On Empire’s Edges

Part II moves the focus of investigation to a series of topographically transitional and politically contested landscapes. The distribution and development of these borderzones sketch a picture of Hittite sovereignty that remained contested, often uncomfortably close to the imperial heartland and throughout its lifehistory. The emergent picture is also at odds with both modern notions of territoriality, where states are neatly bounded geographical entities with clearly defined, linear borders, but also with official Hittite ideological and legal notions of sovereignty.