Aruna is the God of the Sea worshiped by the Hittites (c. 1600 - 1187 BCE). At their greatest range under King Šuppiluliuma I, the Hittites control the sunny eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
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Son of Kamrushepa, Goddess of Magic and Medicine, Aruna is born without a father. His name is identical to the Hittite word for "sea".
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Loosely defined a sea can be fresh or salt, or both, like the Black Sea. Aruna can refer to a large body of water or the divine essence thereof.
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The worship of Aruna is local to such cities as Hubeshna (Ḫubešna) and Tuwanuwa. Most of his known attestations come from southeastern Anatolia.
Aruna is a true Hittite god, where other Hittite sea gods are Hurrian in origin. His Hurrian equivalent is Kiashe, who allies himself with Kumarbi against the younger gods.
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Aruna appears in the Hittite myth, "Telipinu and the Daughter of the Sea God." When Aruna kidnaps the Sun God of Heaven, Storm God Tarḫunna sends his son Telipinu, God of Agriculture, to confront Aruna in his domain.
Aruna releases the Sun God but gets frightened by the anger of the deities, and offers his daughter Ḫatepuna to Telipinu as a bride. Hatepuna marries Telipinu and becomes an agriculture goddess.
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Emboldened, Aruna demands a bride price. Tarhunna agrees, pays the bride price for his son's wife, and all is well. Not the most exciting myth, but some are created to fill a void, for example, explaining the origin of a wife for Telipinu.
Aruna also appears in a myth of the frost demon Ḫaḫḫima who kidnaps the Sun God and freezes the land. In this myth Aruna is seen in heroic aspect among other deities who go forth to save the Sun God.
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Aruna emerges as a god of contrasts. The sea can be mild and calm, or angry and destructive. It can lead to prosperity or ruin. Shipwrecks and pirates are real threats along the turquoise coasts.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Not just human predators await unfortunate seamen. The Mediterranean Sea is home to 47 species of shark but only two during the Bronze Age: porbeagle shark and some hammerhead species. Both are known to take a nip of human once in a while.
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The shrines or temples of Arunu on the way to the Mediterranean seacoast provide a chance for seagoing travelers to make offering, or pray for the benevolence of the Sea God to keep the waters calm and the evil creatures away.
In the north, Hittites make tantalizing grabs for the coast of the Baltic Sea. Kaska warriors and allies prevent them from going past Nerik in northern Anatolia. They focus their sea efforts on the Mediterranean.
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The world's first sea battle is undertaken by the last Hittite King, Suppiluliuma II, against Cypriots of Cyprus in c. 1210 BCE. It's a resounding victory for the Hittites.
It's also their last victory. Kaska hordes sack Hattusa in 1190 BCE. By 1187 BCE, the Hittite Empire has vanished. With it goes the extensive Hittite mythology, including that of the Sea God.
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A combination of factors come together in the disastrous upheaval of the Bronze Age Collapse. Earthquakes, ongoing drought, internal revolt and increasing attacks by people of the sea bring one of the greatest Empires in history to the end of its four-hundred-year reign.
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