*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not

*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not are the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European goddess of the Sun and god of the Moon. *Seh₂ul is reconstructed based on the solar deities of the attested Indo-European mythologies, although its gender (male or female) is disputed, since there are deities of both genders.^[1] Likewise, *Meh₁not- is reconstructed based on the lunar deities of the daughter languages, but they differ in regards to their gender.

*Seh₂ul
Sun Goddess
Possible depiction of the Hittite Sun goddess holding a child in her arms from between 1400 and 1200 BC.
Abode	Sky
Planet	Sun
Symbol	Chariot, solar disk
Day	Sunday
Equivalents
Greek equivalent	Helios
Roman equivalent	Sol
Etruscan equivalent	Usil
Hinduism equivalent	Surya
Hittite equivalent	UTU-liya
Lithuanian equivalent	Saulė
Zoroastrian equivalent	Hvare-khshaeta
Germanic equivalent	Sowilō
Celtic equivalent	Sulis

*Meh₁not
Moon God
Bust of Men a deity considered descended from *Meh₁not
Abode	Sky
Planet	Moon
Day	Monday
Equivalents
Greek equivalent	Mene (Selene)
Roman equivalent	Luna
Slavic equivalent	Myesyats
Hittite equivalent	Kašku
Phrygian equivalent	Men
Zoroastrian equivalent	Mah
Latvian equivalent	Mēness
Germanic equivalent	Máni

The daily course of *Seh₂ul across the sky on a horse-driven chariot is a common motif among Indo-European myths.^{[note 1]} While it is probably inherited, the motif certainly appeared after the introduction of the wheel in the Pontic–Caspian steppe about 3500 BC, and is therefore a late addition to Proto-Indo-European culture.^[3]

The Sun deity

*Seh₂ul is reconstructed based on the Greek god Helios, the Greek mythological figure Helen of Troy,^[4][5] the Roman god Sol, the Celtic goddess Sulis / Sul/Suil, the North Germanic goddess Sól, the Continental Germanic goddess *Sowilō, the Hittite goddess "UTU-liya",^[6] the Zoroastrian Hvare-khshaeta^[6] and the Vedic god Surya.^[7]

In the mythologies of the daughter languages (namely, Baltic, Greek and Old Indic), the sun deity crosses the sky in a horse-driven chariot or wagon. However, Mallory and Adams caution that the motif is not exclusively Indo-European, and mention evidence of its presence in Mesopotamia.^[8]

A character related to the Sun deity is the 'Sun-maiden'.^[9] Mallory and Adams cite as examples 'Saules meita', the daughter of Saulé in Baltic tradition, and Sūryā, daughter to Indic Sun god Sūrya.^[10] However, both scholars, as well as Martin L. West, also posit Helen of Troy, from Greek mythology, was another example of the 'Sun-maiden'.^[7][11]

The Moon deity

*Meh₁not- is reconstructed based on the Norse god Máni, the Slavic god Myesyats,^{[note 2][6]} and the Lithuanian god *Meno, or Mėnuo (Mėnulis).^[14] Remnants of the lunar deity may exist in Latvian moon god Mēness,^[15] Anatolian (Phrygian) deity Men;^[16][15] Mene, another name for Selene, and in Zoroastrian lunar deity Mah (Måŋha).^[17][18][19]

Alternative myth

See also: Eye of Ra

 

The Eye of Ra, an unrelated non Indo-European deity but with a similar motif to the Eye of Dyews metaphor

Although the sun was personified as an independent, female deity,^[20] the Proto-Indo-Europeans also visualized the sun as the "lamp of Dyēws" or the "eye of Dyēws", as seen in various reflexes: "the god's lamp" in Medes by Euripides, "heaven's candle" in Beowulf, or "the land of Hatti's torch", as the Sun-goddess of Arinna is called in a Hittite prayer;^[21] and Helios as the eye of Zeus,^[22][23] Hvare-khshaeta as the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the sun as "God's eye" in Romanian folklore.^[24] The names of Celtic sun goddesses like Sulis and Grian may also allude to this association: the words for "eye" and "sun" are switched in these languages, hence the name of the goddesses.^[25]

Egyptian mythology is unrelated to Indo-European mythology so there is unlikely any historical link, but the metaphor of Eye of Ra was used in it too.

See also

• Eye of Ra

Notes

1. On a related note, the Pahlavi Bundahishn narrates that creator Ohrmazd fashioned the sun "whose horses were swift".^[2]
2. In Ukrainian myth, like in Baltic tradition, the moon, Myesyats, is a male god^[12] and said to marry the Sun goddess.^[13]

References

1. West 2007, p. 195-196.
2. Agostini, Domenico; Thrope, Samuel. The bundahišn: The Zoroastrian Book of Creation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. p. 19. ISBN 9780190879044
3. Fortson 2004, p. 23.
4. O'Brien, Steven. "Dioscuric Elements in Celtic and Germanic Mythology". In: Journal of Indo-European Studies 10:1–2 (Spring–Summer, 1982), pp. 117–136.
5. Meagher, Robert E. (2002). The Meaning of Helen: In Search of an Ancient Icon. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. pp. 46ff. ISBN 978-0-86516-510-6.
6. Gamkrelidze & Ivanov 1995, p. 760.
7. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 232.
8. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 278.
9. West 2007, p. 227-232.
10. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 556.
11. West 2007, p. 230-231.
12. Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-136-14172-0.
13. Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic myth and legend. p. 188. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-130-4
14. Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 385.
15. Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 123. ISBN 978-04-15340-18-2
16. Keneryi, Karl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. Thames & Hudson. pp. 196–197; Hammond, N.G.L. and Howard Hayes Scullard (editors), The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Second edition. Oxford University Press, 1992. "SELENE" entry. pp. 970–971. ISBN 0-19-869117-3
17. Beekes, Robert (1982). "Gav. må, the Pie word for 'moon, month', and the perfect participle" (PDF). Journal of Indo-European Studies. 10: 53–64.
18. York, Michael (August 1993). "Toward a Proto-Indo-European vocabulary of the sacred". WORD. 44 (2): 235–254. doi:10.1080/00437956.1993.11435902.
19. Lurker, Manfred. The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons. Routledge. 2004. p. 115. ISBN 978-04-15340-18-2
20. Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 427.
21. West 2007, p. 195.
22. Sick, David (2004). "Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun". Numen. 51 (4): 432–467. doi:10.1163/1568527042500140.
23. Bortolani, Ljuba Merlina (2016). Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Traditions of Divinity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316673270.
24. Ionescu, Doina; Dumitrache, Cristiana (2012). "The Sun Worship with the Romanians" (PDF). Romanian Astronomical Journal. 22 (2): 155–166. Bibcode:2012RoAJ...22..155I.
25. MacKillop, James. (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-280120-1 pp.10, 16, 128

Sources

• Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-0316-7.
• Gamkrelidze, Thomas V.; Ivanov, Vjaceslav V. (1995). Winter, Werner (ed.). Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 80. Berlin: M. De Gruyter.
• Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
• Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (2006). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929668-2.
• West, Martin L. (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9.