Hethiter

The Hethiter, also known as the Hittites in English, were a Bronze Age civilization centered in Anatolia and parts of northern Syria. They emerged from the older Hattian culture in central Anatolia and established the kingdom of Hatti, with its capital at Hattusa (near modern Boğazkale). The Hethiter state expanded to encompass large parts of Anatolia and Syria, developing a sophisticated administration and a professional military.

The Hittite Empire reached its height in the 14th–13th centuries BCE under kings such as Suppiluliuma I and Muwatalli II, controlling a broad network of territories and vassal states. They employed chariots and a well-organized provincial system, and they conducted diplomacy with neighboring powers, notably Egypt. The most famous diplomatic achievement is the early treaty with Ramesses II after the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 BCE), often cited as one of the earliest known international peace treaties.

Cuneiform tablets from Hattusa and other sites reveal a multilingual archive and a record-keeping system that included legal, administrative, and literary texts. The Hittite language, an early Indo-European language, is the best-documented of the Anatolian languages. Hittite religion blended Mesopotamian and Anatolian elements, with a pantheon led by storm gods and mother goddess figures, reflected in rituals and monumental monuments.

Around 1200 BCE, the empire collapsed during the broader Bronze Age collapse, and several small Neo-Hittite or Luwian kingdoms continued in eastern Anatolia and northern Syria for centuries. The Hethiter left a lasting legacy in law, diplomacy, and the study of ancient Near Eastern history.