Journal articles on the topic 'Hittite Civilization'

After transitioning to settled life, humankind did not only focus on satisfying their basic needs but also felt the urge to produce, utilize, preserve and transfer knowledge to upcoming generations. This marked the beginning of a process which led to the systematic collection and preservation of knowledge and resulted in libraries. That libraries are as old as the history of humanity itself is testimony to the fact that seeking and obtaining knowledge have always been an essential human need. The process that started with the establishment of the first library in Nineveh before Christ continued with Assyrian, Babylonian, Hittite, Pergamon and Alexandrian libraries.

The majority of scholars identify the long-disputed term Ahhiyawa found in the Hittite texts as Achaea of the Homeric epics. According to the Hittite texts, Ahhiyawa and Hittite relations can be dated from the Middle Kingdom period. The term was first used in the records of Suppiluliuma I (1380-1346). Documents discussed (the records of Mursili II and Muwatalli II) demonstrate that Ahhiyawa was a powerful country. Its influence extended to Millawanda, which evidently reached the sea. Especially interesting is the “Tawagalawa letter” dated to the 13th century BC, in which the Hittite king makes excuses for his blunder committed at an early age. The Hittite king takes a diplomatic step towards the resolution of the conflict and starts negotiations with a party (Ahhiyawa) that could act as a mediator. We can infer from the letter that Ahhiyawa had its representatives in Millawanda, while its relations with the Land of the Hatti were managed through envoys. The powerful position of Ahhiyawa is also evident from Tudhaliya IV’s letter to the ruler of Amurru, where he refers to the kings of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and Ahhiyawa as to his equals. Thus, Ahhiyawa of the Hittite texts fully corresponds to Homeric Achaea. The invaders have three appellations in The Iliad: the Achaeans, the Danaans, and the Argives. The Achaeans can be found in Hittite documents, while the Danaans are mentioned in the Egyptian sources. Ahhiyawa is the land of the Achaeans, which laid the foundation for the development of the Hellenic civilization in the Aegean. It can be argued that the Greeks were actively involved in the foreign policy of the ancient Near East. The information conveyed by the Greek tradition is supported by the archeological finds confirming the rise of the Hellenes in the continental Greece from the 14th century BC. According to the tradition, the Mycenaeans went far beyond the Near East, reaching Colchis (The Argonaut legend).

AbstractGlyptics of the civilazition of the Oxus was an obvious anomaly because all macrotypes of seals characteristics (square, round, cylinder, compartmented) of the cultures of the Indus, the Arabic Gulf, Mesopotamia and Turkmenistan coexisted there. The author supposes that the Oxus seals were symbolic marks of status of an individual (together with luxurious metal axes), but not real administrative attributes. The diversity of forms of the Oxus seals was the result of the polyethnic character of the population which created civilization of the Oxus rather than the consequence of the cultural influence of its neighbours. According to the author, amazing scenes of tauromachy and some other motifs of the Oxus seals do not presuppose migration of ethnic groups from the Aegean and Syro-Hittite West. It is the result of exception from the vast corpus of artistic imagery of the epoch by the Oxus dwellers for the illustration of their native myths. The creators of the Oxus civilization usually added some local traits to the things they had adopted from their neighbours.

AbstractGlyptics of the civilazition of the Oxus was an obvious anomaly because all macrotypes of seals characteristics (square, round, cylinder, compartmented) of the cultures of the Indus, the Arabic Gulf, Mesopotamia and Turkmenistan coexisted there. The author supposes that the Oxus seals were symbolic marks of status of an individual (together with luxurious metal axes), but not real administrative attributes. The diversity of forms of the Oxus seals was the result of the polyethnic character of the population which created civilization of the Oxus rather than the consequence of the cultural influence of its neighbours. According to the author, amazing scenes of tauromachy and some other motifs of the Oxus seals do not presuppose migration of ethnic groups from the Aegean and Syro-Hittite West. It is the result of exception from the vast corpus of artistic imagery of the epoch by the Oxus dwellers for the illustration of their native myths. The creators of the Oxus civilization usually added some local traits to the things they had adopted from their neighbours.

Many readers and contributors to BioResources are working to develop sustainable technology. Such research attempts to use products of photosynthesis to meet long-term human needs with a minimum of environmental impact. Archeological and historical studies have concluded that the long-term success or failure of various past civilizations has depended, at least in part, on people’s ability to maintain the quality of the resources upon which they depended. Though it is possible for modern societies to learn from such examples, modern societies are interconnected to an unprecedented degree. It is no longer realistic to expect one region to be immune from the effects of environmental mistakes that may happen elsewhere in the world. Research related to renewable, lignocellulosic resources is urgently needed. But in addition to the research, there also needs to be discussion of hard-hitting questions, helping to minimize the chances of technological failure. The next failed civilization may be our own.

Throughout their lifetime, historic buildings might be altered for different kind of usage for different purposes. If this new function or new usage requires utilization of the building in separate units, this separation might affect the historic building’s functionality and structure and as a result its overall condition.<br><br> Yorguc Pasa Mansion conservation project was prepared as a part of the Middle East Technical University (METU) Master’s Program in Documentation and Conservation of Historic Monuments and Sites for the historic Yorguc Pasa Mansion. The mansion is a 19th century Ottoman Period timber frame building in Amasya, a Black Sea Region city in Turkey that has traces from different civilizations such as Hittites, Greeks, Romans and Ottomans.<br><br> This paper aims to discuss the affects of the partite usage on structural conditions of timber frame buildings with the case study of Amasya Yorguc Pasa Mansion through the 3D visualized structural systems.

Two of the several rock script panels found at Mt. Tenezara volcano slope, Lanzarote Is. (Canary Islands) have been analyzed. Both of them contain a linear writing which corresponds to the ancient Iberian semi-sillabary discovered by Gomez-Moreno in 1949 AD, thus to Iberian-Guanche inscriptions which previously were referred as Latin. Ancient Iberian scripts have been found in France, Portugal, Spain and other Mediterranean places during the 1st millennium BC and the following four centuries AD; it may be possible that Iberian signs could have been taken or used at the same time at Africa. Even one of the semi-vertical panels considered as Lybic is in fact written in Iberian-Guanche characters. Also, Mt Tenezara shows Cart-ruts pointing to Equinoxes Sunrise. Findings are put in the context of a Sahara relatively rapid desiccation and a massive people migration to establish several classic and pre-classic civilizations, like Sumer, Egypt, Hittite, Hellenistic, Iberians, Lybic and Canary Islands Guanches, and possibly other Old Atlantic Celtic ones. Saharan Hypothesis is based on Geology, Columbia Shuttle (1981) infrared photographs that show prehistoric desert fertility, Prehistory, Anthropology and Linguistics. A fertile and heavily populated Sahara existed before 6,000 years BC. Keywords: Sahara, Latin, Scripts, Canary Islands, Iberian, Guanche, Lybic, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Quesera, Cheeseboard, Pyramids, Berber, Africa, Punic, Roman, Tenerife, Equinox, Tunisia, Algeria, Canarian,, Calendar, Raetian, Lepontic, Venetian, Etruscan, Basque, Cart-ruts, Sitovo, Gradeshnitsa, Usko- Mediterranean, Language, Tenezara, Juan Brito

At the end of Prehistory, many civilizations were flourishing in south-western Asia, both in Mesopotamia and on the coastline of Sirya, Lebanon and Palestine. These were the empires of the Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians, as well as the Hittites and the Phoenician city-states. The ancient Egyptian civilization was also developing in north-eastern Africa which, like the others specified above, made use of the waters of a river. This essay examines the agricultural practices carried out by the ancient Egyptians on the banks and delta of the Nile, which annually deposited beneficial layers of silt during flooding. Egyptian agriculture adequately preserved the natural forest-maquis by reserving it for the harvesting of wood, which was then used for making furniture and sarcophagi, as well as for their building works. The ancient Egyptians also protected the environment around stands of Papyrus, which was used for making writing materials, in boat building and in the hunting of water birds. The methods which they used in agricultural practice and environmental protection highlight the advanced nature of their civilization, especially during the New Kingdom era.

Islam in Spain had an important role in many areas, especially science and culture. The history reveals that Islam reached its peak in the era of Abd al Rahman III (912-961 AD) when Cordova became the center of Islamic civilization in Western World, and one of the centers of world civilization (Hitti, no year: 165). After reaching its peak, Islam domination declined due to the change of political structure. Decline and destruction of Islam in Spain were caused by some factors, both internal and external, that is, the attack from the Christians who directly destroyed Islam, but the most dominant factor was the internal factor of Islam itself.

The cities of Konya, Kayseri, Ankara, Sivas, Kyrsehirand Nevsehir, all located in Central Turkey, are well-knownfor their famous historical buildings and monumentsbelonging to prehistoric to medieval civilizations. Withthe Hittite monuments and Seljuk-Ottoman mosques,medresses and caravansaries, the city of Konya is themost distinctive among others. Especially, the buildingsare significant for the identity of the Seljuk and Ottomanarchitecture, which was dominant during the period of11th and 20th centuries. Travertines, andesites and granitesare the most used rocks for construction purpose bythese two dominant empires in the Middle East. Thebuildings have suffered stone weathering since theirconstruction and the preservation of these buildingshas become a great issue for the past decades. The sourceregion of the rocks used in these buildings as well asHittite monument (dacite was used) at Eflatun is displayedin Fig. 1.

The birth to IC technology by Moore became driving force behind civilization and it spent almost 45 years successfully without any scruple in mind. It affected life of a mankind and brought pivotal moment in civilization. Now technology is hitting atomic levels and soon limits will be touched. Therefore time has come to rethink for an alternative solution that may slow down exponential rate demonstrated by Moore. Reversible computing is emerging as a superior technology and soon will be future of all smart computing applications. Although renowned physicists and computer scientists have investigated remarkable results in reversible logic based arithmetic logic unit (ALU) designing still research in the field of reversible ALU with add on fault tolerance is under progress and there is scope of further optimization. This paper aims in investigation of improved fault tolerant ALU architecture using parity preserving fault tolerant reversible adder (FTRA), double Feynman and conservative Fredkin gates. Performance evaluation of proposed architecture is done in respect of functionality, garbage lines, ancillary lines, quantum cost and number of gates. The quantum cost of all gates is verified using RCViewer+ tool. The proposed architecture is coded in Verilog HDL, Synthesized and simulated using EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tool-Xilinx ISE design suit 14.2.

The article presents the preliminary results of the interdisciplinary research (geological and geospatial studies, archaeological excavations, salt production experiments, and ethnographic survey) carried out during 2016-2019, in the site and hybrid saltscape of Băile Figa, well known for its remarkable environmental, ancient and current salt exploitation evidence. Besides, the article aims to evaluate the contribution of the recent research to a better understanding of the environmental context of the site and ancient salt production technology in the Inner Carpathian region. Also, it focuses on the hybrid character of the site and its potential to the transdisciplinary and holistic study. Environmental context. The site is rich in environmental, archaeological and ethnographic evidence. It is positioned in the salt-rich area of the Someșul Mare Basin at the northern edge of the Transylvanian Plain (Fig. 1/2; 2/1). The site is part of the landscape that was and is strongly affected by the dynamics of a salt diapir (Fig. 2/2) and deposits of salt mud, brine and halo-biotic factors, as well as by the intense human activity. Excavation. The excavation was carried out in Trench S.XV (16 m x 14 m), located in the central-southern sector of the site. The trench cut through the stream-bed and steep and high banks of the salt stream that crosses the site from south to north (Fig. 4; 5, 10). Its profile sections show four major stratigraphic units: a blackish topsoil, yellow clay mixed with gravel, salty mud, and the rock salt massif. The excavation was conducted in the mud layer, in the central sector of the trench, and in the clay-and-gravel layer found in its lateral sectors. In the area of ca. 60 square meters of the central sector, the excavation has reached the rock salt massif (Fig. 7-11). The excavation in the trench has uncovered rich evidence for Late Bronze Age salt production: seven interconnected features and around one hundred artifacts. The vast majority of the finds have been uncovered in the mud layer. The uncovered features included five timber structures surviving in the salt mud layer, as well as a ditch and a pit dug in the rock salt massif. Feature 1-XV-2013 (Fig. 12; 14/1) is a structure that includes a cone-shaped wattle-lined pit surrounded by a roundish wattle-made fence. The pit cuts through the mud up to the rock salt massif. Its rock salt bottom was sectioned by a ditch, 0.4-0.5 m wide and over 0.9 m deep. It seems that first, by rather extensive digging, the soil and mud were removed down to the salt massif. Then, a ditch, about 5 m long, 0.4 m wide and over 0.9 m deep (see below), was dug in the rock, from east to west. After that, a cone-shaped outer framework made of wattle (D maximal: 1.2 m, D minimal: 0.4 m, H: 1.8 m) was placed over the ditch, narrow end down. After that, the empty space around the framework was filled with mud. Then the pit was surrounded by a roundish wattle fence. A 1.6 m long massive rope made of three twisted threads (Clematis vitalba) has been found in the ditch (Fig. 41). Four samples taken from the wattle framework have produced five dates which fall between 2821±24 and 2778±26 BP. Feature 2-XV-2013 (Fig. 13) was uncovered in the northern part of the trench, on the right side of the stream, between feature 1-XV-2013 (see above) and the north edge of the trench. It was a rectilinear fence, 3.6 m long, built of vertical planks, split troughs, and channelled pieces, pushed into the mud down to the rock salt massif. Three fragments of the troughs from the fence were dendrochronologically dated to the period between 996 and 980 BC. Feature 1-XV-2015 (Fig. 14) was uncovered in the central-southern part of the trench. It was a corridor, 2.5 m long and 1 m wide, oriented E – W, made of two parallel rectilinear alignments of massive upright poles driven into the mud. One of its poles was at the same time part of the fence of the Feature 1-XV-2013. The corridor, on the base of three samples, has been radiocarbon-dated between 2870±32 and 2718±30 BP. Feature 1-XV-2018 (Fig. 15-17) was partially uncovered in the north-west part of the trench, about 3.5 m west of the stream. It is a 5 m long fence, oriented S – N, made of vertical planks, stakes (Fig. 17/2), and a split trough (Fig. 17/1), stuck into the mud, and four horizontal planks linking them to each other (Fig.17/2). Not dated. Feature 2-XV-2018 (Fig. 18; 19/1) was partially uncovered in the western part of the trench, in the rock salt massif. It is a roundish pit (over 2.5 x 1.8 m) with irregular edges, ca. 1.7 m deep below the salt massif surface. Not dated. Feature 3-XV-2018 (Fig. 19; 20) was uncovered in the central part of the trench. It was a ditch dug in the salt massif, 0.4 to 0.8 m wide, over 0.9 m deep, and about 4 m long. It cuts through the bottom of feature 1-XV-2013 (Fig. 12/2) and links it to the feature 2-XV-2018. Not dated. Feature 4-XV-2018 (Fig. 19/1; 20-22) was uncovered in the south-east corner of the trench, covering about 4 x 4 m, and consisted of a cluster of parallel beams laying on the salt massif, and a few vertical poles. The feature continues eastwards and southwards beyond the sides of the trench. On the base of three samples, it was radiocarbon-dated between 2856±31 and 2817±30 BP. Artifacts. We found some 100 artifacts in Trench S.XV during the excavation seasons, between 2016 and 2019. Most of them were made of wood, 1 of hemp (?), and 3 of stone (basalt). The wooden artifacts include 31 component pieces and fragments of trough bodies (Fig. 24-27), 17 channelled pieces (Fig. 28-30), 2 shovels (Fig. 33), 12 paddles (Fig. 31; 32), 4 mallets (Fig. 34/2,3), an L-shaped haft for a socketedaxe (Fig. 34/1), 2 pans (Fig. 35), a bowl (Fig. 36), fragments of 2 ladders (Fig. 37), 3 knife-shaped tools (Fig. 38/2,3), 11 rods with pointed end (Fig. 38/4), 4 loops made of twisted twigs (Fig. 40), a massive rope made of three twisted threads (Clematis vitalba) (Fig. 41), and 5 wedges. One of the artifacts found was made of plant material, possibly hemp: a small twisted cord (it may come from a peg inserted in the trough hole). Stone (basalt) artifacts include 2 mining hammers (mining tools) with engraved grooves aimed to fix the bindings (Fig. 44/1,3), an ovoid-shaped object with many percussion marks at its thicker end (Fig. 44/2). The chronology of the finds. In 2018 4 samples (wattle) from the Feature 1-XV-2013 were dated at Oxford University Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art / Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. In 2019 some of the timber features (1-XV-2015 and 4-XV-2018) and wooden artifacts (the ladder, the troughs nos. 4 and 5 and some others) were radiocarbon dated by “Horia Hulubei” National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering. Most of the dates fall between 1000 – 900 cal BC. Just one date (a wooden bowl) falls between ca. 1419-1262 cal BC (Tabels 1, 2, 3). The structures and most of the artifacts uncovered in S.XV date to ca. XI-IX centuries cal BC and seem to have been part of a complex production system aimed at brine and rock salt processing. Differential distribution of finds across the site. The research has revealed differential distribution of finds across the site. Thus, the evidence dating to ca. 2300 – 2000 cal BC (a pit dug in the rock massif and pottery), 1600 – 1400 cal BC (a wattle-built structure and wooden troughs), and 400 – 180 cal BC (timber-lined shaft, a wooden ladder and pottery) is mainly concentrated in the southern sector of the site. In exchange, the finds dating to ca. 1400 – 1100 cal BC have mainly been uncovered in the south-central part of the site (timber structures) and northern part of the site (pottery). The evidence dating to about 1050 – 850 cal BC covers two distinct areas: the south-central and northern sectors of the site. While about thirty fragmented troughs have been found in the south-central sector, no one object of this kind has been found in the northern sector. There are also differences concerning the timber structures between these sectors of the site. These strongly suggest that in XI – IX centuries cal BC, at least two different and complementary production areas were active in the site. Salt production experiments. The experiments on salt production, using faithful replicas of Late Bronze Age artifacts uncovered in trenches S.I and S.XV – troughs, channelled pieces, mallets, wedges, stone mining hammers, etc. – aimed to obtain from the different source material – rock salt massif, brine, and mud – various forms of salt: lumps of rock salt, fine salt, and highly concentrated and pure brine. The experiments showed the technical validity of several techniques. The most effective were as follows: 1. Detaching lumps of rock salt from the massif. By means of jets of fresh water directed with the troughs (along the twisted cords fitted in the perforations of the sticks that went through the pegs which were fixed in the holes at the base of the trough) depressions were simultaneously created in the rock salt at ten to twenty spots, 10 to 15 cm apart and 7 to 12 cm deep. This process took few hours (Fig. 45/1). It was noticed that each hole generated one to three cracks in the salt massif, around 1 m long and 5 to 10 cm deep. The holes and cracks allowed the insertion of wooden wedges. By hitting them with heavy wooden mallets, the wedges were pushed down to ca. 20 cm deep. Finally, using hooked sticks, many blocks of rock salt could be detached from the massif. The larger blocks were easily broken by stone hammers (mining tools). 2. Producing small pieces of salt and fine salt from the rock salt massif. The first stages of the process were identical to the previously described. After the holes and cracks were created, the rock salt mass was beaten with stone hammers (mining tools) along the cracks and holes, so that small pieces of salt, as well as wet and soft fine salt, were easily separated from the mass. Thus, about 50 kilograms of fine salt were collected in 30 minutes during the experiment (Fig. 45/2). 3. Boiling brine in the troughs with hot stones and drawing off the brine. Stones heated as much as possible in a fire were immersed in the brine with which the trough was filled, thus bringing it to the boil (Fig. 46). The boiling continued until the salt begun to crystallize. After that, the trough, full of highly concentrated brine, was left motionless for several hours. The insoluble impurities of the brine sedimented according to their specific weight: the lightest of them floated to the top, while the heaviest (metals and minerals) settled on the bottom. Above the sediment lying on the bottom of the trough and under that at the top remained a rather thick layer of fairly clean brine. During the experiments, the lower sediment has never reached 3 cm in thickness. The wider tops of the plugs that were inserted into the holes found at the bottom of the trough, were at least 3 cm high. Because of this, the upper edges of the plugs remained above the sediment on the bottom of the trough. We then slightly raised the long sticks that were tightly inserted into the axial holes of the plugs, which in turn tightly closed the holes in the trough’s bottom. The sticks were fixed and maintained in a slightly raised position by a kind of pliers – half split twigs – set transversely over the trough opening. In this way, the brine was allowed to drain easily into channelled pieces set under the trough. The brine then flowed through the channelled pieces to the next trough(s). The process could be repeated in the next trough(s) until the salt makers would get a fairly clean and highly concentrated brine. Ethnographic survey. Băile Figa and its surroundings are places where the evidence for ethnographic research, of what is commonly called ‘the traditional salt civilization’, can still be found. In every ancient salt production archaeological site known in Romania, without any exception, the current folk salt exploitation is still in progress. The latter offers to these sites a valuable research potential, almost unique in Europe, for the ethnoarchaeological research. The ethnographic survey has attested a number of aspects of the present-day folk ways of exploiting brine, rock salt, salt mud, and halophytic vegetation, as well as other traditional practices and customs related to these resources. Brine folk exploitation. The most exploited saline occurrence at Băile Figa is currently brine. Brine is taken directly from the numerous springs filling the central salty stream valley (Fig. 48/1). Then, it is loaded into plastic drums of 50 to 200 litres and transported by carts to the neighbouring villages (Fig. 48/2). The locals told us that, in the past, the brine was transported in large, cone-shaped barrels, called “bote mari”, of 60 litres, made of softwood boards connected to each other with circles of hazel twigs (Fig. 49/5), in smaller containers, of approx. 20 litres, called “barbânțe” (Fig. 49/3), as well as in smaller containers hollowed out of tree trunks and called “bote” (Fig. 49/2). The most remote localities, to which the brine from Băile Figa is transported, are situated at a distance of 11 km. But most people that currently get brine from Băile Figa live within a maximum perimeter of 6 km. Brine is mainly used for preserving meat, bacon (especially around the winter holidays), and vegetables. Sometimes the brine is used for health care purposes, mainly against colds, rheumatic pains, skin diseases or circulatory deficiencies, either on the spot or at home. In the 1960s and 1970s, the locals built two brine ponds and used them for health cure baths. Rock salt folk exploitation. According to some elderly locals, until 1989, the rock salt was periodically extracted at Băile Figa, by manual or mechanized digging of vertical pits. It was mainly used to supplement the feed of domestic animals in the individual households, sheepfolds (Fig. 50) and collective farms or state agricultural enterprises. Sometimes, the locals crushed and grinded salt lumps. In some households in the village of Figa, we have identified and documented some primitive millstones used in salt grinding (Fig. 49/1). Ground salt is added to animal feed and very rarely in human food, people being sure that this kind of salt can harm their health. Sapropelic mud folk exploitation. The ethnographic surveys have documented the traditional exploitation of sapropelic mud at Băile Figa. It is found only in some limited spots of the salt stream valley. The spots with small deposits of sapropelic mud are known only by “connoisseurs” who, among the clues, are guided by a specific smell. The sapropelic mud is used for health care purposes, especially for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. The mud is applied, either on most of the body or only on the parts affected by pain. Sometimes, the mud is applied to animal wounds, for disinfection and drying. Mud-based treatments are done both on-site and at home. Shepherding. Until the building, during 2007 – 2011, of the leisure resort, Băile Figa was the favourite place for grazing for the local domestic animals (sheep, cows, buffaloes, and horses). The animals, according to the information delivered by the shepherds, loved salt grass and brine (Fig. 49/2). Shepherds tried to prevent the animals from drinking brine from the springs because their fondness of the salty taste made them to drink it in unhealthy quantities, so that they could “swell” and die. Beekeeping. In the northern sector of the salt stream valley, at the surface of the soil, in the summer of 2018, a primitive beehive made of a hollowed-out oak trunk was discovered (Fig. 48/4). So far, as we can know, it is a unique find of this sort in a saline context.