The Hittites: Dynamic Bronze Age Cultures
- Sylvia Rose
- Nov 10, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 27
The Hittites are first noted in tablets of trade found at the karum of Kanesh (Kültepe) in Anatolia, modern day Turkey. The Hittite Empire is a dominant power, but willing to make a deal.
During the Mid Bronze Age c. 1900 - 1650 BCE, the Hittites emerge as a conglomeration of many small regions in North-Central Anatolia. They settle the banks of the Kızılırmak or Red River, the longest river in Turkey.
The area is conducive to fishing, farming, travel and trade. Major advances happen in the Bronze Age. Agriculture and commerce ramp up in Anatolia.
At first the Hittite region includes villages and trade centers in North-Central Anatolia. In 1780 BCE they create the Kingdom of Kussara, with a capital at Kanesh.
The kingdom is the forerunner of the ruling Hittite dynasty. It's occasionally mentioned as Ku-ša-ra in clay tablets of Old Assyrian traders in Anatolia.
The people who live in the central Anatolian region when the Hittites arrive are the Hatti. After assimilating them, the Hittites keep the name of their Empire as the Land of the Hatti, and establish their capital at Hattusa.
The Hittite Empire goes through four stages of growth and civilization: the Early Age, Old Kingdom, Middle and New Kingdoms. Writing emerges, based on early trade tablets. Laws and justice are enacted. Building and commerce make steady gains.
Then, the 1600 BCE eruption of Thera (Santorini) in the Aegean pulverizes much of Minoan civilization in Greece. The rest is accomplished by the Mycenaean Greeks. Effects of the eruption reach China and Africa.
The Santorini eruption greatly affects Anatolia, especially the west. The sky is black for five days as volcanic ash spreads. Tsunamis crash over the coasts. Archaeologists find tsunami victims in Cesme-Baglararasi, Turkey.
The eruption disrupts trade, agriculture and economy throughout the lands and sea routes. Not only that, the volcano keeps erupting until 1450 BCE.
In this time, the Hittites are rising to their true power.
As early as c. 1800 BCE, Anatolians begin working iron into steel. The first evidence of steelmaking appears, with a few small objects in Kaman-Kalehöyük in Anatolia.
Also in Anatolia, the Kashkan mountain people launch attacks on settlements. The Kashka inhabit lands along the south coast of the Black Sea, placing Anatolian towns within reach of frequent raids. It's thought they're the reason the Hittites don't push north to the Black Sea.
People barricade the settlements nearest the domain of the raiders with towers and walls. The Kashka hire themselves out as mercenaries, then attack and raid those who hire them, which does nothing to improve their image.
Between 15th - 13th centuries BCE, Hittites are among the strongest powers of the Near East. Conflicts arises with the New Kingdom of Egypt, the Middle Assyrian Empire and the empire of Mitanni (Hurrian) for control of the region.
Hurrian policy, society and religion make a strong impression on the Hittites. They begin to include some of the Hurrian gods, like Teshub (Teššub) the weather god, into their own worship centers. He's equated with Hittite storm god Tarhunna.
In the 14th century BCE, disaster strikes. An epidemic of tularemia, also called rabbit fever or Hittite plague devastates the region. The plague is considered the first documented use of disease as a biological weapon.
Hittite tablets from the mid-14th century BCE enumerate disabilities and death caused by the plague. Hittite King Muršili II writes prayers to deities begging relief from the sickness.
The plague lasts two decades and kills many of his subjects. Donkeys are banned, as one theory names them as possible carriers.
The Hittites are involved in the 1274 BCE Battle of Kadesh, a fierce conflict with Egypt's Ramesses II over the strategic Levant town Kadesh. The Hittite and Egyptian borders meet there.
The Hittites pull off a surprise visit. Spies among the Egyptians spread false information. The spies are caught and beaten until they reveal the Hittites are much closer than thought.
Ramesses barely pulls his troops together. The battle is known for using the most chariots of any conflict up to then. Despite heavy fighting the outcome is indecisive and both sides go home claiming they won.
One of the most influential women of the ancient world is Puduhepa, Queen of the Hittites. She's born 1290 BCE and becomes a priestess of Shaushka, the Hurrian equivalent of Inanna (Ishtar).
She meets future King Hattusilis as he's returning from the Battle of Kadesh. They fall madly in love and return to Hattusa together. Puduhepa later orchestrates the world's first peace treaty, together with Pharaoh's first royal wife Nefertari, between Egypt and the Hittite Empire.
Beset with warfare by hostile tribes, some associated with wider Bronze Age collapse, by the 12th century BCE, the Hittites are floundering. The Kashka sack Hattusa. Internal and external strife topples the Hittite power.
Part of the kingdom is annexed by the Assyrians, the rest sacked by opportunistic Phrygian invaders. The Hittites break into smaller groups, without real identity as a people.
Some regions survive until the eighth century BCE, when they come under control of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Hittite groups scatter and merge with people of the Levant, Mesopotamia and new powers of Turkey.
Prior to the discovery of the Hittite Kingdoms in the 19th century AD, the Hebrew Bible is the only source of documentation about the Hittites. According to the writings, the Hittites supply the Israelites with cedar, chariots and horses.
Uriah the Hittite is mentioned among the loyal men of King David. Hittites are warriors, and also wise enough to build a powerful kingdom and its operating systems.
Remains of the Hittite legacy are discovered in 1834, but not identified. In 1906, an archaeologist found a royal archive at Hattusa with 10,000 tablets, inscribed in cuneiform Akkadian and an unknown language.
Ongoing excavations at Hattusa and other locations continue to reveal artifacts of a thriving ancient culture.
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