The Hittites [Paperback]

O. R. Gurney (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev Sub edition (February 5, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140126015
• ISBN-13: 978-0140126013
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,454,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strangers in a strange land?, June 24, 2004

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hittites (Paperback)

The Hittites are one of the better-known unknown peoples - they are well known from the Bible; mentioned as one of the peoples in the Syro-Palestinian area during the time of the Patriarchs, they continued to be mentioned through a long span of the history of the Hebrew Bible. At some point, they stop being mentioned - most likely, the Hittite Empire collapsed just as Israel was growing strong under the united kingdom monarchy (or perhaps just before) and was later absorbed by the various empires (Assyrian, Greek, etc.) that swept across Asia Minor.

There aren't many texts on the Hittites; what books are available are often written for archaeologists and other scholars. O. R. Gurney was a professor at Oxford specialising in Assyriology, that branch of archaeology and history that studies the empires of the Fertile Crescent. This book is accessible and interesting; originally written in the early 1950s, it has been updated to take account of later archaeological finds and interpretations. The history of publishing in this kind of field is such that often the 'latest' book will be something decades old, so the 'antiquity' of the book here should not be an issue, and generally isn't, for the student and for the general reader.

Gurney discusses in his introduction the earliest archaeological discovery of the Hittites, lost for millennia to the world under the sands of Asia Minor (Turkey) and other countries at the northern end of the Tigris and Euphrates. From here, he looks at Hittite history in broad strokes - the earliest cities, the Old Kingdom, the period of Empire, the decline of Empire and subsequent rise of neo-Hittite kingdoms, possible connections with the early Greeks and Trojans, and finally the Hittites found in Palestine.

Gurney's following chapters look at the different aspects of Hittite life and culture - society structure from royalty to commoners; government and foreign policy; economy and lifestyles; law and institutions (there are tablets of laws found in various locations); warfare (some things shared with other nations at the time, and some uniquely Hittite features); languages and literature; religion; and art. With regard to languages, this continues to be a rapidly developing area, but the connection of Hittite to the Indo-European language family (through the Anatolian line) has been known since 1915; this was rather surprising, given that the other languages in the area are of the Semitic line, a non-Indo-European language family that included Sumerian and Akkadian, languages in evidence in Hittite areas, showing regional connections for trade and foreign relations. This shows that the Hittites are most likely of a different stock of people from the rest of the peoples of the ancient Near East -- strangers in the land, in a way.

Gurney's text adds details for the student that are worthwhile. For example, while reading about the downfall of the Hittites, Gurney mentions the Peoples of the Sea who were sweeping across portions of the eastern Mediterranean at that time, and tells how Palestine came to get its name, not data directly relevant, but useful and interesting nonetheless. The text is full of such things.

The book also contains many pictures, plates, and line-art drawings of inscriptions, maps, buildings and building plans, and other pieces of interest. There is a chronological list of the kings of the Hittites, ranging from early kings of unknown timing, to the known dated kings from 1740 to 1190 BCE. The bibliography is excellent, divided topically into eighteen different topics, for scholars and students to pursue particular subjects in relations to the Hittites in earnest. The index is very good, useful for Hittite, English and other words and names.

A fascinating book!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Earliest Known Indo-europeans, April 14, 2002

By 

David Butterfield "botteville" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hittites (Hardcover)

If you are not very familiar with ancient history, but want a good popular introduction to the Hittites, this is the book for you. Hittite is the oldest known Indo-european language, known mainly from thousands of tablets unearthed in central Turkey. The language is so archaic it is not classified with the others, but is considered derived from an earlier version. Hittite is the only language that preserves an explicit trace of the laryngeals, sounds that disappeared from all the other languages. The culture of central Turkey is identified with the Biblical Hittites. They just may have founded or helped to found Troy, and they may just be among the pre-Greek inhabitants of Greece. There are relatively few popular books on the Hittites, mainly because the field changes so fast. You scholars that are popular educators, get busy!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential entry book for the Hittites, May 4, 2002

By 

Burak Eldem (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hittites (Pelican) (Paperback)

When Israelites arrived at their "promised land" land in Canaan, they met several other peoples, already settled there. One of them was the Hittites of Northern Syria - a civilized but also a "warrior" nation. The Old Testament told something about the Hittites but this civilizations' existence remained an enigma until the early 20th century. Since that time we learned a lot about this Indo-European people, especially after Hugo Winckler's excavations in Hattusa (Bogazkoy) of Central Anatolia. Oliver Robert Gurney, a well known hittitology specialist, presents us a rich summary of both Hittite history and culture in this excellent work. There are only a few books on Hittites, written for non-specialists, and this is probably the best one.