User Guide

Learn how to use LAMAN to explore Hittite names, places, and deities

Search Names

Find names using fuzzy matching and filters

How Search Works

LAMAN uses fuzzy matching to find names even when you don't know the exact transliteration. The search is case-insensitive and handles common variations.

Example: Finding Kattaḫḫa

All of these searches will find Kattaḫḫa:

kataha → Finds Kattaḫḫa (handles missing double consonants and special ḫ)

kadaha → Finds Kattaḫḫa (d/t variation is handled)

kattahha → Finds Kattaḫḫa (ASCII-friendly transliteration)

Kattaḫḫa → Exact match with special characters

Understanding Name Details

When you click on a name, you'll see detailed information:

Name Types

Person - Personal names (anthroponyms)
Place - Geographical names (toponyms)
Deity - Divine names (theonyms)

Correspondence & Variants

Correspondence shows how a name appears in other writing systems or languages. For example, a Hittite name might correspond to a Hurrian or Akkadian form.

Variant Forms are different spellings of the same name within the Hittite corpus.

Tip: Searching for a correspondence or variant will also find the main name entry.

Attestations

Every occurrence of a name in cuneiform texts is recorded with:

Fragment: The tablet reference (e.g., KUB 1.1)
Line: Where in the text it appears
Spelling: The specific cuneiform spelling
TLH^dig: Link to view the text online

Co-occurring Names

This section shows other names that appear on the same tablets. This is useful for:

Finding related individuals (family members, colleagues)
Discovering social networks and relationships
Understanding the context of a name

Click the header to expand the list. Names are sorted by how often they co-occur with the current name.

Fragmentary Attestations & "Unknown" Names

Some attestations in cuneiform texts are too fragmentary to identify with certainty. These present a special case in the database.

What are fragmentary attestations?

When a name on a tablet is partially damaged or broken, it may match multiple possible names. For example, a spelling like (°m°)pí-ḫa-x-[ could belong to any name beginning with "Piha-" (such as Piḫaziti, Piḫawalwi, etc.).

How are they handled?

Fragmentary attestations that cannot be assigned to a specific name are linked to a placeholder entry called "Unknown". This means:

The attestation is preserved in the database
It appears when you search for the fragment where it occurs
It does not appear in name searches (e.g., searching "Piha" won't show fragmentary instances that might begin with Piha-)

Example

In CHDS 2.128, the spelling "(°m°)pí-ḫa-x-[" is recorded as an attestation of "Unknown" because it could belong to any name starting with "Piha-".

To find this attestation, you must search for the fragment (CHDS 2.128), not for "Piha" in the name search.

Advanced: Regex Search

Enable the Regex checkbox for powerful pattern matching:

^Katt → Names starting with "Katt"

šarri$ → Names ending with "šarri"

ḫ.*ziti → Names containing "ḫ" followed by "ziti"

^.{3,5}$ → Names with exactly 3-5 characters

Using Filters

Narrow down your search results using the filter dropdowns:

Name Type: Person, Place, or Deity
Writing Type: Syllabic (phonetic spelling) or Logographic (ideographic)
Completeness: Whether the name is completely preserved or fragmentary
Milieu: Cultural/linguistic background (Hittite, Hurrian, Luwian, etc.)

Filters can be combined with search queries for precise results.

Fragment Search

Use the Search Fragments page to find tablets by their catalog number (e.g., KUB 1.1, KBo 4.2).

Click on a fragment to see all names attested on that tablet, including fragmentary attestations linked to "Unknown".