Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi

Öz

The Hittites provided a sincere account of the role and importance of religion in their lives by identifying themselves as the “people with one thousand gods.” It goes without saying that the exact number of the gods is not necessarily one thousand, but they used to believe in a significant number of gods that validate this description. According to the Hittites, the relationship between gods and humans is likened to that between a master and a servant, and the essence of Hittite religion is based on the idea of “pleasing the gods.” In line with this understanding, they led their lives within certain rules in order to obtain the consent and approval of the gods and protect themselves from their wrath. Some of these rules were celebrating the feasts fully properly, and avoiding actions that could possibly arouse the gods’ wrath. Considered to be like humans, their gods had needs such as food, drink, and shelter, which were supposed to be met by humans. The Hittites had also constructed temples, which they considered as the “house of the god.” It is understood that these temples, built for the gods by the Hittites, were not solely places for religious activities. These temples were also institutions that encompassed socio- economic structures. The “Directive Text for Temple Officials”, examined in this study, was prepared to guide the officials in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the temples’ multifaceted structure. These directives emphasize the importance of not neglecting the services to be offered to the god. At the same time, the use or abuse of the god’s animals, fields and things belonging to him are expressed as situations to be avoided. Otherwise, the consequence of disobeying these warnings is to incur the wrath of the god. Both the complete fulfilment of services to the gods and the preservation of the functionality and security of the temple are significant topics covered in the directives.