Hittite Hygiene Culture Was Surprisingly Advanced, New Study Finds

Representation of Hittite hygiene practices.

January

/ 2026

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A new peer-reviewed study argues that the Hittites - the Bronze Age superpower whose capital was Hattusa - developed a structured “hygiene culture” that blended everyday cleanliness with social status and religious expectations. Rather than treating washing as a rare luxury, the evidence suggests the Hittites built spaces, used tools, and followed routines that made staying clean a normal and meaningful part of life reports Arkeonews.

The research by Ana Arroyo, published in Anatolian Studies, stresses a key point that modern readers often miss: “hygiene” is not a universal idea that looks the same in every society. What counts as “clean,” how often people wash, and who is expected to do so can differ widely - even inside the same culture depending on class and role.

Everyday Cleanliness Was a Social Practice, Not Just a Habit

Arroyo’s study frames Hittite hygiene as something shaped by cultural conventions, not simply personal preference. In other words, washing mattered because it signaled readiness to participate in community life, and in many cases, readiness to approach the divine.

That idea also fits what many readers know of the Hittites from their vast written record. Excavations at Hattusa have produced tens of thousands of clay tablets, giving scholars unusual access to rules, rituals, and the “how-to” instructions of palace and temple life - ideal material for tracing what people were expected to do before work, ceremonies, and official duties.

The Lion Gate in Hattusa. (KapuskaCoFabli/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bathtubs and Dedicated Washing Spaces Turn Up in the Archaeology

Textual evidence is only half the story. Arroyo also compares written references with archaeological finds to connect hygiene practices to real locations and objects - exactly the kind of cross-check that helps separate metaphorical “purity talk” from practical washing.

One of the most tangible examples is the survival of large ceramic bathtubs associated with Hittite-period contexts. A photographed terracotta tub from Kültepe (Old-Hittite, 19th or 18th century BC) shows that substantial bathing installations existed in Anatolia long before classical antiquity’s famous bathhouses.

Terracotta bathtub from Kültepe. Old-Hittite, 19th or 18th century B.C. (Dosseman/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cleanliness and Ritual Purity: Similar, But Not the Same

A major theme in Arroyo’s paper is that “clean” and “pure” can overlap, but they are not identical concepts. Cleanliness can be physical (washed hands, fresh clothing, clean spaces), while purity can be a wider religious status shaped by rules and taboo. That distinction matters, because it suggests some Hittite cleansing routines were practical, while others were designed to manage spiritual risk, notes the study.

What This Changes About the “Hittite Hygiene” Story

The biggest takeaway is not that the Hittites were “modern,” but that they were organized. If hygiene is governed by social norms, then the Hittites appear to have invested in those norms, through language, prescribed behavior, and durable objects like tubs and wash-related equipment, suggesting cleanliness was part of what made their cities, palaces, and temples function smoothly.

And it’s another reminder that the Hittites’ legacy isn’t only treaties and warfare. Their tablets and material culture keep revealing intimate details of how people were expected to live - from state-level crises like drought and collapse, to the practical routines of daily life inside the empire’s heartland.

Top image: AI generated representation of Hittite hygiene practices. Source: AI generated

By Gary Manners