Search - The Hittites: A Civilization That Changed the World on DVD

Please interpret these impossible Hittite names

F. N. Mastrogiovanni | new jersey United States | 08/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Hittites were a Bronze Age Empire from what is modern day Turkey. Much of what archeologists know about the Hittites comes from clay tablets found in their capital. The two-hour DVD tells the story of the Hittites in chronological order and was narrated by Jeremy Irons. The redramatizations were helpful in showing what clothes, armor, equipment and cities looked like. They also added a historical flavor to this story of this once lost ancient civilization. Jeremy Irons does a masterful job telling about the rise and fall of the Hittites and their 500-year reign over Anatolia. I especially liked where Jeremy Irons correctly pronounces the Hittite kings names like Muwatalish, Mursilis and Suppiluliumas. I thought the battle of Qadesh could have been better explained with more detail and a better explanation about the neighbors of the Hittites. But that would've meant a three or four hour DVD...too bad! Over all I gave this documentary four stars because this is the perfect historical story for beginners like me, who aren't classically educated and haven't spent half our lives digging up ancient cities. A must buy for history buffs like me."

Nice introduction to an ignored culture

Bruce Brocka | Quad Cities | 05/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The documentary is a melange of historian interviews, narrative voice-over and re-enactment. The re-enactment was a bit jarring because of the long hair on the men (I guess I expected closely cropped hair, I'm not sure why), and the sparse set dressing, but I'm just jaded from watching HBO's Rome too many times. I can't comment on the accuracy because I'm ignorant about the Hittites (that's why I watched the DVD), but I find the bronze age fascinating in general, and it seems in keeping with what I have read from The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 2, Part 2: The Middle East and the Aegean Region, c.1380-1000 BC,

I do admit I might only give it three stars without the melliflous narration of Jeremy Irons, gently pronouncing these jawcracker names. There seems to be some disagreement on how to pronounce the names, and the written form (from the Cambridge Ancient History) lists them as having -ash at the end. Hattushilli is Khattushilash, for example, so it make it confusing.

I quite enjoyed this DVD, and have watched it several times. It has surprising production values compare to many shows on the History Channel, and seems to have been promoted by the Turkish government - if so, good for them. Turkey is a deep well of history.

Bottom line, if you're a veteran watcher of History Channel type documentaries, you'll enjoy this."