The Discovery of an

Anatolian Empire
Bir Anadolu
imparatorluguliun Ke§fi
A Colloquium to Commemorate the 1OOth Anniversary of the
Decipherment of the Hittite language
(November 14th and 15th, 2015; Istanbul Archaeological Museum - Library)

Editors / Editorler
Meltem Dogan-Alparslan - Andreas Schachner - Metin Alparslan

Bilnet Matbaacilik, Istanbul, 2017, ISBN 978-975-08-3991-7

 French Hittitology: A History

Alice Mouton

The historical seat of French Hittitology is the Catholic University of Paris (Institut
Catholique de Paris) and, more specifically, the École des Lang;ues Orientales Anciennes (School
of the Ancient Oriental Languages) now called École des Lan[fltes et Civilisations de l'Orient
Ancien (School of the Languages and Civilizations of the Ancient Orient). This is where the
discipline was first taught in 1930, fifteen years after Bedrich Hroznfs discovery. Thanks
to Emmanuel Laroche, Hittitology also entered French state universities (in Strasburg and
Paris) and even the prestigious Collège de France. 1 will present the three main figures that
created and developed French Hittitology, namely Louis Delaporte, Eugène Cavaignac and
Emmanuel Laroche. Thus I exclude the French explorers or scholars who did not study the
Hittite language itselfl. I will also exclude the numerous French Indo-Europeanists who
took an interest in Hittite, as I have decided to focus only on Hittite philology.

Louis Delaporte (1874-1944)

Louis-Joseph Delaporte (Fig. 1) can be considered the
father of French Hittitology. He was born on October
22, 1874 in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, in the French
department of Manche. His parents ran a clothing store
in Saint-Hilaire. He first studied Mathematics before
discovering Assyriology and Syriac Studies in 1901 at
the École des Hautes Études (School of High Studies) in
Paris. He also studied at the École du Louvre (the Louvre
School) and at the Catholi~ University of Paris where
he learned Semitic languages, among wlùch Akkadian.
He received lùs PhD from Fribourg University in 1903,
obtaining also the Diploma of the École du Louvre in 1904
and another from the École des Hautes Études in 1910. In
1904, he was sent to Lebanon to make a catalogue of the
Fig. 1: Louis Delaporte
Syriac manuscripts of the Sharfe Monastery. In 1910 he
replaced Charles Clermont-Ganneau, professor of Senùtic studies of the Collège de France,
for a year and later worked for the National Museums. By 1909, he had already published
the catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern cylinder seals preserved in the Guimet Museum in
Paris (Fig. 2).
Two other catalogues of Ancient Near Eastern cylinder seals would later be produced
by Delaporte in 192 0 and 192 3 from the collections of the Cabinet des Médailles (the Medals
Cabinet) and the Louvre Museum. After the First World War, Delaporte taught at the École
du Louvre (in 1919) and at the Catholic University of Paris (in 1921). Within the Catholic
University of Paris (Fig. 3), a new school called École des Lang;ues Orientales Anciennes had
been created in 1914. In that school, Delaporte replaced Léon Legrain in his teaching of
Akkadian and Sumerian.

For a biography of Charles Texier, the French discoverer of Hattusa, see Seeher 2001. For a history of
other French pioneers in Anatolian Archeology, see Chevalier 2002, 13-112.
 Alice Mouton 227
226 The Discovery of an Anatolian Empire / Bir Anadolu Împaratorlugunun Ke~fi

Since Bedrich Hroznf s decipherment of monuments, constntctions, conznion abjects and luxzny abjects.
cuneiform Hittite, Delaporte followed with great Texts are the most important in the point ofview ofHistmy per Il m~ ~v1•rm1u.
m11i,ro111tQUr m MOfllQUII

Il L' ~V OlUT ~... ~,;ai ~-I UMA NIT t

interest the on-going research on Hittitology. In se, as only they give names and report events. Unfortunately, ......... ,............... . ., ....... ,
ANN Ai.E S
1930, he decided to create and teach a Hittite class they do not fonn a continuous series, even at the tintes when the
MUSl~E GUIMET princes were taleing care of writing their annals. Besides each
at the Catholic University of Paris where he had
leing is only interested in telling his high deeds and praising
LES HITTITES
already been teaching Assyriology since 1921. By 14 A~.(I:: ,,.,,
fÎl•.r~· ..,

doing so, he was at the origin of teaching cuneiform the land. Wben chance provides several narratives front diverse }tiltlti tf4 tf11111.l.1hou- fu l•

CATAJ.OHUI\ ll U MUSfΠlilll!li'71' origins of one unique event that had repercussions in several
Hittite in France. He also started teaching Hittite 1-.i• Of..LAPORTt

at the École du Louvre during the same year. countries, ail those narratives have a total/y subjective view ............ ...,.
.......... .,...« ... .......... ~....
·~~'""~~"-'""'• '"•

Thanks to Atatürk's support, in 1930, together point. More than that, in the successive reports written in one
with Eugène Cavaignac and AbelJuret, he created single location, facts are distorted and end up receiving more
l.A RE NAISS,\NCE DU LI VR E

the Society of Hittite and Asianic Studies and importance than they first had. Therefore it is intpmïant not to
the journal Revue Hittite et Asianique, which he accept without checleing information provided by the documents,
administered for the next ten years. The first not even the royal lists where the dynasties together with the
fascicle of the Revue Hittite et Asianique appeared leings' names and the duration of their reig;ns are described. "2 Fig. 4: Les Hittites by
l~ ll Nl\ST
l Alll S..J
1

1. f.ll OUX , in 1932. In the context of his Hittite class, he

~ UtH U ll
He advises the same sound method in tl1e first French Louis Delaporte
~. •CE - ·~.. ~r~.
vr
published the first handbook of Hittite in French, grammar of Hittite, namely his Manuel de langue hittite,
whe~e he ':rites: "The author's unique objective is to present to beginners, in a simple form
entitled Manuel de lang;ue hittite (Handbook
Fig. 2: Catalogue of the Ancient Near of Hittite Language), which appeared in four and 111 log1cal order, the main rules of the dialect in which most of tl1e so-called Hittite
Eastern cylinder seals of the Guimet volumes between 1929 and 193 3. He also produced tablets now known are written and to justify the existence of those rules through the use of
Museum by Louis Delaporte
Pour lire le hittite cunéiforme (In Order to Read examp.les accompanied with references to tablets, columns and lines where they are drawn
from, 111 order to allow [the reader] to check them. 3"
Cuneiform Hittite) in 1935, which supplemented his Manuel, and several handbooks of
De~ap.orte was also very active in Hittite Archaeology. He first dug at Hashoyük near
Hittite or Ancient Near Eastern History more generally, namely: Les Hittites (The Hittites)
I\.i.r§~hll' 111 .1931-193 3 but also worked at the important site of Arslantepe/Malatya, the
in 1936 (Fig. 4), Les peuples de l'Orient méditerranéen, 1. Le Proche-Orient asiatique (Peoples
~ttlte Mehd, between 1933 and 1939. While he was digging the top of the mound, he
of Mediterranean Orient, I. The Asian Near East) in 1938, and the volume on antiquity of
d1scovered the so-called Neo-Assyrian palace with its well-known Neo-Hittite reliefs as
L'atlas historique (The Historical Atlas) in 1948. well as the Lion Gate (Fig. 5) where a royal statue had been concealed. He published,his
In Les peuples de l'Orient méditerranéen, Delaporte showed his preference for scientific
discoveries in 1940 in a book entitled Malatya, fouilles de la mission archéologique française,
skepticism toward the ancient sources. He writes: "The uncovered documents are texts,fig;ured
Arslantepe (Malatya, Excavations of the French Archaeological missiori, Arslantepe).
In 1941, in the midst of tl1e Second World War, Delaporte became a member of French
Résistance against the Nazis - he was already 67 years old at that time - but he was arrested
after one of his classes on May 19, 1942. Although Eugène Cavaignac mentions that he tried
to obtain his release through Maréchal Pétain and the Turkish Embassy (Cavagniac-Juret
1944-45: 8), Delaporte was deported to Germany in November 1942 and died in a German

2 Delaporte 1938, 4-5:. "Les documents découverts sont des textes, des monuments figurés, des
constru~tlons'. des objets usuels et des objets de luxe. Les textes sont les plus importants au point de
vue de l l11st01re proprement dite, puisque seuls ils donnent des noms et signalent des événements.
Mall~eure~Js.ement, ils ne forment pas une série continue, même aux époques où les princes ont pris soin
de faire red1ger leurs annales. Par ailleurs chaque roi n'a d'autre souci que de faire raconter ses hauts
~ai~s et exalter son pays. Lorsqu'un heureux hasard nous livre, d'origines diverses, des récits d'un même
evenement qui a eu des répercmsions dans des pays différents, ces récits se présentent tous d'un point
de vue absolument subjectif. Bien plus, dans les relations successives écrites en un même lieu les faits se
défigurent et finissent par prendre une importance qu'ils n'avaient pas tout d'abord. Il importe donc de
ne pas accepter sai~s contrôle les r~nseignements apportés par les documents contemporains, pas même
les listes royales ou sont cons1gnees les Dynasties avec les noms des rois et la durée de leurs règnes".
Passage already quoted by Klock-Fontanille 2002, 116.
Delaporte 1929, I: "L'unique prétention de l'auteur, c'est de présenter aux débutants, sous une forme
simple et dans l'ordre logique, les principales règles du dialecte dans lequel sont rédigées la plupart des
tablettes d1:es hm!t~s actuellement connues et de justifier l'existence de ces règles par des exemples
accompagnes de references aux tablettes, colonnes et lignes d'où ils sont tirés afin d'en permettre le
contrôle." '
Fig. 3: Catholic University of Paris, previous main enu·ance
228 The Discovery of an Anatolian Empire / Bir Anadolu imparatorlugunun Ke~fi
deportation camp in Wohlau on February,
24, 1944. He was 69 years old.
Eugène Cavaignac (1876-1969)
Eugène Cavaignac (Fig. 6) was born on
August 19, 1876 in the French city of Le
Havre. His father, Godefroy Cavaignac, was
governor of Algeria and President of the
Council of Ministers and his grand-father,
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac, was Minis ter of
Fig. 5: Arslantepe/Malatya, the Lion Gate Vlar during the III'"d Republic and candidate
to the French presidency against the future
Napoleon III. Eugène Cavaignac studied at the Sorbonne and the1: at the ~renc~1 School
of Athens between 1903 and 1905. He wrote two doctoral dissertations entitled Etudes sur
/'histoire financière d'Athènes au V" siècle (Studies on Financial History of Athens in the V'h
Century) and Le trésor d'Athènes de 489 à 404 (The Treasure of Athens from 489 to 404).
After becoming doctor in Classics in 1908, he began teaching in Lille and later becai~e
professor in ti1e Faculty of Letters at Su·asburg Universi~ in 1919, ':"hen su:asbur~ agam
became French. He taught tl1ere until 1939 and then contlnued teachmg for six more years
in Clermont-Ferrand, where Sti·asburg University had been relocated because of the Second
vVorld War. Just like Delaporte, Cavaignac was fascinated by Hroznfs discove1y and he
closely followed the birth of Hittitology. This is why he participate_d in ~le creation of ilie
Society of Hittite and Asianic Studies and tl1e Revue Hittite et Asiamque w1th Delaporte and
Juret. In bis book entitled Les Hittites (The Hittites, Fig. 7), he writes: "Since the beginning,
the discovery of Boghaz-Keuï appeared ta me as the newest and the
most interesting revelation not on/y for the linguist, but also for
the historian, in the field of Ancient History and since the great
accomplishnzents of the preceding century. I took pains ta draw fronz
it conclusions for general histoiy of the Orient and of the prehellenic
world of the 11'"1 nzillenniunz. But I needed the help of the enzinent
philologist that was the late Louis Delaporte for building in 19 30
the Revue Hittite et Asianique. Mister Juret helped us through
his experience of comparative gramnzar. The journal has appeared
ve7J' regularly until 1940: the general tables stop at that date.
Since that sinister date, no one will be surprised ta observe that {the
journal] appeared less regularly, but it still exists until this ve7J'
day, thus allowing France ta leeep its place in a field where, as was
expected, America has talœn an important ranle little by little and
· · "4
where Turkey alsa enteretl tl1e conzpetttzon. Fig. 6: Eugène Cavaignac
·
4 C ava1gnac 1950 , 12·. "De's le début , la< découverte de Boghaz-Keuï m'était apparue comme la •révélation
• •
la plus nouvelle et la plus intéressante, non seulement pour le linguiste, mais pour l'h:stone1;, ~Ul se
fût produite dans tout le domaine de l'histoire ancienne d~puis _les gr:a1;ds explor:s a_u srecle precedent,
et je m'étais appliqué à en dégager les résultats pou1 l histoire generale de l Ouen~ et du mond:
préhellénique du 2e millénaire. Mais il m'a fallu le concour3 de l'éminent philologue qu'eta1: le regrett_e
L. Delaporte pour fonder, en 1930, la Revu~ Hittite et Asianique ~ M._Jure_t nous a app01;te le secoms
de son expérience de la grammaire comparee. La Revue a paru tres regulrerement jusqu en 1940 · les
tables généra les s'arrêtent à cette année. Depuis cette date sinistre, nul n~ s'étonnera qu'elle art paru
moins régu li èrement, mais elle s'est maintenue jusqu'à ce jour, permettant a la France de ternr sa place
dans un domaine où, comme il fallait s'y attendre, l'Amérique a pris peu à peu un rang important et la
Turquie est entrée en lice".
Alice Mouton 229
Already in 1910, at age 34, Cavaignac published a book entitled
Esquisse d'une histoire de France (Sketch of a History of France)
which reflects the Maurassian movement and received the Prize of
His tory of tl1e Action Française, a royalist and ultra-nationalist party
following Charles Maurras's ideology. Cavaignac also published
two books about the Roman period entitled La paix romaine (The
Roman Peace), published in 1928, and Le monde méditerranéen
jusqu'au IV'· siècle avant J.-C. (The Mediterranean vVorld until the
IV'h Century BC), published in 1929, as well as a Histoire générale
de !'Antiquité (General History of Antiquity), published in 1946.
After the official confirmation of Louis Delaporte's deatl1, Fig. ?: Les Hittites by
Cavaignac, although retired since 1945, accepted to teach Hittite Eugène Cavaignac
at tl1e Catholic University of Paris from 1946 to 1959. He also
ran tl1e Revue Hittite et Asianique between 1940 and 194 5. More
tl1an a philologist who made tl1e effort to teach himself cuneiform,
Il: PI OBl.l~ ME
he was a historian who tried to understand the world's history.
lllTl'ITE
He published a lot about Hittite historical texts and chronology.
His book entitled Subbilulizmza et son temps (Subbiluliuma and His
Times) which appeared in 193 2 was much praised by the Italian
Hittitologist Giuseppe Furlani (Furlani 1934) and tl1e French
Assyriologist and biblicist Édouard Dhorme (Dhorme 1934),
among oiliers. He also produced two general books about the
Hittites, namely Le problème hittite (The Hittite Problem) in 1936
(Fig. 8) and Les Hittites (The Hittites) in 1950. When he retired
Fig. 8: Le Problè11te hittite
in 1945, he asked Emmanuel Laroche to replace him as tl1e new
by Eugène Cavaignac
director of tl1e Revue Hittite et Asianique.
Cavaignac <lied onJanuary, 11, 1969 in Paris. He was 92 years old.
Emmanuel Laroche (1914-1991)
Emmanuel Laroche (Fig. 9) was born on July 11, 1914 in Clamart
near Paris. He was ilie son and grand-son of Protestant pastors who
transmitted their interest in Biblical studies to him. He studied at
the École Normale Supérieure between 1936 and 1939, specializing
in Ancient Greek grammar. He followed Émile Benveniste's
classes. Between 1940 and 1942, he taught Classics in the Marceau
high school in Chartres and tl1en became assistant teacher of
Grammar and Philology at Nancy University in 1942. In 1946 he
became Maître de conference (lecturer) and afterward Professor of
General Linguistics and Comparative Grammar oflndo-European
languages at Strasburg University, where he taught until 1972 . He Fig. 9: Emmanuel Laroche
defended his doctoral dissertation on Ancient Greek grammar, as
well as a secondary thesis about ilie names of tl1e Hittite gods in 1948.
In 1953, he also started teaching Hittite and Asianic religions at the École Pratique des
Hautes Études, tl1e descendant of the École des Hautes Études, and he would remain at iliis
institution until 1982. As professor of ancient religions, Laroche studied ilie names of
the Hittite gods, tl1e Hittite testimonies of extispicy, ilie lunar gods, ilie god Sarruma,
and tl1e various forms of prayers. He also suggested tl1e existence of a possible religions
reform at tl1e time of Tudhaliya IV's reign and analyzed Hurrian p~ntl1eons. From 1965
230 The Discovery of an Anatolian Empire / Bir Anadolu imparatorlugunun Ke~li Alice Mouton 231

to 1975, he was director of the French Institute of vital for tl1e study of Hieroglyphic Luwian. He also studied tl1e hieroglyphic inscriptions
Anatolian Studies in Istanbul. He became member of Meskene/Emar and Ras Shamra/Ugarit, two Syrian sites excavated by French teams. In
of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres in 1969, Laroche became ~imself tl1e clirector of an excavation team at Porsuk near Nigde,
1972 (Fig. 10) and Professor of "Languages and most probably the Hittite Tunna.
Civilizations of Asia Minor" at the Collège de Laroche died on June 16, 1991 in Montfort-l'Amaury after a long illness. He was 76
France in 1973, leaving Strasburg to settle in Paris. years old. Upon his death the best days of French Hittitology came to an end. Indeed,
Upon Delaportè's death, Eugène Cavaignac asked although French Hittitology was once represented at the Collège de France and at the
Laroche to become director of the Revue Hittite prestigious French Academy, it is now back where it began: after Laroche's death in 1991,
et Asianique. Laroche supervised it until its last ail the existing Hittite classes clied out one after the other, leaving behind only the Hittite
fascicles in 197 8. teaching of the Catholic University of Paris as an official survivor.
Laroche was above ail a linguist. He published
Fig. 10: French Academy several studies on Hittite as an Indo-European
language before the Second World War. The Revue Bibliography
Hittite et Asianique published several articles of his entitled "Études de vocabulaire" (Studies
Cavaignac, E. • 1950 Les Hittites, L'Orient ancien illustré 3, Paris.
on vocabulary) and "Notes de linguistique anatolienne" (Notes on Anatolian linguistics) Cavaignac, E. -A. Juret • 1944-45 "Louis Delaporte'', Revue Hittite et Asianique 6/44: 3-8.
where he analyzed vocabulary as well as grammatical patterns. He contributed in this way Chevalier, N. • 2002 La recherche archéologique française au Moyen-Orient 1842-1947, ERC, Paris.
to better understand both Hittite lexicography and morphology. Laroche published two Delaporte, L. • 1929 Éléments de la grammaire hittite, Manuel de langue hittite II, Paris.
important glossaries, one ofLuwian (Dictionnaire de la langue louvite - Dictionary ofLuwian 1938 Les peuples de l'Orient méditerranéen, I. Le Proche-Orient asiatique, Paris.
Dhorme, E. • 1934 Review ofE. Cavaignac, Subbiluliuma et son temps, Journal Asiatique 224: 329-330.
language) in 1959 and one of Hurrian (Glossaire de la langue hourrite - Glossary of Hurrian
Durand, Jean-Marie• 1991 "Emmanuel Laroche", Revue d'Assyriologie 85: 97-100.
language) between 1976 and 1980. His contributions to Luwian, Hurrian and Hattie are as Dussaud, R. • 1944 "Louis Delaporte", Syria 24: 287-289.
important as tl10se he wrote a~out Hittite. In 1960 and 1973, he published two articles in the Furlani, G. • 1934 Review of E. Cavaignac, Subbiluliuma et son temps, ]RAS 1934/1: 203-206.
Revue d'Assyriologie entitled "Etudes hourrites" tlrnt constituted significant contributions to Klock-Fontanille, I. • 2002 "L'arrière-plan théorique et épistémologique des recherches de L. Delaporte et
Hurrian studies. Interested in Luwian, he also compared this language witl1 its doser family d'E. Cavaignac", Hethitica 15: 113-128.
Labat, R. • 1969 "Eugène Cavaignac", Journal Asiatique 257: 11-12.
member of the Iron Age, namely Lycian. He published three articles about this language
Laroche, E. • 1970 "Eugène Cavaignac", Revue Hittite et Asianique 28: 5-6.
between 1957 and 1967 in tl1e Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Pai'is. Lycian became Olivier-Utard, F. • 2012 "Laroche Emmanuel Pierre", in: François Pouillon (ed.), Dictionnaire des
one of his fields of expertise as he published Lycian inscriptions found in the Letôon of orientalistes de langue française, Paris: 566-567.
Xanthos. Ail tl1e Anatolian languages were of interest to him, as shown by several studies he Schlumberger, D. • 1969 "Eugène Cavaignac''., Syria 46: 391-393 .
published about "Anatolian" as a linguistic family, thus including Hittite, Luwian, Palaic, Seeher,]. • 2001 "Bogazkiiy: Pteria? Tavium? Hattusha 1 The Discovery of the Hittite Capital", in: Fatma
Canpolat (ed.), From Bogazkêiy to Karatepe. Hittitology and the Discovery of the Hittite \Norld,
Lycian, Lydian, Carian and Pisidian. This .led him to study Anatolian onomastics (Recueil
Istanbul: 98-113.
d'onomastique hittite - Compilation of Hittite onomastic, 1951 and Les nonzs des Hittites - Weidner, E . • 1945-51 "Louis D elaporte", AfO 15: 181 - 182.
The names of the Hittites, 1966) and toponymy (he wrote six articles on tlüs topic between
1957 and 1986).
As he was trying to picture clearly tl1e various languages of Hittite Anatolia, Laroche
decided to classify the Hittite cuneifonn documents tl1emselves, tlrns creating his famous
Catalogue des Textes Hittites (Catalogue of Hittite Texts) which is
still in use today. Its first fascicle appeared in 1956 in the Revue
Hittite et Asianique, but it was extended by three more fascicles
and then republished in 1971 as a monograph. Two more addenda LES
appeared after that date. Laroche also edited several cuneiform HIËROGL YPH ES HITTITES
texts among which the text of Puduhepa's vow, as well as his Textes
l' ~ cr !t•Hf

mythologiques hittites en transcription (Hittite mythological texts in

transcription) in 1965. He reviewed many volumes of KUB and
KBo, tlrns offering invaluable insights on many texts. He also
published the fragments of Hittite tablets preservecl in Geneva 1 ...~~' I DuU"•l><•tlO>l"C I . . • C(>o l l<- t1<<'1 'M•I

(in 19 51, published in the Revue d'Assyriologie) and the Louvre (in
1982, published in tl1e Mémorial Atatürk).
Laroche stucliecl both cuneiform and hieroglyphic writings, Fig. 11 : Les hiéroglyphes
publishing, among other things, Les hiéroglyphes hittites I (The hittites I by Emmanuel
Hittite hieroglyphs I) in 1960 (Fig. 11), a book that soon became Laroche