Hieroglyphic Inscriptions on Hittite Pottery from Late Bronze Kinet Höyük (Hatay, Turkey)

Abstract Like many Late Bronze sites in Cilicia, the ancient seaport at Kinet Höyük adopted a material culture reflecting Hittite standards from central Anatolia. The process, dynamics, and intentions engineering this assimilation have long been explored from many perspectives, including the ceramic repertoire. This paper contributes to the discussion by introducing a group of Kinet LB vessels with Anatolian Hieroglyphic potmarks and seal impressions that were intended to be read as script. Their references to 'king/royal' and 'palace' convey an official status to the seaport, identified with Hittite Izziya; and attest to Kinet's formal standing as an outpost of the Hittite state already in the Old Kingdom.