The Corpus of Hittite Divinatory Texts (HDivT)

Digital Edition and Cultural Historical Analysis

Joseph Barber (Hrsg.)

Citatio: Joseph Barber (Hrsg.), hethiter.net/: CTH 577.20 (INTR 2026-04-01)


CTH 577.20

Oracles concerning a campaign against Kaskean lands

introductio



Kurzbeschreibung

The present oracles concern the route which the Hittite army is to take on its way to attack the cities of Šaḫuzimiša and Daḫašda, with different individuals leading parts of the army in on different routes. The first inquiry suggests a very specific route, with the king stopping at Šapinuwa, the army at Ḫanziwa, before going to Šuppiluliya and finally to Šaḫuzima. Meanwhile Kašaluwa is to attack Daḫašda as is Kuniyaziti, attacking from the direction of Kuwarina, while Ašduwari and Timetti are to attack from Kammama.

Texte

Exemplar AKUB 22.51Bo 4963Ḫattuša

Inhaltsübersicht

Abschnitt 1ID=1Extispicy
Abschnitt 2ID=2Bird oracle
Abschnitt 3ID=3KIN oracle concerning various military campaigns
Abschnitt 4ID=4Extispicy
Abschnitt 5ID=5KIN oracle concerning various military campaigns
Abschnitt 6ID=6KIN oracle concerning the matter of the enemy
Abschnitt 7ID=7KIN oracle concerning the misfortune of the enemy
Abschnitt 8ID=8KIN oracle concerning the worship of various deities

History of publication

Handcopy: Walther A. 1928a.

Partial editions: Sakuma Y. 2009b, II 236-240; Warbinek L. 2020a, 371-373.

Full edition: Imparati F. 1999a.

Tablet characteristics

KUB 22.51 is a fragment from a single-column tablet, with the surviving text well preserved. The layout is somewhat inconsistent, with the text on the obverse mostly being relatively compact, except for the much more spacious last four lines of the third paragraph. Much of the text on the reverse is similarly spacious, with the paragraphs containing a lot of blank space.

Palaeography and handwriting

The text is written in a highly cursive, slanted script. The script is late New Hittite (diagnostic signs: DA, IT, TAR, note especially the IIIc form of ḪA).

Historical context

This text is closely paralleled by KUB 50.108, an oracular inquiry which inquires about a very similar campaign route, which diverges from that of the present text only at the end (see Kryszeń A. 2016b, 329-330). Together, these two texts have been instrumental in determining the locations of Ḫanziwa, Šuppiluliya, Šaḫuzimiša, and Kuwarina, on which see Forlanini M. 1979a, 179, Forlanini M. 1992b, 288-289, Forlanini M. 2008a, 69, Forlanini M. 2008b, 146, Ünal A. 1998b, 29, Imparati F. 1999a, 172-174, Barjamovic G. 2011a, 284, Kryszeń A. 2016b, 329-330, Süel A. – Weeden M. 2017a, 201-202.

Some of the individuals names as potential leaders of different parts of the army in this text are attested elsewhere. For example, Ašduwari appears in KUB 21.9, obv. I 6, a fragment in which we see the concern of Ḫattušili III for Nerik when he was king of Ḫakmiš, located near the places mentined in this text. Timetti is also known from other texts from the time of Ḫattušili, including various oracular inquiries about military campaigns in the Kaskean region where, as in this text, he is tasked with commanding contingents of the army. Imparati F. 1999a, 167-172 argues, this shows that the king thus chose individuals who were native to the area to carry out military operations there. Mouton A. 2007b, 554-555 considers the possibility whether the Ḫarranaziti in this text (as well as in KUB 15.17+, see Imparati F. 1999a, 171) is the same individual as the husband of a woman whose death is potentially foreshadowed in the oracular inquiry KBo 18.142.

Editio ultima: 2026-04-01