Distorted Reflections? Writing in the Late Bronze Aegean in the Mirror of Anatolia

Abstract

Archaeological evidence shows that contacts between the two regions existed from at least the Neolithic period onwards. The most eloquent demonstration hereof are probably the clay stamps, or pintaderas as they are often called. Clay stamps from Neolithic sites in Central Europe, the Balkans, northern Greece, and Anatolia as well as seals and stamps from Early Bronze Age sites in the Aegean, Anatolia, and the Near East show some striking similarities. They share the same motifs and designs (notably zig-zags, spirals, and concentric circles) and shapes, such as the foot-shaped amulets that are found in all regions (Makkay 1984;Younger 1987 Younger [revised 2009]; Skeates 2007).Contacts continued in the Middle Bronze Age, and are especially well attested for the Late Bronze Age, the period which is the focus of this research. Archaeological evidence shows that there were well-established relations between the Aegean and western Anatolia (see e.g., Beckman e.a. 2011: 267-268, Cline 2014: 70-72, Niemeier 2008). Archaeological confirmation for contacts between the Aegean and central Anatolia is less evident, but not absent: there are incidental finds of Mycenaean objects in the Hittite capital Ḫattuša/Boğazköy and of Hittite objects in the Aegean.2 Further, the painted plaster remains discovered in Ḫattuša show links to Mycenaean paintings with respect to their iconography as well as the techniques used (Brysbaert 2008: 102; Müller-Karpe 2003: 392-393). Thaler ( 2007) has pointed out the architectural parallels between Hattuša and Mycenae, and Blackwell (2014) has convincingly argued that the Lion Gate of Mycenae was probably made by Hittite tools and techniques. This all implies the exchange of knowledge and experts.The most overwhelming evidence for contact, however, comes from the clay tablets found in Ḫattuša. Some 30 texts mention the Aḫḫiyawa, which are to be identified with the Mycenaean Greeks (see recently Beckman e.a. 2011). The texts confirm the Mycenaean presence in West Anatolia and reveal that diplomatic contacts between the Hittite king and the king of Aḫḫiyawa existed. This king of Aḫḫiyawa, whose name is not preserved, is called 'Great King' by the Hittite king, a title which was reserved for the rulers of the great powers of that time.