Neo-Hittite Kingdoms

  General Description   After Hattusa was destroyed by fire ending the New Kingdom period of the Hittites ^[1] elements of the Hittite civilization lingered in peripheral areas of the former kingdom ^[1] which included the Konya Plain region. The primary region of the Syro-Hittite kingdoms was however in Syria. The small states lasted for almost 500 years and were culturally and politically prominent from c900 BCE until the last of them fell to the Assyrian king Sargon II between 717-708 BCE. ^[1] The cultural links between these kingdoms and the Late Bronze Age Hittite Empire can be seen in the iconography and architecture. ^[2]
In the 1180-900 BCE post-Empire period the region reorganized into city-states. ^[3] The earliest written records suggest there was no kind of federation, "each was entirely independent from the others, each had its own autonomous ruler." ^[4] The label ’Neo-Hittite’ applies to 15 states spread through south-eastern Anatolia and northern Syria. ^[5] Those present in the area around or on the Konya Plain were the following: Pisidia; Pamphylia; Lycaonia; Tabal; Cilicia (Hilakku and Que). ^[6]
Although there was some continuity with the preceding period major cultural changes occurred in the Neo-Hittite era. According to Bryce (2012) "Hittite cuneiform disappeared entirely. There is not the slightest trace of it in any of the Iron Age successor-kingdoms of the Hittites. One might reasonably suppose that along with the disappearance of the written language, Nesite also disappeared as a spoken one." ^[7] Although we do not have any historical records associated with this epoch, historians have speculated that the society of this era used the Hieroglyphic Luwian language. ^{[8] [9]} I. Yakibovich has suggested that the core area of Luwian population was located in central Anatolia, in the region of the Konya Plain. ^[10]
Many Neo-Hittite rulers took the titles "Great King" and "Hero" and it is likely an administrative centre existed in the central town. ^[11] At the better known Neo-Hittite site of Carchemish, in western Anatolia, a central bureaucracy is known which had scribes, clerks and other officials ^[12] ; although "Carchemish and probably Malatya apparently continued from their Late Bronze Age predecessors with little or no interruption" ^[13] which might not be the case for other lesser-known polities of the Neo-Hittite states.

[1]: (Bryce 2002, 9) T Bryce. 2002. Life and Society in the Hittite World. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Bryce 2012, 47) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[3]: (Thuesen 2002, 43) I Thuesen. 2002. "The Neo-Hittite City-States" in Mogens, H H ed. A Comparative Study of Six City-state Cultures: An Investigation, Volume 27. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.

[4]: (Bryce 2012, 52) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[5]: (Bryce 2012, 2) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[6]: (Bryce 2012, 32) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[7]: (Bryce 2012, 16) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[8]: (Popko 1999, 93-111) M Popko. 1999. Ludy i języki starożytnej Anatolii. Wydawnictwo Akademickie Dialog. Warszawa. pp.93-111

[9]: (Van de Mieroop 2008, 207) M Van de Mieroop. 2008. Historia starożytnego Bliskiego Wschodu ok. 3000-323 p.n.e. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. Kraków.

[10]: (Bryce 2012, 17) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[11]: (Bryce 2012, 80) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[12]: (Bryce 2012, 54) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[13]: (Bryce 2012, 63) T Bryce. 2012. The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.