09 – 10/2012     
Archaeological fieldwork led by Prof. Dr. J. Eidem at Tell Shemshara, Iraq.

2011 – 2012     
Secretary 58e Rencontre d'Assyriologique Internationale, held at Leiden University (16-20 July).

2009 – 2012     
M.A. in Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Civilisations' (Research master), specialization: Assyriology, at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

2009 – 2010     
Treasurer Committee DUSANE IV (DUtch Symposium of the Ancient Near East), held 27 March 2010 at Leiden University.

2005 – 2009     
B.A. in 'Talen en Culturen van Mesopotamië en Anatolië', at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

Persuading the Divine: The Emergence and Development of Hittite Prayers

This Ph.D. thesis investigated the composition and rhetoric of Hittite prayers. Different aspects of how speech is used in prayers to direct the attention of the addressed deity in such a way that he/she will grant the presented requests were examined. A special focus was on the different textual elements that can be identified in the prayers, their organisation and function within the texts, and the use of older prayers to compose new ones.

Hittite prayers (ca. 1500-1200 BCE) were found in the ancient Hittite capital Ḫattuša (modern Boğazkale/Boğazköy). The so-called personal prayers are with few possible exceptions written for the Hittite king. They were generally composed for one specific occasion as is clear from references to specific historical events. This means that they cannot easily be reused at a later moment. Nonetheless at least two prayers were combined to create the prayer of Muršili II to the Sun-goddess of Arinna concerning plague and enemies. The composition of this text and two closely related prayers forms a large part of the study.

The structures of these three texts and the rhetorical strategies that they employ were examined, as well as how the three prayers relate to each other. In addition their interrelationships with other prayers and recitations within rituals provide was explored to reconstruct a textual history of Muršili’s prayer to the Sun-goddess of Arinna and its related prayers. Another case study concerned the rhetorical function of proverbs in prayers.

Results

The research shows that even though the Hittite prayers may seem rather free compositions tailored to a specific event, there are some principles after which the composers structured these texts. They tried to compose a text with a powerful rhetoric that would certainly persuade the addressed deity to help the supplicant and grant his requests. Older prayers were occasionally used as a source of inspiration.

This dissertation project was successfully completed within the Research Group C-1 Deixis and frames of reference: Strategies of perspectivation in language, text, and image of the Excellence Cluster 264 Topoi.