A Study on D/HUR.SAGAškašipa

The subject of this study is Aškašipa, a god mentioned in Akkadian and Hittite cuneiform texts dating to the second millennium BC. Aškašipa is morphologically a combination of the word aška- (/door) and the suffix -šipa/-zipa (/spirit). Aškašipa is thought to mean the spirit of the door. The oldest record of Aškašipa is the treaty text Kt.00/k 6, dated to the Ib layer of Kaniš during the Assyrian Trade Colonial Period. Considering the record in tablet number Kt.00/k 6, which dates back to the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period, the cult center of Aškašipa in this period is the city of Kaniš. The earliest record of Aškašipa in cuneiform documents dating to the Hittite Imperial Period is the Akkadian version of the treaty with the Mitanni king Šattiwaza during the reign of Šuppiluliuma I. The name Aškašipa appears among the oath gods in monthly rituals, the AN.TAH.ŠUMSAR Fest, the Nuntarriašhaš Fest, oracle texts, ritual texts, prayer texts, and išhiul treaty texts. According to Hittite texts, there was a temple dedicated to the god. Aškašipa is consecrated in the cities of Kaniš, Karahna, and Ištanuwa. The cult center of Aškašipa must have been Kaniš during the Assyrian Trade Colonial Period and Karahna during the Hittite Imperial Period. The king performs the rituals to Aškašipa with a golden lion-shaped riton. Considering that the rituals performed for Aškašipa were performed with a lion-shaped golden rhyton, it is understood that the symbol of the god was the lion. Clay rhytons and statues in the shape of lions dating back to the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period in Kültepe and the Old Hittite Period in Hattuša were unearthed. Lion-shaped clay ritons and statuettes were found at Boğazköy and Kültepe. In Hittite cuneiform documents, Aškašipa appears together with the Kaniš gods Pirwa, Maliya, Kamrušepa, Haššušara, and Hašammili. The fact that the god was ritualized in the open land, Akkadian and Hittite records, and archaeological finds suggest that Aškašipa was associated with Mount Erciyes.