Hurrian religion

The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic religion of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East. These people settled over a wide area, so there were differences between them, especially between the eastern Hurrians around Nuzi and Arrapha and the western Hurrians in Syria and Anatolia. From the 14th century BC, the Hurrian religion had a powerful influence on the Hittite religion and the Hurrian pantheon is depicted in the 13th century rock reliefs at the important Hittite sanctuary at Yazılıkaya.

There is a lot of evidence for Hurrian religion and its regional differences. The oldest evidence comes from Urkesh and dates to the 3rd millennium BC.

Among the richest sources, is the material from the Hittite archives of the Hittite apital of Hattusa, which is partially composed of Hurrian language texts and partially of Hurrian works translated into the Hittite language. Several Hurrian ritual texts survive from Ugarit, written in the Ugaritic alphabet, which are mostly lists of gods. The Amarna letters from King Tushratta of Mitanni and the treaty documents provide evidence about the Hurrian-influenced religion practiced among the Mitanni. The archives of individual Syrian cities, like Emar, Mari and Alalakh, also contain Hurrian texts. The evidence from eastern Hurrians is very different and texts only provide evidence for civic pantheons.

The Hurrians worshipped a great number of gods derived from various different cultures, especially Mesopotamia and Syria. Many gods were syncretised with Mesopotamian and Syrian deities over time; for example, Šauška was identified with Ishtar of Nineveh, Teššub with the Weather god of Aleppo (), Kušuḫ with the moon god Sîn von Ḫarran () and the Sun god Šimige () with Šamaš of Sippar. This syncretism also embraced the native partners of the gods, like the Syrian Ḫebat as wife of Teššub among the western Hurrians, Nikkal as wife of the moon god, and Aya as wife of the sun god.

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