THE LAWS OF THE HITTITES

MAIA GAMBASHIDZE; EREKLE ASTAKHISHVILI

MAIA GAMBASHIDZE Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Ass. Prof. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1008-2869
EREKLE ASTAKHISHVILI Free University, Tbilisi, Prof. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3886-3878

Abstract

Here are presented the Georgian translation and comments of the Hittite laws.

The Hittites were one of the oldest Indo-European inhabitants of present-day Turkey, living in central Anatolia.

They appeared at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC and created a strong military state. Many Hittite cuneiform clay tablets have been found in the capital of the Hittites, Hattusa/Boghazköi. Of particular note are the collections of laws. Several versions of them belong to different periods: 4 copies of the text date back to the pre-imperial Period (ca. 1650–1500 BC) and we also have copies of the Empire Period (1500–1180 BC). The old Hittite text seems to have been performed not only to modernize the archaic Hittite language, but also to have some legislative amendments made by the editors. If we look at these changes, punishment is simplified almost everywhere - corporal punishment is replaced by fines.

Keywords: Hittites, Laws, Asia Minor, Ancient Middle East, Hittitology, Assyriology