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Near Eastern Art :
Hittite Art : Syrio-Hittite Terracotta Sculpture of a Man Riding a Bull
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Syrio-Hittite Terracotta Sculpture of a Man Riding a Bull - CK.0044
Origin: Northern Syria
Circa: 2000
BC
to 1500
BC
Dimensions:
3.5" (8.9cm) high
x 1.5" (3.8cm) wide
x 3" (7.6cm) depth
Collection: Near Eastern
Style: Syrio-Hittite
Additional Information: SOLD
$3,600.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
The Hittite Empire emerged in central
Anatolia
from fairly humble agricultural
beginnings in
the 2nd millennium BC, but by 1340 BC
had
become the dominant power in
Mesopotamia.
The expansion and consolidation of the
empire
saw its greatest expression under King
Suppiluliumas I (c. 1380 -c. 1346 BC),
who
oversaw the establishment of a firm
Hittite
foothold in Syria. This was hotly
contested
territory, and while the Egyptian
behemoth
had swept aside most competition, they
met
extremely fierce opposition from the
Hittites.
This struggle for domination over Syria
continued into the reign of Muwatallis
(c.
1320- 1294 B.C.), culminating in the
famous
battle of Kadesh in 1299 BC. Although
Ramses
II claimed a great victory, the result
was in
fact probably more ambiguous. The
Egyptians
were at a disadvantage in terms or
provisioning, and in terms of the great
arms
race of the time over a great new
invention:
iron. In any case, the Egyptians took
considerable pains to placate local
groups,
setting up socioeconomic and matrimonial
alliances with the Hittites and the
lands they
now occupied. Although we know
comparatively little about Hittite
civilisation, it
is perhaps significant that these
shadowy
populations were such a fierce threat to
what
was then the world's greatest
civilization that
even Ramses the Great found it more
beneficial to be their ally rather than
their foe.
- (CK.0044)
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