The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the land of Hatti in present-day central and southeastern parts of Anatolia, Asia Minor. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Hattian civilisation was situated between ca. 2500 - 2000/1700 BC in the Early and Middle Bronze Age. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for

As the Hattians didn't have a written language (in other words : they were proto-historic), one has to rely on indirect sources or statements by other peoples. Hattian leaders probably used scribes writing in Assyrian to conduct business with Mesopotamia. A scribe (or scrivener) is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession Scholars have long assumed that the predominant population of the region of Anatolia "in the third millenium [BCE] was an indigenous pre-Indo-European group called the Hattians. "^[1]

The oldest name for Anatolia, "Land of the Hatti" was found for the first time on Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets from the period of the Akkadian dynasty (ca. 2350-2150 BC). On those tablets Assyrian traders implored the help of the Akkadian king Sargon. You may be looking for the Assyrian kings Sargon I This appellation continued to exist for about 1500 years until 630 BC, as stated in Assyrian chronicles.

They spoke a non-Indo-European language of uncertain affiliation called Hattic, now believed by some scholars to be related to the Northwest Caucasian language group. Hattic was a language spoken by the Hattians in Asia Minor between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Pontic, Circassian, or Abkhaz-Adyghe, are a group of languages spoken in the Caucasus region ^[2] Trevor Bryce writes:

"Evidence of a 'Hattic' civilisation is provided by the remnants of one of the non-Indo-European languages found in the later Hittite archives. Trevor Robert Bryce (born 1940 is a Hittitologist specializing in ancient and classical Near-eastern history The language is identified in several of the texts in which it appears by the term hattili-i. e. '(written) in the language of Hatti. ' The few texts that survive are predominantly religious or cultic in character. They provide us with the names of a number of Hattic deities, as well as Hattic personal and place-names. "^[3]

The use of the word "Proto-Hittite" instead of Hattians is inaccurate. This would imply that the Hittites evolved from the Hattians, which is completely false. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established The Hittites were an Indo-European people, ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Hattians. However, the term "Land of Hatti" was so ingrained that the Hittites continued to use it when referring to their own country. The Hattians eventually merged with, or were replaced by, the Hittites, who spoke the Indo-European Hittite language. Hittite or Nesili is the Extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centered on ancient Hattusas (modern

The Hattians may have been connected, in language and proximity, to the Khaldi/Kardu. The Khaldi were a Bronze Age people inhabiting the south-eastern shore of the Black Sea (now part of Turkey)

The vast Hittite empire (red) replaced Hatti, and ca. 1290 BC bordered the Egyptian empire (green)

The Hattians were organised in feudal city-states and small kingdoms or principalities. These cities were well organized and ruled as theocratic principalities. Theocracy is a form of government in which a god or deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler Even as they were taken over one by one by the conquering Hittites after ca. 2200 BC, the Hattians probably continued to form the major portion of the population. They may have been the people "who built and inhabited the early Bronze Age kingdoms of central Anatolia. "^[4]

The influence of their culture was such that the Hittites took over much of their religion and mythology. The principal deities of the Hittites were likely adopted from the Hattian religion, such as the Sun goddess, her husband the Storm god and their children Nerik and Zippalanda, their daughter Nezullaš and their grandchild Zentiš, and also Telipinu, his wife Hatepinuš, and the goddesses Zithariyaš, Karziš and Hapantalliyaš, and possibly Inaraš, although the last may have an Indo-European origin if it reflects a derivation of the root *h2ner-/*aner-, "strong, virile"). The Hattian civilization may also have given rise to the Hittite legend of Teshub and Illuyankas, although similar legends are found in many Indo-European cultures (Indra and Vrtra, Zeus and Typhon, Thor and Jörmungandr, Sigurd and Fafnir, and even the medieval Saint George and the Dragon). Teshub (also written Teshup) was the Hurrian god of sky and storm In Hittite mythology, Illuyanka was a serpentine Dragon slain by Tarhunt ( the Hittite incarnation of the Hurrian Indra ( Sanskrit: इन्द्र or इंद्र Indra, Malay: Indera, Thai: พระอินทร์ Phra-Intra In the early Vedic religion, Vritra ( Sanskrit: वृत्र ( Devanāgarī) or Vṛtra ( IAST) "the enveloper" was an Asura Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology In Greek mythology, Typhon ( Ancient Greek:, Tuphōn) also Typheus / Typhoeus ( Tuphōeus) Typhaon ( Thor ( Old Norse: Þórr) is the red-haired and bearded God of Thunder in Germanic paganism and its subset Norse paganism Jörmungandr, alternately referred to as the Midgardsormr or World Serpent, is a Sea serpent of the Norse mythology, the middle child of the Sigurd ( Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. In Norse mythology, Fáfnir ( Old Norse and Icelandic) or Frænir was a son of the dwarf king Hreidmar and brother The episode of Saint George and the Dragon appended to the Hagiography of Saint George was Eastern in origin brought back with the Crusaders and retold

Physiognomy

The Hattians and the Hittites apparently had different personal characteristics. Egyptian depictions of the Battle of Kadesh reportedly show long-nosed Hattian soldiers, while their Hittite leaders looked differently according to the respected Turkish archaeologist, Ekrem Akurgal in a 2001 book. } The Battle of Kadesh (also Qadesh) took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Ekrem Akurgal (1911-2002 was a prominent and internationally famous Turkish Archaeologist. ^[5]

Akurgal claims that "The Hattians were still the great majority of the population in the Hittite period. "^[6] If true, the Hittite Indo-Europeans constituted a ruling elite within the Hittite Empire whereas the assimiliated Hattians were lower ranking members of Hittite society. A gold and silver statuette of a long-nosed Hattian woman can be seen in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, Turkey. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi is located on the south side of Ankara Castle in the Atpazarı area in Ankara, Turkey It was found in Hasanoğlan and dates from about 2000 BC. Akurgal writes concerning the statuette:

"This is a masterpiece of Hattian art. The large "Roman nose" of the Hasanoğlan statuette reveals the ethnic type of Anatolian people of that time. "^[7]

References

• Akurgal, Ekrem - The Hattian and Hittite Civilizations; Publications of the Republic of Turkey; Ministry of Culture; 2001; 300 pages; ISBN 975-17-2756-1

External links

• Hattians - First Civilizations in Anatolia