In search of the Holy Grail: Hittite DGAL.ZU reconsidered
In search of the Holy Grail: Hittite DGAL.ZU reconsidered

Author(s): Piotr Taracha
Subject(s): Archaeology, Ancient World
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Hittite cult; DGAL.ZU; cult libations; Holy Grail
Summary/Abstract: This paper provides new arguments in favor of Güterbock’s oldhypothesis identifying the Hittite deity GAL.ZU with a deifiedcup. Further, once the cup used in Hittite liturgy for drinking godswas deified, its cult could well have been connected with the lifegivingrain that one of the Blessings for Labarna the king (CTH820) refers to, which ensured the life, health and fertility of the kingand, consequently, the prosperity of the entire land. The idea of thewine symbolizing a god in Hittite liturgy implies a kind of mysticalthinking comparable to the idea of consecration of the sacramentalwine into the Redeemer’s blood in celebration of the Eucharist.

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