Hittites

The Hittites (/ˈhɪtaɪts/) (Ancient Greek: Χετταίοι, Latin

Hetthaei) were an Anatolian people who played an important Kingdom of Hattusa
role in establishing an empire centered on Hattusa in north- Ḫa-at-tu-ša
central Anatolia around 1600 BCE. This empire reached its
c. 1600 BCE–c. 1178 BCE
height during the mid-14th century BCE under Šuppiluliuma I,
when it encompassed an area that included most of Anatolia as
well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia.

Between the 15th and 13th centuries BCE, the Empire of

Hattusa, conventionally called the Hittite Empire, came into
conflict with the New Kingdom of Egypt, the Middle Assyrian
Empire and the empire of the Mitanni for control of the Near
East. The Middle Assyrian Empire eventually emerged as the
dominant power and annexed much of the Hittite Empire, while
the remainder was sacked by Phrygian newcomers to the region. Map of the Hittite Empire at its greatest
extent, with Hittite rule ca. 1350-1300
After c. 1180 BCE, during the Late Bronze Age collapse, the BC represented by the green line.
Hittites splintered into several independent Syro-Hittite states,
Capital Hattusa,
some of which survived until the eighth century BCE before Tarḫuntašša
succumbing to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. (Under the
reign of
The Hittite language was a distinct member of the Anatolian Muwatalli II )
branch of the Indo-European language family, and along with
Common languages Hittite, Hattic,
the closely-related Luwian language, is the oldest historically- Luwian,
attested Indo-European language,[2] referred to by its speakers Akkadian
as nešili "in the language of Nesa". The Hittites called their
Religion Hittite
country the Kingdom of Hattusa (Hatti in Akkadian), a name mythology and
received from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the religion
region until the beginning of the second millennium BCE and
Government Absolute
spoke an unrelated language known as Hattic.[3] The
monarchy (Old
conventional name "Hittites" is due to their initial identification Kingdom)
with the Biblical Hittites in 19th century archaeology. Constitutional
monarchy
The history of the Hittite civilization is known mostly from (Middle and New
cuneiform texts found in the area of their kingdom, and from Kingdom)[1]
diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in various King
archives in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and the Middle East, the • c. 1600 BC Labarna I (first)
decipherment of which was also a key event in the history of • c. 1207–1178 BC Šuppiluliuma II
Indo-European studies. (last)

Historical era Bronze Age

The development of iron smelting was once attributed to the
Hittites of Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age, with their • Established c. 1600 BCE
success largely based on the advantages of a monopoly on • Disestablished c. 1178 BCE
ironworking at the time. But the view of such a "Hittite
Preceded by Succeeded
monopoly" has come under scrutiny and is no longer a scholarly by
consensus.[4] As part of the Late-Bronze-Age/Early-Iron-Age,
Kanesh Syro-
the Late Bronze Age collapse saw the slow, comparatively Hittite
continuous spread of iron-working technology in the region. Third
states
While there are some iron objects from Bronze Age Anatolia, Eblaite
the number is comparable to iron objects found in Egypt and Kingdom
other places during the period; and only a small number of these
Today part of Turkey
objects are weapons.[5] Hittites did not use smelted iron, but Syria
rather meteorites.[6] The Hittite military made successful use of Lebanon
chariots.[7] Cyprus

In classical times, ethnic Hittite dynasties survived in small kingdoms scattered around what is now Syria,
Lebanon and Israel. Lacking a unifying continuity, their descendants scattered and ultimately merged into
the modern populations of the Levant, Turkey and Mesopotamia.[8]

During the 1920s, interest in the Hittites increased with the founding of Turkey and attracted the attention of
Turkish archaeologists such as Halet Çambel and Tahsin Özgüç. During this period, the new field of
Hittitology also influenced the naming of Turkish institutions, such as the state-owned Etibank ("Hittite
bank"),[9] and the foundation of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, 200 kilometers west of
the Hittite capital and housing the most comprehensive exhibition of Hittite art and artifacts in the world.

Contents
Archaeological discovery
Biblical background
Initial discoveries
Writings
Museums
Geography
History
Origins
Early Period
Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
Battle of Kadesh
Downfall and demise of the Kingdom
Syro-Hittite states
Government
Religion in Early Hittite Government to establish control
Political dissent in the Old Kingdom
The Pankus
Language
Art
Religion and mythology
Law
Use of laws
Law reform
Examples of laws
Biblical Hittites
See also
References
Literature
Further reading
External links

Archaeological discovery

Biblical background

Before the archeological discoveries that revealed the Hittite civilization, the
only source of information about the Hittites had been the Old Testament.
Francis William Newman expressed the critical view, common in the early
19th century, that, "no Hittite king could have compared in power to the
King of Judah...".[10]

As the discoveries in the second half of the 19th century revealed the scale
One of the Alaca Höyük of the Hittite kingdom, Archibald Sayce asserted that, rather than being
bronze standards from a
compared to Judah, the Anatolian civilization "[was] worthy of comparison
pre-Hittite tomb dating to
to the divided Kingdom of Egypt", and was "infinitely more powerful than
the third millennium BC,
that of Judah".[11] Sayce and other scholars also noted that Judah and the
from the Museum of
Anatolian Civilizations,
Hittites were never enemies in the Hebrew texts; in the Book of Kings, they
Ankara. supplied the Israelites with cedar, chariots, and horses, and in the Book of
Genesis were friends and allies to Abraham. Uriah the Hittite was a captain
in King David's army and counted as one of his "mighty men" in 1
Chronicles 11.

Initial discoveries

French scholar Charles Texier found the first Hittite ruins in 1834 but did
not identify them as such.[9][12]

The first archaeological evidence for the Hittites appeared in tablets found at
the karum of Kanesh (now called Kültepe), containing records of trade
between Assyrian merchants and a certain "land of Hatti". Some names in
Ivory Hittite Sphinx, 18th
the tablets were neither Hattic nor Assyrian, but clearly Indo-European.[13]
century B.C.E.
The script on a monument at Boğazkale by a "People of Hattusas"
discovered by William Wright in 1884 was found to match peculiar
hieroglyphic scripts from Aleppo and Hama in Northern Syria. In 1887,
excavations at Amarna in Egypt uncovered the diplomatic correspondence of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and
his son, Akhenaten. Two of the letters from a "kingdom of Kheta"—apparently located in the same general
region as the Mesopotamian references to "land of Hatti"—were written in standard Akkadian cuneiform,
but in an unknown language; although scholars could interpret its sounds, no one could understand it.
Shortly after this, Sayce proposed that Hatti or Khatti in Anatolia was identical with the "kingdom of Kheta"
mentioned in these Egyptian texts, as well as with the biblical Hittites. Others, such as Max Müller, agreed
that Khatti was probably Kheta, but proposed connecting it with Biblical Kittim rather than with the Biblical
Hittites. Sayce's identification came to be widely accepted over the course of the early 20th century; and the
name "Hittite" has become attached to the civilization uncovered at Boğazköy.

During sporadic excavations at Boğazköy (Hattusa) that began in

1906, the archaeologist Hugo Winckler found a royal archive with
10,000 tablets, inscribed in cuneiform Akkadian and the same
unknown language as the Egyptian letters from Kheta—thus
confirming the identity of the two names. He also proved that the
ruins at Boğazköy were the remains of the capital of an empire that,
at one point, controlled northern Syria.

Under the direction of the German Archaeological Institute,

Hattusa Rampant.
excavations at Hattusa have been under way since 1907, with
interruptions during the world wars. Kültepe was successfully
excavated by Professor Tahsin Özgüç from 1948 until his death in
2005. Smaller scale excavations have also been carried out in the immediate surroundings of Hattusa,
including the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya, which contains numerous rock reliefs portraying the Hittite
rulers and the gods of the Hittite pantheon.

Writings

The Hittites used a variation of cuneiform called Hittite cuneiform. Archaeological expeditions to Hattusa
have discovered entire sets of royal archives on cuneiform tablets, written either in Akkadian, the diplomatic
language of the time, or in the various dialects of the Hittite confederation.[14]

Museums

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, Turkey houses the richest collection of Hittite and
Anatolian artifacts.

Geography
The Hittite kingdom was centred on the lands surrounding Hattusa
and Neša (Kültepe), known as "the land Hatti" (URUHa-at-ti). After
Hattusa was made capital, the area encompassed by the bend of the
Kızılırmak River (Hittite Marassantiya) was considered the core of
the Empire, and some Hittite laws make a distinction between "this
side of the river" and "that side of the river". For example, the
reward for the capture of an escaped slave after he managed to flee
beyond the Halys is higher than that for a slave caught before he
could reach the river. Drinking cup in the shape of a fist;
1400-1380 BC.
To the west and south of the core territory lay the region known as
Luwiya in the earliest Hittite texts. This terminology was replaced by
the names Arzawa and Kizzuwatna with the rise of those kingdoms.[15] Nevertheless, the Hittites continued
to refer to the language that originated in these areas as Luwian. Prior to the rise of Kizzuwatna, the heart of
that territory in Cilicia was first referred to by the Hittites as Adaniya.[16] Upon its revolt from the Hittites
during the reign of Ammuna,[17] it assumed the name of Kizzuwatna and successfully expanded northward
to encompass the lower Anti-Taurus Mountains as well. To the north, lived the mountainous people called
 the Kaskians. To the southeast of the Hittites lay the Hurrian empire of
Mitanni. At its peak, during the reign of Muršili II, the Hittite empire
stretched from Arzawa in the west to Mitanni in the east, many of the
Kaskian territories to the north including Hayasa-Azzi in the far north-east,
and on south into Canaan approximately as far as the southern border of
Lebanon, incorporating all of these territories within its domain.

History

Origins
Ceremonial vessels in the
shape of sacred bulls, It is generally assumed that the Hittites came into Anatolia some time before
called Hurri (Day) and Seri 2000 BC. While their earlier location is disputed, it has been speculated by
(Night) found in Hattusa, scholars for more than a century that the Yamnaya culture of the Pontic–
Hittite Old Kingdom (16th Caspian steppe, in present-day Ukraine, around the Sea of Azov, spoke an
century BC) Museum of early Indo-European language during the third and fourth millennia BC.[18]
Anatolian Civilizations,
Ankara. The arrival of the Hittites in Anatolia in the Bronze Age was one of a
superstrate imposing itself on a native culture (in this case over the pre-
existing Hattians and
Hurrians), either by means of
conquest or by gradual
assimilation.[19][20] In
archaeological terms,
relationships of the Hittites
to the Ezero culture of the
Balkans and Maykop culture
of the Caucasus have been Map of Indo-European migrations
Bull-leaping scene in Hüseyindede considered within the from c. 4000 to 1000 BC according
vases belongs to Early Hittite, migration framework.[21] to the Kurgan model. The Anatolian
approximately 1650 BC.
The Indo-European element migration probably took place
at least establishes Hittite across the Balkans. The magenta
culture as intrusive to area corresponds to the assumed
Anatolia in scholarly mainstream (excepting the opinions of Colin Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny
Stog culture). The dark orange area
Renfrew,[22][23] whose Anatolian hypothesis assumes that Indo-
corresponds to the area that may
European is indigenous to Anatolia, and, more recently, Quentin
have been settled by Indo-
Atkinson[24]).[20] European-speaking peoples up to
c. 2500 BC, and the lighter orange
According to Anthony, steppe herders, archaic Proto-Indo-European
area by 1000 BC.
speakers, spread into the lower Danube valley about 4200–4000 BC,
either causing or taking advantage of the collapse of Old Europe.[25]
Their languages "probably included archaic Proto-Indo-European dialects of the kind partly preserved later
in Anatolian."[26] Their descendants later moved into Anatolia at an unknown time but maybe as early as
3000 BC.[27] According to J. P. Mallory it is likely that the Anatolians reached the Near East from the north
either via the Balkans or the Caucasus in the 3rd millennium BC.[28] According to Parpola, the appearance
of Indo-European speakers from Europe into Anatolia, and the appearance of Hittite, is related to later
migrations of Proto-Indo-European speakers from the Yamnaya culture into the Danube Valley at c. 2800
BC,[29][30] which is in line with the "customary" assumption that the Anatolian Indo-European language was
introduced into Anatolia sometime in the third millennium BC.[31]
Their movement into the region may have set off a Near East mass migration sometime around 1900 BC.
The dominant indigenous inhabitants in central Anatolia at the time were Hurrians and Hattians who spoke
non-Indo-European languages. Some have argued that Hattic was a Northwest Caucasian language, but its
affiliation remains uncertain, whilst the Hurrian language was a near-isolate (i.e. it was one of only two or
three languages in the Hurro-Urartian family). There were also Assyrian colonies in the region during the
Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750 BC); it was from the Assyrian speakers of Upper Mesopotamia that the
Hittites adopted the cuneiform script. It took some time before the Hittites established themselves following
the collapse of the Old Assyrian Empire in the mid-18th century BC, as is clear from some of the texts
included here. For several centuries there were separate Hittite groups, usually centered on various cities.
But then strong rulers with their center in Hattusa (modern Boğazkale) succeeded in bringing these together
and conquering large parts of central Anatolia to establish the Hittite kingdom.[32]

Early Period

The early history of the

Hittite kingdom is known
through tablets that may first
have been written in the 17th
century BC, possibly in
Hittite;[33] but survived only
as Akkadian copies made in
the 14th and 13th centuries
The Sphinx Gate (Alaca Höyük, BC. These reveal a rivalry
Turkey) Reliefs and Hieroglyphs from
within two branches of the
Chamber 2 at Hattusa built and
royal family up to the
decorated by Šuppiluliuma II, the
Middle Kingdom; a northern last king of the Hittites.
branch first based in Zalpuwa and secondarily Hattusa, and a
southern branch based in Kussara (still not found) and the former
Assyrian colony of Kanesh. These are distinguishable by their
names; the northerners retained language isolate Hattian names, and
the southerners adopted Indo-European Hittite and Luwian
names.[34]

Zalpuwa first attacked Kanesh under Uhna in 1833 BC.[35]

One set of tablets, known collectively as the Anitta text,[36] begin by

telling how Pithana the king of Kussara conquered neighbouring Hittite chariot, from an Egyptian
Neša (Kanesh). [37] However, the real subject of these tablets is relief
Pithana's son Anitta (r. 1745–1720 BC),[38] who continued where his
father left off and conquered several northern cities: including
Hattusa, which he cursed, and also Zalpuwa. This was likely propaganda for the southern branch of the royal
family, against the northern branch who had fixed on Hattusa as capital.[39] Another set, the Tale of
Zalpuwa, supports Zalpuwa and exonerates the later Ḫattušili I from the charge of sacking Kanesh.[39]

Anitta was succeeded by Zuzzu (r. 1720–1710 BC);[38] but sometime in 1710–1705 BC, Kanesh was
destroyed, taking the long-established Assyrian merchant trading system with it.[35] A Kussaran noble
family survived to contest the Zalpuwan/Hattusan family, though whether these were of the direct line of
Anitta is uncertain.[40]
Meanwhile, the lords of Zalpa lived on. Huzziya I, descendant of a Huzziya of Zalpa, took over Hatti. His
son-in-law Labarna I, a southerner from Hurma (now Kalburabastı) usurped the throne but made sure to
adopt Huzziya's grandson Ḫattušili as his own son and heir.

Old Kingdom

The founding of the Hittite Kingdom is attributed to either Labarna I or

Hattusili I (the latter might also have had Labarna as a personal name),[41]
who conquered the area south and north of Hattusa. Hattusili I campaigned
as far as the Semitic Amorite kingdom of Yamkhad in Syria, where he
attacked, but did not capture, its capital of Aleppo. Hattusili I did eventually
capture Hattusa and was credited for the foundation of the Hittite Empire.
According to The Edict of Telepinu, dating to the 16th century BC, "Hattusili
was king, and his sons, brothers, in-laws, family members, and troops were
all united. Wherever he went on campaign he controlled the enemy land
with force. He destroyed the lands one after the other, took away their
power, and made them the borders of the sea. When he came back from
campaign, however, each of his sons went somewhere to a country, and in
his hand the great cities prospered. But, when later the princes’ servants
Hattusa ramp became corrupt, they began to devour the properties, conspired constantly
against their masters, and began to shed their blood.” This excerpt from the
edict is supposed to illustrate the unification, growth, and prosperity of the
Hittites under his rule. It also illustrates the corruption of "the princes", believed to be his sons. The lack of
sources leads to uncertainty of how the corruption was addressed. On Hattusili I's deathbed, he chose his
grandson, Mursuli I, as his heir.[42] Mursili I conquered that city in a campaign against the Amorites in 1595
BC (middle chronology).

Also in 1595 BC, Mursili I (or Murshilish I) conducted a great raid down the Euphrates River, bypassing
Assyria, and captured Mari and Babylonia, ejecting the Amorite founders of the Babylonian state in the
process. However, internal dissension forced a withdrawal of troops to the Hittite homelands. Throughout
the remainder of the 16th century BC, the Hittite kings were held to their homelands by dynastic quarrels
and warfare with the Hurrians—their neighbours to the east.[43] Also the campaigns into Amurru (modern
Syria) and southern Mesopotamia may be responsible for the reintroduction of cuneiform writing into
Anatolia, since the Hittite script is quite different from that of the preceding Assyrian Colonial period.

Mursili continued the conquests of Hattusili I. Mursili's conquests reached southern Mesopotamia and even
ransacked Babylon itself in 1531 BC (short chronology).[44] Rather than incorporate Babylonia into Hittite
domains, Mursili seems to have instead turned control of Babylonia over to his Kassite allies, who were to
rule it for the next four centuries. This lengthy campaign 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 (under the control of an Indo-Aryan Mitanni ruling class), a people
living in the mountainous region along the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern south east Turkey,
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
domains. This pattern of expansion under strong kings followed by contraction under weaker ones, was to
be repeated over and over through the Hittite Kingdom's 500-year history, making events during the waning
periods difficult to reconstruct. 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 prior to
1400 BC, the king of the Hittites was not viewed by his subjects as a "living god" like the Pharaohs of
Egypt, but rather as a first among equals.[45] Only in the later period from 1400 BC until 1200 BC did the
Hittite kingship become more centralized and powerful. Also in earlier years
the succession was not legally fixed, enabling "War of the Roses" style
rivalries between northern and southern branches.

The next monarch of note following Mursili I was Telepinu (c. 1500 BC),
who won a few victories to the southwest, apparently by allying himself
with one Hurrian state (Kizzuwatna) against another (Mitanni). Telepinu
also attempted to secure the lines of succession.[46]

Middle Kingdom

The last monarch of the Old

kingdom, Telepinu, reigned until
about 1500 BC. Telepinu's reign
marked the end of the "Old
The İnandık vase also
Kingdom" and the beginning of the
known as Hüseyindede
lengthy weak phase known as the
vases, a Hittite four-handled
"Middle Kingdom".[47] The period large terracota vase with
of the 15th century BC is largely scenes in relief depicting a
Twelve Hittite gods of the
Underworld in the nearby
unknown with very sparse surviving sacred wedding ceremony,
Yazılıkaya, a sanctuary of Hattusa records.[48] Part of the reason for mid 17th century BC.
both the weakness and the obscurity İnandıktepe, Museum of
is that the Hittites were under Anatolian Civilizations,
constant attack, mainly from the Kaska, a non Indo-European people settled Ankara.
along the shores of the Black Sea. The capital once again went on the move,
first to Sapinuwa and then to Samuha. There is an archive in Sapinuwa but it
has not been adequately translated to date.

It segues into the "Hittite Empire period" proper, which dates from the reign of Tudhaliya I from c. 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. This is also when the Hittite religion adopted several gods and rituals
from the Hurrians.

New Kingdom

With the reign of Tudhaliya I (who may actually not have been the
first of that name; see also Tudhaliya), the Hittite Kingdom re-
emerged from the fog of obscurity. Hittite civilization entered the
period 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.[45] 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.[45] During the Hittite Empire period the Tudhaliya IV (relief in Hattusa)
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.[45]

During his reign (c. 1400 BC), King Tudhaliya I, again allied with
Kizzuwatna, then 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 Šuppiluliuma I (c. 1350 BC),
who again conquered Aleppo, Mitanni was reduced to vassalage by the
Assyrians under his son-in-law, and he defeated Carchemish, another
Amorite city-state. With his own sons placed over all of these new
Hittite monument, an exact conquests, Babylonia still in the hands of the allied Kassites, this left
replica of monument from Šuppiluliuma the supreme power broker in the known world, alongside
Fasıllar in Museum of Assyria and Egypt, and it was not long before Egypt was seeking an alliance
Anatolian Civilizations,
by marriage of another of his sons with the widow of Tutankhamen.
Ankara.
Unfortunately, that son was evidently murdered before reaching his
destination, and this alliance was never consummated. However, the Middle
Assyrian Empire (1365–1050 BC) once more began to grow in power also,
with the ascension of Ashur-uballit I in 1365 BC. Ashur-uballit I attacked and defeated Mattiwaza the
Mitanni king despite attempts by the Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I, now fearful of growing Assyrian power,
attempting to preserve his throne with military support. The lands of the Mitanni and Hurrians were duly
appropriated by Assyria, enabling it to encroach on Hittite territory in eastern Asia Minor, and Adad-nirari I
annexed Carchemish and north east Syria from the control of the Hittites.[49]

After Šuppiluliuma 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 (Miletus), which was under the control of Ahhiyawa.
More recent research based on new readings and interpretations of the Hittite texts, as well as of the material
evidence for Mycenaean contacts with the Anatolian mainland, came to the conclusion that Ahhiyawa
referred to Mycenaean Greece, or at least to a part of it.[50]

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 Ramesses II. The outcome of the
battle is uncertain, though it seems that the timely arrival of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II
Egyptian reinforcements prevented total Hittite victory.[51] The storming the Hittite fortress of
Egyptians forced the Hittites to take refuge in the fortress of Kadesh, Dapur.
but their own losses prevented them from sustaining a siege. This
battle took place in the 5th year of Ramesses (c. 1274 BC by the
most commonly used chronology).

Downfall and demise of the Kingdom

 After this date, the power of both the Hittites
and Egyptians began to decline yet again
because of the power of the Assyrians.[52]
The Assyrian king Shalmaneser I had seized
the opportunity to vanquish Hurria and
Mitanni, occupy their lands, and expand up
to the head of the Euphrates in Anatolia and
into Babylonia, Ancient Iran, Aram (Syria),
Canaan (Palestine) and Phoenicia, while
Muwatalli was preoccupied with the
Egyptians. The Hittites had vainly tried to
Chimera with a human preserve the Mitanni kingdom with military
head and a lion's head; support.[49] Assyria now posed just as great
Late Hittite period in a threat to Hittite trade routes as Egypt ever
Museum of Anatolian had. Muwatalli's son, Urhi-Teshub, took the
Civilizations, Ankara throne and ruled as king for seven years as
Egypto-Hittite Peace Treaty
Mursili III before being ousted by his uncle,
(c. 1258 BC) between
Hattusili III after a brief civil war. In
Hattusili III and Ramesses
response to increasing Assyrian annexation of Hittite territory, he concluded
II. It is the earliest known
a peace and alliance with Ramesses II (also fearful of Assyria), presenting surviving peace treaty and
his daughter's hand in marriage to the Pharaoh.[52] The "Treaty of Kadesh", is sometimes called the
one of the oldest completely surviving treaties in history, fixed their mutual Treaty of Kadesh after the
boundaries in southern Canaan, and was signed in the 21st year of Rameses well-documented Battle of
(c. 1258 BC). Terms of this treaty included the marriage of one of the Hittite Kadesh. Currently on
princesses to Ramesses.[52][53] display at Istanbul
Archaeology Museum
Hattusili's son, Tudhaliya IV, was the last strong Hittite king able to keep the
Assyrians out of the Hittite heartland to some degree at least, though he too
lost much territory to them, and was heavily defeated by Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria in the Battle of
Nihriya. He even temporarily annexed the Greek island of Cyprus, before that too fell to Assyria. The very
last king, Šuppiluliuma II also managed to win some victories, including a naval battle against Alashiya off
the coast of Cyprus.[54] But the Assyrians, under Ashur-resh-ishi I had by this time annexed much Hittite
territory in Asia Minor and Syria, driving out and defeating the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I in the
process, who also had eyes on Hittite lands. The Sea Peoples had already begun their push down the
Mediterranean coastline, starting from the Aegean, and continuing all the way to Canaan, founding the state
of 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 new waves of invaders, the
Kaskas, Phrygians and Bryges. The Hittite Kingdom thus vanished from historical records, much of the
territory being seized by Assyria.[55] Alongside with these attacks, many internal issues also led to the end
of the Hittite kingdom. The end of the kingdom was part of the larger Bronze Age Collapse.[56]

Syro-Hittite states

By 1160 BCE, the political situation in Asia Minor looked vastly different from that of only 25 years earlier.
In that year, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I was defeating the Mushki (Phrygians) who had been
attempting to press into Assyrian colonies in southern Anatolia from the Anatolian highlands, and the Kaska
people, the Hittites' old enemies from the northern hill-country between Hatti and the Black Sea, seem to
have joined them soon after. The Phrygians 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 Hittite kingdom disappeared from Anatolia at this point, there
emerged a number of so-called Syro-Hittite states 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 Melid. These
Syro-Hittite states gradually fell under the control of the Neo-Assyrian
Empire (911–608 BCE). Carchemish and Melid were made vassals of
Assyria under Shalmaneser III (858–823 BCE), and fully incorporated into
Assyria during the reign of Sargon II (722–705 BCE).

A large and powerful state known as Tabal occupied much of southern

Anatolia. Known as Greek Tibarenoi (Ancient Greek: Τιβαρηνοί), Latin
Tibareni, Thobeles in Josephus, their language may have been Luwian,[57]
testified to by monuments written using Anatolian hieroglyphs.[58] This state
too was conquered and incorporated into the vast Neo-Assyrian Empire. Neo-Hittite storm god
Tarḫunz in the National
Ultimately, both Luwian hieroglyphs and cuneiform were rendered obsolete Museum of Aleppo.
by an innovation, the alphabet, which seems to have entered Anatolia
simultaneously from the Aegean (with the Bryges, who changed their name
to Phrygians), and from the Phoenicians and neighboring peoples in Syria.

Government
The head of the Hittite state was the king, followed by the heir-
apparent. The king was the supreme ruler of the land, in charge of
being a military commander, judicial authority, as well as a high
priest.[59] However, some officials exercised independent authority
over various branches of the government. One of the most important
of these posts in the Hittite society was that of the gal mesedi (Chief
of the Royal Bodyguards).[60] It was superseded by the rank of the
gal gestin (Chief of the Wine Stewards), who, like the gal mesedi,
Bronze Hittite figures of animals in was generally a member of the royal family. The kingdom's
the Museum of Anatolian bureaucracy was headed by the gal dubsar (Chief of the Scribes),
Civilizations. whose authority didn't extend over the Lugal Dubsar, the king's
personal scribe.

In Egyptian inscriptions dating back before the days of the Exodus,

Egyptian monarchs were engaged with two chief seats, located at
Kadesh (a Hittite city located on the Orontes River) and Carchemish
(located on the Euphrates river in Southern Anatolia).[61]

Religion in Early Hittite Government to establish

control

In the Central Anatolian settlement of Ankuwa, home of the pre-

Hittite goddess Kattaha and the worship of other Hattic deities
Alaca Höyük bronze standard Deer
illustrates the ethnic differences in the areas the Hittites tried to
with gold nose and two control. Kattaha was originally given the name Hannikkun. The
lions/panthers in the Museum of usage of the term Kattaha over Hannikkun, according to Ronald
Anatolian Civilizations. Gorny (head of the Alisar regional project in Turkey), was a device
to downgrade the pre-Hittite identity of this female deity, and to
bring her more in touch with the Hittite tradition. Their
reconfiguration of Gods throughout their early history such as with
Kattaha was a way of legitimizing their authority and to avoid
conflicting ideologies in newly included regions and settlements. By
transforming local deities to fit their own customs, the Hittites hoped
that the traditional beliefs of these communities would understand
and accept the changes to become better suited for the Hittite
political and economic goals.[62]

Political dissent in the Old Kingdom

In 1595 BCE, King Marsilis I (r. 1556–1526 BCE) marched into the
city of Babylon and sacked the city. Due to fear of revolts at home
he did not remain there long, quickly returning to his capital of A map Illustrating Hittite Expansion
Hattusa. On his journey back to Hattusa, he was assassinated by his and location of the Capital City
brother-in-law Hantili I, who then took the throne. Hantili was able Hattusa
to escape multiple murder attempts on himself, however, his family
did not. His wife, Harapsili and her son were murdered. In addition,
other members of the royal family were killed by Zindata I, who was then murdered by his own son,
Ammunna. All of the internal unrest among the Hittite royal family led to a decline of power. This led to
surrounding kingdoms, such as the Hurrians, to have success against Hittite forces and be the center of
power in the Anatolian region.[63]

The Pankus

King Telipinu (reigned c. 1525 – c. 1500 BCE) is considered to be the last king of the Old Kingdom of the
Hittites. He seized power during a dynastic power struggle. During his reign, he wanted to take care of
lawlessness and regulate royal succession. He then issued the Edict of Telipinus. Within this edict, he
designated the pankus, which was a "general assembly" that acted as a high court. Crimes such as murder
were observed and judged by the Pankus. Kings were also subject to jurisdiction under the Pankus. The
Pankus also served as an advisory council for the king. The rules and regulations set out by the Edict and the
establishment of the Pankus proved to be very successful and lasted all the way through to the new Kingdom
in the 14th century BCE.[64]

The Pankus established a legal code where violence was not a punishment for a crime. Crimes such as a
murder and theft, which were punishable by death in other southwest Asian Kingdoms at this time, were not
under the Hittite law code. Most penalties for crimes involved restitution. For example, in cases of thievery,
the punishment of that crime would to be to repay what was stolen in equal value.[65]

Language
The Hittite language is recorded fragmentarily from about the 19th century BC (in the Kültepe texts, see
Ishara). It remained in use until about 1100 BC. Hittite is the best attested member of the Anatolian branch
of the Indo-European language family, and the Indo-European language for which the earliest surviving
written attestation exists, with isolated Hittite loanwords and numerous personal names appearing in an Old
Assyrian context from as early as the 20th century BC.

The language of the Hattusa tablets was eventually deciphered by a Czech linguist, Bedřich Hrozný (1879–
1952), who, on 24 November 1915, announced his results in a lecture at the Near Eastern Society of Berlin.
His book about the discovery was printed in Leipzig in 1917, under the title The Language of the Hittites; Its
 Structure and Its Membership in the Indo-European Linguistic Family.[66]
The preface of the book begins with:

"The present work undertakes to establish the nature and structure of

the hitherto mysterious language of the Hittites, and to decipher this
language [...] It will be shown that Hittite is in the main an Indo-
European language."

The decipherment famously led to the confirmation of the laryngeal theory

in Indo-European linguistics, which had been predicted several decades
before. Due to its marked differences in its structure and phonology, some
early philologists, most notably Warren Cowgill, had even argued that it
should be classified as a sister language to Indo-European languages (Indo-
Bronze tablet from Çorum- Hittite), rather than a daughter language. By the end of the Hittite Empire,
Boğazköy dating from 1235 the Hittite language had become a written language of administration and
BC. Photographed at diplomatic correspondence. The population of most of the Hittite Empire by
Museum of Anatolian this time spoke Luwian, another Indo-European language of the Anatolian
Civilizations, Ankara. family that had originated to the west of the Hittite region.[67]

According to Craig Melchert, the current tendency is to suppose that Proto-

Indo-European evolved, and that the "prehistoric speakers" of Anatolian became isolated "from the rest of
the PIE speech community, so as not to share in some common innovations."[68] Hittite, as well as its
Anatolian cousins, split off from Proto-Indo-European at an early stage, thereby preserving archaisms that
were later lost in the other Indo-European languages.[69]

In Hittite there are many loanwords, particularly religious vocabulary, from the non-Indo-European Hurrian
and Hattic languages. The latter was the language of the Hattians, the local inhabitants of the land of Hatti
before being absorbed or displaced by the Hittites. Sacred and magical texts from Hattusa were often written
in Hattic, Hurrian, and Luwian, even after Hittite became the norm for other writings.

Art
Given the size of the empire, there are relatively few remains of
Hittite art. These include some impressive monumental carvings, a
number of rock reliefs, as well as metalwork, in particular the Alaca
Höyük bronze standards, carved ivory, and ceramics, including the
Hüseyindede vases. The Sphinx Gates of Alaca Höyük and Hattusa,
with the monument at the spring of Eflatun Pınar, are among the
largest constructed sculptures, along with a number of large
recumbent lions, of which the Lion of Babylon statue at Babylon is
the largest, if it is indeed Hittite. Unfortunately, nearly all are
notably worn. Rock reliefs include the Hanyeri relief, and Hemite Monument over a spring at Eflatun
relief. The Niğde Stele is a Neo-Hittite monument from the modern Pınar
Turkish city of Niğde, which dates from the end of the 8th century
BC.

Religion and mythology

Hittite religion and mythology were heavily influenced by their Hattic, Mesopotamian, and Hurrian
counterparts. In earlier times, Indo-European elements may still be clearly discerned.
 Storm gods were prominent in the Hittite pantheon. Tarhunt (Hurrian's
Teshub) was referred to as 'The Conqueror', 'The king of Kummiya', 'King of
Heaven', 'Lord of the land of Hatti'. He was chief among the gods and his
symbol is the bull. As Teshub he was depicted as a bearded man astride two
mountains and bearing a club. He was the god of battle and victory,
especially when the conflict involved a foreign power.[70] Teshub was also
known for his conflict with the serpent Illuyanka.[71]

The Hittite gods are also honoured with festivals, such as Puruli in the
spring, the nuntarriyashas festival in the autumn, and the KI.LAM festival
of the gate house where images of the Storm God and up to thirty other idols
were paraded through the streets.[72]

Stag statuette, symbol of a

Law
Hittite male god in Museum
of Anatolian Civilizations, Hittite laws, much like other records of the empire, are recorded on
Ankara. This figure is used cuneiform tablets made from baked clay. What is understood to be the
for the Hacettepe University Hittite Law Code comes mainly from two clay tablets, each containing 186
emblem. articles, and are a collection of practiced laws from across the early Hittite
Kingdom.[73] In addition to the tablets, monuments bearing Hittite
cuneiform inscriptions can be found in central Anatolia describing the
government and law codes of the empire.[74] The tablets and monuments
date from the Old Hittite Kingdom (1650–1500 BC) to what is known as the
New Hittite Kingdom (1500–1180 BC).[75] Between these time periods,
different translations can be found that modernize the language[76] and
create a series of legal reforms in which many crimes[73][75] are given more
humane punishments. These changes could possibly be attributed to the rise
Early Hittite artifact found of new and different kings throughout the history empire or to the new
by T. E. Lawrence and translations that change the language used in the law codes.[75] In either
Leonard Woolley (right) in case, the law codes of the Hittites provide very specific fines or punishments
Carchemish. that are to be issued for specific crimes[75][77] and have many similarities to
Biblical laws found in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.[77] In
addition to criminal punishments, the law codes also provide instruction on
certain situations such as inheritance and death.

Use of laws

The law articles used by the Hittites most often outline very specific crimes or offenses, either against the
state or against other individuals, and provide a sentence for these offenses. The laws carved in the tablets
are an assembly of established social conventions from across the empire. Hittite laws at this time have a
prominent lack of equality in punishments In many cases, distinct punishments or compensations for men
and women are listed.[73][77] Free men most often received more compensation for offenses against them
than free women did. Slaves, male or female, had very little rights, and could easily be punished or executed
by their masters for crimes.[73][77] Most articles describe destruction of property and personal injury, to
which the most common sentence was payment for compensation of the lost property. Again, in these cases
men oftentimes receive a greater amount of compensation than women.[73][77] Other articles describe how
marriage of slaves and free individuals should be handled. In any case of separation or estrangement, the
free individual, male or female, would keep all but one child that resulted from the marriage.[75][77] Another
thing to note is that homosexuality is not mentioned in any of the law articles of the Hittite Empire.[73]
Cases in which capital punishment is recommended in the articles most often seem to come from pre-reform
sentences for severe crimes and prohibited sexual pairings. Many of these cases include public torture and
execution as punishment for serious crimes against religion. Most of these sentences would begin to go
away in the later stages of the Hittite Empire as major law reforms began to occur.[73][75]

Law reform

While different translations of laws can be seen throughout the

history of the empire,[76] the Hittite outlook of law was originally
founded on religion and were intended to preserve the authority of
the state.[73] Additionally, punishments had the goal of crime
prevention and the protection of individual property rights.[73] The
goals of crime prevention can be seen in the severity of the
punishments issued for certain crimes. Capital punishment and
torture are specifically mentioned as punishment for more severe
crimes against religion and harsh fines for the loss of private
property or life. The tablets also describe the ability of the king to
pardon certain crimes, but specifically prohibit an individual being
pardoned for murder.[73][75]

At some point in the 16th or 15th century BC, Hittite law codes
move away from torture and capital punishment and to more
humanitarian forms of punishments, such as fines.[73][75] Where the Statue of Šuppiluliuma, king of the
old law system was based on retaliation and retribution for crimes, Neo-Hittite state of Patina/Unqi.
the new system saw punishments that were much more mild, Hatay Archaeology Museum,
favoring monetary compensation over physical or capital Antakya, Turkey.
punishment. [73] Why these drastic reforms happened is not exactly
clear, but it is likely that punishing murder with execution was
deemed not to benefit any individual or family involved.[73][75] These reforms were not just seen in the
realm of capital punishment. Where major fines were to be paid, a severe reduction in penalty can be seen.
For example, prior to these major reforms, the payment to be made for the theft of an animal was thirty
times the animal's value; after the reforms, the penalty was reduced to half the original fine. Simultaneously,
attempts to modernize the language and change the verbiage used in the law codes can be seen during this
period of reform.[73][74][75][76]

Examples of laws

Under both the old and reformed Hittite law codes, three main types of punishment can be seen: Death,
torture, or compensation/fines.[73] The articles outlined on the cuneiform tablets provide very specific
punishments for crimes committed against the Hittite religion or against individuals. In many, but not all
cases, articles describing similar laws are grouped together. More than a dozen consecutive articles describe
what are known to be permitted and prohibited sexual pairings.[75][77] These pairings mostly describe men
(sometimes specifically referred to as free men, sometimes just men in general)[77] having relations, be they
consensual or not, with animals, step-family, relatives of spouses, or concubines.[73] Many of these articles
do not provide specific punishments but, prior to the law reforms, crimes against religion were most often
punishable by death. These include incestuous marriages and sexual relations with certain animals.[75][77]
For example, one article states, "If a man has sexual relations with a cow, it is an unpermitted sexual pairing:
he will be put to death."[77] Similar relations with horses and mules were not subject to capital punishment,
but the offender could not become a priest afterwards.[73][75] Actions at the expense of other individuals
most often see the offender paying some sort of compensation, be it in the form money, animals, or land.
These actions could include the destruction of farmlands, death or injury of livestock, or assault of an
individual.[77] Several articles also specifically mention acts of the gods. If an animal were to die by certain
circumstances, the individual could claim that it died by the hand of a god. Swearing that what they claim
was true, it seems that they were exempt from paying compensation to the animal's owner.[75][77] Injuries
inflicted upon animals owned by another individual are almost always compensated with either direct
payment, or trading the injured animal with a healthy one owned by the offender.[77]

Not all laws prescribed in the tablets deal with criminal punishment. For example, the instructions of how
the marriage of slaves and division of their children are given in a group of articles, "The slave woman shall
take most of the children, with the male slave taking one child."[77] Similar instructions are given to the
marriage of free individuals and slaves. Other actions include how breaking of engagements are to be
handled.[75][77]

Biblical Hittites
The Bible refers to "Hittites" in several passages, ranging from Genesis to the post-Exilic Ezra–Nehemiah.
The Hittites are usually depicted as a people living among the Israelites—Abraham purchases the Patriarchal
burial-plot of Machpelah from "Ephron HaChiti", Ephron the Hittite; and Hittites serve as high military
officers in David's army. In 2 Kings 7:6, however, they are a people with their own kingdoms (the passage
refers to "kings" in the plural), apparently located outside geographic Canaan, and sufficiently powerful to
put a Syrian army to flight.[78]

It is a matter of considerable scholarly debate whether the biblical "Hittites" signified any or all of: 1) the
original Hattians; 2) their Indo-European conquerors, who retained the name "Hatti" for Central Anatolia,
and are today referred to as the "Hittites" (the subject of this article); or 3) a Canaanite group who may or
may not have been related to either or both of the Anatolian groups, and who also may or may not be
identical with the later Syro-Hittite states.[79]

Other biblical scholars (following Max Müller) have argued that, rather than being connected with Heth, son
of Canaan, the Anatolian land of Hatti was instead mentioned in Old Testament literature and apocrypha as
"Kittim" (Chittim), a people said to be named for a son of Javan.[80]

See also
List of Hittite kings
List of artifacts significant to the Bible
Short chronology timeline

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46. Fortanini, 115-6.
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49. Roux, Georges (March 1993). Ancient Iraq (https://archive.org/details/ancientiraq00roux).
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s://books.google.com/books?id=ccQIyA9CW-wC). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 121–
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s://books.google.com/books?id=ccQIyA9CW-wC) from the original on 27 February 2017.
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e.com/books?id=Agg5-lpVI2MC). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-19-
924010-4. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170227092445/https://books.google.com/b
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s/pdfs/pubs/061528P.front.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April
2016. "At the very least, perhaps we can say that the Ahhiyawa Problem/Question has been
solved and answered after all, for there is now little doubt that Ahhiyawa was a reference by
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51. Gurney, O. R. The Hittites. p. 110.
52. Gurney, O. R. The Hittites. p. 36.
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57. Barnett, R.D., "Phrygia and the Peoples of Anatolia in the Iron Age", The Cambridge Ancient
History, Vol. II, Part 2 (1975) p. 422
58. The Georgian historian Ivane Javakhishvili considered Tabal, Tubal, Jabal and Jubal to be
ancient Georgian tribal designations, and argued that they spoke Kartvelian languages, a non-
Indo-European language
59. "The Hittites" (http://www.allaboutturkey.com/hitit.htm). all about turkey. 5 May 2017. Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20170513052831/http://allaboutturkey.com/hitit.htm) from the
original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
60. Bryce, Trevor (17 December 2004). Life and society in the Hittite world (https://archive.org/deta
ils/lifesocietyinhit00trev). Oxford University Press. p. 22 (https://archive.org/details/lifesocietyin
hit00trev/page/22). ISBN 978-0-19-927588-5. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
61. "The Empire of the Hittites". The Old Testament Student. 4 (1): 32–34. 1 September 1884.
doi:10.1086/469493 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F469493). JSTOR 3156304 (https://www.jstor.o
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62. Gorny, Ronald (Fall 1995). "Hittite Imperialism and Anti-Imperial Resistance As Viewed from
Alișar Höyük". The Archaeology of Empire in Ancient Anatolia. 299/300 (299/300): 69–70.
JSTOR 1357346 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1357346).
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html). pericles press. May 2017. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170306132041/htt
p://www.periclespress.net/Hittites_resources.html) from the original on 6 March 2017.
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64. "Telipinus Hittite king" (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Telipinus-Hittite-king#ref52857).
britannica. 5 May 2017. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170911120159/https://www.b
ritannica.com/biography/Telipinus-Hittite-king#ref52857) from the original on 11 September
2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
65. Eduljee (5 May 2017). "Hittites" (http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/ranghaya/hittit
es.htm#governance). Heritage Institute. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201705050336
26/http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/ranghaya/hittites.htm#governance) from the
original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
66. Hrozný, Bedřich, Die Sprache der Hethiter: ihr Bau und ihre Zugehörigkeit zum
indogermanischen Sprachstamm: ein Entzifferungsversuch (Leipzig, Germany: J.C. Hinrichs,
1917).
67. Hawkins, David (February 1986). "Writing in Anatolia: Imported and Indigenous Systems".
World Archaeology. 17 (3): 363–376. doi:10.1080/00438243.1986.9979976 (https://doi.org/10.
1080%2F00438243.1986.9979976). JSTOR 124701 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/124701).
68. Melchert 2012, p. 7.
69. Jasanoff 2003, p. 20 with footnote 41
70. Siren, Christopher B. " 'Hittite/Hurrian Mythology REF 1.2', Myths and Legends" (http://home.c
omcast.net/~chris.s/hittite-ref.html). Comcast.net. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20040
706151443/http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/hittite-ref.html) from the original on 6 July 2004.
Retrieved 8 February 2011.
71. Kershaw, Stephen P. (7 February 2013). A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=0KXABAAAQBAJ&lpg=PT32&dq=Teshub%20Illuyanka&pg=PT32#v=onepag
e). Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9781472107541.
72. Life and Society in the Hittite World (https://www.ling.upenn.edu/~rnoyer/courses/51/BryceHittit
eSociety.pdf), Trevor Bryce
73. Taş, İlknur; Dinler, Veysel (1 January 2015). "Hittite Criminal Law in the Light of Modern
Paradigms: Searching for the traces of Modernday Criminal Law in the Past" (https://www.rese
archgate.net/publication/312373101). Aramazd Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 9:
73–90.
74. Sayce, A. H. (1905). "The Hittite Inscriptions" (https://zenodo.org/record/2165026). The Biblical
World. 26 (1): 30–40. doi:10.1086/473607 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F473607).
JSTOR 3140922 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3140922).
75. Roth, Martha. "Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor" (http://www.g2rp.com/pdfs/
LawCollectionsFromMesopotemiaAndAsiaMinor.pdf) (PDF). Writings from the Ancient World
Society of Biblical Literature. 6: 213–246. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190428022
130/http://www.g2rp.com/pdfs/LawCollectionsFromMesopotemiaAndAsiaMinor.pdf) (PDF) from
the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
76. Hoffner, Harry A. (1981). "The Old Hittite Version of Laws 164-166". Journal of Cuneiform
Studies. 33 (3/4): 206–209. doi:10.2307/1359903 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1359903).
JSTOR 1359903 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1359903).
77. David., Coogan, Michael (2013). A reader of ancient Near Eastern texts : sources for the study
of the Old Testament. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195324921.
OCLC 796081940 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/796081940).
78. King James Bible, 2 Kings 7:6: For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise
of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another,
Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the
Egyptians, to come upon us.
79. Woudstra, Marten (1981). The Book of Joshua (https://books.google.com/books?id=BfG1svPV
YyQC&pg=PA60). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-8028-2525-4. Archived (ht
tps://web.archive.org/web/20160516073138/https://books.google.com/books?id=BfG1svPVYy
QC&pg=PA60) from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2015. and Trevor
Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, p. 389 ff.
80. "Full text of "Hittites, Mittanis & Aryans Indo Aryan Superstrate In Mitanni Internet" " (https://arc
hive.org/stream/HittitesMittanisAryansIndoAryanSuperstrateInMitanniInternet/Hittites,%20Mitta
nis%20&%20Aryans%20Indo%20Aryan%20superstrate%20in%20Mitanni%20Internet_djvu.tx
t). archive.org. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
Literature
Akurgal, Ekrem (2001) The Hattian and Hittite Civilizations, Publications of the Republic of
Turkey, Ministry of Culture, ISBN 975-17-2756-1
Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse, the Wheel and Language. How Bronze-Age Riders from
the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, Princeton University Press
Bryce, Trevor R. (1998). The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford. (Also: 2005 hard and softcover
editions with much new material)
Bryce, Trevor R. (2002) Life and Society in the Hittite World, Oxford.
Ceram, C. W. (2001) The Secret of the Hittites: The Discovery of an Ancient Empire. Phoenix
Press, ISBN 1-84212-295-9.
Forlanini, Massimo (2010). "An Attempt at Reconstructing the Branches of the Hittite Royal
Family of the Early Kingdom Period". In Cohen, Yoram; Gilan, Amir; Miller, Jared L. (eds.). Pax
Hethitica: Studies on the Hittites and Their Neighbours in Honour of Itamar Singer. Otto
Harrassowitz Verlag.
Gurney, O.R. (1952) The Hittites, Penguin, ISBN 0-14-020259-5
Güterbock, Hans Gustav (1983) "Hittite Historiography: A Survey," in H. Tadmor and M.
Weinfeld eds. History, Historiography and Interpretation: Studies in Biblical and Cuneiform
Literatures, Magnes Press, Hebrew University pp. 21–35.
Hoffner, Jr., H.A (1973) "The Hittites and Hurrians," in D. J. Wiseman Peoples of the Old
Testament Times, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Jasanoff, Jay H. (2003). Hittite and the Indo-European Verb. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN 978-0-19-924905-3.
Kloekhorst, Alwin (2007), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, ISBN 978-90-
04-16092-7
Macqueen, J. G. (1986) The Hittites, and Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor, revised and
enlarged, Ancient Peoples and Places series (ed. G. Daniel), Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-
500-02108-2.
Mallory, J.P.; Adams, D.Q. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Taylor & Francis
Melchert, H. Craig (2012). "The Position of Anatolian" (http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/M
elchert/The%20Position%20of%20AnatolianRevised3.pdf) (PDF).
Mendenhall, George E. (1973) The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition, The
Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-1654-8.
Neu, Erich (1974) Der Anitta Text, (StBoT 18), Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.
Orlin, Louis L. (1970) Assyrian Colonies in Cappadocia, Mouton, The Hague.
Parpola, Asko (2015), The Roots of Hinduism. The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization,
Oxford University Press
Patri, Sylvain (2007), L'alignement syntaxique dans les langues indo-européennes d'Anatolie,
(StBoT 49), Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, ISBN 978-3-447-05612-0

Further reading
Jacques Freu et Michel Mazoyer, Des origines à la fin de l'ancien royaume hittite, Les Hittites
et leur histoire Tome 1, Collection Kubaba, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2007 ;
Jacques Freu et Michel Mazoyer, Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite, Les Hittites et leur
histoire Tome 2, Collection Kubaba, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2007 ;
Jacques Freu et Michel Mazoyer, L'apogée du nouvel empire hittite, Les Hittites et leur histoire
Tome 3, Collection Kubaba, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2008.
 Jacques Freu et Michel Mazoyer, Le déclin et la chute de l'empire Hittite, Les Hittites et leur
histoire Tome 4, Collection Kubaba, L'Harmattan, Paris 2010.
Jacques Freu et Michel Mazoyer, Les royaumes Néo-Hittites, Les Hittites et leur histoire Tome
5, Collection Kubaba, L'Harmattan, Paris 2012.
Imparati, Fiorella. "Aspects De L'organisation De L'État Hittite Dans Les Documents Juridiques
Et Administratifs." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 25, no. 3 (1982):
225-67. doi:10.2307/3632187.

External links
Video lecture at Oriental Institute – Tracking the Frontiers of the Hittite Empire (https://oi.uchica
go.edu/getinvolved/member/events/20100407_hittitefrontiers.html)
Hattusas/Bogazköy (http://www.visitturkeynow.com/cities/c_hattusas.htm)
Arzawa, to the west, throws light on Hittites (https://web.archive.org/web/20040202190725/htt
p://pages.sbcglobal.net/zimriel/amc/arzawa.html)
Pictures of Boğazköy, one of a group of important sites (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/bog
azkale)
Pictures of Yazılıkaya, one of a group of important sites (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/yazi
likaya)
Der Anitta Text (at TITUS) (http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/idg/anat/hethbs.htm)
Tahsin Ozguc (https://web.archive.org/web/20070301053227/http://news.independent.co.uk/pe
ople/obituaries/article330433.ece)
Hittites.info (http://www.hittites.info)
Hittite Period in Anatolia (https://web.archive.org/web/20070103214955/http://www.ancientanat
olia.com/historical/hittite_period.html)
Hethitologieportal Mainz, by the Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mainz, corpus of texts and
extensive bibliographies on all things Hittite (http://www.hethiter.net/)
Uşaklı Höyük (http://usaklihoyuk.org)

Ancient Syria and Mesopotamia

Southern
Syria Northern Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
c. 3500–
Semitic nomads Sumerian city-states
2350 BCE
c. 2350–
Akkadian Empire
2200 BCE
c. 2200–
Gutians
2100 BCE
c. 2100–
Third Dynasty of Ur (Sumerian Renaissance)
2000 BCE
c. 2000– Old Assyrian Empire Isin/Larsa and other
1800 BCE
Mari and other Amorite city-states
(Northern Akkadians) Amorite city-states
c. 1800–
1600 BCE
Old Hittite Kingdom Old Babylonian Empire (Southern Akkadians)
c. 1600–
Mitanni (Hurrians)
1400 BCE
c. 1400–
1200 BCE
Middle Hittite Kingdom Karduniaš (Kassites)
Middle Assyria
c. 1200– Bronze Age Collapse
1150 BCE
Arameans
("Sea Peoples")
c. 1150–911 Phoenicia Neo-Hittite Aram- Middle Babylonia Chal-
BCE
Arameans
city-states Damascus de-
 911–729 Neo-Assyrian Empire ans
BCE
729–609
BCE
626–539
BCE
Neo-Babylonian Empire (Chaldeans)
539–331
Achaemenid Empire
BCE
336–301
Macedonian Empire (Ancient Greeks and Macedonians)
BCE
311–129
BCE
Seleucid Empire
129–63
BCE
Seleucid Empire
Parthian Empire
63 BCE–
243 CE
Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire
(Syria)
243–636 CE Sassanid Empire

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