The Hittite king prayed in Hurrian

24 April 2024

In this new post, Assyriologist Cécile Michel tells us about a 3,300-year-old bilingual cuneiform tablet recently discovered in Anatolia. The first lines, in Hittite, describe a foreign invasion of the empire, while the following lines, in Hurrian, are a prayer to the God of Storms.

At the beginning of this year, my hope was that the countries at war would sign peace treaties like those written in cuneiform script thousands of years ago and unearthed at several sites in the Near and Middle East. With the discovery of a bilingual cuneiform tablet at Büklükale in Anatolia, a story of invasion has unfortunately resurfaced, echoing the conflicts of our time.

The Büklükale site, located in the Karakeçili district of Kırıkkale, about 80 km south-east of Ankara and 150 km south-west of the Hittite capital Hattuša, lies on an important crossing point of the Kızılırmak, Turkey's longest river. It represents the westernmost site of the Hittite empire excavated to date. After being surveyed between 1991 and 2008, the site has been systematically explored since 2009 by K. Matsumura, under the aegis of the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology. Work carried out on the rocky promontory overlooking the river has uncovered a fortified citadel, with monumental remains dating back to the 2nd millennium, surrounded by a lower town. A mud-brick building over 50 metres long built in the centre of the citadel dates from the Hittite period and probably served as a palace.

Since 2010, several pieces of cuneiform tablets have been discovered on the site. A fragment of a letter in Hittite, dating from the 14th century and probably written by a member of the royal family, refers to the detention of messengers. Another fragment of a message from the same period is addressed to the king, and a seal imprint mentions an individual in the service of the great queen. Büklükale therefore served as a temporary residence for the Hittite royal family.

During the 2023 mission, archaeologists unearthed a near-complete palm-sized clay tablet covered in cuneiform signs near the ruins of the palace. According to M. Weeden, who is preparing its publication, it is a bilingual text in which the first six lines, written in Hittite, mention the invasion of four cities, and the next 64 lines, in Hurrian, consist of a prayer for victory.

The beginning of the text on the tablet describes a foreign incursion against a backdrop of civil wars that devastated four Hittite cities, including the capital, Hattuša. Internal tensions within the Hittite state erupted during the reign of Tudhaliya II, around 1370 BCE, some two centuries before the fall of the empire. The semi-nomadic Kaška tribes from the north-eastern mountains may have been involved in this destructive invasion. Tudhaliya II fled his capital and took refuge with his family in Büklükale, where he performed a ritual to obtain divine support to reconquer Hattuša.

Hittite royalty used the Hurrian language for religious ceremonies. This language is not related to any known linguistic family, and spectacular progress was made in deciphering it at the end of the 1980s. The prayer that occupies lines 7 to 70 of the tablet concerns the sovereign directly. He addresses the God of Storms Teššub to ensure his support in battle and to obtain advice for certain victory. This prayer accompanies a sacred ritual performed by the king himself.

This new cuneiform tablet will greatly enhance our knowledge of religious literature written in the Hurrian language.