HİTİT KÜLTÜRÜNDE ÇEKİRGELER

Year 2019, Issue: 25, 77 - 84, 01.03.2019

Fatma Kaynar

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the place of locusts in Hittite culture by comparing the Mesopotamian and Egyptian samples. Locusts appear in the Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts as an expression of multiplicity or in texts including locust invasions. In Hittite documents, the word is written with its Sumerian equivalent, BURU5, or Hittite equivalent maša-. The documents that include the expression locust are letters, prayers, ritual texts, mythological texts and omens. It is commonly seen to be included in religious texts. In addition, a letter mentioning that Kaškaeans’ grain was eaten by locusts is the only document in the Hittite archives that shows the concrete example of locust invasion. The less frequent mention of invasions suggests that documents mentioning them may have been written on wooden tablets.

Keywords

Locust, BURU5, Hittite, Anatolia, Invasion

LOCUSTS IN THE HITTITE CULTURE

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the place of locusts in Hittite culture by comparing the Mesopotamian and Egyptian samples. Locusts appear in the Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts as an expression of multiplicity or in texts including locust invasions. In Hittite documents, the word is written with its Sumerian equivalent, BURU5, or Hittite equivalent maša-. The documents that include the expression locust are letters, prayers, ritual texts, mythological texts and omens. It is commonly seen to be included in religious texts. In addition, a letter mentioning that Kaškaeans’ grain was eaten by locusts is the only document in the Hittite archives that shows the concrete example of locust invasion. The less frequent mention of invasions suggests that documents mentioning them may have been written on wooden tablets

Keywords

Locust, BURU5, Hittite, Anatolia, invasion

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