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*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not

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*Seh₂ul
Sun Goddess
Possible depiction of the Hittite Sun goddess holding a child in her arms from between 1400 and 1200 BC.
AbodeSky
PlanetSun
SymbolChariot, solar disk
DaySunday
Equivalents
EtruscanUsil
GreekHelios
HinduSurya
RomanSol
HittiteUTU-liya
LithuanianSaulė
ZoroastrianHvare-khshaeta
GermanicSowilō
CelticSulis
*Meh₁not
Moon God
Bust of Men a deity considered descended from *Meh₁not
AbodeSky
PlanetMoon
DayMonday
Equivalents
GreekMene (Selene)
RomanLuna
SlavicMyesyats
HittiteKašku
PhrygianMen
ZoroastrianMah
LatvianMēness
GermanicMáni

*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not are the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European goddess of the Sun and god of the Moon. *Seh₂ul is reconstructed based on the solar deities of the attested Indo-European mythologies, although its gender (male or female) is disputed, since there are deities of both genders.[1] Likewise, *Meh₁not- is reconstructed based on the lunar deities of the daughter languages, but they differ in regards to their gender.

The daily course of *Seh₂ul across the sky on a horse-driven chariot is a common motif among Indo-European myths.[note 1] While it is probably inherited, the motif certainly appeared after the introduction of the wheel in the Pontic–Caspian steppe about 3500 BC, and is therefore a late addition to Proto-Indo-European culture.[3]

The Sun deity

*Seh₂ul is reconstructed based on the Greek god Helios, the Greek mythological figure Helen of Troy,[4][5] the Roman god Sol, the Celtic goddess Sulis / Sul/Suil, the North Germanic goddess Sól, the Continental Germanic goddess *Sowilō, the Hittite goddess "UTU-liya",[6] the Zoroastrian Hvare-khshaeta[6] and the Vedic god Surya.[7]

In the mythologies of the daughter languages (namely, Baltic, Greek and Old Indic), the sun deity crosses the sky in a horse-driven chariot or wagon. However, Mallory and Adams caution that the motif is not exclusively Indo-European, and mention evidence of its presence in Mesopotamia.[8]

A character related to the Sun deity is the 'Sun-maiden'.[9] Mallory and Adams cite as examples 'Saules meita', the daughter of Saulé in Baltic tradition, and Sūryā, daughter to Indic Sun god Sūrya.[10] However, both scholars, as well as Martin L. West, also posit Helen of Troy, from Greek mythology, was another example of the 'Sun-maiden'.[7][11]

The Moon deity

*Meh₁not- is reconstructed based on the Norse god Máni, the Slavic god Myesyats,[note 2][6] and the Lithuanian god *Meno, or Mėnuo (Mėnulis).[14] Remnants of the lunar deity may exist in Latvian moon god Mēness,[15] Anatolian (Phrygian) deity Men;[16][15] Mene, another name for Selene, and in Zoroastrian lunar deity Mah (Måŋha).[17][18][19]

Alternative myth

See also: Eye of Ra
The Eye of Ra, an unrelated non Indo-European deity but with a similar motif to the Eye of Dyews metaphor

Although the sun was personified as an independent, female deity,[20] the Proto-Indo-Europeans also visualized the sun as the "lamp of Dyēws" or the "eye of Dyēws", as seen in various reflexes: "the god's lamp" in Medes by Euripides, "heaven's candle" in Beowulf, or "the land of Hatti's torch", as the Sun-goddess of Arinna is called in a Hittite prayer;[21] and Helios as the eye of Zeus,[22][23] Hvare-khshaeta as the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the sun as "God's eye" in Romanian folklore.[24] The names of Celtic sun goddesses like Sulis and Grian may also allude to this association: the words for "eye" and "sun" are switched in these languages, hence the name of the goddesses.[25]

Egyptian mythology is unrelated to Indo-European mythology so there is unlikely any historical link, but the metaphor of Eye of Ra was used in it too.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ On a related note, the Pahlavi Bundahishn narrates that creator Ohrmazd fashioned the sun "whose horses were swift".[2]
  2. ^ In Ukrainian myth, like in Baltic tradition, the moon, Myesyats, is a male god[12] and said to marry the Sun goddess.[13]

References

  1. ^ West 2007, p. 195-196.
  2. ^ Agostini, Domenico; Thrope, Samuel. The bundahišn: The Zoroastrian Book of Creation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. p. 19. ISBN 9780190879044
  3. ^ Fortson 2004, p. 23.
  4. ^ O'Brien, Steven. "Dioscuric Elements in Celtic and Germanic Mythology". In: Journal of Indo-European Studies 10:1–2 (Spring–Summer, 1982), pp. 117–136.
  5. ^ Meagher, Robert E. (2002). The Meaning of Helen: In Search of an Ancient Icon. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. pp. 46ff. ISBN 978-0-86516-510-6.
  6. ^ a b c Gamkrelidze & Ivanov 1995, p. 760.
  7. ^ a b Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 232.
  8. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 278.
  9. ^ West 2007, p. 227-232.
  10. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 556.
  11. ^ West 2007, p. 230-231.
  12. ^ Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-136-14172-0.
  13. ^ Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic myth and legend. p. 188. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-130-4
  14. ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 385.
  15. ^ a b Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 123. ISBN 978-04-15340-18-2
  16. ^ Keneryi, Karl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. Thames & Hudson. pp. 196–197; Hammond, N.G.L. and Howard Hayes Scullard (editors), The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Second edition. Oxford University Press, 1992. "SELENE" entry. pp. 970–971. ISBN 0-19-869117-3
  17. ^ Beekes, Robert (1982). "Gav. må, the Pie word for 'moon, month', and the perfect participle" (PDF). Journal of Indo-European Studies. 10: 53–64.
  18. ^ York, Michael (August 1993). "Toward a Proto-Indo-European vocabulary of the sacred". WORD. 44 (2): 235–254. doi:10.1080/00437956.1993.11435902.
  19. ^ Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 115. ISBN 978-04-15340-18-2
  20. ^ Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 427.
  21. ^ West 2007, p. 195.
  22. ^ Sick, David (2004). "Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun". Numen. 51 (4): 432–467. doi:10.1163/1568527042500140.
  23. ^ Bortolani, Ljuba Merlina (2016). Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Traditions of Divinity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316673270.
  24. ^ Ionescu, Doina; Dumitrache, Cristiana (2012). "The Sun Worship with the Romanians" (PDF). Romanian Astronomical Journal. 22 (2): 155–166. Bibcode:2012RoAJ...22..155I.
  25. ^ MacKillop, James. (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-280120-1 pp.10, 16, 128

Sources

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