Kataḫḫa or Kataḫḫi[1] was a name or title of multiple goddesses worshiped in ancient Anatolia by Hattians and Hittites, with the best known example being the tutelary deity of Ankuwa.
[2] Piotr Taracha [de] proposes that multiple Anatolian goddesses sharing names or titles which can be translated as "queen", Hattian Kataḫḫa or Hittite Ḫaššušara, can all be understood as nature deities linked to wildlife.
[7] Maciej Popko has proposed that Ankuwa was located between Hattusa and the Pontic Mountains, but this view is not universally accepted.
[8] A text from the reign of Ḫattušili III, KUB 15.1, describes a fire which took place in Ankuwa, and states that the king invoked Kataḫḫa, the "weather god of heaven" and the weather god of Zippalanda to try to stop it, promising each of these deities a silver model of the city and eight sheep as an offering if they will stop it.
[9] In treaties, Kataḫḫa of Ankuwa appears as one of the members of a group referred to as "queen goddesses" in Hittitology, which also includes Ḫuwaššanna of Ḫupišna, Ḫantitaššu of Ḫurma, Abara of Šamuḫa, dŠARRAT of Katapa, Ammamma of Taḫurpa [de], Ḫallara of Dunna, Tapišuwa of Išḫupitta, dBELTI, Kuniywanni of Landa and dNIN.PISAN.PISAN of Kinza.
[8] In an early study of the available sources, Hans Gustav Güterbock proposed that it might have served as an initiation into adulthood for a young member of the royal family, but this interpretation has been challenged by Ada Taggar-Cohen, who argues it was instead an example of state religion, and that its goal was simply to acquire the favor of a specific local deity for the ruler.