looking about you and you’llfind Hittite symbols on a whole
range of other modern-world stuff, from biscuits to buses.
No doubt you’ll want to learn more about these Bronze Age
forerunners of the Turks, and as a starting point it’s worth checking
out the local bookstores. On my recent visit to Ankara, a bookshop I
explored in a suburban shopping-mall had stacks of publications on
the Hittites, almost outnumbering nearby copies of Dan Brown, Clive
Cussler and other airport bestsellers. The fact that I was at the time
wearing a T-shirt with the word‘Hititleri’(Turkish for‘Hittites’)
stencilled on the front and a procession of 12 armed Hittite gods on
the back earned me a discount on my purchases. And after returning
to my hotel, Ifinished the last of my pieces of Turkish delight, a gift
from a local host presented in an exquisite glass container, its surface
embellished with an encircling row of golden Hittite stags.
In asking me to write about the Hittites, I.B.Tauris editor Alex
Wright said he’d like a book that offers to studentsand general readers
more than just core information on Hittite history and civilisation.
Of course, such information is basic to an understanding of these
‘warriors of Anatolia’. But Alex was also looking for‘something more
daring, less formulaic’,for‘fresh perspectives, new insights’, something
to make the book’s readers think‘in novel and exciting and unexpected
ways about the topics addressed’.I’ve kept this advice in mind while
writing the book. At times, I’ve gone out on a bit of a limb with what
I’ve proposed. And there are times when I’ve asked you, the reader, to
join me. Scattered throughout the book are problems and questions
I’ve invited you to consider. Are you prepared to take up the
invitation? A fresh pair of eyes may just possibly see things that have
escaped the scrutiny of professional scholars.
Anyhow, if youfind my book a bit unconventional and quirky,
I make no apologies. That has been my intention. But let me stress
that I’ve been pretty careful about this. Above all, my book is
intended to provide a reliable introduction to Hittite history and
civilisation, one which touches on many features of the Hittite
world, explores some of them in more depth and proposes a
number of new ideas and approaches to longstanding problems–
all, I hope, within the limits of historical credibility, if not
provability (at least at present).
INTRODUCTION 3