Ziparwa

Ziparwa was the head of the "extremely heterogenous" pantheon of the Palaians,[1][2] speakers of Palaic, a language closely related to Hittite and Luwian.[3] In the Bronze Age they inhabited Pala,[4] a northern region of Anatolia which later came to be known as Paphlagonia.[5]

The original Palaic form of Ziparwa's name, Zaparwa, was spelled in cuneiform as ^dZa-pár-wa_a(-a)-, while the standard Hittite spelling was ^dZi-pár-wa_a(-a)-.[6] The signs with subscripts, such as wa_a, constituted a Hittite invention, and it is assumed that they reflected "Hattic syllables beginning with the sound /f/ or /v/".[7] On this basis it is presumed that Ziparwa's name had Hattic roots.[6] It might have originally been pronounced as /Zaparfa/.[8]

Hittite scribes apparently considered Ziparwa to belong to the category of weather gods.[8] It has been proposed that in Palaic context, the logogram ^d10, used to designate such deities, can be read as Ziparwa's name, but there is no certain proof in favor of this interpretation.[9] Piotr Taracha has suggested that his name might have originally been an epithet applied to a weather god bearing a Palaic name.[10] This assumption relies on the proposed relation between his name and Taparwašu, a title of the Hittite storm god.[11] Both might be variants of the same Hattic term in origin.[8] Taracha assumes that under Hattian influence, a Palaic god received a new title, and that his original name was close to Hittite Tarḫunna and Luwian Tarḫunz.[11] Daniel Schwemer notes that another possibility is that might have been an epithet of Hattian Taru in origin.[8]

It is presumed Ziparawa also functioned as a god of vegetation.[1][12] He appears in a Palaic myth assumed to be analogous to the Hittite composition about Telipinu.[13]

Kataḫzipuri, a Hattian goddess most likely comparable to or outright identical with Kamrušepa[11] was likely regarded as Ziparwa's spouse.[6][14] They were regarded as the main pair of deities in the Palaic pantheon.[15]

The religion of the Palaians is only known from Hittite accounts.[11] As a result, most of the available information about Ziparwa comes from Hittite texts, though there is no indication that he was ever a "pan-Anatolian" deity, and it is presumed his cult was centered in Pala.[16] At some point he was incorporated into the Hittite pantheon,[2] and a temple dedicated to him existed in Hattusa.[11] Deities worshiped in association with him by the Hittites came chiefly from Palaic or Luwian milieus, with well attested examples being Tiyad (the Palaic sun god), Ilaliyantikeš or Hašamili.[11]

Celebrations in honor of Ziparwa formed a part of a state festival dedicated to the Sun goddess of Arinna and the "gods of Hatti" as a whole, established during the reign of Šuppiluliuma I.[17] They took part on the twelfth and thirteenth days,[18] and the king was expected to visit his temple on both.[19] The text CTH 750 had often been described as an account of a separate Hittite festival of Ziparwa following a proposal of Emmanuel Laroche from 1971,[20] However, according to Hannah Marcuson it might have been a part of the spring AN.TAḪ.ŠUM and fall nuntarriyašḫa celebrations, rather than a separate one dedicated specifically to this god.[18] The rites involved the recitation of "the words of the bread loaves" in Palaic.[21] The related text CTH 751 mentions a sacrifice of a bull during which the formula "Hey Ziparwa! A bull! A bull!" had to be recited.[14] An old woman speaking in Palaic had to reassure the god that the animal he was provided with was of best quality.[22] The text also explains which body parts were not suitable for an offering to Ziparwa.[23]