Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

788 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
people of our inscriptions has the same consonants, or consonants
of the same class, as the Armenian word for " to
cut " once had, viz., p or h or even s and / or d, that therefore
Armenian Hay = " Armenian," out of Hatio, and this
again perhaps out of Patio or perhaps Satio, goes back to
the national designation of the people of our inscriptions.
This is a fresh confirmation of our theory that the Hittites
are the ancestors of the modern Armenians.
Their history is the early history of the Armenians ; their
civilization, their belief, and their religion are the civilization,
the belief, and the religion of the ancestors of the Armenians.
What we learn of these can in
educated men.
future count upon the interest
of all
The inscriptions and works of art discovered bear witness
as to their civilization. They indicate a mastery of
the technique of sculpture which in part is very remarkable.
But as others have written at length upon these points,
it is here unnecessary to discuss them.
Until recently all that we knew of their religion came
from the study of their sculptured monuments, but now we
learn something from the inscriptions as well. At the head
of their Pantheon stands the lord of the heavens, the god
of the sky, the dispenser of the blessings of the fields ;
he
is
called " the lord," or " the supreme one," " the great papa
or baba," i. e., of course," father," — compare the Phrygian
Z«5s IlaTras — also the " lord of Khate-Hati," etc. His consort
" is the great ma a ( = Ma)," that is, of course, " mother,"
also called " the great goddess." Her paramour, probably
a sun-god, is one of the most noteworthy figures of the
Pantheon. Beside them stands a number of other gods,
some of whom are also mentioned in the inscriptions. The
principal figures are immigrants from Syria, and one at least,
viz., " the great mother," did not stay her course among
the " Hittites," but with her lover passed on into Phrygia.
How from Phrvgia her cult spread farther over the West is