Hittite Anatolia (1700-1200 BC) produced the most extensive textual corpus of cult festivals of antiquity. Festivals are also reflected in several archaeological datasets. Both sources are highly relevant to the study of cult practices and religious experience. However, they have never been the object of a systematic comparative investigation. The project The art of the stage in Bronze Age Anatolia (2023-2025) hinges on the analytical integration of texts and images within the framework of current anthropological perspectives on the sensory environment. We plan to explore the role of Hittite festivals as ‘total social facts’ (M. Mauss), creating deeply affective atmospheres. In doing so, we pursue a multiproxy approach, ie, we use multiple lines of proxy evidence simultaneously in a coordinated theoretical framework. The focus is on two intersecting case studies, the festivals of the sacred city of Arinna attested in the Hittite textual record, and the material remains at the site of Alacahöyük (Turkey) which, considered in their broader context and comparative perspective, provide highly representative datasets.
The research program is multiscalar, with three main objectives built on each other: (1) a parallel analysis of the cuneiform texts on the cults of Arinna and the material remains connected with religious activity at Late Bronze Age Alacahöyük, (2) the development of a methodology for the combined study of Hittite written and material evidence and its digital management, with particular regard to terminological interoperability and the analysis of spatial and temporal aspects, and (3) an interdisciplinary reconstruction of Hittite festivals in the city of Arinna and at the site of Alacahöyük. The planned outputs include critical editions of the festivals of Arinna, a detailed reappraisal of the Sphinx Gate of Alacahöyük, an open digital archive for the combined analysis of textual and visual evidence, and a comparative, anthropologically informed analysis of the religious festivals at Arinna and Alacahöyük. Outreach modules targeting education and research will produce a scale model of the Sphinx Gate at Alacahöyük and graphic information panels, to be realized by middle and high schoolers within a dedicated pedagogical program pursued in collaboration with the Museo Orientale Umberto Scerrato and the NPO Maestri di Strada (Naples).
Project Das Corpus der hethitischen Festrituale. Staatliche Verwaltung des Kultwesens im spätbronzezeitlichen Anatolien (German Academy Programme; Philipps-Universität Marburg, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz)
Graduiertenkolleg 2844 Inszenierung religiöser Atmosphäre in antiken Kulturen (Philipps-Universität Marburg)
January 21/2025, 17:00-18:30
Institutional greetings
17:30 Keynote lecture
Ignazio Buttitta (Università degli Studi of Palermo),
Analizzare il simbolismo festivo: una prospettiva storico comparativa (Analyzing Festive Symbolism: A Historical-Comparative Perspective)
January 22/2025
10:00-12:30 Morning session: The visual evidence. Chair: Elena Rova (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
10:15-10:35 Dirk Paul Mielke (University of Münster), Hittite relief pottery: content, contexts and significance
10:45-11:05 Clelia Mora (University of Pavia), Miniature reproductions of stage performances?
11:35-11:55 Tayfun Yıldırım (Ankara University), New thoughts about the scenes depicted in the Alaca Höyük reliefs
12:05-12:30 Round table. Discussant: Marina Pucci (University of Florence)
15:00-18:00 Afternoon session: The textual evidence. Chair: Michele Cammarosano (University of Naples L'Orientale)
15:15-15:35 Andrey Shatskov (University of Naples L'Orientale), The reconstruction of the text of the Great Festival of Arinna (CTH 634)
15:45-16:05 Charles Steitler (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz), Arinna and the Formation of the Itinerant AN.DAḪ.ŠUM Festival
16:30-16:50 Adam Kryszen (Philipps-Universität Marburg), Autumn in Arinna. Religious Topography in Hittite Texts
17:00-17:30 Round table. Discussant: Massimo Maiocchi (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
17:30-18:00 Conclusion and Hands-On Session with KWANZA! digital tool
Ore 9.00
Saluti istituzionali e introduzione
Ore 9:15. Presiede Gioele Zisa
Sebastiano Mannia, Università degli Studi di Palermo - Michele Cammarosano, Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale - Alessandra Gilibert, Università Cà Foscari Venezia, Presentazione del Progetto PRIN 2022 The art of the stage in Bronze Age Anatolia. Reconstructing Hittite festivals using texts, images and comparative cultural anthropological evidence
Ore 10:00 Michael Jursa, Universität Wien, La messa in scena dell’incontro con il divino nella Babilonia dell’età del ferro
Ore 10:30 Lorenzo Verderame, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Tempo e spazio nella celebrazione del capodanno babilonese (akītu)
Ore 11:30 Annunziata Rositani, Università degli Studi di Messina, La misurazione del tempo a Sippar durante il periodo paleo-babilonese: aspetti storici e religiosi
Ore 12:00 Angelo Colonna, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Scenari e riti festivi nell’Egitto protodinastico: paesaggi, performance, società e memoria
Ore 15. Presiede Rosario Perricone
Ignazio Buttitta, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Lo studio dei calendari festivi alla luce del metodo storico-comparativo
Ore 15:30 Alessandro Lupo, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, I calendari indigeni mesoamericani e il cristianesimo: una lunga storia di conflitto, fraintendimento e persistenza
Ore 16:00 Fabio Mugnaini, Università degli Studi di Siena, Festa e patrimonio. Tradizione e politica del festivo in Toscana