The Hittite words for North, East, South, and West

Mathis Kreitzscheck*

Cite as Kreitzscheck, M. 2023: The Hittite words for North, East, South, and West. Hungarian Assyriological Review 4: 111–140.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52093/hara-202301-00037-000

Abstract

This paper identifies the Hittite terms for the four cardinal directions. Until now, our understanding of Hittite horizontal cosmology has been limited, with cardinal direction terms often represented logographically. The study collects attestations of these terms, primarily from celestial omen texts, showing that, as in Mesopotamia, the Anatolian orientation system was based on the sun and, crucially, the four winds. The author argues that the Hittite words for North, East, South, and West are tar(a)šmenaš ḫuwanz, ekunaš ḫuwanz, šalliš ḫuwanz, and appezziš/appezziyaš ḫuwanz, meaning ‘the tar(a)šmenaš wind’, ‘the cold wind’, ‘the great wind’, and ‘the rear wind’, respectively.

cardinal directions, divination, winds, omens, cosmography

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