A well-known empire, not a forgotten one
The Hittites are called forgotten because their name faded from classical memory and was only recovered by modern archaeology. In fact they were one of the great powers of the Late Bronze Age, in regular contact with Egypt and Babylonia, and a great deal is known about their wars from their own texts and from Egyptian records. This article looks at how their army worked, the main campaigns and the end of the state.
The army
The Hittite army combined infantry with a strong chariot force. Chariots were the elite arm of Late Bronze Age warfare, as seen in the wider history of war chariots from Sumer to Egypt. Egyptian reliefs of Kadesh show Hittite chariots carrying three men: a driver, a spearman and a shield-bearer. Egyptian chariots typically carried two. This is often taken to mean that Hittite chariots were heavier shock vehicles for charging with spears, in contrast to the lighter Egyptian vehicles used with the composite bow, although the picture comes mostly from Egyptian sources, which have their own agenda.
Infantry served under officers and drew on a mix of Hittite subjects and troops supplied by vassals. The king normally led the army in person. Campaign seasons were fixed by climate: the army marched in spring and returned before winter. Texts record oaths of loyalty taken by soldiers, along with rules on discipline.
Hittite diplomacy was as important as combat. Treaties tied vassal kings to the Hittite ruler with mutual obligations, and a king who broke an oath could expect punishment. This system let a relatively small core state control a broad territory.
Mursili I and Babylon
In the Old Kingdom, Hattusili I campaigned in northern Syria, and his grandson and successor Mursili I took Aleppo and then marched down the Euphrates to Babylon. According to the commonly used middle chronology the city fell in about 1595 BCE, bringing the old Babylonian dynasty of Hammurabi’s family to an end. The Hittites did not stay. Mursili returned home and was assassinated soon afterwards, and the Hittite state fell into years of instability. The raid is often seen as an example of a conquest that damaged an enemy without being turned into lasting rule. The power vacuum it left is generally thought to have helped the Kassites take control of Babylonia, and it stands as the first of several episodes in the long history of the fall of Babylon.
Suppiluliuma I and the reorganisation of Syria
After a period of weakness, the Hittite state revived. Suppiluliuma I, who ruled around 1344 to 1322 BCE by the usual dating, is often regarded as the founder of the empire. He campaigned against Mitanni, the main power in northern Syria, and in a series of wars defeated its king Tushratta and reduced its territory. He placed his sons as rulers or viceroys in key centres, notably Carchemish on the Euphrates and Aleppo, creating a Hittite administration in Syria that lasted through the empire’s existence.
His reign also touched on Egypt. A famous letter, probably from an Egyptian queen (whose name is debated, though the widow of Tutankhamun is often suggested), asked the Hittite king to send a son to marry her. A prince was sent but died on the way, and relations between the two states deteriorated. Historians treat the details with caution, as the main account comes from later Hittite texts.
Kadesh
The best-known battle of the age took place near the city of Kadesh on the Orontes in Syria, around 1274 BCE, between Muwatalli II and the Egyptian king Ramesses II. Ramesses, advancing with several divisions, was misled by false information about the Hittite army’s whereabouts and was attacked while his forces were divided. The Egyptian account describes the king rallying his troops and driving back the enemy, and it was carved on several temple walls.
Both sides claimed success. Most historians conclude that the result was inconclusive tactically and favoured the Hittites strategically, since Egypt did not retake the region of Kadesh. In the following years, Hittite pressure on Syria continued, and after changes of rulers on both sides a treaty was agreed in about 1259 BCE between Hattusili III and Ramesses II, setting borders and promising mutual support.
Strains on the empire
By the thirteenth century BCE the empire faced several problems. Assyria had grown stronger after the fall of Mitanni and began to push against the Euphrates frontier, and Hittite texts show concern about the Assyrian king. Disputes within the royal family also weakened the throne, as Hattusili III had taken power from his nephew. In the north the Kaska peoples raided repeatedly, and the west of Anatolia contained states such as Arzawa and Ahhiyawa, which scholars often connect with Mycenaean Greeks. Texts also mention shortages of grain and the shipment of grain from Egypt, though how severe the problem was is debated.
The collapse
Around 1200 BCE the central Hittite state ended. The capital Hattusa was abandoned, its main buildings burned, and no later Hittite king is known from the central plateau. The causes are still discussed. Suggestions include drought and famine, internal conflict, pressure from the Kaska, disruption of sea trade and the movements of peoples that affected the coast of the eastern Mediterranean. Most scholars think several factors combined, and some argue that the end was a gradual fragmentation instead of a single catastrophe.
The Hittite name survived in the small Neo-Hittite states of Syria, but these were absorbed by Assyria, with Carchemish falling to Sargon II in 717 BCE. The decline of the Hittite empire occurred within a wider pattern of Bronze Age collapse, which also touched the Mycenaean palaces of Greece and the long-distance trade network reflected in the Uluburun shipwreck.