HITIAS
For many years, orientalists were concerned with only two important empires, that of the Nile Valley and that of the Tigris and Euphrates basins.
After the discovery at Carchemish in 1871 of unknown inscriptions, the role of the Hittites as founders of a third great eastern empire, which flourished in Asia Minor between 1400 and 700 BC, came to be recognized. (The conventional chronology places them between 1900 and 1200 BC, being in conflict with Assyrian inscriptions.
The revised chronology places the Hittite empire within the chronological framework of its relations with Assyria, and agrees with the revised chronology of Egypt; see EGYPT.)
(a) The Hittites in the Bible.
The name Hittite appears, singular and plural, 47 times in the OT, while the name Heth, of analogous meaning, occurs 14 times. (In our versions it is generally transcribed as “Hittite”.)
In the extensive confederation of these peoples, both terms may not always relate to the same group. The Hittites are frequently mentioned in the list of peoples who lived in Canaan before its conquest by the Israelites (cf. Gen. 15:20; Ex. 3:8; Deut. 7:1; 20:17; Josh. 3: 10; 11:3; 24:11).
Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23:10-20).
Esau married two Hittite women (Gen. 26:34). Later, there were also Israelites who did the same (Judg. 3:5, 6).
Ezekiel, launching his reproach to the unfaithful Jerusalem, tells her (Ez. 16: 3): «Your origin, your birth, is from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite” (cf. Ez. 16:45).
David associated with Hittites (1 Sam. 26:6), married Bathsheba, widow of Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. 11:2-27).
There were Hittite women in Solomon’s harem (1 Kings 11:1), this monarch subjected the Hittites and other foreign peoples to compulsory labor service (1 Kings 9:20-22; 2 Chron. 8:7- 9).
The Hebrews did not consider the Hittites to be stateless homeless people. They knew their country (Josh. 1:4). The kings of the Hittites are mentioned along with those of Syria (1 Kings 10:29; 2 Chron. 1:17).
In 2 Kings 7:6 they are listed next to the Egyptians, which indicates their importance.
All these allusions from the Bible were treated with great skepticism, until the day when it was possible to go to the archaeological exhumation of this great nation that has since become famous.
(b) Archaeological discoveries.
W. Wright, missionary in Damascus, and the orientalist A. H. Sayce were among the first researchers who began to reconstruct the image of the Hittite empire, by joining the pieces of an immense puzzle scattered across various monuments (Wright: “The Empire of the Hitites” , 1884; Sayce: “The Hitites, the Story of a Forgotten Empire”, revised ed. 1925).
Between 1906 and 1912, Hugo Winckler, from Berlin, discovered around 10,000 clay tablets in Boghaz-koi, a Hittite capital located on the Halys River, 150 km east of Ankara.
Thanks to the work of several linguists, including the Czech F. Horzny, the Hittite cuneiform was deciphered, giving access to a vast literature: annals, religious and mythical texts, sections of codes and laws, etc
The documentary, archaeological and monumental evidence examined leads to the conclusion that the Hittite empire in Asia Minor was formed based on the migrations of the Hittites expelled from Canaan at the time of its conquest by Joshua.
After about 50 years, some people of Indo-European origin conquered and absorbed this ancient Hittite race, adopting their civilization. This led to the formation of the so-called Old Kingdom, which came to an end under the Assyrian onslaught led by Tiglath-pileser (1114-1076 BC).
The Old Kingdom had been founded on the ruins of the ancient empire of Babylon and the annihilation of the dynasty of Hammurabi (ca. 1265 BC).
After the fall of the Old Kingdom in 1110 BC, the New Kingdom saw its rise, and also setbacks and wars with Shalmaneser III of Assyria (825 BC), with Ramses II (786 BC), which was followed by a pact of non-aggression between Ramses II and the Hittite king Hatusilis II, sealed with the marriage of his first-born daughter to the pharaoh.
Around the year 700, the Hittite New Kingdom collapsed with the invasion of the Sea Peoples, and the capital, Boghazkoi, was taken.