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The Hittite military oath ( CTH 427) is a Hittite text on two
The text is in Old Hittite, with some scribal errors of the later copyists, and prescribes the oath to be taken by military commanders. More precisely, it describes a series of symbolic actions intended to represent the afflictions that should befall the oath-takers should they break their word.
On one occasion, for example, women's clothing, a spindle and an arrow is brought before those swearing their allegiance. The arrow is broken, and they are told that should they break their oath, their weapons should likewise be broken, and they should be made women and given women's tasks. Then, a blind and deaf woman is brought before them, and they are told that if they break their word, they will be made blind and deaf women like this one.
Then, a figurine of a person suffering from
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge- ...
tablets.
The first tablet is only preserved in fragments (KBo XXI 10, KUB XL 13, and minor fragments), the second tablet survives in three copies, and can be restituted almost completely. The oldest copy (KUB XL 13) is fragmentary, but two younger copies (KUB XL 16, KBo VI 34) are well preserved.
Description
The text is in Old Hittite, with some scribal errors of the later copyists, and prescribes the oath to be taken by military commanders. More precisely, it describes a series of symbolic actions intended to represent the afflictions that should befall the oath-takers should they break their word.
On one occasion, for example, women's clothing, a spindle and an arrow is brought before those swearing their allegiance. The arrow is broken, and they are told that should they break their oath, their weapons should likewise be broken, and they should be made women and given women's tasks. Then, a blind and deaf woman is brought before them, and they are told that if they break their word, they will be made blind and deaf women like this one.
Then, a figurine of a person suffering from ascites
Ascites is the abnormal build-up of fluid in the abdomen. Technically, it is more than 25 ml of fluid in the peritoneal cavity, although volumes greater than one liter may occur. Symptoms may include increased abdominal size, increased weight, a ...
is brought before them, and they are told that should they break their word, their bellies should swell with water, and the deities of the oath should eat their offspring (seed) within their bellies.
The deities of the oath repeatedly invoked with the Akkado-Sumerian spelling ''NIŠ DINGIR'' (representing Hittite ''lengai-'') are identified with the goddess of treaties Ishara
Ishara (Išḫara) was the tutelary goddess of the ancient Syrian city of Ebla. The origin of her name is unknown. Both Hurrian and West Semitic etymologies have been proposed, but they found no broad support and today it is often assumed that ...
and the moon god Kaskuh.
To these simile
A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors c ...
s, those swearing agree, saying "so be it". Oath-taking as conditional self-cursing in the event of oath-breaking is typical of other early Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...
cultures.
Parallels in other texts
The Hittite compositions known as the 'Military Oaths' are also closely related to texts such as "Loyalty Oath of Town Commanders to Arnuwanda I, Ašmunikkal, and Tudḫaliya." Also, " Tudḫaliya IV's Instructions and Oath Imposition for Courtiers" fall in the same category. Such parallels are evident in the following text, for example, in which a priest performs the rites, and articulates future punishments, while the soldiers express their consent. : "Then he places wax and sheep fat in their hands, and he casts it into the flame, and he says, “Just as this wax melts and the sheep fat separates, may he who breaks the oath and deceives the king of Ḫattusa melt like the wax, and may he be separated like the sheep fat!” And they say, “So be it!”"Younger text
There is another, younger text (CTH 428) with similar content, termed the 'second military oath'. It is more fragmentary, and its main difference is that the oath-takers are promised well-being in case they keep their word, as well as being threatened by extinction should they break it. In comparison to the older oath, the younger text shows that the Hittite pantheon was increasingly influenced by Hurrian gods.Oettinger, ''Die militärischen Eide der Hethiter'' StBoT 22 (1976).See also
Notes
Further reading
* Pritchard, J. B. (Ed.). (1969). ''Ancient near eastern texts relating to the Old Testament with supplement''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03503-2. The oaths are translated in pages 353–354. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hittite Military Oath Military oaths Military history of the Hittite Empire Hittite texts