The Hittites they were a people Anatolian of the Bronze Age, which established an empire with Hattusa as the capital from 1600 BC to 1180 BC approximately, reaching its peak during the mid-fourteenth century BC. It collapsed during the "Late Bronze Age Crisis" for reasons that historians still debate, the "Neo-Hittite states" that based their political legitimacy on the supposed fall of the Hittite Empire existed in the Levant in the following centuries . The Hittites are described in the Bible as having come into contact with the Israelites.
History
The Hittites are early Anatolians known to have formed an organized state. Apparently they appeared out of nowhere in the plateau ofCentral Anatolia and northern, although they identify strongly with their predecessors, the Hattis, who were of equally mysterious origins.
At its height, the Hittite Empire was a great power, comparable to their neighbors in theAncient Egypt and of Mesopotamia, with whom they were often in difficult relationships. The borders of the empire extended to the modern day Syria is Lebanon. An Egyptian invasion attempt in 1274 BC. was stopped by the Hittites in the city of Qadeš, on the Orontes River, in present-day Syria. The parties later sanctioned an Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty, the first of its kind in recorded history, the only ancient Near Eastern treaty of which both sides' versions have survived: the original tablets are found in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, while a replica is exhibited in the United Nations headquarters a New York. It was ratified in the 21st year of the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II (1258 BC) and remained in force until the collapse of the Hittite empire, 80 years later.
Tongue
The Hittite language was an ancient Indo-European language. It is the oldest attested language in the family, one of the first deciphered Hittite words is wadar, which, as many modern Indo-European speakers can easily guess, meant "water". Unlike Latin, Greek or Sanskrit, it has no modern-day descendants. In fact, the Anatolian Indo-European branch has been extinct for 1500 years.
Destinations
Hittites: full screen map.In Turkey
The most important Hittite sites of Anatolia can be grouped geographically into four areas: the ancient Hittite heart in what is now the province of Çorum in northern Anatolia, the southern stretch ofCentral Anatolia at the foot of the Taurus Mountains, southern Turkey east of Adana and the eastern outposts of the empire around Malatya.
Northern Anatolia
A couple of hundred kilometers northeast of Ankara, this is where the Hittites first established their kingdom and the surrounding area is dotted with a large number of sites.
- 1 Corum Museum (Corum). The museum of the region's modern capital houses some artifacts excavated from the surrounding countryside.
- 2 Boğazkale south of Çorum, Boğazkale is a modern village right next to the ruins of the Hittite capital of 3 Hattusa, making it one of the few Hittite sites easily accessible by public transport. While the ruins themselves are little more than foundation stones, it's easy to visualize how large a city should have been in its heyday, and the partially reconstructed walls certainly help to imagine that. Further from the village, although still within walking distance if you are in reasonable condition, is the sanctuary of 4 Yazılıkaya, an impressive set of rock reliefs depicting the numerous Hittite deities. Both sites together constitute a site of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 5 Alacahöyük - The site from which much of the rich Hittite collection of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was excavated Ankara. The Hittite name of Alacahöyük has yet to be identified, although the extensive ruins indicate it was already a sizeable community prior to the Hittite takeover. On the outskirts, the 6 Gölpınar Dam dates back to 1240 BC, built after a drought hit the Anatolian highlands, so that the Hittites were no longer forced to import grain from their rivals, the Egyptians, and avoid famine.
- 7 Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Ankara). For travelers with even the slightest interest in Anatolian history, no trip to Turkey is complete without a visit to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in the capital, as it displays much of Anatolian (as well as Near Eastern) antiquities. The Hittites are not just an exception: their artifacts are always placed in the most honorable and prominent positions in the museum, an exact replica of a huge Hittite statue excavated by Fasıllar near Konya welcomes visitors in the front courtyard.
- 8 Hittite Monument of the Corso del Sole (Ankara). During the nation-building process of the early years of the Turkish republic, Ankara became very identified with its Hittite origins, celebrated by this important monument located in the center of the Sıhhiye Square roundabout.
Along the Tauro mountains
The southern extension ofCentral Anatolia it hosts a series of evocative and solitary sites literally lost in the hilly landscape.
- 9 Eflatunpınar (near Beyşehir). A monument with numerous reliefs surrounding it, on one side there is a basin formed by a local spring considered sacred by the Hittites. Probably intended as the base of a large statue that would never be placed, medieval Seljuk Turks assumed it was a memorial to theancient Greek philosopher Plato, hence the name "Source of Plato".
- 10 İvriz (south of Eregli). A large rocky relief (4.2 m high and 2.4 m wide) at the end of a canyon, dating back to the 8th century BC. and depicting Warpalawa, the king of time and Tarhunzas, the god of the storm, the god who gives ears of cereals and bunches of grapes to the king.
- 11 [link not working]Kültepe (near Kayseri).
Southern Turkey
After the old kingdom focused on Hattuşa fell in the twelfth century BC as part of the Late Bronze Age collapse that took place around the eastern Mediterranean more widely (due to numerous reasons, including the loss of traditional trading partners, invasions from hostile neighbors, the spread of ironworking technology and its advantages in the production of weapons compared to bronze, and according to some even the environmental changes due to the eruption of some distant volcano); a number of successor states, collectively known as "Neo-Hittites" or "Syrian Hittites", emerged in what is now southern Turkey and northern Syria. Some of the major Neo-Hittite sites dot the countryside east of Adana.
- 12 Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park (North of Osmaniye, Cukurova). An open-air museum in a dense pine forest almost completely surrounded by a dam lake (hence the local name Hitit Yarımadası, "the Hittite peninsula") was the site of an ancient Neo-Hittite settlement, the walls of which are still present and surround the place. The museum displays a series of stone reliefs in a style with a Near Eastern influence, as well as a series of large statues, including that of the Phoenician thunder god Baal, absorbed into the Hittite pantheon as Tarhunzas.
- 13 Yesemek (near İslahiye, southwest of Gaziantep). Yesemek was a Hittite statue workshop, with an entire hill dotted with an almost innumerable number of semi-finished statues that would have been distributed throughout the empire if they were completed before the quarry was abandoned after the empire collapsed.
Eastern Anatolia
- 14 Darende. Some distance from the city, two lone lion statues facing east are thought to be the remains of a Hittite temple.
- 15 Arslantepe (in Orduzu, near Malatya). A series of much more interesting and extensive ruins than the nearby Darende "Lions Rocks", a number of detailed sculptures with typically Hittite designs have been excavated at the site and are exhibited there.
Rest of the Middle East
- 16 Aleppo - After being conquered in the 15th century BC, Aleppo assumed a spiritual role, known for the temple of the god of the storm, the remains of which are partially standing.
Somewhere else
- 17 Oriental Institute Museum (Hyde Park, Chicago).
