Periods of Art History I
The history of art from Prehistory to Imperial Rome
Vladimir Ivanovici
The Art of the Hittites
Hittite hieroglyphs
Inscribed broken basalt door jamb,
part of the eastern jamb of a gateway on the monumental stairway up to the citadel at Carchemish.
Ruler: Katuwa
Period: Neo-Hittite, 10C BC-9C BC.
I (am) Katuwas, the Karkamišean Country-Lord, beloved by the gods.
[me] my sovereign Kubaba, Queen of Karkamiš, raised by the hand,
to me she always gave my enemies, but me to (my) enemies she did not give.
And I myself then [constructed] these [buildings] with luxury.
"You will cure no one, but you will cure me!"
While I was ill, I re-established Kubaba, Queen of Karkamiš.
She was good to/for/in her paternal house, and I/me [...
...] of authority (s)he/they-ed up, and the person [...
...]for Kubaba I built.
...] fathers (and) grandfathers [...
and (s)he the foremost temple [...
...] my dear wife [...
...] Kubaba of the podium [...
...] who to these orthostats [
Hittite cuneiform writing
Ḫattuša
The Lions and Sphinxes Gates, Ḫattuša
Cyclopean masonry
The Green Stone, Ḫattuša
Daily life
Above: Woman carrying child and pulling an animal.
Domestic or sacrifice scene.
Right: Neo-Hittite relief with large figure on left, wearing a long gown
and playing double pipes; small central figure with pair of rattles;
figure on right wearing a short skirt or kilt and dancing
with both hands clasped overhead.
10thC BC.
Neo-Hittite relief with two figures walking; a
hieroglyphic inscription frames them.
Yazılıkaya
Yazılıkaya relief with the twelve
gods of the underworld.
Relief with Gods at the Yazilikaya Sanctuary 12th - 13th century BC.
Hittite gods
Winged deity
Period: Hittite Empire
Date: ca. 14th–13th century B.C.
Geography: Anatolia
Culture: Hittite
Medium: Bronze, gold
Dimensions: 4.09 x 1.8 cm
Black basalt stela of the goddess Kubaba in low relief
holding a mirror and standing beneath a winged sun-disc.
9th ct BCE.
Seated goddess with a child
Period: Hittite Empire
Date: ca. 14th–13th century B.C.
Geography: Central Anatolia
Culture: Hittite
Medium: Gold
Dimensions: H. 4.3 cm, W. 1.7 cm, D. 1.9 cm
Hittite priests
Hittite priest-king ?
Relief from Hattusas, the “King's gate” depicting a God or
King wearing kilt and ceremonial headdress.
Vessel terminating in
the forepart of a bull
Period: Hittite Empire
Date: ca. 14th–13th century B.C.
Geography: Central Anatolia
Culture: Hittite
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: 18 x 12 x 21 cm
Vessel terminating in the forepart of a stag
Period: Hittite Empire
Date: ca. 14th–13th century B.C.
Geography: Central Anatolia
Culture: Hittite
Medium: Silver, gold inlay
Dimensions: H. 18 cm
Hittite sun disk Hittite ceremonial standard
Late Hittite relief sculpture of a Bull. 9th Cent B.C.
Neo-Hittite Orthostats from Palace Temple of the Aramaean city of Tell Halaf in northeastern Syria.
The Orthostats depict mythical animals and figures that have magical properties. 9th ct. BCE.
Hittite ‘cosmogram’, from the spring-shrine of Eflatun Pinar. The Storm-god of Hatti and the Sun-goddess of Arinna
(supreme deities of the Hittite pantheon) are framed by symbols of the heavens (winged sun-disks) and the earth
(mountain-gods), while genii and bull-men support the sky. In the outskirts of the Land of Hatti, c. 1200 BCE.