Biblical Hebrew Forum

[dano AT ott.net]

Date sent:              Sun, 21 Feb 1999 23:40:22 +0100
To:                     Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
From:                   Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>
Subject:                Re: Historiography and Peter
Send reply to:          Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>

> >>Are we going to have to wait another 50 years until someone demonstrates 
> >>the fallacies in the arguments of the Copenhagen School?
> >
> >Absolutely not. In fact, I've already started to ignore them. They remind 
> >me of nothing so much as the scholars in the 19th century who claimed 
> >that the "Hittites" in the Bible were a historical fabrication.
> 
> 
> Weren't they?
> 
> 
> Ian
> 
> 
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to b-hebrew as: dano AT ott.net
> To unsubscribe, forward this message to $subst('Email.Unsub')
> To subscribe, send an email to join-b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu.
> 

From the Holman Bible Dictionary:

HITTITES AND HIVITES Non-Semitic minorities within the 
population of Canaan who frequently became involved in the affairs 
of the Israelites. 
    Hittite and Hivite peoples of Indo-European origin, identified 
within the population of Canaan (as "sons" of Canaan) in the Table 
of Nations (Gen. 10:15,17), seemingly infiltrated from their cultural 
and political cen
ters in the north and settled throughout Palestine. Although the history and 
culture of the Hittites is being clarified, a problem exists with the 
so-called "Hivites," a name of unknown origin without any extra-biblical r
eferences. That they were uncircumcised (Gen. 34:2,14) would suggest an 
Indo-European rather than Semitic origin. The more acceptable identification 
therefore would be with the biblical Horites (Hurrians) whose history an
d character are well-known from extra-biblical sources and consistent with 
role attributed to them in the biblical text. The Septuagint reading 
"Choraios" (Horite) for the Massoretic "Hivite" in Gen.34:2 and Josh. 9:7 sug
gests this identification (see Horites; Hurrians). 

Hittites in the Bible Hittites appear among the ethnic groups living in urban 
enclaves or as individuals in Canaan interacting with the Israelites from 
patriarchal times to the end of the monarchy (Gen. 15:20; Deut. 7:1; 
Judg. 3:5). As a significant segment of the Canaan's population, these 
"children of Heth" permanently became identified as "sons" of Canaan (Gen. 
10:15). In patriarchal times, the reference to King Tidal (in Hittite Tudha
liya II) in Gen. 14:1 is a possible link to early imperial Hatti. In Canaan, 
the Hittites established a claim on the southern hill country, especially the 
Hebron area. As a result, Abraham lived among this native populati
on as a "stranger and a sojourner" (Gen. 23:4). He was forced to purchase the 
Cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite as a family tomb, specifically for 
the immediate burial of Sarah (Gen. 23). Esau's marriage to two Hi
ttite women ("daughters of Heth ... daughters of the land") greatly grieved 
and displeased his parents (Gen. 26:34,35; 27:46). 
    The geographical reference to "all the land of the Hittites" (Josh.1:4) 
on the northern frontier of the Promised Land may indicate a recognition of 
the Hittite/Egyptian border treaty established by Rameses II and the 
Hittites under King Hattusilis III of about 1270 B.C. Moses' listing of the 
inhabitants of the Promised Land included the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, 
Hivites, and Jebusites (Ex. 13:5), a situation that was confirmed b
y the twelve spies sent to explore the land. They reported that Amalekites 
occupied the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and Amorites lived in the 
hill country, and the Canaanites were concentrated along the Mediterran
ean coast and the Jordan Valley (Num. 13:29; Josh. 11:3); thus the Hittites 
were doomed to displacement by the infiltrating and invading Hebrews (Ex. 
3:8,17; 23:23; 33:2; etc.). 
    Devastation and pressures from the west by the Phrygians and the Sea 
Peoples brought another Hittite population to Canaan about 1200 B.C. Ezekiel 
recalled that Jerusalem had Amorite and Hittite origins (Ezek. 16:3,45)
. David purchased a threshing floor from Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam. 
24:16-25) whose name may suggest a Hittite noble status ("arawanis" in 
Hittite meaning "freeman, noble"). Later, the account of David's illicit love 
af
fair with Bathsheba indicates that Uriah and possibly other Hittites were 
serving as mercenaries in David's army (2 Sam. 11:3,6; 23:39). The Hittite 
woman among Solomon's foreign wives was probably the result of a foreign
 alliance with a neo-Hittite king of north Syria (1 Kings 10:29-11:2; 2 
Chron. 1:17). Hittites together with other foreign elements appear to have 
been conscripted to forced labor during Solomon's reign (1 Kings 9:20-21).
 

Languages of the Hittite World Records of the Assyrian trade colonies in the 
"Land of Hatti" suggest an earlier sub-stratum of linguistic and cultural 
development in the vicinity of Kanesh. This non-Indo-European language
 also found in texts from the Boghazkoy archives has been called "Hattic." It 
appears to have been at least one of the languages spoken in central Anatolia 
before the coming of the Hittite-Luwian branch of Indo-Europeans.
 
    For several hundred years Kanesh was the primary center of Anatolian 
affairs. Its role as a major Assyrian trading colony provided access to the 
Mesopotamian cuneiform system of writing. As a result, "cuneiform" Hitti
te became the "official" language of the empire (about 1600-1200 B.C.) for 
its historical annals, laws, and international treaties and correspondence. 
It was a spoken language only within the vicinity of Hattusas, the cap
ital and center of Hittite officialdom. 
    Speakers of an Indo-European language appear to have arrived in Anatolia 
from the north shortly before 4000 B.C. and gradually spread southward. These 
northwestern Anatolian settlers between 4000 and 3000 B.C. spoke a
n early form of Greek. The impression in Central Anatolia is of a generally 
peaceful spread of influence and language from the south and to a lesser 
extent from the west of Indo-Europeans whose ancestors recently had arri
ved from southeastern Europe. As a result from 3000 to 2000 B.C. much of 
Anatolia was occupied by various Indo-European elements who spoke closely 
related languages that included Hittite and Luwian (the Arzawans). However
, soon after 1800 B.C., the kings of Kussara on the eastern frontier of 
Indo-European Anatolia assumed control. They conquered Kanesh and other 
central cities and established their capital at Hattusas. Their language, by 
this time clearly an archaic form of Hittite, was written in a hieroglyphic 
script. The iconography of this hieroglyphic script clearly suggests western 
origins. Hieroglyphic Hittite continued as the principal spoken lang
uage throughout the imperial and neo-Hittite periods to about 700 B.C. 

Hittite Old Kingdom The growing pressure of the Hurrians about 1780 B.C. 
forced a Hittite consolidation and the eventual establishment of their 
fortress capital at Hattusas within the crescent of the Halys River. There, H
attusilis I quickly consolidated and expanded what is referred to as the Old 
Hittite Kingdom. To restore lost tin and copper supplies, he immediately 
extended his control over a line of cities from Hattusas through the Ci
lician Gates to the Mediterranean Sea. He intended to gain control over the 
trade route along the Euphrates by capturing Aleppo, the route's northern 
terminus. He destroyed Alalakh in the Aleppo region between 1650 and 16
00 B.C. and then led eastern campaigns that eventually led to a raid on 
Babylon about 1560 B.C. and the fall of the first Babylonian dynasty. With 
continuing Hurrian pressure and palace rivalries at Hattusas, Mursilis wit
hdrew only to be murdered by his brother-in-law upon his return to the 
palace. The subsequent internal weakness fostered the independence of 
occupied areas. At his accession to the throne about 1500 B.C., Telepinus 
faced 
the renewed confinement of the kingdom within central Anatolia. His reign 
proved to be a period of consolidation with renewed military activity into 
Syria and an alliance with Kizzuwadna, a new Indo-Aryan dynasty in Cilic
ia. The Old Kingdom came to an end with Telepinus, but his policies set a 
pattern for the kings of the Hittite Empire that followed. 

Hittite Empire The vitality of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni and the 
Egyptian military incursions into Syria under Thutmose III about 1450 B.C. 
stifled Hittite development until the death of the Egyptian pharaoh about 14
36 B.C. Tudhaliyas I, the new Hittite king, relieved of Egyptian tribute, 
defeated Aleppo and Mitanni and reclaimed control of the Mesopotamian trade 
route. During his reign other significant battles were won, but Hittite
 territories were besieged on all sides with the result that when Tudhaliyas 
died, the Hittite kingdom suffered a disastrous decline. About 1380 B.C. 
after a series of victories against Hittite enemies, Suppiluliumas gain
ed the throne and moved southward against Mitanni. He soon claimed all 
territories west of the Euphrates. Following a treaty with Babylon and 
domination of Mitanni, he reorganized northern Syria to ensure Hittite 
supremac
y and control of the trade routes of the region. 
    When Suppiluliumas died in 1334 B.C., his younger son Mursilis II 
followed with a very successful reign that included expansion in the west and 
preparation for the major confrontation that would come during his succes
sor's reign. Muwatillis (about 1308-1285 B.C.) concentrated all the forces of 
the Hittite Empire in northern Syria to meet the challenge of Ramses II of 
Egypt at Kadesh. Although the battle in 1286 was indecisive, the sub
sequent treaty sixteen years later (1270 B.C.) in which Egypt conceded all 
territories north of Damascus to the Hittites would seem to suggest that the 
balance of power, for a time at least, favored the Hittites. On the e
astern frontier, however, Mitanni became an Assyrian vassal. 
    Dangers on both east and west were magnified by an internal power 
struggle between Mursilis III, Muwatallis' son and successor, and his uncle 
Hattusilis, who ultimately exiled Mursilis and became king (about 1278). We
stern lands in Asia Minor were lost. Assyria continued its westward move and, 
in spite of the Egypt-Hittite treaty, reached the Euphrates and cut off 
Hittite copper supplies. 
    During the early reign of Tudhaliyas IV (1250-1220), the Hittites 
maintained control over the Syrian coast and invaded Cyprus for its 
copper mines. The Hittite treaty with Amurru, along the Syrian 
coast, prohibited trade with Assyria. The greater threat existed in 
new migrations from the west. Hittite lands were overrun and their 
capital destroyed by the hordes identified as "Sea Peoples," who, 
dislodged from their traditional homelands in the Greek-Aegean 
world, swept into Anatolia and the Levant (about 1200 B.C.). The 
Hittite empire was destroyed, and its capital was burned to the 
ground. For 250 years it had been a leading power by maintaining 
control over the vital trade routes and the distribution of mineral and 
agricultural wealth of the ancient Near East. 

Neo-Hittite Period Following the end of the Hittite empire, a large 
number of Hittite principalities were established in northern Syria, 
Cilicia, and the regions of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus. They 
maintained a distinct identity as a minority within a predominantly 
Semitic environment for over four hundred years. When Urartu was 
defeated as Assyria's rival for the resources of Anatolia, the neo-
Hittite states of northern Syria, now without Urartian support, could 
not withstand Assyrian pressure. By the end of 700 B.C. the 
Hittites had been absorbed into the Assyrian empire. 



Pastor Dan Oglesby
http://www.crcc-oca.org