162 herbert niehr
in support of this assumption the case of the god elkunirša, as he is
known in a hittite myth from hattusa before 1200 B.c., can be cited.160
this myth stands clearly in an Ugaritic narrative tradition. another men-
tion of the god elkunirša as “el, creator of the earth” occurs in the phoeni-
cian inscriptions of Karatepe (Kai 26 iii 18), dated between 720 B.c. and
the beginning of the 7th century B.c. a continual presence of this god can
be demonstrated here for a period of more than 500 years.161
third place in the pantheon is the god rešep (Kai 214: 2.3).162 this
deity looks back on a history in northern syria from the time of ebla (sec-
ond half of the 3rd millennium B.c.). a connotation of the god rešep to a
certain sphere of responsibility cannot be seen directly in the inscriptions
of samʾal. rešep is otherwise attested as the god of the underworld, the
plague, and of war or healing. it is clear that rešep, who appears as arq-
rešep (Kai 214: 11) in samʾal, has to do with the interests of the kingdom.
herewith the combat aspect of the god rešep, which can already be found
in west semitic religions, especially in Ugarit, is accentuated. thus, rešep
could be considered a protective, and therefore positive deity.163
to explain the divine name arq-rešep (Kai 214: 11) a northern arabic
influence has been accepted. some researchers want to see the northern
arabic war god ruḍa in this name. he is later attested in palmyra as arṣu.164
the god rakkabʾel, following rešep in the inscription of panamuwa i,
was already attested as a dynastic god by the time of King Kulamuwa (Kai
24: 16). the epithet “lord of the house,” given to him in the Kulamuwa
inscription, does not appear in the inscription of panamuwa i. only in
more recent inscriptions is his particular position emphasized again.
Šamaš, for the most part, placed last in the god lists (Kai 214: 2–3,
11, 18; 215: 22);165 he will probably have been attributed the area of law.
however, this can only be inferred from Šamaš’ usual functions and is not
clearly stated in the inscription.
More clearly defined, however, is the relevance of Šamaš in the realm of
death and the underworld. this is shown first on an archaeological level,
160 text in hoffner 1990: 69f.
161 the most recent citation of this god is attested in Kai 129 from leptis Magna. in
light of it being dated to the early 2nd century B.c., the cult of elkunirša is attested over
a period of about 1500 years.
162 on the god rešep, cf. most recently lipiński 2009a.
163 cf. lipiński 2009a: 225–227.
164 cf. landsberger 1948: 48f n. 122; tropper 1993: 23; lipiński 1983; id. 1994: 208–211;
id. 2009a: 225–228.
165 on Šamaš, cf. most recently Kutter 2008.