Hittite Cult Inventories – Part Two: The Dating of the Texts and the Alleged ‘Cult Reorganization’ of Tudḫaliya IV
-
Michele Cammarosano
Abstract
The Hittite cult inventories constitute a corpus of ca. 550 fragments dating to the Late Empire period, dealing with local offerings and festivals in provincial towns. They are commonly viewed against the background of an assumed reorganization of local cults promoted by Tudḫaliya IV. Within such an extensive operation, local festivals would have been restyled and standardized to some degree. The paper aims at casting doubts on these assumptions, presenting a reappraisal of the questions concerning the dating of the texts and a minimalist interpretation of Tudḫaliya’s ‘cult reorganization’. It also provides an overview of the extant Middle Hittite fragments and on restorations of local cults pre-dating Tudḫaliya IV. The main conclusions are that (1) the arguments behind the assumption that the majority of the surviving fragments should be dated to Tudḫaliya IV are debatable; (2) the measures taken by Tudḫaliya reflect practices that are attested from at least the Middle Hittite period, without any substantial innovation; and (3) despite their stylistic similarities, the texts tend to treat the local festivals, the origins of which in all likelihood go back to ancestral times, in a faithful way.
© by Akademie Verlag, Berlin, Germany
Articles in the same Issue
- Hittite Cult Inventories – Part Two: The Dating of the Texts and the Alleged ‘Cult Reorganization’ of Tudḫaliya IV
- Aziru, Servant of Three Masters?
- The Akkadian Medical Text KUB 37.1
- PA-NI DINGIR-LIMGIŠDAG-TI(sic) = tar-ša-an-zi-pí pé-ra-an? Randnotizen zu CTH 652
- Ma-na-aḫ-pi-/ir-/ja = Mn-ḫpr-r‘
- Des chiffres et des digues: à propos de deux textes présargoniques de Ĝirsu et d’une notation numérique inhabituelle
- The Development of the Middle Assyrian Provinces
- The Placement and Chronological Sequence of the Stelae from Assur
- Hethitisch kuwapi UL, kattan išḫaššarwaḫḫ- und KUB 21.38 Vs. 14’
- Gedanken zur Datierung, Entwicklung und Funktion der hethitischen Kunst
- Where is the Land of Sura of the Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscription KARKAMIŠ A4b and Why Were Cappadocians Called Syrians by Greeks?
Articles in the same Issue
- Hittite Cult Inventories – Part Two: The Dating of the Texts and the Alleged ‘Cult Reorganization’ of Tudḫaliya IV
- Aziru, Servant of Three Masters?
- The Akkadian Medical Text KUB 37.1
- PA-NI DINGIR-LIMGIŠDAG-TI(sic) = tar-ša-an-zi-pí pé-ra-an? Randnotizen zu CTH 652
- Ma-na-aḫ-pi-/ir-/ja = Mn-ḫpr-r‘
- Des chiffres et des digues: à propos de deux textes présargoniques de Ĝirsu et d’une notation numérique inhabituelle
- The Development of the Middle Assyrian Provinces
- The Placement and Chronological Sequence of the Stelae from Assur
- Hethitisch kuwapi UL, kattan išḫaššarwaḫḫ- und KUB 21.38 Vs. 14’
- Gedanken zur Datierung, Entwicklung und Funktion der hethitischen Kunst
- Where is the Land of Sura of the Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscription KARKAMIŠ A4b and Why Were Cappadocians Called Syrians by Greeks?
