Preface

Hittite Scribal Schools Outside of Hattusa?

“…The main find-spots are in rooms 8 and 9 of the citadel and the columned hall beside these, thus indicating that the tablets were probably kept on an upper floor from which they fell 22 . Little can be said about the distribution 23 . The majority of the administrative texts were found in room 8 and in the columned hall outside 24 .…”

“…Little can be said about the distribution 23 . The majority of the administrative texts were found in room 8 and in the columned hall outside 24 . This is possibly enough to indicate that there was originally an order of some kind, but we are unlikely to ever know what it was.…”

“…van den Hout to demonstrate the tight archival and thus most likely chronological coherence of the Maşat epistolary corpus 56 . A specific breakdown of the distribution of the addressees of the postscripta is additionally useful, as it shows a distinct bias (figure 2).…”

“…We know that Tarhunmiya had a house in Maşat, as several letters attest to the damage being done to it in his absence by the locals, a correspondence sometimes referred to as the "Tarhunmiya Affair" 57 . Apparently the local administration is imposing sahhan and luzzi taxes on the property, people are using his chariot and breaking it, things are not going well.…”

“…In the late Middle Hittite period the genre of letter-writing using cuneiform on clay appears to be far more widespread than it is in the Empire period. Dignitaries and officials of the Hittite state wrote to each other on a range of issues including personal ones, although these are usually restricted to the so-called piggy-back letters, or postscripta, which accompany the main letter 19 . However, I would maintain that the practice of writing even in these contexts is conditioned by the direct proximity of said individuals to royal circles and their engagement in military or civil activities with a broad royal mandate.…”