ANADOLU TARİHİNDE HİTİTLERİN SOSYO-EKONOMİK YAŞANTISI

In this study, analysis of how Hittites, who started to settle in Anatolia around 2000 BC, transformed this region into an agriculture center was aimed. Research on how they sustained economic wealth for long years by implying what kinds of laws and rules in order for economic stability not to be destroyed was conducted. Examination of domestic economy, tax systems, trade, religious and political structuring was aimed. Stockbreeding took second place in Hittites, whose economy depended on agriculture. Hittites tried to make economic and societal life systematic, and to rule the state in a central form. State was given to public temporarily, in order to manage the land. People managing these lands were charged to fulfill the food needs of soldiers and to satisfy the military needs of the government with the profit they earn. As Hittite laws are researched, it was seen that legal items were added related to the agricultural products, which are the greatest income of the government, not to be harmed. While remission in return of money of some crimes committed in this period was applied in Hittites; this great income was the main reason for them to treat solid to crimes especially about agriculture. Whole land belonged to the palace or temples in Hittites. Despite all these, there were also laws that acknowledged the right of private property. Development of agricultural function in Anatolian geography was limited due to their being under the function of temples and palaces. Manorial system in Anatolia was inherited from Hittite culture. The business, from which tax was collected the most, was agriculture. Usually food items were collected as tax according to the land being operated, or valuable materials were paid as tax. Hattusa, capital city of Hittites, was a trade center and a haunt of caravans. Having a very lively trading life, it hosted a large Merchant community. They tried to ensure sovereignty in the Eastern Mediterranean region, in which trade is dynamic, and entered the lists in the coastal cities in this region in order to exert dominance. There are registries, which must be related to famine years, regarding grain to be sent from Egypt via ships. Geographically Anatolia has been a region, in which agricultural lands were difficult to be operated by the equipment of the era. Vegetables, fruits, cereal products and domestic animals existed in Hittites farms. Variety of the grain production has not only taken place in inscriptions. Productivity of the lands was considered by giving thought to status of the lands being managed as agricultural lands and the conditions of the period they existed. During field research, muller stones for crushing grain were discovered. It was understood that they worked not only for cereal products but also for drinks, and wine and beer were produced. Their farms demonstrated that in the economy, in which agriculture takes a large place, stock breeding was also done and stock breeding also contributed to the government extensively. It was recorded in the resources that at their final periods, Hittites purchased goods from outside because of drought.“House” system also expressed the hierarchical system in the society. Small framed houses were clustered around a large framed house in the hierarchical system and they produced depended on this large house. It was mentioned that houses and lands of weavers living in Arinna and Zippalanda cities were under the exemption, however in new laws only the houses of weavers in these cities were under the exemption. In states that include complex societies, the feeling of living together is riveted as long as economic power is well. For this reason, commitment of forceful people living within the state was assured by increasing the incomes of the temples. In the inscriptions obtained as a result of searches, existence of doctors, carpenters, masons, ceramists, weavers, shoe makers, tailors, fullers, barkeepers, fishermen, chefs, sorcerers, custodians and gatekeepers was revealed. A division of labor was also made between men and women in Hittites. While men harvested in summer season; women were assigned to milling. The existence of a payment difference between men and women was not because of sex discrimination, but because men worked more efficiently than women in terms of workforce. Therefore, men earned two times more Money compared to women. Besides people employed for managing the lands and recruiting staff depending on increasing workforce in farms, the government sent cost free slaves to farms or agricultural lands to work in periods, in which product variety was high. Slaves being sent to farms and family members to work in these farms, which are mentioned in the inscriptions, demonstrated that farms were actually not so small in size. In conclusion, it might be stated that Hittites were one of the most ancient civilizations of Anatolia. Formation of stable production areas, which enable order in economic life, separated Hittites from other civilizations in the same period. The Hittite Empire, which had a strong economy, owned a strong army because of this reason. They executed quite strict attitudes and laws both in their domestic affairs and external affairs, in order for the economy not to be disrupted. They transformed Anatolia as a granary. Research of Hittite ruins is extremely important for Anatolian history. By this means, necessary Project supports can be provided and analyses of social and economic lives regarding other civilizations can be extended. Prehistoric period and the middle ages, which remain out of focus in terms of Anatolian history, must be enlightened. Manorial system, which comes ahead of the heritage they left to Anatolia, is left from Hittite culture. The second important heritage Hittite culture left are beekeeping and honey trade. Cultivator is understood to be the most important equipment among the heritages left.