The Hittites : $b The story of a forgotten empireSayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
History
The Hittites : $b The story of a forgotten empire
Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
Hittites
It is possible, therefore, that some of the Hittite monuments of Asia
Minor are the work, not of the Hittites themselves, but of the native
populations whom they had civilised and instructed. It may be that this
is the case at Ibreez, where the faces of the god and his worshipper
have Jewish features very unlike those found on monuments of purely
Hittite origin. But apart from such instances, where the monument is due
to Hittite influence rather than to Hittite artists, it is certain that
most of the Hittite memorials of Asia Minor are the productions of the
Hittites themselves. This is proved by the hieroglyphs which are
attached to them, as well as by the uniform type of feature and dress
which prevails from Carchemish to the Ægean. It is impossible to explain
such an uniformity, and still more the extraordinary resemblance between
the characters engraved at Karabel, or on Mount Sipylos, and those which
meet us in the inscriptions of Hamath and Carchemish, except on the
supposition that the monuments were executed by men who belonged to the
same race and spoke the same language. Wherever Hittite inscriptions
occur, we find in them the same combinations of hieroglyphs as well as
the use of the same characters to denote grammatical suffixes.
We may, then, rest satisfied with the conclusion that the existence of a
Hittite empire extending into Asia Minor is certified, not only by the
records of ancient Egypt, but also by Hittite monuments which still
exist. In the days of Ramses II., when the children of Israel were
groaning under the tasks allotted to them, the enemies of their
oppressors were already exercising a power and a domination which
rivalled that of Egypt. The Egyptian monarch soon learned to his cost
that the Hittite prince was as 'great' a king as himself, and could
summon to his aid the inhabitants of the unknown north. Pharaoh's claim
to sovereignty was disputed by adversaries as powerful as the ruler of
Egypt, if indeed not more powerful, and there was always a refuge among
them for those who were oppressed by the Egyptian king.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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