Troy and the Trojan War: Outline 1

I. TROY DURING THE BRONZE AGE

   A. Required Reading: James C. Wright, "The Place of Troy among the Civilizations of the Bronze Age." CW 91.356-368.

   B. Geography and History

        1. At the mouth of the Dardanelles (Hellespont).

            a. Gateway between Europe and Asia; closer to the sea in the Bronze Age; wealthy and powerful; importance of trade by sea in the Bronze Age.

            b. Other coastal cities and islands: Miletus and Lesbos.

    C.  TROY AS PART OF THE HITTITE EMPIRE

        1.  Hittites in the Bible

            a.   Solomon had Hittite wives and buys Egyptian horses for the Hittite king (2 Chron. 1.17; 2 Kings 11.1.1); Bethsheeba's husband murdered by David was a Hittite

        2.  Early travellers and archaeologists.

            a.   Charles Texier in 1834 measured the walls at Boghaz Koy in central Anatolia near Ankara; two to three miles in length

            b.   Archibald Sayce and William Wright (ca. 1880) identified the ruins at Boghaz Koy with Hattusas, the capital of the Hittite Empire.

            c.   Identification with the Khatti, the enemies of Ramses at the battle of Kadesh (1275 BC)

            d.   Amarna archives of Akhenaten show correspondence between the pharaoh and the Hittites mostly in cuneiform Akkadian (1887)

            e.   excavations begin in 1906 under Hugo Winckler and the royal archives are soon found; cuneiform (Akkadian and an unknown language)

        3.  Decipherment of Hittite

            a.   Bedrich Hrozny, a Czech scholar, during the first world war

            b.   Hittite was an Indo-European language: nu ninda-an ezzateni; watar-ma ekuteni 'now eat bread and drink water'

            c.   Indo-European cognates: pat, kenu, etmi, esmi, yukan, melit, watar, hwantes, pahhur, newa,  etc.

           4.   Greeks and Trojans in Hittite and Egyptian records.

                a.   Emil Forrer in 1934 asserted that Hittite Ahhiyawa is Homeric Achaea, Alaksandus is Alexander, and Pariyamuwa is Priam

               b.   The tablet of King Tudhalias (ca. 1440-1410 BC) refers to the subjugation of Assuwa (Asia?).  Towns allied with Assuwa are Taruisa and Wilusiya (Troy and Ilion?)

               c.   Muwatallis (ca. 1296-1272) made a treaty with the King of Wilusiya, Alaksandus (Alexander?).  The gods of Wilusiya include Appaliunas (Apollo?)  He fought on the Trojan side during the Trojan War)

               d.   In Ramses II's account of the battle of Kadesh (1275 BC), the drdny are allies of the Hittites.  .  Homer often calls the Trojans Dardanoi.

                e.   The letter of Hattusilis III (ca. 1255-1230 BC) demands the extradition of Tawagalawas, the brother of the king of Ahhiyawa.  In Linear B there is a name Etewokleweios; this may be the well-known Eteocles from Greek mythology.  He is staying at Millawanda.  Is this Miletus on the coast of Asia Minor?  Hattusilis refers to the Achaean king as his brother; are they both "great kings?"

                  f.   In a Luwian fragment of poetry, we find AH-HA-TA-TA A-LA-TI A-U-I-EN-TA U-I-LU-SA-TI  'when steep they came wilusa. Homer calls the walls of Troy aipy 'steep.'

        5.   Conclusion: Troy was part of the Hittite empire in the west

    D.  Mesopotamia.

    E.  Egypt.

            a. New Kingdom

    F.  Greek mainland

            a. Mycenaean civilization.

    G.   Crete

            a. Minoan civilization.