2023 Volume 58 Pages 157-170
This paper offers a glance at the way two of the most prestigious royal priestesses in the Hittite kingdom performed their cultic duties in rituals: how their royal status was manifested through their actions, and the way the accompanying personnel treated them. Both royal priestesses held legal and economic power within the cult, and thus their actions were of great importance. In the two specific rituals to be presented, whereas the NIN.DINGIR acted as a medium for the deity, the queen satiated the goddess in a physical way. Their displays of devotion to the gods were a central part of maintaining the well-being of the Hittite kingdom, and thus are part of royal ideology manifestation.
