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THE HITT KINGDOM is an ancient state in Asia Minor, which existed in the 18th - early 12th centuries BC. e. The predecessors of the Hittite kingdom were the Asia Minor political associations of the 20-19 centuries BC. e., mentioned in documents in the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language, found in trading centers where there were colonies of Assyrian merchants: Kanes (Hittite; Assyrian - Kanish), Hattusas (Hittite; Assyrian - Hattusash), Buruskhanda (Hittite; Assyrian - Burushkhanda). These associations, like the Hittite kingdom later, included populations belonging to different ethnic groups: Hittites, Hatti, etc.

Early period (1st half of the 18th century BC). Under the Hittite king of the city of Kussar, Anittas (around the 18th century), the state unification of some regions of Anatolia, which had previously been centers of trade colonies, began. Anittas conquered the city of Heca (from which the Hittite language was called Nesian), Hattusas. The city of Buruskhanda became a vassal of Anittas. The capital of the Hittite kingdom under him and the other first kings of the Hittite kingdom was Kussar. Inscriptions found in the Boğazköy archive help fill the gap between Anittas and the founder of the ancient Hittite dynasty Labarnaya (or Tabarnaya) (early 17th century; his name was the title of the Hittite kings).

Ancient Hittite Kingdom (2nd half of the 18th-16th centuries BC). As texts from later times report, Labarna expanded the borders of the Hittite kingdom “from sea to sea.” He appointed his son as the ruler of Burushanda. Under Labarna's successor, Hattusili I (mid-17th century), Tsalpa and a number of southeastern regions of Asia Minor were finally included in the Hittite kingdom. The capital was moved to Hattusas. A number of documents of the ancient Hittite kingdom, starting with the Annals of Hattusili I, mention the struggle of the Hittites with the city of Halab or Halpa (in Northern Syria, modern Aleppo (Aleppo)). This city was conquered by King Mursili I (late 17th century) - the son of Hattusili I, according to later sources - grandson, under whom the military power of the Hittite kingdom reached its highest rise. Around 1595 (or according to another chronology - around 1650) Mursili I took Babylon. Under his successor Hantili I, the Kaskay tribes carried out a devastating raid on the northern part of the Hittite kingdom and threatened its capital. The period of approximately one hundred years that followed the reign of Mursili I was filled with civil strife, acts of blood feud and palace coups. The last major king of the ancient Hittite kingdom was Telepinu (late 16th century).

Judging by the “Testament” of Hattusili I from the Boghazköy archive, the king’s power at that time was not unlimited. The assembly of pankus (Hittite pankus - assembly of all), which united all free members of society capable of bearing arms, had significant powers. The king addressed the meeting on issues of succession to the throne. Hattusili I in his "Testament" addresses the assembly about changing the order of succession: instead of the king's nephew on the female line, he declares the king's son to be the heir and declares that henceforth no one should appoint his sister's son as heir (this can be seen as a reflection of the process of transition from account maternal kinship to account of paternal kinship). Hattusili I ordered the future king to consult with the assembly on matters related to crimes, especially religions. character.

In an effort to put an end to the era of unrest, bloody civil strife and strife in the royal family, Telepinu revived the rights of the assembly, which (as in the time of Hattusili I) was again supposed to sort out disputes between the king and members of the royal family. In the period preceding Telepin's accession, crimes committed by representatives of the highest nobility remained unpunished. In fact, the highest dignitaries ceased to be subject to the jurisdiction of the assembly, which was a consequence of the inequality of rights between the highest dignitaries and ordinary courtiers, which was already revealed in the texts of the 17th century. Under Telepin, the assembly received the right to judge not only the highest dignitaries, but also the king - in case he encroaches on the lives of members of his clan. Consolidating the reform of the order of succession to royal power begun by Hattusili I, Telepinu established norms that were in effect throughout the subsequent history of the Hittite kingdom.

One of the versions of Hittite laws dates back to the era of the Ancient Hittite Kingdom, where it is reported that under the “father of the king” (possibly Telepinu) a legislative reform took place, which led to a significant mitigation of punishments and the abolition of ancient customs. By this time, Hittite law began to focus not so much on punishing the guilty, but on compensating the victim. During the period of the Ancient Hittite Kingdom, part of the land was the property of the king. Two categories of persons were directly subordinate to the king (or the king's authorized representatives) - royal servants ("service people") and royal workers. There was a system of donations of lands to high dignitaries, who received immunity, in particular, from national service (luzzi). Members of the communities carried the duty of luzzi, "men of service" and "heads of slaves and slaves", reporting directly to the king. Hittite laws reflected the difference in social status between freemen and slaves, in particular the difference between punishments for a crime committed against a free person and for a similar crime committed against a slave. By the time the ancient Hittite laws were compiled (around the 16th century), the three main parts of the Hittite kingdom were its central region - the “country of the Hittites” (Hittite) centered in Hattusas, Luvia (Hittite, a region in the southwest of Asia Minor; in one of variants of Hittite laws use the later name of the country in the south of Asia Minor - Arzawa) and Pala - a region in the North-East of Asia Minor. Each of these regions had its own language (Hittite, Luwian and Palayan, respectively), and for the Pala region and the “country of the Hittites” the ancient language of the aborigines, Hatti, also retained its significance. By that time, the main language of the entire Hittite kingdom had already become Hittite, the so-called Nesian language. Middle Hittite Kingdom (15th - early 14th centuries BC). During this period, the role of the southern regions with the predominant Luwian and Hurrian populations increased sharply. The names of the kings of the Middle Hittite period, preserved in the king lists, are Luwian. The paucity of data about this period, which comes down mainly to deeds of gift for land and lists of the names of kings, can be explained by the fact that at this time the role of the southern Luwian regions and, accordingly, the hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions, apparently written on wood at that time and therefore before us, especially increased not extant, unlike the cuneiform Hittite clay tablets. One document of the Hittite king of the New Hittite Kingdom Mursili II (14th century) can be interpreted as a message that he ordered to write on cuneiform tables those religious institutions that had previously (under the kings of the Middle Kingdom) been distorted due to the fault of scribes who wrote in hieroglyphs on wood. This text is consistent with the hypothesis about the artificial restoration at the beginning of the New Hittite Kingdom of the Hittite linguistic tradition and Hittite cuneiform in a country where the predominant role no longer belonged to the Hittites. The name “Hittite Kingdom” in this period was already conditional, but it had a certain justification in the fact that the Hittite (Nesian) language remained the main official language of the office of the Hittite kings, whose capital was still called Hattusas, although the death of it and everything embodied in it The Hittite tradition itself was being prepared from the end of the Old Kingdom thanks to the rise of the southern Luwian-Hurrian regions. Since the 15th century, the Hittite kingdom increasingly experienced the influence of the culture of the Hurrians, which began in the time of Hattusili I, who acted in Northern Syria and Mesopotamia as the most powerful opponents of the Hittites.

New Hittite Kingdom (14th - early 12th centuries BC). The Hittite kings of this time were Hurrians: at birth they received Hurrian names, and Hittite names were given to them upon accession to the throne. Near the capital of Hattusas, in the Yazılıkaya sculpture gallery, which is a monument of the Hurrian-Luwian monumental style, the Hurrian names of gods and goddesses are written in Luwian hieroglyphs. Scribes recording Hittite texts at this time usually had Luwian and Hurrian names. The first major king of the New Hittite Kingdom was Suppiluliuma I (early 14th century), who, after a long war, defeated Mitanni and made Ugarit his vassal. His sons began to rule the Syrian states of Halab and Karkamish (see Carchemish). King Mursili II carried out a series of campaigns that led to the complete restoration of Hittite military power. Beginning with the reign of Mursili II, Egypt and the Hittite kingdom, as the two most powerful powers in the Middle East, entered into combat for dominance in Syria. After the battle between the Egyptians and the Hittites at Kadesh around 1312 (according to another chronology, around 1291), the Egyptians were forced to come to terms with the power of the Hittite kings. Under Hattusili III, a treaty of friendship was concluded between Egypt and the Hittites in 1296 (according to another chronology, 1269), according to which Egypt recognized the rights of the Hittites to Northern Syria. The Hittite kingdom was opposed by: under the Hittite king Tudhalia IV - Ahiyava, who had previously maintained friendly relations with the Hittite kingdom; under King Arnuwand III (late 13th century) in the west of Asia Minor - a coalition of states that included Ahiyawa and Artsawa. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 12th centuries, the Hittite kingdom fell mainly for internal reasons. Thanks to increased centrifugal tendencies, the rulers of the vassal regions and allied kings broke away from the main center of the Hittite kingdom, which led to its death, which did not, however, prevent the long-term preservation of the cultural tradition in the southern vassal regions with the Luwian population. The impetus for the fall of the Hittite kingdom was the migration of the so-called “peoples of the sea” to the east of Asia Minor.

During the New Kingdom, the center of the Hittite kingdom was surrounded by a chain of allied and vassal states that acted as a buffer between the Hittites and their powerful opponents (such as Egypt). The similarity of state contracts with instructions to officials can be considered evidence that the latter could be considered as a special category of vassals of the Hittite king. The hierarchical organization of the entire state, where individual regions were ruled by governors who received them from the king, corresponded on the scale of the entire society to the structure of allotments (donations), in which those who received land allotments had to carry out the corresponding economic duties (Hittite) or military service. Slaves made up a relatively small part of the total population. Between the slaves and free Hittites there was an intermediate social class of prisoners of war, who were given special land plots. The presence of this class, as well as the role of two specific forms of conscription (and luzzi), similar to vassalage, distinguish Hittite society from other ancient Eastern societies close to slaveholding ones. As special social classes, in addition to the king and senior officials, there are “warriors” (Hittite tuzzi - army) and “priests” (Hittite sankunni). The economy of the community, which provided itself with everything necessary, had a closed, self-sufficient character; it could cover a number of scattered lands and included not only cattle breeders and farmers, but also artisans.

During the New Kingdom, the king's power became unlimited, and he acquired the features of a deified oriental despot. The military exploits of kings in the annals are considered as an expression of the power sent down by the gods. The idea of ​​the divine origin of the king's power is clearly expressed in the prayer for the king, according to which the thunder god, the ruler of heaven, earth and people, gave the country of the Hittites to the king to rule over it. This prayer describes the relationship between god and king in the same terms that were commonly used in Hittite texts when talking about the relationship between the Hittite king and his vassals.

Rulers of the Hittite Kingdom. Early period (1st half of the 18th century BC): Pithanas; Anittas.

Ancient Kingdom (2nd half of the 18th-16th centuries BC): Tudhalia I (1740-1710); Pusarruma (1710-1680); Labarna I (1680-1650); Labarna II (Hattusili I) (1650-1620); Mursili I (1620-1590); Huntily I (1590-1560); Cidanta I (1560-1550); Ammuna (1550-1530); Huzzi (1530-1525); Telepinu (1525-1500).

Middle Kingdom (15th - early 14th century BC): Alluvamna (1500-1490); Huntily II (1490-1480); Cidanta II (1480-1470); Huzzi II (1470-1460); Tudhalia II (1460-1440); Arnuwanda I (1440-1420); Hattusili II (1420-1400); Tudhalia III (1400-1380).

New Kingdom (14th - early 12th century BC): Suppiluliuma I (1380-1340); Arnuwanda II (1340-1339); Mursili II (1339-1306); Muwatali (1306-1282); Urkhi-Teshub (Mursili III) (1282-1275); Hattusili III (1275-1250); Tudhalia IV (1250-1220); Arnuwanda III (1220-1190); Suppiluliuma II (1190-1180).

Note. The dating is given in accordance with the works of Hittologists B. Grozny, O. Gurney, A. Götze. The dating proposed by other chronologies, based on the general chronology for all of Western Asia, diverges from this approx. for 60 years for the Old Kingdom and approx. for 30 years - for the New Kingdom. The reign periods of most kings are given approximately.

V.V. Ivanov. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 15. FELLAHI - ZHALAYNOR. 1974.

Literature:

Menadbe E. A., Hittite Society, Tb., 1965; Giorgadze G. G., Essays on socio-economic history. Hittite State, Tb., 1973; Zamarovsky V., Secrets of the Hittites, (translated from Slovak), M., 1968 (biblical compilation by V.V. Ivanov); Neuere Hethitenforschung, hrsg. von G. Walser, Wiesbaden, 1964; Friedrich J., Die hethitischen Gesetze, Leiden, 1959; Götze A., Kleinasien, 2 Aufl., Münch., 1957; Gurney O. R., The Hittites, 2 ed., L., 1961; Otten N., Das Hethiterreich, in the book: Kulturgeschichte des Alten Orients, Stuttg., 1961.

Canes – Trade colonies of Assyrian merchants of the 19th-18th centuries BC.

The bold dotted line is the main core of the Hittite kingdom at the end of the 16th century BC.

Double dotted line – Maximum area of ​​distribution of Hittite influence in the 14th-13th centuries BC.

Arinna (underlined by a wavy line) – The main cities of the Hittite kingdom.

The thick circle and ring around are the capitals of the Hittite kingdom (Kussar - in the 18th century BC, Hattusas - in the 17th century BC).

The bold circle is the location of finds of Hittite and Late Hittite (hieroglyphic Luwian) monuments.

The numbers indicate:

(based on a map from the book GotzeA. Kleinasien, 2 Aufl. Munchen, 1957):

1. Sipil, 2. Karabel, 3. Beykey, 4. Yagri, 5. Iflatunpinar, 6. Keylutolu, 7. Faziler, 8. Gyavurkale, 9. Alajahoyuk, 10. Bogazkoy, 11. Karga, 12. Alisar Heyuk, 13 Kirsehir, 14. Chalapverdi, 15. Karaburun, 16. Sivas, 17. Topada, 18. Emirgazi, 19. Kyzyldag, 20. Mahalych, 21. Andaval, 22. Bor, 23. Bulgarmaden, 24. Ivriz, 25. Bahce , 26. Egrikey, 27. Erkilet, 28. Asarchik, 29. Tikerderbent, 30. Kultepe, 31. Sultanhan, 32. Egrek, 33. Fyraktin, 34. Taschin, 35. Khanieri, 36. Imamkulu, 37. Kurubel, 38 Karakuyu, 39. Havuzkoy, 40 Guryun, 41. Palanga, 42. Darende, 43. Ispekchur, 44. Kotyukale, 45. Izgin, 46. Elbistan, 47. Malatya, 48. Sirkeli, 49. Iskenderon, 50. Marash, 51. Karaburchlu, 52. Zencirli, 53. Islahiye, 54. Sakchagozyu, 55. Gaziantep, 56. Chagdyn, 57. Selgin, 58. Kyurtoglu, 59. Samsat, 60. Boydey-pinari, 61. Biredzhik, 62. Jerablus, 63. Tel Ahram, 64. Jekke, 65. Aleppo, 66. Antakya, 67. Tel Achana, 68. Qalat el-Mudik, 69. Hama, 70. Restan. 71. Karatepe, 72. Erzincan.

Note. The list contains modern names. On the map, modern names are given in parentheses. A question mark marks the hypothetical location of settlements.

Hittite art and architecture

ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE HITTES. At the height of their prosperity, the Hittites invested a lot of effort in strengthening and decorating their capital, Hattusha. The kings lived in a powerful citadel, where the main palace complexes, administrative buildings, storage facilities and archives were erected. The Büyükale citadel rose on an impregnable rock that guarded the passage to the north. The city's territory, which occupied about 160 hectares, was built up with smaller citadels, monumental temple complexes and residential areas; the city was surrounded by a defensive wall almost 6 km long, with gates, towers, tunnels and stairs.

Impressive remains of Hittite art have been excavated at the site of the capital. The city gates are built from cyclopean blocks, different in size, but carefully fitted to each other. These giant blocks are decorated with sculptures. On the left inner jamb there is the so-called The royal gate features a majestic figure of a warrior-god, carved in deep high relief; he has the heavy, wide cheekbones and large hooked nose typical of other Hittite sculptures. Among the other sculptures decorating the gates of Boğazköy, attention is drawn to images of the front part of the body of a lion, turning to meet the enemy with a roar, as well as stylized majestic sphinxes, Egyptian in spirit, but made in full accordance with Hittite stylistic principles...

Ivanov V.V. Hittites.

HITTES - the people who inhabited the central part of the Hittite kingdom. The Hittite, or Nesian, language (from the city of Heca - the ancient center of the Hittites), spoken by the Hittites, belonged to the Anatolian (Hittite-Luwian) branch of the Indo-European family of languages; therefore, it is usually believed that the Hittites (like the speakers of other Anatolian languages ​​- the Luwian tribes and ) or their ancestors - speakers of dialects of the common Anatolian language, from which all these three languages ​​originated, moved to Asia Minor either through the Balkans ("Western" theory) or through the Caucasus ("Eastern" theory). The eastern (Caucasian) route of migration is supported by the predominant role of the eastern cities of the Hittites in the Ancient Hittite Kingdom (2nd half of the 18th-16th centuries BC) and some evidence of archaic rituals (for example, the image of the sun rising from the sea) . According to another hypothesis, the Hittites belonged to the oldest population of Asia Minor, which suggests a more southern initial area of ​​settlement for speakers of all Indo-European dialects...

The creation of vast states took a fairly long period in ancient times. At first, tribes or inhabitants united into a small city, which, thanks to its military successes and diplomacy, could expand its territory and acquire the status of a state. Large formations began to be called empires. Their kings had unlimited power and were called despots. The political system was based on the strength of the army, united from representatives of different peoples and settlements, often speaking different languages.

Historians claim that the first state in the eastern lands was the ancient civilization of Egypt during the New Kingdom. At the same time, the birth of the Hittite Empire is celebrated.

The emergence of the Hittite state

Around the 2nd millennium BC. The process of settlement of Indo-European peoples began on the lands of Asia Minor. One part of them went to India, these were the Aryan peoples. And the other, who were the Hittites, went to explore the territory of Asia Minor. They were distinguished by their belligerence and conquered local settlements, forming an ancient civilization - the Hittite state. The lands of Asia Minor contain countless deposits of copper and iron. The advantage that the Hittites had over other countries, including Ancient Egypt, was the ability to make military armor from these materials. The Hittites became the best masters in melting daggers, swords, and shields.

When the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun was opened by the civilization of Ancient Egypt in 1924, the Howard Carter expedition discovered a personalized dagger, the blade of which was forged from iron. It was probably donated by the king of the Hittite state.

Army of the Hittite Empire

The ancient Hittite state was ruled by a king. The army played the main role in the stability of the state. It consisted of infantry, cavalry units and chariots. The Hittites became one of the first states of the ancient world to carry out military operations at sea. They had a navy and built galleys to capture neighboring territories. Ancient Egypt was forced to constantly be at war with the Hittite kingdom, whose troops constantly raided the northwestern lands of the ancient civilization. Several times Hittite troops seized power in the Mediterranean over Cyprus.

Foreign relations of the Hittite Empire

The Hittite people were successful not only in waging war, but also in negotiating with other peoples. Agreements with other dynasties were secured through marriages and agreements. A special department for diplomats was organized, similar to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in modern times. The ancient civilization met the end of times in the 12th century. BC. during the Cypriot raid.

The Hittite power was one of the most influential forces on the geopolitical map of the Ancient World. The first constitution appeared here, the Hittites were the first to use war chariots and worship the double-headed eagle.

KINGDOM OF PEACE

The Hittite Empire was one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Ancient World, stretching from Eastern Anatolia to the Aegean Sea in the west and from the Black Sea in the north almost to the Levant. The Hittite Empire absorbed the kingdom of Mitanni, took possession of northern Syria, colonized the western edge of Asia Minor and competed for dominion with Egypt itself.

The colonial and aggressive policy of the Hittites was characterized by the fact that they sought to resolve territorial conflicts not through military victories, but through diplomacy. It was through the conclusion of treaties between the Hittites and representatives of the elite of neighboring states that Alalakh and Khalpa, Tarhuntassa and Karkemish were annexed to the state.

The German historian Frank Starke wrote about the Hittites: “If no peace demands helped, the Hittite king warned his opponent: “The gods will take my side and decide the matter in my favor.”

The Hittites did not take unaffordable tribute from the conquered lands and even often left the former ruler in power of the annexed territory, depriving him, however, of the right to pursue an independent policy.

The most powerful enemy of the Hittite Empire was Egypt. In 1275 BC, a battle took place near the Syrian city of Kadesh between the troops of Ramses II and the Hittite army of Muwatalli II. This battle was the first in history, whose description we can find in the sources of both warring parties, and the last battle in the history of the Bronze Age - the Hittites already used iron weapons.

The long battle did not lead to anyone's victory. Muwatalli proposed a truce to the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses agreed. Hittite sources ultimately attributed the victory to the Hittites, and Egyptian sources attributed the victory to the Egyptians.

The Hittites conquered Artsawa, Ahhiyawa, Misa, Wilusa and other states in western Anatolia. But the conquered rebelled and entered into an anti-Hittite coalition with the “peoples of the sea” who lived on the islands of the Aegean Sea. Between 1200 and 1190 BC. they reached the Hittite capital Hattusa. The city was taken by storm.

FIRST CONSTITUTION

The Hittites were very sensitive to legal issues, because they believed that contracts were concluded not only between people, but also before the gods. Breaking the law was equivalent to insulting the gods. The Hittite laws were sacred, they were carved on tablets of iron, silver and gold, and kept in temples. Only clay copies of laws were sent to the royal palaces, by which we can today judge the legal system of the Hittites.

There are many interesting things in the Hittite laws. Thus, the ruler of the captured territory entered into an agreement with the “country of the Hittites.” It is with the country, and not with the ruler of the state. The Hittites revered the state more than a ruler who does not rule the country, but only serves it. This is the fundamental difference between the Hittite state and the eastern despotisms of the Ancient World.

The first constitution known to history was created by the Hittites - a decree of King Telepinu (about 1500 BC), he reformed the system of transfer of power in the country and described the existing governing bodies, clearly delimiting their powers. The king was a symbol of the unity of the country, the tulia - the council of elders - was the council of ministers and generals, the pankus was the name of the military council, which included clan members, high dignitaries and warriors.

According to the principles of its work, Pankus can be compared to the German Thing. The division of rights that King Telepinu approved remained in the Hittite state for three centuries, until its fall.

WITHOUT CALENDAR

Serious research into the history of the Hittite state began only in the 20th century. In 1906, the Boğazköy archive of the Hatti kings was discovered, and in 1915-1916, the Czech linguist Bedrich the Terrible deciphered the Hittite writing.

The problem for historians was that the Hittites never reported exact dates. In their “tables of the courageous deeds” of the kings there are many notes “for the next year,” but the year of the report is unknown. The Hittites did not count their history from a specific point and did not mark the reign of their rulers. We know the chronology of the Hittite state from the sources of its neighbors.

RELIGION

The Hittite religion was a mixture of local and state cults. The thunder god Teshibu was considered the supreme god. He was depicted with lightning and an ax in his hands, in the form of a charioteer drawn by oxen.

The pantheon of Hittite gods was extensive and could change depending on the dominance of one or another cult. The Hittites also revered images of animals. Thus, the well-known double-headed eagle came from the Hittites.

The Hittites held services both in open-air sanctuaries (the rock sanctuary in Yazilikaya) and in temples. The cyclopean masonry of one of the Hittite temples was discovered by Boğazköy.

LANGUAGE

Eight languages ​​were spoken in the Hittite Empire. Hittite and Akkadian were spoken by kings during official ceremonies, and texts were usually written in Hurrian. The dictionaries used by the scribes were compiled on the basis of Sumerian characters.

The already mentioned Czech linguist Bedrich Grozny in 1915 proved the Indo-European origin of the Hittite and Luwian languages. Further research revealed that Lycian, Carian, Lydian, Sidetian and a number of other languages ​​of Asia Minor in the 1st millennium BC originated from these languages.

WHERE DID THE HITTEES DISAPPEAR?

The question remains: where did the Hittites disappear? Johann Lehmann in his book “The Hittites. People of a Thousand Gods” gives a version that the Hittites went to the north, where they assimilated with the Germanic tribes. Tacitus mentioned the Hittites in his description of the Germanic tribes.

He wrote: “Compared to other Germans, the Hutts are extremely prudent and prudent... And what is quite amazing and accepted only among the Romans with their military discipline, they rely more on the leader than on the army.”

This version remains just a version for now. http://oppps.ru/istoriya-xettskoj-derzhavy.html

Original taken from

Hittites. Destroyers of Babylon Gurney Oliver Robert

3. EMPIRE (NEGO HITTE KINGDOM)

All we know for certain about Tudhalia II, the founder of the dynasty that later created the Hittite Empire, is that he captured and destroyed Aleppo. Consequently, the Hittite kingdom restored internal political stability and was again able to dictate its will to the rebellious tributaries.

The exact date and circumstances of this attack on Aleppo are unknown to us, and this event has yet to be written into the chronicle of Syrian history of the 15th century BC. e. During a long period of unrest, which began with the assassination of Mursili I, Northern Syria managed to come under the rule of Hanigalbat, a political union of Hurrian tribes organized around 1500 BC. e. The impotence of the Hatti kingdom is evidenced by the fact that the Syrians, themselves tributaries of the Hurrians, could raid Hittite lands with impunity. In 1457 BC. e. The victories of Thutmose III in the eighth military campaign put an end to the rule of the Hurrians, and Syria became dependent on the Egyptians for 30 years. However, after the death of the energetic Thutmose, the Egyptians were unable to hold Northern Syria for long and were soon forced to retreat to the new Hurrian power - Mitanni. Under the Tsararii dynasty, the Mitanni state achieved dominance over all of Western Asia. We do not know what the internal political factors of this process were, since the archives of the kings of this dynasty have not yet been found. But from the next century, when the power of Mitanni had already begun to decline, many monuments have been preserved, from which it is clear that the Hurrian language and Hurrian culture as a whole managed to exert a very noticeable influence in all territories from Hittite Anatolia to Canaanite Palestine.

The document reporting the Hittite campaign on Aleppo explains that it was a punitive campaign undertaken as punishment for the city coming under Hanigalbat's rule. Consequently, it took place no later than 1457 BC. e., when Hanigalbat was defeated by Thutmose III. It is possible that the Hittites timed their campaign to coincide with the Egyptian campaign, acting in alliance with the Egyptian pharaoh: it is known that at that time Thutmose accepted gifts from the “Great Kheta”. This version explains why there is no mention of the capture of Aleppo in reports of the Egyptian campaign.

The rise of Mitanni plunged the Hittite kingdom into another crisis. Many principalities that had previously fallen into the orbit of Hittite influence now came under the rule of the Hurrian power or declared their independence. Under Hatgusili II and Tudhaliya III, the kingdom came to the very edge of the abyss. Apparently, the description of the critical situation left by one of the later kings refers specifically to this period:

“In the old days, the lands of Hatti were plundered from abroad (?). The enemy from Kaski came and plundered the lands of Hatti and made Nenassa his border. An enemy from Artsawa came from beyond the Lower Lands, and he also plundered the lands of Hatti and made Tuvana and Uda his border.

An enemy from outside, from Arawnna, came and plundered the entire land of Hassia.

And again an enemy from outside, from Azzi, came and plundered all the Upper Lands and made Samukha his border. And the enemy from Isuwa came and plundered the land of Tegarama.

And an enemy came from outside, from Armatana, and he also plundered the lands of Hatti and set the city of Kizzuwatna as his border. Hattusa was burned to the ground and<…>but home Hasty <…>survived."

It seems completely improbable that all these attacks occurred at the same time, for in this case all that would remain of the entire kingdom would be a piece of barren land south of Halys. But partly this description corresponds to the known facts about the situation of that time: the raids of Hatti’s eastern neighbors can be explained by the support provided to them by the Mitannian power, and the facts of the independence and expansion of Arzawa are confirmed by letters found in the archives of El-Amarna from the Egyptian pharaoh to the king of this state.

The end of this period of weakening and the beginning of a new era was marked by the accession of Suppiluliuma I. He ascended the throne around 1380 BC. e. under not entirely legal circumstances, despite the fact that he was the son of Tudhalia III and accompanied his father on several campaigns.

We know not much about the struggle to unify and strengthen the lands of Hatti, to which this king, in all likelihood, devoted the first years of his reign. It must have been Suppiluliuma who built the massive defensive wall along the southern border of Hattusa and other fortifications in the capital city, which will be discussed below. And only after this he was able to begin his main task - settling scores with Mitanni, a formidable enemy, through whose fault the Hittite kingdom fell into decline under the previous rulers.

The first campaign against Syria through the Taurus Range resulted in defeat and heavy losses; King Tushratta of Mitanni sent part of the war trophies captured from the Hittites to his ally, the king of Egypt. The next campaign was prepared more carefully. Apparently, the Hittites managed to find out that the main means of defense of the Mitannians were concentrated in Northern Syria. But one way or another, the new plan was to cross the Euphrates at Malatya and attack the Mitannian kingdom itself from the rear. This was a dangerous route, since wild tribes lived in the northern mountains, and to conquer them they first had to make a separate trip. As a result, a peace treaty was concluded with a certain kingdom, called Azzi in some texts and Hayasa in others, sealed by marriage between Suppiluliuma’s sister and the leader of this mountainous country. So the Hittites secured themselves from the left flank. Having transported the army across the Euphrates, Suppiluliuma easily returned the previously lost region of Isuwa to his power and, suddenly falling on the capital of Mitanni, the city of Vashshukanni, captured it and plundered it. Apparently, the Mitannian king was unable to resist and avoided battle. After this, Suppiluliuma again crossed the Euphrates and returned to Syria, where the local kings, having lost the support of Mitanni, hastened to show him complete obedience. Apparently, the conflict with Egypt was not included in the plans of the Hittite king, and it is possible that he would have been content with establishing the border along the Orontes River. But the prince of Kadesh - a city that at that time was an outpost of Egyptian influence - himself went to battle against him. He could not resist the Hittite chariots, and as a result, the Hittite army moved further south to Abin (biblical Hobah, Gen. 14:15), a city near Damascus, and Suppiluliuma declared the ridge of Lebanon as its border. Fortunately for him, the Egyptian kings during this period stopped paying attention to the defense of their borders and began to engage in religious reform within the country.

As a result of this brilliant expedition, carried out around 1370 BC. e., the Hittite kingdom included Halpa (Aleppo) and Alalakh (Atshana). Apparently, it was at that time that the treaties that have reached us were concluded with the kings of Nuhassi (Central Syria) and Amurru, which included the territory of Lebanon and most of the coastal strip. However, Karkemish, which controlled the main crossing of the Euphrates, and the area known to the Hittites as "Astata" and stretching along the Euphrates from Karkemish south to the mouth of the Khabur, did not submit to the Hittites and could still count on the support of Tushratta, who, at the cost of his own reputation, preserved the army.

Suppiluliumu was called back to the capital by urgent matters. The task of holding Syria, which the king entrusted to his son, Telepin the “priest,” turned out to be very difficult. The Syrian principalities were divided into two warring factions: one supported the Hittites, the other the Mitannians, and both closely followed the struggle between the two great powers. But, fortunately for the Hittites, the kingdom of Mitanni itself was mired in civil strife. King Tushratta and his predecessors maintained allied relations with Egypt, and the dynasties of these two countries were linked by diplomatic marriages. But in light of recent events, it appeared that there was little hope for Egypt, and a rival branch of the Mitannian royal family decided to seize power, taking advantage of Tushratta's disgrace. This group turned for help and support to the power-hungry Assyrian king Ashuruballit, whose predecessors paid tribute to the kings of Mitanni. As a result, Tushratta was killed, and the new king Artadama and his son Shuttarna, who succeeded him, recognized the independence of Assyria and rewarded its king with rich gifts.

Despite all the dangers that this sudden rise of a new state on the Tigris, full of young forces, was fraught with for the Hittites, after the collapse of Mitanni it was no longer difficult to conquer Syria. Returning to Syrian lands around 1340 BC. BC, Suppiluliuma captured the huge fortress of Karchemish after only eight days of siege, and all of Syria from the Euphrates to the sea became dependent on the Hittites. Telepin became the king of Aleppo, and another of the king's sons, Piyassili, became the king of Karchemish. The kingdom of Kizzuwatna found itself isolated and was forced to make peace with the Hittites, who recognized it as a friendly power.

The wide popularity Suppiluliuma acquired in his time can be judged by one incident that occurred while the Hittite army was camped near the walls of Karchemish. An envoy from Egypt arrived at Suppiluliuma with a letter from his queen, which said: “My husband has passed away, and I have no son, but they say about you that you have many sons. If you would send one of your sons to me, he would become my husband. I will never take any of my subjects as my husband. I am very afraid". Suppiluliuma was so surprised that he sent his envoy to the Egyptian court to make sure that he was not deceived. The ambassador returned with a second letter from the queen: “Why do you say: “They are deceiving me”? If I had a son, would I write to a stranger, publicly announcing my misfortune and the misfortune of my country? By saying this, you insult me. The one who was my husband is now dead, and I have no son. I will not marry my subject for anything. I didn't write to anyone but you. Everyone says that you have many sons; give me one of them so that he can become my husband.” The Egyptian queen who wrote these letters is none other than Ankhesenamun, the third daughter of the “heretic” king Akhenaten, who already in her early youth became the widow of King Tutankhamun, who did not live to be eighteen years old. Remaining childless, she had the right (at least formally) to choose a second husband on her own and thereby decide the future fate of the Egyptian throne. Of course, Suppiluliuma did not want to miss such an incredible chance. But the plan failed. The Hittite prince was killed immediately upon his arrival in Egypt - apparently on the instructions of the court priest Ey, who later became Tutankhamun's successor, entering into a fictitious marriage with Ankhesenamun and thereby legitimizing the usurpation of the throne. There is no doubt that it was from this marriage that Ankhesenamun tried to escape with the help of the Hittite king.

Soon after this, the son of the late Tushratta, who himself narrowly escaped death, approached Suppiluliuma with a request for help. Being a subtle politician, the Hittite king was not slow to take advantage of this opportunity to create a buffer state that would protect the Hittites from Assyria, which was rapidly gaining strength. He sent the young petitioner under the command of Piyassili. Together, the two princes crossed the Euphrates at the head of a large army and captured the Mitanni capital of Vashshukanni for the second time. As a result, a new dependent kingdom of Mitanni was formed, which, however, turned out to be too weak and could not withstand the onslaught of Ashuruballit, who soon after the death of Suppiluliuma annexed this territory to his possessions. After this, only the Euphrates separated the Hittite lands from the Assyrians.

But the rule of the Hittites in Syria was no longer threatened. Even when illness took King Suppiluliuma to the grave, and soon his eldest son Arnuwanda II, and the throne passed to the inexperienced younger son Mursili II, the governors of Aleppo and Karchemisha remained faithful to him. The threat now came mainly from the western regions of the empire, but in this regard much remains unclear, since it has not yet been possible to establish the exact location of most of the settlements mentioned in documents of that period. The powerful kingdom of Artsawa, once conquered by Labarna himself, separated from the Hittite kingdom, once it fell into decline, and the king of Artsawa even carried on friendly correspondence with the Egyptian king. Suppiluliuma conquered Artsawa again, but during the reign of Mursili II it rebelled again, and a number of city-states joined this rebellion: Mira, Kuwaliya, Hapalla and the “land of the Seha River”.

However, Mursili turned out to be the true son of his father. As a result of a large-scale military campaign, which lasted two years and about which a detailed account has been preserved, Artsawa was crushed, its king was killed, and Hittite governors were placed on the thrones of several small kingdoms. At least one of the latter was already connected with the Hittite royal house by ties of kinship: he was married to a Hittite princess. This state of affairs continued until the death of Mursili, but peace on the western outskirts of the Hittite Empire was always fragile, and each successive king had to suppress another uprising.

The northern borders also caused a lot of trouble, although for a different reason. Here the problem was not the proximity to a powerful rival, but, on the contrary, the fact that there was no state at all adjacent to the Hittite Empire from the north with which a peace treaty could be concluded. Hittite garrisons were stationed at strategic points, but, apparently, they did not have enough strength to restrain the raids of the violent Kaska barbarians who inhabited the mountain valleys north of Hatti. We have no reason to believe that the helmets received any help from other opponents of the Hittite kingdom; but, despite this, every few years the king had to lead an army into the northern mountains and pacify these violent tribes. Mursili II conducted ten such campaigns - in the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 19th, 24th and 25th years of his reign (detailed descriptions have been preserved these trips). All campaigns ended successfully, but complete victory was never achieved: as soon as the empire began to show the slightest signs of weakness, the raids were resumed. Therefore, one can suspect that the reasons for these troubles lay deeper than it seemed to the Hittites themselves.

In the seventh year of Mursili's reign, the kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa separated from the Hittite Empire and had to be re-conquered. At the first stage, the command was entrusted to one of the royal commanders, since the king at that time was fulfilling the religious duties prescribed to him by law in the city of Kummanni (ancient Comana).

Meanwhile, even Syria rebelled (here, apparently, this was not without incitement from Egypt, where at that time the commander Haremheb usurped power). The governor of Karkemish, Shar-Kushuh, brother of Mursili, who successfully ruled the lands entrusted to him for ten years, also went to the holiday in Kummanni, but fell ill there and died. During his absence, someone apparently captured Carchemish. One way or another, the need arose for the king’s personal intervention, and in the ninth year of his reign, Mursili led an army to Syria. To pacify the Syrian kings, the mere appearance of the Hittite army was enough. Shar-Kushuh's son ascended the throne at Carchemish, and in the same year Mursili was able to move further north and lead the fighting against Azzi-Hayasa.

It is not possible to correlate other campaigns of this king with known geographical locations. Oddly enough, the documents from the period of his reign say nothing about a campaign against Kizzuwatna, although it is known that soon after Mursili's accession to the throne this area rebelled. Since after the death of Suppiluliuma I, references to the kings of Kizzuwatna completely disappear from the documents, and under Mursili II this state apparently completely lost its independence and became part of Hatti, it would be natural to assume that Mursili conquered it again, and the text describing this campaign is simply lost.

King Mursili II left his son and heir Muwatali a strong empire surrounded by many dependent kingdoms. Upon his accession to the throne, Muwatali did not face any serious difficulties. It is only known that a demonstration of force was required on the western borders, but history has not preserved the name of the enemy who disturbed the peace of the new king. Muwatali confirmed the powers of the kings of Arzawa, who remained tributaries of Hatti, and concluded a new peace treaty with a certain Alaksandu, king of Wilusa - a country that was part of Arzawa, but which had always remained faithful to Hatti since the time of king Labarna. Having thus secured the western borders, Muwatali was able to focus his attention on the new threat from the south. The Egyptian colossus awoke from a long sleep. The pharaohs of the 19th dynasty were eager to reconquer the Syrian lands, once conquered by Thutmose III, but lost during the reign of Akhenaten, who paid attention only to his religious reforms. Around 1300 BC e. Seti I set out on a campaign against Canaan. Having restored law and order there, he moved on and reached Kadesh itself, which is on the Orontes. But the Hittites, apparently, quickly repulsed him, and until the end of the reign of Seti I, peace remained between Egypt and the Hittite power. However, after Ramesses II ascended the throne in 1290 BC. e. it became clear that it would no longer be possible to avoid a large-scale clash between the two rival empires. Muwatali gathered troops from all allied states. A list of them is given by Egyptian scribes (the Hittite annals from the reign of Muwatali have not survived), and here for the first time mentions of the Dardans, known to us from Homer’s Iliad, and the Philistines, as well as the Sherdans, a people whose name is often found in Egyptian inscriptions, appear. But in the Hittite documents that have reached us, none of these peoples are mentioned, and since we do not have Hittite chronicles of that period, we can only guess about the reasons for their participation in the war on the side of the Hittites. The armies of the two empires met at the walls of Kadesh in the fifth year of Ramesses' reign (1286/1285 BC). Inscriptions on the walls of an Egyptian temple praise the pharaoh for his valor in this campaign, but in reality the Hittites retained Syria. Muwatali even managed to expand his possessions by conquering Abu (Abina), a region near Damascus. Thus, there is no doubt that the Battle of Kadesh ended in victory for the Hittites. Some details of this battle will be outlined below.

During the reign of Muwatali, the northeastern regions of the Hittite state acquired the status of a principality with the capital in Hakpi, where the king's talented and ambitious brother, Hattusili, ruled. The king himself moved his residence further south, to the city of Datassa, closer to the theater of military operations in Syria. As a result, Hattusili's position was too strong, and it is not surprising that Urhi-Teshub (3), the young son of Muwatali, who succeeded him on the throne around 1282 BC. e., tried to take away part of the lands from his uncle. He probably suspected that Hattusili was making plans to seize power in the country. But records from the short period of the reign of this king also have not survived, and we can only glean information about him from the tendentious story of Hattusili. The latter claims that for seven years he suffered undeserved insults from Urkha-Teshub, then declared war on his nephew and overthrew him. From the fact that the coup succeeded without difficulty, it can be concluded that Urhi-Teshub was an unpopular and short-sighted ruler. For some time, his uncle kept him captive in the city of Samukha (near Malatya), but treated him leniently, and subsequently sent him into honorable exile in Nuhassi, one of the distant Syrian regions.

Hattusili III ascended the throne in 1275 BC. e., at the age of about 50, already an experienced commander. Under his rule, the Hittite Empire entered a period of relative peace and prosperity. True, at first there were some frictions with Egypt, and the Kassite king Kadashman-Turgu even promised Hattusili to provide military assistance if it came to conflict. But the differences were settled peacefully. Obviously, Hatti and Egypt were forced to unite in the face of a new formidable enemy - Assyria, which was gaining strength. Since then, the friendship between the two former rivals grew stronger every year, and in 1269 BC. e. a famous peace treaty was concluded to ensure peace and security in the lands of the Levant. Not only the kings, but also the queens of the two powers exchanged congratulatory messages on this occasion; one of these letters has survived. Finally, 13 years after the conclusion of the treaty, the two empires sealed their friendship with marriage: the Hittite princess became the wife of Ramesses II. The fact that the 69-year-old Hattusili had a daughter of marriageable age is explained by the fact that he himself married Puduhepa, the daughter of the priest of Kizzuwatna, only twenty-nine years earlier, upon returning from a campaign against the Egyptians, in which he participated under the command of his brother.

Under Hattusili III, the capital of the Hittite kingdom again became Hattusa, which was plundered by the Kasque tribes during Muwatali's stay in the south. The city was rebuilt; In addition, by order of the king, scribes made copies from the archives. Hattusili and his wife Puduhepa issued many religious and administrative decrees, which at first glance can be taken as evidence of order and prosperity in the country.

However, the only small fragment remaining from the annals of Hattusili suggests that not all was well in the western part of the empire. Apparently, there was a need for military action against the ancient enemy - Artsawa; but the details of this campaign are unknown to us. Relations with Babylonia after the death of Kadashman-Turgu in 1270 BC. e. also worsened. In a letter that has come down to us to the young Kadashman-Enlil, Hattusili expresses dissatisfaction that this new Kassite king has not sent an envoy to Hatti since his accession to the throne. Perhaps Urhi-Teshub was involved here, since in one of the documents Hattusili reports that the exiled king was noticed in relations with the Babylonians and for this reason was exiled from Nuhassi “away to the sea.” The meaning of this phrase is not entirely clear, but perhaps the island of Cyprus was meant. We learn that Urkhi-Teshub later lived in a foreign land - it is possible that it was in Cyprus - from another document. Here he tried to gain the confidence of the king of Egypt. But if he sought to enlist the help of the pharaoh in order to regain his throne, he clearly did not achieve success.

King Hattusili is the author of one very remarkable document, which we will discuss in detail in Chapter VIII. Apparently, he set himself the task of justifying the usurpation of the throne and the expulsion of the legitimate king. Hattusili declares that he did so only under the pressure of circumstances and on the direct orders of the goddess Ishtar, the patroness of the city of Samukha. Naturally, one cannot completely trust such a tendentious description of events, but as evidence of a highly developed political consciousness, this document has no equal in the Ancient World.

Since Hattusili ascended the throne already in adulthood, it can be assumed that he died soon after his daughter married the Egyptian pharaoh. His son and successor, Tudhalia IV, appears to have paid special attention to religion and introduced a number of reforms related to religious holidays and other ceremonies. It is possible that it was Tudhalia IV who ordered the decoration of the rock in Yazilykaya with reliefs, for on the main gallery this king is depicted with his “monogram” (Fig. 8, 64), and on the side - in the arms of his patron god (photo 15). All this suggests that, at least in the first years of his reign, peace and prosperity reigned in the country. Only in the west was there still unrest, but eventually order was established there too: the lands of Assuwa (later the Roman province of Asia, the name of which now bears the entire Asian continent) became part of the Hittite Empire.

But shortly before the end of Tudhalia's reign, a new threat loomed from the west. The territories of the dependent countries in the extreme west of Anatolia began to be devastated by the Ahaivasha tribes (possibly the Achaeans) of the country of Akhhiyawa and the leader Attarissia. A certain Madduwatta (whose name researchers compared with the names of the ancient kings of Lydia - Alyatta and Sadyatta), expelled from his country by Attarissia, appeared before the Hittite king and received as a gift a small dependent kingdom somewhere in the west of Asia Minor. From this we can conclude that Tudhalia still had enough strength to repel further attacks.

But the power of the Hittite Empire had already been undermined. Under the next king, Arnuwand III, the situation in the west deteriorated sharply. Madduwatta went over to the side of Attarissia, and although the Hittite king in his lengthy rescript calls him nothing more than a treacherous servant, it is easy to see that the balance of power in the region has changed significantly. In particular, it is reported that Madduwatta "seized the entire land of Arzawa." At the same time, in the eastern mountains, where the kingdom of Hayas was previously located, another enemy appeared - a certain Mitas. The identity of his name with the name of the king of the “country of the Mushki”, who ruled in the 8th century BC. e. and who is usually identified with the Phrygian Midas - a character of Greek myths, may turn out to be no more than a coincidence, but it is possible that the Phrygian flies had already invaded this area and that the name "Mitas" was dynastic. However, be that as it may, we know for certain that during that period there was a great migration of peoples; and although we do not find any harbingers of impending disaster in Arnuwanda’s decrees, it was already obvious that the fragile union of states that were part of the Hittite Empire would not withstand the onslaught of migrants. Arnuwanda was succeeded by his brother, Suppiluliuma II, but his reign seems to have been short, since the name of this king is not mentioned anywhere except in the record of several dignitaries and officials swearing allegiance to him. The annals of Ramesses III tell how the Hittites and other peoples fled to Syria from certain conquerors who, with hordes of the so-called “peoples of the sea”, found themselves dangerously close to the borders of Egypt and drove the Philistines to the coast of Palestine (which thus received its modern Name). If you believe the Homeric legend, then it was during this period that Asia Minor came under the power of the Phrygians.

2. The “Mongol” empire and the famous Christian kingdom of Prester John. The history of the legendary kingdom of Prester John is one of the most exciting mysteries in the Scaligerian history of Europe and Asia. The essence of the matter is briefly as follows. It turns out that medieval Western Europe