Istustaya and Papaya are ancient Hittite goddesses responsible for the fates of mortals. They're said to appear at a birth to oversee the destiny of the newborn. They're also called upon to protect against harm during childbirth. With their grace, one's fate can be changed.
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Istustaya and Papaya originate among the Hatti people who live in the area of Anatolia, when the Hittites come for a visit c. 1600 BCE and decide to stay. Many Hattic gods find their way into the Hittite pantheon.
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The Hittites retain the capital Hattusa and keep the regional name "Land of the Hatti." According to myth, the goddesses Istustaya and Papaya sit by the Black Sea spinning the threads of life. They are especially associated with the fate of the King.
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The Black Sea is a forbidding place in the ancient world. The later Greeks theorize it extends to the ends of the earth and nothing exists beyond. The west coast of the Black Sea shows a surprising number of ancient human habitations underwater.
The Black Sea coast to the north of Hittite lands is occupied by Kaska mountain raiders and various other troublemaking tribes. It's said the reason the formidable Hittites never get to the coast is the aggression of the Kaska.
In the end it's the Kaska who finish the destruction of the Hittites by sacking Hattusa in 1190 BCE. Perhaps the Fate Goddesses warn the last Hittite King, who watches his empire fall down around his ears. He either abandons the city, or is killed in the battle of 1190 BCE.
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The Hittite words for 'fate' are gulsuwar derived from guls-, 'to inscribe, engrave, mark', with the verb, gul(as)sa. Divinities responsible for determining a person's fate are known as Fate-deities or Gulšeš.
Inscriptions, or writing in general, are the duties of scribes, an association which places Istustaya and Papaya in the scribal domain similar to Hurrian underworld scribe Belet-Seri and part-timer Geshtinanna. In ancient society, scribes are of the priestly class.
Another pair of Fate Goddesses, Hutena and Hutellura, appears in mythology of the neighboring Hurrians. The duo is also adopted at Ugarit. Associated with the Underworld, they work with Allani the Hurrian Underworld Goddess to dictate the fates of humans.
They're considered benevolent. If a person dies prematurely the people assume it's by evil intervention and not the intention of the deities. Likewise are Istustaya and Papaya revered by worshipers.
The Hittites believe fate is pre-determined, but not inevitable. A person can change or improve her fate by giving proper reverence to certain gods, or he can try to get a minor deity to intervene on his behalf.
The role of the Hittite fate deities is described:
"In regard to this matter we have just now summoned as witnesses the Mother goddesses and the Fate-deities. [And], if a person is born at a certain time, [then] as the Fate-deities and [the Mother-goddesses] on that day designate well-being for him/her - now this is that day! May you, O Fate-deities and [Mother goddesses], today designate life, [joy], strength, long years (and numerous other boons) for the king (and) queen!"
Goddess or god pairs, twins, duos dyads are common in ancient near Eastern myth. Duos are a running theme through later cultures too. They include twin warrior portal gods Lugal-irra & Meslamta-ea; the Divine Twins of Creation, and the divine attendants of Shauska.
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An excerpt from a Hittite building ritual mentions the fate goddesses:
When the king enters the building, the Throne summons the eagle, "Come, I am sending you to the sea. When you go, spy out the grove in the steppe. Who is present (there)?" (The eagle) replies, "I have observed (them). It is Isdustaya and Papaya, the chthonic and primeval ... -deities who are present there kneeling."
(The Throne) says, "What are they doing?" (The eagle) replies to her, "(One) holds a distaff; (others) hold full spindles. They are spinning the years of the king. There is no limit or number to the years."
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The chthonic association links Istustaya and Papaya to the Underworld, like the Hurrian fate deities. In the ancient world the Underworld is neither a good nor bad place.
Demons live in the Underworld but so do vegetation gods. Fire arises from beneath the earth, and so does ground water. Metals and precious stones form underground. The Underworld is the place all dead must go.
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The Sun travels through the Underworld as the Sun Goddess of the Earth. Goddess of Death Lelwani presides over the proceedings in her chthonic realm. She also rules over the lands of the Old Gods, those deposed by their children, or who just decide to retire.
While the Hittites seem to believe in an afterlife they make no special effort to get there, compared to the Egyptians, who develop a complex theology. They take care of their gods, and hope their gods take care of them. They aren't shy about blasting a deity below par.
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King Mursili II (c. 1300 BCE) bewails the absence of the God during constant attacks by invaders and drought upon the land.
"All of the land of Hatti is dying, so that no one prepares the sacrificial loaf and libation for you [gods]. The plowmen who used to work the fields of the gods have died, so that no one works or reaps the fields of the gods any longer. The miller-women who used to prepare sacrificial loaves of the gods have died, so that they no longer make the sacrificial loaves.
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As for the corral and the sheepfold from which one used to cull the offerings of sheep and cattle – the cowherds and shepherds have died, and the corral and sheepfold are empty. So it happens that the sacrificial loaves, libation[s], and animal sacrifices are cut off. And you come to us, oh gods, and hold us culpable in this matter!"
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