Love and Affection in Hittite Texts

Christiansen, Birgit (2022): Love and Affection in Hittite Texts. In: Sonik, Karen und Steinert, Ulrike (Hrsg.): The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East. London; New York: Routledge. S. 725-738

Abstract

The Hittites conceptualized love and affection in ways that are, in many respects, similar to our own conceptualizations of these emotions. Thus, terms like the verb aššiya- and the related action noun aššiyatar denote different aspects of love (lust, attraction, attachment) that is felt by living beings (mostly humans and gods) for both animate and inanimate entities. As the etymology and attestations show, the focus of these terms is on the positive emotion: the beloved person or object is perceived as good and pleasant. Another important term is the noun genzu-. As suggested by its basic meaning, “abdomen, lap, genitals,” and the overall picture of the evidence, it denotes a love characterized by attachment, kindness, and care both in the relationship between gods and humans, as well as in the relationship between humans and other people or political entities. Its prototype is the love of parents for their children. This is also conveyed by figurative speech and visual representations.

In contrast to common scholarly usage, the translation of genzu as “benevolence,” “kindness,” “caring love” (or the like) might therefore also be preferred over the translation “pity” or “mercy” when it refers to the attitude of deities towards humans. The term is also used by the Hittite kings in order to describe the gods’ attitude towards them and to emphasize their own legitimacy and aptitude for rulership. Outside of religion and politics, caring love is only rarely addressed. Some narratives, however, portray family relationships that are characterized by a lack or excess of love.

• Dokumententyp: Buchbeitrag
• Keywords: Hittite; Hittite language and culture; emotion studies; Ancient Anatolia; social structures; love and affection
• Fakultät: Kulturwissenschaften > Department für Kulturwissenschaften und Altertumskunde > Assyriologie und Hethitologie
• Themengebiete: 400 Sprache > 400 Sprache ; 400 Sprache > 410 Linguistik ; 400 Sprache > 490 Andere Sprachen ; 900 Geschichte und Geografie > 930 Geschichte des Altertums (bis ca. 499), Archäologie
• ISBN: 9780367822873
• Ort: London; New York
• Sprache: Englisch