History of the Hittites
Encyclopedia
Hittites were an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa
(Hittite URU) in northern Anatolia
from the 18th century BC
. In the 14th century BC
, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, south-western Syria
as far as Ugarit
, and upper Mesopotamia
. After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the Levant
associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples
, the kingdom disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite
" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC. The history of the Hittite
civilization is known mostly from cuneiform texts found in the area of their kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in various archives in Egypt
and the Middle East
.
some time before 2000 BC. While their earlier location is disputed, there has been strong evidence for more than a century that the home of the Indo-Europeans in the fourth and third millennia was in the Pontic Steppe, present day Ukraine
around the Sea of Azov
. The Hittites and other members of the Anatolian family then came from the north, possibly along the Caspian Sea
. Their movement into the region set off a Near East mass migration sometime around 1900 BC. The dominant inhabitants in central Anatolia at the time were Hattians
. There were also Assyrian
colonies in the country; it was from these that the Hittites adopted the cuneiform
script. It took some time before the Hittites established themselves, as is clear from some of the texts included here. For several centuries there were separate Hittite groups, usually centered around various cities. But then strong rulers with their center in Boğazköy succeeded in bringing these together and conquering large parts of central Anatolia to establish the Hittite kingdom.
Around 5000 BC, the region centered in Hattusa
, that would later become the core of the Hittite kingdom, was inhabited by people with a distinct culture who spoke a non-Indo-European language. The name "Hattic
" is used by Anatolianists to distinguish this language from the Indo-European Hittite language
that appeared on the scene at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC
and became the administrative language of the Hittite kingdom over the next six or seven centuries. As noted above, "Hittite" is a modern convention for referring to this language. The native term was Nesili, i.e. "In the language of Neša
".
The early Hittites, whose prior whereabouts are unknown, borrowed heavily from the pre-existing Hattian culture, and also from that of the Assyrian traders — in particular, the cuneiform writing and the use of cylindrical seal
s.
Since Hattic continued to be used in the Hittite kingdom for religious purposes, and there is substantial continuity between the two cultures, it is not known whether the Hattic speakers — the Hattians
— were displaced by the speakers of Hittite
, were absorbed by them, or just adopted their language.
but survived only as copies made in the 14th
and 13th
centuries BC. These tablets, known collectively as the Anitta
text, begin by telling how Pithana
the king of Kussara
or Kussar (a small city-state
yet to be identified by archaeologists) conquered the neighbouring city of Neša
(Kanesh). However, the real subject of these tablets is Pithana
's son Anitta
, who continued where his father left off and conquered several neighbouring cities, including Hattusa
and Zalpuwa
(Zalpa).
However, Anitta's empire collapsed almost as quickly as it had been created and, as writing then went out of use in the region for several decades, the history of this period remains most obscure, though several major sites were apparently destroyed and the long-established Assyrian merchant trading system ceased to function. When the curtain again lifts, a small kingdom based on Kussara again assumes centre stage, though whether its rulers were of the line of Anitta is uncertain (Bryce, 2005, Chs. 2 and 4).
(it is debated whether this is the same person), who conquered the area south and north of Hattusa. Hattusili I campaigned as far as the kingdom of Yamkhad in Syria, where he attacked, but did not capture, its capital of Aleppo
. His heir, Mursili I
, conquered that city in a campaign conducted in 1595 BC. Also in 1595 BC, Mursili I (or Murshilish I) conducted a great raid down the Euphrates River and captured Mari
and Babylon
. However, the Hittite campaigns caused internal dissension which forced a withdrawal of troops to the Hittite homelands. Throughout the remainder of the sixteenth century BC, the Hittite kings were held to their homelands by dynastic quarrels and warfare with the Hurrians--their neighbors to the east. Also the campaigns into Syria and Mesopotamia may be responsible for the reintroduction of cuneiform
writing into Anatolia, since the Hittite script is quite different from the script of the preceding Assyrian Colony period.
Mursili
continued the conquests of Hattusili I. Mursili's conquests reached Mesopotamia
and even ransacked Babylon
itself in 1531 BC. Rather than incorporate Babylonia into Hittite domains, Mursili seems to have instead turned control Babylonia over to his Kassite
allies, who were to rule it for the next four centuries. This lengthy campaign, however, strained the resources of Hatti, and left the capital in a state of near-anarchy. Mursili was assassinated shortly after his return home, and the Hittite Kingdom was plunged into chaos. The Hurrians
, a people living in the mountainous region along the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers took advantage of the situation to seize Aleppo and the surrounding areas for themselves, as well as the coastal region of Adaniya, renaming it Kizzuwatna
(later Cilicia
).
Following this, the Hittites entered a weak phase of obscure records, insignificant rulers, and reduced area of control. This pattern of expansion under strong kings followed by contraction under weaker ones, was to be repeated over and over again throughout the Hittite Kingdom's 500-year history, making events during the waning periods difficult to reconstruct with much precision. The political instability of these years of the Old Hittite Kingdom, can be explained in part by the nature of the Hittite kingship at that time. During the Old Hittite Kingdom period prior to 1400 BC, the king of the Hittites was not viewed by the Hittite citizenry as a "living god," like the Pharaoh
s of Egypt, but rather as a first among equals. Only in the later period of the Hittite Empire, from 1400 BC until 1200 BC, did the kingship of the Hittites become more centralized and powerful.
The next monarch of any note following Mursili I was Telepinu
(ca. 1500 BC), who won a few victories to the southwest, apparently by allying himself with one Hurrian state (Kizzuwatna
) against another (Mitanni
).
Almost nothing is known about the history of the Hittites in this period. The last monarch of the Old kingdom, Telepinu, reigned until about 1500 BC. The "Middle Kingdom" is the following period of obscurity, lasting for about seventy years, until the emergence of the New Kingdom. This period is called the "Hittite Empire period" proper, and dates from the reign of Tudhaliya I
from ca. 1430 BC.
One innovation that can be credited to these early Hittite rulers is the practice of conducting treaties and alliances with neighboring states; the Hittites were thus among the earliest known pioneers in the art of international politics and diplomacy.
With the reign of Tudhaliya I
(who may actually not have been the first of that name; see also Tudhaliya
), the Hittite Kingdom re-emerges from the fog of obscurity. Hittite civilization entered the perioid of time called the "Hittite Empire period." Many changes were afoot during this time, not the least of which was a strengthening of the kingship. Settlement of the Hittites progressed in the Empire period. However, the Hittite people tended to settle in the older lands of south Anatolia rather than the lands of the Aegean. As this settlement progressed, treaties were signed with neighboring peoples. During the Hittite Empire period the kingship became hereditary and the king took on a "superhuman aura" and began to be referred to by the Hittite citizens as "My Sun." The kings of the Empire period began acting as a high priest for the whole kingdom—making an annual tour of the Hittite holy cities, conducting festivals and supervising the upkeep of the sanctuaries.
During his reign (c. 1400 BC), King Tudhaliya I, again allied with Kizzuwatna
, the vanquished the Hurrian states of Aleppo
and Mitanni, and expanded to the west at the expense of Arzawa
(a Luwian state).
Another weak phase followed Tudhaliya I, and the Hittites' enemies from all directions were able to advance even to Hattusa and raze it. However, the Kingdom recovered its former glory under Suppiluliuma I
(c. 1350 BC), who again conquered Aleppo, reduced Mitanni to tribute under his son-in-law, and defeated Carchemish
, another Syrian city-state. With his own sons placed over of all of these new conquests, Babylonia
still in the hands of the Kassites
, and Assyria
only newly fully independent with the crushing of the Mitanni
Empire, this left Suppiluliuma the supreme power broker outside of Egypt
, and it was not long before even that country was seeking an alliance by marriage of another of his sons with the widow of Tutankhamen. Unfortunately, that son was evidently murdered before reaching his destination, and this alliance was never consummated.
After Suppiluliuma I, and a very brief reign by his eldest son, another son, Mursili II
became king (c. 1330). Having inherited a position of strength in the east, Mursili was able to turn his attention to the west, where he attacked Arzawa and a city known as Millawanda in the coastal land of Ahhiyawa. Many recent scholars have surmised that Millawanda in Ahhiyawa is likely a reference to Miletus
and Achaea
known to Greek history, though there are a small number who have disputed this connection.
forced the Hittites to take refuge in the fortress of Kadesh, but their own losses prevented them from sustaining a siege. This battle took place in the 5th year of Rameses (c.1274 BC by the most commonly used chronology).
ns. The Assyrians had seized the opportunity to vanquish Mitanni
and expand to the Euphrates
while Muwatalli was preoccupied with the Egyptians. Assyria now posed just as great a threat to Hittite trade routes as Egypt ever had. Muwatalli's son, Urhi-Teshub, took the throne and ruled as king for 7 years as Mursili III
before being ousted by his uncle, Hattusili III
after a brief civil war. In response to increasing Assyrian encroachments along the frontier, he concluded a peace and alliance with Rameses II, presenting his daughter's hand in marriage to the Pharaoh. The "Treaty of Kadesh
", one of the oldest completely surviving treaties in history, fixed their mutual boundaries in Canaan, and was signed in the 21st year of Rameses (c. 1258 BC). Terms of this treaty included the marriage of one of the Hittite princesses to the Pharaoh Rameses. http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/ramses-hattusili-treaty.htm
Hattusili's son, Tudhaliya IV
, was the last strong Hittite king able to keep the Assyrians out of Syria and even temporarily annex the island of Cyprus
. The very last king, Suppiluliuma II
also managed to win some victories, including a naval battle against the Sea Peoples
off the coast of Cyprus. But it was too little and too late. The Sea Peoples had already begun their push down the Mediterranean coastline, starting from the Aegean, and continuing all the way to Philistia—taking Cilicia and Cyprus away from the Hittites en route and cutting off their coveted trade routes. This left the Hittite homelands vulnerable to attack from all directions, and Hattusa was burnt to the ground sometime around 1180 BC following a combined onslaught from the Kaskas
, Phrygians and Bryges
. The Hittite Kingdom thus vanished from historical records.
Although the Hittites disappeared from Anatolia at this point, there emerged a number of so-called Neo-Hittite kingdoms in Anatolia and northern Syria. They were the successors of the Hittite Kingdom. The most notable Syrian Neo-Hittite kingdoms were those at Carchemish
and Milid
(near the later Melitene). These Neo-Hittite Kingdoms gradually fell under the control of the Assyria
ns, who conquered Carchemish during the reign of Sargon II
in the late 8th century BC, and Milid several decades later.
A large and powerful state known as Tabal
occupied much of southern Anatolia. Known as Gk. Τιβαρηνοί Tibarenoi, Lat. Tibareni, Thobeles in Josephus, their language may have been Luwian, testified to by monuments written using Luwian hieroglyphics.
Ultimately, both Luwian hieroglyphs and cuneiform were rendered obsolete by a new innovation, the alphabet
, which seems to have entered Anatolia simultaneously from the Aegean
(with the Bryges, who changed their name to Phrygia
ns), and from the Phoenicians and neighboring peoples in Syria.
Hattusa
Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. It was located near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızıl River ....
(Hittite URU) in northern Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
from the 18th century BC
18th century BC
The 18th century BCE was the century which lasted from 1800 BCE to 1701 BCE.-Events:*1800 BCE: Iron age in India*1800 BCE: Beginning of the Nordic Bronze Age in the period system devised by Oscar Montelius....
. In the 14th century BC
14th century BC
The 14th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 1400 BC until 1301 BC.-Events:* 1397 BC: Pandion I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 40 years and is succeeded by his son Erechtheus II of Athens....
, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, south-western Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
as far as Ugarit
Ugarit
Ugarit was an ancient port city in the eastern Mediterranean at the Ras Shamra headland near Latakia, Syria. It is located near Minet el-Beida in northern Syria. It is some seven miles north of Laodicea ad Mare and approximately fifty miles east of Cyprus...
, and upper Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples
Sea Peoples
The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty...
, the kingdom disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite
Neo-Hittite
The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and lasted until roughly 700 BC...
" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC. The history of the Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
civilization is known mostly from cuneiform texts found in the area of their kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in various archives in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Hattians and Hittites
It is generally assumed that the Hittites came into AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
some time before 2000 BC. While their earlier location is disputed, there has been strong evidence for more than a century that the home of the Indo-Europeans in the fourth and third millennia was in the Pontic Steppe, present day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
around the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
. The Hittites and other members of the Anatolian family then came from the north, possibly along the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. Their movement into the region set off a Near East mass migration sometime around 1900 BC. The dominant inhabitants in central Anatolia at the time were Hattians
Hattians
The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the land of Hatti in present-day central part of Anatolia, Turkey, noted at least as early as the empire of Sargon of Akkad , until they were gradually displaced and absorbed ca...
. There were also Assyrian
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
colonies in the country; it was from these that the Hittites adopted the cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
script. It took some time before the Hittites established themselves, as is clear from some of the texts included here. For several centuries there were separate Hittite groups, usually centered around various cities. But then strong rulers with their center in Boğazköy succeeded in bringing these together and conquering large parts of central Anatolia to establish the Hittite kingdom.
Around 5000 BC, the region centered in Hattusa
Hattusa
Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. It was located near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızıl River ....
, that would later become the core of the Hittite kingdom, was inhabited by people with a distinct culture who spoke a non-Indo-European language. The name "Hattic
Hattic language
Hattic was a language spoken by the Hattians in Asia Minor between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC. Scholars call this language 'Hattic' to distinguish it from the Hittite language--the Indo-European language of the Hittite Empire....
" is used by Anatolianists to distinguish this language from the Indo-European Hittite language
Hittite language
Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...
that appeared on the scene at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC
2nd millennium BC
The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age.Its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot...
and became the administrative language of the Hittite kingdom over the next six or seven centuries. As noted above, "Hittite" is a modern convention for referring to this language. The native term was Nesili, i.e. "In the language of Neša
Nesa
Nesa may refer to:* Neša, ancient city in Anatolia* Nisa, Turkmenistan, also transliterated as Nesa* Nesa , a genus of gossamer-winged butterfliesThe acronym NESA can stand for:* NESA, the National Eagle Scout Association...
".
The early Hittites, whose prior whereabouts are unknown, borrowed heavily from the pre-existing Hattian culture, and also from that of the Assyrian traders — in particular, the cuneiform writing and the use of cylindrical seal
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
s.
Since Hattic continued to be used in the Hittite kingdom for religious purposes, and there is substantial continuity between the two cultures, it is not known whether the Hattic speakers — the Hattians
Hattians
The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the land of Hatti in present-day central part of Anatolia, Turkey, noted at least as early as the empire of Sargon of Akkad , until they were gradually displaced and absorbed ca...
— were displaced by the speakers of Hittite
Hittite language
Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...
, were absorbed by them, or just adopted their language.
Origins of the Hittite Kingdom
The early history of the Hittite kingdom is known through tablets that may first have been written in the 17th century BC17th century BC
The 17th century BC is a century which lasted from 1700 BC to 1601 BC.-Events:*c. 1700 BC: Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture*1700 BC: Belu-bani became the King of Assyria....
but survived only as copies made in the 14th
14th century BC
The 14th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 1400 BC until 1301 BC.-Events:* 1397 BC: Pandion I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 40 years and is succeeded by his son Erechtheus II of Athens....
and 13th
13th century BC
The 13th century BC was the period from 1300 to 1201 BC.-Events:*1300 BC: Cemetery H culture comes to an end.*1292 BC: End of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, start of the Nineteenth Dynasty....
centuries BC. These tablets, known collectively as the Anitta
Anitta
Anitta, son of Pithana, was a king of Kussara, a city that has yet to be identified. He is the earliest known ruler to compose a text in the Hittite language.- Biography :...
text, begin by telling how Pithana
Pithana
Pithana was a Hittite Bronze Age king of the Anatolian city Kussara. He reigned ca. the 17th century BC. During his reign he conquered the city of Kanesh, heart of the Assyrian trading colonies network in Anatolia and core of the Hittite speaking territories....
the king of Kussara
Kussara
Kussara was a city of Bronze Age south-eastern Anatolia. The rulers of Kuššara extended their authority over central Anatolia, conquering Hittite-speaking Kanesh, destroying the future Hittite capital of Hattusa, and subjugating territories as far north as the Black Sea.A man named Pithana is the...
or Kussar (a small city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
yet to be identified by archaeologists) conquered the neighbouring city of Neša
Nesa
Nesa may refer to:* Neša, ancient city in Anatolia* Nisa, Turkmenistan, also transliterated as Nesa* Nesa , a genus of gossamer-winged butterfliesThe acronym NESA can stand for:* NESA, the National Eagle Scout Association...
(Kanesh). However, the real subject of these tablets is Pithana
Pithana
Pithana was a Hittite Bronze Age king of the Anatolian city Kussara. He reigned ca. the 17th century BC. During his reign he conquered the city of Kanesh, heart of the Assyrian trading colonies network in Anatolia and core of the Hittite speaking territories....
's son Anitta
Anitta
Anitta, son of Pithana, was a king of Kussara, a city that has yet to be identified. He is the earliest known ruler to compose a text in the Hittite language.- Biography :...
, who continued where his father left off and conquered several neighbouring cities, including Hattusa
Hattusa
Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. It was located near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızıl River ....
and Zalpuwa
Zalpuwa
Zalpuwa, also Zalpa, was an as-yet undiscovered Bronze Age Anatolian city of ca. the 17th century BC. Its history is largely known from the Proclamation of Anitta, CTH 1.Zalpuwa was by a "Sea of Zalpa"...
(Zalpa).
However, Anitta's empire collapsed almost as quickly as it had been created and, as writing then went out of use in the region for several decades, the history of this period remains most obscure, though several major sites were apparently destroyed and the long-established Assyrian merchant trading system ceased to function. When the curtain again lifts, a small kingdom based on Kussara again assumes centre stage, though whether its rulers were of the line of Anitta is uncertain (Bryce, 2005, Chs. 2 and 4).
The Old Kingdom
The founding of the Hittite Kingdom is attributed to either Labarna I or Hattusili IHattusili I
Hattusili I was a king of the Hittite Old Kingdom. He reigned ca. 1586–1556 BC .He used the title of Labarna at the beginning of his reign...
(it is debated whether this is the same person), who conquered the area south and north of Hattusa. Hattusili I campaigned as far as the kingdom of Yamkhad in Syria, where he attacked, but did not capture, its capital of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. His heir, Mursili I
Mursili I
Mursili I was a king of the Hittites ca. 1556–1526 BC , and was likely a grandson of his predecessor, Hattusili I. His sister was Harapšili.- Biography :...
, conquered that city in a campaign conducted in 1595 BC. Also in 1595 BC, Mursili I (or Murshilish I) conducted a great raid down the Euphrates River and captured Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
and Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. However, the Hittite campaigns caused internal dissension which forced a withdrawal of troops to the Hittite homelands. Throughout the remainder of the sixteenth century BC, the Hittite kings were held to their homelands by dynastic quarrels and warfare with the Hurrians--their neighbors to the east. Also the campaigns into Syria and Mesopotamia may be responsible for the reintroduction of cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
writing into Anatolia, since the Hittite script is quite different from the script of the preceding Assyrian Colony period.
Mursili
Mursili
There were three Hittite kings called Mursili:*Mursili I*Mursili II*Mursili IIISee also: List of Hittite kings....
continued the conquests of Hattusili I. Mursili's conquests reached Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and even ransacked Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
itself in 1531 BC. Rather than incorporate Babylonia into Hittite domains, Mursili seems to have instead turned control Babylonia over to his Kassite
Kassites
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern people who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC...
allies, who were to rule it for the next four centuries. This lengthy campaign, however, strained the resources of Hatti, and left the capital in a state of near-anarchy. Mursili was assassinated shortly after his return home, and the Hittite Kingdom was plunged into chaos. The Hurrians
Hurrians
The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East who lived in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age.The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia to a large part consisted of Hurrians, and...
, a people living in the mountainous region along the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers took advantage of the situation to seize Aleppo and the surrounding areas for themselves, as well as the coastal region of Adaniya, renaming it Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna , is the name of an ancient Anatolian kingdom in the second millennium BC. It was situated in the highlands of southeastern Anatolia, near the Gulf of İskenderun in modern-day Turkey. It encircled the Taurus Mountains and the Ceyhan river. The center of the kingdom was the city of...
(later Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
).
Following this, the Hittites entered a weak phase of obscure records, insignificant rulers, and reduced area of control. This pattern of expansion under strong kings followed by contraction under weaker ones, was to be repeated over and over again throughout the Hittite Kingdom's 500-year history, making events during the waning periods difficult to reconstruct with much precision. The political instability of these years of the Old Hittite Kingdom, can be explained in part by the nature of the Hittite kingship at that time. During the Old Hittite Kingdom period prior to 1400 BC, the king of the Hittites was not viewed by the Hittite citizenry as a "living god," like the Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
s of Egypt, but rather as a first among equals. Only in the later period of the Hittite Empire, from 1400 BC until 1200 BC, did the kingship of the Hittites become more centralized and powerful.
The next monarch of any note following Mursili I was Telepinu
Telepinu
Telipinu was a king of the Hittites ca. 1460 BC . At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite Empire had contracted to its core territories, having long since lost all of its conquests, made in the former era under Hattusili I and Mursili I -- to Arzawa in the West, Mitanni in the East, the Kaskas...
(ca. 1500 BC), who won a few victories to the southwest, apparently by allying himself with one Hurrian state (Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna , is the name of an ancient Anatolian kingdom in the second millennium BC. It was situated in the highlands of southeastern Anatolia, near the Gulf of İskenderun in modern-day Turkey. It encircled the Taurus Mountains and the Ceyhan river. The center of the kingdom was the city of...
) against another (Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
).
The Middle Kingdom
Telepinu's reign marked the end of the "Old Kingdom" and the beginning of the lengthy weak phase known as the "Middle Kingdom." The period of the 15th century BC is largely unknown with very sparse surviving records. The Middle Kingdom is not so much an independent phase of Hittite history as a period of transition between the Old and New Kingdoms.Almost nothing is known about the history of the Hittites in this period. The last monarch of the Old kingdom, Telepinu, reigned until about 1500 BC. The "Middle Kingdom" is the following period of obscurity, lasting for about seventy years, until the emergence of the New Kingdom. This period is called the "Hittite Empire period" proper, and dates from the reign of Tudhaliya I
Tudhaliya I
Tudhaliya I was a king of the Hittite empire ca. the early 14th century BC .- Identity :...
from ca. 1430 BC.
One innovation that can be credited to these early Hittite rulers is the practice of conducting treaties and alliances with neighboring states; the Hittites were thus among the earliest known pioneers in the art of international politics and diplomacy.
The New Kingdom
Tudhaliya I
Tudhaliya I was a king of the Hittite empire ca. the early 14th century BC .- Identity :...
(who may actually not have been the first of that name; see also Tudhaliya
Tudhaliya
Tudhaliya is the name of several Hittite kings*Tudhaliya is a hypothetic pre-Empire king of the Hittites. He would have reigned in the late 17th century BC . Forlanini conjectures that this king corresponds to the great-grandfather of Hattusili I.*Tudhaliya I , ruled ca...
), the Hittite Kingdom re-emerges from the fog of obscurity. Hittite civilization entered the perioid of time called the "Hittite Empire period." Many changes were afoot during this time, not the least of which was a strengthening of the kingship. Settlement of the Hittites progressed in the Empire period. However, the Hittite people tended to settle in the older lands of south Anatolia rather than the lands of the Aegean. As this settlement progressed, treaties were signed with neighboring peoples. During the Hittite Empire period the kingship became hereditary and the king took on a "superhuman aura" and began to be referred to by the Hittite citizens as "My Sun." The kings of the Empire period began acting as a high priest for the whole kingdom—making an annual tour of the Hittite holy cities, conducting festivals and supervising the upkeep of the sanctuaries.
During his reign (c. 1400 BC), King Tudhaliya I, again allied with Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna , is the name of an ancient Anatolian kingdom in the second millennium BC. It was situated in the highlands of southeastern Anatolia, near the Gulf of İskenderun in modern-day Turkey. It encircled the Taurus Mountains and the Ceyhan river. The center of the kingdom was the city of...
, the vanquished the Hurrian states of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
and Mitanni, and expanded to the west at the expense of Arzawa
Arzawa
Arzawa in the second half of the second millennium BC was the name of a region and a political entity in Western Anatolia, the core area of which was centered on the Hermos and Maeander river valleys, corresponding with the Late Bronze Age kingdoms of the...
(a Luwian state).
Another weak phase followed Tudhaliya I, and the Hittites' enemies from all directions were able to advance even to Hattusa and raze it. However, the Kingdom recovered its former glory under Suppiluliuma I
Suppiluliuma I
Suppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites . He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant Egyptian empire for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates....
(c. 1350 BC), who again conquered Aleppo, reduced Mitanni to tribute under his son-in-law, and defeated Carchemish
Carchemish
Carchemish or Kargamış was an important ancient city of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo Assyrian Empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an important battle between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible...
, another Syrian city-state. With his own sons placed over of all of these new conquests, Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
still in the hands of the Kassites
Kassites
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern people who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC...
, and Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
only newly fully independent with the crushing of the Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
Empire, this left Suppiluliuma the supreme power broker outside of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and it was not long before even that country was seeking an alliance by marriage of another of his sons with the widow of Tutankhamen. Unfortunately, that son was evidently murdered before reaching his destination, and this alliance was never consummated.
After Suppiluliuma I, and a very brief reign by his eldest son, another son, Mursili II
Mursili II
Mursili II was a king of the Hittite Empire ca. 1321–1295 BC .-Family:Mursili II was the younger son of Suppiluliuma I, one of the most powerful rulers of the Hittite Empire...
became king (c. 1330). Having inherited a position of strength in the east, Mursili was able to turn his attention to the west, where he attacked Arzawa and a city known as Millawanda in the coastal land of Ahhiyawa. Many recent scholars have surmised that Millawanda in Ahhiyawa is likely a reference to Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
and Achaea
Achaea
Achaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...
known to Greek history, though there are a small number who have disputed this connection.
Battle of Kadesh
Hittite prosperity was mostly dependent on control of the trade routes and metal sources. Because of the importance of Northern Syria to the vital routes linking the Cilician gates with Mesopotamia, defense of this area was crucial, and was soon put to the test by Egyptian expansion under Pharaoh Rameses II. The outcome of the battle is uncertain, though it seems that the timely arrival of Egyptian reinforcements prevented total Hittite victory. The EgyptiansEgyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
forced the Hittites to take refuge in the fortress of Kadesh, but their own losses prevented them from sustaining a siege. This battle took place in the 5th year of Rameses (c.1274 BC by the most commonly used chronology).
Downfall and Demise of the Kingdom
After this date, the power of the Hittites began to decline yet again because of the rising power of the AssyriaAssyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns. The Assyrians had seized the opportunity to vanquish Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
and expand to the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
while Muwatalli was preoccupied with the Egyptians. Assyria now posed just as great a threat to Hittite trade routes as Egypt ever had. Muwatalli's son, Urhi-Teshub, took the throne and ruled as king for 7 years as Mursili III
Mursili III
Mursili III, also known as Urhi-Teshub, was a king of the Hittites who assumed the throne of the Hittite empire at Tarhuntassa upon his father's death around 1272 BCE. He was a cousin of Tudhaliya IV and Queen Maathorneferure.- Biography :...
before being ousted by his uncle, Hattusili III
Hattusili III
Hattusili III was a king of the Hittite empire ca. 1267–1237 BC . He was the fourth and last son of Mursili II...
after a brief civil war. In response to increasing Assyrian encroachments along the frontier, he concluded a peace and alliance with Rameses II, presenting his daughter's hand in marriage to the Pharaoh. The "Treaty of Kadesh
Kadesh
This article is about Kadesh in the lands of the Amurru, bordering on Damascus Syria up to Hammath; see also Kadesh or Kedesh Kadesh was an ancient city of the Levant, located on or near the headwaters or ford of the Orontes River...
", one of the oldest completely surviving treaties in history, fixed their mutual boundaries in Canaan, and was signed in the 21st year of Rameses (c. 1258 BC). Terms of this treaty included the marriage of one of the Hittite princesses to the Pharaoh Rameses. http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/ramses-hattusili-treaty.htm
Hattusili's son, Tudhaliya IV
Tudhaliya IV
Tudhaliya IV was a king of the Hittite Empire , and the younger son of Hattusili III. He reigned ca. 1237 BCE–1209 BCE. His mother was called Puduhepa...
, was the last strong Hittite king able to keep the Assyrians out of Syria and even temporarily annex the island of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. The very last king, Suppiluliuma II
Suppiluliuma II
Suppiluliuma II, the son of Tudhaliya IV, was the last known king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite Empire, ruling ca. 1207–1178 BC , contemporary with Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria....
also managed to win some victories, including a naval battle against the Sea Peoples
Sea Peoples
The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty...
off the coast of Cyprus. But it was too little and too late. The Sea Peoples had already begun their push down the Mediterranean coastline, starting from the Aegean, and continuing all the way to Philistia—taking Cilicia and Cyprus away from the Hittites en route and cutting off their coveted trade routes. This left the Hittite homelands vulnerable to attack from all directions, and Hattusa was burnt to the ground sometime around 1180 BC following a combined onslaught from the Kaskas
Kaskas
The Kaska were a loosely-affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European tribal people of mountainous Pontic Anatolia, known from Hittite sources...
, Phrygians and Bryges
Bryges
Bryges or Briges is the historical name given to a people of the ancient Balkans. They are generally considered to have been related to the Phrygians, who during classical antiquity lived in western Anatolia. Both names, Bryges and Phrygians, are assumed to be variants of the same root. Based on...
. The Hittite Kingdom thus vanished from historical records.
The Syro-Hittite Kingdoms
By 1160 BC, the political situation in Asia Minor looked vastly different from how it had only 25 years earlier. In that year, the Assyrians were dealing with the Mushku (Phrygians) pressing into northernmost Mesopotamia from the Anatolian highlands, and the Gasga people, the Hittites' old enemies from the northern hill-country between Hatti and the Black Sea, seem to have joined them soon after. The Mushku or Mushki had apparently overrun Cappadocia from the West, with recently discovered epigraphic evidence confirming their origins as the Balkan "Bryges" tribe, forced out by the Macedonians.Although the Hittites disappeared from Anatolia at this point, there emerged a number of so-called Neo-Hittite kingdoms in Anatolia and northern Syria. They were the successors of the Hittite Kingdom. The most notable Syrian Neo-Hittite kingdoms were those at Carchemish
Carchemish
Carchemish or Kargamış was an important ancient city of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo Assyrian Empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an important battle between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible...
and Milid
Milid
Melid was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains...
(near the later Melitene). These Neo-Hittite Kingdoms gradually fell under the control of the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns, who conquered Carchemish during the reign of Sargon II
Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family...
in the late 8th century BC, and Milid several decades later.
A large and powerful state known as Tabal
Tabal
Tabal was a Luwian speaking Neo-Hittite kingdom of South Central Anatolia. According to archaeologist Kurt Bittel, the kingdom of Tabal first appeared after the collapse of the Hittite Empire....
occupied much of southern Anatolia. Known as Gk. Τιβαρηνοί Tibarenoi, Lat. Tibareni, Thobeles in Josephus, their language may have been Luwian, testified to by monuments written using Luwian hieroglyphics.
Ultimately, both Luwian hieroglyphs and cuneiform were rendered obsolete by a new innovation, the alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
, which seems to have entered Anatolia simultaneously from the Aegean
Aegean civilization
Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization...
(with the Bryges, who changed their name to Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
ns), and from the Phoenicians and neighboring peoples in Syria.