Ḫepat


Ḫebat, also transcribed Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living".

Mythical family

Hebat was married to Teshub and was the mother of Sarruma and Alanzu as well as mother-in-law of the daughter of the dragon Illuyanka.

Name derivation

It is thought that Hebat may have had a Southern Mesopotamian origin, being the deification of Kubaba, the founder and first ruler of the Third Dynasty of Kish. The name may be transliterated in different versions: Khepat with the feminine ending -t is primarily the Syrian and Ugaritic version.
In the Hurrian language, Ḫepa is the most likely pronunciation of the name of the goddess. In modern literature, the sound /h/ in cuneiform sometimes is transliterated as kh.

Arinniti

The Hittite sun goddess Arinniti was later assimilated with Hebat. A prayer of Queen Puduhepa makes this explicit:

Widespread veneration

Ḫepat was venerated all over the ancient Near East. Her name appears in many theophoric personal names. A king of Jerusalem mentioned in the Amarna letters was named Abdi-Heba, possibly meaning "Servant of Ḫepat".