Hittite Funerals and Archaeology News from Egypt and Jerusalem

From My Fantasy Writing Desk:

Hittite funerals

I’m in research mode these days. I’ve been reading about Hittite funerals (14 days long and decidedly not what you’re used to) and Egyptian magical practices. Oddly enough, those two topics share a lot of intellectual commonality. I didn’t expect them to be related.

There will be an important funeral at the beginning of this next book (the follow up to Sorcery, which published this October). That explains my spending a long day at the university library. I read a translation of the fragmentary tablets, known as šalliš waštaiš, prescribing the how-to’s of a royal funeral. The university wouldn’t let me remove this book from the library, and I had to hand over my driver’s license for the right to even read it. Fortunately, when the college student flicked my license onto an open counter and went back to playing something on her phone, I politely suggested she stow it more safely and guided her to a good place. When I returned hours later, a different student said, “Wow, good thing you knew where we put that. They always get lost.” Who knew researching Hittites could be so fraught with trials?

I am now, however, very up-to-date on how to put on a Hittite royal funeral. Frankly, I wouldn’t recommend any of it for modern use… Aside from a lot of slaughtered sheep and oxen and an equally great number of objects symbolically transferred to the afterlife by complicated rites, there are many meals offered to a statue of the deceased.

A Taste of Death?

And there’s a good deal of debate about that statue. Either the statue is itself formed from sweet fruits such as figs and dates (the better to attract the soul into it with sweetness). Or it is a stone or wood statue decorated with said fruits. I haven’t decided what I’ll choose. Either is as justifiably “historically accurate” since the source material is way too confused and fragmented. And then maybe a statue won’t be part of the scene anyway…

The hard part is plucking just the right details from all this knowledge to make for good storytelling. Just the right amount to immerse my reader and ground the scene. This moment is also packed with conflict and tension, familial and international. There’s a lot going on during this occasion–at least as I currently imagine this scene(s). It’s only down as a post-it on my outlining board at the moment.

Deathly Magic

As to the Egyptian magic, my brain is still processing. More later. Suffice to say, those Egyptians are fascinating. And what they did that we’d call “magic” has far more in common with what the Hittites did than I would have guessed or that my quick reads previously had impressed on me. Some of the ritual differences arise from the quite different approaches to death and burial. Who knew that these would be such good topics to cover together in a single week?

In the News

It’s fun to see oneself in the newspaper. Our local Ahwatukee Foothills News did a great article about me. The journalist who interviewed me is a fellow historical writer, so we had fun with it. Here’s the link to the Ahwatukee News article, “Ahwatukee author reaches far into history for novels”

Archaeology I Enjoyed:

30 Coffins 3 Feet Under

In Egypt, archaeologists uncovered a find that is “the largest of its kind in over a century.” I took these details from the BBC story:

“Egyptology experts are seriously excited after a rare treasure trove has been found of really well-preserved ancient wooden sarcophagi, or coffins. The 30 wooden coffins, whose brightly-coloured decorations are still visible, were found in the heart of ancient Egypt – in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The coffins were for men, women and children from the 22nd dynasty (945-715 BC) and it is believed they were collected and hidden by a priest for fear of being looted.”

Oops, what’s that peeking out?

Archaeologists found the coffins accidentally while they worked on an unrelated dig. The coffins lay only a few feet down, directly in the sand with no tombs. No ancient raiders got to them. Stopping tomb raiding by not having a tomb apparently worked. That’s the current guess as to the motive for this unusual bulk burial site.

I’ve come to realize how strikingly different Hittite and Egyptian funeral practices are. The Egyptian importance of the preserving the body as a “home” for the afterlife is completely absent among the Hittites. You know why? Because the Hittites had the notion of separation of body and soul, with the soul being transferrable to other “homes” and the body being dispensable after the transfer has been brought about. That kernel of an idea certainly takes off later in human theological history.

Here’s the BBC link, “Ancient Egypt: Amazing find of 3,000-year-old ancient Egyptian mummies” which has a few lovely photos and good details.

For the sake of several different photos and a video clip with some good close ups, here’s another link from Archaeology News Network, “Egypt Unveils Trove of Ancient Coffins.” The article itself is almost completely concerned with the issue of bringing tourists to Egypt, not information about the 30 coffins. That focus is apparently shown via the photos in the odd arrangement of the coffins laid out for display in a tent? with a huge crowd around them (all the problems with that make my skin crawl, but never mind).

The Road to Worship

An ancient walkway that pilgrims most likely used as they made their way to worship at the Temple Mount has been uncovered in the “City of David” in the Jerusalem Walls National Park.

The precision dating to that attributes the commissioning of road by Pontius Pilate comes from coins (and the dates stamped on them) trapped under the pavers. The walkway ascends from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. Large stone slabs of limestone make the street “opulent” and show skillful construction. This grandeur and the route indicate to the excavators that this street acted as a pilgrim’s route. They see it as a possible Roman appeasement of the residents of Jerusalem or Pilate’s personal aggrandizement.

Six years of extensive excavation uncovered a 220-meter-long segment. Layers of rubble, thought to be from when the Romans captured and destroyed the city in 70 CE, hid the paving stones of the street. The rubble contained weapons such as arrowheads and sling stones, remains of burnt trees, and collapsed stones from the buildings along its edge.

Click here for Archaeology News Network, “Archaeologists uncover 2,000-year-old street in Jerusalem built by Pontius Pilate”