Among the directions of their arrival in Anatolia, various opinions have been put forward that they came from the Caucasus, the Dardanelles or the Black Sea. The most generally accepted view is that they descended to Anatolia via the Caucasus.
Their first king in history was the king of Kuşsara, Pithana. The first settlements are Kuşşara. During the time of Pithana's son Anitta , their capital was Neşa (Kaniş). Anitta besieged Hattuş (Boğazköy), the capital of the kingdom of Hatti, assuming that it had great treasures, but when she could not find anything in the city, she got angry, completely destroyed the city and cast her famous curse.
“I took the city with an attack at night. I planted bluegrass instead. Whoever becomes king after me and resettles Hattusa, may the curse of the sky (Storm God) be on him. This time he will make it the capital of the Hittite kingdom and name himself Hattuşili The ancient ruins of Hattusa are today on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage list. The Hittites were influenced by the economic and cultural influences of the local people and changed their language and religion. They adopted and assimilated their race into the Hatti race.
The Hittites took over the state administration after the Assyrians were forced to leave Anatolia. They merged with the indigenous people of Anatolia and founded the Hittite State. The founder of this state is Labarna. Its capital is Hattusa. (Boğazköy)
Hittite history BC. 1650-1450 old kingdom and B.C. It is examined in two phases: 1450-1200 Hittite Imperial Period. Since the establishment of the Hittite State, Mesopotamian elements in art disappeared and were combined with the native art of Anatolia. In art, monumental works of increased size have emerged. It differs from previous art with temples, palaces, social structures, rock reliefs and orthostats (embossed stones in the lower row on building facades).
Although it actually belongs to the Hattians, it is Hittite. The ceremonial object called the Sun Disc is considered the symbol of the Hittites.
The name Hittite is a name made up according to the Old Testament. We know that these people, called Hittites today, called themselves Nesili, meaning "speaking Nesi language". The Hittites called themselves "Neshali".
Hittite Political History
B.C. The 1800s, the beginning of Anatolian history, is the period in which the first information was obtained about the indigenous agglutinate language group Hatians and Indo-European Hittites. This age is the source of the beginning and development stages of Hittite culture. The representative of the developed culture in the Northern Cappadocia and Central Black Sea region between 2500 and 2000 BC was the Hattians. The fortified cities, royal tombs and treasures of this region, which was governed by city-states, are symbols of Hatti culture. This era, which ended with the fires that broke out as a result of great wars at the end of 2000 BC, was followed by the Assyrian Trade Colonies period. According to written sources, the Hittites came to Anatolia in B.C. It is possible that they started to enter in small groups in the last years of the 3rd millennium and at the beginning of the 2nd millennium. It is considered that the Hittites came to Anatolia via the northern Black Sea or from the northeast, via the Caucasus, and settled in the northern part of the Kızılırmak curve.
The Hittites, who spread into Central Anatolia with successive raids, expanded their sphere of influence over time and dominated the lands of the Hatti Princes. In the late phase of the Assyrian Trade Colonies (1800-1730 BC), the King of Kuşshara Pithana and his son Anitta appeared on the stage of history. They captured Kaniş/Nesha, which gave the Hittite language its name Naşili and made it the first center of the kingdom. B.C. In the 1700s, Anitta, the king of Kuşsara, tells that he defeated the King of HattushPijusti and destroyed his city. “I took the city with an attack at night. I planted bluegrass instead. Whoever becomes king after me and resettles Hattus may be cursed by the Storm God of the sky.”
Hattusa B.C. In the second half of the 17th century, it was chosen as the capital by the Hittite King Hattusili I. After Hattusili I, the founder of the Old Hittite State, achieved unity in the core country within the Kızılırmak curve, he created a world state for the Hittite Kings who would follow him, with the raids he led against the Hurrian Country in Northern Syria and the Upper Euphrates Region. By continuing the invasions in the south and eliminating the city states in Syria, he took control of the Mesopotamian trade routes. Aleppo was captured and the army advanced to Babylon and put an end to the Hammurabi dynasty.
However, the murder of Murşili by Hantili It brings a period of confusion. Although Hantili took over the administration, he was also killed. Zidanta and Huzziya, who came to the throne after Hantili, were also killed, sharing the same fate as Hantili.
During this period, the Hittite state He lost the countries in the south of the Taurus Mountains and other regions in Southern and Southeastern Anatolia to the Mitanni Kingdom again.
When Telipinu came to the throne, there was bloodshed in the palace. managed to stop their lawsuit. He tried to bring Anatolia under a consistent administrative organization by stopping the expeditions of previous kings to distant regions. For this purpose, he established the state system. By publishing the edict known as the Telipinu edict, he bound the succession to the throne to certain rules.
According to the traditional Hittite historical era distinction, the Telipinu era is called the Middle Kingdom. period.
At the same time, with I. Tuthaliya The relentless enemy of the Hittites Kaşkalar. had to deal with it. In the texts, during the time of Tuthaliya, military operations against the regions in the upper bed of the Euphrates and against the Hurrians in Northern Mesopotamia are mentioned. It is understood that with these successes, Tuthaliya I regained the power of the kingdom in the Hatti country. However, the reign of Tuthaliya I was generally limited to Anatolia.
I. When Suppiluliuma came to the throne, he first strengthened his dominance in Anatolia. Later, he annexed some regions of Syria and Northern Mesopotamia to the Hittite Kingdom. He fought with the Kashkas, Ugarit King II. He made an agreement with Nigmedu Suppiluliuma took advantage of the conflicts that broke out after the death of Tutankhamen in Egypt, and by taking Carchemish he put an end to the Mitanni Kingdom.
Mursili II's reign in the north of Anatolia. and his campaigns in the west coincided with a period when the plague was prevalent in the Hittite core country and there was unrest in Syria due to the increasing Assyrian influence.
11th Muvattalli< /strong>, reigned as the "Great King" for more than twenty years. His younger brother Hattusili, head of military units, court official, constantly unsettled areas of the northern border
Writing and Language
The language of the Hittites is included in the Anatolian subgroup of Indo-European Languages. They probably used the term Hatti for their country, from the Hatti people who spoke a pre-Indo ancient Anatolian language. On the other hand, they called their language Nesili (Nesçe), taken from the city of Kaniş (Nesha).
Hittite is the oldest Indo-European language known to date. Apart from this, other languages that were more or less related to Hittite, such as the Luwian and Pala languages, were also used in the Hittite Empire. Luvian had importance in religious matters. Hittite hieroglyphic script and Luwian language Along with these languages, Hittite formed the Anatolian branch of Indo-European languages, which was partially different from other Indo-European languages in terms of vocabulary.
In addition, different scripts were also in use. While official diplomatic correspondence and palace archives were written in Assyrian (Akkadian) cuneiform script, a script called Hieroglyphs was used for the reliefs and inscriptions on the rocks. Today, it is known that the language written with these letters is a Luvish dialect. Hurrian was also an important diplomatic correspondence language and was used especially in correspondence with the Mittani Empire. The language of the Hittite cuneiform script was deciphered byFriedrich Hrozny in 1915, and Helmuth Theodor Bossert had a great contribution to the decipherment of the Hittite hieroglyphic script, which started in the 1940s.
Hittite Religion
The Hittite religion is a polytheistic religion; There are thousands of gods and goddesses in the pantheon (family of gods), and many of them are taken from the religions of other tribes.
Gods in the Hittites, is just like people. While their physical forms are like humans, they are also spiritually the same as humans. They eat and drink like humans, and do good to people as long as they are well cared for; However, when they are neglected, they are ready to take revenge and punish people with the most brutal methods. A Hittite text compares humans and gods with each other and likens god-human relations to lord-servant relations.
The pantheon of the Hittite state was formed by bringing together and combining various local pantheons of Anatolian and Syrian cities over time. From the beginning of the Hittite state, the chief god was Teşup, the god of storms. It is He who provides the cosmic period (universe) and protects the kingdom and the order of the country. The king rules the country on behalf of his lord. Together with the chief goddess, she constituted the most important unifying force of the federal Hittite State. Both local It was worshiped by the Hatti and Hurian peoples, as well as by the Indo-European Hittites who migrated to Anatolia. Moreover, he In the texts, Adad, the Mesopotamian god of the sky It was written with the ideogram.
The chief god was usually written in Hittite texts “Sky God of the Land of Hatti”, He is known by names such as "God of the Sky", "God of Hattusa", "God of the Palace". Also “The army God of the sky “, “Rain Sky God “ names like is encountered. A god's hieroglyph The sign consists of an ellipse divided into two. The most important symbol of the sky god is the bull. Taurus In the Middle Bronze Age It was the sky god himself. Hatti religion of the Old Bronze Age theriomorhp or zoomorhp Instead of the belief in an animal-shaped god called He had faith in human form. Hittites, under the influence of the Hattians, became anthromorphic, human-like When they switch to belief in God, To explain which god they mean They depicted every human-shaped god with its animal-shaped counterpart. However, in both Hittite texts and Hittite works of art, the sky god is depicted on a bull It is noteworthy that it did not stop.
Like the entire Hittite culture, Hittite religion is also composed of elements of different origins. Chief among these is the Storm God. In addition, Arinna who is the Sun Goddess of her city includes his wife. However, another celestial object The moon was also deified. There is a legend about this falling to the earth. Taru's (Hattice name of the Storm God) Another title is is “king”. The son of the storm god is namedTelipinu This god is a symbol of fertility, dealing with agriculture, bringing water and ensuring the growth of grains. His wife's name is also It is referred to as Hatepinu in the documents. The chief god and goddess Their other children are, Nerik and Zippalanda the sons who are the Storm God of their city, and their daughters Mezulla and their granddaughters It was Zintuhi . Nerik Storm's Zaşhapuna and the Mountain God Zaliyanu were entering. These two are also mentioned in the Illuyanka Legend, which we will summarize later. Also in İnara Storm God Appears as his assistant. Lelwani, İşduştaya and Papaya are seen as underground deities. The last two of these goddesses hold a mirror and a spindle (kirman) as symbols of femininity. They carry it. War and epidemic, plague The name of the god is Shulinkatte. This god Nergal in Mesopotamia It is synonymous and equivalent to. Finally, Hatti Another god who has the suffix "katte", which means king in his language, is Wurunkatte It is understood that this god also had a warrior character and was equated with Zababa in Mesopotamia. The goddess related to magic is called Katahzipuri, Its equivalent in the Hittites is Kamrushepa. The "katah" element at the beginning of the name Katahazipuri means queen in Hatti language. In the same sense, we know another goddess called "Queen". its “disciples” There are virgins and prostitutes among them. One of the important gods de, deified The "throne" is Halmaşuitta. The gods we have mentioned so far are the Hittites After coming to Anatolia, From Hatians, the indigenous people of the place are the gods they took.