Venus Mater = Puduhepa?

St Augustine of Hippo, De Docrina Christiana

And this is not to be wondered at, when we consider that even in times more recent and nearer our own, the Romans made an attempt to dedicate the star which we call Lucifer to the name and honour of Caesar. And this would, perhaps, have been done, and the name handed down to distant ages, only that his ancestress Venus had given her name to this star before him, and could not by any law transfer to her heirs what she had never possessed, nor sought to possess, in life. For where a place was vacant, or not held in honour of any of the dead of former times, the usual proceeding in such cases was carried out. For example, we have changed the names of the months Quintilis and Sextilis to July and August, naming them in honour of the men Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar; and from this instance any one who cares can easily see that the stars spoken of above formerly wandered in the heavens without the names they now bear.

English Wiki, Puduhepa

Puduhepa was born at the beginning of the 13th century BC in the city of Lawazantiya in Kizzuwatna (i.e. Cilicia, a region south of the Hittite kingdom). Her father Bentepsharri was the head priest of the tutelary divinity of the city, Ishtar, and Puduhepa grew up to exercise the function of priestess of this same goddess.

On his return from the Battle of Kadesh, the Hittite general Hattusili met Puduhepa and, it was said, Ishtar instructed him to take her as his wife. She went with him then to the kingdom of Hapissa. When her spouse successfully rose to the Hittite throne by defeating his nephew Mursili III, Puduhepa became a queen.

Deutsche Wiki, Puduhepa

Puduḫepa war die Gattin des Hattušilis III., eines hethitischen Großkönigs des 13. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. Es ist nur wenig über sie bekannt, ihre erste Erwähnung stammt von Hattušili, der in seiner Apologie über die Heirat mit ihr berichtet. Ihr Vater, Bentip-šar aus Lawazantija (Elbistan oder Sirkeli Höyük) in Kizzuwatna war Priester der IŠTAR/Šaušga von Lawazantija, einer Göttin also, die eine enge Verbindung mit der Lieblingsgöttin des Hattusili, der IŠTAR/Šaušga von Šamuḫa besaß.

Die Namen von Puduḫepa und ihrem Vater sind hurritisch. Puduḫepa bezeichnet sich als Dienerin der hurritischen Göttin Hepat, gleichzeitig nennt sie sich aber auch „geliebt von der Sonnengöttin von Arinna“. Daher wurde oft davon ausgegangen, dass Puduḫepa in ihrer Jugend im Dienst der Hepat stand. Als sie Königin geworden war, habe sie die Gunst der Sonnengöttin von Arinna, die ja nun für sie die wichtigste Göttin war, dadurch gewinnen wollen, dass sie die beiden Gottheiten gleichsetzte, so, als hätte sie schon immer im Dienst der Sonnengöttin von Arinna gestanden. Inwiefern diese Identifikation aber nur Puduḫepa anzurechnen ist, oder ob sie auch sonst bestand, ist nicht zu entscheiden.

Deutsche Wiki, Sonnengöttin von Arinna

Die Sonnengöttin von Arinna ist in der hethitischen Mythologie die Hauptgöttin und Frau des Wettergottes Tarḫunna. Sie leitete das Königtum und galt als „Königin aller Länder“. Ihr Kultzentrum befand sich in der heiligen Stadt Arinna.

Neben der Sonnengöttin von Arinna verehrten die Hethiter auch eine Sonnengöttin der Erde und den Sonnengott des Himmels, während die verwandten Luwier ursprünglich nur den altererbten indogermanischen Sonnengott Tiwaz kannten. Es scheint, dass in den nördlichen Glaubensvorstellungen der althethitischen Zeit kein männlicher Sonnengott verehrt wurde.

Die Unterscheidung der verschiedenen Sonnengottheiten in den Texten bereitet Mühe, da die Namen meist bloß mit dem Sumerogramm dUTU „Sonnengottheit” geschrieben wurde. Dies führte dazu, dass die Deutung der Sonnengottheiten bis heute nicht ohne Widersprüche bleibt.

Die Sonnengöttin von Arinna bildete mit dem Wettergott Tarḫunna ein Paar und beide nahmen zusammen die höchste Stelle im hethitischen Staatspantheon ein. Die Tochter des Paares ist Mezulla. Zudem nennen die Quellen noch die Enkelin Zintuḫi. Zudem können die beiden Wettergötter von Nerik und Ziplanda sowie der Korngott Telipinu als ihre Söhne genannt werden. Der Adler war ihr Bote.

Conclusion

Puduhepa was very probably the most beloved queen of the Hittites by her royal husband. She was to Hattushilis III what Madame de Maintenon was to King Louis XIV. Thus, she was clearly likely to be remembered not only in exact record, but also in vaguer legend.

Her functions before marriage include priestess of Ishtar (which in Roman Mythology is Venus, just as in Greek it is Aphrodite) and priestess of the Sun-Godess of Arinna.

She identified the Sun-Goddess of Arinna with Ishtar, but this identification was probably rejected by others.

The bird of the Sun-Goddess of Arinna is the Eagle.

Julius Caesar's and his foster-son's Octavian's, later Caesar Augustus' bird was also the Eagle.

Just as the Julian gens and therefore the Roman Emperors descend from an Aeneas, son of Venus Mater, so also the Japanese Emperors descend from a Sun-Goddess and her son Emperor Jimmu.

Quoting wikipedia about Emperor Jimmu

Modern scholars question the existence of at least the first nine emperors. Jimmu's descendant Emperor Sujin is the first that many agree may have existed, in first century BC. Most contemporary historians still agree that it is unlikely that any of the recorded emperors existed until about five hundred years after Suijin's reign and about a millennium after Jimmu's recorded reign. The name Jimmu-tennō was posthumously assigned by later generations.

According to the legendary account in the Kojiki, Emperor Jimmu would have been born on 13 February 711 BC (the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar), and died, again according to legend, on 11 March 585 BC (both dates according to the lunisolar traditional Japanese calendar).

According to Shinto belief, Jimmu is regarded as a direct descendant of the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Amaterasu had a son called Ame no Oshihomimi no Mikoto and through him a grandson named Ninigi-no-Mikoto. She sent her grandson to the Japanese islands where he eventually married Konohana-Sakuya-hime. Among their three sons was Hikohohodemi no Mikoto, also called Yamasachi-hiko, who married Toyotama-hime. She was the daughter of Ryūjin, the Japanese sea god. They had a single son called Hikonagisa Takeugaya Fukiaezu no Mikoto. The boy was abandoned by his parents at birth and consequently raised by Tamayori-hime, his mother's younger sister. They eventually married and had a total of four sons. The last of these sons, Kan'yamato Iwarebiko, became Emperor Jimmu.

Returning to my conclusion

For my part I think the dating so early may be correct. Or even too young.

If he was ....

• Sun-Goddess Amaterasu (?=Puduhepa, priestess of Sun-Goddess of Arinna?)
• Ame no Oshihomimi no Mikoto
• Ninigi-no-Mikoto
• Hikohohodemi no Mikoto
• Hikonagisa Takeugaya Fukiaezu no Mikoto
• Kan'yamato Iwarebiko, became Emperor Jimmu

... only great-great-great-grandson of Amaterasu, I think he would be too early to be roughly younger contemporary with Romulus and Remus (and a long lived one at that). It seems that Pagan dynasties sometimes do skip generations.

Quoting wikipedia about History of Nepal

According to the Gopalavamsavali chronicle, the Kiratas ruled for about 1225 years (800 BCE–300 CE), their reign had a total of 29 kings during that time. Their first king was Elam; also known as Yalambar, who is referenced in the epic Mahabharata.

Returning to my conclusion

But the fifteenth of the twentynine Kirati Kings (and the first one being referenced in Mahabharata which I consider to be about pre-Flood Nodian wars to me indicates that Mahabharata was written or re-redacted after his lifetime, he was included as flattery, just as Corinth in the Ship Catalogue, though in Homer's case this may have been ironic), as said the fifteenth was contemporary with one disciple of the founder of Jainism, and so is only (believably enough) less than 300 years after the first, but the remaining ones, 29-14 = 15, 560?+300=860? ... when I checked about this I saw a medium time of rule being 55 years of rule for each from Jinghri to the last ... so, I think there may have been a few generations skipped either between Amaterasu (Puduhepa, if I am right) and Jimmu, or between Jimmu and Suijin, or both lengths of the Tenno genealogy. Just as in Kirati dynasty - unless that one was spread out to cover up the existence of a voluntarily forgotten one.

And of course saying Aeneas was directly the son of Venus mater, rather than descending from her through the Hittite Nobility, would (if Puduhepa was Venus mater) be a rather rough skipping of generations too. But in the case of the Hittite Empire, I think we may be dealing with voluntary oblivion. It is interesting that there are - if I recall correctly - twelve generations between Venus mater and Romulus and five steps Amaterasu and Jimmu. If I am right, both dynasties start out with truncated genealogies and even truncated at about the same time.

It is possible too - but not necessary - that the earliest generations between Puduhepa and Jimmu or even after Jimmu onto Suijin were not really on Japanese soil. That they were transferred in memory to Japanese soil because of a want to forget some other Empire in some other place. Like the Hittite Empire in Hattusha. Remembered only through the Bible, until the archives of Hattusha were rediscovered.

Nevertheless, I cannot be certain that Aeneas and especially his father Anchises and his mother Venus go back to the times of Hattushila III and Puduhepa. Because another very happy marriage, with another wife and mother being - not officially at that time, but privately and remembered so later - identified with the goddess of love. Which also could be the origin of the Japanese Tennos.

In no way does this contradict Christian theology, since I consider it a Pagan error to identify people with Pagan divinities or to elevate them to the status of such (as happened to Julius Caesar and to Odin among others), nor does this conflict with the Biblical Chronology, since it is too late for that. Unlike Chinese, Sumerian, Indian or Egyptian theories of Earth being some 40.000 years old - or modern Darwinist ones cubing the thousands and dividing 40 by ten.

Hans-Georg Lundahl
Nanterre University Library
St Athanasius of Alexandria
2-V-2014