Eni, mother of the gods

urn:cite2:trmilli:divinities.v1:div_01

Based on the number of her occurrences in the surviving Lycian inscriptions, Eni holds a premier station within the Lycian religious system. Although the inscriptions provide no information as to Eni’s mythology, her common epithets paint a picture of her character as a goddess. She is often termed the Eni mahanahi (𐊚𐊏𐊆 𐊎𐊀𐊛𐊀𐊏𐊀𐊛𐊆) or the “mother of the gods,” which ties her directly to the Luwian “mother of the gods” anniš maššanaššiš.¹ As such, Eni’s origins probably lie with a pre-Bronze Age or prehistoric Anatolian mother goddess—the same female divinity identified at Çatal Höyük who became Kybele in the western Anatolia and Artemis at Ephesus.²

Like most Lycian divinities, Eni appears most often in sepulchral inscriptions as a protective deity. However, unlike maliya and trqqas, who are mainly agents of vengeance, Eni’s role in these inscriptions is slightly more diverse. In some inscriptions, she is invoked to “destroy” (qastto) tomb violators, while in others she is invoked as the goddess to whose sanctuary violators will have to pay fines:³

Along with being a mother goddess, Eni is also a localized divinity. Some inscriptions refer to her as Eni qlahi ebiyehi (𐊚𐊏𐊆 𐊌𐊍𐊀𐊛𐊆 𐊁𐊂𐊆𐊊𐊁𐊛𐊆) or the “mother of this sanctuary.” The most notable qla (sanctuary) of Eni is the Letoon outside of Xanthos. This sanctuary probably dates back to the end of the second millenium BCE, and was of great importance to the Lycians, especially in the Hellenistic period when it became the national sanctuary of the Lycian League.⁵ The sanctuary recieved it’s name in the Hellenistic period, after the introduction of the cult of Leto and her children, Apollo and Artemis. Most scholars agree that Letoon originally belonged to the cult of Eni (or the Luwian anniš), but later assimilated with Leto after her introduction in Lycia.⁶ More about Leto’s presence in Lycian epichoric inscriptions can be found in the page “leθθe.”

In the 1970s, the archaeologist G. E. Bean discovered an anthropomorphic scupture probbaly dating to the end of the 7th century BCE in the Letoon. Bean’s description reads:

“[The curious stone figure was found] lying on top of a thorn hedge. It is 3 feet high, neither statue nor bust, being cut off just above the legs. Most attention has been given to the face; the ears and the arms are mere shapeless lumps; the back is flat.”⁷

The statue itself is clearly a female, with it’s hair tied back in some sort of hair piece. The eyes, cheeks, and nose are all exagerated, so that they take up the majority of the rounded face.⁸ Bean suggest that the statue was merely a students unfinsihed model, and not something of great religious importance. However, the scholar Fahri Işık argues that the statue is more likely a cult image of Eni, and that it’s archaic unfinished appearence is actually a common Anatolian art form dating back to the neotholic period.⁹ Similar statues of Kybele and other Anatolian goddesses have been found at Gordion, Keskaya, and Hattusa.¹⁰ It’s discovery at the Letoon furthers the notion that the statue might have been of cultic value, and that it represented the Lycian mother goddess associated with the sanctuary.

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Notes:

¹ Laroche (1980) 1, 3
² Keen (1998) 195, Raimond (2015) 2.
³ TL 56
⁴ TL 131, translation by Bryce (1986) 84-85 and Dane Scott
⁵ Keen (1998) 195
⁶ ibid
⁷ Bean (1978) 63
⁸ Description based on images from Bean and from the Fethiye museum.
⁹ Işık (2003) 211
¹⁰ ibid 218

Sources:

Bean, G.E. Lycian Turkey: An Archeological Guide. John Murray Publishers, London, 1978.

Bryce, Trevor R. “Disciplinary Agents in the Sepulchral Inscriptions of Lycia.” Anatolian Studies, vol. 31, 1981, pp. 81–93.

Bryce, Trevor R. The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources, vol. 1, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 1986.

Fahri, Işık. “Die anthropomorphe Halbstatue der ‘Eni Mahanahi’ aus Letoon.” Macellum: culinaria archaeologica, Mainz: Birkle, 2001.pp. 143-151.

Hutter, Manfred. “Aspects in Luwian Religion.” The Luwians, edited by Craig Melchert in Handbook of Oriental Studies vol. 68, Brill, Leiden, 2003. pp. 211–280.

Laroche, E. “Les dieux de la Lycie classique d’apres les textes lyciens.” Metzger. 1980a. 1-6

Keen, Antony G. Dynastic Lycia: A Political History of the Lycians and their Relations with Foreign Powers C. 545-326 B.C..Mnemosyne, Supplements, Vol. 178, Brill, Leiden. 1998.

Raimond, Eric A. “Gods and People in Persian Anatolia: The example of Lycian deities.” Academia.edu, 2015, pp 2-7.

Appears in

• adkam2017 Sazak, 6
• nf 320, 38
• tl 145, 4
• tl 131, 3
• tl 131, 4
• tl 112, 5
• tl 110, 3
• tl 102, 3
• tl 56, 4

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