Lelwani - Hittite Underworld Goddess
- Sylvia Rose
- Nov 10, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 19
Underworld goddess Lelwani of the Bronze Age Hittites (c. 1600-1180 BCE) originates as a male god, called 'lord' and 'king'. He's a god of the Hatti, who are assimilated by Hittites in Anatolia. He becomes a woman for political reasons.
The Hatti and Hittite cultures phase into one, and gods are passed around for debate. The Hittites are an emerging power and know the value of compromise, especially surrounded by dominant forces.
They're also eager to learn what they can from their assimilated people. It's part of the reason they reign as a formidable force for almost five hundred years.
The Hittites adopt Underworld god Lelwani into their vast pantheon. At a sanctuary in Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire, twelve gods appear carved in relief on a wall. They are thought to be the Anunnaki, the oldest generation of gods.
According to legend they're banished by the younger gods to the Underworld, where they are ruled by Lelwani. As the Goddess Ereshkigal reigns over the dead in Mesopotamia, and Goddess Allani rules the Hurrian Underworld, and Asray holds dominion in Ugarit, the queens must be seen as equals in the eyes of the people.
Hittites, Hatti, Hurrians, Luwians and Arzawans are among the major powers in Anatolia in the Bronze Age. Territories overlap and so do the gods. When the Hittites move in, they make an effort fo accommodate the religions of others, at the same time running a parallel with their own.
Lelwani carves out her own niche in the hierarchy of the Underworld cosmology. She rules her Land of the Dead, populated with Old Gods and spirits once mortal. She has dominion over volcanic flames, thus the power of the Earth.
As times change so does Lelwani. When she changes from a god to a goddess is hard to pinpoint. Local Hattians, Hittites and their neighbors the Hurrians and Ugaritic try to adapt local myths to a broader spectrum, synching Gods and making adjustments.
Lelwani isn't the first sex-changing deity, though her motivations are political rather than matronly. Gods changing sex include Zeus who acts as a female or mother, giving birth to Dionysus from his thigh, and goddess Athena through his head.
In the legend of the Hurrian storm god and prime divinity, Teshub (Teššop) is born from the split skull of Kumarbi. While Kumarbi assumes the mother figure role, he's usually depicted as a male god, the lord of the Underworld.
In later Norse myths, the trickster god Loki can change sex at will. In Australia, the Labarindja, blue-skinned wild women or "demon women" with hair the color of smoke hate sexual activity with men.
If any man forces himself on them he'll die horribly due to the "evil magic in their vaginas". They're sometimes depicted with both penis and vagina.
Another significant sex-change figure is Mesopotamian Lisin. She's a medicine goddess who later becomes a fire god. Her husband becomes a goddess.
Lelwani's primary function in mythology is Queen or Goddess of the Underworld. She helps determine human lifespans with the fate goddesses. In this way her duty is analogous to that of Hurrian Underworld Goddess Allani and goddesses of fate Hutena and Hutellura.
Lelwani has secondary duties. She's one of the deities who accompanies rulers on military campaigns. Prayers dedicated to Lelwani show she has the ability to grant good health and longevity. Officials of the palace swear oaths in her name, promising to do their jobs properly.
Lelwani is worshiped during festivals such as purulli of Hattic origin. A feast relating to spring and the renewal of life, the deities invoked are Underworld entities. Besides Lelwani they include:
Šiwat - Hittite (or Izzištanu in Hattic), representing "Propitious Day," a euphemism for the last day of a person's life
fate goddesses Ištuštaya and Papaya
Urunzimu, Sun Goddess of the Earth; chthonic aspect of Sun goddess of Arinna
In rituals of royal palace construction, Lelwani is invoked along with Hašamili, the blacksmith of the gods. The influential Hittite Queen Puduḫepa (13th century BCE) prays to Lelwani to secure long, healthy lives for her family members.
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