Hittites/History

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The Hittites were a northern Indo-European people who called themselves “Aryans” (like the Persians)—a term meaning “noble people”, they established an empire formally known as the Kingdom Of Hatti which stretched from Anatolia (modern Turkey), Canaan (Palestine and Jordan) and Syria to northern Mesopotamia (northern Iraq). Its capital was Hattusa, located in northeastern Turkey.

When Akkad splintered into Assyria and Babylonia, and Assyria began to weaken, it gave an opportunity for the rise of two new native civilisations: the Mitanni and the Hatti — known to us today as the Hittites. Of these two, the Hittites were an important power in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE, and their expansion towards the Red Sea eradicated Mitanni, and brought them into conflict with Egypt (who had previously allied with the Mitanni against Hatti) leading to numerous skirmishes and battles of which the Battle of Kadesh, the world's largest chariot clash, was the most important. The early Bronze Age heralded many changes in southewestern Anatolia: population increases marked by the appearance of many new sites; changes in settlement size and structure, including the appearance of monumental buildings and fortifications; increases in the sophistication of craft-production technologies, especially with respect to metallurgy and ceramics; and increasing evidence of long-distance exchange, probably practiced most frequently between elite members of increasingly centralized communities. Intermitted excavation over the early 20th century has provided the best contextual evidence for the period, revealing broad similarities of material in both burial and habitation contexts. At the same time, surface surveys have revealed a widespread and more regular distribution of over 100 Early Bronze Age throughout the region, the majority of them apparently newly settled in this period. Military defence must have been a priority since most settlements were located on mounds that rise from valley floors or higher up on natural ridges and plateaus at valley edges. This Early Bronze Age culture was not limited to mainland Western Anatolia, however; the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios, and Samos have also yielded settlement sites and artefacts that very much resemble those found back in Turkey.

Settlement sites have yet to be excavated fully enough to reveal details of local settlement structure, yet mortuary remains from the excavated sites mentioned above provide good information about the range of burial types and grave goods found in both intramural burials (usually associated with children) and extramural cemeteries. As elsewhere in western Anatolia, the most frequently attested type of burial is in an urn called a pithos, with the deceased accompanied by grave goods that almost always include ceramics, and, in particular examples, a rich assortment of other items: stoneware vessels; animal and anthropomorphic figurines, or “idols,” in stone or metal; polished stone axes; copper-alloy weapons; and silver, gold, or electrum personal adornments. Some of these burials have yielded hints of links to the Mediterranean and beyond, a pair of stone bowls of Cycladic manufacture were found in a pithos burial in the Akhisar Valley.

The People of Many Names[edit | edit source]

One of the key portions of accessing records concerning these secretive Hittite people is actually through one of the most well-known books in existence - the Bible. The Hittites are continually referenced in the Old Testament of the Bible. In fact, biblical references about the Hittite abound, with over fifty instances where the Hittites are mentioned in the Bible itself, whose authors believed were descended from a man named Heth (Genesis 10:15) Further references to the Hittites include Abraham’s purchase of a burial site from Ephron the Hittite (Gen 23:1-20; 25:7-10) and King David's murder of Uriah the Hittite to cover up his sin with Bathsheba (II Samuel 11:3-27).

Even so, the idea of the existence of the Hittites was very much contested over the 18th and 19th centuries. In those centuries, various excavations throughout Egypt and the Levant revealed references to cultures known by different demonyms: Kheta in Egypt, and Hatti in Assyrian lands, along with caches of tablets inscribed in what was apparently a hitherto unknown language using cuneiform script, associated with several letters sent to the Egyptian city of Amarna, and discovered during excavations around the 1890s. The finds sparked a debate: were the Kheta and Hatti two different cultures, or were they different names for the same people?

The debate came to a head in 1906-1907 and 1911-1912 when thousands of cuneiform tablets were discovered during excavations by Hugo Winckler in ruins near Bogazköy, a small village in central Anatolia. Upon inspection, these tablets were found to have been inscribed in the same language of the Amarna letters, proving the existence of a vast polity that ruled both Asia Minor and northern Syria, and which used the same unknown language that had been found amongst the letter tablets in Amarna. The distance between Egypt and Anatolia, as well as the perfusion of the tablets, subsequently led people to identify the Hatti and Kheta as one and the same people under the Biblically inspired demonym of Hittite. Despite attempts to disprove that the Kheta/Hatti and the Hittites of the Bible were the one and the same people, the name has since then stuck and is used popularly to refer to the Anatolian civilisation that appears in Warbirth under that apellation.

Origins?[edit | edit source]

The Hittites were an agriculturally based society. They relied heavily on farming and herding as a means to support their empire’s development and sustainability. With the inclusion of iron, farmers were able to begin using iron plows that allowed them to till land that had previously been unusable due to soil conditions. It allowed the Hittite to increase dramatically their output of crops and to support their ever-growing empire.

Given the details that the Hittite left behind, modern researchers have been able to surmise that the Hittite people most likely came into the region from what is present day Ukraine. The Hittite first arrived in Anatolia around the time of 2000 B.C. Before their arrival, this region was already inhabited by other groups of people. These groups initially resisted the militaristic advances of the Hittite people, but were eventually overpowered and succumbed to their advances. Within several hundred years, the entire region was under the control of the Hittite king.

Old Hittite Kingdom 1650-1500 B.C.[edit | edit source]

This time period is best defined as the later stages of the Bronze Age.

The majority of the world at this time utilized bronze as a major resource for tools, weapons, and other everyday items. Bronze was a readily accessible material that was the product of easily workable elements that were quite common. The advantage to using bronze was that it was extremely malleable and did not take extreme heat to be manufactured. The downside to bronze was that it did not keep a sharp edge for long periods of time and was not a very sturdy metal.

These shortcomings of bronze are magnified one hundred fold when you consider that some of the key items made from metal at this time period were related to military needs. Swords, armor, and shields all used bronze in their construction. If an army’s sword became dull or their armor suffered damage, it would be a massive priority for these items to be repaired immediately.

What the Hittite had that other cultures in the region did not was the knowledge of how to make iron. The Hittite had learned the secretive process for extracting iron from rocks containing iron ore. That is not to say that other cultures had not attempted to do the same, but the Hittite were able to understand the best methods for increasing the heat in their forges to a massive degree in order to separate the ore from the base rocks. This concept alone is the main reason that the Hittite was able to unify their nation and expand it to neighboring borders.

The Hittite used this new found metal as a way to create stronger weapons. Their swords, shields, and armor were all crafted using iron as opposed to bronze. The iron was more durable and held a sharper edge over a longer period of time. Considering that many of the military campaigns fought throughout this time were hand-to-hand combat, this gave the Hittite a massive edge over their competitors. The Hittite used these stronger, sharper weapons to continually expand their empire and to overcome rebellions within their own borders.

The Hittite conquered the then existing city-states of the region and unified them all under one authority using their iron weapons and other military technology. At that time, many of these city-states were at war with one another. With the introduction of iron, the Hittite were able to improve not just their military capabilities, but also the tools related to daily functioning.


In 1650 B.C. Hattusulis I established the capitol at Hattusas, probably named after himself, and founded the Hittite Kingdom. In 1500 B.C. Musilis I advanced down the Euphrates and captured Babylon. Later he retreated, only to be assassinated upon his return home. These years have been described as a time of anarchy. The Old Kingdom uses horses and chariots and produced good bronze daggers.[4]

Middle Hittite Kingdom 1500-1450 B.C. The Middle Kingdom years brought obscurity and decline. The Hittites had expanded into Syria because of the strategic trade routes that passed there, but in these years Syria was wrested from them. However, it appears that during these years, iron-making was begun amongst the Hittites. Some feel this may have been the first time in the postdiluvian world that a people used iron. The Hittites of this era raised horses, cattle, sheep, goats and bees, and manufactured cloth, shoes, pottery, and metal.[5]

New Hittite Kingdom 1450-1294 In 1450 Tudhaliyas I founded a new dynasty which brought the Hittites to the zenith of their power, followed by a period of decline.[6] The Hittite state has been described as basically a military organization, which fits the Biblical picture of them as a warlike people and explains one of the reasons Israel feared them.[7]

Relations with Egypt and Assyria The Hittites were an important power in the 14th and 13th centuries B.C. and their expansion towards the Red Sea brought them into conflict with Egypt, leading to numerous skirmishes and battles of which the Battle of Kadesh was the most important.

The Battle Of Kadesh was a result of growing tension between the superpowers of the ancient near east, Egypt, Hatti and Assyria, these nations were competing over the smaller states. One of these small states was Amurru, located in present-day Syria. After it had been under Hittite influence during the 14th century B.C. it defected to Egypt in 1299 B.C.

When the Hittites threatened to restore their power through means of violence, Amurru pleaded with Pharaoh Rameses II for help in 1274 and got it in the form of two Egyptian divisions, one of which, lead by Rameses II himself was ambushed near the village of Kadesh by a numerically superior Hittite chariot force, but the other division arrived just in time to prevent an Egyptian defeat. Although the battle ended in a draw, Egypt gave up its colonies in Syria.

For Rameses II, who was in just in his 5th year of his reign, Kadesh was a test that he had to pass to gain the respect of the Egyptian aristocracy.

In 1258 B.C. Pharaoh Rameses II and King Muwatalli of Hatti signed the world's first known peace treaty [8] (a copy of which hangs on the walls of the United Nations headquarters), which also established an alliance against Assyria.

Demise Hatti and Egypt two coexisted peacefully for seventy years, but by then Hatti had been weakened by Assyria and was sacked by the "Sea Peoples" a loose coalition of which the Philistines were a member.

Although Egypt was also attacked it was able to drive the attackers back and continue to prosper, Hatti however never recovered and continued to decline until the official fall of the kingdom around 1160 B.C.

After the kingdom had fallen, most of its former territories were annexed by Assyria, with some Hittite city-states remaining independent until the 8th century B.C.

Blog[edit | edit source]

Another piece of technology that the Hittite utilized was the chariot. The Hittites were not the only race in this region to have access to horses and chariots. What made the Hittite’s use of these weapons unique was how they constructed their chariots. While one or two soldiers may have used a standard chariot, the Hittite designed their chariots to be used by three soldiers. So why would this be advantageous? Consider this notion.

A chariot needs to be driven by at least one person. If the driver of a chariot must focus all of their efforts on controlling the team of horses, how many arrows can they fire? How can they best defend themselves against the swords of an enemy? The Hittite chariots fit three soldiers. This allowed one man to drive the chariot and allowed two more to work effectively as soldiers and focus their efforts on warfare.

The Hittite used these chariots extremely effectively. One of the ancient cultures most connected to chariots is the Egyptian culture. The size advantage of the Hittite’s chariots is what helped them to overcome Egyptian advance into their territory.

The combined effects of Hittite designed chariots and iron made weapons were what gave the Hittite the power to unify their home region of Anatolia and expand their empire. At the height of their power and control, the Hittite king held influence over land that would encompass modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon. Hittite raids were also successful at striking targets far from their home range as a means of destabilizing neighboring states and allowing the Hittite to gain further influence among their neighbors.

Another aspect that allowed the Hittite to maintain such a firm grip on the entire region of Anatolia was their advanced understanding of commerce and trade. The Hittites were skilled merchants and traders. Their positioning near two strategic coastlines allowed them to have access to maritime trade and further establish lucrative trading ports. This aided the Hittite by providing them with the opportunity to improve their position as a trading partner to rivals of their neighboring enemies. The Hittite also controlled vast areas of land whereby land-based trade caravans from the Far East needed to pass through as a means to reach their final destinations.

While the Hittites understood the process of making iron, their empire existed fully within the Bronze Age. It wasn’t until the empire’s final demise that the Hittite let their secrets of iron working escape their empire to other cultures. This action is what truly ushered in the next age, commonly referred to as the Iron Age.

[1]

In virtually all publications on ancient Anatolia, the Hittite civilization is taken to represent the Bronze Age. However, the Bronze Age lasted for nearly 2000 years, from about 3000 to about 1200 BCE (perfectly coinciding with the time when Troy thrived), whereas the Hittite civilization lasted only 400 years.

Hittite aristocrats appear to have essentially been a leadership caste that defined itself on a political and administrative system. The indigenous, largely Luwian and Hattian population, continued to use their languages and customs, even under Hittite dominion. The nature of Hittite rule can thus be compared to the administrative system of the Ottoman Empire, to Yugoslavia under Tito or to the former Soviet government. Central administrations come and go, but languages and customs of the local population are rarely affected by such changes.

A third caveat concerns the size of the Hittite Empire. In recent years, maps typically show the maximum expansion of the empire during the 13th century BCE. However, the kingdom reached this extent only through treaties with vassal states and even then only for a short time. Hittite rule was characterized by the fact that neighbors were enemies most of the time. In particular the petty kingdoms in the west caused enduring friction. In the north, the Kaška too were archenemies who repeatedly raided Hittite territory to plunder.

It is quite conceivable that within the core area of the Hittite Kingdom, the original Hattian and Luwian people were gently coerced to form a state that was united by a central management and policy. Even so, they preserved their languages and customs – which may be why so many Luwian loanwords and texts appear even in the capital. Petty kingdoms on the periphery were tied through vassal treaties to be loyal supporters. In all likelihood, neither the native local people nor the vassal states were always happy about this situation. This may have caused constant political friction – and thus contributed to the two demises of the Hittite Empire – of which the second one was forever.

Fall of the Kingdom[edit | edit source]

So what then happened to the Hittite? To fully answer this question, you should consider some of the factors the Hittite needed to ensure continued success as an empire. The Hittite were susceptible to disease same as any other ancient race. While they did rely on ancient medicines as a means to ward off certain infections, they were not immune to the diseases that commonly ravaged entire nations. An outbreak of plague decimated much of the land and left many dead. Without sufficient manpower to operate the needed positions within the empire, tasks began to go unfinished. These unfinished tasks compounded over time and began a snowball effect that eventually led to the failure of needed systems within the Hittite culture.

Another issue for which the Hittite empire was at fault was the continued cost of unending military campaigns. The Hittite were continually attempting to gain full control over the lands of Syria and beyond. These city centers were far from their home where the Hittite people had the strongest support base. As the Hittite attempted to wrest the control and gain continued support over these lands, they inadvertently overtaxed their own networks of supply and support. Too much was taken for too long and eventually the Hittite found themselves at odds with continuing this unsustainable war effort.

The final cause of the downfall of the Hittite empire can be found in the exact same issue by which they came to the lands of Anatolia. Outsiders whom they called the ‘sea people’ began arriving in untold numbers to their homelands. These people were eventually successful in ousting the Hittite, from their native lands and forcing them to flee to lands to the south where they were forced to settle in new lands and cultures. Their assimilation did not maintain the same success as their initial foray into the lands of Anatolia as they were unable to unify any sort of centralized government in these new lands and had to instead, accept the ways of these new lands.

Syro-Hittites[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]