The Obituary
Centered on Hattusa in central Anatolia, the Hittites rose to rival Egypt and Babylon as one of the great powers of the Late Bronze Age. Their armies mastered chariot warfare, and their kings negotiated as equals with the pharaohs, sealing the famous treaty after the Battle of Kadesh. Around 1180 BCE the wider Bronze Age collapse, with its famines, migrations, and the so-called Sea Peoples, overwhelmed the empire. Hattusa was burned and abandoned. The Hittites faded from memory until 19th-century archaeology recovered their archives and forgotten language.
Worth remembering
- Its clash with Egypt at Kadesh c. 1274 BCE produced the earliest known peace treaty, copies of which survive.
- Hittite was the first Indo-European language ever written down, recorded in cuneiform on clay tablets.
Sources
- Hittite Old Kingdom established c. 1650 BCE; empire centered on Hattusa Wikipedia
- Hattusa destroyed and empire collapsed c. 1180 BCE during the Bronze Age collapse World History Encyclopedia
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.