Plague Prayers of the Ancient Hittites | Theo van den Hout

Early in the 14th Century BCE, the Hittites faced a twenty year plague. How did these ancient Anatolians deal with pandemics? While the methods may be different, not much has changed.
Join Theo van den Hout, the Arthur and Joanne Rasmussen Professor of Anatolian Languages and Cultures, OI, for a discussion on plague prayers and scapegoating rituals used to combat plague in the ancient Hittite world. Watch part 2, where Theo discusses the political landscape between the Hittites and the Egyptians here: • Episode 2, Plague Pray... .
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Please excuse the audio and video, this podcast was recorded at-home.
2020, Oriental Institute
music: bensound.com

[@briannacooper2628]

How tragic that humans through time would rather misfortune was their fault rather than admit that events are beyond their control or understanding. A fascinating perspective, thank you for your perspective.

[@LTPottenger]

That's part of finding a solution, without that no one would progress.

[@NickvanBast]

Thank you. Wonderful talk.

[@robertfletcher3421]

This is so fascinating.

[@neferchitty]

Fantastic 👏 thank you for this video

[@TomiDeLuna]

Amazing!

[@deathdoor]

Ooooh, this is one I want to watch.

[@enkisonofanu2301]

Very interesting

[@christianfrommuslim]

Interesting how the Egyptian/Hittite curse invokes the gods to assure blessings or curses. This is similar to Deuteronomy's covenant between YWHW and his people. Consider that Moses was educated in Egypt and their culture, wisdom, and customs. This gives context.

[@giuseppefornari5777]

Very nice and clear lecture! Is there a recent published collection of Hittite texts on plagues and ritual remedies as scapegoating?

[@alexgabriel5423]

Prof.Eberhard Zangger who is currently investigating as an archeologist in Anatolia explained the great frieze of Hattuša as a lunar-solar calendar. I hope that explanation was considered as well before this presentation.

[@bubbahubba7238]

Those were some hardass gods!!!

[@augustsonseventy42]

Plague prayers!

[@halaali3158]

What's the name of the hoste plz?

[@turkayaydin4662]

Nice topic we still talk about how the plague diminished the first state in Anatolia

[@JohnMisdreavous]

by the voice/ accent alone you can tell he was the one who commentated that hitite doc with jeremy irons hahaha

[@romusromulus]

Latest archeological evidence has shown hitite extent was on Thrace,phalestine, eastern turkey through Van, and possible all the west cost of Anatolia.

[@CallmeXtina80]

it hasn't

[@User14949]

I am From North KURDISTAN. The area of the Hetites. I speak the modern form of the Hetites language KURDİSH

[@VegasUte]

Best guess is the Hittite Plague was caused by Tularemia.

[@elmersbalm5219]

Any signs of human sacrifice?

[@jari2018]

Young people dont wash hands then and now -they dont belive in dying since only old die thus there ia nothing for them to care about

[@pthaloblue100]

Humans, shifting blame since the 14th Century BCE. Great topic, thanks for posting this video.

[@deathdoor]

It's unfair to say this. At the time they had no knowledge about how diseases work and spread, at the same time that they really believe gods were real and had power.

[@kyarimaresuki]

@@deathdoor Yes, I am a little surprised by so much discussion of blame. The man clearly didn't know what to do, what he did (or maybe there was political risk in saying he must have been wrong about something?) and wanted the gods to know. It would have been frustrating, especially as the true cause wouldn't be understood more close to our own lifetime.

[@christosvoskresye]

It didn't work. They still got Erdogan.

[@naelair]

the plague continues!

[@Rossion64]

(genuine) lol

[@archaichistory]

What a shame comment! Not all people are same in Turkey. Also Turkish people and Hittite People are the most different people. If you study humanities just read more please because this is very big anachronism.

[@JacquesMare]

😁😆😁😄😄😁

[@shwanakreii4032]

You say hati...I am wondering have you done any research on the word Hati and where it come from or what it means?

[@turkayaydin4662]

Not Hati, Hatti. They were the first occupants of Anatolia and their culture affected Hittites from state to daily life.

[@shwanakreii4032]

@@turkayaydin4662 no ..that is what you want to call them ..they are hati and it means the comers

[@User14949]

@@shwanakreii4032 yes you are right. This is the same in Kurdish language. Hatti - Hetites language is the proto Kurdish language

[@altinksart]

De Troy vos under hittats bat vat kain of art plitcol sytem vos Troy under en vatt kain of gods du Troy bliv in rond 1300 bc.

[@brinx8634]

I thought it said, "The Hittite League Players". I miss TV sports.

[@deathdoor]

They tried washing their hands?

[@gard7662]

Gas how they keep comparing plague to covid. Did plague have a 0.01% death rate too?🤣

[@uydudanbak]

Which god :) they made their life so complicated.. They were the same guys now

[@keikairin2038]

You do realize that the Hittites were borrowing from the Scythians right? The carvings they claimed had the same outfits, the same technologies and the same artwork / traditions as their peoples. Scythians were a female dominated society, and the Hittites were the men folks who didn't respect their women, thought it was ok to claim their stuff. The 'Noah' myth proves these peoples landed on someone else's lands. Their lands flooded. Probably Eridu. The Sumerian flood was around 1600 BC. They came back NORTH during that event. Gobleki Tepe and other underground cities in Turkey came first. Perhaps these Luwians...were pre-cursors to the Scythians. Probably they were also precursors to the Sumerians. They had an Indo-European language though. Nobody wants them to be first though. Sorry guys they were. Gobleki Tepe - 9500BC Mesoamerica - 7000BC (these folks moved to the other half of the world to settle in Central America) Starcevo - 6400BC

[@otherguylb5629]

Isn't it really possible that the king had not done anything wrong? It's not like Christianity - where Christians sin freely and are sure their God will forgive them anyway. Hittites, I am sure, followed their own laws very well, and I would also have been desperate and even angry if my Gods punished me after obeying their laws. :) Hittites had sense of justice, unlike many people, thus they were not satisfied when they god punished even after following the laws.

[@alexgabriel5423]

More text of the Hittites rather than inuendos to the current situation. It would look more respectable and closer to the interests of the viewers. That s why a Thumbs Down is appropriate.

[@devogrant2817]

Long storey short the Africans /Egptians, put a curse on the Anotolians???

[@deathdoor]

I think that after the Kadesh the Hittite kingdom became friends with Egypt and they receive some help of food and other things.

[@turkayaydin4662]

Devo as far as i know so many people had died that there was no one to be infected that is how the plague ended

[@devogrant2817]

@@turkayaydin4662 I am not saying that i am one hundred percent right , you have put forth a valid point and i take that on board . it's just that life experience and historical perspective are often never as straight forward,as the narrative woud appeare ...

[@christianfrommuslim]

Isn't it that they brought the curse upon themselves by violating the agreement?

[@cherylnagy126]

continue to use Auto-Generated Transcripts which are completely incomprehensible -- rendering these Videos useless