspect of her nature is not apparent in the extant texts. Her name has been compared to Hebrew Ḥawwa (Eve) and with Greek Hecate.

Source

© Copyright Original Source

And here is something on Hebat in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible DDD who appears to be the same goddess. And another reference to Hebat in A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology.

Thanks rogue06!
I would especially like to note that the cult had a fairly strong presence in Syria and Palestine.

[Cow Poke]

How do we know that they just didn't copy and paste it from Wiki? It is the exact same wording, after all.

I was thinking the same thing.

On a side note, this would really be interesting as it might give us a clue regarding the ancient Hebrew understanding of the title given to Eve. Another connection would be that Abraham is thought to be from a Hurrian culture, thus providing a stronger connection. All quite interesting!

[Quantum Weirdness]

I find that same quote multiple places, some of which are simply citing Wiki. Here's one, however, that does not.

Hebat, also transcribed Kheba or Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living". She is also a Queen of the gods.

How do we know that they just didn't copy and paste it from Wiki? It is the exact same wording, after all.

On a side note, this would really be interesting as it might give us a clue regarding the ancient Hebrew understanding of the title given to Eve. Another connection would be that Abraham is thought to be from a Hurrian culture, thus providing a stronger connection. All quite interesting!

[rogue06]

From Encyclopedia Britannica

Source: Herbat

Hebat, also spelled Hepa or Hepatu, in the religions of Asia Minor, a Hurrian goddess, the consort of the weather god Teshub. She was called Queen of Heaven and was assimilated by the Hittites to their national goddess, the sun goddess of Arinna. Teshub and Hebat had cult centres at Kummanni (classical Comana Cappadociae) and at Aleppo (Ḥalab) and other cities in the region of the Taurus Mountains. Hebat is represented as a matronly figure either standing on a lion or seated on a throne. She survived during Hellenistic times as Hipta, a goddess of Lydia and Caria, but the goddess of Comana was then Ma, a warlike deity identified by the Greeks with Enyo and by the Romans with Bellona. From this it may perhaps be inferred that Hebat also had warlike characteristics, though this aspect of her nature is not apparent in the extant texts. Her name has been compared to Hebrew Ḥawwa (Eve) and with Greek Hecate.

Source

© Copyright Original Source

And here is something on Hebat in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible DDD who appears to be the same goddess. And another reference to Hebat in A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology.

[Cow Poke]

I find that same quote multiple places, some of which are simply citing Wiki. Here's one, however, that does not.

Hebat, also transcribed Kheba or Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living". She is also a Queen of the gods.

[Quantum Weirdness]

Hebat, also transcribed Kheba or Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living".[1]
1. Beckman, G.: Pantheon A. II. Bei den Hethitern. In: Edzard, D. O. et al. (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie. Munich, 2010.

The quote is from the Wikipedia article on Hebat. The source looks scholarly but idk with Wikipedia.