Chapter 7 - A Second Script

Summary

Probably during the fifteenth century BC the Hittite ruling elite developed a second script, the Anatolian hieroglyphs, out of an already existing repertoire of symbols whose roots may go back to the Old Assyrian period. Egyptian inspiration for this script seems unlikely. Typologically, it fits in with an Aegaean script like Linear B but it may well be an originally Anatolian creation. Given the fact that the Luwian language became increasingly widespread within central Anatolia, that, where visible, Luwian is the language of the hieroglyphic inscriptions, and that the imported cuneiform and the Hittite language were never used for publicly displayed inscriptions, the creation and promotion of the hieroglyphs were part of the same attempt at unifying the kingdom. This chapter ends with a brief introduction to the Anatolian hieroglyphic script and system.