The Kingdom of the Hittites [Paperback]

Trevor Bryce (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0199281327 | ISBN-13: 978-0199281329 | Publication Date: January 5, 2006 | Edition: New edition

In the 14th century BC the Hittites became the supreme political and military power in the Near East. How did they achieve their supremacy? How successful were they in maintaining it? What brought about their collapse and disappearance? This comprehensive history of the Hittite kingdom seeks to answer these questions. It takes account of important recent advances in Hittite scholarship, including some major archaeological discoveries made in the last few years. It also features numerous translations from the original texts, so that on many issues the ancient Hittites are given the opportunity to speak to the modern reader for themselves. The revised edition contains a substantial amount of new material, as well as numerous other revisions to the first edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For years there has been a crying need for a reliable summary of what is known of the history of the Hittite kingdom Trevor Bryce is well-known to Hittitologists as the author of many perceptive essays on aspects of Hittite history. He is well qualified to write an overview such as the present one."-- Journal of Near Eastern Studies

"Bryce's approach is...comparable to that of most historians approaching the political history of a European kingdom or a Chinese dynasty. He examines issues with an historian's eye and often casts events in a light which might not have appeared to an archaeologist or philologist attempting to write a work of history...eminently readable, well researched, and impeccably assembled."--American Historical Review

"Bryce's volume represents an authoritative, comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of the political and military history of the Hittite kingdom..... Imperative reading for any serious inquiry on the Hittites by scholars of the ancient Near East."--Religious Studies Review

"Beyond its full coverage of the course of events in second-millennium Anatolia, the real strength of The Kingdom of the Hittites is that Bryce looks at the world of the Hittites with the eye of a true historian.... He puts forward interpretations of events and rationales for the decisions of Hittite monarchs.... This book will be of great value to the Hittite specialist and to his/her students, as well as to the scholar of other regions and periods of the ancient world who wishes to become acquainted with the story of the first masters of Anatolia."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About the Author

Trevor Bryce is Honorary Research Consultant, University of Queensland, and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; New edition edition (January 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199281327
• ISBN-13: 978-0199281329
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,153,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why Should You Care About The Hittites?, November 19, 2002

By 

Big Dave (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom of the Hittites (Paperback)

For starters, these are not the Hittites of the Bible (who are later, located in Syria and/or Canaan and are only to an unclear extent influenced by the earlier Hittites). No, these are the Indo-European speaking Hittites of second millennium B.C. (1700 to 1200) Anatolia. So if you're not a budding Hittitologist yourself, you can be forgiven for wondering why you should care.

Well, here's why: context. The Hittites were a superpower, and without knowing something about them, you can't get a clear picture of any of their neighbors. The history recounted in _The Kingdom of the Hittites_ interacts with and impacts upon the death of pharaoh Tutankhamen, the Trojan War and the migration of the Sea Peoples, for instance and just for starters.

Beyond that, their history is interesting reading in its own right. The sources available reveal an astonishing wealth of detail, and Bryce is able to recount all kinds of bloody family squabbles and intrigue, quoting from contemporary records and correspondence. Different Hittite monarchs emerge with clearly distinct personalities and character, and the book is an entertaining read.

I can't give it five stars, though, because I think a few small additions would immensely improve it. The book needs more maps. Some illustrations would also be useful. Bryce himself suggests that "a comprehenive, up-to-date treatment of Hittite civilization and society might well provide a valuable complement to the present work." Fair enough: Bryce is writing a history, not an anthropological treatise. Nevertheless, the history would be more accessible and sometimes more interesting if preceded by an introductory chapter on Hittite culture -- marriage patterns, for instance, and religion, are points that recur in the history but are never thoroughly explained.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book, made better by prolific use of primary sources., May 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kingdom of the Hittites (Paperback)

This book is an excellent read. It's principal strength lies in the use by the author of the ancient sources within the main body of the text, with good translations permitting the reader to see the evidence for the authors interpretations. This puts the reader in a better position to critically assess these interpretations and agree or disagree with them. Normally, access to any ancient sources other than Greek and Roman ones is difficult. In this book they are placed within the main text and so the reader does not even have to keep flipping forwards to appendices. Overall this is an excellent book on Hittite history.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed the int. & ext. politics, 4/5 because of no visuals, October 16, 1999

By 

"tdg75" (Oregon City, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom of the Hittites (Hardcover)

425 Pages of Text, 8.5H x 5.25W (inches). I bought this book because I wanted to read about the Hittites of the Bible. Fortunately, however, this book is about the Kingdom of the Hittites in Asia Minor from about 1650-1200 B.C. The references to the Hittites of the Bible were either to a local Canaanite tribe or to neo-Hittite kingdoms of Syria. This book deals with relations of the Hittite Kingdom with its neighbors, who included the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Mitanni, and the Assyrians among others. It also examines Hittite internal politics and dealings with its vassal states. The book is organized according to the reign of the Hittite kings, but also explores the Kingdom's formation and it's demise. Although it doesn't focus on culture or archeology this book could have used some pictures of artifacts or stelae. How about some computer renderings of Hatti or other major cities based on archeological digs? How about some artist recreations? It certainly could have used a more detailed and a greater number of maps. There are only four black and white maps. Because of the lack of visuals I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. Some of the high points in the book are Mursili I's conquest of Babylon, the Battle of Kadesh between Muwatalli II and Ramesses II, and the overthrow of Urhi-Tesub.