The land of the Hittites : $b An account of recent explorations and discoveries in Asia Minor, with descriptions of the Hittite monumentsGarstang, John
History
The land of the Hittites : $b An account of recent explorations and discoveries in Asia Minor, with descriptions of the Hittite monuments
Garstang, John
Hittites; Turkey -- Antiquities
Of what stock, then, were these early settlers, and whence did they
come? Did they form part of a great migration from the East, like the
Turks in modern history, according to an old school of thought? were
they Semitic? or did they pass like the Phrygian conquerors, from
Europe into Asia, absorbing and adopting Eastern thought and habits, a
veritable _mirage orientale_? That the Hittites were not autochthonous,
if such a term has any meaning, is apparent already, and will become
more clear as we proceed, from the complexity of their pantheon and
the mingled elements of their peoples. We must from the outset beware
also of the pitfall of inconsistent terminology. The name Hittite is
commonly employed in three senses which we must distinguish: it may be
used in reference to the whole confederacy of peoples as depicted in the
Egyptian scenes, or to the smaller and more homogeneous band of Hittite
tribes, or to the dominant tribe of Hatti within the Halys, which seems
to have given its name in antiquity to the whole. The Egyptian artists
indeed recognised the mixed character of the confederates in their day,
and noted some of their peculiarities, but did not distinguish between
them with sufficient clearness or consistency for our purpose. Two types
which we reproduce[716] will serve to illustrate the wide difference of
racial character among the Hittite allies obvious to the Egyptians in
the time of Rameses the Great. The one is Mongoloid, characterised by
a definite pigtail,[717] oblique eyes, high cheek-bones; in short, a
recognisable Tartar type. We are inclined to place it in the vicinity
of Carchemish, if not beyond the Euphrates, upon the main trade route
with the East. The other is a clean-cut proto-Greek type, with a special
form of shield, which we are tempted to assign to Lydia or some part of
western Asia Minor. The Amorites, an Aramæan (Semitic) people, are also
conspicuous among the allies of these times, being distinguished by a
projecting beard, receding forehead, and other features.[718] These vast
differences among the peoples united under the Hatti leadership in the
thirteenth century B.C. are now explained historically, as will become
evident later in this chapter. They reveal to us a population of the
Hittite lands no less mixed than that of Turkey in Asia to-day. They do
not, however, throw any light upon the question of the original race of
the Hittite tribes. These are commonly identified with another type with
a long head, long nose, and receding forehead, deep-set eyes somewhat
obliquely placed, and yellow, wrinkled skin. A sharp, firm line runs down
from beside the nostril on either side of the lips.[719] On the walls
of the Ramesseum, where it is best seen, this type is associated with
Aleppo, and we must recognise in it an element of the Hittite peoples;
but on comparing it with the Hittite sculptures of Sinjerli, Boghaz-Keui,
and elsewhere, we must regard it as still hypothetical whether even
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account