Kikkuli

The Mitannier Kikkuli is the author of a hippological work from the 15th century BC. He describes himself as aššuššanni ( a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni ) "horse trainer".

The Kikkuli text (KUB I13I) was found in 1906 in the Hittite capital Ḫattuša . It describes in detail the breeding, keeping, feeding and training of horses that are to be used in front of the chariot . The training program extended over several months. Research has disputed whether the horses should trot or gallop.

Two of a total of four panels of the Kikkuli text.

The four tables of the text (TrAn I) were written by different scribes. It is a copy from the 13th century, but sometimes uses archaic terms. According to Annelies Kammenhuber, Hurrian is partly grammatically incorrect. According to Manfred Mayrhofer (1982), the text contains some clearly Indo-Aryan expressions. It refers to:

• the one-digit numbers used to designate the training laps. Thus aikawartanna "a game" with Vedic eka (against Iran * aiwa- !) Compared continue also panzawartanna "five rounds" and šattawartanna "seven rounds."
• the self-designation of Kikkuli, aššuššanni , which Mayrhofer compares with * aśva "horse" (1982, 75)
• the "hybrid Hittite-Aryan" verb u (n) ar-ar-ta-an-zi
• the naming of the racetrack.

literature

• Erich Ebeling : Fragments of a Central Assyrian collection of regulations for the acclimatization and training of chariot horses (= German Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Institute for Orient Research. Publication No. 7, ISSN  0568-4196 ). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1951.
• Annelies Kammenhuber : Hippologia hethitica. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1961.
• Manfred Mayrhofer : What material from Mitanni's Indo-Aryan remains for a selective presentation? In: Ernst Neu (Ed.): Investigationes philologicae et comparativae. Commemorative letter for Heinz Kronasser. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1982, ISBN 3-447-02173-X , pp. 72-90.
• Frank Starke : Education and training of chariot horses. A hippologically oriented interpretation of the Kikkuli text (= studies on the Boǧazköy texts. Vol. 41). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03501-3 .
• Peter Raulwing, Heinz Meyer: The Kikkuli text. Hippological and method-critical considerations for the training of chariot horses in the ancient Orient. In: Mamoun Fansa , Stefan Burmeister (Ed.): Rad und Wagen. The origin of an innovation. Wagons in the Middle East and Europe. (Scientific companion to the special exhibition "Wheels and cars. The origin of an innovation. Cars in the Middle East and Europe" from March 28 to July 11, 2004 in the State Museum for Nature and Humans, Oldenburg) (= Archaeological Messages from Northwest Germany. Supplement 40) . von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-3322-6 , pp. 491-507.