Hittite History

     Hittite history is generally broken down into two or three periods periods.  The Turkish scholar Dr. Ekrem Akrugal in his work Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of Turkey  dates these periods as follows: The Old Hittite Kingdom (1750-1450 B.C.), The Hittite Empire (1450-1200 B.C.) and the Neo Hittite Kingdoms (1200-700 B.C.). (Akrugal, pg. 7-13).  Nicolas Turner, in his book Handbook for Biblical Studies offers the following chart of Hittite history and kings:
 

We should note that he calls Akrugal’s “Hittite Empire” the “New Hittite Empire” but does not list any “Neo-Hittite” kings which were largely simply petty kingdoms in Syria and Cilicia. 
     With regard to the first or “Old” Hittite Empire according to Akrugal the Hittite king Mursili I (ca. 1620-1590 B.C.) was so powerful that he conquered Babylon bringing down the dynasty  of  Hammurabi.   (Akrugal, pg. 8).   After   Mursilis   I  internal   disorders   and  external   campaigns disrupted the Empire accounting for the gap during the years 1550-1375.  This is not to imply that there were no Hittite kings, but rather that their influence was more limited.  (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XI, pg. 605). 
     Dr. James Hastings in his work The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics  claims that one of the most important figures in Hittite political history was the king Subbi-luliuma (the first king of Akrugal’s “Hittite Kingdom” and Turner’s “New Hittite Empire”).  Originally simply the king of a single city-state, he succeeded in unifying the neighboring states and making campaigns into Syria and Northern Mesopotamia.  He was succeeded by his two sons Arandas and Mursili II.  (Hastings, Vol. VI, pg. 723).  In Turner’s chart above Mursili II is not included yet The Encyclopaedia Britannica  claims:
 

– Murshilish II (about 1340 B.C.) belongs to the most enterprising and warlike rulers not only of the Hittite kingdom, but even of the ancient East as a whole.  This great king took special interest in Western Asia Minor, where he came in touch with the Greeks– (Vol. XI, pg. 605).

     Akrugal claims that Hittite pottery has been discovered in the excavations of Troy giving some indication of this Greek contact.  (Akrugal, pg. 11).   As for expansion Eastward, Mursili II also clashed with Pharaoh Ramses II of Egypt at Kadesh around the year 1300 B.C. and was victorious.  Mursili II’s successor Hattusilis II latter came to a political alliance with Ramses II around 1272 B.C.  (Encycolpaedia Britannica, Vol. XI, pg. 606).  According to The Columbia Encyclopedia part of this alliance involved Ramses II’s marriage to a Hittite princess.  (pg. 901).
 

     Ricardo A. Caminos in his article on the Hittites in the World Book Encyclopedia tells us that following the glory of the New Hittite Empire the westward migration of the Greeks served to undermine the power of the Hittites.  According to Caminos around 1200 B.C. the Greeks burned the Hittite capital of Hattusa (modern Boghazköy) not far from modern Ankara.  Although Carchemish came to be viewed as the Western capital during the Neo-Hittite period, when it was captured by Sargon II in 717 B.C. the Hittites left the stage of history as a distinct political power.  (Caminos, Vol. IX, pg. 239). 

Major Archeological Sites

     In the modern city of Boghazköy are the ruins of Hattusa .  Akrugal claims that Hattusa was the capital of the Hittites during both the Old Kingdom period (1750-1450 B.C.) and the Empire period (1450-1180 B.C.). (Akrugal, pg. 297).  From the work done there by the German Kurt Bittel in the early part of this century five temples have been excavated and numerous documents. (pg. 10).   The largest temple is one dedicated to the Hittite weather god.
     During my own trip to Eastern Turkey in the summer of 1995 we visited a site known as Karatepe between modern Adana and Adiyaman. Akrugal classifies Karatepe as a “Neo-Hittite” site dating it to about 700 B.C.  The site was a summer residence of King Asitawada.  (Akrugal, pg. 345).  The site displayed a number of beautiful reliefs, as may be seen to the right.  At Karatepe there were a variety of different scenes carved into the stones that have been unearthed.  Although associated with the Neo-Hittite period Akrugal claims that such a site reveals elements of traditional Hittite art and culture.  (Akrugal, pg. 13,14).  There was a relief showing a man hunting a lion and a bear.  There were soldiers wearing the traditional round and pointed helmet along with some showing soldiers wearing Greek helmets.  The most unusual relief displayed a mother nursing a standing child.  Such an informal scene of domestic life was rather unusual.  The most impressive object was a large statue of a bearded man with a headband.  He wore a tunic down to his calves and the tunic had inscriptions in the front and back.

The Language of the Hittites

     One of the clear indications of the Hittites influence upon Western culture comes in study of their language.  James I. Packer, Merril C. Tenny and William White Jr. in their work The Bible Almanac claim that Greek (the language of the New Testament) was derived from Mycenaean, which was itself derived from Hittite hieroglyphs.  (Packer, pg. 346).  Working from the many finds unearthed at Boghazköy in the early part of this century Professor Fredric Hronzy, of the Czech University at Prague and the University of Vienna succeeded in deciphering some aspects of ancient Hittite cuneiform, publishing the first Hittite grammar. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XI,  600).  The Hittites utilized the cuneiform script of the Assyrians for their international correspondence.  For royal or religious writings they used their own Hittite hieroglyphs or cuneiform.  Scholars had been unable to decipher the hieroglyphs until 1947 when bilingual Hittite and Phonecian writings were discovered.  (Caminos, Vol. IX, pg. 239).  A sample of Hittite hieroglyphs may be seen in Figure Three borrowed from Cloud.  (Cloud, pg. 164).  According to Akrugal monuments at Karatepe contain the longest known Hittite hieroglyphic inscriptions yet discovered.  Akrugal claims they date to about 700 B.C. and contains both a Hittite and Phonecian versions. (Akrugal, pg. 345).
      In Hronzy’s study of the Hittite language it was discovered that Hittite was actually an Indo-European language, bearing great similarity to a number of Western languages.  In the chart below (taken from material cataloged in The Encyclopaedia Britannica) we can see the similarity between Hittite and other Indo-European languages:
 

Hittite was an inflected language.  A sample noun declension of the word khumanza meaning “all” runs as follows:
 
 

A sample conjugation of the present tense verb jami meaning “I make”is as follows:
 

Hittite Religion and Myth

      According to Hastings the storm god was the chief male deity of the Hittite pantheon.  His name at Boghazköy is Teshub and he is pictured holding in his hand a trident and a mace.  Inscriptions picture Teshub carried by two men who may be priests.  (Hastings, Vol. VI,  724).  The Encyclopaedia Britannica claims that the Hittites recognized the god Indra, a deity common to Indian and Egyptian mythology. (Vol. XI, pg. 606).  Hastings observes that the prominence of the Mother goddess in Hittite religion appears to have led the status of women among the Hittites to be comparatively high.  He cites a record of king Subbiluliuma supporting the succession to the throne of Mattiuza, king of the Mitanni on the condition of his monogamous marriage to a Hittite princess.  (Hastings, Vol. VI, pg. 726). 
      The Hittites circulated a number of fertility and nature myths which bear a close relationship to stories common in many civilizations.  One tells of Telepinnush the god of vegetation who leaves bad growth, sterility and famine behind when he leaves a territory.   When he is sought by the other gods with an eagle or a bee, upon his return there is renewed fruitfulness.  The Hittites also honored the goddess Ashertush synonymous with the Canaanite fertility goddess Ashera, infamous in Scripture for the brutal and sensuous manner in which she was worshiped.  According to one Hittite legend Ashertush attempts to seduce the weather god.  Upon his refusal Ashertush tries to turn the encounter to her own favor claiming that he had tried to seduce her.  To redeem himself the weather god relates to Elkunirshash, her husband exactly what happened.  (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol.XI, pg. 607). 
      The Hittites also taught the Epic of Gilgamesh, the famed flood legend discovered in the nineteenth century.  N.K. Sandars in the introduction of his version of The Epic of Gilgamesh  writes:

     The Gilgamesh Epic must have been widely known in the second millennium B.C., for a version has been found in the archives of the Hittite imperial capital at Boghazköy in Anatolia, written in Semitic Akkadian; and it was also translated into the Indo-European Hittite, and the Hurrian languages. (Sandars, pg. 12).

     As with many ancient civilizations divination played a role in their civic and religious life.  Hastings claims that clay representations of sheep’s livers have been unearthed at Boghazköy.  (Hastings, Vol. VI, pg. 726).  Among the ancients the bowels and organs of animals were “read” in order to predict the future. 
 

Hittite Law and Culture

     Kenneth A. Kitchen, in his article “The Patriarchal Age: Myth or History” published in the March/April 1995 issue of Biblical Archeological Review discusses briefly the similarities which exist between late Hittite imperial treaties dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries B.C. and the law of Moses.  Kitchen’s has broken each down into seven distinct parts:  1.)  A preamble,  2.)  A historical prologue,  3.)  Stipulations,  4.)  Recitation of the Deposit of the treaty,  5.)  Witnesses,  6.)  Blessings,  7.)  Curses.  In the chart below notice the similarities Kitchen’s observes between the Law of Moses and Hittite treaty of king Mursili II and Niqmepa of Ugarit dating to around 1300 B.C with regard to the Preamble and Prologue:

     While Hittite law was similar in many ways to the Hammurabi law codes the “Hittite Code” containing two hundred paragraphs of regulations demonstrates a tolerance for sexual immorality with a strong emphasis upon financial concerns.  The Hittites cultivated barley and wheat, brewed  a barley beer.  Silver pieces were circulated as currency.  (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XI, pg. 606). 

Conclusion

     As observed at the beginning of our study, what we know about the Hittites does not reveal them to be a glamorous culture upon which we can look back with idealistic, romantic eyes.  In the words of Caminos “the Hittites had a cruder culture than those of Egypt and Babylonia.”  (Caminos, pg. 239).  Yet, even so it would be a crime against history to discount the role that they have played.  When an artist paints a picture they begin with rough broad strokes which map out the shape they wish to paint.  Could the great cultures which flourished in the years after the Hittites have painted as glorious a picture upon the “canvas” of Turkey without the rough “underpainting” of the rugged Hittites? 

Caminos, Ricardo A.  “Hittites.”  The World Book Encyclopedia. (Chicago:  Field
     Enterprises Educational Corp., 1974). 

Cloud, Edward.   The Story of the Alphabet.  (New York:  D. Appleton &
     Co., 1900).

Columbia Encyclopedia. 2nd Ed.  (Morningside Heights, New York: 
     Columbia University Press, 1950). 

Encyclopaedia Britannica.  (New York:  Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 1929).

Gesenius, William.   A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. 11th Ed. 
     (Boston:  Crocker & Brewster,1860). 

Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer Jr. and Bruce K. Waltke.  Theological Wordbook of
     the Old Testament. (Chicago:Moody Press, 1980). 

Hastings, Dr. James.   The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics.  (Edinburgh: T.
     & T. Clark, 1913).

Kitchen, Kenneth A.   “The Patriarchal Age: Myth or History.”   Biblical Archeological
     Review.  March/April1995. Editor: Hershel Shanks (Washington D.C:  Biblical
     Archeological Society, 1995).