The Hittites Serve Their Gods

Abstract

In the universe of the Hittites, humans had but a single duty—to serve their deities by providing them with sustenance, praise, and entertainment. This responsibility was organized by the king (T/Labarna), who functioned as both the overseer of his subjects and their representative before their divine masters. On the one hand, in return for their loyal support, the men and women of Hatti received from their gods the boons of agricultural and pastoral plenty, victory in battle, and long years and good health. On the other hand, negligence in regard to the pantheon could result in chastisement in the form of drought, plague, barrenness, military defeat, etc. The cuneiform archives recovered from the Hittite capital and increasingly from provincial cities were compiled precisely to facilitate the supervision by the monarch and his entourage of the performance of the duties of the human community. Most numerous among these texts are programs for the ceremonies of the regular state cult, whose contents provide a detailed picture of the attention required by and accorded to the gods and goddesses of the Hittites.