Šauška
Also known as: Shaushka, Šawuška, Ištar of Nineveh (by equation)
Mythological Narrative
Hurrian goddess of love and war and sister of the storm-god Teššub, who in the Kumarbi cycle tries to overcome her brother's monstrous enemies by seduction.
Scholarly Commentary & Evolution
## A Hurrian Ištar
Šauška is the Hurrian goddess whom Hittite scribes wrote with the sign for the Mesopotamian Ištar; her most famous cult was at Nineveh. She was a goddess of both love and war and could appear in male as well as female form. She became personally important to the Hittite royal family: King Hattusili III named her as his protective goddess in his autobiographical *Apology*.
## Teššub's sister
In the Kumarbi cycle she is Teššub's sister and one of his closest allies. In the Song of Hedammu she confronts the sea-serpent by bathing, adorning herself, and displaying her beauty, drawing the monster out of the sea; the text is fragmentary but implies that she overcomes it by seduction and drugged drink. In the Song of Ullikummi she tries the same tactic against the stone giant and fails, because, as a great wave tells her, Ullikummi is deaf and blind and cannot be moved by beauty.
## At Yazılıkaya
Šauška appears twice in the relief procession of the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya near Hattusa, once among the male gods (reflecting her dual aspect) and once among the goddesses, accompanied by her attendants Ninatta and Kulitta.
Cross-Pantheon Parallels & Archetypes
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Šauška.
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