ABSTRACT
Amongst the most important finds unearthed in the Hittite world in recent years, we should probably give pride of place to the tablet archives that have come to light in several regional centres of the kingdom of Hatti. Within the homeland itself, Hittite cuneiform archives have been discovered at Ortaköy (ancient Sapinuwa), Kuşakli (ancient Sarissa) and Maşat (ancient Tapikka). The tablets from these archives vary widely in content, from land-grants to inventories of goods and personnel to a range of religious and cultic texts. Seal impressions also figure prominently amongst the surviving written documents. But the largest group of texts consists of letters written by the king to his local officials, or by the local officials to their king, or by Hattusa-based officials to local officials, or by local officials in one region to their counterparts in other regions. In a number of respects the letters provide a valuable first-hand record of day-to-day administration in the kingdom’s regional centres, and a first-hand view of the conditions, problems and dangers confronting the king’s civil and military appointees in these regions. They also provide us with some interesting glimpses into the personal relations, sometimes cordial, sometimes strained, between the officials themselves.
