Theo van den Hout
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden: Taffeh Hall
Compared to their peers in Egypt or Mesopotamia, Hittite kings of Late Bronze Age Anatolia (ca. 1650-1200 BC) are surprisingly reticent when it comes to their military achievements and their personal prowess in battle. Pharaohs, Assyrian and Babylonian kings go overboard in portraying themselves as ruthless and seasoned warriors, single-handedly slaying throngs of enemies. Hittite rulers hardly talk about warfare other than saying that a battle took place. This lecture will explore why this was the case, what role royal ideology might have played, and if this attitude is linked to the modern reputation of Hittite kings being relatively ‘humane.’
Theo van den Hout is Professor of Hittite and Anatolian Languages, and former Interim Director of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) at the University of Chicago.
Illustration: Relief of Suppiluliuma II in the Hieroglyph Chamber in Hattusa, Turkey (photo via Wikimedia Commons).
The Veenhof Lecture 2024 will be held as a hybrid event. Please join us!
The Veenhof Lecture is organized every November by the Netherlands Institute for the Near East in cooperation with the National Museum of Antiquities. Named after Prof. K.R. Veenhof (1935-2023) and honouring his contributions to Assyriology, the annual lecture is aimed at colleagues and students, as well as a broader public. The speaker is an internationally renowned scholar. All are welcome to attend the lecture.
De Veenhof-lezing werd in mei 2002 in het leven geroepen, naar aanleiding van het afscheid van professor Klaas Veenhof (1935-2023) als hoogleraar talen en geschiedenis van Babylonië en Assyrië aan de Universiteit Leiden. De lezing wordt jaarlijks georganiseerd door het NINO i.s.m. het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Alle geïnteresseerden zijn van harte uitgenodigd.
Spreker: prof. Theo van den Hout, hoogleraar Hettitische en Anatolische talen en voormalig interim-directeur van het Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) van de University of Chicago.