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4. ANATOLIA, TO 547 b.c.
a. THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
The peninsula of Anatolia or Asia Minor
stretches westward from the Armenian moun­
tains to the Aegean Sea. It is separated from
Syria by the Taurus range on the south, and
from Upper Mesopotamia by the Anti-Taurus,
a chain running northeastward to the Armenian
massif. The central highland or plateau is
ringed about with mountains, and near its cen­
ter sinks into a basin which traps drainage
waters in a salt lake (Tuz Gdl). The people of
ancient Anatolia were dominantly broad­
headed Armenoids, but owing to repeated inva­
sions became mixed, especially with people of
Mediterranean affinities.
b. THE HITTITES, TO c. 1200 b.c.
The founders of the great Hittite state are
called after the name of their land Khattu,
“Hittites.” Actually this designation more ap­
propriately applies to one stratum of the Hit­
tite population, no doubt the predecessors of
the Hittites, now called “Proto-Khattians.” The
Proto-Khattic language, known from religious
texts, is without affinities to other known lan­
guage groups. The Hittites themselves spoke a
language which belongs to the Indo-European
family. They called it Nesian after the city of
Nesa. Other languages closely affiliated include
Luwian, the language of southeastern and south­
western Anatolia (ancient Kizzuwatna and
Arzawa) and Palaic, a northern dialect. A
form of Luwian is recorded in the Hittite hiero­
glyphic script used in inscriptions of the later
kings and especially in the monuments of Late
Hittite city states. A large part of our knowl­
edge of Hittite history and religion stems from
the many thousands of documents found in
Khattusas (modern Boghazkoy), the capital of
the Hittite state located in the bend of the c. 1450-1200. THE HITTITE EMPIRE.
Halys River.
The mixture of peoples in the Hittite home­
land was ruled by an Indo-European aristo­
cracy. The great king, called the “Sun” in the
later titulary, was military leader, high priest, tusilis II, Tudkhaliyas III, and Arnuwandas I,
and judge. The nobility and the state were
extensions of his person. Hittite religion is
peculiarly syncretistic. Proto-Khattic, Hurrian,
and Akkado-Sumerian gods and myths are
mixed with Luwian and Hittite counterparts in
a bewildering fashion. The state cult centered c. 1380-1346. The Reign of Suppiluliumas.
about the sun goddess of Arinna. Her Proto-
Khattic name was Wurusemu. In the Empire
she was identified with Hurrian Khepat. Her
consort was the storm-god, Luwian Tarkhunt,
Proto-Khattic Taru, the equivalent of Hurrian
Teshup. The chief event of the official cult was
the purulli festival, evidently a New Year’s festi­
val, celebrating the combat of the storm-god
with the dragon Illuyankas.
c. 1800-1700. The Cappadocian Texts. Our
earliest real historical knowledge of the Ana­
tolian plateau stems from the Assyrian mer­
chant colonies in Cappadocia. At the end of
the age of the colonies, contemporary with
Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria (1748-1716), we
learn of a certain Pitkhana and his son Anit-
tas, kings of Kussar. They destroyed Hat-
tusas, and established their capital at Nesa
(possibly Kanish, modern Kultepe).
c. 1600-1500. The Old Hittite Kingdom.
Tudkhaliyas I and Pusarma, who flourished in
the late 17th century, are little more than
names. Labarnas I (c. 1600) was credited with
founding the Hittite kingdom, and his bound­
aries were said to reach the sea. His name
and that of his queen Tawannannas were
borne by his successors and their queens as if
they were titles. Khattusilis I (Labarnas II,
c. 1580) evidently shifted the capital to Khat­
tusas. He continued the Hittite expansion,
conquering Alalakh and attacking Arzawa.
His successor Mursilis I (c. 1550-1530) sub­
jugated northern Syria, destroying Aleppo.
He then boldly marched on Babylon, pillaged
it and brought down the 1st Dynasty of Bab­
ylon (c. 1531). He returned home to be as­
sassinated. A time of troubles followed, petty
king following petty king: Khantilis, Zidan-
tas, Ammunas, and Khuzzias. Telepinus came
to the throne about 1500 and halted the decline.
He pushed back the Hurrians and made a
treaty with Kizzuwatna. Telepinus composed
an edict proclaiming a law of succession that
stabilized the crown. The Hittite law code also
dates from this general period.
c. 1450-1380. The Early Kings. Tudkhaliyas II
established a new dynasty destined to build an
empire. The reigns of the early kings gave
no promise of this. In the reigns of Khat­
the state came into a time of grave danger. It
was threatened by the Kingdom of Mitanni on
the east, Arzawa on the west, and the hordes
of Kashka people on the north. The Kashka
actually reached Khattusas and sacked it.
Suppiluliumas, a younger son of Tudkhaliyas,
took the throne. He fortified and rebuilt his
capital and reorganized the home territories.
Then he marched into Syria. His first encoun-
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