Century BC. 168 These were the kings who bullt the greatness of the Hittite Empire

which ander Suppiluliuma I (c. 1360-1332) ' and bis successors extended from the

Aegean coast on the west to northem and central Syria on the east. Next to Egypt

And Gassite Babylonia, the Hittite kingdom was one of the mightiest powers in the

Ancient Near East, a Position it kept until its ultimate decline in the first decades

Of the twelfth Century BC.

The cuneiform texts from Hattusa, mostly concerning magic and cult, have con-

Tributed extensively to an understanding of religions in Asia Minor under the Hit-

Tites. The picture, while defmitely richer for this period than for the previous one, is

On the evidence of the Cruciform Seal, A, Dingo; - B..Dirugol - Hawkins - Wilhelm 1993: 10411

See, however, KBo 1.1,36 iii 9’ff. (Orten 1958b: 111) which gives the following (reversed) sequence

Of early Hittite kings: Hattusili, Labama, Pimpirit/Pimpira, Huzziya. For Pimpira, see now Cam-

Marosano 2006: 47ff. with references to different interpretations of the list in KBo 11,38 iii 9’ff.

on p. 61f. Suggestion» that Pü-Sarruma and Tuthaliya I would have been the direct predeeessors

of Labarna and Hattusili 1, or just Tuthaliya I who ailegedly ruied before Huzziya "0" (e.gg,

Forlanini 1995: 129f.; Sürenhagen 1998: 82f.; Beal 2003a: 16f£., 34f.), must now be discarded, cf.

Forlanini 2004: 374, 379ff.; Taracha 2004a; Freu - Mazoyer 2007a: 25, 37ff. with n. 35.

Cf. Taracha 2008a.

For the chronology of Suppiluliuma’s reign, see now Miller 2007: 282ff.; Taracha, 2008h.

Hittite Anatoua

Not entirely clear by any means. Much attention in the texts was focused on official

Religion which was influenced by the policies of Hittite kings, who were responsible

for establishing the state cult. With regard to local beliefe and populär religion, the

Problem is more complex. It is not merely because of the state of preservation of the

Texts but, first of all, due to their nature as documents recorded foremost for the

Needs of the ruler, court, and state administration.

Anatolian religions of the second millennium BC never constituted an isolated

System which eould be attributed to specific ethnic groups. Düring the nascency of

The Hittite state, in the first half of the second millennium BC, central and north-

Ern Anatolia was inhabited by peoples of different origins. In the northern terri-

Tories on the Lower Kizilirmak, the most numerous or even the sole ethnic group were

The Hattians, the natives of this part of Anatolia. Judging by the relics of their lan-

Guage, they appear to have been related with the inhabitants of northwestem Cau-

Casus. Existing Hittite texts have little to say, unfortunately, on Hattian beliefe in

The northern territories in this early period. The ethnic Situation was more compli-

Cated farther to the south, in the middle section of the Kizilirmak great bend and

Around the Hittite Capital. In this area, the Hittites and Luwians appear to have

Formed a significant share of the population, next to the Hattians, alreaciy presum-

Ably in the third millennium BC. 170 The Hittites remained under the streng influ-

Ence of Hattian culture, a process that was also reflected in the religious sphere.

Yet, the preserved texts give us almost no Information about the populär belief's of

The inhabitants of the Hattusa region. Hattian influence does not seein to have

Reached far south of the Hittite Capital. As we have seen (2.1), Anatoliens living in

Karies in the times of the Old Assyrian colonies seem to have merged Hittite-

Luwian traditions with the influence of the local (pre-Indo-European) Substrate.

Despite different religious traditions in a multi-ethnic cultural society, the local

Pantheons of Hittite Anatolia demonstrate many structural similarities, in keepmg

With the principles governing the Organization and development of pantheons of the

Early city-states.

;i haa

Hittite Anatoua

In Old Hittite times, the state cult in the capital and the local beliefe in central and