Fugleofre og renhed i en anatolsk kontekst

Resumé

In Hittite and Hurrian purification rites the use of birds is frequent; both in an Anatolian and in a Near Eastern and Eastern Miditerranean context. There is a special group of rituals, the so-called bird rituals; these rituals concern the removal of evil and impurity from the birth-stool, which is to be used by the pregnant woman. The bird's blood can be smeared on things and persons who need to be purified; the birds are also used in waving-rituals to remove the evil.

These rituals have traditionally been classified as Hurrian. It seems more likely, however, that the contact between north and south Anatolian has been earlier than expected. The existence of birds characterizes the ritual as a rite of purification, which obviously does not imply that the rite has its origin in the Kizzuwatna area (which is Hurrian).

As a result of an examination of different ritual texts a concept of purity can be defined: parkui- means clean and pure and makes sense both in a ritual and a physical meaning. The owman giving birth is parkui-, since she has been washed. šuppi- means pure, too, but only in a ritual context; it is very close to the meaning of "holy".

The article shows, by a brief interpretation of the Telepinu myth, a close connection between different ritual acts such as elimination and rites of purification. The same appears to be tthe case concerning evocation and rites of purification. Generally, the aim of the rites is to establish normality and stability in everyday life.