The Weather god of Zippalanda was a Hittite weather god, who was worshipped in the Hittite city of Zippalanda. The weather god of Zippalanda had several names, such as Ziplantil,Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 44. Wašezzili,Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 55. Wašezzil and Wašezzašu.
Role In ancient Anatolia, weather gods were the rulers of the sky and the mountains.Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Göttingen 2011, p. 228. They cast down thunder, lightning, clouds, rain and storms. The weather god of Zippalanda was also worshipped as a sender of rain.Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 54. He was also worshipped as a fertility deity.Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Göttingen 2011, p. 224. Additionally, Wašezzili was referred to as a "lion" among the gods and therefore as a divine hero.
Family In the official state pantheon of the Hittites, the Weather god of Zippalanda Wasezzili was regarded as the son of Tarḫunna, the 'Weather god of Ḫatti', and the Sun goddess of Arinna.Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 91. As the son of the Sun goddess of Arinna, he functioned as a divine intermediary with his mother.Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Göttingen 2011, p. 241.
However, in his cult centre at Zippalanda, Wasezzili's mother was different; he was considered the son Tarḫunna and the Sun goddess of the Earth.Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Göttingen 2011, p. 236. There he was worshipped with the Weather god of the Heavens as half of a divine dyad.Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, pp. 42, 55. His partner was the goddess Anzili or Enzili, who played a role in the rituals of Hittite childbirth.Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 56 & 156. However, she was also presented as the partner of the Weather god of Šarišša.Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 56.
References
Bibliography Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, . Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, .