HİTİTLERDE ÖLÇÜ BİRİMLERİ VE BUNLARIN HİTİT METİNLERİNDE KULLANIMI ÜZERİNE BİR DEĞERLENDİRME
A REVIEW ON THE UNITS OF MEASUREMENT IN HITTITES AND THEIR USAGE IN LAWS, RECORDS AND OTHER TEXTS

Summary/Abstract: The Hittite Kingdom was established in north-central Anatolia, called as “the Hatti Land” in cuneiform tablets in the first half of 17th century BC. The Hittites developed Hittite a great kingdom, centered at Hattuša (Boğazköy in Çorum) including the most part of Anatolian territory and Northern Syria, in a period of 1650-1200 BC. The information about the pecuniary cases regarding persons and the foundations of the Hittite kingdom were given systematically in the Hittite cuneiform texts (a period between 17th-13th centuries BC.). It also seems that the pecuniary transactions in the establishments of the Hittite Kingdom were inspected by professional auditors, and so the data regarding the pecuniary management were recorded at the same time by them. According to the texts, almost everything, which the human-beings needed in daily-life, was priced, and silver was used as an exchange instrument. A number of units of measurement appear in different kinds of Hittite texts. It seems that most of those texts belonged to the Hittite Great Kingdom era (1450-1200 BC). The hiring prices of domestic animals and artifacts were recorded systematically in the Hittite cuneiform documents. It also seems that some punishments could be recompensed with money in the Hittite laws. In some cases, the censuses were carried out living in villages and towns perhaps to know capacity of the people who would work in farms and the lists were recorded on the cuneiform tablets.

• Details
• Contents