Hittite Concepts of Impurity
In the ruins of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire from roughly 1650 to 1200 BCE, archaeologists uncovered more than 30,000 cuneiform tablets. Many of these texts describe complex rituals designed to counteract a state the Hittites called papratar, or ritual impurity. This impurity was not simple uncleanliness, but a dangerous, contagious state believed to stem from sources like bloodshed, childbirth, contact with the dead, or breaking a divine oath. The Hittites believed such conditions represented a serious disruption of the normal order and could only be corrected through ritual action. While they attributed the ultimate cause to supernatural forces like witchcraft or the anger of the gods, their meticulous procedures for containing impurity show an observational understanding of contagion.
The Hittite ritualists treated impurity as a transferable substance that could infect people, objects, and even entire buildings or cities. The goal of their purification rites was to physically transfer this contamination from the afflicted person or place to a ritual substitute or carrier. These procedures, performed by experts like the "Old Woman" practitioner, followed precise, codified steps, indicating a systematic approach to halting the spread of what they perceived as a dangerous affliction.