KUBABA

goddess of the ancient Syrian city of Carchemish. In religious texts of the Hittite empire (c. 1400c. 1190 BC), she played a minor part and appeared mainly in a context of Hurrian deities and rituals. After the downfall of the empire her cult spread westward and northward, and she became the chief goddess of the successor kingdoms (the neo-Hittite states) from Cilicia to the Halys River. Kubaba was represented as a dignified figure draped in a long robe, either standing or seated, and holding a mirror. Although her name was adopted by the Phrygians for their great mother goddess in the form of Cybebe (Cybele), the Phrygian goddess bore little resemblance to Kubaba in other respects.