Close

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Hittitea.html" title="Facts and informations about Hittite art and architecture">Hittite art and architecture</a>

Hittite art and architecture

Hittite art and architecture works of art and structures created by the ancient Hittites

Background

The Hittite invaders of central Anatolia (the area that is present-day W Turkey) came from the east c.2000 BC and by 1400 BC were masters of all of Asia Minor. Their most important period of artistic activity lasted from 1450 to 1200 BC The art of the Hittite Empire merged stylistically with Syrian art gradually, beginning in the 11th cent. BC The modern interest in Hittite culture was aroused in the mid-19th cent. by the Rev. Archibald Henry Sayre of Oxford, England.

Art of the Hittite Empire

Hittite art drew upon far earlier sources developed in Sumer and Babylon (see Sumerian and Babylonian art ) and upon local Anatolian culture of the 3d millennium BC, characterized by elaborate gold and bronze ornamental work found at Alaça Hüyük and earlier neolithic remains found at Çatal Hüyük dating from the 7th millennium BC The Hittites quickly assimilated many aspects of the cultures they overran. They adopted a pantheon of Mesopotamian and N Syrian gods and represented them in their art—the males with high pointed hats, short-skirted robes, and boots with long, curling toes, and the females with long, pleated robes and square hats.

The Hittites were accomplished carvers and metalworkers. Among the most impressive late representatives of Hittite deities is a series of ornaments from Carchemish made to adorn a royal golden robe; they are carved in steatite and lapis lazuli and mounted in gold cloisons, each 5/8 in. (14.5 cm) high (7th cent. BC; British Mus.). The Hittites adapted the Babylonian cuneiform to their language and also employed an elaborate hieroglyphic script for the engraving of monuments.

Although animal figures are to be found in abundance in the artistic remains of the Hittites, their chief concern was human activity, particularly religious ritual. At the Great Sanctuary of Yazilikaya near Boğazköy is a magnificent series of mythological scenes in carved rock depicting lions and sphinxes attending gods and goddesses. At Ivriz another rock relief represents King Warbalawa praying before the god Tarhan, a capped and booted figure hung about with grapes and holding grain to symbolize fertility (8th cent. BC).

There remain fewer representations of royal domestic life, including a hunting scene from Alaça Hüyük (200 BC, Archaelogical Mus., Ankara), a family procession with King Araras with his children and their nurse and pets from Carchemish (750 BC), and a few polychrome vase paintings from Bitik, near Ankara, one of which is thought to depict a marriage. Other vases were made in animal shapes (e.g., duck vase, c.1700 BC, from Beycesultan, Archaeological Mus., Ankara) and in the form of domestic items (e.g., boot vase, 19th cent. BC, from Kültepe, Archaeological Mus., Ankara). A minor art of considerable development was the signet seal, generally containing figures and a cuneiform inscription, which the Hittites used instead of the cylinder seal popular with neighboring cultures.

Hittite Architecture

The principal architectural remnant of the Hittite civilization is at Boğazköy, where temple structures and the city walls may be seen. The Hittites developed the bit-hilani, a porticoed entrance hall built with a stairway approach flanked by pillars. Another characteristic form was the double gateway with corbeled arch, decorated with friezes and protected on either side by a threatening beast figure. Among the best-known of these is the lion gate at Hattuşaş, the ancient Hittite capital (c.1600 BC). These gate figures were later to be copied and used in the churches of Western Europe. In building interiors wall painting was evidently practiced with considerable sophistication, but only a few fragments of this work remain, principally at Boğazköy and Atchana in N Syria.

See Assyrian art ; Phoenician art .

Bibliography

See E. Akurgal, The Art of the Hittites (tr. 1962); C. J. Du Ry, Art of the Ancient Near and Middle East (1969).

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	The Hittites and their world.(Brief Article)(Book Review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 5/1/2008; 166 words ; 9789004157446 The Hittites and their world. Collins, Billie Jean. BRILL 2007 254 pages $137.00...of Biblical Literature archaeology and Biblical studies; 7 DS66 The Hittites and their accomplishments were once virtually unknown, obscured by... Read more
	Historical Dictionary of the Hittites.(Brief Article)(Book Review) Newspaper article from: Wisconsin Bookwatch; 10/1/2004; 161 words ; Historical Dictionary Of The Hittites Charles Burney Scarecrow Press 4501...England) Historical Dictionary Of The Hittites is enhanced with an introductory...readers, Historical Dictionary Of The Hittites is practical and easy-to-use, though... Read more
	Anatolian interfaces; Hittites, Greeks and their neighbours; proceedings.(Brief article)(Book review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 2/1/2009; 149 words ; 9781842172704 Anatolian interfaces; Hittites, Greeks and their neighbours; proceedings. International Conference...cross-cultural interaction in Anatolia were generated from the conference Hittites, Greeks and Their Neighbors, which was held at Emory University... Read more
	Etymological dictionary of the Hittite inherited lexicon.(Brief Article)(Book Review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 5/1/2008; 200 words ; 9789004160927 Etymological dictionary of the Hittite inherited lexicon. Kloekhorst, Alwin. BRILL 2008 1162 pages $291.00 Hardcover Leiden Indo-European etymological dictionary series; v.5 P945 In this substantial volume, Kloekhorst, a comparative linguist who's part of the Leiden Indo-European Read more
	Hittite Empire conquers Pittsburgh. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 3/1/1995; ; 440 words ; PITTSBURGH--Confronting racism, probing social ills within African-American communities, and identifying black men's issues are the realm of Hittite Empire, a predominantly male, multidisciplinary performance-art collective based in Santa Monica, California. Imported by the Pittsburgh Dance Council Read more
	(book review) Magazine article from: The Historian; 9/22/2000; ; 577 words ; The Kingdom of the Hittites. By Trevor Bryce. (Oxford: Clarendon...script on clay tablets, as did the Hittites, is that every year more documents...detailed, one-volume history of the Hittites was available. Trevor Bryce has a long... Read more
	New suggestions about the discovery of coffee.(World News: Coffee and Tea Reports from the Front Line) Magazine article from: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal; 9/1/2006; ; 247 words ; ...new discovery suggests that as the Hittites spread to a large area it is possible that they used coffee beans. The Hittites were an Indo-European society established...Anatolia was a commerce road, did the Hittites receive coffee from passing caravans... Read more
	THE FLAVOUR OF ANATOLIA.(Critical Essay) Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 9/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...histories of forgotten ethnic groups whom we know only from what archaeological digging has turned up in the last century or so. Hittites, Luwians, Phrygians, Lycians, Trojans. Troy and the Trojans at least are well known. The Iliad of Homer is the first achievement... Read more
	Country profile: Georgia. Magazine article from: New Internationalist; 3/1/1998; ; 700+ words ; ...long and fabled history as one of the world's oldest nations. It is also, however, one of the world's most invaded countries - Hittites, Romans, Byzantines, Mongols, Turks, Persians and finally Bolsheviks have all attacked this strategic land along the north... Read more
	SYRIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES AT QADESH.(Brief Article) Newspaper article from: IPR Strategic Business Information Database; 10/23/2000; 68 words ; ...of Qadesh in central Syria. This city became renowned mainly because of the famous battle fought in its vicinity between the Hittites and the Egyptians in 1272 BCE. The newspaper notes that the city became important due to its location on the main trade route... Read more

For more facts and information, see all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	Hittites Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ...who flourished from 1600 to 1200 BC The Hittites, a people of Indo-European connection...Cilicia, were the Luites, relatives of the Hittites; to the southeast, in the Upper Euphrates...Hurrians (Khurrites). In the country the Hittites then occupied, the aboriginal inhabitants... Read more
	Hittite Book article from: A Dictionary of World History ...west to the Mediterranean coast and southeast into northern Syria. In their struggle for power over Syria and Palestine the Hittites clashed with the troops of Rameses II of Egypt in a battle (1285 BC) at Kadesh on the River Orontes which seems to have ended... Read more
	Anatolian languages Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ...Indo-European. The principal known member of the Anatolian division of the Indo-European family is Hittite, the tongue of the Hittites , who entered and conquered much of Anatolia early in the 2d millennium BC The oldest surviving written records of Hittite... Read more
	Ramesses II Book article from: A Dictionary of World History ...1304–1237 BC). When Ramesses II acceded to the throne Egypt was at war with the HITTITES . In the fifth year of his reign Ramesses II fought the Hittites at Kadesh where he managed to extricate himself from a perilous situation. In the 21st... Read more
	Telepinu Book article from: Myths and Legends of the World Telepinu Telepinu was the god of agriculture of the Hittites, people who lived in the ancient Near East in what is now Syria and Turkey. Like his father the storm god, Telepinu had a quick... Read more

See all related entries