»: Both terms refer to the Asian part of the modern Turkish Republic... This interpretation is adhered to in recent times the majority of geographers in the USSR and abroad (including Turkey).
Anatolia covers 97% of the territory of the modern Turkish state. Only about 3% of the country's area is located in Europe, occupying a small area on the outskirts of the Balkan Peninsula. This is, otherwise Eastern Thrace or Eastern Rumelia. In the XV - early XX century. the Turkish state - the Ottoman Empire - occupied a much larger area in Asia and Europe, and had possessions in Africa. However, the formation of the core of the Turkish people, and later the formation of the Turkish nation, took place in Anatolia. Therefore, for research ethnic history Turks, it is important first of all to consider, at least briefly, the geographical features of this particular area.
Located at the junction of Europe and Asia. It is like a natural bridge connecting the Balkans with the countries of the Near and Middle East. This situation has always been favorable economic development Anatolia - most of the routes between East and West went through it, which contributed, among other reasons, to the flourishing of such medieval powers as Byzantium, the Seljuk state of Asia Minor, the Ottoman Empire (in the early stages of its history).
And only from the middle of the 16th century, when, after the famous geographical discoveries, the great trade routes moved, Anatolia began to lose its former importance for world trade. The latter was one of the important reasons for Turkey's gradual lag in socio-economic development behind many European countries, and subsequently America.
Anatolia - region the most ancient civilization... In terms of cultural development and antiquity of the population, Asia Minor competed with other regions of the Middle East. Archaeological excavations in Chatal-Höyuk and Khad-Jilar (Southern Anatolia) showed that already in the VII-VI millennia BC. NS. here there were permanent settlements where people with a fairly high culture lived. They knew sedentary agriculture (sowing barley, wheat, peas, lentils) and cattle breeding (raising sheep, goats, cows, pigs). Their art reached a high level - sculpture and painting. In Central Anatolia in the XIX-VIII centuries. BC NS. there was a Hittite, slave-owning state, which was not inferior in terms of its development to Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Hittites left behind the most ancient texts that recorded Indo-European speech. They were familiar with the culture of not only cereals, but also the vine. They created a fairly developed irrigation system, the remains of which have survived to this day. PM Zhukovsky considered Asia Minor the ancestral home of many cultivated plants.
In Western Anatolia, as in Eastern Thrace, in the 1st millennium BC. NS. slave-owning societies were formed - Thrace, Phrygia, Bithynia, Mizia, Lydia, Caria, the Ionian Union of city-republics, etc. Their population belonged partly to the aborigines, partly to the Greeks, who colonized the country from the 9th century. BC NS. and further assimilated the indigenous people. All these states were closely associated with ancient Greece.
In the VI-IV centuries. BC NS. Anatolia was part of the Achaemenid Persian state, then it was conquered by Alexander the Great and later became part of the Hellenistic states - the successors of the Macedonian empire. By this time, almost the entire population of Anatolia (with the exception of the eastern and some central regions) was Greek in language and culture: it consisted of Greek settlers and Hellenized aborigines assimilating with each other. Then, at the turn of the old and new era, Western and Central Anatolia was absorbed by the Roman Empire, and after its collapse it became part of Byzantium. Roman domination almost did not leave an imprint on the ethnic composition of the population, which remained Greek in language and culture. V byzantine time it was almost completely Christianized, and Orthodoxy became the dominant form of Christianity. Byzantine was the richest agricultural area with flourishing cities - centers of craft and trade.
More complex, especially from an ethnic point of view, was the history of Eastern Anatolia. The northeast of Anatolia has been inhabited since ancient times by the Danes or Laz - tribes of the Kartvelian language group (the Laz language, like Georgian, is included in the Kartvelian group of the Caucasian language family, it is especially close to the Megrelian dialect). The ethnonym "dchan" has survived in Turkey to this day in the name of the Janik ridge in the Pontine Mountains. The ethnonym "Laz" gave in ancient times the name of the country of this people - Lazika, which was converted into Lazistan by the Turks. The early settlement of the Dchan and Laz tribes, according to N. Ya-Marr, occupied a vast area not only inland, but also westward up to the river. Kyzyl-Irmak, the original name of which is Galis, which is explained in Danish as common name- "river". In Megrelian the word "gali" also means "river".
In the IX-VIII centuries. BC NS. in Janik and Lazika, in their coastal part, separate Greek colonies appeared: Heracles, Sinopa, Trapezus and others. The domination of the Persians, then the Macedonians, little touched this region, isolated from the rest of Asia Minor by the Pontic mountains. After the collapse of the Macedonian Empire, independent slave states were formed here - in the west, Paphlagonia, in the east - the Greco-Laz Pontic kingdom. From the IV century. BC NS. Greek colonization intensified, which led, especially in the western regions, to the spread of Hellenistic culture. But in Lazik, the Lazes prevailed numerically over the Greek colonists. In the III-VI centuries. n. NS. Laz, throwing off the Roman rule, formed the kingdom of Egrisi, which stretched from the river. Yesil-Irmak to the Rion lowland. In the VI century. it was conquered by the Byzantines. In the X century. Lazika was reunited with the Georgian kingdom, while the western part, Paphlagonia, remained within Byzantium. At the beginning of the XIII century. in Lazik, with the support of Georgia, a Greco-Laz state was formed - the Trebizond Empire under the rule of the nephews of the Georgian queen Tamara Alexei and David Komninov. This state existed until 1461.
Eastern Anatolia, most of which is the Armenian-Kurdish Highlands, is one of the oldest centers of human culture in Western Asia. In its northern part, the state of Urartu was located (XI-VII centuries BC), whose high original culture was later inherited and developed by the Armenian and Georgian peoples. At the end of the 7th - beginning of the 6th century. BC NS. In the eastern part of Asia Minor, tribes of Armenians appeared, which gradually occupied the entire highlands. Having survived the domination of the Achaemenids and Seleucids, Armenia gained independence. Under King Tigranes II (95-55 BC) Armenia became a huge and powerful state, in terms of the level of development of agriculture, it was an advanced country of that time. The Armenians cultivated the culture of not only many cereal and fruit plants, but they even knew fodder (clover, alfalfa, vetch). In 387, Armenia was divided between Byzantium and Parthia. At the end of the 7th century. it was conquered by the Arabs. The domination of the Caliphate over Armenia continued until 885. Under the Bagratids (885-1045), Armenia experienced an economic and cultural upsurge. Handicrafts and works of art found during excavations showed that. the cultural life of the cities of Armenia was more high level development than in the medieval cities of Western Europe. In the southern part of the Armenian-Kurdish Highlands and Upper Mesopotamia as early as the III millennium BC. NS. there was a slave state of Subartu. In the XVIII century. BC NS. on its territory another state arose - Mitanni, conquered in the 15th century. BC NS. Assyria. Then the Achaemenids, Seleucids, ancient Rome, Parthia, Byzantium, Sassanian Iran ruled here. After the conquest of the region by the Arabs, especially in the X century. n. e., Kurdish tribes began to settle in the southern part of the Armenian-Kurdish Highlands. Even earlier, in the 7th-8th centuries, the Arabs found the Kurdish tribes of the mountainous regions of Upper Mesopotamia as a definite ethnic community, despite its strong tribal fragmentation, and the Kurdish language stood out from the circle of other Iranian languages into an independent one already in the 6th-7th centuries.
Special mention should be made of the existence of another Armenian state in Southeastern Anatolia, in Cilicia. At the beginning of the XI century. the Armenian colonists moved to Cilicia, who founded their state in 1080 in the mountainous part of the region, which existed until 1375, when it was conquered by Egypt. Cilicia remained under the rule of Egypt until 1516. The population of the Cilician Armenian state consisted of Armenians, Assyrians (Aysors), Greeks, and, to a lesser extent, Jews and Arabs.
This is, in brief, the history of Anatolia before the mass resettlement of Turkic tribes to its territory, which, having begun to populate Anatolia in the 11th century, met there ancient population with a highly developed culture. In the west of Anatolia and in the coastal regions, these were mainly Greeks. And in the east, the ethnic composition of the population was much more complicated: in addition to the Greeks, there lived Lazes, Georgians, Armenians, Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians. The linguistic diversity - there were also Indo-European languages (Greek, Armenian, Kurdish), and Semitic (Arabic, Assyrian), and Caucasian (Laz, Georgian) - was accompanied by a variety of economic and cultural types. Sedentary farmers and cattle breeders, townspeople with ancient traditions of urban life (Armenians, Greeks, Georgians, Assyrians), nomad cattle breeders (Kurds, part of the Arabs), fishermen and seafarers (part of the Greeks and Laz living in the coastal regions) lived here. The religious composition was also complex - Christians and Muslims were represented by different denominations and sects. Christians were divided into Orthodox (Greeks), Armenian Gregorians, Nestorianiyakovites (Assyrians), and other smaller groups. Among the Muslims, the Sunnis predominated (the bulk of the Kurds and Arabs), but there were also Shiites.
On this multilingual and diverse in the type of economy and culture, the substratum, according to the will of history, should have been layered with a Turkic layer, which ultimately gave rise to a complex ethnic fusion - the Turkish people.
Asia Minor is a peninsula in the west of Asia (the territory of modern Turkey). It is washed by the Black, Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
Hittite kingdom
The Hittite kingdom is a state in Asia Minor (Eastern Anatolia region). The rival of Egypt in the struggle for domination in Western Asia. It arose at the beginning of the II millennium don. NS.
1680-1650 The reign of King Labarna. Completion of the unification of the Hittite kingdom.
1620-1590 The reign of King Mursuli I. Strengthening of centralization in the Hittite kingdom. Hittite conquest of Babylonia (1595 BC).
1380-1340 The reign of the great king Suppiluliuma I, a sophisticated diplomat, a capable commander and a far-sighted politician. He expelled the Egyptians from Syria (the battle of Cadet), turned the Hittite kingdom into a powerful military power, stretching from the Chorokh and Araks basin to southern Palestine and from the shores of the Black Sea to the borders of Assyria and Babylonia.
1340-1305 The reign of King Mursuli I. The apogee of the Hittite kingdom's military power. The Hittites reached the shores of the Aegean Sea.
1190 BC NS. Under the pressure of a coalition of Mediterranean tribes ("Sea Peoples"), the Hittite kingdom disintegrated and ceased to exist.
Troy. Lydia. Miletus. Pontus. Pergamum1900-1300 BC NS. The highest prosperity of the city of Troy ("Trojan Kingdom"). This period ended with a devastating earthquake.
Troy (Ilion) is an ancient city-state. It was located on the coast of the Aegean Sea (northwest of modern Turkey, at the entrance to the Dardanelles). Founded in the 3rd millennium BC NS. It existed until the end of the Hellenistic era (1st century BC). Troy was discovered in the 1870s during excavations by G. Schliemann of the Hissarlik hill.
692-546 BC NS. Period of existence independent state Lydia in the west of modern Turkey between the rivers Germ (now Gediz) and Meander (now Big Menderes). The capital is the city of Sardis (on the Germ river). The royal dynasty of the Mermnads (Gyges, Aliatt, Croesus) approved the rule of Lydia from the coast of the Aegean Sea to the Galis River (Central Anatolia). The last king, Croesus, whose wealth became proverbial, was deposed by the troops of the Persian king Cyrus II, and Lydia became the province of Persia.
600 BC NS. The pinnacle of economic and cultural development the city of Miletus. Miletus is an ancient Greek policy on the Aegean coast opposite the island of Samos (southwest of modern Turkey). Known since the 7th century. BC NS. The inhabitants were engaged in trade and crafts. Burnt 494 BC NS. after the failure of the uprising of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor against Persian rule.
302-64 BC NS. The period of existence of the state of Pontus (Kingdom of Pontus) on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Founded by Lysimachus, the commander of Alexander the Great, after the collapse of the empire. The highest flowering - under the king Mithridates VI Eupator (132-63 BC); conquered the entire coast of the Black Sea, finally conquered the Scythians. Mithridates fought three wars with Rome. The defeat of Pontus led to the incorporation of its territory into the Roman state. The period of existence of the independent city of Pergamum ("Pergamon kingdom"). Pergamum is an ancient city-state in the northwest of Asia Minor (modern Bergama, Turkey). Founded in the XII century. BC NS. He owned a significant territory (up to the coast of the Aegean Sea in the west and up to the Ida mountain range south of Troy in the north). Trade and cultural center of the Hellenistic world. According to the will of King Attalus III, he passed to the Romans.
Asia Minor
Natural conditions Asia Minor are not like those in which the "civilizations of the great rivers" took shape. There are no large rivers on this peninsula at all, and those that exist are practically unsuitable for the creation of irrigation systems. Agriculture here was based mainly on rainwater irrigation, and therefore had a patchy character and brought modest and unstable yields. A relatively small population on the Anatolian plateau was engaged in horse breeding and bred cattle and small cattle.
In the Neolithic era on the territory of Asia Minor, as already mentioned, there were developed cultures for deep antiquity (VII-VI millennia BC), primarily the famous Chatal-Huyuk with its terraced buildings located on the slope of the hill, and a sanctuary decorated buffalo horns.
However, at a time when the first civilizations were taking shape in the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates, the peoples of Asia Minor remained at the same, pre-state stage of development. A new era for them comes only in bronze age- in the II or at the very end of the III millennium BC. NS. Written sources dating back to this time have been found, and from the linguistic data one can judge the ethnic composition of the region's population.
The vast majority of documents are in Indo-European languages. This means that, at least in the II millennium BC. NS. on the territory of modern Turkey lived peoples whose languages are close to the languages of North India, as well as ancient Greek, Romano-Germanic, Baltic, Slavic. The Indo-European languages of Asia Minor are also called Anatolian in their area of distribution. The main one is Hittite (or, as the ancient speakers themselves called this language, Nesite).
In the Hittite cuneiform texts (and the Hittites borrowed this writing system from the peoples of Mesopotamia) there is a certain number of words and expressions that the scribes identified as borrowed from the language of the aborigines (as linguists say, a substrate language). To distinguish this language from Indo-European Hittite, scholars call it Hutt or Proto-Hittite. It is very interesting that the Hutt words were used in the sphere of court ritual, and even the titles of king and queen, apparently, are of Hutt origin (the words "tabarna" and "tavananna" are not at all similar to the vocabulary of the Indo-Europeans). The very origins of Hittite statehood can be associated with this pre-Indo-European people.
Until recently, it was not possible to determine its family ties from the meager remnants of the Khat language, but now it is considered proven that it is related to the languages of the Abkhaz-Adyg group (the modern distribution area of the latter, as you know, is the Western Caucasus, Eastern Black Sea region).
In the northeastern part of Asia Minor, located relatively close to this region, traces of developed archaeological cultures of the 3rd millennium BC are found. NS. For example, in Aladzha-Huyuk, burials with rich weapons and ceremonial implements made of precious metals were discovered. Obviously, this is the burial of tribal leaders, but maybe we should talk about the small kings of already emerging states. Determining the stage of social and political development of a society, known only from material remnants, is difficult.
The first written documents found in Asia Minor were not in Hittite, but in Akkadian. They were found mainly during excavations of the Kyul-Tepe settlement, where the city of Kanish was located in antiquity. Here in the XIX-XVIII centuries. BC NS. there was a thriving trading colony of Semitic-speaking merchants who arrived from the city of Ashur on the Tigris and from the regions of Northern Syria. Documents from Kul-Tepe show a wide range of trade ties at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. NS. It was these colonies that played the main role in international intermediary trade at that time.
A feature of the new era is the development of private trade (and not state or temple trade, as was typical of the III millennium BC). However, the private capital of that time could not yet be called sufficiently large, while the trade risk was disproportionately large due to the variegated and unstable political map of this region. Therefore, merchants created associations - companies. They forged strong ties with compatriots and relatives in other colonies and enlisted the support of local authorities, in particular the ruler of the city of Kanish. The latter, providing guarantees of at least some kind of protection against robbery and arbitrariness of the authorities, received not only a share of the profit, but also gifts and the right to choose the best goods.
In addition to trade, Kanish businessmen were actively engaged in usurious transactions, thereby contributing to the development of property stratification among the local population. Semitic colonists, undoubtedly, introduced local residents not only to the delights of the commodity-money economy, but also to elements of the material and spiritual culture of Mesopotamia (cuneiform literature, religious beliefs).
Asia Minor at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC NS. appears to be a country of small, independent cities surrounded by a rural area with vineyards, orchards and pastures. The abundance of ore deposits contributed to a fairly wide distribution of metals, some of them (for example, silver) were exported to other countries.
The first surviving Hittite inscription mentions three cities - Nesa, Kussar and Hattusa. The ruler of Kussar named Anitta reports that he defeated the king of Nessa (it has recently been proven that this is the Hittite name of the above-mentioned Kanish). Perhaps as a result of this war, the trading colony in Kanish has ceased to exist. The name of Nessa remained in the name of the Non-Sith language: it was here, obviously, that the initial center of the emerging Hittite ethnos was located.
In addition, the inscription says that Khattusu (the modern Turkish town of Bogazkoy) was not only ruined by the king, but, having razed it to the ground, he sowed the place with weeds. Anitta cursed anyone who rebuilds Hattusa. Ironically, soon after Anitta, Hattusa not only rose from the ruins, but also became the capital of the ancient village that existed in the 17th – 16th centuries. BC NS.
The king, whose name is associated with the rise of the city and the state united around it, is known as Hattusili the Ancient ("king of Hattus"). A number of important documents have been preserved from the time of his reign and, in general, from the Old Khetta period in the huge Bogazkoy royal archive (although many are only in copies of a later time).
It is worth noting the peculiarities of the political system and customs of the Hittites, which sharply distinguish this state from those that have been discussed so far. The main one is that the Hittite king was not a despot at all, but rather played the role of "the first among equals" in the circle of his relatives and other noble Hittites. He could not punish any of them without the consent of the assembly of the nobility (the so-called pankus), and all the most important government issues were solved only with the approval of pankus. Thus, the Hittite nobility was very influential, and central authority- weak, which threatened with internal unrest.
There was no clear and stable order of succession to the Hittite throne. The throne was claimed not only by the sons of the king, but also by the husbands of the daughters, as well as the sons of the sisters. The royal power was considered to belong to the entire vast royal family, and not personally to the ruling monarch and his direct male heirs. In the struggle for the throne on the side of one or another pretender, the highest nobility was included - all those who were associated with the reigning clan. This ended in many years of strife and an even greater weakening of the center.
Following the example of the Mesopotamian states in the Ancient Hittite kingdom, written laws were drawn up, but they were noticeably inferior to the earlier Laws of Hammurabi both in the systematic presentation of the material and in the depth of legal thought. And the society itself, reflected in them, seems to be more archaic. The Hittite code of law sometimes gives the impression of recording separate precedents (“if someone takes someone else's bull by the tail and takes it across the river, the decision is such and such”). However, some of the principles underlying these laws are noteworthy. The Hittites, for example, clearly distinguished between unintentional misdeeds (“only his hand did evil”) and crimes to which a person went deliberately. In the second case, the punishment was much more severe.
The Bogazkoy royal archive of cuneiform documents contains state treaties and annals, fragments of myths and a huge number of ritual texts. Unlike the peoples of Mesopotamia, the Hittites left almost no economic documents. The reason is that these documents were not intended for eternal storage, and therefore did not end up in the archive. And they wrote them down not on clay tablets, but on wooden tablets; in this case, not cuneiform was used, but another writing system - local hieroglyphics. There are very few hieroglyphic documents (due to the fragility of the material), and their language itself is therefore much less known than the "cuneiform Hittite". A judgment about Hittite society has to be made on the basis of an analysis of the above-mentioned code of law and several accidentally preserved donation letters.
The most striking feature that catches the eye at the very first reading of the Hittite code of law is the opposition of “people” (“man”, “woman”) to those persons who are designated by the ideogram used for slaves in Sumer. Any criminal offense against a “free husband” is punishable by twice as heavy as for a “slave”. For his own crime, the "slave", as a rule, is responsible for himself. But his owner can also pay a fine for him. If the latter refuses to pay, then he loses his "slave", and he, obviously, becomes the property of the victim. It is clear from the law code that a “slave” can marry (including free women), have children and pass on inheritance to them, but all this does not relieve him of personal and property obligations to the owner.
The annals of the Hittite kings repeatedly mention the deportation of the population from the conquered countries. Men, women, children were driven into the Hittite country in the same way as cattle and small ruminants. The booty was then distributed, the resettled families were given land plots for cultivation, farm buildings were provided, cattle and tools were given to work for a temple, a palace or a private person. Sometimes, families were artificially created from prisoners and displaced persons. Of course, the Hittites were not at all interested in the question of the feelings of these people: it was important to create a kind of house, that is, a full-fledged household from which taxes could be collected.
As evidenced by the certificates of donation, fields, orchards and vineyards, along with draft animals, implements and the families of workers themselves, by order of the authorities, could be taken from one nobleman and transferred to another. The working people were not free, but dependent, and the change of the owner meant for him mainly that now it was necessary to perform the duties for another person.
XV century BC NS. sometimes in scientific literature it is called the period of the Middle Hittite kingdom. Very little is known about him. The vast Hittite state was torn apart by strife, the neighboring state of Mitanni actively intervened in its affairs. But after the Time of Troubles, there comes a period of prosperity, extensive conquests and the creation of a great power - the New Kingdom. Not without the help of the Hurrians (Mitannians), the Hittite army is developing a new military equipment- light horse-drawn chariots. The Hittites subjugate the main part of Asia Minor and go beyond its borders.
The expansion of the Hittites is directed towards the Transcaucasia and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as to the west - towards the shores of the Aegean Sea. In Transcaucasia, they conquer barbarian tribes, and in the west they capture rich coastal cities. But the main struggle unfolded in Northern Syria, where the Hittites were opposed by the mighty Egyptian power led by the energetic and ambitious Pharaoh Ramses II. The Hittite yoke seemed to the Syrians not as heavy as the Egyptian, and therefore against Ramses II by the beginning of the XIII century. BC NS. a formidable coalition was formed. The Battle of Kadesh in 1286 was a decisive test of power, and perhaps the Hittites were close to final victory.
However, it should be recognized that the main enemy of the Hittite king was not at all the pharaoh, no matter how formidable his military corps, named after the Egyptian gods, were. The main trouble was the looseness of the New Hittite kingdom itself, which was not easy to maintain its unity. The Hittite documents expressively emphasize this feature of the political structure of their state when they speak of the "countries" of which it is composed. These "countries", according to the Hittite scribes, are divided into "internal", that is, included in the state, and "external", not included in it. But in the event of any crisis, the number of “external countries” increased many times over due to the fact that many “countries” ceased to be “internal”.
The military successes of the Hittites could not be developed: in the dynastic turmoil that followed the death of the Hittite king, they had no time for conquests or rendering assistance to the Syrians, who had pinned great hopes on them. And 16 years after the Battle of Kadesh, Ramses II concluded a treaty with Hattusili III, according to which they divided the Eastern Mediterranean. Its northern part, which has long been inhabited not only by Semitic-speaking peoples, but also by the Hurrians, came under the rule of the Hittite kings. Due to the fact that the Hittites actively penetrated the areas formerly belonging to the Mitanni, they experienced an increasingly strong cultural influence of the Hurrians.
Hittite culture is a multi-layered and complex phenomenon. The pantheon, known to us from cuneiform texts, is predominantly Indo-European. The Hittite god Siu easily recognizes the Indo-European deity of daylight, corresponding to the Greek Zeus and the ancient Indian Dyaus. The Hittite thunder god Pirva resembles the Lithuanian Perkunas, the Slavic Perun, and the Indian Parjani. Some mythological characters with corresponding attributes and legends are borrowed from Mesopotamia (for example, Akkadian Anu - Sumerian An). Some of the rituals described in the texts of the Bogazkoy archive are of Dohettian (Hatti) origin, and the famous sacred "gallery" of reliefs on the Yazilikaya rocks depicts the gods and goddesses of the united Hittite-Hurrian pantheon.
The Hittites left peculiar genres of literary creativity: royal annals, detailed biographies of the kings (for example, "Autobiography of Hattusili III"), as well as recordings of prayers. Particularly touching and emotional are the prayers of Tsar Mursili during the plague: the Tsar, turning to the gods, recalls his sin, because of which the country was in trouble, and begs to grant him forgiveness.
Asia Minor of the Hittite era was oriented not only to the East, to the Hurrian and Semitic cultures, it was closely connected with the early Greek world. In the cuneiform texts of the Bogaz-koy archive, there is a mention of the city of Vilus. Apparently, this is Homeric Ilion, i.e. Troy. The events of the Trojan War are very close in time to the last days of the New Hittite kingdom. The Hittites maintained diverse contacts with the Achaean tribes (Akhiyava), who then settled not only in mainland Greece and on the islands of the Aegean Sea, but also on the coast of Asia Minor itself. Apollo and Artemis in Greek myths are deities of Asia Minor. Their mother Leto (Latona) is none other than the Asia Minor goddess Lada (Great Lady).
The Hittite Empire disintegrated around the 12th century. BC NS. Her death was facilitated by the raids of the "peoples of the sea", which are also mentioned in the history of Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean. The migrations of tribes from the west - from the Balkans have been archeologically evidenced. Part of the Indo-European tribes, which passed through the entire territory of Asia Minor, settled in the Armenian Highlands and, mixing with the local population, later formed the core of the Old Armenian Kingdom.
Syro-Hittite god of a thunderstorm [Relief of the 9th century BC. NS. ]
In some inscriptions, references to the "great king of the Hittites" are found up to the 8th century. BC e., but this magnificent title was then borne by the king of a small state in the upper Euphrates with its capital in the city of Karchemish. He considered himself the true heir to the Hittite state of the 2nd millennium BC. NS. The culture of this time is called late Hittite, or Syro-Hittite, for the main population of this provincial fragment of the Hittite state was Semitic (Syrian). It is these "Hittites" that appear on the pages of the Bible (the "Hittite" was, for example, the military leader Uriah, from whom King David took away his wife, the beautiful Bathsheba, who later bore him Solomon). They have little relation to the real Hittites-Indo-Europeans. After the Assyrian conquests of the VIII century. BC NS. and this "Hittite" kingdom ceased to exist.
Asia Minor, 1st millennium BC NS. known for a few archaeological finds and a fairly rich ancient historical tradition. At the beginning of the millennium, a large and wealthy state of Phrygia existed in the central part of the peninsula. According to legends, his king Midas turned everything he touched into pure gold. Later, the Lydian kingdom with the center in the city of Sardis begins to play a leading role in Asia Minor. Lydian king of the middle of the 6th century BC NS. Croesus became famous for his wealth.
Legends about the fabulous treasures of the kings of Asia Minor did not develop by chance. Gold was actually mined here and electr (an alloy of gold and silver) was used. It was in Lydia in the 7th century. BC NS. for the first time in world history, a coin appeared. Through the coastal Greek cities of Ionia, the Lydian invention spread rapidly throughout the Hellenic world.
The Phrygian alphabet is not inferior in antiquity to the Greek and practically does not differ from it. Therefore, there are still disputes about priority: whether the Phrygians borrowed the Greek alphabet immediately after its appearance, or, on the contrary, the Greek alphabet arose on the basis of the Phrygian.
In any case, there is no doubt that before the Persian conquest, the states of Asia Minor were intimately connected with the Greek world. The kings sent generous gifts to the Delphic oracle; they actively participated together with the Greeks in the military-diplomatic game of that era. During the Archaic period (VIII-VI centuries BC), the cities of Ionia, located on the western coast of Asia Minor, were the most developed centers of the Hellenic world. Their flourishing was not least due to their proximity to the Near East world with its millennial cultural traditions.
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From the book of 100 Great Secrets of Archeology the author Volkov Alexander Viktorovich From the Hittite book the author Gurney Oliver RobertAsia Minor
From the book World Military History in Instructive and Entertaining Examples the author Kovalevsky Nikolay FedorovichAsia Minor and Ancient Persia Nature Stops War Before the emergence of the future eastern giant - the Persian state of the Achaemenids in Asia Minor, Media (king of Uvakastra) and Lydia (king of Agiat) competed with each other. The fierce struggle between them ended completely
From the book Essay on Silver the author Maksimov Mikhail MarkovichAsia Minor and Greece K. Marx says that “... the extraction of silver presupposes mining operations and, in general, a relatively high development of technology. Therefore, the original value of silver, despite its lower absolute rarity, was relatively higher than the value
From the book History of the Ancient East the author Vigasin Alexey AlekseevichAsia Minor The natural conditions of Asia Minor are not similar to those in which the "civilizations of the great rivers" took shape. There are no large rivers on this peninsula at all, and those that exist are practically unsuitable for the creation of irrigation systems. Agriculture was mainly based here
From the book World History. Volume 4. Hellenistic period the author Badak Alexander NikolaevichAsia Minor in the 3rd century BC One of the most distinctive parts of the Hellenistic world was Asia Minor. Along with the ancient centers of cultural life, there were areas in it that retained the forms of relations dating back to the primitive era. Asia Minor had
From the book Ancient East the authorChapter III Asia Minor and Transcaucasia in Antiquity This section begins an overview of the ancient history of the Levant, Anatolia, the Armenian Highlands and the Iranian Highlands. From a bird's eye view, all these regions allow us to unite what they are in the geopolitical sense.
From the book Ancient East the author Alexander NemirovskyAsia Minor in the 1st millennium BC e Phrygians and the Phrygian kingdom The Balkan tribes, who called themselves Phrygians (migdons, askanias, berekints), moved to Asia Minor in the middle of the 13th century. BC NS. In the middle of the XII century. BC NS. another Balkan tribe of the Black Sea brigs
From the book War and Society. Factor analysis of the historical process. History of the East the author Sergei Nefedov11.5. ASIA MINOR BETWEEN TWO MONGOL INVASIONS The Mongol invasion, which struck the Middle East, did not escape Asia Minor. In 1243, the Mongol troops moving westward reached the borders of the Rum Sultanate. Sultan Giyas-ed-din Key-Khyusrev II mobilized all his
From the book History of the Ancient World [East, Greece, Rome] the author Alexander NemirovskyAsia Minor in the 1st millennium BC NS. Phrygia and Lydia The Balkan tribes, calling themselves Phrygians, moved to Asia Minor in the middle of the 13th century. BC NS. A century later, another Balkan tribe - the Black Sea brigs - crossed into Asia Minor and partially displaced, and partially
From the book Agrarian History Of the ancient world by Weber Max2. Asia Minor (Hellenic and Roman eras) The empire of Alexander and his successors consists, as you know, since Asia Minor is taken into account, from the territories of Greek cities (this includes temples), on the one hand, and from ???? ????????, which has no cities and is dismembered into
From the book Book III. Great Russia of the Mediterranean the author Saverskiy Alexander VladimirovichChapter 4 Asia Minor. "Peoples of the Sea" If we believe that the location of ancient Troy is incorrectly determined, then this is inevitably associated with the incorrect location of the so-called. Asia Minor. Well, let's assess how confidently Asia Minor is located in Turkey.
Asia Minor (aka Anatolia) is one of the main centers of ancient civilizations East. The formation of early civilizations in this region was due to the entire course of cultural and historical development Anatolia. In the most ancient era ( in the VIII - VI millennium BC NS.) important cultural centers of the manufacturing economy ( Chayunu Tepesi, Chatal Huyuk, Hacilar), which were based on agriculture and cattle breeding.Already in this period of history, the meaning Anatolia in the historical and cultural development of the ancient East was determined not only by the fact that cultural centers Asia Minor influenced many neighboring regions and themselves experienced opposite influences.
Thanks to geographic location Asia Minor was natural a place for the transfer of cultural achievements in different directions. Science does not yet have accurate information about when exactly the first early state formations appeared in Anatolia. A number of indirect data indicate that they probably arose here already in III millennium BC NS. In particular, such a conclusion can be made on the basis of some Akkadian literary texts describing the trading activities of Akkadian merchants in Anatolia and military actions Sargon the Ancient and Naram-Suena against the rulers of the city-states of Asia Minor; these stories are known in the retellings recorded in Hittite.
The evidence of cuneiform tablets from the city-state of the middle is also important. III millennium BC NS. Ebla. According to these texts, between Ebla and many points Northern Syria and Mesopotamia located near the borders of Asia Minor - Karkemish, Harran, Urshu, Hashshu, Hahha- close trade relations were maintained. Later, in these and more southern regions, the ancient Hittite, and later the New Hittite kings carried out their military enterprises.
Conclusion on the presence of city-states in Asia Minor III millennium BC NS. agrees well with the results of text analysis (), originating from the territory of Anatolia itself. These are business documents and letters found in the shopping centers of Asia Minor that existed here in XIX - XVIII centuries BC NS... They are written in cuneiform in Old Assyrian (Ashurian) dialect of the Akkadian language. Since the city-states of Asia Minor XIX - XVIII centuries BC NS. were quite developed political structures, then the formation of these kingdoms, obviously, should have occurred long before the formation of Ashur trade centers in Asia Minor.
Among the merchants in shopping centers were represented not only Ashurians(Eastern Semites), there were many people from the Northern Syrian regions, inhabited, in particular, by peoples who spoke West Semitic dialects. West Semitic ( amorite) words are contained, for example, in the vocabulary of archives Kanish... The Amorite merchants, apparently, were not the first merchants to blaze the path from Northern Syria to Anatolia. As well Ashurian merchants who may have changed Akkadian, they apparently followed to Anatolia for North Syrian merchants III millennium BC NS.
Trade was a significant catalyst many socio-economic processes taking place in Asia Minor in the III - early II millennium BC. NS. Local merchants played an active role in the activities of shopping centers: Hittites, Luwians, Hutts... Were among them Hurrian traders, immigrants from both cities Northern Syria, Northern Mesopotamia, so, probably, from Asia Minor. Merchants brought fabrics and tunics to Anatolia. But the main articles of trade were metals: the eastern merchants supplied tin, and the western ones - copper and silver. Ashurian traders showed particular interest in another metal that was in great demand; he was 40 times more expensive than silver and 5 - 8 times more expensive than gold... As established in recent studies, this metal was iron... The inventors of the method of smelting it from ore were Hutts. From here, iron metallurgy spread to Western Asia, and then to Eurasia as a whole. The export of iron outside Anatolia was apparently prohibited.
Trade was provided with the help of caravans, delivering goods on pack animals, mainly Damascus donkeys. The caravans moved in small passages. There are about 120 names of camp sites on the way through Northern Mesopotamia, Northern Syria and along the eastern part of Asia Minor. During the last phase of the existence of the Assyrian trade centers (approximately in the 18th century. BC NS.), the struggle of the rulers of the city-states of Anatolia for political leadership has noticeably intensified.
The leading role among them was originally played by Puruskhanda city-state... Subsequently, the kings of Asia Minor led the struggle against Puruskhanda and other city-states of Asia Minor city-states of Kussary: Pithana and his son Anitta... He got his hands on Carry and made it one of the strongholds of the part of the population that spoke Hittite... By the name of this city themselves Hittites began to name their language nesian or cannesian m.
One can only assume that education Hittite state(XVII -XII centuries BC NS.) was a natural result of socio-economic, ethnocultural and political processes, especially intensified at the turn of the III - II millennium BC NS. and at the very beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. NS.
It is assumed that the Hittite cuneiform was borrowed from the variant of the Old Akkadian cuneiform used Hurrians v Northern Syria. Deciphering of texts in the Hittite cuneiform language was first carried out in 1915-1917 biennium... outstanding Czech orientalist B. Grozny.
As well as cuneiform Hittites also used hieroglyphic writing. Known are monumental inscriptions, inscriptions on seals, on various household items and letters. Hieroglyphic the letter was applied, in particular v
Ithousand BC NS. for writing dialect texts Luwian... This writing system was used in II millennium BC NS. Some researchers suggest that hieroglyphic writing may have been the earliest Hittite writing system. Deciphering the hieroglyphic Luwian language, an important contribution was made by many foreign scientists, in particular P. Merigi, E. Forrer, I. Gelb, H. Bossert, E. Laroche and etc.History of the Hittite state it is now customary to divide into three periods: Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms. Creation of the ancient Hittite state ( 1650-1500 BC NS.) in the Hittite tradition itself is attributed to a king by name Labarna... However, the texts, which would have been composed on his behalf, have not been found.
The earliest king, known from a number of documents recorded on his behalf, was Hattusili I. Following him, during the period of the Old Kingdom, several kings ruled, among which the largest political figures were Mursili I and Telepinu... Less documented history of the Middle Kingdom ( 1500-1400 biennium BC NS.). The Hittite kingdom reached its greatest power during the kings of the New Hittite period ( 1400-1200 biennium BC NS.), among which personalities stand out Suppiluliums I, Mursili II, Muwatalli and Hattusili III. Along with the king, an important role, especially in the sphere of worship,
the queen, who bore the Hutt title, also played tavananna... The tavananna queen, who outlived her husband, retained her high position under her son-king. Her title was inherited, apparently, regardless of the title of the king by the next queen. The queen had her own palace, which was served by her courtiers, she owned many land holdings; the region from which the queen came, apparently, paid a special tax in favor of her mistress.
The status of the queen in Hittite government was probably due to the custom of female succession to the throne. The power of the king and queen in Hittite society largely retained a sacred character. The performance by the ruler and ruler of many cult and religious functions was regarded as an activity that contributes to the country's fertility and the well-being of the entire population.
The Hittite economy was based on agriculture, cattle breeding, crafts (metallurgy and the manufacture of tools from metals, pottery, construction, etc.). Trade played an important role in the economy. There were state lands (palace and temple), as well as communal lands, which were at the disposal of certain groups. Some Hittite documents retain some evidence that in early period the history of the societies of ancient Anatolia, the relationship of the king with the subjects could be regulated on the basis of exchange donation institute.
This exchange was voluntary in form, but in essence it was mandatory. The offerings of the subjects were intended for the king because he had the function of ensuring the fertility of the country. For their part, the subjects could count on a reciprocal gift from the king. Mutual exchange, apparently, took place at the moments of the most important public festivals, timed to coincide with the main seasons of the year. The institution of mutual services is reflected in a number of Hittite texts, in which it is prescribed to give "bread and butter to the hungry", to give "clothes to the naked." Similar ideas are attested in the culture of many ancient societies (in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India) and cannot be deduced from some utopian humanism of ancient societies.
The whole history of the Hittite state – this is history numerous wars, which were conducted in various directions: in the north and northeast - with the warlike Black Sea peoples of the Kaska, constantly threatening its very existence with their campaigns, in the southwest and west - with the kingdoms of Kizzuvatna and Artsava inhabited by Luwians and Hurrians; in the south and southeast - from Hurrians(including the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni). The Hittites fought wars with Egypt, in which it was decided which of the major powers of the Middle East of that period would prevail in the regions of the Eastern Mediterranean, through which important trade routes of the entire subregion ran.
In the east, they fought with the rulers the kingdom of Azzi. Hittite history has experienced periods of extraordinary ups and downs. At Labarne and Hattusili I the borders of Hattie's country were extended from "Sea to sea"(this meant the territory from the Black to the Mediterranean Sea). Hattusili I conquered a number of important areas in the southwest of Asia Minor. In northern Syria, he took over the powerful Hurrian-Semitic city-state Alalah, as well as over two other large centers - Urshu (Varsuva) and Hashshu (Hassuva)- and began a long struggle for Halpu(modern Aleppo). This last city was captured by his successor to the throne Mursili I... V 1595 BC NS... Mursili also captured Babylon, destroyed it and took rich booty.
At Telepin the strategically important region of Asia Minor was also under Hittite control Kizzuwatna. These and many other military successes led to the fact that the Hittite kingdom became one of the most powerful states. Middle East... At the same time, already in the ancient Hittite period, the eastern and central regions of the Hatti country were subjected to devastating invasions by the Hurrians from Armenian Highlands and from Northern Syria... Under the Hittite king Hantili, the Hurrians captured and even executed the Hittite queen along with her sons.
Particularly high-profile victories were achieved during the period New Hittite kingdom.At Suppilulium I under the control of the Hittites were the western regions of Anatolia (the country of Artsava). The Kaska Union of the Black Sea region was defeated, over the kingdom Azzi Hayasa... Suppiluliuma has achieved decisive success in the fight against Mitanni, to the throne of which he elevated his protege Shattivazu. Important centers were conquered Northern Syria Halpa and Karkemish, the rulers of which were planted the sons of Suppiluliuma Piyassili and Telepina. Many kingdoms were under the control of the Hittites Syria up to Lebanese mountains.
The significant strengthening of the position of the Hittites in Syria ultimately led to a clash between the two largest powers of that time - Hittite kingdom and Egypt... In the battle Kadesh (Kinza) on R. Oronte Hittite army commanded by king Muwatalli defeated Egyptian troops Ramses
II ... Pharaoh himself miraculously escaped captivity. The Hittite success, however, did not lead to a change in the balance of power. The struggle between them continued, and ultimately both sides were forced to recognize strategic parity.One of the evidences of it was the already mentioned Hittite-Egyptian treaty, concluded Hattusili III and Ramses II about 1296 BC NS. Close, friendly ties were established between the Hittite and Egyptian courts. Among the correspondence of the kings of the Hatti country with the rulers of other states, the majority are messages sent from Hatti to Egypt and back during the reign Hattu-seeley III and Ramses II. Peaceful relationship were secured by marriage Ramses II with one of the daughters Hattusili III... At the end of the Middle Hittite and especially in the New Hittite period Hattie came into direct contact with the state Akhhiyava apparently located in the extreme southwest or west Asia Minor(according to some researchers, this kingdom may be localized on the islands of the Aegean Sea or in mainland Greece). Ahhiyavu often equated with Mycenaean Greece. Accordingly, the name of the state is associated with the term “ Achaeans", Denoting (according to Homer) the union of the ancient Greek tribes.
The bone of contention between Hatti and Ahhiyava were both areas of western Asia Minor and Cyprus ... The struggle was fought not only on land but also at sea. The Hittites took possession of Cyprus twice - during Tudhaliya IV and Suppilulium II- the last king of the Hittite state. After one of these raids, a treaty was concluded with Cyprus. In their policy of conquest, the Hittite kings relied on an organized army, which included both regular formations and the militia supplied by peoples dependent on the Hittites. The hostilities usually began in the spring and continued until late autumn. However, in some cases, they went on hikes in the winter, mainly to the south, and sometimes even to the east, in the region of the mountainous country of Hayas. nutrition. The army consisted mainly of a chariot army and heavily armed infantry. The Hittites were one of the pioneers in the use of light chariots in the army. Hittite chariot, harnessed by two horses, carrying three people - a charioteer, a warrior (usually a spearman) and a shield-bearer covering them, represented a formidable force.
Chariots were products of high technical skill and were quite expensive. For their manufacture, special materials were required: various types of wood, growing mainly in the Armenian Highlands, leather and metals. Therefore, the production of chariots was probably centralized and carried out in special royal workshops. To capture cities, the Hittites often resorted to sieges, using assault weapons, and they also widely used the tactics of night marches.
Essential Hittite instrument foreign policy was diplomacy. The Hittites had diplomatic relations with many states of Asia Minor and the Middle East in general; in a number of cases these relations were regulated by special agreements. So, depending on the balance of forces of the parties, the kings addressed each other as “brother to brother” or as “son to father”. Periodic exchanges of ambassadors, messages, gifts, as well as dynastic marriages were regarded as acts of friendship and good intentions of the parties. International relations were directed by a special department at the tsarist chancellery. Apparently, the staff of this department included ambassadors, envoys and translators of various ranks. It is also known that the approval of the agreement could have been preceded by lengthy consultations, during which a mutually acceptable draft agreement was agreed upon, as,
for example, in connection with the conclusion of an agreement between Hattusili III and Ramses II ... Contracts were sealed seals of kings, sometimes they were written not on clay, but on metal (silver, bronze, iron) tablets, which was practiced, in particular, by the Hittites. The tablets of the agreements were usually kept in front of the statues of the supreme deities of the country, since the gods, the main witnesses of the agreement, had the right to punish those who break the agreement.A characteristic feature of the Hittite diplomatic practice was and dynastic marriages. The Hittites, apparently, treated international marriage unions differently than, for example, the Egyptians. Unlike the Egyptians, the Hittite kings were quite willing to marry off their daughters and sisters. Often they themselves married foreign princesses. Such marriages were used not only to maintain friendly relations. Dynastic marriages were sometimes tied hand and foot by a vassal. After all, when she marries, the representative of the Hittite royal family did not fall into the number of harem concubines, but became the main wife. This is exactly the condition that the Hittite rulers set before their sons-in-law.
Through the mediation of their daughters and sisters, the Hittite kings strengthened their influence in other states. Moreover, since the children of the main wife became the legal heirs to the throne of a foreign state, there was a real possibility that in the future, when the nephew of the Hittite king ascended the throne, the influence of the Hatti state in the vassal country would be even more consolidated. During the existence of the Hittite state, its people created many cultural values... These include monuments of art, architecture, and a variety of literary works.
At the same time Hattie culture has preserved a rich heritage drawn from the traditions of ancient ethnic groups Anatolia as well as borrowed from cultures Mesopotamia, Syria, Caucasus. It became an important link connecting the cultures of the ancient East with the cultures of Greece and Rome. In particular, in translations into Hittite, numerous myths from the tradition have come down to us Of the ancient kingdom transcribed by the Hittites from the Hutt language: about the struggle of God Thunderstorms with the Serpent, about the moon, fallen from the sky, about the disappeared deity (god of vegetation Telepin, God of Thunder, God of the Sun).
The original genre of literature includes annals - ancient Hittites Hattusili I, Middle Hittite Mursili
II ... Among the works of early Hittite literature attract attention "The Tale of the Queen of the City of Canes" and a funeral song. Among the original genres of Hittite literature of the Middle and New Kingdoms period, one should note prayers, in which researchers find coincidences with the ideas of Old Testament and New Testament literature, as well as "Autobiography" of Hattusili III- one of the first autobiographies in world literature.During the period Middle and New Kingdoms the Hittite culture was strongly influenced by the culture of the Hurrian-Luwian population of the south and southwest of Anatolia. This cultural influence was only one side of the impact. Just as in the Old Kingdom period the Hittite kings bore mainly Hutt names, during this period the kings descended from the Hurrian dynasty had two names each. One - Hurrian - they received from birth, the other - Hittite (Hatti) - after accession to the throne. Hurrian influence is found in relief Hittite sanctuaries in Lingual... Thanks to the Hurrians and directly from the culture of this people, the Hittites adopted and transposed into their language a number of literary works: Akkadian texts about Sargon the Ancient and Naram-Suena, Sumerian epic about Gilgamesh, having as a whole the Mesopotamian primary source - the Middle Hittite hymn to the Sun, Hurrian epics "About the kingdom in heaven", "Song of Ullikummi", stories "About the hunter Cassie", "About the hero Gurparantsahu", fairy tales "About Appu and his two sons", "About the sun god, a cow and a fishing couple"... It is to the Hittite transcriptions that we owe, in particular, to the fact that many works of Hurrian literature did not disappear irrevocably in the mists of time.
One of the most important values of Hittite culture is that it served as a mediator between the civilizations of the Middle East and Greece. In particular, there are similarities between the Hittite texts, which are transcriptions of the corresponding Hutt and Hurrian, with the Greek myths recorded in “ Theogony " Greek poet VIII - VII centuries BC NS. Hesiod. Thus, significant analogies can be traced between the Greek myth of the struggle of Zeus with the snake-like Typhon and the Hittite myth of the battle. God of Thunder with the Serpent... There are parallels between the same Greek myth and Hurrian epic about the stone monster Ullikummi in "Song of Ullikummi"... This last one mentions mountain hazzi, where the God of Storm moved after the first battle with Ullikummi. Same Mount Kasion(according to a later author - Apollodorus) - the place of the battle Zeus with Typhon.
In Theogony, the origin story of the gods is described as a violent change of several generations of gods. This story may date back to the Hurrian cycle of reign in heaven. According to him, in the beginning God reigned in the world Alalu(associated with the Nether world). He was overthrown by the sky god Anu. God came to replace him Kumarbi, who in turn was deposed from the throne by God Thunderstorms Teshubom. Each of the gods reigned for nine centuries. Successive change of gods ( Alalu - Anu - Kumarbi - God of the Thunder Teshub) is also represented in Greek mythology ( Ocean - Uranus - Cronus - Zeus). The motive of the change not only of generations, but also of the functions of the gods coincides (the Hurrian Anu from the Sumerian An - "sky"; the god of the Thunder Teshub and the Greek Zeus).
Among the individual coincidences of Greek and Hurrian mythologies, there are Greek Atlas who holds Heaven on his shoulders, and Hurrian giant Upelluri v "Song of Ullikummi" supporting Heaven and Earth (a similar image of a god is also known in Hutt mythology). Upelluri grew on the shoulder stone monster Ullikummi. The god Ea stripped him of his power by severing him with a cutter from the Upelluri's shoulder. According to Hurrian mythology, this cutter was first used to separate Heaven from Earth. The way Ullikummi's power is taken away has parallels in the Antaeus myth. Antaeus, the son of Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, and Gaia, the goddess of the Earth, was invincible as long as he touched mother earth. Hercules managed to strangle him only by lifting him up and tearing him away from the source of power. As in the "Song of Ullikummi", according to Greek mythology, a special tool (sickle) is used to separate Heaven (Uranus) from the Earth (Gaia) and emasculate the latter.
Around 1200 BC NS. The Hittite state ceased to exist. Its fall, apparently, was due to two reasons. On the one hand, it was caused by intensified centrifugal tendencies that led to the collapse of the once mighty power. On the other hand, it is likely that the country, which had lost its former strength, was subjected to an invasion of tribes. The aegean world referred to in Egyptian texts By the "peoples of the sea"... However, it is not known exactly which tribes among the "peoples of the world" participated in the destruction of the Hatti country.
Excerpts from «
Ancient Civilizations
»
under the general editorship of G.M. Bongard-Levin. Publishing house "Mysl" 1989
Asia Minor in antiquity. Little Asia (Turkish Anadolu - Anatolia) is a peninsula in the west of Asia, the middle part of the territory of modern Turkey. It is washed by the Black, Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, separating Asia from Europe.
The few bays there are cut shallowly into the land and are bordered by steep slopes of longitudinal mountain ranges. The largest bays on the northern coast are Sinop and Samsun. Almost all of them lack runoff and are highly saline. In this regard, the country's climate is on average mountainous and features of a continental climate. From the middle of the 17th to the beginning of the 13th centuries. BC. hegemony in Asia Minor was established by the Hittites. In the east of the peninsula and in Armenia, a number of tribal unions arose, which later united into the state of Urartu.
In the II century BC. NS. The Romans reached Asia Minor, gradually subjugating it to themselves and dividing it into several provinces (Asia, Bithynia, Pontus, Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia, Cappadocia and Galatia). After the division of the Roman Empire, Asia Minor was part of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), which supported the Hellenized nature of most of its population. Constant friction between Greeks and Armenians made it easier for the gradual conquest and settlement of Asia Minor by waves of Turkic nomads.
As the excavations of Sagalassos showed, the process of Muslimization and Turkization of the peninsula was not peaceful, and the Greek-Christian population actively resisted it until the beginning of the 14th century. Natural conditions and population. Taurus and Antitavr. Hurrian population lived in Asia. Sources and historiography of the Hittite kingdom. A number of works by Soviet Hittologists are devoted to Asia Minor.
See what "Asia Minor Peninsula" is in other dictionaries:
Southwest Anatolia and Mersin. Asia up to 10 simultaneously existing cultures. Mesopotamia and Egypt. This is evidenced by the graves of the nobility, discovered in Dorak and Aladzha-Huyuk. Asia with Europe. Hittite state. Hattie, etc. Cenozoic folded structures of the region continue to be structures of the Balkan Peninsula.
Strong seismicity is observed in the western part of the region. The longest river - Kyzyl-Irmak - reaches 950 km and flows into the Black Sea, forming a swampy delta.
Chapter 15. SMALL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS. ASIA MINOR: COUNTRY AND
POPULATION. SOURCES AND HISTORIOGRAPHY. THE EARLY PERIOD OF ITS HISTORY
Some have dams and reservoirs. The lake basins are of tectonic and karst origin. The largest lake Tuz is located in the middle part of the Anatolian plateau and is surrounded by a strip of swampy lowlands. In the southeast at that time there were Hittite state formations - the Ancient Hittite and New Hittite kingdoms. ASIA MINOR - Peninsula on 3. Asia, makes up most of Turkey. The name was first used in the 5th and early 6th century; it was contrasted with Great Asia, which included the rest of the territory of this part of the world. See also Anatolia, Galatia.
Asia Minor - This term has other meanings, see Asia (disambiguation). It was clear that the Hittite kingdom (in Egyptian, conditionally, Het; in Akkadian Hatti) was the largest power in the ancient East, rivaling both Egypt and Assyria. The Hittites designated their country (and the kingdom as a whole) with the term "Hatti". This peninsula, also called Anatolia and forming the Asian part of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest centers of agriculture and livestock breeding in the world.
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT EAST
But others remained on the peninsula, and perhaps some of them moved towards the Transcaucasus. Already by the III millennium BC. fortified points located on the hills of the eastern part of the Asia Minor Peninsula were the centers of the economic, political and cultural life of the Asia Minor tribes.
Geographic characteristic
According to one late Hittite legend, for example, Akkadian merchants appeared in Asia Minor allegedly in the 24th century. BC, i.e. during the reign of Sargon the Ancient, king of Akkad. Even earlier, the Sumerians penetrated and even settled there up the Euphrates into the mountainous regions. Ashur undoubtedly had influence on the organization's merchants, but did not belong to him in Asia Minor. political power... The Ashurians traded Mesonotamian fabrics, local traders - local ones, but the Ashurian authorities forbade their citizens to support the weaving industry of Asia Minor, which competed with the Mesopotamian one.
Asia and Northern Mesopotamia. It was this difference that attracted foreign traders to Asia Minor who speculated in their own currency, the annakum. In Asia Minor, gold cost twice as much, annakum - half as much. Asia Minor was a connecting link, a kind of bridge connecting the Middle East with the Aegean world and the Balkan Peninsula. With his move to Ashur and the strife that began in Asia Minor, the trade of the house of Imd-El quickly curtailed.