|
Categories: Science fiction Fantasy Mystery Romance Business Classic Sports Young adult Humor Memoirs See all categories... |
|
Categories: Science fiction Fantasy Mystery Romance Business Classic Sports Young adult Humor Memoirs See all categories... |
The Hittites were a major power of the Ancient Near East, based in central Anatolia. At their height they were rivals and (rarely) allies of the Egyptian New Kingdom. The Hittite Empire was destroyed by the Sea Peoples during the Bronze Age collapse, save for a group of small successor kingdoms in northern Syria which lasted until overrun by the Assyrians. Other than a few terse references in the Old Testament, the Hittites were then forgotten until the discovery of their diplomatic letters in the Amarna cache, and the excavation of Hattusas, their capital.This is a very readable general history of the Hittites: their religion, their politics, and their culture. It's a bit older, but, as far as I'm aware, there haven't been much in the way of important innovations in Hittiteology in the last thirty years.Read in college, and re-read recently -- I was searching for my favorite example of elaborate (and, from the modern view, ridiculous) Hittite auguries. Unfortunately the examples of auguries in "The Hittites" were more prosaic, but I enjoyed the chapter enough that I went back to the beginning and re-read the whole thing. Still need to keep my eye out for the original source.
