I Gesti nelle rappresentazioni iconografiche ittite tra il XVI e il XIII secolo a.C.

Abstract

The analysis of gestures in the Hittite iconographic representations, characterizing Anatolia between the sixteenth and the thirteenth centuries B.C., reveals the existence of an alternative and symbolic form of communication. The aim of this study is to deduce information about the Hittite society from the iconographic identification of the Hittite gestures and their decoding, semantic interpretation and classification. In order to do this, it is necessary to analyze the repertoire offered by orthostats, rock reliefs, statues, statue bases, stelae, pendants, containers in various materials and seals, which have been organized into a chronological interval corresponding to the entire time of the formation, development and decline of the Hittite empire. From the iconographic investigation of gestures, it will be possible to recognize the different spatial places in which the personages depicted act, and this entails special sphere of research, which includes social, political and religious analysis. The gestures in the iconographic representations animate the body, connect the characters represented, convey very specific messages, establish the connection between the divine and the human world, and scan time and space.