Hittite Objects in the Bronze Age Aegean Eric H. Cline Anatolian Studies, Vol. 41. (1991), Pp. 133-143
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Hittite Objects in the Bronze Age Aegean Eric H. Cline Anatolian Studies, Vol. 41. (1991), pp. 133-143. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0066-1546%281991%2941%3C133%3AHOITBA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 Anatolian Studies is currently published by British Institute at Ankara. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/biaa.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Tue Apr 10 11:20:53 2007 HITTITE OBJECTS IN THE BRONZE AGE AEGEAN* By ERIC H. CLINE University of Pennyslvania Some twenty-three objects in the Bronze Age Aegean have been identified as "Hittite" in previous literature. Scholars investigating the nature of the relations between Hittites and Mycenaeans continue to cite one or more of these objects, although many have since been shown to be of non-Hittite origins. In this paper I propose to reexamine the "authenticity" of the Hittite objects reported within the Bronze Age Aegean. The twenty-three objects in question can readily be grouped as to (A) those which might be and (B) those which are not Central Anatolian Hittite in origin. A. Possible Central Anatolian Hittite 1) A seal impression (Heraklion Museum no. 688B'; P1. XXI a-b) from a stamp seal, found in an MM I or I1 deposit at Phaistos. Crete.' Stamped into the clay, the impression is oval and portrays two antithetical lions posed with a leaf motif between their heads. Good parallels for this scene and type of seal impression come from Karahoyiik in Central Anatolia.? A Central Anatolian origin for the seal used is thus very possible, but it may be of pre-Hittite manufacture. 2) A serpentine or steatite sphinx statuette (Heraklion Museum no. 384; P1. XXI c) was found in a late MM I11 or early LM I tomb context at Ayia Triadha, Crete.' Small, couchant and wingless, with a large circular depression in the centre of its back, this statuette has been the subject of much debate, both in terms of its use and its origins. Parallels can be drawn with Mesopotamian statuettes of similar size, material and style, which appear to have been used as lamps or, less likely, as inkwells.%dditional parallels, primarily the "Hathor curls" framing the face, can also be drawn with the monumental Hittite sphinxes found, for example, at Alaca *The following study represents one aspect of an ongoing investigation of Orientalia in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. Support from the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Schools of Oriental Research, and the U.S. Educational Foundation in Greece is gratefully acknowledged, as is the use of research facilities at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the University of Pennsylvania. N. H. Gale, P. Hommel, C. F. Macdonald, E. Porada and Z. A. Stos-Gale kindly provided information and advice concerning several objects. G. M. Beckman, G. L. Huxley, A. B. Knapp, J. D. Muhly, T. G. Palaima, and C. W. Shelmerdine kindly read and commented upon early drafts of this article. Photographs appear by permission of J. V. Canby, E. B. French, H. G. Giiterbock. P. Hommel, R. Hope Simpson, Sp. E. Iakovidis, M. Martelli, I. Pini, C. Pulak, E. Uzunoglu, the Ecole Fran~aised'Archeologie, the Managing Committee of the British School at Athens, and Macmillan & Co,, Ltd. References cited for each object are not meant to be comprehensive, but rather to illustrate the range of alternate views or opinions put forward by previous scholars. Preliminary versions of this paper were presented in October 1988 at the Institute for Aegean Prehistory in New York and in January 1989 at the First Joint Archaeological Congress in Baltimore, MD (cf. AJA 93 [I9891 272). 'Levi (1957-8) 117-18, f. 299; Megaw (1963) 30, fig. 32; Kenna (1964) 914-15; Pini (1970) 243 (no. 282); Smith (1990) 79. 'Alp (1968) 193-7, abbs. 105-13, Taf. 88-92. 'Paribeni (1904) 749-53, figs. 44-5; Levi (1925-6) 187-8; Rhyne (1970) 133, 137, 300 (no. 134). Wilsson (1950) 368 n. 96, 385-6 n. 60; Karo (1959) 79, abb. 27; Demisch (1977) 65-6, abbs. 96-7, 1 19, 173. 134 ANATOLIAN STUDIES Hoyiik.' However, smaller sphinx statuettes do not seem to be common in the Hittite repertoire. A small (2.5 cm.) couchant sphinx in blue frit, pierced lengthwise through the body, was found at Bokazkoy in a Late Bronze Age level. but it is thought to be an Egyptian. or possibly a Syro-Palestinian, import." Small sphinx figurines are known from LBA contexts elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean, e.g. Syro-Palestine, Egypt and Cyprus, used there as weights. pendants, seals, and occasionally as votive figurines. One should note especially the bronze weight in the shape of a small. couchant and wingless sphinx recently found on the Ka7 shipwreck (KW no. 468; PI. XXI 4.' Rather than being an inkwell or a lamp. as previous scholars have suggested, the Ayia Triadha sphinx should perhaps be seen as a weight, with the depression in the centre of its back originally filled with lead to bring the object to a precise mass. Similar lead-filled haematite and bronze weights have been found on the Ka? shipwreck and at Kalavassos-Ayios Dhimitrios. Cyprus."~ seems most likely that the sphinx statuette at Ayia Triadha is an import from the Eastern Mediterranean or is a Minoan piece based upon Mesopotainian or Egyptian prototypes. A Central Anatolian Hittite or even a Mesopotaillian origin cannot. however, be ruled out. 3) A metal stag rhyton (NMA no. 388; PI. XXII (1) was found in Shaft Grave IV at Mycenae. an LH I context." Rhyta in the shape of four-legged animals with a spout centred on their back have a long history in Anatolia. and stags in particular were considered sacred. While an exact parallel for this rhyton at Mycenae is not readily found, stag statuettes in metal are known from third millennium B.C. contexts at Alaca Hoyuk. and ceramic rhyta in the shape of stags, lions and bulls appear from the 16th century B.C. onwards at various Hittite sites."' It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of the rhyton at Mycenae, for the stag was also favoured in northern nomadic art, i.e. in the Caucausus region. Moreover. ceramic four-legged animal rhyta were also made in Late Bronze Age Cyprus, some of which were exported to the Aegean. and others were made locally in the Aegean itself." The composition of the stag at Mycenae. published by Schliemann as 2.3 silver. 1,3 lead, has been a major factor in the assignation of this piece to Anatolia. However. Dr. Z. A. Stos-Gale has recently conducted new analj~sesof this artifdct and reports that the original analysis apparently was incorrect. The rhyton is not made from a silver-lead alloy. but is "99% silver with about 0,5';0 of gold and no more than 0.2% of lead."" Furthermore. the results of a lead isotope analysis conducted by Dr. Stos-Gale were as follows: 'Evans (1930) 420-5. 427. figs. 286 7: Dessenne (1957) 134-5. pl. XXXV: Warren (1969) 104. hBoehmer (1972) 179, 180, Taf. LXV (no. 1860). 'Pulak (1988) 30-1. f. 37. Pulak cites. with references. additional sphinx figurines found at Byblos and at Enkomi. Tourtois (1983) 117~-30.pl. XVII; South & Todd (1985) 42-3: Pulak (1988) 301. Nilsson (1950) 368 n. 96. 385 n. 60 has previously suggested that this Ayia Triadha sphinx might be a weight. 9Schliemann (1 878) 357. no. 376; Evans ( 1929) 46, f. 36; Karo ( 1930) 94. pl. l 15 16: Dickinson (1977) 53. 8 1. '"See e.g. The Anutoliurl Civilisutiorzs, I(1983) 84. 98-9 for stags at Alaqa Hoyuk. 238 for ceramic bull rhyta from lnandik. C. F. Macdonald (personal conlmunication) has suggested that the Mycenae stag rhyton may have been an heirloom at the time of its burial. 'Jacopi (19301) 329. figs. 76--7: Vermeule (1975) 15. f. 13: Koehl (1990) 353. "Stos-Gale (1985) 73. HITTITE OBJECTS IN THE BRONZE AGE AEGEAN 135 These figures do not match the lead isotope compostion of the few Anatolian lead- silver deposits yet published, nor that of the Laurion mines in Attica. The closest match is with the lead deposits at Kallianou in Euboea, but, according to Dr. N. H. Gale, present analyses of the silver content in these deposits indicates that they are a bit low to have been a credible source of silver for the Mycenaeans.I3 In short, although the best artistic parallels for this stag rhyton at Mycenae are found in Anatolia, a Hittite origin must be seen as only one possibility among many. One cannot rule out European, Caucausian, Cypriot, other Anatolian or even local Aegean manufacture.