and dressing them in clean garments on a daily basis, as well as
providing them with food and drink.
Yet cleanliness was not only associated with godliness in the
Hittite world. It was also associated with kingliness. Those assigned
to looking after a king’s physical needs were obliged to ensure that
His Majesty was kept free of all forms of contamination, both
physical and moral. Indeed the two were closely linked. Among
other things, this meant a scrupulous check on what the king was
given to eat and drink. Those who brought him water were required
to strain it of all impurities before presenting it to him. Even the
least oversight could have the most serious consequences. On one
occasion the king discovered, to his horror, a hair in his water bowl.
In response to his right royal outburst of fury, his terror-stricken
attendants quickly identified the person allegedly responsible.
He was subjected to some kind of ordeal (unknown to us) to
establish his guilt or innocence.‘If he’s guilty,’declared the king,‘he
must die! But if he’s found innocent, then let him go and clean
himself up!’^2 Modern food inspectors would have similar concerns
if they found traces of human (or animal) hair in food produced in
commercial outlets–though the penalties now imposed for such
infractions are rather less drastic than the Hittite ones.
Concerns about hygiene in food preparation and bodily
cleanliness as demonstrated at the highest levels of Hittite society
were no doubt reflected at lower levels as well. And bathing to
remove all forms of pollution (including‘pollution’resulting from
sexual intercourse, even when practised licitly) may have been a
regular occurrence, especially among those in close contact with the
king and those who had priestly duties. (More on this inChapter
15.)Of course in a city like Hattusa which had a relatively small
population and an abundant water-supply, bathing was no great
chore.
Indeed, it must have been seen as one of the important means of
warding off infection from diseases after contact with persons or
objects already infected. The Hittites were well aware that diseases
could be contracted from other persons already suffering from
them, or even by having contact with objects the infectees had
handled or clothes they had worn. They had no means of knowing
HEALTH,HYGIENE AND HEALING 119