Hittite Texts Research Articles

Beyond Amarna: exorcists without borders in the Levant

The Levant and the Eastern Mediterranean formed a special sphere of activity for diverse specialists who navigated from one side to the other through extensive networks of interconnections in the Late Bronze Age. During the Amarna Period (fourteenth century BCE), Akkadian and Hittite texts attest a lethal epidemic that originated in Egypt and later spread to Canaan, Syria, Alashiya (Cyprus), and the land of Hatti. References to pestilence, plague, epidemic, and death, as well as metaphoric expressions alluding to the crisis, such as the ‘hand of Nergal,’ are widespread in diplomatic correspondence, prayers, magic spells, and medical texts as well. Specialists (such as physicians, exorcists, and omen experts) traveled between courts to perform acts of healing and to practice divination. Also, statues of gods and goddesses were commonly sent between courts of Great Kings as symbols of fertility, healing, and alliances. This essay analyzes the role of exorcists traveling between courts in the framework of the cross-cultural discourse of alterity in the Amarna Age.

An Assessment on MUNUSSUHUR.LÁ Mentioned in Hittite Texts

Hititlerde kadınların birçok farklı görevlerde yer aldığı bilinmektedir. Siyasi hayat kadar, ekonomik ve sosyal yaşamda da kendisine yer bulan kadınlar, günlük olarak yaptıkları işlerin yanı sıra; saray, tapınak gibi devlet kontrolünde olan yerlerde de çeşitli görevlerde bulunmuşlardır. Bu yerlerde görev alan kadın grubundan birisi, Sumerce MUNUS(.MEŠ)SUHUR.LÁ ismiyle zikredilir. Kendisiyle ilgili hizmetçi kadın, hierodul gibi çeşitli tanımlamaların yapıldığı bu kimseler; birçok farklı belgede karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bazen saray içerisindeki olayların başkahramanı olarak karşımıza çıkan bu görevliler, bazen ritüellerde yer almakta, bazen de kendilerine büyük bağışlar yapılarak, bir hizmetçi statüsünden ziyade, daha üst düzey kimselerin sahip olabileceği olanaklarla donatılmışlardır. Birçok farklı görevi üstlenen bu kadınlar, özellikle dini içerikli olmak üzere, diğer metinlerde de birçok kez belgelenmiş ve Hitit dünyasındaki yerlerini almışlardır.

GIŠ.ḪUR “TAVOLETTA DI LEGNO (CERATA)” O “DOCUMENTO”?UN CASO DI STUDIO: (CTH 264) KUB 13.4 II 25′′-44′′

Recent studies focused on GIŠ.ḪURin Hittite texts. Two opposed interpretations have been put forward: “wooden (waxed) board” and “document”. We propose that GIŠ.ḪUR indicates primarily an official document and might also indicate metonymically a medium.

Origins of the ritual of Puliša (CTH 407)

The Hittite text of the ritual of Puliša describes the way of counteraction to the plague in the army which returns from a military campaign. The king and his officers should appease the angry gods of the enemy land. Two prisoners are presented to the gods among the ritual carriers. Puliša’s place of birth and profession are in lacuna that is why it is impossible to determine the ritual tradition which inspired Puliša to compose this text. The only way is to compare this composition with other rites. The ritual of Zarpiya from Kizzuwatna against pest (CTH 757) contains Luwian incantations. The ritual practitioners ask the gods to stop the epidemic in exchange for the offerings. The ritual of Zarpiya is very different from the ritual of Puliša, while the rituals against plague from Arzawa have a lot in common with the latter. The rituals from Arzawa (CTH 394, 410, 424.1) use the ritual carriers for transporting the epidemic to the enemy and for pacifying the angry gods. The vocabulary of Puliša’s ritual is close to the one of the royal substitution rituals (CTH 419, 421), which were held for saving a king from the ominous signs. But the sense of the rituals is different. The ritual of Puliša is not focused on the royal power. The conclusion is reached that the ritual of Puliša was created in the ritual tradition of Arzawa by a scribe that was familiar with the texts of the royal substitution rituals.

Rutherford, Ian (2020). Hittite Texts & Greek Religion. Contact, Interaction, and Comparison. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Rutherford, Ian (2020). Hittite Texts & Greek Religion. Contact, Interaction, and Comparison. Oxford: Oxford University Press

HİTİT METİNLERİNDE LÚAPIN.LÁ ÜZERİNE BİR DEĞERLENDİRME

İnsanoğlu avcılık ve toplayıcılık ile başladığı besin hayatına, Neolitik dönemden itibaren tarımı eklemiştir. Zaman içerisinde gelişen tarım, birçok toplumun temel geçim kaynağı olmuştur. Tarımsal faaliyetlerinde tecrübelenen toplumlar, besin üretimine dayalı bir ekonomik modelin ortaya çıkıp gelişmesinin önünü açmıştır. Bu yeni ekonomik model, yerleşik hayat kavramını toplumlara aşılayan temel unsur olmuştur. MÖ. 2. binyıl Anadolu’sunun büyük bir siyasi gücü olan Hitit ülkesi, diğer toplumlar gibi tarıma büyük bir önem vermiştir. Hititçe metinlerde, ekip biçme işlemini gerçekleştiren çiftçiler, LÚAPIN.LÁ Sumerogramı ile anılmaktadır. Hitit Anadolu’sunun topraklarının ekilip biçilmesini sağlayan çiftçilerin ilk görevleri, elde ettikleri ürünleri insanlardan önce ve tam zamanında tanrılara sunmaktır. Bu konuyla ilgili uyarılan ve aksi bir durumda cezalandırılacakları belirtilen çiftçiler, siyasi antlaşma metinlerinde diğer kaçak kimselerden farklı olarak “işi teslim etme” olgusu çerçevesinde değerlendirilmiştir. Belgelerde, tahıl ambarlarının sorumluları olarak da karşımıza çıkan çiftçilerin, ekip biçme ve ürünü teslim etme işlemleri esnasında yalan söylemesi durumunda cezalandırılacağını görmekteyiz. Tarımsal faaliyetlerinin yanında, kimi zaman hayvanların tedarik ve muhafaza edilmesi işlerini yerine getiren çiftçiler, farklı görev ve fonksiyonları ile Hitit ekonomisinin en önemli bileşenlerinden birisi olmuştur.

Revisiting 1177 BCE and the Late Bronze Age Collapse

Revisiting 1177 BCE and the Late Bronze Age Collapse

Byblos in the Late Bronze Age: Interactions between the Levantine and Egyptian Worlds

Byblos in the Late Bronze Age: Interactions between the Levantine and Egyptian Worlds

Jumalad sõjas: jumalik toetus ja sõdade teoloogiline õigustamine muistses Anatoolias ja Põhja-Süürias

Jumalad sõjas: jumalik toetus ja sõdade teoloogiline õigustamine muistses Anatoolias ja Põhja-Süürias

Ian Rutherford: Hittite Texts and Greek Religion. Contact, Interaction, and Comparison.

Ian Rutherford: Hittite Texts and Greek Religion. Contact, Interaction, and Comparison.

Mythological Time of the Hittites

Scholars usually consider the Hittite mythological and epic texts to reflect the narrative traditions of Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Syria, the same as could be said for many other elements of the Hittite culture. Despite the epic texts found in the Hittite archives are often labeled to be foreign or translated literature, the Hittite scribes worked a lot to adapt them to their own worldview. The paper will discuss the temporal aspect of these texts to understand the peculiarities of the Hittite time perception. These texts show little attention to small units of time like day. The only mention of the seven-day-term in the Song of Release can be the feature of Syrian and not Hittite culture. The positive distinction of these texts from their analogues in the rest of the Ancient Near East is the detailed description of the multi-month processes like gestation that can find its counterpart in the ritual texts. The Song of Going Forth have shown the limits of time in the Hittite worldview and gave life to the vivid discussion about how long were the nine years of kingship for the primeval gods. The detailed analysis of all attestations of time periods in the Hittite mythological and epic texts shows that the Hittites had no passion to the great numbers measuring their real or mythological past even with the availability of tools for it, in contrast with other Ancient Near Eastern and Indo-European traditions. These features of time perception in the Hittite myth and epic fit well to our knowledge of the Hittite calendar, based on the periods of one month and of one or several years.

The God Shed at Amarna

During the Amarna Period (fourteenth century BCE), Akkadian and Hittite texts attest a lethal epidemic that spread from Egypt to Syria and the land of Hatti. DNA studies conducted on the mummies of Tutankhamun and two other members of the royal family (Thuya and Yuya) confirmed that they had been infected with malaria. Excavations at the Southern and Northern Tombs reveal evidence of traces of dietary deficiency, diseases, and heavy workloads. The discovery of stelae and chapels in the workmen’s village that were dedicated to the worship of ancestors and of the gods Amun, Aten, Shed, and Isis permit an analysis of the different forms of materialization of the ancestral memory of a population during hard times. The last days of Amarna witnessed the cult of the god Shed, the “Savior,” who sought to save the Egyptians from disease and misfortune. The presence of several diseases that were easily spread in the poor living conditions of the tomb workers could explain the short period of activity of the new capital (ca. 1350–1330 BCE). New archaeological evidence allows us to interpret the practices of private worship of ancestors and gods as evidence of a complex economic-social and political phenomenon that arose during a time of changes and marked a transition towards the restoration of traditional cults.

DEMOGRAPHIC PROCESSES IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLAND (LATE XV-XIV CENTURIES BC)

The cuneiform Hittite texts of the XV-XIV centuries BC contain important information dealing with at least two different population movements happened along the Upper Euphrates region. First of these is fixed in the treaty signed between the Hittite king Tudḫaliyaš II (second part of the XV century BC) and Šunaššura, king of Kizzuwatna. The second migration took place later, during the reign of Tudḫaliyaš III. This second migration is of interest since in that population movement was involved a great number of people from different parts of Asia Minor. The study of several Hittite prayers compiled during the reign of Arnuwandaš I allow to assume that this second migration is definitely connected with continuous famine, hunger, plague and attacks of neighboring countries which could force the population of several regions to migrate first to Išuwa and from there to Ḫayaša.

The Hittite ‘Theogony’ or Song of Going Forth (CTH 344): Stratification of Mythical Traditions

Abstract The present paper deals with the controversially discussed relationships between the gods Alalu, Anu, Kumarbi, and Tarḫunnaš in the Hittite Song of Going Forth (CTH 344). On the basis of a new philological analysis, of comparisons with theogonies or succession myths in other ancient cultures and on the background of considerations on the cross-cultural stratification of various mythical traditions in the surviving Hittite text, various proposals on the genealogical relationship of the deities in question are weighed against each other and reasons are presented for the plausibility of the proposed new translation and general reconstruction that the divine kingship always passes from father to son within a single genealogical line.

A. Bernard Knapp. Seafaring and seafarers in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.

This well-priced short paperback (176 pages of text) has full references, an index, well-chosen and striking illustrations (the cover showing a Balearic scene) and several useful tables listing Ugaritic, Egyptian, Akkadian and Hittite text references of significance to the topic, as well as 5 maps, on which the lettering is somewhat too small for easy use. It will serve an informed public or student audience well as an expert guide to the known facts about how shipping and trade operated in the Bronze Age east Mediterranean, especially the Late Bronze Age (64 pages against 15 on the Early BA and 22 on the Middle BA).

The Ahhiyawa Question: Reconsidered

Since Hrozny deciphered the Hittite language, nearly thirty thousand Hittite texts have been translated. About thirty of these texts directly or indirectly refer to the “Ahhiyawa” Kingdom and its king. Upon learning of the existence of an Ahhiyawa Kingdom in the Late Bronze Age, deliberations as where and when it existed, its geographical boundaries, its culture, its kings, and whether the Ahhiyawa king was the “Great King” and whether he was equal to the Hittite king began. To date, in line with their specialties, many scientists including Hittitologists, archaeologists, philologists, proto–historians, Near Eastern archaeologists, and classical archaeologists have given their opinions about the “Ahhiyawa Question”. However, as these proposals present some problems, it became necessary to prepare this study and to re–evaluate the “Ahhiyawa Question”.

Kuningas Hattušili I testament

From the Hittite kingdom in the Anatolian peninsula of the II millennium, the first known Indo-European-ruled political entity, the so-called bilingual testament of Hattušili I (ca. 1650–1620 BC) has long fascinated modern scholars. This article offers a translation of the original Hittite text into Estonian. The testament describes the turbulent political situation of the state’s earlier period, filled with the king’s unruly family members and many rebellions. Seemingly on his deathbed, King Hattušili I proclaimed that instead of the young Labarna, the previously designated heir, a new candidate – Muršili – would take his place, due to the former’s unkind nature. Labarna had not been the first to oppose Hattušili. His daughter and son had also done that, revolting against their father. The numerous problems related to inheriting the kingship in the early period of Hittite history have also prompted an ongoing discussion about the succession principles in Hittite society. Concerning the literary value, the testament is a masterpiece that incorporates historical exempla, metaphors, similes, direct speech, and rhetorical questions to enforce the king’s arguments and to persuade his audience – the upper echelons of the Hittite society. Despite its name, the testament seems to have more didactical than juridical purposes, as the king offers many instructions to his new heir – to be kind, abstemious, pious and, first and foremost, he orders to heed his wisdom and his will. The ones around the new designee are exhorted to be united and supportive to Muršili. As such, the text can be compared to some other proto-Fürstenspiegels, like “The Teaching for King Merikare” form Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, but it also bears parallels to Gen 49. All in all, the testament is a remarkable insight into Hittite history and society.

The Power of Human Speech in Hittite Anatolia

Abstract With the aim of improving our understanding of how Hittite practitioners in ancient Anatolia used human speech to achieve a desired efficacy or performativity (and therefore change a current situation), this paper explores the ritual character of Telipinu’s mugawar (CTH 324) and its historiola. Along these lines, it examines what traces of human agency are present in the text, and under which circumstances its performance would have been most valuable. Considered from a broader perspective, this study also aims to link Hittite texts to the lives of Anatolia’s inhabitants and to the many ways they did things with words.

The Hittite Notion of Border. A practical view

The Hittite cuneiform texts (16th-12th cent. BCE) contain a number of detailed descriptions of borders of various countries and territories. Such fragments, mainly found in the international treaties as well as the annals of the kings, clearly reflect the particular formal interest on the part of the Hittite rulers in specific delimitation of political territories.
 Although the Hittite listings of the topographical points, which make up a frontier can extend over many lines of texts, one never finds any use of cardinal directions which would indicate the position of these points. Instead, the Hittite scribes applied a peculiar internal reference system that combines the position of the speaker and another point of reference in order to locate a specific part of the border.
 The talk will briefly review the corpus of the Hittite border descriptions and discuss how such fragments were conceptualized. It will also tackle the question, whether they reflect a ‘bird’s eye’, cartographic view of the land, or rather a ground-level, hodological perspective.

Significance of Hesed in the Blessing of Naomi: Exegetical and Theological Study of Ruth 1:8, 9

Significance of Hesed in the Blessing of Naomi: Exegetical and Theological Study of Ruth 1:8, 9