God or goddess · Semitic

A-JA

'the Living One', title of the Goddess (√ḥ-y-y)

Reading
ḥayyā
Type
God or goddess Candidate
Language
Semitic Candidate
Sites
Petras, Syme
Attestations
2
Lexicon
A-JA

Commentary

Complete at PE Zc 4 and SY Za 2; MA 4b reads A-[?]-[?]-[?]-JA and is no witness. /ḥayyā/ ‘(the) Living One’, √ḥ-y-y, A writing ḥ as Mari a-ia- beside ha-ia- (Weeden 2009, 96–100) (di Mino, Ya Diktu). Rivals: the god Haya; the goddess Aya; Davis’s ‘much’.

Compared forms

From the lexicon entry A-JA.

  • חַיHebrew ḥayHebrew חַי ḥay "alive", חַיִּים ḥayyīm "life"; Ugaritic ḥyw "to live"; Mari West Semitic ḥaya "lives" is written both ha-ia- and a-ia-; Late Old Babylonian Alalakh likewise alternates ha-ia- and a-ia- in the same name (Weeden 2009, 96–100). The Mesopotamian god Haya is written dḫa-ià; Aya is an independently attested goddess.
Linear A Lexicon