Hatti

Terminology

The term Hittites reached us by the Bible and the sources of the Old Orient in general, and it qualifies Indo-European people of Anatolia. Hittites themselves called their language Nesili (nésite), in connection with the town of Nesa (Kanesh). What they called hattili (language hatti) was in fact the language of the alive people in the area of Hatti (capital Hattusha), in Anatolia central (close to current the Ankara), in which Hittites settled and from where they founded a powerful kingdom, continuing to call the country " Hatti" , and which gave them their name.

Who were Hatti?

The Hatti people remain very badly known. One generally considers that they occupy it Anatolia since longer than the Indo-Europeans populations, initially Hittites but also the Palaïtes, because those borrowed to them part of their vocabulary, their gods and of their religion. It is however impossible to determine clearly features properly hattis in the archaeological discoveries of Anatolia central protohistoric (OJ), so much the material culture of the area is homogeneous at this period, even if interesting attempts were carried out.

The first historical sources for the area are those of the files of the Assyrian merchants having established counters in Cappadoce (), in a country dominated by Hittites-Nésites, but where the elements hattis are still present. It is however more logical to seek the habitat of Hattis in the area which gave their name, where exists a " at that time; kingdom of Hatti" , whose capital is located at Hattusha, the future capital of Hittites. This kingdom appears allied with another political entity located more at north, the kingdom of Zalpa. This first kingdom of Hatti falls towards -1900 pennies the blows from the king Anitta from Kussar, which beats its king Huzziya and destroys Hattusha. If one sought to see in the name of Huzziya a name hatti, and that one wanted to make of this kingdom a political entity dominated by these people, going until making fight against Hittites-Nésites an ethnic fight, nothing makes it possible to confirm these dires, and perhaps that Hattusha was already directed by a dynasty hittite, as that which founds at the 17th century the first kingdom hittite.

The religion hatti

Hittites preserved former ritual monks hattis by retranscribing this language in wedge-shaped writing, and translating these texts in their language for better including/understanding them. These ritual, referring to myths hattis (as that of the Moon fallen from the Sky ) is in a too lacunar state to be included/understood well, and the religious vocabulary remains rejecting.

One knows well on the other hand the names of the gods hattis, taken again by Hittites. The Goddess-sun of Arinna, divinity of the underground world, corresponds thus to the goddess hatti Wurushemu, his/her companion the god-sun of the Sky is Eshtan. The god of the Storm, associated in a general way with water, element fertilisator names Taru (perhaps a derivative of the hittite Tarhunta), and it has two important sanctuaries in Hatti country, with Nerik and Zippalanda. The agrarian god hittite Telebinu, wire of Wurushemu and Eshtan, is undoubtedly of origin hatti. The other principal gods hattis are Wurunkatte, god of the war, Inara, the " Genius of Hattusha" , Halmasuit, the " goddess-trône" and Kunzanisu, lunar goddess.

The language hatti

The language hatti is a agglutinant Langue being attached to any linguistic family known. It is thus a Isolat. She was spoken in Anatolia until the beginning about the 2nd millenium before the Christian era.

On arrival of the Hittites, towards -2000, it is extinct with the profit of the Anatolian languages spoken by the new arrivals. It nevertheless was used as liturgical Langue until the fall of the empire hittite towards -1200. It became then important a Substrat hittite, which made many lexical loans with the hatti.

The Hittites wrote the hatti by means of the wedge-shaped writing while making precede the passages in this language by the word hattili .

Although being always generally regarded as an isolate, certain researchers attach the hatti to the Caucasian languages the such Abkhazian or those of the Groupe kartvélien. Indeed, the hatti division with these idioms the absence of all grammatical kind and the use of Prefix S.

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