Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Say Hi to the Hittites

Is is any coincidence that the Turks are promoting the cause of a Palestinian people and also the Hittites?

Press Release

Çorum, 24 March 2011

The Çorum based Hitit University, that has just celebrated its 5th anniversary, announced the establishment of a “Research Center of Hittite Civilization”. The foundation of this center that is affiliated with the Hitit University Rectorate was announced at a panel and a reception at the Anitta Hotel.

...the foundation of such a center would effect the course of Hittite studies in Turkey and Çorum. He pointed out the negligence of Hittitological work in Turkey and compared it with active Hittitological research and publication in Europe and America.

Ünal also gave a long list of goals and duties...
• To research the geography, history, language, art and archeology of Hittite civilization.
• To set up a comprehensive library in which researchers can find every kind of information and secondary publications on the Hittites and lay down an archive of the entire Hittite cuneiform text corpus, which will consist of transliteration and translations.
• To support archeological excavations, surveys, restorations and the reconstruction material remains.
• To plan projects about the Hittite Civilization and to collaborate with other interdisciplinary research programs and cultures such as Hattic, Sumerian, Egyptian, Assyrian, Luwian, Palaic, and Hurrian studies.

Additional information can be found at http://www.hitituygarligi.hitit.edu.tr/

Hitit University, Department of Archaeology, Research Center of Hittite Civilisation
PK 19030 Çorum, Turkey

I have read weirder things.

^

2 comments:

Bill Poser said...

I don't see this as necessarily a bad development. Turkey is the location of the ancient Hittite civilization. It is peculiar that almost all serious study of this civilization should be in the US and Europe. For Turks to develop an interest in an earlier culture could both improve the academic study of the area and represent a recognition of the value the of pre-Islamic/pre-Turkish cultures. I don't see it as having anything to do with Israel.

YMedad said...

a) the Hittites were in Eretz-Yisrael

b) the Pals. claim descent from them and Jebusites and Cannanites.

c) now obvious?