Civilization hittite

The Hittites of minor Asia spoke a Indo-European Langue and used (- 1800 av. J.C with - 1300 av. J.C) a wedge-shaped writing. The researchers included/understood the general direction of the texts and division in words by reading initially the ideograms Akkadien S employed. They then deciphered the syllabic phonetic complements, and recognized the grammatical elements Indo-Européennes.

History

Hittites, whose origin is known little about, spoke an Indo-Européenne language: Hittite. Their first traces go up around 1900 before JC and show that Hittites were introduced, probably in several waves, in the area Anatolia. They imposed their language, their culture and their sovereignty with the natives, whom they called Hattis. Hattis spoke a language not Indo-Européenne, Hatti and the many certificates of this one in Hittite (in particular person and place names) let suppose that the two people cohabited, before the culture of Hattis does not disappear. Hittites preserved the name of Hattis to name their country (and one their capitals, Hattousas). The first city dominated by Hittites was Nesa, close to current Kayseri in Turkey, from where the name which they gave to their own language: Nesili, “language of Nesa”. Shortly after 1800 before JC, they made town of Hattousas, close to current Bogazköy, their capital. One knows only few things about the Hittite history until the 17th century before JC and about the foundation of the old Hittite kingdom by Labarna (king towards 1680-1650 before JC), or Tabarna. Labarna conquered almost all the center of Anatolia and extended its sovereignty to the Mediterranean. His/her son Hattousil Ier and his successors extended the Hittites conquests in direction of the north of Syria. Moursil Ier (king towards 1620-1590 before JC) conquered what is Alep today, in Syria, and launched incursions on Babylon towards 1595 before JC. The assassination of Moursil Ier was followed by one period of internal conflicts and decline outside which was completed under the reign of the king Telipinou (king towards 1530 before JC). To ensure the stability of the kingdom, this one promulgated a law of strict succession, which remained in force until the end of the empire, and took energetic measures for éradiquer violence. Successors of Telipinou, only the name is known. Weakened by the constitution, in the south-east of the Hittite empire, the powerful Indo-Aryan kingdom of Mitanni combined in Hurrites, the dynasty of Labarna died out in the fights of succession and the conflicts with its new neighbor.

The new Hittite kingdom

The advent of king Tuthaliya Ier in 1465 before JC marks the foundation of the new Hittite kingdom. One of its more important representatives, royal prince Souppilouliouma (king towards 1353-1322 before JC), usurped the throne during one period of foreign invasions. After having released its country and having beaten its principal enemy, the kingdom of Mitanni in the north of Mésopotamie, it further involved its armies in Syria. Its conquests were facilitated there by the weakening of the Égyptienne power under the reign of Akhenaton, also called Aménophis IV. The Hittite kingdom became thus under Souppilouliouma a great empire competing with the power of Egypt, Babylonia and Assyrie. After the death of Souppilouliouma, Hittites arrived, at the price of ceaseless wars, to maintain their empire. During XVe and 14th centuries before JC their possessions extended to the west to the Aegean Sea, in the east in Arménie, south-east in Mésopotamie higher and the south in Syria to current Lebanon. In second half of the 14th century before JC, Hittites were often opposed to Egypt. The two great powers clashed for the control of Syria until the battle of Qadesh, in Syria, which put face to face king Mouwatalli (king until approximately 1270 before JC) and Ramsès II. In spite of the claim of the victory by Ramsès II, Hittites preserved their seizure on Syria. Hattousili III (king towards 1265 before JC) concludes a peace treaty with Ramsès II a few years, treated later which it sealed by offering his daughter in marriage to him. Thereafter, the relations between Hittites and the Egyptians remained favorable until the fall of the Empire Hittite shortly after 1190 before JC in front of invaders called Pélasges or people of the Sea in the Égyptiens texts, but also probably following famines and of internal movements of revolt.

The Hittites city-states

The fall of the empire caused confusion and the tumult but did not remove the imperial tradition completely. Hittites city-States, of which most famous was Karkemish, emerged in the south-east of Anatolia and the north of Syria. They were populated of a mixed ethnicity, often called Syro-Hittites, trained mainly of Hittites, or people of the old Hittite empire, Hourrites and Semites of Syria, according to the areas. The Syro-Hittites sovereigns spoke the Louvite language, which was written in Hiéroglyphes and was close to Hittite. Some of these city-States were conquered at the 10th century before JC by Araméens Semites; the others became provinces of the Assyrian Empire under Sargon II towards 715 before JC. Even after the conquest of the whole of Syria by the Assyrians, they continued to call it Hatti.

First texts and translations

The most important information sources are the Égyptiens texts, in particular those of the XIXe dynasty, and certain passages of the Bible. Oldest of these passages in which Hittites are called “wire of Heth” refer to the period Hittite empire. The later passages refer to Syro-Hittites. In 1906, the royal archives of Hittites themselves were put at the day at the time of excavations with Bogazköy. These discoveries threw the doubt about the major part of the Égyptiennes obviousnesses. For example, certain battles were described like Hittites victories, whereas in the Égyptiens texts the same battles were reported like Hittites defeats. The discovery of these files was particularly important, because they made it possible to the epigraphists to decipher the Hittite language, and to obtain information on unknown aspects of this culture: the political organization, laws, the religion and literature. One distinguished three principal dialects in the files from Hattousas: Hittite itself or Nesilinb; Louvite, sometimes called Luwien, undoubtedly older and extremely widespread in Anatolia, and primarily used in the religious texts; finally Palaite, less widespread. The majority of the texts found in the files are written in Hittite language, but the treaties and the official documents were written in Assyrian, the international language of this time. Other texts are written in Hourrite language of the south-east of Anatolia and the north of Mésopotamie, an agglutinant language which is not attached to any known linguistic group. Hittites had adopted the written form Cunéïforme coming from the Assyrians and the Babylonians, but they also used a system of pictographic (see the pictographic Hittite writing) to transcribe a language strong near to Hittite, Louvite. Although the hiéroglyphes are already used at the time of the empire, the major part of the inscriptions belong to the later period with its fall, that of the city-States. The literature of Hittites was very developed, as show it the historical texts and accounts.

The organization and achievements

King Hittite was the large priest, the chief of the army and the principal judge of the country. Under the old kingdom it was assisted pankus, a council the noble ones, which disappeared thereafter. The kingdom was managed by governors of province acting in the name of the king. Territories located out of the kingdom were frequently controlled like vassal kingdoms, and formal treaties were concluded with their sovereigns. The most remarkable achievements of Hittite civilization relate to the legislature fields and of the administration of justice. The legislative codes of Hittites reveal a strong Babylonian influence, but their administration of justice was more lenient than that of the Babylonians. Hittites seldom resorted to the capital punishment or the mutilation, which are however characteristics of the other ages of the ancient Middle East. Much more, Hittite justice was founded on the principle of the restitution rather than on that of the punishment or revenge. The sorrow for a flight, for example, was the restitution of the stolen object and the payment of a complementary allowance; the restitution in kind was gradually replaced by a payment in cash. The Hittite economy was founded on agriculture, the principal cultures being the corn and the barley, the breeding being that of the Bovidae and the sheep. Hittites also had important mineral iron and money, lead, copper richnesses. Their techniques of work of metal were advanced for the time; it may be that they were the first people of the area to work iron.

The religion, art and architecture

Hittites venerated many local divinities. The evocation of the “thousand gods of Hatti”, who were adored in all Asia Mineure before and during the Hittite period, returns unceasingly in the official documents. One belonged in the Pantheon Hittite to the Sumériennes influences, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hurrites starting from the second Hittite empire, Luwiennes and others. The sanctuary of Yazilikaya, close to Bogazköy, contains, cut with same the rock, a remarkable series of reliefs representing two long processions of gods and goddesses advancing the ones towards the others. The majority of the gods could not be identified, but with the head of the two groups are the most important Hittites divinities, the god of the Storm, or god of Time, and the goddess of the Sun. Excavations in the sanctuary revealed a temple built opposite a room, smaller, which seems to be dedicated to the worship of a late king. Like the religion, Hittite mythology represents a mixture of elements reflecting the diversity of the worships inside the kingdom. Certain poems epic contain myths of Hurrite origin interfered Babylonian reasons and evoking several successive generations gods who controlled the universe, and a monster which was opposed to sovereignty last king gods. They are close to the Greek myths contained in Théogonie d' Hésiode and seem to have been their prototypes. It may be that they were transmitted in Greece during the period Mycénienne (1400-1200 before JC) Of the Hittites texts give a report on contacts between Hittites sovereigns and those of the kingdom of Ahhiyawa, that certain scientists identify with the country of the Achaens. That cultural elements Hittites were or not diffused with-outside, good number of them survived in Anatolia until the arrival of the Romans in Asia Mineure into 190 before JC. Divinities like the Goddess Mother (Cybèle) and the god of the Storm (called Jupiter Dolichène by the Romans) were still venerated at that time. The art and the architecture of Hittites were subject to the influence of almost all the contemporary cultures of the ancient Middle East, and in particular of Babylonia. At all events, Hittites led to a certain stylistic independence. The construction materials were generally the stone and the brick, but they also used columns out of wooden. Their palates, temples and fortifications massive frequently had their walls, doors and entries decorated with stylized and carved reliefs in a required way.

Random links: