The Hittites were the earliest known settlements in the ancient world they appeared in the Near East during the Neolithic (late Stone Age). The Neolithic city of Çatal Höyük , in Anatolia, was the first important settlement in the world. After her would come other settlements, later converted into cities, in the area of Mesopotamia, the fertile strip of land that extends between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the region that is now known as Iraq. The people who lived in those cities were intelligent and inventive and we owe them some of the most important discoveries of humanity:such as the ox-drawn plow, the wheel and writing .
At its height, the Hittite Empire rivaled the Egyptian and Babylonian Empires, being a powerful force in the Near East for nearly 500 years, between 1700 and 1190 BC. about. Despite this, almost everything we know about their civilization was lost for thousands of years, until recent archaeological discoveries were able to restore the Hittites to their place in history.
The capital of the Hittites, Hattusas , is located in the west, near the modern city of Ankara, in central Turkey. However, the Hittites did not originally come from this region. It is an Indo-European breed from the barren steppes of Central Asia. Sometime before 2000 BC, they headed south, finally settling in an area of Anatolia called Hatti. The name Hittite comes from the region they conquered
The ancestor of the great Hittite kings was a prince named Anittas , who created a small kingdom in central Anatolia around 1850 B.C. Anittas conquered the city of Kanesh and then the mountainous settlement of Hattusas, which dominated the northern region. He destroyed Hattusas completely and then declared it a cursed land. However, the city was a natural fortress in a key position, making it too valuable to be abandoned for too long. A few generations later, a Hittite king named Labarnas reoccupied the site and rebuilt the city, making it his capital. Labarnas even changed his name to Hatussilis, which means man of Hattusas , in honor of the place.
The Empire of the Hittites
Beginning of the Hittite Empire
Hattusilis was the true founder of the Hittite Empire . During the 18th century BC, he conquered the windy Anatolian plateaus south of his new capital and then led his army along the rocky barrier of the Taurus Mountains to the southern coast of Turkey. Next, his forces marched east to seize the cities of northern Syria, ruled by the kings of Aleppo, one of the most powerful Syrian cities.
His grandson, Mursilis I , crowned his grandfather's achievements by conquering Aleppo itself. In 1595 BC, Mursilis continued east along the Euphrates, entered Mesopotamia, and sacked the great city of Babylon.
However, this proud victory would cost the Hittites dearly. While returning by the same route, the exhausted Hittite troops were attacked and surrounded by the Hurrians , a fierce warrior race from the upper Euphrates region. At the same time, Mursilis's long absence had weakened his hold on the kingdom, and he was assassinated upon his return by his own brother-in-law. Later Hittite kings failed to control the lands conquered by Mursilis and they, too, fell to the Hurrians.
Then, in 1375 BC, a young and energetic king named Suppiluliumas a glorious new chapter in Hittite history began. Suppiluliumas possessed many abilities. He was a brave warrior, as well as an intelligent diplomat. Although the young king had inherited an empire weakened by the powerful enemies around him, in a relatively short space of time he and his successors built an empire that was powerful enough to rival any in the ancient Middle East.
Suppiluliumas began his conquest by recovering the former Hittite territories in southern Anatolia. His armies headed south to dominate the Syrian city-states, reaching no less than Damascus. Finally, he turned east to settle accounts with the Urrites.
Supiluliuma defeated the Urritas in a battle at Carchemish, placing on the Urrita throne a minor prince who had sworn allegiance to him. He then strengthened the alliance by marrying his daughter to the prince.
Consolidation and end of the Hittite Empire
Through a combination of military might and cunning politics, Suppiluliumas managed to create a great empire made up of many small kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms was ruled by a vassal who swore political allegiance and obedience to the Hittite king. The loyalty of these vassals was sometimes reinforced by arranging marriages with members of the Hittite royal family. Suppiluliuma offered his vassals the "protection" of the mighty Hittite Empire, and in return the vassal princes had to send an annual tribute to the capital, plus a set number of men to swell the ranks of the Hittite army.
Suppiluliumas's son, Mursilis II, followed in his father's footsteps. He conquered the kingdom of Arzawa in western Anatolia, extending Hittite influence to the Aegean Sea. The next king, Muwatalis, attacked the powerful Egypt, which at that time was ruled by Ramses II, causing great damage to the Egyptian army in the battle of Kadesh , in 1275 BC Subsequently, the Hittites made peace with Egypt and Babylon, entering the Hittite Empire in a period of great prosperity and power. But not for long, for to the east the Assyrian Empire was growing even stronger, while a series of warrior-races known as the peoples of the sea threatened Anatolia from the west. Around 1190 BC, the peoples of the sea Hittite lands were invaded and the capital, Hattusas, was sacked. The Hittite Empire was destroyed forever.
The Hittite Society
In the Hittite Empire, most people worked in the fields. High up on the Anatolian Plateau, with its harsh climate, the main crops were wheat and barley, but onions, peas, olives, grapes, and apples were also grown. Cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats were raised for wool, meat, and dairy products. The main food was bread, along with cakes, meat and vegetable stews.
In addition to farmers, there were workers with special trades, such as carpenters and masons, as well as metalworkers and potters, who made pitchers with narrow necks and wide, low cups, or vessels in the shapes of birds and other animals.
Craft skills of the Hittites
The Hittites were known for their metal work. From the people of Anatolia they learned to work bronze and the art of foundry, the technique that allowed them to obtain iron from the ore of this metal by heating it to high temperatures. The Hittites jealously guarded this precious secret, as it was the basis of their trade. The iron ore was extracted from local mines, where in situ it was given a rough ingot shape. The ingots were then transported to cities to be refined into strong and durable tools and weapons. However, iron was scarce and most Hittite weapons and armor were made of bronze. Only shortly after the fall of the Hittite Empire did the true Iron Age begin.
The Hittites were also skilled stonemasons and sculptors. In fact, its giant sculptures of gods, men and animals are the most impressive remains of its civilization. Most of the Hittite sculptures were reliefs - engraved on flat stone surfaces - intended to be viewed only from the front. However, some small bronze figures, and even large stone statues, were carved in the round.
Wool was spun and dresses were made at home. For daily wear, men wore a knee-length, long-sleeved tunic fastened at the shoulders with bronze pins. Outside, women draped long cloaks over their shoulders to cover the light dresses they wore indoors. Both men and women wore jewelry.
During festivals, Hittite men wore mid-length tunics called "urrite shirts," adorned with embroidery or bronze decoration. On state occasions it appears that kings may have worn the tall, conical hats generally reserved for the Hittite gods.
Language and writing
The Hittites spoke an Indo-European language , which is part of a group of languages related to Sanskrit, which is the ancient language of India. Classical languages such as Greek and Latin developed from this group and subsequently gave rise to Spanish, English, French, and other European languages. Some old Hittite words are very similar to their English equivalent; for example, the Hittite word for water was "watar" and the English is "water" - likewise, the word for daughter was "dohter", while in English it is "daughter".
From other civilizations of the time, such as the Urrita and the Babylon, the Hittites learned the art of writing , both in hieroglyphics (writing symbols) and in cuneiform (writing with wedge-shaped signs). In the 20th century, thousands of hieroglyphic and cuneiform tablets were found at Hittite sites, allowing historians to piece together part of the lost history of the Hittite Empire.
The Hittite Army
The Hittite army had a reputation for being a formidable fighting force. During the main campaigns he could count up to 30,000 soldiers, and the king himself led his troops in combat. The nobles and officers led smaller units, between 10,000 and 1,000 soldiers.
Chariot divisions were among the most effective fighting units in the ancient Middle East. In other armies, such as the Egyptian, the chariots carried two men:a driver and a warrior armed with a bow and javelins for medium-distance combat. Hittite chariots carried three men:a driver, a shield bearer, and a soldier armed with a spear for close combat. Laden with its three occupants, the Hittite chariot was less manoeuvrable, but the extra manpower made it more deadly in the thick of battle. The army also had infantry divisions, armed with bows, axes, spears, or sickle-shaped chopping swords. Helmets and shields helped protect men from enemy blows.
Hittite constructions
The capital of the Hittite Empire was the great city of Hattusas . Its ruins currently occupy some 162 hectares of steep cliffs and slopes, but originally it was 2.4 kilometers from side to side. It was built in a place where many streams come down from the mountain, and the Hittites carved cisterns into the solid rock to store that water. The builders of the city did not lay out its streets in an orthogonal pattern, but instead used all the land that could be built on. To get more flat land, they built terraces on the uneven slopes.
Hatussas houses were built of brick and stone, with flat roofs of weeds and mud supported by wooden beams. The interior of the houses must have been very dark, as there are few windows. The largest houses, built for noble families, were miniature castles, perched on rocky outcrops and fortified with sturdy walls. In addition to dwellings, the city also contained many craftsmen's workshops, taverns, eating houses, and granaries.
The city of Hattusas
Throughout the Hittite Empire, most people worked the land, but in the city of Hattusas many people made a living in a specialized profession. There were merchants, soldiers, watchmen, innkeepers, doctors, tailors, and shoemakers, along with artisans such as potters, stonemasons, and goldsmiths.
At the height of the empire, the streets of Hattusas were teeming with people:priests, warriors, and slaves hurriedly going about their business. Farmers, bakers, and fishermen mingled with other citizens as they sold their wares. The merchants guiding their pack ponies through the nearby hills would know they were reaching their destination as soon as they saw the curls of smoke rising above hundreds of homes and heard hammers hitting iron, the shouts of soldiers and the barking of of the city dogs.
The enemies of the Hittites, who approached the city with much less peaceful intentions, would cower before the defenses of the city, since it was surrounded by 6 kilometers of high earthen ramparts on which there were strong stone walls. Some of the rocks used in the walls were so large that later visitors believed that the city had been built by giants. A long secret tunnel built under these walls allowed the defenders to mount counter-attacks against the invaders.
The gates leading into the city were guarded by towers and battlements. The best preserved today are the southern gates, near the top of the mountain range. Each of them was decorated with sculptures made on giant stones. The Gate of the Sphinxes was decorated with twin sphinxes (borrowed from Egyptian mythology), while the Lion's Gate had two roaring lions that seem about to charge straight out of the rock. The King's Gate had the most delicate statue, the figure of a young warrior holding an axe, dressed in a pointed helmet and a short tunic. Today the statue is in the Ankara Museum, while only a copy remains in the ancient city.
Inside the southern gates was a cluster of temples and castles, as well as humbler dwellings. Below, a fortress called the Citadel, which included the king's palace with its colonnaded halls, stood on a rocky outcrop. Lower still was the Great Temple, which was undoubtedly the site of important Hittite festivals.