Papers by Birgit Christiansen
Journal of the American Oriental Society
Prozessrecht und Eid: Recht und Rechtsfindung in antiken Kulturen. Teil 1. Edited by Heinz Barta,... more Prozessrecht und Eid: Recht und Rechtsfindung in antiken Kulturen. Teil 1. Edited by Heinz Barta, Martin Lang, and Robert Rollinger. Philippika, vol. 86.1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2015. Pp. xiii + 240. €56 (paper).
Sprachliche, gesellschaftliche und religiöse Aspekte hethitischer Fluch-, Segens- und Eidesformel... more Sprachliche, gesellschaftliche und religiöse Aspekte hethitischer Fluch-, Segens- und Eidesformeln Fluch-, Segens- und Eidesformeln bilden in der hethitischen Kultur ebenso wie in anderen Kulturen des Altertums einen festen Bestandteil verschiedener offizieller und ritualisierter Situationen und finden in dieser Form ihren schriftlichen Niederschlag unter anderem in Staatsverträgen, Treueiden, Instruktionen, Ritualvorschriften und Briefen. Durch ihre bindende und schicksalsbestimmende Kraft dienen sie dazu, Normen unter und gegenüber Menschen und Göttern zu etablieren und zu festigen. In dieser Monographie werden die hethitischen Belege innerhalb ihrer jeweiligen Kontexte untersucht, wobei sowohl sprachliche als auch gesellschaftliche und religiöse Gesichtspunkte berücksichtigt werden. Ein Kernstück der Studie stellt neben der philologischen Bearbeitung der relevanten Textpassagen die sprachliche Detailanalyse der Formeln dar, die anhand eines für diesen Zweck entwickelten Klassifik...
The article presents an overview of the Hittite terms for strings, cords and similar objects (e.g... more The article presents an overview of the Hittite terms for strings, cords and similar objects (e.g. (kus.)ishima, (kus)ishiman(a)- (= sum. KU, akk. eblu), (sig.)pittula-, (sig.)suil-, sig.istagga(i)-, hanzana-, (uzu.)kapina-) their production and their various uses, esp. in Hittite magic and ritual
The study is concerned with the Hittites’ juridical principles of punishment and their historical... more The study is concerned with the Hittites’ juridical principles of punishment and their historical development. The analysis focuses on the casuistic Hittite Law Code, which is extant in multiple versions from different periods of Hittite history. Over time, some aspects of the sanctions saw fundamental changes, and already the Old Hittite version refers to older provisions which have been replaced by the current regulations. The study’s core interest is in which transgressions incurred which punishments in what degree of severity and in how far specific principles and systems of values can be gleaned from this data. The study qualifies the general scholarly consensus by showing that many propositions of Hittite law are based on the law of talion. It was further demonstrated that the severity of the penalty imposed for homicide and certain kinds of bodily harm depends on whether the deed was committed intentionally, which is expressed by the Hittite word sullanaz, or on impulse, whic...
Sr te FALLO SCIENS, feriat me [ita] Jupiter vltor, Dicebat pangens foedera ROMA vetus. Wenn ich w... more Sr te FALLO SCIENS, feriat me [ita] Jupiter vltor, Dicebat pangens foedera ROMA vetus. Wenn ich wi ssentlich täusche. Wenn ich dich wissentlich täusche, soll der rächende Jupiter mich treffen, sagte das alte Rom, wenn sie Verträge schlossen. Das Bild erinnert an das Ritual, das das Opfer eines Schweins zur Bekräftigung des Eides vorS< lh. Der Stein, der zur Tötung diente, wurde dann unter Aussprechen des Eid-Formulars weggeworfen. Vgl. auch den Beitrag von Walter Burkert im vorliegenden Band. Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http// dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Gedruckt auf umweltfreundlichem, chlorfrei gebleichtem und alterungsbeständigem Papier.
Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 2005
Der Band beinhaltet die Akten einer Internationalen Konfe renz zvm Thema ,,Magic and Divination",... more Der Band beinhaltet die Akten einer Internationalen Konfe renz zvm Thema ,,Magic and Divination", die im Februar 1,994 unter der Schirmherrschaft der ,,Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology" und dem ,,Department of Near Eastern Studies" an der Universität von Kalifornien in Berkeley statdand. Damit wurde eine im August 1992 in Lawrence, Kansas, abgehaltene Konfe renz z;rm Thema Magie in der antiken Welt fortges etzt, wobei hier der Divination und ins-14 Der auf Taf. 19 abgebildete und als Herodesporträt gedeutete Kopf findet sich nur in einem kurzen Nebens atz (14) erwähnt. Indes übersieht A. Strobelauch in seinem Artikel von 1995dass die nunmehr in der Eremitage in St. Petersburg befindliche Skulprur als Bildnis des Hadrian aus der Mitte des 2. Jh. t. Chr. gedeutet wird.
Over the Mountains and Far Away: Studies in Near Eastern history and archaeology presented to Mirjo Salvini on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 2019
Beyt'a Mêzînê A Trace of the Qur'anic Influence on the Yezidi Oral Religious Tradition.
Liturgie oder Literatur?, Jul 1, 2016
This article discusses the function and the "Sitz im Leben" of the Hittite festival texts, which ... more This article discusses the function and the "Sitz im Leben" of the Hittite festival texts, which are still a matter of debate. To examine the arguments' cogency the festival texts are analysed in form and content. Further, similar texts from present-day culture (such as the Missale Romanum of the Roman Catholic church and the agenda of the coronation ceremonies of Queen Elisabeth II) are compared to the Hittite sources. Based on this it is argued that the Hittite festival texts served more than one purpose. In order to ensure the proper conduct of the festivals and the rites pertaining to it the Hittite festival texts most probably were designed as liturgical agenda and teaching material of the festival's main agents. Thus, they also ensured efficient control over the various cult practices and their underlying organisational and administrative processes. Since several copies of them were kept in the archives for long periods of time which the scribes recopied by and then, they also guaranteed the perpetuation of the festivals and the handing down of their tradition from generation to generation. Wer sich einen Überblick über die hethitischen Feste sowie die über sie auskunftgebenden Texte verschaffen möchte, wird möglicherweise über die divergierenden Bestimmungen von Inhalt, Form und Funktion der Texte in der Forschungsliteratur erstaunt sein. Nach Meinung der Mehrzahl der Hethitologen, die sich zu der Fragestellung bislang geäußert haben, handelt es sich um präskriptive Texte, die als Anleitungen zur Ausführung der Festzeremonien dienten. Als Vertreter dieser These sind unter anderem
Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte / Journal for Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Law, 2018
Einen Hinweis auf die Kollektivhaftung sieht Haase allerdings "in der Tatsache ..., daß der Hausv... more Einen Hinweis auf die Kollektivhaftung sieht Haase allerdings "in der Tatsache ..., daß der Hausvater berechtigt ist, eine in "Köpfen" bestehende Buße nicht nur in Form seiner persönlichen Sklaven, sondern in deren Ermangelung auch durch Familienangehörige zu leisten". Der von ihm dafür angeführte §19a ist diesbezüglich jedoch unklar und verfügt wohl eher generell die Konfiszierung des Vermögens des Schuldners. Siehe dazu Hoffner 1997, 30 und 180-181.
Un esempio di comunicazione non verbale nei testi ittiti: il cenno con gli occhi .
Change, Order, Remembrance. Crisis and Religion in the Ancient Near East. Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 18 th EASR Conference, Pisa, August 30th – September 3rd 2021, 2025
The present article addresses the important role that oracular procedures played at the Hittite r... more The present article addresses the important role that oracular procedures played at the Hittite royal court as a means of preventing and managing crises. First, the procedures and their significance in different contexts will be described. Second, two very similar oracular texts, each dealing with the king’s place of residence during winter and the dangers he might face there, will be compared with each other (CTH 563 KUB 5.4+ and KUB 5.3+). The texts will be presented in parallel in order to show their relationship with each other. On the basis of formal and content-related criteria, it will be argued that the two texts are presumably records of different teams of experts who conducted their oracles separately from each other in order to achieve greater certainty about the dangers that might threaten the king. Since the outcomes of the oracular inquiries, insofar as they are noted or preserved in both texts, agree in both texts, it will furthermore be discussed to what extent the oracles may have been manipulated. Based on the examination of the two texts, it will also be asked why the Hittites for centuries evidently regarded oracles as an effective means of preventing and overcoming crises. In doing so, the oracles will be viewed from the perspective of modern resilience research.
Luwic dialects and Anatolian, Inheritance and diffusion, ed. Ignasi-Xavier Adiego, José Virgilio García Trabazo, Mariona Vernet, Bartomeu Obrador-Cursach, Elena Martínez Rodríguez,BARCINO MONOGRAPHICA ORIENTALIA Volume 12, 2019
The purpose of the present article is to provide editions of all inscriptions and fragments of in... more The purpose of the present article is to provide editions of all inscriptions and fragments of inscriptions that are neither included in Neumann 1979 nor the online corpus published by Melchert in 2001. 1 As far as possible or appropriate, the texts will be presented in transliteration, translation, and commentaries. This applies both to the inscriptions that have already been published by other scholars and to those that I have been entrusted with for publication.
Beyond All Boundaries: Anatolia in the First Millennium BC, edited by Annick Payne et al., Peeters Publishers, 2021
The aim of the present paper is to re-examine some linguistic and archaeological criteria for the... more The aim of the present paper is to re-examine some linguistic and archaeological criteria for the dating of Lycian inscriptions and Lycian tombs that have been suggested in previous studies. The analysis is based on a palaeographic survey, the results of which were presented in an earlier paper (Christiansen in press). As linguistic criteria, the accusative ending -ã and -u and the so-called atli ehbi formula are reviewed. In addition, it will be asked to what extent the design of the burial chambers can be used for the dating of Lycian inscriptions. As a result of the study, it will be shown that none of the criteria examined allows reliable dating. In particular, the occurrence of the atli ehbi formula and the chamber design are not very informative for the dating of the inscriptions. The accusative ending -u is more revealing. But since it is already attested in inscriptions from the first half of the 4 th century, and the -ã accusative remained in use in the subsequent period, it is not possible to determine from the accusative form alone whether an inscription dates from the time before the middle of the 4 th century or the following period. At best, the various criteria can be used in combination with other dating criteria. It should be noted, however, that apart from the text-internal dating information, all criteria remain uncertain.
The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East, ed. Karen Sonik – Ulrike Steinert, 2022
The Hittites conceptualized love and affection in ways that are, in many respects, similar to our... more 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.
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Papers by Birgit Christiansen
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.