Nipas (also spelled Nipaš^[1] or Nepaš^[2]) was a god worshiped in Kanesh. His name might have been derived from the Hittite word nepis, "heaven", and he might have been a weather god. While he was most likely one of the main deities of the city, and a temple, festival and clergy associated with him are attested, for unknown reasons he does not appear in any later sources.

Name and character

Nipas' name was rendered as Ni-pá-as in cuneiform.^[3] According to Piotr Taracha, it most likely originated in a language he refers to as a "central Anatolian substrate", similar to these of other local deities of Kanesh: Ḫariḫari, Ḫigiša, Parka, Tuḫtuḫani and possibly Anna.^[1] Guido Kryszat instead connects it with the Hittite word nepis, "heaven".^[4] This explanation is also accepted by authors such as Manfred Hutter^[5] and Gojko Barjamovic.^[6] However, it has been criticized by Daniel Schwemer, who argues that as a neuter noun, this word would be an unusual theonym, and additionally points out that to accept Kryszat's view one has to assume the word preserved the initial n as in Hittite, but developed the same suffix as its Luwian cognate, which starts with a t.^[7]

Nipas might have been was a weather god, though the deity represented by the logogram ^dIM in texts from Kanesh is more likely to be Hittite Tarḫunna than him.^[8]

It has been proposed that seals from Kanesh showing a family of deities might depict Nipas and Anna accompanied by divine children, but this interpretation is far from certain.^[9]

Worship

Since Nipas, Anna and Parka appear particularly often in known texts from Kanesh from the karum period, it is possible that they formed the core of the local pantheon.^[10] Guido Kryszat outright refers to him as the most important deity of this city next to Anna.^[8] Despite their prominence, these deities are largely absent from theophoric names.^[4]

A temple dedicated to Nipas existed in Kanesh.^[11] A festival held in his honor is also attested.^[12] It is presumed it occurred in the fourth month in the contemporary Assyrian calendar, in which the year started in October.^[13] It took place after the festival of Anna,^[14] the city goddess.^[15] The local ruler visited Nipas' temple during it.^[14] In one text, "when the ruler leaves the temple of Nipas" is the date by which a loan has to be repaid.^[16]

A priest of Nipas named Šulili is mentioned in a single document.^[17] However, the name is otherwise unattested in the entire corpus of texts from this site.^[9]

Nipas is not attested in any Hittite texts postdating the Kanesh tablets.^[14] Later Assyrian texts similarly do not mention him in any capacity.^[3] The reasons behind his apparent loss of relevance are not known.^[4]

References