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
The gems can be traced across the Ægean to the shores of Greece. Among
the objects discovered by Dr. Schliemann at Mykenæ were two rings of
gold, on the chatons of which designs are engraved in what we may now
recognise as the Hittite style of art. On one of them are two rows of
animals' heads; on the other an elaborate picture, which reminds us of
the elaborate designs on the gems of Asia Minor. It represents a woman
under a tree, facing two other persons, who wear the upturned boots and
flounced dress that we find in Hittite sculptures, while the background
is filled in with the heads of animals.
These gems are not the only indication the ruins of Mykenæ have afforded
that Hittite influence was spread beyond the coasts of Asia Minor.
Allusion has already been made to the figures of the Hittite goddess and
the doves that rested on the pinnacles of her temple; another figure in
thin gold gives us a likeness of the Hittite goddess seated on the cliff
of Sipylos, as she appeared before rain and tempest had changed her into
'the weeping Niobê.' Perhaps, however, the most striking illustration of
the westward migration of Hittite influence, is to be found in the
famous lions which stand fronting each other, carved on stone, above the
great gate of the ancient Peloponnesian city. The lions of Mykenæ have
long been known as the oldest piece of sculpture in Europe, but the art
which inspired it was of Hittite origin. A similar bas-relief has been
discovered at Kümbet, in Phrygia, in the near vicinity of Hittite
monuments; and we have just seen that the heraldic position in which the
lions are represented was a peculiar feature of Hittite art.
Greek tradition affirmed that the rulers of Mykenæ had come from Lydia,
bringing with them the civilisation and the treasures of Asia Minor. The
tradition has been confirmed by modern research. While certain elements
belonging to the prehistoric culture of Greece, as revealed at Mykenæ
and elsewhere, were derived from Egypt and Phoenicia, there are others
which point to Asia Minor as their source. And the culture of Asia Minor
was Hittite. Mr. Gladstone, therefore, may be right in seeing the
Hittites in the Keteians of Homer--that Homer who told of the legendary
glories of Mykenæ and the Lydian dynasty which held it in possession.
Even the buckle, with the help of which the prehistoric Greek fastened
his cloak, has been shown by a German scholar to imply an arrangement
of the dress such as we see represented on the Hittite monument of
Ibreez.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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