Elements for a Comparative Study of Textile Production and Use in Hittite Anatolia and Neighbouring Areas

TY - CHAP

T1 - Elements for a Comparative Study of Textile Production and Use in Hittite Anatolia and Neighbouring Areas

AU - Vigo, Matteo

AU - Bellucci, Benedetta

AU - Baccelli, Giulia

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Although our general knowledge on trade and usage of textiles in the ancient Near East seems to be quite consolidated, particularly through the study of the economic and administrative texts of Mesopotamia of the third and second millennia BC, we do not have considerable archaeological remains to confirm the information provided by philologists. Over the last fifty years, many scholars have specifically investigated the textile terminology. Their results mainly consist of single corpus terminology. Looking at the Hittite Anatolia (XIX-XIII century BC) the scientific production does not seem so different. There are indeed specific monographs dealing with some aspects of Assyrian trade in Anatolia during the XIX-XVIII centuries BC, through which we are inform on trade routes, ‘textile topography’ (i.e. the provenance and the final destination of particular fabrics), costs of production and selling prices, workmanship, quality and shape of the fabrics. Thanks to the information provided by other cuneiform texts found in Anatolia, such as administrative accounts of goods hoarded in the Hittite palaces and inventories of daily economic activities of Hittite court officers, the Hittitologists have drawn up indexes of realia (i.e. a presentation of the evidence of everyday objects used by the Hittites), in which luxurious textiles (or fabrics) and clothes often occur. Moreover Hittite official texts, such as the accounts of royal victories, the descriptions of cultic activities and the diplomatic correspondence between royal courts, always collect lists of precious textiles and garments as gifts given to gods or allocated in the palatial storehouses. Such documentation has favourably increased the development of individual studies on textile terminologies of Hittite Anatolia. Recent studies have updated and -in some way- improved our knowledge about the textile terminology. This is due, in part, to the progress in the field of Hittite language studies as for as the discovery of new economic or administrative clay tablets from the excavations of the Hittite capital, Hattuša, and other provincial centres. Thanks to these recent archaeological investigations we are now able to better define the function of some different urban structures (storehouses, treasures, archives, administrative centres), but we have no idea where the textile workshops had been located and, most notably, how they operated, at least as far as Hittite Anatolia is concerned. Recent archaeological discoveries of textile remains found in the neighbouring areas of Hittite Empire, such as Malatya and Qatna, could improve what we have achieved until now. Unfortunately, a comprehensive exploration on the ‘Hittite textiles’ does not currently exist. The aim of this paper is to present several key elements for a comparative study on the Hittite textile production and consumption. Starting from the textile production we will try to join the aforementioned results of archaeological analyses with the data provided by the Hittite textual documentation. The study on the unearthed weaving tools could help us to fill the quasi absence of information on crafting and weaving techniques in the written sources. In the same way the Hittite administrative texts should increase our knowledge on the textile trades that did not leave archaeological traces. Finally the information provided by the diplomatic and administrative texts will be compared with iconography, in order to better understand the recipients of the finished products, often luxury goods. The main goal of this introductory exploration is to propose this comparative study and evaluate its effectiveness.

AB - Although our general knowledge on trade and usage of textiles in the ancient Near East seems to be quite consolidated, particularly through the study of the economic and administrative texts of Mesopotamia of the third and second millennia BC, we do not have considerable archaeological remains to confirm the information provided by philologists. Over the last fifty years, many scholars have specifically investigated the textile terminology. Their results mainly consist of single corpus terminology. Looking at the Hittite Anatolia (XIX-XIII century BC) the scientific production does not seem so different. There are indeed specific monographs dealing with some aspects of Assyrian trade in Anatolia during the XIX-XVIII centuries BC, through which we are inform on trade routes, ‘textile topography’ (i.e. the provenance and the final destination of particular fabrics), costs of production and selling prices, workmanship, quality and shape of the fabrics. Thanks to the information provided by other cuneiform texts found in Anatolia, such as administrative accounts of goods hoarded in the Hittite palaces and inventories of daily economic activities of Hittite court officers, the Hittitologists have drawn up indexes of realia (i.e. a presentation of the evidence of everyday objects used by the Hittites), in which luxurious textiles (or fabrics) and clothes often occur. Moreover Hittite official texts, such as the accounts of royal victories, the descriptions of cultic activities and the diplomatic correspondence between royal courts, always collect lists of precious textiles and garments as gifts given to gods or allocated in the palatial storehouses. Such documentation has favourably increased the development of individual studies on textile terminologies of Hittite Anatolia. Recent studies have updated and -in some way- improved our knowledge about the textile terminology. This is due, in part, to the progress in the field of Hittite language studies as for as the discovery of new economic or administrative clay tablets from the excavations of the Hittite capital, Hattuša, and other provincial centres. Thanks to these recent archaeological investigations we are now able to better define the function of some different urban structures (storehouses, treasures, archives, administrative centres), but we have no idea where the textile workshops had been located and, most notably, how they operated, at least as far as Hittite Anatolia is concerned. Recent archaeological discoveries of textile remains found in the neighbouring areas of Hittite Empire, such as Malatya and Qatna, could improve what we have achieved until now. Unfortunately, a comprehensive exploration on the ‘Hittite textiles’ does not currently exist. The aim of this paper is to present several key elements for a comparative study on the Hittite textile production and consumption. Starting from the textile production we will try to join the aforementioned results of archaeological analyses with the data provided by the Hittite textual documentation. The study on the unearthed weaving tools could help us to fill the quasi absence of information on crafting and weaving techniques in the written sources. In the same way the Hittite administrative texts should increase our knowledge on the textile trades that did not leave archaeological traces. Finally the information provided by the diplomatic and administrative texts will be compared with iconography, in order to better understand the recipients of the finished products, often luxury goods. The main goal of this introductory exploration is to propose this comparative study and evaluate its effectiveness.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Textiles

KW - Hittite

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-1-78297-719-3

VL - 18

SP - 97

EP - 142

BT - Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress

A2 - Nosch, Marie Louise

A2 - Michel, Cecile

A2 - Harlow, Mary

PB - Oxbow Books

CY - Oxford

ER -