HITTITES, EXPANSION OF

The Hittites probably originated northeast of the Caucasus. They migrated into Asia Minor circa 1900 B.C.E. and established a kingdom. They occupied the Anatolian plateau, ultimately extending their influence toward Syria. Their migration may have pushed other populations southward, creating the Hyksos invasion of Egypt. The Hittites probably took their name from the Plain of Hatti, which they occupied and upon which they imposed their culture and Indo-European language. Their first conquest was the town of Nesa (near modern Kayseri, Turkey), followed by the capture of Hattusha (near modern Bogazkoy).

Little is known of them until the seventeenth century B.C.E., when Labarna (ruled circa 1680–1650) established the Old Hittite Kingdom and set up his capital at Hattusha. Labarna was the first major conqueror for the Hittites, spreading their control throughout Anatolia to the coast. His successors pushed their borders southward to Syria. Mursili (or Mushilish) raided deep into the Old Babylonian Empire, captured Aleppo, and set the kingdom’s southern boundary in Syria. This proved to be the extent of their conquest, for they spent the next two centuries quelling internal disturbances and fighting the Mitanni of upper Mesopotamia.

Around 1500 B.C.E., the kingdom returned to some stability under the leadership of Telipinu, who laid down strict succession guidelines and possibly established a law code. Some 50 years later, the New Hittite Kingdom was established. The Hittites had just suffered a defeat at the hands of Egyptian pharaoh Thutmosis III and had begun paying them tribute. One of the key figures in the New Kingdom was Suppiluliuma (Shubbiluliu), who seized power about 1380 B.C.E., reestablished Hittite authority in Anatolia, and defeated the Mitanni. He was unable to defeat the Egyptians, however, and the two powers remained rivals for the next century. During a time of Egyptian weakness under Akhenaton, the Hittites made gains in Lebanon at Egyptian expense; they also spread their power to the Aegean, Armenia, and Upper Mesopotamia.

The key battle in the ongoing conflict with Egypt took place in 1294 B.C.E. at Kadesh, on the Orontes River. Pharaoh Rameses II led his army of Numidian mercenaries north to force his will on the Hittites once and for all. He captured two Hittite deserters, who informed him that their army was still many days’ march away, so Rameses rode ahead of his army to set up camp near Kadesh. The two prisoners had been planted by the Hittite king Muwatallis, and the pharaoh, without most of his troops, was attacked by the Hittite army. Rameses fought bravely until his men arrived, and their appearance forced a Hittite retreat into the city of Kadesh. Without siege equipment, Rameses could not force their surrender, so he withdrew. Shortly thereafter, the two nations signed a peace agreement: The Egyptians recognized Hittite sovereignty in Syria in return for Hittite recognition of Egyptian dominance in Palestine. The alliance was sealed by a dynastic marriage, and the two nations remained at peace until the fall of the Hittite Empire, which came at the hands of the “Peoples of the Sea,” about 1200 B.C.E

The Hittite legacy showed itself in a mixed culture in the region of northern Syria. Some of their written and spoken language remained in the region, as did their last remaining city-states, which were ultimately overrun by the Arameans (forerunners of modern Syrians) and then by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C.E. The Hittites used both cuneiform writing adopted from Mesopotamia and hieroglyphics influenced by Egypt, and their formal political writings were in Akkadian. They had a highly developed literature and historical writing. Their main strength lay in their administration; their law codes were based on those of Babylon, but depended less on retribution than on compensation. Their artwork, though recognizable as their own, was heavily influenced by Babylon, as was much of their pantheon. The Hittites are believed to have been the first to smelt iron, which would account for some of their military superiority at a time when their enemies, especially Egypt, were still using bronze. Apparently, it did not prove a sufficient advantage to save their civilization from invasion.

See also Assyrian Empire; Egypt, Hyksos Invasion of. 

References: Ceram, C. W, The Secret of the Hittites, trans. Richard Winston and Clara Winston (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956); Lehman, Johannes, The Hittites: People of a Thousand Gods, trans. J. M. Brownjohn (New York: Viking Press, 1977); MacQueen, J. G., The Hittites and Their Contemporaries in Asia Minor (London: Thames & Hudson, 1968).