Ḫannaḫanna

Ḫannaḫanna (from Hittite ḫanna- "grandmother") is a Hurrian Mother Goddess. Ḫannaḫanna was also identified with the Hurrian goddess Hebat.

Christopher Siren reports that Ḫannaḫanna is associated with the Gulses.

Myths

After Telepinu disappeared, his father, the Storm-god Tarhunt (also called Teshub), complained to Ḫannaḫanna. She then sent him out to search for his son, and when he gave up, she dispatched a bee, charging it to find Telepinu. The bee did that, and then purified and strengthened him by stinging his hands and feet and wiping his eyes and feet with wax.

She also recommended to the Tarhunt that he should pay the Sea-god the bride price for the Sea-god's daughter, so she can wed Telipinu.

After Inara consulted with Ḫannaḫanna, she gave her a man and land. Soon after, Inara went missing and when Ḫannaḫanna was informed of this by the Storm-god's bee, she apparently began a search with the help of her female attendant. Apparently, like Demeter, Ḫannaḫanna disappears for a while in a fit of anger. While she is gone, cattle and sheep are suffocated, and mothers, both human and animal pay no attention to their children.

After her anger is banished to the Dark Earth, she returns rejoicing, and mothers care once again for their kin. Another means of banishing her anger was through burning brushwood and allowing the vapor to enter her body. Either in this or another text she appears to consult with the Sun god and the War god, but much of the text is missing.

Some early Assyriologists to suggest that Inanna may have been originally a Proto-Euphratean goddess, possibly related to the Hurrian mother goddess Hannahannah, who was only accepted latterly into the Sumerian pantheon. This idea is supported by her youthfulness, and that, unlike the other Sumerian divinities, she at first had no sphere of responsibilities.[1] However, this view is not widely accepted by modern Assyriologists.[2]

Ḫannaḫanna and the Biblical Hannah

Although Ḫannaḫanna is similar to the Biblical name Hannah, mother of Samuel (according to 1 Kings), the Canaanite Anat, and the Christian Saint Anne, this is [until further investigation] coincidental. The names Anne and Hannah derive from Hebrew Channah, meaning "favor" or "grace," [3] while Anat may be from a Semitic root meaning "water spring."[4]

See also

References
  1. Harris, Rivkah (1991), "Inanna-Ishtar as Paradox and a Coincidence of Opposites" (History of Religions, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Feb., 1991)), pp. 261-278
  2. Rubio, Gonzalo (1999), "On the Alleged "Pre-Sumerian Substratum" (Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 51, 1999 (1999)), pp. 1-16
  3. http://www.behindthename.com/name/hannah
  4. http://www.behindthename.com/name/anat-1

Sources
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