The Hittites and Their World (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

271 Pages·2007·3.98 MB·English

by  Billie Jean Collins

THE HITTITES AND THEIR WORLD
Archaeology and Biblical Studies
Andrew G. Vaughn, Editor
Number 7
THE HITTITES AND THEIR WORLD
THE HITTITES AND THEIR WORLD
by
Billie Jean Collins
Society of Biblical Literature
Atlanta
THE HITTITES AND THEIR WORLD
Copyright © 2007 by the Society of Biblical Literature
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by
means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permit-
ted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission
should be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office, Society of Biblical
Literature, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Collins, Billie Jean.
The Hittites and their world / by Billie Jean Collins.
p. cm. — (Society of Biblical literature archaeology and Biblical studies ; no. 7)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58983-296-1 (paper binding : alk. paper)
1. Hittites. I. Title.
DS66.C65 2007b
939’.3—dc22
2007038041
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, recycled paper
conforming to ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) and ISO 9706:1994
standards for paper permanence.
For Gary Beckman

Contents
Preface ix

List of Figures xi
Abbreviations and Keys xiii
1. A Brief History of Hittite Studies 1
2. A Political History of the Hittites 21
3. Society 91
4. Religion 157

5. Hittites in the Bible 197

Afterword 219
Further Reading 225
Subject Index 229
Index of Ancient Texts 246

Index of Modern Authors 251
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PrefaCe
the hittites ruled a major emPire during one of the most exceptional peri-
ods of human history, the Late Bronze Age. Yet, when they disappeared from
history’s radar, they did so completely. No direct memory of them survived
outside of a handful of references in the Hebrew Bible; classical sources are
entirely silent about them. Although rediscovered in dramatic fashion over
the past century, as described in chapter 1, the Hittites are still known to few
people. This is understandable given that their contribution to world culture
has been difficult to pin down, let alone to package and market to a waiting
public, particularly in the face of competition from other great civilizations
of the ancient Mediterranean world like Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and
Rome. Happily, a new interest in the Hittites has arisen in recent years. This
is due, first, to the recent availability of excellent popular books, museum
exhibits, and documentaries about the Hittites. Also key to their resurgence is
the long-overdue recognition within the academy of the value of Hittite stud-
ies for understanding the background of classical and biblical—and hence, of
Western—traditions.
Only a decade ago, a book such as this would scarcely have been possible.
Major new finds have allowed Hittitologists to fill in major gaps in the his-
torical events of the Late Bronze Age in Anatolia. Although much remains to
be learned, so much progress has been made in recent years in reconstructing
Hittite history that Bryce’s Kingdom of the Hittites published in 1998 was
reissued in significantly updated form only a few years later. Without his
extraordinary efforts and those of Horst Klengel in his Geschichte des hethi-
tischen Reiches, my task here would have been considerably more difficult.
The Hittite kingdom lasted for approximately four hundred years (ca.
1650 to 1180 b.C.e.) but the story hardly begins or ends with these dates.
Any history of the Hittites that does not include the formative centuries of the
Middle Bronze Age (1800–1650 b.C.e.) and the subsequent Iron Age (1180–
717 b.C.e.) is incomplete at best. Hence, chapter 2 covers all one thousand
years of “Hittite” history. This history is presented in brief and is designed
for those wanting an overview of political events unencumbered by minutia.
Readers requiring a more detailed history are directed to the list of “Further
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