ABSTRACT
The Hittite state is the oldest identifiable Indo-European state. The Hittites created the first large unified polity in Anatolia in the 17th century BCE. Their language, preserved on thousands of clay tablets written in cuneiform and discovered mostly at the site of their capital Hattusa, is the oldest attested Indo-European language. Anitta as the first 'literate' Indo-European gives us a unique look at how this group, newly established in Anatolia, interacted with 'native' Anatolian culture, which people call Haitian. The Anitta Text was clearly a text considered important by later Hittite kings or perhaps their scribes, since it exists in at least three different copies, ranging in date from the Old Hittite to the New Hittite period. Anitta therefore seems to have developed a pantheon headed by deities which exhibit both gender and cultural complementarity. The first identifiable Indo-Europeans, Pithana and his successor Anitta demonstrate the potential for cultural synthesis and an ability to adapt local cultural traditions and strategies.
