Anitta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anitta's bronze dagger with an enlarged cuneiform script, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations , Ankara

Anitta was an early Anatolian ruler of Kaniš-Neša around 1730 BC. Chr. ( Middle chronology ), who is partly regarded as the first Hittite great king.

Testimonies

The most important testimony is the so-called Anitta text ( CTH 1) from the 16th century BC. BC, which was written in Old Etthite language and is considered the oldest Hittite text at all. A more recent copy dates from the 14th century BC. There are also three fragments of a copy from the 13th century BC. Chr.

Also of importance is a dagger that was found in a palace in the upper town of Kaniš-Neša. His inscription, "Palace of King Anita" ( É.GAL A-ni-ta ru-ba-im), identifies the palace and the bronze weapon as the possession of the ruler, which confirms that Anitta was indeed king of this city.

Documents from the ancient Assyrian trading colonies ( kārum ) in Kültepe (Kaniš) and Alışar Höyük also name the king Anitta, as well as his rabi simmiltim Peruwa Kammaliya. According to these documents, his predecessor was King Pitḫana, whose rabi simmiltim in turn is Anitta.

Life

Central Anatolia during Anitta's time

Anitta was the son of King Pitḫana of Kuššara , a regional ruler in Anatolia . Pitḫana had conquered the city of Neša, which at that time was the most important Anatolian trading town. After Anitta took over the rule of Neša from his father, he made several victorious campaigns of conquest. First he went against Zalpa , whose king Uḫna had previously abducted the idol of the deity of Kaniš, whom Anitta herself called šiuš-šummiš "our deity". Anitta defeated King Ḫuzziya of Zalpa and brought the idol back to Kaniš. He also defeated King Piyušti of Ḫatti and besieged Ḫattuša , which he razed to the ground and sowed weeds over it. He led the city goddess Ḫalmašuit to Neša, where he donated a temple for her. The destruction of Ḫattuša can for archaeological reasons around the year 1728 BC. To be dated. Obviously, Ḫattuša was soon repopulated, despite the curse that Anitta uttered: "During the night I took the city by force and instead I sowed weeds. Whoever becomes king after me and repopulates Ḫattuša, the weather god of heaven will meet . "

Then he fortified his capital Neša, built several temples and set up a zoo. Then he marched with 1,400 warriors and 40 chariots against Šalatiwara, which can be located west of the upper Sakarya . After the subjugation of this kingdom, the king of Purušḫanda met him and gave him an iron scepter and an iron throne as gifts. This gesture is partly interpreted as the submission of the king of Purušḫanda to Anitta, but it is also discussed that he recognized Anitta as one of his own with these gifts. This event may have led to Anitta being the first king of Kaniš to assume the title of "Great King".

The ancient Assyrian documents together with Anitta also name Peruwa Kammaliya as his rabi simmiltim , with which he can probably be regarded as son and crown prince Anittas. Apparently, however, the Anitta was not followed by Peruwa, but by Zuzzu as the great king of Kaniš. Since he is also called King of Alaḫzina, it is possible that he conquered Kaniš and defeated Anitta or his son.

Relationship with the Hittites

Anitta is often regarded as the first Hittite great king. It should be noted that he resided in Kaniš-Neša and not - like the later Hittite great kings - in Ḫattuša, which he had completely destroyed. It is noteworthy that Ḫattušili I , who moved the royal residence to Ḫattuša, called himself "Man from Kuššara", the city where Anitta's father Pitḫana ruled, which is why it is assumed that these belong to his ancestors. The fact that the deeds of Anitta in the 16th century, probably still at the time of Ḫattušili I, were written down, supports the assumption of a "Kuššara dynasty".

Since the Hittites speak their language themselves nešili , nešumnili u. called, it is assumed that Neša belonged to the original territory of the Hittites.

The name Anitta cannot be explained etymologically, the name of his father Pitḫana belongs to a pre-Indo-European language class, since the phonetic group / tḫ / does not occur in the Hittite hereditary vocabulary.

literature

  • Trevor Bryce: The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press 1998, pp. 37-43. ISBN 0-19-924010-8 .

Web links

Commons : Anitta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Anitta text from Titus, University of Frankfurt

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Guido Kryszat: Ruler, cult and cult tradition in Anatolia. AOF 35 (2008) 2, p. 210
  2. ^ Gojko Barjamovic: A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. Copenhagen 2011, ISBN 978-87-635-3645-5 .
  3. ↑ Ilya S. Yakubovich: Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language. Leiden 2010. ISBN 978-90-04-17791-8 . P. 262
predecessor Office successor
Pitḫana from Kuššara (Grand) King of Neša
around 1730 BC Chr. 		Zuzu from Alaḫzina
Hittite great king
18th century BC Chr. 		Gaps in tradition, then Labarna I.
personal data
SURNAME Anitta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anitta from Kussara
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hittite ruler
DATE OF BIRTH 18th century BC BC or 17th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH between 18th century BC BC and 16th century BC Chr.