The Identity and Language of the Gutians in the Zagros Mountains

Abstract

​     This research is dedicated to re-evaluating the conventional portrayal of the Gutians in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform texts, where they are frequently depicted as a destructive and negative force. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the problematic identity and origins of the Gutians, addressing core questions: Who were the Gutians, and to which linguistic family did their language belong?

​     To achieve this, the study examines their ethnic and linguistic dimensions in light of historical, linguistic, and archaeological data. This is conducted through a critical analysis of primary sources and a comparison with modern anthropological and philological evidence.

​The findings of this research clarify that؛ ​the Gutians were an indigenous component of the population structure of the Zagros region. ​They maintained deep cultural and social integration with neighboring peoples, such as the Hurrians, Elamites, Kassites, and Lullubians. ​Contrary to the "uncivilized" stereotype, they possessed distinct and independent political and cultural institutions.

​     The study concludes that the Gutians possess profound roots that persisted for millennia within the Zagros highlands.

    Consequently, this necessitates a modern scholarly revision of their influential role in the ancient history of the Near East. Obviously, no study is without sources, so we have relied on several important and original sources to verify the information and conduct this study. These include; Speiser's Mesopotamian Origin, an important source on the races and peoples of the Two Rivers before the Sumerians and the Akkadians, attempts to analyze the structure of the population through archaeological and linguistic evidence. The book presents an analytical framework for understanding the cultural interaction between the peoples of the Zagros and the plain inhabitants of the Two Rivers Country.