# Kurds = Hittites? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 9, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619 "2005-06-09T17:56:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/41 "2013-07-21T19:58:41Z")
[Muffet.](http://evenmorereviews.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/muffet.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/42 "2013-07-21T19:59:29Z")
But, one man’s Mede is another man’s Persian. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/43 "2013-07-21T20:37:09Z")
A tuffet, pouffe or hassock is a piece of furniture used as a footstool or low seat.[1] It is distinguished from a stool by being completely covered in cloth so that no legs are visible. It is essentially a large hard cushion that may have an internal wooden frame to give it more rigidity. In short, if you want to set on a large, had cushion, you have to tuffet out. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/44 "2013-07-21T21:37:35Z")
**A vain attempt to get this thread back on track.** > [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Yes, I meant genetically. The Hittite language is long gone, but before they were overrun by the Persian empire the neo-Hittites occupied roughly the same geographic location as modern Kurds. I wondered if the Hittites might have survived as an ethnic subgroup within the Persian –\> Greek –\> Roman –\> Arab –\> Ottoman Empires, or had been largely exterminated and replaced. Even ethnic subgroups, after 3000 years, are not particularly pure, thanks to intermarriage, adoption, immigration, and, um, well, Kurdistan is on several invasion routes, soldiers get lonesome, and local girls need some cash. Genetics is nearly worthless for tracking the history of a culture. You are not who some of your long-dead ancestors were. As for the Hittite culture itself, the empire, with its political system, is dead, the language is dead, the religion is dead, the art is dead, and so on. A Modern Kurd may consider himself a Hittite, but he is no more Hittite than you or I. Another discussion could ask, “When is a culture dead?” Cultural extinction happens all the time. And **Aram Hittite KURD** should remember that most of the people on this board are from Great Britain, the US, and I seem to remember there being some quiet, but polite, nation to the north of the US. Few of us are Turks or Iranians. These countries _support_ Kurdish independence, put up with Turkey, and actively dislike Iran. We are not the enemy. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/45 "2013-07-21T21:49:10Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > A tuffet, pouffe or hassock is a piece of furniture used as a footstool or low seat.[1] It is distinguished from a stool by being completely covered in cloth so that no legs are visible. It is essentially a large hard cushion that may have an internal wooden frame to give it more rigidity. In short, if you want to set on a large, had cushion, you have to tuffet out. And now, tuffets are part of the [ottoman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_%28furniture%29) empire ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/46 "2013-07-21T21:55:55Z")
> [@Aram\_Hittite\_KURD](#): > > It’s not Kurdyman it’s Kurdish Sir, > > Thought you were serious Scientist who actually looking to reveal the Truth… Serious scientists don’t capitalize “truth”-in fact, they rarely use the term. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/47 "2013-07-21T22:19:29Z")
German scientists capitalize it, and you can’t get more serious than them. But they also capitalize scientist. It’s a noun thing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/48 "2013-07-21T22:39:13Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > German scientists capitalize it, and you can’t get more serious than them. But they also capitalize scientist. It’s a noun thing. Do German Scientists write KURD in all caps? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/49 "2013-07-21T23:00:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Do German Scientists write KURD in all caps? Only when used as an acronym for East Germany: Kommunist Uber-Republik Deutschland. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/50 "2013-07-21T23:16:02Z")
Does that mean the residents of the former East Germany are Hittites? I ask because I thought that West Germany had more Turkish guest workers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/51 "2013-07-21T23:38:04Z")
_Little Miss Muffet Sat on a tuffet, Eating her curds and whey; Along came a spider, Who sat down beside her And frightened Miss Muffet away._ This is an obvious historical allegory. Little Miss Muffet represents the Sultan, who was kept in a state of isolation and decadence - like a harem member. So he is portrayed as a little girl. The Sultan ruled the Ottoman Empire - sitting on a tuffet, which as noted is a synonym for an ottoman footstool. From this position he was oppressing (eating) the curds (the Kurds) and the whey (the Armenians, derived from _Hayrenik_, the Armenian word for Fatherland and the name of the Armenian separatist movement). So along came the spider (the British Empire with its reach all over the world) to first prop up the Sultan and then overthrow him. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/52 "2013-07-21T23:38:54Z")
And here I was expecting this thread to have something to do with Wisconsin and Cheese. Oh. My. God. The people of Wisconsin are Hittites. I see it now! That explains the cheese! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/53 "2013-07-21T23:42:40Z")
You know who else was a Hittite? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/54 "2013-07-21T23:48:53Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > You know who else was a Hittite? You’re just an anti-Hittite! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/55 "2013-07-21T23:57:55Z")
I can’t reasonably believe there are still Hittites, not because the anthropologists say so but because of the absence of anti-Egyptain terrorist acts by people who still have a hardon over the Battle of Kadesh. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/56 "2013-07-22T00:26:22Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > You know who else was a Hittite? His original name was “Hittitler”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/57 "2013-07-22T00:46:07Z")
> [@Aram\_Hittite\_KURD](#): > > Hi guys, I am a KURD and I wanna answer this question. > > Yes indeed, we have studied the matter and our mothers and father generation by generation told us that, we are Hittites generation, there is a saying among us ; No friends but the mountains. also we were not mixed with any other nations, even **when Islam came, Kurds pretended for centuries that they converted, but we were not!** So we remained and Isolated in the mountains of Ararat and Zagross in the caves! The most important thing is WE STILL SPEAK THE VERY SAME LANGUAGE and we started Excavations with Archaeologists to rediscover our civilization and Find these Libraries in the Lost capital city of Hattusa as my grandpa told us to do so! we will invite the media in the world when we found them. > > Thanks all > God bless 🙂 Not Muslims?! Then what **is** your religion? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/58 "2013-07-22T00:53:31Z")
> [@Aram\_Hittite\_KURD](#): > > Because I have a voice and I know I can be a part of the solution, if you are aiming to do something about it. Wait, what solution? What was the problem? And why is “Aram” in your username? That’s an old name for Syria. Never Kurdish country at all, save the northeastern bit. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/59 "2013-07-22T01:01:13Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > And here I was expecting this thread to have something to do with Wisconsin and Cheese. It is. You just need to be more creative. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619/60 "2013-07-22T01:56:06Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > It is. You just need to be more creative. “Well, Steve, the Milwaukee Hittites trounced the Chicago Mitanni in the opening game of the NFL season with their bold and innovative use of scythe-hubbed chariots in the third quarter . . .” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kurds-hittites/307619.md?page=4)