Burnt animals for the Hittite gods. Cremation as a type of animal sacrifice in Hittite Anatolia
Résumé
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the Hittite textual evidence (Anatolia of the 17th–12th centuries BC) for sacrificial cremation of animals or animal body parts. Besides several occurrences of Hittite verb warnu-, “to burn”, the Hurrian term ambašše “(something) that is burnt” is examined in context. Sacrificial cremation occurs during various types of rituals: invocations, substitutions, and others. In the form of the ambašše rite, it originates from Kizzuwatna, a region of Southern Anatolia that was under Hittite rule at least since the 16th century BC. Twenty-two excerpts of Hittite cuneiform texts are provided in order to illustrate the great variety of burnt sacrificial procedures.