The aim of the course is to have the students better acquainted with Hittite language and cuneiform script and with the methodological issues of the Hittite philology, through lectures and the reading of texts, also in seminar form. At the end of the course the student should be able to read from the cuneiform a text in Hittite language and critically analyze its palaeographic and linguistic features as well as the contents.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of the Hittite language and cuneiform script. Students must have attended the course of Hittitology.
Teaching Methods
General introductory part: lectures with the help of power point presentations and teaching materials made available online on KIRO. Text readings: reading of texts in the original language starting from the cuneiform script, also in seminar form, with the students actively involved under the guidance of the teacher.
Assessment Methods
Oral examination: a question on the general introduction; reading from cuneiform, translation and comment upon three set texts read in class.
Texts
Part A) Suggested readings for the exam - G. Wilhelm, "Remarks on the Hittite Cuneiform Script", in: Fs. Hawkins, Tel Aviv 2010, 256-262. - M. Weeden, Hittite Logograms and Hittite Scholarship (StBoT 54), Wiesbaden 2011 (pp. 42-52). - One of the following texts: Th. van den Hout, A History of Hittite Literacy. Writing and Reading in Late Bronze-Age Anatolia (1650–1200 BC), Cambridge 2020 (pp. 1-100 e 139-172) J. Klinger, "The Hittite Writing Traditions of Cuneiform Documents", in: S. de Martino (ed.), Handbook Hittite Empire, Berlin/Boston 2022 (pp. 93-155).
Parte B) The set texts to be read during the course and further specific bibliography will be provided in class and uploaded on KIRO. Suggested Hittite grammar: H.A. Hoffner - H.C. Melchert, A Grammar of the Hittite Language, Winona Lake, 2nd edition, Indiana 2024.
Contents
A) General introduction: the tradition of the Hittite cuneiform texts. Through a series of introductory lectures the first part of the course deals with the following topics: - the origin and development of the cuneiform script in Hittite Anatolia - the problem of palaeographic and linguistic dating of Hittite texts
B) The ritual fo Zuwi This part of the course will focus on the reconstruction of the Hittite magic ritual attributed to a woman named Zuwi. It will be partly seminar-based, involving the reading of cuneiform texts and their philological analysis under the guidance of the teacher, with active student participation.
Course Language
Italian
More information
Attending classes is highly recommended. Students unable to attend the course are required to contact the teacher to arrange an alternative program.
