In the north, beyond the Sinai, beyond Canaan, beyond Syria,
In the high plateau country of what is now central Turkey,
A kingdom was emerging that would become Egypt's great rival.
The Hittites.
An Indo-European people whose R1b haplogroup
Ancestors had arrived in Anatolia quite early in the Yamnaya
Expansion—probably in the third millennium BCE, through the
Caucasus or across the Aegean—and who had established themselves
As the dominant power in the central Anatolian plateau. Their
Language, Hittite, is the earliest attested Indo-European
Language in the historical record. It was first written in the
Adapted Akkadian cuneiform system, which the Hittites had
Borrowed from the Mesopotamian scribal tradition. The texts they
Left behind—some thirty thousand clay tablets recovered from their
Capital at Hattusa—are the oldest Indo-European written
Documents. They preserve Hittite royal correspondence, legal
Codes, religious texts, diplomatic treaties, historical annals,
Ritual handbooks, and mythological narratives. The Hittites were
A literate, bureaucratic, well-documented civilization. And when
The archives at Hattusa were rediscovered in the late nineteenth
And early twentieth centuries, they revolutionized our understanding
Of the Bronze Age.
The Hittite kingdom—or Hatti, as it
Called itself—was founded around seventeen-fifty BCE by Anitta,
A king who had conquered the city of Hattusa and several other
Anatolian centers. The Old Hittite Kingdom was consolidated
Under Hattusili I around sixteen-fifty BCE, with Hattusa as
Its capital. The kingdom expanded rapidly. Under Mursili I, the
Hittites conducted a remarkable military expedition: they marched
South across the Taurus Mountains, through Syria, and all the
Way down to Babylon. In fifteen-ninety-five BCE, Mursili I
Sacked Babylon—this was the raid that ended the Old Babylonian
Empire of Hammurabi's dynasty. The Hittites did not stay to
Occupy Babylon; they withdrew back to Anatolia with their
Plunder. But the sack was devastating, and it marks the end of
The Old Babylonian period and the transition to the Kassite
Dynasty in Mesopotamia. The Hittites, having projected power
Across a thousand miles, retreated to their highland capital and
Consolidated.
The Hittite empire reached its peak in the
Fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BCE under a series of capable
Rulers: Suppiluliuma I, Mursili II, Muwatalli II, Hattusili III,
Tudhaliya IV. The empire controlled central and eastern Anatolia,
Northern Syria, and much of the Levant (in competition and
Occasional cooperation with Egypt). The Hittites were the
Northern pole of a bipolar Bronze Age political system in which
Egypt was the southern pole. The two empires met, diplomatically
Or militarily, at their mutual border zone in Syria and the
Upper Levant. And the great flashpoint was the Battle of Kadesh
In twelve-seventy-four BCE.
Kadesh. A small city on the
Orontes River in central Syria. Strategically located on the
Border zone between Hittite and Egyptian spheres of influence.
And in twelve-seventy-four BCE, Ramesses II of Egypt and
Muwatalli II of Hatti confronted each other here with the
Largest chariot forces ever fielded in human military history up
To that point. The Egyptian army consisted of perhaps twenty
Thousand infantry and two thousand chariots. The Hittite army
Fielded a similar infantry strength plus three thousand chariots.
The battle was massive, confused, and fought partly around a
Hittite ambush that caught Ramesses unprepared—the Egyptian
Pharaoh had advanced too far ahead of his main force, and his
Camp was overrun by Hittite chariotry. The battle was recovered—
Ramesses rallied his remaining forces and held the field by
Nightfall—but the outcome was indecisive. Both sides claimed
Victory. Both accounts are partially preserved: Ramesses's in
Egyptian inscriptions at Karnak and the Ramesseum, Muwatalli's
(Indirectly, through later Hittite documents) in the archives
At Hattusa. The historical consensus is that the battle was
Effectively a draw. Neither side had the ability to dislodge the
Other. And after years of continued low-level conflict, the two
Powers eventually negotiated a peace.
The Egyptian-Hittite
Peace Treaty was signed around twelve-fifty-nine BCE, between
Ramesses II and Hattusili III (who had succeeded Muwatalli II
After a brief civil war). The treaty established a permanent peace
Between the two empires, a mutual defense pact against external
Aggression, and provisions for the extradition of political
Refugees. It was sealed with a dynastic marriage: Hattusili III's
Daughter married Ramesses II and became one of his principal
Queens. The treaty was written in cuneiform on silver tablets, with
Copies kept in both capitals. It is the oldest known international
Peace treaty in human history. A copy of the Hittite version on
Silver is displayed at the United Nations building in New York
As a symbolic precedent for modern international diplomacy. The
Treaty held for the rest of both empires' existences—the Hittite
Empire would collapse in the Bronze Age Collapse around twelve
Hundred BCE, and Egypt would never again face a northern rival
On the scale of Hatti until the rise of Assyria centuries
Later. But for the duration of both empires, the treaty held. The
First international peace treaty was also the first long-lasting
One.
The Hittites were culturally distinctive. Their religion was
Indo-European in its deep structure (sky-father, storm-god, the
Usual pantheon) but heavily syncretized with Anatolian and
Hurrian elements absorbed from their neighbors and subject
Populations. The Hittites famously called their kingdom the
"Land of the Thousand Gods"—they incorporated every deity of every
Conquered territory into their expanding pantheon, rather than
Suppressing local cults. This made Hittite religion tolerant and
Syncretic, willing to add rather than replace. The storm-god
Teshub (borrowed from the Hurrians) was their chief deity. The
Sun-goddess of Arinna was his consort. Mountain-gods, river-gods,
Ancestral kings elevated to divine status, agricultural deities—all
Were honored. This religious inclusivism was a political strategy
As well: conquered populations were more likely to accept Hittite
Rule if their local gods were incorporated rather than abolished.
And the Hittites had a distinctive law code. It was generally
Less brutal than Hammurabi's code. Capital punishment was rare.
Most offenses carried restitution-based penalties—payment to the
Victim or the victim's family, rather than physical mutilation or
Execution. The Hittite law code is one of the less vengeful
Ancient Near Eastern codes. Scholars have speculated that this
Reflected Indo-European cultural differences from the Semitic
World. Whether that is true or whether it reflected specific
Anatolian circumstances is debated. But the Hittite legal
Tradition was noticeably less retributive than its southern
Mesopotamian counterpart.
And the Hittites in the biblical record—this is interesting. The
Hebrew Bible mentions "Hittites" repeatedly as one of the
Peoples of Canaan encountered by Abraham and later Israelite
Generations. Uriah the Hittite is a Hittite character in the
Court of King David. The biblical Hittites appear to be a
Subset of the actual Hittite population—specifically, Neo-Hittite
Remnant populations in northern Syria and southern Turkey who
Survived the fall of the Hittite Empire and continued to maintain
A distinct Hittite cultural identity into the first millennium BCE.
These Neo-Hittite city-states—Carchemish, Aleppo, Hamath,
Sam'al—are where the biblical Hittites come from. The great
Hittite Empire was already gone by the time the biblical narrative
Takes shape, but its cultural and ethnic remnants persisted for
Several more centuries.
And the fall of the Hittite Empire
Is, the Gaiad has already indicated, part of the Bronze Age Collapse.
Around twelve-hundred BCE, the Hittite capital Hattusa was
Sacked and burned. The Hittite central administration collapsed.
The royal archives were hurriedly hidden in temples, which is why
They survived. The population scattered. The specific cause is
Debated—probably a combination of the Sea Peoples raids, internal
Rebellions (possibly by the Kaska tribes of the Black Sea coast),
Climate-induced famine, and the general systemic failure of the
Bronze Age international system. Whatever the cause, the Hittite
Empire ended suddenly and catastrophically, more so than any other
Major Bronze Age civilization. Egypt survived, diminished. Assyria
Survived, briefly interrupted. Babylon survived, under Kassite
Rule. But the Hittites as an imperial civilization were gone
Within a generation. Their capital was abandoned and forgotten.
Their language was lost. By the first century BCE, the word
"Hittite" had become, in the biblical and later traditions, a
Vague name for unnamed eastern peoples. The actual Hittite Empire
Was unknown to historians until Hugo Winckler and Theodor Makridi
Began excavating Hattusa in nineteen-oh-six and discovered the
Lost archive. Three thousand years of historical amnesia, ended by
A German-Turkish archaeological team. The rediscovery of the
Hittites is one of the great stories of twentieth-century archaeology.
And now we know them. We can read their tablets. We can name their
Kings. We can trace their wars and treaties. We can read the terms
Of the Kadesh peace treaty in the original Hittite cuneiform.
The empire that disappeared so completely that even the Bible lost
Its proper memory has been, in the last century, substantially
Reconstructed.
Hittites. The first great Indo-European empire.
The sack of Babylon. The rivalry with Egypt. The Kadesh peace
Treaty. The "Land of the Thousand Gods." The law code less brutal
Than Hammurabi's. The capital at Hattusa and its archive.
The collapse in the Bronze Age Collapse. The three thousand years
Of forgetting. The twentieth-century rediscovery. The reconstruction
Of a lost civilization from its hidden tablets.
Hittites. Hattusa. Kadesh. The R1b-haplogroup empire of
Anatolia. The northern pole of Bronze Age political order. The
Forgotten and rediscovered empire. Stand.