A few weeks ago we discussed how history regularly does not give equal attention to all those who lived in the ancient past. In part, this is because of the limitations of our sources. Not only were the persons who could write back then often part of merely certain societal groups, but it also matters for whom and about whom they could chose to write within the constraints of their profession and world view. In addition there are the vicissitudes of fortune when it comes to which texts were accidently preserved and subsequently discovered, as well as to which texts kept getting copied and circulated throughout the ages.¹ Due to such factors it is difficult to ascertain the lived experience of most women in many eras and areas, for example.² Especially their inner world has often not survived through the written word. Though scholars did make progress in this regard for several different time periods and societies, including the monumental Women of Babylon by the Assyriologist Zainab Bahrani.³ And there is one prominent woman from ancient Anatolia who we may come to know reasonably well. A queen whose caring attitude shines through both the public and private documents pertaining to her: Puduḫepa of Hatti.

Continue reading The Caring Queen: Puduḫepa of Hatti →

Some might say that we live in an age of reboots and remakes.¹ The adjacent need for already known or otherwise established material often leads those working in media-production to the past. As a result, many historical figures have a section about their appearances in popular culture tacked onto their Wikipedia-page, for example.² But there is a lot of potential here, be it pertaining to relatively less famous periods and persons, that still remains untapped. Such is the case with the reigns and other adventures of the Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I and his royal prodigy, who ruled the Kingdom of the Hittites – roughly ancient Anatolia and sometimes parts of Syria – during the fourteenth and thirteenth century BCE.³ These men presided over a period of war, diplomacy, and intrigue that would put the average season of HBO’s famous serial Game of Thrones to shame – and which included court shenanigans in Ancient Egypt, for crying out loud!⁴ So, consider this my unofficial application for Hollywood and join me in summarizing the outline of the greatest television series never made: Warlords of Hatti.

Continue reading Warlords of Hatti: The Greatest Television Series Never Made →