The ancient superpower you’ve never heard of: They fought Pharaohs, sacked Babylon, then vanished
The Hitties were once a greatsuperpower before their entire civilisation was lost forever.
Once a dominant power in the ancient Near East, the Hittites remain one of history’s great mysteries.
Emerging in Anatolia, now known as Turkey, around 1600 BCE, they forged an empire that rivalled even that of the great Egyptians in both military strength and cultural advancement. However, despite their influence, the Hittites vanished from history and common knowledge regarding humankind’s great civilisations.
The civilisation is repeatedly mentioned throughout the Christian Old Testament as the adversaries of the Israelites and their god, but they are perhaps best known for their clashes with Egypt’s most iconic rulers. Around 1274 BCE, they fought Pharaoh Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh, one of the largest chariot battles ever recorded. This confrontation marked the height of Hittite power and the conclusion brought about one of the earliest known peace treaties.
Long before this, however, the Hittites made their presence felt in Mesopotamia. Around 1595 BCE, they launched a daring raid on Babylon, attacking the city and toppling the First Babylonian Dynasty. Despite their success, they did not take the city, instead returning to Anatolia, leaving a power vacuum that others soon filled.
The Hittite Empire reached its zenith in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE and they even developed advanced legal systems, wrote in both Hittite and Akkadian, and at this time the empire encompassed central Turkey, north western Syria, and Upper Mesopotamia (north eastern Syria and northern Iraq).
Then, around 1200 BCE, the Hittites vanished. Their capital, Hattusa, was destroyed, possibly by the mysterious “Sea Peoples” - aggressive seafarers who invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age - or perhaps a climate crisis.
Whatever the cause, the once-mighty empire crumbled, and its memory was lost for millennia until rediscovered by archaeologists in the 20th century.
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