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Приєднався 1 чер 2021
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The Ahhiyawa Problem
About two dozen Hittite texts reference a powerful polity called Ahhiyawa, widely believed to be connected to the Mycenaeans, the ancient Aegean culture known for their monumental architecture, Linear B script, and connections to Homeric epics including the Trojan War. But what exactly did the Hittites mean by Ahhiyawa? Was it a single Mycenaean kingdom, a confederation, or a general term for the Aegean world?
Examining the Hittite texts, like the Indictment of Madduwatta and the Tawagalawa Letter, show this may not be as cut-and-dry as it may seem. Ahhiyawa and the Hittites vacillate between military conflict and economic cooperation. They seemed to come into conflict over their influence on West Anatolian polities like Assuwa, Arzawa, Wilusa (Ilium or Troy) and especially Millawanda (Miletus). These texts are filled with enigmatic and charismatic figures like Attarsiya and Piyamaradu. Untangling the Ahhiyawa problem ultimately comes down to a question of text versus archaeology. How do these two data sets work together?
This video unpacks how the Ahhiyawa Problem reshapes our understanding of Bronze Age geopolitics and the Mycenaean role in the ancient world. Let's dig in...
#ahhiyawa #ancienthistory #history #bronzeage #ancientgreece
Some Sources:
Gary Beckman, Trevor Bryce, and Eric Cline eds. The Ahhiyawa Texts. SBL Writings from the Ancient World 28. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011.
Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Brian Feuer, "Being Mycenaean: A View from the Periphery," AJA 115 (2011): 507-536.
Naoise Mac Sweeney, "Hittites and Arzawans: A View from Western Anatolia," Anatolian Studies 60 (2010): 7-24
Kim Shelton, "Mainland Greece," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Jorrit Kelder, "Ahhiyawa and the World of the Great Kings: A Reevaluation of Mycenaean Political Structures," Talanta XLIV (2012): 41-52.
Jorrit Kelder, "A Great King at Mycenae. An Argument for the Wanax as Great King and the Lawegatas as Vassal Ruler," PALAMEDES 3(2008): 49-74.
J. Bennet, "The geography of the Mycenaean kingdoms," A Companion to Linear B: Edited by Yves Duhoux and Anna Morpurgo Davies. PEETERS
LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE: WALPOLE, MA, 2011: 137-168.
Reinhurd Jung, "The End of the Bronze Age," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Dimitri Nakassis, William A. Parkinson, and Michael L. Galatay, "Redistribution in Aegean Palatial Societies: Redistributive Economies from a Theoretical and Cross-Cultural Perspective," AJA 115 (2011): 177-184.
Dimitri Nakassis, et al. "State and Society," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Piotr Taracha, "On the Nature of Hittite Diplomatic Relations with
Mycenaean Rulers," in Awīlum ša la mašê - man who cannot be forgotten Studies in Honor of Prof. Stefan Zawadzki. Alter Orient und Altes Testament. Band 463. 2018.
Margaretha Kramer-Hajos, Mycenaean Greece and the Aegean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Guy Middleton ed., Collapse and Transformation: The Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age in the Aegean. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2020.
Susan Lupack "Mycenaean Religion," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Trevor Bryce, "The Trojan War," "Mycenaean Religion," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Eric Cline, The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.
William A. Parkinson, and Michael L. Galatay, "Secondary States in Perspective: An Integrated Approach to State Formation in the Prehistoric Aegean," American Anthropolist 109 (2007): 113-129.
James White, "From Chief to King in Mycenaean Society," in THE ROLE OF THE RULER IN THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN. 63-80.
Piotr Taracha, "Approaches to Mycenaean-Hittite Interconnections in the Late Bronze Age," in Change, Continuity, and Connectivity North-Eastern Mediterranean at the turn of the Bronze Age and in the early Iron Age Edited by Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanö and Marek Węcowskl. Harrassowitz Verlag ' Wiesbadćn, 2018.
Music: Epidemic Sound
Images: Late Helladic Ceramics and Mycenaean artifacts Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum CC BY NC SA 4.0
00:00 The Background
01:00 The Problem
01:27 Mycenaeans Archaeologically
04:11 The Texts and the Characters
05:00 The 15th Century
06:48 Early 14th Century
12:00 The 13th Century
16:35 Ahhiyawa as a geographic term
17:37 Ahhiyawa as a confederacy
18:25 Ahhiyawa as a great kingdom
19:45 Text versus Archaeology
20:55 Thanks!
Examining the Hittite texts, like the Indictment of Madduwatta and the Tawagalawa Letter, show this may not be as cut-and-dry as it may seem. Ahhiyawa and the Hittites vacillate between military conflict and economic cooperation. They seemed to come into conflict over their influence on West Anatolian polities like Assuwa, Arzawa, Wilusa (Ilium or Troy) and especially Millawanda (Miletus). These texts are filled with enigmatic and charismatic figures like Attarsiya and Piyamaradu. Untangling the Ahhiyawa problem ultimately comes down to a question of text versus archaeology. How do these two data sets work together?
This video unpacks how the Ahhiyawa Problem reshapes our understanding of Bronze Age geopolitics and the Mycenaean role in the ancient world. Let's dig in...
#ahhiyawa #ancienthistory #history #bronzeage #ancientgreece
Some Sources:
Gary Beckman, Trevor Bryce, and Eric Cline eds. The Ahhiyawa Texts. SBL Writings from the Ancient World 28. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011.
Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Brian Feuer, "Being Mycenaean: A View from the Periphery," AJA 115 (2011): 507-536.
Naoise Mac Sweeney, "Hittites and Arzawans: A View from Western Anatolia," Anatolian Studies 60 (2010): 7-24
Kim Shelton, "Mainland Greece," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Jorrit Kelder, "Ahhiyawa and the World of the Great Kings: A Reevaluation of Mycenaean Political Structures," Talanta XLIV (2012): 41-52.
Jorrit Kelder, "A Great King at Mycenae. An Argument for the Wanax as Great King and the Lawegatas as Vassal Ruler," PALAMEDES 3(2008): 49-74.
J. Bennet, "The geography of the Mycenaean kingdoms," A Companion to Linear B: Edited by Yves Duhoux and Anna Morpurgo Davies. PEETERS
LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE: WALPOLE, MA, 2011: 137-168.
Reinhurd Jung, "The End of the Bronze Age," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Dimitri Nakassis, William A. Parkinson, and Michael L. Galatay, "Redistribution in Aegean Palatial Societies: Redistributive Economies from a Theoretical and Cross-Cultural Perspective," AJA 115 (2011): 177-184.
Dimitri Nakassis, et al. "State and Society," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Piotr Taracha, "On the Nature of Hittite Diplomatic Relations with
Mycenaean Rulers," in Awīlum ša la mašê - man who cannot be forgotten Studies in Honor of Prof. Stefan Zawadzki. Alter Orient und Altes Testament. Band 463. 2018.
Margaretha Kramer-Hajos, Mycenaean Greece and the Aegean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Guy Middleton ed., Collapse and Transformation: The Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age in the Aegean. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2020.
Susan Lupack "Mycenaean Religion," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Trevor Bryce, "The Trojan War," "Mycenaean Religion," The Oxford Handbook of the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Eric Cline.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Eric Cline, The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.
William A. Parkinson, and Michael L. Galatay, "Secondary States in Perspective: An Integrated Approach to State Formation in the Prehistoric Aegean," American Anthropolist 109 (2007): 113-129.
James White, "From Chief to King in Mycenaean Society," in THE ROLE OF THE RULER IN THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN. 63-80.
Piotr Taracha, "Approaches to Mycenaean-Hittite Interconnections in the Late Bronze Age," in Change, Continuity, and Connectivity North-Eastern Mediterranean at the turn of the Bronze Age and in the early Iron Age Edited by Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanö and Marek Węcowskl. Harrassowitz Verlag ' Wiesbadćn, 2018.
Music: Epidemic Sound
Images: Late Helladic Ceramics and Mycenaean artifacts Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum CC BY NC SA 4.0
00:00 The Background
01:00 The Problem
01:27 Mycenaeans Archaeologically
04:11 The Texts and the Characters
05:00 The 15th Century
06:48 Early 14th Century
12:00 The 13th Century
16:35 Ahhiyawa as a geographic term
17:37 Ahhiyawa as a confederacy
18:25 Ahhiyawa as a great kingdom
19:45 Text versus Archaeology
20:55 Thanks!
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