Hittite Diplomatics
Studies in Ancient Document Format and Record Management
by Willemijn J.I. Waal
In the Hittite capital ?attusa, some 25,000 tablets and, for the most part, fragments have been discovered in several locations. These tablets all formed part of the state archives of the Hittite Empire (ca. 1650-1180 BCE), and contained texts of various nature (religious, legal, historical, literary, administrative, etc.). Applying the research methods of diplomatics or Urkundenlehre, this study has taken the clay tablet per se as a starting point in order to gain a better understanding of these tablet collections. The first six chapters deal with the extrinsic elements of documentary form, consisting of a diachronic and synchronic analysis of the physical characteristics of the Hittite clay tablet, such as its size, shape and layout. This study makes clear that certain conventions regarding their physical appearance existed, and that they were partly dependent on the text type of the tablet and the time period in which it was written. In the seventh chapter, Hittite terminology for writing materials is discussed. Central to the eighth chapter is an intrinsic element of documentary form, the colophon. As it turns out, the distribution of Hittite colophons is very consistent: some text genres practically always have a colophon whereas it is absent in others. Within the colophons themselves, one can further detect chronological developments. Since no complete edition of the colophons is available, transliterations and translations of this corpus have been included in the appendices. The last chapter of the book aims to reconstruct the record management and organization of the Hittite tablet collections.
In the Hittite capital ?attusa, some 25,000 tablets and, for the most part, fragments have been discovered in several locations. These tablets all formed part of the state archives of the Hittite Empire (ca. 1650-1180 BCE), and contained texts of various nature (religious, legal, historical, literary, administrative, etc.). Applying the research methods of diplomatics or Urkundenlehre, this study has taken the clay tablet per se as a starting point in order to gain a better understanding of these tablet collections. The first six chapters deal with the extrinsic elements of documentary form, consisting of a diachronic and synchronic analysis of the physical characteristics of the Hittite clay tablet, such as its size, shape and layout. This study makes clear that certain conventions regarding their physical appearance existed, and that they were partly dependent on the text type of the tablet and the time period in which it was written. In the seventh chapter, Hittite terminology for writing materials is discussed. Central to the eighth chapter is an intrinsic element of documentary form, the colophon. As it turns out, the distribution of Hittite colophons is very consistent: some text genres practically always have a colophon whereas it is absent in others. Within the colophons themselves, one can further detect chronological developments. Since no complete edition of the colophons is available, transliterations and translations of this corpus have been included in the appendices. The last chapter of the book aims to reconstruct the record management and organization of the Hittite tablet collections.
- By (author) Willemijn JI Waal
Other Titles in this Series
Liturgie oder Literatur?
Die Kultrituale der Hethiter im transkulturellen Vergleich. Akten eines Werkstattgesprachs an der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur. Mainz, 2.-3. Dezember 2010
Volume 60
Functional Differentiation in Hittite Festival Texts
An Analysis of the Old Manuscripts of the KI.LAM Great Assembly
Volume 65
Schicksalsbestimmende Kommunikation
Sprachliche, gesellschaftliche und religiose Aspekte hethitischer Fluch-, Segens- und Eidesformeln
Volume 52
Two Festivals Celebrated by a Hittite Prince (CTH 647.I and II-III)
New Light on Local Cults in North-Central Anatolia in the Second Millennium BC
Volume 61
The Tablets and Their Scribes
The Palaeography of Hittite Cuneiform and Writing Practices in Hittite Anatolia. Proceedings of the Second International HFR Symposium, Mainz, 2–4 May 2024
Volume 73
Studies in Hittite Economic Administration
A New Edition of the Hittite Palace-Temple Administrative Corpus and Research on Allied Texts Found at Hattusa. Volume I: Background, Corpus Overview, Case Studies, Lexical Commentary, and Glossary
Volume 70
Studies in Hittite Economic Administration
A New Edition of the Hittite Palace-Temple Administrative Corpus and Research on Allied Texts Found at Hattusa. Volume II: Text Editions and Philological Commentary
Volume 71
Luwili
Hittite-Luwian Ritual Texts Attributed to Puriyanni, Kuwattalla and Silalluhi (CTH 758-763). Volume I: Edition and Commentary. Volume II: Discussion and Glossary
Volume 72
Cult, Temple, Sacred Spaces
Cult Practices and Cult Spaces in Hittite Anatolia and Neighbouring Cultures. Proceedings of the First International HFR Symposium, Mainz, 3-5 June 2019
Volume 66
At the Interface of Religion and Administration
The Hittite Cult Inventories: With a contribution by Adam Kryszen
Volume 68
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