The Purity of Kingship

An Edition of Cht 569 and Related Hittite Oracle Inquiries of Tuth̬aliya IV
Erscheinungsjahr 1998
ISBN: 978-90-04-10986-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 25, 372 Seiten, Format (B × H): 241 mm x 159 mm, Gewicht: 830 g

Reihe: Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui

Confronted with an illness and other disconcerting signs shortly before his royal inauguration, the 'Hittite Great King Tuth̬aliya IV' (ca. 1240-1210 B.C.) looks for past affairs of rebellion within the royal family. Members of the ruling dynasty up to three generations back have taken recourse to black magic in their search for power. Their curses are felt to be still effective and have contaminated the institution of Kingship.
The King conducts an extensive series of oracle inquiries in order to find ways to reconcile the (for the most part deceased) family members and to render their curses ineffective. The texts of these inquiries shed light on daily life in the Hittite empire, and, in this case, daily life of the King of the Hittites.
The reconstruction of these oracle inquiries forms the subject of the underlying volume. The author offers not only a full edition of the texts (now first brought together), but also introductory chapters on topics of wider importance such as 'text constitution, techniques for recording oracles', and the persons involved and historical setting of the composite text.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hout, Theo Van Den

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie

Über Autor(innen)

Theo P.J. van den Hout is Professor of Anatolian Languages and History of the preclassical period at the University of Amsterdam. His books include Der Ulmitešub-Vertrag. Eine prosopographische Untersuchung (Wiesbaden 1995) and, together with H.G. Güterbock, The Hittite Instruction for the Royal Bodyguard (Chicago, 1991).