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Middle Hittite Kingdom: A Visual History

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The dark century of Hittite history, when the kingdom nearly vanished under Kaska raids and Mitannian pressure before Suppiluliuma's revival.

Existed
1,500 BC to 1,400 BC
Duration
100 years
Existed
About 1500 to 1400 BC
Area
About 100,000 km2 (central Anatolia)
Capital
Hattusa
Notable kings
Telipinu, Tudhaliya I/II, Arnuwanda I
Threats
Mitanni, Kaska, Arzawa

The Middle Hittite Kingdom (about 1500-1400 BC) is the poorly documented interval between the Old Kingdom's collapse and the New Kingdom's empire. After Telipinu's reforms the throne passed through obscure kings, Alluwamna, Hantili II, Zidanta II, Huzziya II and Muwatalli I (assassinated), while Mitanni dominated Syria and Kizzuwatna, and Kaska tribes from the Pontic mountains raided the heartland. Tudhaliya I/II and Arnuwanda I began the recovery around 1400, campaigning in Syria and the west, but a period of 'concentric invasions' saw even Hattusa burned before Suppiluliuma I restored the kingdom.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Middle Hittite Kingdom. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

2,100 BC2,000 BC1,900 BC1,800 BC1,700 BC1,600 BC1,500 BC1,400 BC1,300 BC1,200 BC1,100 BC1,000 BCMiddle Hittite Kingdom (1,500 BC to 1,400 BC)Open: Old Assyrian periodOld Assyrian period (2,025 BC to 1,364 BC)Open: First Babylonian EmpireFirst Babylonian Empire (1,894 BC to 1,595 BC)Open: Old Hittite KingdomOld Hittite Kingdom (1,650 BC to 1,500 BC)Open: New Kingdom of EgyptNew Kingdom of Egypt (1,550 BC to 1,069 BC)Open: MitanniMitanni (1,500 BC to 1,300 BC)Open: New Hittite Kingdom (Hittite Empire)New Hittite Kingdom (Hittite Empire) (1,400 BC to 1,180 BC)

Hittite territory

0501001502001,500 BC: 1501,450 BC: 1001,400 BC: 2001,360 BC: 501,350 BC: 1501,500 BC1,480 BC1,460 BC1,440 BC1,420 BC1,400 BC1,380 BC1,360 BC1,350 BCthousand km2 (approximate)

Timeline of the Middle Hittite Kingdom

  1. 1,500 BC
    Telipinu's edict
  2. 1,450 BC
    Kizzuwatna joins Mitanni
  3. 1,420 BC
    Muwatalli I assassinated
  4. 1,400 BC
    Tudhaliya I/II's campaigns
  5. 1,380 BC
    Arnuwanda I; Kaska prayers
  6. 1,360 BC
    Hattusa burned; concentric invasions
  7. 1,350 BC
    Suppiluliuma IThe New Kingdom begins.

After Telipinu

Telipinu's edict (about 1500) fixed the succession to end the murders that had plagued the Old Kingdom, and he made a treaty with Kizzuwatna in Cilicia. His successors are known mainly from king lists and offering texts; the state contracted, Kizzuwatna went over to Mitanni, and Hittite power in Syria evaporated. Muwatalli I was killed by his officials and Tudhaliya took the throne.

Tudhaliya and Arnuwanda

Tudhaliya I/II (the numbering is uncertain) fought Assuwa in western Anatolia, taking booty including a sword inscribed in Akkadian, and campaigned against Aleppo and Mitanni. Kizzuwatna returned to Hittite alliance. Arnuwanda I and Queen Ashmunikkal complained in prayers that the Kaska had seized temples of the northern cities and enslaved their priests. Hittite prayers of the period are among the most personal texts of the ancient world.

Concentric invasions

Under Tudhaliya III enemies struck from every side: Kaska took and burned Hattusa, Arzawa reached the Lower Land, and the court fled to Samuha. Hattusili III later recalled that the pharaoh wrote to Arzawa as the coming power of Anatolia. Tudhaliya III and his son Suppiluliuma fought their way back, and Suppiluliuma's accession around 1350 opened the imperial age.

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

8 surprising things about the Middle Hittite Kingdom

  1. Telipinu's edict is the earliest known constitutional document regulating royal succession.
  2. The Hittite king Arnuwanda's prayer complains that the Kaska took the gods' silver, gold and cattle 'and gave them to nobody'.
  3. The sword Tudhaliya took from Assuwa is inscribed in Akkadian and was found at Hattusa in 1991; Assuwa may be the origin of the name Asia.
  4. The Amarna letters include a letter from Arzawa in Hittite, the only Amarna text in that language, showing Arzawa's brief prominence.
  5. The period is called 'Middle Hittite' partly because of its script, which is between old and new forms.
  6. Hattusa's burning in this period was so complete that later kings rebuilt it larger and enclosed it with 8 km of walls.
  7. Kizzuwatna's treaty with the Hittites is one of the earliest parity treaties between equals.
  8. The 'concentric invasions' text is a retrospective by Hattusili III written 150 years later, our only narrative of the crisis.

Sources

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