The course introduces to the study of the Hittite civilization (II millennium BC) through the analysis of the sources in cuneiform script.
The course provides the necessary tools for the analysis of Hittite cuneiform texts: grammar and syntax of the Hittite language, learning of the cuneiform script, palaeography
S. de Martino, Gli ittiti, Roma 2003
H. Genz – P. Mielke, INSIGHTS INTO HITTITE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY, Leuven 2011, Chap. 1-9.
G. Beckman, “Religion. Bei den Hethitern (in lingua inglese)” in Reallexikon der Assyriologie 11 (2007), 333-338.
G. Beckman, „Pantheon. Bei den Hethitern (in lingua inglese)“ in Reallexikon der Assyriologie 10 (2004), 308-316.
M. Liverani, Antico Oriente, Storia, società, economia, Bari 2009 (o altra edizione)
XII: Lo stato e i commerci paleoassiri
XV: L’Anatolia antico-ittita
XVI: Tecnologia e ideologia del Tardo Bronzo
XVII: L’egemonia Mitannica
XVIII: L’impero ittita
XIX: La Siria palestina nel Tardo bronzo
XXII: Crisi e ristrutturazione
XXVI: Gli Stati neo-ittiti
Rita Francia, Lineamenti di grammatica ittita, Roma 2012
Introduzione al cuneiforme e alla paleografia (dispense)
Recommended further readings:
F. Pecchioli - A.M. Polvani, La mitologia ittita, 1990
Del Monte, L’Annalistica ittita, Brescia 1993
M. Liverani, Le lettere di El-Amarna (voll. 1 e 2), Brescia 1998
Marizza, Lettere ittite di re e dignitari, Brescia 2009
Annick Payne, Inscirptions of the Iron Age, Atlanta 2012
De Vecchi, Trattati internazionali ittiti, Brescia 2015
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to read a text in Hittite cuneiform, and analyse text structure and grammar in order to get a proper translation. Acquisition of the necessary tools for the research on written sources and historical reconstruction of the Hittite civilization
Teaching Methods
Lessons, partecipation of the students and discussion
Type of Assessment
Oral exam. Students presentations with debate
Course program
Kikkuli and the Horse Training in Hittite Anatolia.
The course is divided into two parts: the first 12 hours concern a general introduction about the history of the studies, sources and instruments. The second part (24 hours) is dedicated to the study of the Hittite language, the grammar, and an introduction to the cuneiform writing system. Several texts samples of the So-called “Text about the Horse training” CTH 284 will be read in transliteration and later directly from hand copies of cuneiform tablets. Bibliography will be distributed during the classes.