history of the hittites

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History of the Hittites

byJan van der Crabbenpublished on 18 January 2012

Hittites is the conventional English-language term foran ancient people who spoke anIndo-Europeanlanguage and established a kingdom centeredin Hattusa (Hittite URUattua) innorthernAnatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th

century BC, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height,encompassing central Anatolia, south-western Syria as

far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC,amid general turmoil in the Levantassociated with thesudden arrival of the Sea Peoples, the kingdomdisintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th

century BC. The history of the Hittite civilization isknown mostly from cuneiform texts found in the area oftheir kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial

correspondence found in various archives in Egypt andthe Middle East.

EarlyBronze AgeAnatolia

Before the rise of the Hittite Kingdom, there were threemajor Indo European groups in Anatolia: the Luwians,

Palaians and Nesites. There is no historical consensus on

where they came from or when. The area which wouldlater become the center of Hittite civilization wascontrolled by a non Indo-European population called

the Hattians. Some historianshave pointed to theroyal tombs at Alaca Hoyuk which show influence ofIndo-European religious art and concluded that Indo-
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European invaders from the Pontic steppe installedthemselves as Kings in this region. However this theory isnot supported by any evidence of Indo European

invasion. We simply do not know when exactly IndoEuropean groups began to appear in Anatolia and how -what is clear is that an Indo European language (Nesite)and cultureeventually became dominant in the central

Anatolian ruling class. The ethnic makeup of Anatoliamay very well have been a mixed one, with Indo-Europeans, Hurrians and Hattians. Indo Europeans seem

to have been heavily concentrated in the cityof Nea(Kanesh) which was anAssyrian tradingcolony. The

spread of Nesite which would later become the officiallanguage of the HittiteEmpirewas probably due to its

importance in the Assyrian tradenetwork. Nesite waswritten in the cuneiform script borrowed from theAssyrians.

During the early second millennium the Assyrians

established a series of merchant colonies in Anatolia, thelargest of these was Nea. The Assyrian merchantstraded tin and textiles forgold, silver and copper. Fromthe many tablets found at the site of Nea historianshave concluded that there were various kingdoms (Matu)in central Anatolia before the rise of the Hittite empire,including Hatti, Nea, Burushattum (Purushanda; possiblynear modern Acem Hoyuk), and Wahsusana (modern

Nigde).

The Old Kingdom

The early history of the Hittite kingdom is known through

tablets that may first have been written in the 17th
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century BC but survived only as copies made in the 14thand 13th centuries BC. These tablets, known collectivelyas the Anitta text, begin by telling how Pithana the king

of Kussara or Kussar conquered the neighbouring city ofNea (Kanesh) and annexed them peacefully. Afterthe conquest, Nea became the seat of the Kussarandynasty. Pithana's son Anitta launched several successful

campaigns against the many Anatolian kingdoms. Hedefeated Zalpa and captured their King. Anitta then laidsiege to Hattusa and after capturing it in a night assault,

destroyed it. He established his supremacy over most ofCentral Anatolia around the Kizilirmak basin. Anitta's

Kingdom did not last long however and had disintegratedsoon after his death.

After the fall of Anitta's kingdom central Anatolia wasravaged bywarfare between small states and invadingpeoples like the Hurrians and the Kaskians. The Hittite

Kingdom would grow out of the city of Kussara and the

founding of the Kingdom is attributed to Labarna I whobegan a new era of conquest. Hattusili (possiblyLabarna's grandson) established the seat of his reign in

the city of Hattusa from which he captured the city ofSanahuitta and controlled most of central Anatolia.Hattusili then attacked Syria taking Alalah and Urshu.

Hattusili also marched against Arzawa but his Kingdomwas attacked by Hurrians, triggering uprisings and he

was forced to turn back to defeat them. The rebellioneffectively ended after city of Sanahuitta was subdued.Hattusili attacked Syria a second time, capturing the cityof Zaruna and defeating an army of the city of Hassuwasupported by troops from Aleppo at a battle near Mt.

Atalur (Adalur). He then captured and sacked
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the cities of Hassuwa, Zippasna and Hahha/Hahhum andeven crossed the Euphrates to attack Tikunani andpillaged north Mesopotamian territory. While these

campaigns gained Hattusili much plunder they did notresult in the establishment of permanent Hittite controlover Syria. In the later part of his reign, Hattusili had todeal with several rebellions carried out by his own sons

Huzziya and Hakkarpili, as well as with a rebellion in thecity of Hattusa which saw the involvement of his owndaughter. It was after these rebellions that Hattusili

appointed his grandson Mursili I as his heir.

Mursili continued the conquests of Hattusili. Mursili'sconquests reached Mesopotamia and even

ransackedBabylonitself in 1531 BC bringing to an endthe dynasty ofHammurabi. Rather thanincorporateBabyloniainto Hittite domains, Mursili seemsto have instead turned control Babylonia over to

his Kassiteallies, who were to rule it for the next four

centuries. This lengthy campaign, however, allowed for aplot to be formed by Mursili's brother in law Hantili andHantili's son in law Zidanta. Mursili was assassinated

shortly after his return home by Hantili and Zidanta.Hantili then took the throne, he campaigned against theHurrians in Syria, but was unable to stop their advances.

The Hurrians invaded the Hittite kingdom and plunderedthe land of Hatti. Hantili's sons were murdered by

Zidanta who took the throne, only to be killed by his ownson Ammuna. During thisperiod the Hittite kingdombegan its decline and was attacked by varioussurrounding rebellious states such as the hurriankingdom of Kizzuwadna and the kingdom of Arzawa.

Ammuna tried but ultimately failed to conquer these
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rebel Kingdoms. After Ammuna's death, the usurperHuzziya attempted to kill off his sons, but was himselfdeposed by Telepinu, a son of Ammuna. Telepinu

established control over the Hittite core once again, andexpanded towards the Euphrates taking various towns inthe region near Carchemish. He also signed a treaty withthe southern Kingdom of Kizzuwadna which formalized

territorial agreements.

The successors of Telepinu reigned over a period of

instability in the Kingdom, sometimes called the MiddleKingdom. This period saw the first invasions of Hatti by

the Kaska peoples of the north, who took the town ofNerik and led to the fortification of the capital of

Hattusa and other towns in the region of Hatti, whichshowed that the very heart of the Kingdom was underthreat. This period also saw the Hittite kingdom wrackedwith internecine strife, as Kings were assasinated and

pretenders vied for the royal throne. It was also during

this period that the Hurrian confederationofMittani expanded into Syria and into Hittite controlledland west of the Euphrates.

The New Kingdom

With the reign of Tudhaliya I (who may actually not havebeen the first of that name; see also Tudhaliya), the

Hittite Kingdom re-emerges from the fog of obscurity.Hittite civilization entered the perioid of time called the"Hittite Empire period." Many changes were afoot duringthis time, not the least of which was a strengthening ofthe kingship. Settlement of the Hittitesprogressed in

the Empire period. However, the Hittite people tended to
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settle in the older lands of south Anatolia rather than thelands of theAegean. As this settlement progressed,treaties were signed with neighboring peoples. During the

Hittite Empire period the kingship became heriditary andthe king took on a "superhuman aura" and began to bereferred to by the Hittite citizens as "My Sun." The kingsof the Empire period began acting as a high priest for the

whole kingdom--making an annual tour of the Hittite holycities, conducting festivals and supervising the upkeep ofthe sanctuaries.

Map of Mesopotamia, c. 1400 BCDuring his reign (c. 1400 BC), King Tudhaliya I sought toreassert the dominant position of Hatti. He first attacked
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the lands western Anatolia including Arzawa. Tudhaliyafeared that the various western states might uniteagainst him in the future and thus attacked preemptively,

transporting large numbers of soldiers and chariots fromthe conquered territories back to Hattusa. Soon after theend of this campaign, twenty two western anatolianstates came together in a large anti Hittite military

alliance, the alliance possibly extended from Wilusa(Troy) as far south as Lukka (Lycia). Tudhaliya attackedthis alliance and defeated them in battle, once again

taking back a large number of warriors and charioteers toHatti and settling them. In the west, Tudhaliya installed

Madduwatta as vassal King. Madduwatta expanded hiskingdom into Asawa and Happalla, which outraged the

Hittites who had commanded him to stay within hisborders, but despite his apparent hostility Madduwattaremained a Hittite vassal and served his main purpose, tokeep the western Anatolian states from begin a threat to

Hatti. While Tudhaliya campaigned in the west, the

Kaskians invaded from the north and ravaged Hatti, ascene which would be repeated many times in Hittitehistory. Tudhaliya defeated the invaders and marched

into Kaskian territory were he defeated their combinedforces and conquered much of their lands. Tudhaliya alsosucceeded in regaining control of Isuwa from

the Mitanni.

Meanwhile the Mitanni king Saushtatar I had invaded andconquered Assyria and then crossed the Euphratesconquering Syria. He also signed a treaty with the KingofKadesh. In order to challenge Mitanni, Tudhaliya firstsecured a treaty with the Kingdom of Kizuwadna, he then

invaded Syria and conquered Aleppo, though was unable
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to completely end Mitanni control over the region. AfterTudhaliya's death, he left to his co-ruler and heirArnuwanda a large but fragile Kingdom which continued

to deteriorate under his rule, the Kaskians began theirattacks on the northern region once again, sacking andpillaging Hittite towns andtemples. An alliance betweenMitanni and Egypt allowed for the resurgence of Mitanni

control over Syria. During the reign of Arnuwanda's son,Tudhaliya III the Kingdom was attacked from all sides.Kaskians, Arzawans, Isuwans and others invaded and

devastated Hatti, even Hattusa, the capital of theKingdom was taken and burned. The Kingdom of Hatti

seemed to be at an end, but Tudhaliya III, gathering hisforces at Samuha was able to retake the central anatolian

region from his Kaskian foes. His campaigns and those ofhis son Suppiluliuma I are attested in the documentknown as the "Deeds of Suppiluliuma". Together,Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma led armies against the

Kaskians, retook the land of Hatti and attacked the

Kaskian lands themselves. Suppiluliuma I then went onto invade the kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa, making it a vassalof the Hittite Kingdom. Suppiluliuma I now attacked the

Arzawans in the region of the lower land, defeating themnear Tuwanuwa and capturing this city. Suppiluliumatook twenty years to re-establish Hittite control in

Anatolia, much of which was spent against the Arzawansin western Anatolia during his father's reign and

continuing into much of his own.

Empire of Suppiluliuma and Mursili II

The Hittite Kingdom reached its zenith during the reign of

Suppiluliuma I (c. 13501322), who deposed his older
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brother, the true heir to Tudhaliya III's throne, tobecome the king. Suppiluliuma I established control overKizzuwadna, and invaded Isuwa, coming into conflict with

Mitanni. The kingdom of Mitanni, wracked by civilwar,was unable to withstand the Hittite onslaught.Suppiluliuma I allied with Artatama, a rival for theMitanni throne and enemy of the Mitanni King Tushratta.

Following an uprising in Isuwa, Suppiluliuma swiftlyattacked the Mitanni heartland through Isuwa, capturingand plundering the Mitanni capital of Washshuganni. He

then turned west, recrossed the Euphrates and capturedall the Syrian kingdoms which were vassals to the

Mitanni, including Aleppo, Mukish, Niya, Qatna, Upi(Upina), and Kadesh. Other kingdoms such as Ugarit and

Amurru (an Egyptian vassal) voluntarily became vassalstates of the Hittites. When hostilities flared up oncemore with Mitanni, Tulipinu, Suppiluliuma's son andviceroy at Aleppo invaded Carchemish but was unable to

take the city. Suppiluliuma met with his son and then

invaded Syria himself, laying siege to the city ofCarchemish. He also sent some troops south to aid hisvassals in an attack on the Egyptian ally of Amka, in

retaliation for an earlier Egyptian attack against Kadesh.Suppiluliuma laid siege to Carchemish and broke thesiege on the eighth day, installing his son Piyassili as

viceroy of the kingdom. With his sons as viceroys ofAleppo and Carchemish, Suppiluliuma had cemented his

rule over Syria and brought the empire of Mitanni to anend, the Mitanni King was assassinated soon after.

Then Tutankhamun, the EgyptianPharaohdied and toSuppiluliuma's amazement, Tutankhamun's wife asked

him to marry one of his sons. Suppiluliuma sent an envoy
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to Egypt to confirm this message. After meeting with hisreturning ambassador and an Egyptian envoy,Suppiluliuma agreed to send his son Zannanza to Egypt

to marry the queen, most likely he saw this as a chanceto widely expand his influence and power base. However,Zannanza was assassinated en route to Egypt.Suppiluliuma was furious and blamed the new Egyptian

Pharaoh Ay for his son's death. A Hittite army undercrown prince Arnuwanda invaded Egyptian territory fromSyria, pillaging and taking many prisoners. These

prisoners brought with them a plague which ravaged theHittite Kingdom continuing well into Mursili's reign and

may have killed Suppiluliuma himself.

In the east, the weakened Mitanni Kingdom underShuttarna had now allied itself with a resurgent Assyria.Fearing a new threat from the east, Suppiluliuma nowsent his son and viceroy of Carchemish Piyassili (Sharri-

Kushuh) and his Mitanni ally Shattiwaza against the

Mitanni Kingdom. They swept into Mitanni, taking Irrite,Harran and finally the Mitanni capital Washukanni.Shattiwaza was made into the king of the new Mitanni

vassal state. Six years after the capture of Carchemish,Suppiluliuma died, leaving the throne to his eldest sonArnuwanda. The very brief reign of Arnuwanda saw

renewed attacks by the Kaska, after his death it was leftto his brother Mursili II (c. 13211295) to take the

mantle of kingship.


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Map of the Hittite Empire (c. 1300 BC)Mursili II was very young and inexperienced,

nevertheless he proved to be a strong king for the firstyears of his reign saw him carrying out punitive

campaigns against the Kaska. He then turned west,where Uhhaziti, a king of Arzawa, had begun to form ananti-Hittite alliance with Ahhiyawa, Millawanda (Miletos)and other Arzawan kings of the region. Mursili personallyled a force into Arzawa, defeating Uhhaziti's son Piyama-

Kurunta in battle at the river Astarpa and then taking his

capital city of Apasa and then the stronghold of Puranda.Mursili then turned against the kingdom of the Seha River

Land, which had allied with Uhhaziti, its King Manapa-Tarhunda surrendered and Mursili left him on the throne.After the conquest, 65,000 inhabitants of Arzawa weretransported to Hatti. While Mursili was in the west, the

Kaskians attacked once more. Mursili then invaded andconquered the Kaskan lands, burning towns and
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slaughtering the population. In Syria the Nuhashshi kingTette rebelled and was joined by Egyptian troops,Piyassili viceroy of Carchemish defeated the Egyptians

and managed to contain the rebellion. Meanwhile Mursilicontinued his war the north, this time conquering Azzi-Hayasa. Troubles in Syria continued when Mursilibrothers Tulipinu and Piyassili both died, the loss of his

Syrian viceroys led to rebellion and even the invasion ofCarchemish by Assyria. Leaving his generals to deal withSyria and Hayasa, Mursili invaded Carchemish and drove

out the Assyrians. Later in his reign Mursili II campaignedagainst the Kaska once again retaking the Hittite holy

city of Nerik, he also decisively defeating the King ofTummanna.

War with Egypt and the battle of Kadesh

On his death Mursili left his successor Muwattalli II

(c.12951272) a stable Kingdom. Early in his reign he

was forced to deal with Piyamaradu, a King in westernAnatolia, who had allied himself with the King ofAhhiyawa and gone on to invade Wilusa, the Seha River

land and Lazpa (Lesbos). Muwattalli sent an army westwhich succeeded in dispersing Piyamaradu's forces,causing him to flee to Ahhiyawa. Muwattalli also signed a

treaty with the king of Wilusa, Alaksandu which stressedthe past loyalty of Wilusa to Hatti.

Meanwhile Egypt under Seti I had begun a series ofmajor military campaigns inCanaan and Palestine,reasserting Egyptian authority in the region. He theninvaded and conquered the kingdoms of Amurru and

Kadesh, since they were both Hittite vassals, this
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amounted to a declaration of war on Hatti. As is attestedin Seti's war monument at Karnak, Seti I defeated aHittite army sent to Syria in the region of Kadesh and

took many prisioners. During this period Muwattalli IIalso moved the capital to the city of Tarhuntassa, movingall the state deities there from Hattusa. Not only wasTarhuntassa further south, away from the Kaska but it

was also a better position from which to launchcampaigns into Syria. He also appointed his brotherHattusili III as governor of the region around Hattusa,

Upper land and as king (Lugal) of Hakpisa. He wasappointed to contain the Kaska and repopulate the land

of Hatti which had now only sparse population, possiblydue to the constant Kaskian attacks on the area. With the

departure of his brother from Hattussa, Hattusili washard pressed in the north but he managed to drive backhis enemies and establish Hittite control over thenorthern regions, resettling the underpopulated areas

despite further Kaska incursions.

Back in Egypt Seti had died and Ramesses IIascendedto the throne. In his fifth year on the

throne,Ramesses launched a campaign into Syria withthe goal of breaking Hittite power in the region andretaking Kadesh, which seems to have reverted to Hittite

control by this time. Ramesses' forces met Muwattalli IIwho had assembled a large army in Syria at the Battle of

Kadesh c. 1274. in what was probably the largest chariotbattle in history. When Ramesses, eager to arrive atKadesh, split his forces, Muwattalli attacked, destroyingone of his army divisions, the Re division and thenfollowed them to the camp of the Amun division, causing

chaos in the Egyptian army. Only a counter attack led by
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the Pharaoh himself turned back the Hittite forces whohad stopped their attack to loot the army camp. Aftermore pitched fighting, the battle was inconclusive. While

Ramesses later claimed victory, both sides sufferedheavy casualties, the Egyptians failed to take Kadesh andretreated south followed by the Hittites who tookDamascus and also retook the kingdom of Amurru.

Therefore despite Ramesses' claims to victory, the battleof Kadesh actually led to Egyptian territorial losses inSyria.

Civil war and Hattusili III

When Muwattalli died, he only left a "secondary son" as

successor (a son not of his first and primary wife), namedUrhi-Teshub (c. 12721267). Though Urhi-Teshub tookthe throne, it was clear that Muwattalli's brother HattusiliIII resented his rule as he was only a second-rank son.

Yet despite this Hattusili allowed Urhi-Teshub to take the

throne. Early in his reign, Urhi-Teshub moved the capitalback to Hattusa; this and other actions show thatHattusili exercised strong influence over his nephew in

matters of royal administration. During Urhi-Teshub'sreign, Assyria attacked Hanigalbat, a rump kingdom ofMitanni, and annexed it to the growing Assyrian kingdom.

This exacerbated relations between Hatti and Assyria.

Tensions between an increasingly independent Urhi-Teshub and his powerful and dominating uncle grew andeventually led to civil war when Urhi-Teshub stripped hisuncle of his northern territories. At first Hattusili IIIcomplied, but when his nephew also attempted to

remove him as ruler of Hakpis and Nerik he rebelled and


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with considerable support from the Hittite nobility andKaskians, overthrew Urhi-Teshub and became the newking. Urhi-Teshub was exiled and he eventually fled to

the Egyptian court of Ramesses.

The reign of Hattusili III (c. 12671237) was one ofdiplomacy and reconciliation with neighboring powers.

Hattusili III drew up treaties with Babylon and Amurru,marrying his daughters to strengthen these contacts.Constant tensions with Assyria around the region of

Hanigalbat led Hattusili to seek a treaty with Egypt tosecure his southern frontier. The treaty would also serve

to cement his credibility as the true King of Hatti and tostrengthen Ramesses's image after his losses in Syria.

The treaty confirmed existing territorial boundariesbetween Hatti and Egypt and included agreements thatneither side would invade the other and that they wouldboth come to each other's aid if attacked by a third party.

The new alliance was also cemented by a marriage

between Ramesses and one of Hattusili's daughters.Hattusili's Egyptian treaty allowed him to concentrateagainst the a major uprising against the lands of Lukka in

western Anatolia.

The beginning of the reign of Hattusili's son, Tudhaliya IV

(c. 12371209), saw him dealing with rebellions in thelower land, continuing conflict with the Lukkans,

Ahhiyawa, the Seha river land and even a failedassassination plot against the new king.Tudhaliya IV (relief in Hattusa)

Tudhaliya IV also faced the growing threat of Assyria,

which had finally conquered Hanigalbat under


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Shalmaneser and the lands of Subari under his sonTukulti-Ninurta, asserting its influence in the region.Tukulti-Ninurta then turned against the lands of Nihiriya.

It was then that Tudhaliya decided to act to preventfurther Assyrian expansion. He sent troops to Nihiriyaand then invaded Assyria from there when the Assyriantroops retreated. The armies clashed in northern Assyria

and Tukulti-Ninurta proved victorious, moving north andconquering Nihiriya afterwards. Luckily for Tudhaliya,Tukulti-Ninurta followed up his conquests in the north by

attacking and conquering Babylon, not with furtherattacks against Hatti. Later in his reign, Tudhaliya IV also

attacked and conquered Alasiya (Cyprus), possibly toprotect the supply routes from Egypt which brought much

needed grain to the Hittite lands.

Decline and fall of Hatti

Tudhaliya's death led to instability in the Kingdom, his

successor Arnuwanda III only lasted a year on the thronebefore being replaced by his brother Suppiluliuma II.Suppiluliuma II faced more unrest in Lukka and Western

Anatolia, and led a campaign to conquer Tarhuntassa.The loss of Tarhuntassa (possibly during Tudhaliya IV'sreign) was especially damaging to Hatti since it was here

where grain shipments from Egypt arrived, especially inthe port of Ura. Due to food shortages in the Kingdom,

Tarhuntassa and thetrade routes with Egypt had to bekept open. These food shortages worsened the final yearsof the Hittite Kingdom. Perhaps it was because of thisneed to keep the grain routes open that we findSuppiluliuma II fighting sea battles against the "enemies

from Alasiya", clearly Tudhaliya's invasion of the island
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had not managed to completely subdue it. It is unknownif these were native Alasiyans or as has been proposedwere part of theSea Peoples. Whoever they were,

Suppiluliuma II seems to have defeated them temporarilyusing the navy of his allies such as Ugarit, as Hatti hadno navy of its own.Sea Peoples attacking Egypt.

The swift and utter destruction of the Kingdom of theHittites is attributed to the massive movement of Sea

Peoples who destroyed much of Anatolia, Syria andPalestine in the early twelfth century. There is still

scholarly debate on who the Sea Peoples were, though itseems many of them were from Western Anatolia. Most

likely, attacks by Sea Peoples weakened central Hittiteauthority and coupled with food shortages or outrightfamines allowed for uprisings in the constantly unstablelands of Anatolia such as Arzawa and Kaska which then

attacked Hatti and led to further revolts. Whatever the

case, Hittite records end abruptly with Suppiluliuma II'sbattles against Alisaya and there is some archeologicalevidence which shows destruction in the capital of

Hattusa. Despite this most of theBronze age Hittite sitesseem to have been abandoned rather than destroyed,thus this period seems to be characterized more by mass

movements of peoples rather than widespreaddestruction.

The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms

By 1160 BC, the political situation in Asia Minor lookedvastly different from how it had only 25 years earlier. In

that year, the Assyrians were dealing with the Mushku
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pressing into northernmost Mesopotamia from theAnatolian highlands, and the Gasga people, the Hittites'old enemies from the northern hill-country between Hatti

and the Black Sea, seem to have joined them soon after.The Mushku or Mushki had apparently overrunCappadocia from the West, with recently discoveredepigraphic evidence confirming their origins as the Balkan

"Bryges" tribe, forced out by the Macedonians.

Although the Hittites disappeared from Anatolia at this

point, there emerged a number of so-called Neo-Hittitekingdoms in Anatolia and northern Syria. They were the

successors of the Hittite Kingdom. The most notableSyrian Neo-Hittite kingdoms were those at Carchemish

and Milid (near the later Melitene). These Neo-HittiteKingdoms gradually fell under the control of theAssyrians, who conquered Carchemish during the reignofSargon II in the late 8th century BC, and Milid several

decades later.

A large and powerful state known as Tabal occupiedmuch of southern Anatolia. Known as Gk. Tibarenoi, Lat. Tibareni, Thobeles in Josephus, theirlanguage may have been Luwian, testified to bymonuments written using Luwian hieroglyphics.

Ultimately, both Luwian hieroglyphs and cuneiform were

rendered obsolete by a new innovation, thealphabet,which seems to have entered Anatolia simultaneouslyfrom the Aegean (with the Bryges, who changed theirname to Phrygians), and from the Phoenicians andneighboring peoples in Syria.
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history of the hittites

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