HistoryMemes.com

Making Sense of History

Old Hittite Empire: A Visual History

Get My 10 Best History Memes:

Visual history of an empire

Hattusili I made Hattusa his capital and raided Syria; his grandson Mursili I sacked Babylon and was murdered coming home; the kingdom nearly ate itself.

Existed
1,650 BC to 1,500 BC
Duration
150 years
Existed
About 1650 to 1500 BC
Peak area
About 200,000 km2 (1600 BC)
Capital
Hattusa
Notable kings
Hattusili I, Mursili I, Telipinu
Signature event
Sack of Babylon, 1595 BC

The Old Hittite Kingdom (about 1650-1500 BC) was created when Hattusili I made the ruined city of Hattusa his capital and led armies over the Taurus into Syria, attacking Aleppo and Alalakh. His adopted grandson Mursili I took Aleppo and, in 1595 BC, marched down the Euphrates to sack Babylon, ending Hammurabi's dynasty, before being assassinated by his brother-in-law Hantili on his return. A cycle of palace murders followed until Telipinu's edict around 1500 BC set rules of succession. Hittite laws, the Anitta text and Hattusili's testament date from this period.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Old 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 BCOld Hittite Kingdom (1,650 BC to 1,500 BC)Open: Middle Kingdom of EgyptMiddle Kingdom of Egypt (2,055 BC to 1,650 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: HyksosHyksos (1,650 BC to 1,550 BC)Open: Middle Hittite KingdomMiddle Hittite Kingdom (1,500 BC to 1,400 BC)Open: New Hittite Kingdom (Hittite Empire)New Hittite Kingdom (Hittite Empire) (1,400 BC to 1,180 BC)

Hittite territory

0501001502001,650 BC: 501,620 BC: 1501,595 BC: 2001,580 BC: 1201,500 BC: 1001,640 BC1,620 BC1,600 BC1,580 BC1,560 BC1,540 BC1,520 BC1,500 BCthousand km2 (approximate)

Timeline of the Old Hittite Kingdom

  1. 1,750 BC
    Anitta destroys Hattusa
  2. 1,650 BC
    Hattusili I refounds Hattusa
  3. 1,620 BC
    Hattusili's Syrian campaigns
  4. 1,600 BC
    Mursili I takes Aleppo
  5. 1,595 BC
    Sack of Babylon
  6. 1,590 BC
    Mursili murdered by Hantili
  7. 1,500 BC
    Telipinu's edict

Hattusili I

The Hittites, Indo-European speakers, had been in Anatolia since at least the Kanesh trading period; Anitta of Kussara had destroyed Hattusa around 1750 and cursed anyone who resettled it. Hattusili I ('man of Hattusa') did just that around 1650, subdued central Anatolia, and campaigned six times into Syria against Yamhad (Aleppo) and the Hurrians. His annals in Hittite and Akkadian and his testament, disinheriting his nephew for a treacherous mother, are the earliest Hittite historical texts.

Mursili and Babylon

Mursili I took Aleppo, avenging his grandfather, and around 1595 BC led an army 1,000 km down the Euphrates, defeated the Hurrians and sacked Babylon, carrying off Marduk's statue to Hana. It was a raid, not a conquest; on his return Hantili, his sister's husband, murdered him. Hantili was in turn haunted by the crime, and his son was killed by Zidanta, who was killed by his own son.

Telipinu

After decades of regicide and the loss of Syria and Kizzuwatna, Telipinu seized power around 1500, spared his defeated rivals, and issued an edict recounting the bloody history and fixing the succession: first-rank son, then second-rank son, then a daughter's husband. The council (panku) was to judge royal murderers. His reign closes the Old Kingdom; the Middle Kingdom's obscure century followed.

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 Old Hittite Kingdom

  1. Anitta's curse on Hattusa's site is the oldest surviving text in the Hittite language; Hattusili I ignored it.
  2. The sack of Babylon in 1595 BC is a fixed point for the whole chronology of the ancient Near East, and scholars still argue about the exact year.
  3. Hattusili I's testament complains that his adopted heir 'did not weep' and was 'a snake' who listened to his mother.
  4. The Hittite laws, first written down in this period, set the price of a bride, a horse and a vineyard, and rarely prescribe death.
  5. Telipinu's edict tells its history so vividly that it is the main source for the whole Old Kingdom.
  6. The Hittites called Hattusa's original inhabitants Hattians and borrowed their gods and their name.
  7. Mursili's raid on Babylon opened the way for the Kassites, who ruled Babylonia for 400 years.
  8. The Hittite king was expected to be a fair judge, high priest and general; Hattusili boasted of doing what no earlier king had, crossing the Euphrates.

Sources

Back to all empires and wars