Ritual as an Aspect of Cultural Integration: Ugarit, Emar, and the Hittites in Syria

Abstract

Although the Syrian kingdoms of the 13th century BCE may not have been integrated into the Hittite empire politically or economically, there is evidence that the Hittites employed strategies of cultural integration – part of bridging the geographical and social divide between the rulers and the ruled. The recently published documents from Ugarit reveal that both the Hittite Great king himself, as well as the King of Karkamiš, who administered the Syrian kingdoms, participated in Ugaritic ritual management and sent Hittite agents to offer sacrifices foreign to Ugarit. These features resonate with the emerging understanding of ritual practice at Emar as deeply influenced by Hittite ritual ideas and closely managed by Hittite officials, raising anew the question of Emar’s cult for “the gods of Ḫatti.” This investigation demonstrates aspects of foreign involvement in Ugaritic and Emarite ritual that contributed to the ongoing negotiation of power between those regions as political actors.