The Hittites were an Indo-European civilization in Anatolia during the middle to late Bronze Age, spanning the period from approximately 1700-1400 BCE. Their discovery is relatively “recent” as far as history and archaeology goes, having been identified in the mid 19th-century. The name “Hittite” is anachronistic, taken from a Biblical term that included such individuals as Uriah, and for a people that had a king that was equated to that of Egypt. To the Hittites themselves, they were the People of the Land of Hatti, and their capital was Hattusa, which is located near the modern Turkish city of Boğazkale. At their height, they were one of the largest empires in the Bronze Age, alongside Babylonia and Egypt.

For the initial study, I focused on two complete ensembles. One based on the Hüseyindede vases, and the other on depiction of women from orthostates. They will be referred to as the “dancer” and the “noblewoman” respectively. All garments are constructed from minimal materials and seams, utilizing loom width for maximum efficiency. I attempted to source materials that were naturally dyed, or at least, passable within those palettes. Linen was substituted for wool for cost reasons, as fine, lightweight woolens can be prohibitively expensive, and the natural flax and bleached linens would have been an option, if not a potential luxury. These can always be upgraded in the future when funding becomes available, but for the initial study, my goals were to emulate appearance and shapes, and not letting perfect be the enemy of the good. Please visit my website linked below for a more complete view and documentation regarding this exciting project.

I have just started to scratch the surface with Hittite dress, and I know that my work in this area of study is far from over. I do hope that the early observations I’ve been able to construct are helpful to some, and can assist in furthering the study in Bronze Age Anatolian dress. I look forward into moving into the next stage of this project, which includes purple-dyed wool/linen blend for a royalty impression to add to this collection, and additional jewelry, and embellishment included bezants, or metal ornaments attached to garments. I am excited about this new avenue in my career as a dress historian, and hope that this path continues to become beneficial.

Trimaris Royal University 2020 class video: "Experimental Reconstruction of Hittite Dress"

Full project write-up and documentation at Magistrissa Anna's website