[26] Op. cit., p. 86 f. An interesting little letter addressed "to the kings of Canaan, the servants of my brother," was apparently a passport carried by Akia, an ambassador, whom the Babylonian king had sent to condole with the king of Egypt, probably on the death of his father Amen-hetep III. In it the king writes, "let none detain him; speedily may they cause him to arrive in Egypt" (cf. op. cit., pp. 268 ff.)
[27] We are not here concerned with this aspect of the letters, as Babylon had but a remote interest in the internal politics of Canaan. Her activities in the west at this time were mainly commercial; and the resulting influence of her civilization in Palestine is discussed in a later chapter (see below, pp. 289 ff.). The letters will be treated more fully in the third volume of this history, when tracing the gradual expansion of Assyria in the west, and the forces which delayed her inevitable conflict with Egypt.
[28] See Figs. 47 and 48. The relief was found by M. Legrain at Karnak; cf. Meyer, "Reich und Kultur der Chetiter," pl. i. The inscription in Fig. 47 labels the ambassadors as "mariana of Naharain (i.e. Northern Syria)." the term mariana being the Aryan word for "young men, warriors," doubtless borrowed from the ruling dynasty of Mitanni (see below, n. 2). That in Fig. 48 contains the end of a list of Hittite cities, including [Car]chemish and Aruna, the latter probably in Asia Minor.
[29] See Figs. 49 and 50.
[30] The Mitannian people were probably akin to them, though in the fifteenth century they were dominated by a dynasty of Indo-European extraction, bearing Aryan names and worshipping the Aryan gods Mitra and Varuna, Indra and the Nâsatya-twins (cf. Winckler, "Mitteil. d. Deutsch. Orient-Gesellschaft," No. 35, p. 51, and Meyer, op. cit., p. 57 f.). In spite of Scheftelowitz's attempt to prove the Mitannian speech Aryan (cf. "Zeits. f. vergl. Sprachf.," xxxviii., pp. 260 ff.), it has been shown by Bloomfield to be totally non-Indo-European in character; see "Amer. Journ. of Philol.," xxv., pp. 4 ff., and cf. Meyer, "Zeits. f. vergl. Sprachf.," xlii., 21, and King, "Journ. for Hellen. Stud.," xxxiii., p. 359.
[31] Khatti may well have been an important centre from a very early period, and the use of the name "Hittites" by the late chronicler, in describing the conflicts of the First Babylonian Dynasty, is in favour of this view: see above, [p. 210], n. 2.
[32] This we gather from a letter Amen-hetep wrote to him in the Arzawa language, which was found at Tell el-Amarna; cf. Knudtzon, "Die el-Amarna Tafeln," pp. 270 ff., No. 31.
[33] A portion of the village is built over an extension of the outer fortification-walls on the north-west.
[34] Now known as Beuyuk Kale. For an account of the excavations, see Puchstein, "Boghasköi: die Bauwerke" (1912); and for the best earlier description of the site, see Garstang, "Land of the Hittites," pp. 196 ff.
[35] In the Lion-Gateway at Khatti the face of each monolith is carved to represent a lion, facing any one approaching the entrance from without (cf. Puchstein, "Boghasköi," pi. 23 f.). The figure sculptured in relief on the inner side of the Royal Gateway (see [p. 229], [Fig. 51]) preserves an interesting feature of the best Hittite work,—an unusual combination of minute surface-adornment with great boldness of design. The hatching and scroll-work on the garment are only roughly indicated in the small drawing, and other detail is omitted. Hair on the breast of the figure, for example, doubtless regarded as a sign of strength and virility, is conventionally rendered by series of minute overlapping curls, which form a diapered pattern traced with the point. This can only be detected on the original stone, or in a large-size photograph, such as that reproduced by Puchstein, op. cit., pl. 19. The Royal Gateway is in the S.E. corner of the city, near the palace and the smaller temples. The great temple, by far the largest building on the site, lies on the lower ground to the north.