The Hittites

We got back more than 3,000 years for today's history lesson. The Hittites were a civilization that lived in what is today Turkey, and were part of a three-way struggle for control of the Eastern Mediterranean and Syria with the Egyptians and Assyrians. They owed much of their success to advances in chariot design.

Scholars believe that the Hittites originated in Central Asia and moved to Anatolia, which is today Turkey. Their capital city was Hattusa. They reached the height of their power in the mid-14th century B.C. under king Suppiluliuma I.

During that time there were conflicts, particularly with the Egyptians, who had spread their empire as far north and east as Syria. By 1285 B.C., under the leadership of Ramses II, Egypt was concerned about Hittite expansion, and a battle took place at Kadesh. It was the largest battle of chariots in human history.

Chariots had existed in Mesopotamia since roughly 3000 B.C., but were used primarily by draft animals. The Hittites made changes, such as reducing the wheels from four to two, and having the wheels with spokes, so they were lighter. They were skilled at woodworking, so the design of the chariots allowed them to turn on a short radius. Their war chariots also held three people: the driver, a warrior armed with a bow and arrow or spear, and a man carrying a shield.

The Pharaoh Thutmose had expanded the Egyptian army to Northern Syria, home of important trade routes. These borders had eroded by the Hittites, and Ramses was determined to win this territory back. Kadesh, near the border of Syria and Lebanon became the site of the conflict. By now the Hittite king was Muwatalli II.

Ramses led his army toward the city of Kadesh, but thought the Hittite army was farther away. They were surprised, and facing a larger army. Ramses was able to hold off the Hittite attack, and the battle ended pretty much in a draw, although Ramses made good use of propaganda and the results were relayed to his people as a great victory. Eventually, sixteen years later, a peace treaty between the two kingdoms was forged, one of the oldest such recorded.

Both the Egyptian and Hittite civilizations began to decline with the emergence of a powerful Assyria. The Hittite kingdom disappeared from Anatolia by 1160 B.C. They were subsumed by the Assyrians, and a Syro-Hittite civilization formed.