Recent Developments in Hittite Archaeology and History: Papers in Memory of Hans G. Guterbock.

• Author: de Martino, Stefano
• Position: Book Review

Recent Developments in Hittite Archaeology and History: Papers in Memory of Hans G. Guterbock. Edited by K. ASLIHAN YENER and HARRY A. HOFFNER JR. with assistance of SIMRIT DHESI. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 2002. Pp. v + 212, illus. $37.50.

This book collects presentations delivered in 1997 at the Hittite sessions of the American Oriental Society meeting in Miami. It is dedicated to the memory of Hans Gustav Guterbock, whose recent death is a great loss to science. He will be remembered not only for his work but also for his human qualities and his generosity.

The book contains sixteen articles, together with an introduction by K. Aslihan Yener and a concluding note by H. A. Hoffner Jr., both of whom point out how all the essays have been inspired by more recent and important discoveries in the field of Hittite archaeology and philology. Indeed, there is no doubt that many new developments in the last few years have led to a greater understanding of the Hittite culture and its history. However, as H. Klengel writes in his essay, such events have also highlighted other issues and raised questions of historical nature that still remain unanswered.

Two articles discuss recent discoveries in Bogazkoy/Hattusa. S. Herbordt presents some of the results of her study of the sealed bullae from Nisantepe. In turn, H. C. Melchert analyzes the Hieroglyphic Luvian Inscription of the Sudburg, maintaining, unlike D. Hawkins (The Hieroglyphic Inscription of the Sacred Pool Complex at Hattusa [SUDBURG] [Wiesbaden, 1995], 54-57), that this inscription does not refer to a military campaign against Tarhuntassa. If peaceful relations did prevail between Hatti and Tarhuntassa in the final stage of the Hittite Empire, this would change the historical picture as now accepted by the majority of scholars (see especially H. Klengel, p. 107 here).

Four articles deal with archaeological and philological documentation of three Hittite provincial centers discovered during the past few decades: Masat, Kusakli, and Ortakoy. Based on the documentation from Masat, Hoffner probes into the treatment and use of men captured in battle. The texts often mention blind captives; according to Hoffner the Hittites blinded some prisoners to better control or punish them. The latter theme has also recently been explored by J. Sievelova, "Blendung als Strafe fur den Eidbruch," in Anatolia Antica, Gs. Imparati (Florence, 2002), 735-37. F. Imparati analyzes a letter from the archives...