Ostalo
A New Book about Hittites
Alemko Gluhak
; Zavod za lingvistička istraživanja Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Ranko Matasović, a linguist at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, recently published a new book, entitled The Culture and Literature of the Hittites (in the original: Kultura i književnost Hetita, Zagreb, 2000). The first part of the work, under the heading “The Hittites – a people discovered anew” (pp. 13–106), gives us a summary of the Hittite past. In the next section – “Hittite and other languages of ancient Asia Minor” (pp. 19–58), Matasović presents some of the main points known about the Hetto-Luwian and other pertinent languages. The author of this review article discusses these points, as well as providing some additional comments on the subject. Matasović gives a summary of the Hittite history in Asia Minor (pp. 58–85). The Hetto-Luwians were newcomers in Anatolia – but it is not known from where they came (p. 60). In the 19th century B.C. they were already in Asia Minor, where they merged with the domestic population. It is, however, possible that there was not a large migration. “The arrival of the Proto-Hittites could have been a long and gradual infiltration of agricultural population […], and not a quick nomadic expansion, such as the ones we know about from history” (p. 61). The reviewer also notes that Greek and Hittite have some loan words from the North Caucasian languages and he touches upon the interesting question of a Hetto-Luwian stratum in this area prior to the expansion of the Greek language. In the entire context, the question of the Indo-European homeland is important. The theory, presented by T. Gamq reliʒe and V. V. Ivanov, that moved the Indo-European homeland into Eastern Asia Minor and North Mesopotamia (which would make the Hetto-Luwians indigenous) is not the most convincing. Serious objections to it have been expressed. R. Matasović also gives us a sketch of the reigns of several Hittite kings, and at the end of the book he adds a chronological table (p. 190). As to the other languages in Asia Minor at the time – these included Hatti, Hurrian and Urartean. Matasović gives us some information on them, and also indicates genetic links between Hatti and the North West Caucasian languages, and between Hurrian-Urartean and Northeast Caucasian. He likewise discusses the contacts between Hittites and Greeks (pp. 86–89). There is some indicative material Hittite texts in this regard: the name Wiluša corresponds to Ilios (Ϝιλιος > Ἴλῐος), the name Taruiša to Troy, etc. The land in the West of Asia Minor was called Aššuwa (it is indicated in a map in Matasović’s book, p. 191). From this name came the Greek term Asía (Ασία), which first expanded to the peninsula and then to the entire continent: therefore Asia Minor, i.e. smaller Asia, was in fact old Asia, the first known part of the continent. Among the languages registered in the Hittite state and in the surrounding area (e.g. in the Hurrian state Mitanni), by the middle of the second millennium B.C. there is testimony of a small remnant of an Old Indoaryan language (pp. 89–92). Of the various historical data presented by Matasović, the author of this review article treats only those that were emphasized. Hence it seems “that it was precisely the Hittites who [first] introduced mass deportations (an Ancient Near Eastern form of ethnic cleansing)” (p. 73). The Hittites state was finally destroyed at the end of the 13th century during the incursions of the Sea Peoples. As to Matasović’s treatment of “Hittite religion and mythology” (pp. 93–106), it sometimes seems that a bit more information would help. In regard to Hittite literature, Matasović provides us with a selection of eighteen literary works (pp. 109–174), including laws, inscriptions, literature and various prayers.
Ključne riječi
Hittites; history; language; literature; Hattian; Hurrian; Urarthean; Asia Minor (Anatolia)
Hrčak ID:
107983
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.2000.
Posjeta: 2.481 *