Extant Hittite sources evoke the image of a society “obsessed” with the
celebration of religious festivals. These festivals take place at the
interplay between religion and politics: they reflect a meticulously
organized and maintained system of ceremonies not just aimed at
appeasing the gods and ensuring the prosperity of the realm, but also
used to legitimate and support the rule of the royal elite. In recent
scholarship, it has been suggested that the Hittite empire was a
Geertzian ‘theatre state’, in which festivals reproduced and created
sovereignty (Glatz 2020, 101). My research expands on this idea. I
investigate how Hittite festival performances were orchestrated to
function as a form of impression management, so as to create, negotiate,
and sustain the power of the king and his elite. I develop a
performance-oriented approach, drawing on theory from theater and
performance studies, as well as on performance-oriented scholarship on
the ancient world. This approach adds to our understanding and
appreciation of Hittite performance culture in general and expands our
understanding of the very practicalities of Hittite festival
performances: the ‘how’. Building on my understanding of the ‘how’, I
ultimately look at ‘why’ festivals were performed in particular ways.
That is, I ask what efficacies were pursued in their creation. I survey
and categorize examples from both the material and textual records, such
as the lay-out of the urban landscape of Hattusa, as well as selections
from the AN.TAḪ.SUM and KI.LAM festivals, so as to expose which
cultural behaviors were especially meaningful and in what ways. I argue
that the Hittite toolkit of impression management consisted of different
performance ‘building blocks’, some of which were used with specific
socio-political effects in mind: i.e. emphasizing the status of the
king, creating a sense of community, and constructing social
differentiation. Most striking among these building blocks is the
constant change of performance stages during festival celebrations.
These stage transitions resulted in a fluctuating permeability of the
performance, turning specific events within the festival into
diacritical ceremonies. Despite the existence of large audiences during
some parts of Hittite festival performances, I argue that most of their
socio-political effects were aimed specifically at elite audiences. My
performance-oriented approach reveals how religious festivals functioned
as the fabric of the Hittite ‘theatre of state’ and shows the ways in
which they created political power.
Degree Type
Ph.D.
Content Type
Dissertation
Publication Date
2022-12
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