AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HATTUSHILI III BASED ON MATERIALS OF CUNEIFORM TEXT FROM BOGAZKOI (KBO III, 6)

Abstract

The text KBo III, 6 is a very important text in the Hittite tables. This text is about the history of the Hittite empire, its people, rulers and architecture.This text shows the political intrigues of the time. From Hattushili’s autobiography, we learned about the danger of the Gashka country for the Hittite empire. The text shows how central authority was established in the Hittite empire.The work on the deciphering of cuneiform text KBo III, 6 begins in 1906, when during the archaeological expedition, archaeologists Hugo Winckler and Theodore Makridi found many cuneiform texts in the Bogazkoja temple number one. They suggested that these texts are very important, however, they, like many other archaeologists, who later worked with the found cuneiform texts, could not decipher them, they did not know on what language these texts were written.Fredrich Hrozny, linguist – philologist, deciphered the language of the found cuneiform texts. He discovered that it was Hittite, and proved that it belongs to Indo-European languages, like other Anatolian languages.Subsequently, other philologists began to work on the text of the KBo III, 6, and interpret the main topic of the text from their point of view, focusing on the topic of religion, arteology, apology, autobiography or chronicle. For example, Goetze A. discussed this text, focusing on aretology, covering all events from a religious point of view. E. Sturtevant interpreted the text of the KBo III 6 from the point of view of apology. Hans G. Güterbock argued that the text of the KBo III, 6 is an edict, a regulatory act. G. M. Wolf, as well as E. Sturtevant, interpreted the text of the KBo III, 6 from the point of view of apology. Annelise Kammenhuber said that this text is both Hattushili’s autobiography and his chronicle. All the above-listed philologists had their own interpretation of the meaning of the text of the KBo III, 6. All philologists agreed on the legal position of Hattushili in government and on the importance of the goddess Ishtar in Hattushiliʼs life.Subsequent philologists deciphered further the cuneiform texts found in Bogazkoi, and so in the world learned about the Hittite empire, rulers and civilization.Having analyzed literary sources, I agree that the text of KBo III, 6 is Hattushiliʼs autobiography, since the text very much focuses on the personal qualities of his character, it is shown how strong and wise the ruler of the Hittite empire was. Hattushili constantly considered himself good, and his actions were correct. He also led a successful policy in his empire and beyond its borders.The text of Hattushili’s autobiography shows how important it is and how much Hattushili’s family contributed to the history of the Hittite empire.