The Hittites: From the Land of Hatti to the Sons of Heth
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By Jess Nadeau
Originating from beyond the Black Sea, a mysterious group of Indo-Europeans known as the Hittites made their way into central Anatolia. Establishing a capital at Hattusa, they quickly expanded, eventually taking control of much of the region in northern Syria. They named this land the Land of Hatti. By 1340 BCE, they were a force to be reckoned with. They later successfully campaigned against competing territories, obliterating the Amorite dynasty that had once dominated Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine, and leaving the 3rd dynasty of Ur in ruin. At the height of their kingdom, between c. 1400 – 1200 BCE, their formidable armies and firm grasp on the land rivaled even those of Egypt and Assyria. But soon, that would all change.
During Egypt’s New Kingdom, under the reign of Seti I and Ramesses II, Egypt had its eyes focused on Hittite territory. In perhaps one of the most epic battles of the time, the Hittites faced the Egyptians head-on at the Battle of Kadesh on the Orontes River, which flowed into the Mediterranean southwest of the city of Homs in Syria. Ramesses II sought to control Canaan and parts of Syria and take back the city of Kadesh, then occupied by the Hittites. Thousands of men on horse and chariot surged their way into battle. The visceral clash of men and horses, of bronze blades and anguished cries, echoed over the churning waters until the river ran red. In a single day, five thousand faced death. By the end of it, there was no victor, only carnage of an unimaginable scale. In a fortuitous twist, the two powers came together in the first-ever recorded peace treaty of 1259 BCE.
This, however, was only the beginning of a series of events that would befall the Hittites. The demise of their empire was imminent. The remnants of what once was would be all that remained, and with it, an unexpected group would journey into the Promised Land, founding a great kingdom of their own.
Fall of Empires
It was not a single event that brought about the downfall of the Hittites. Over decades, the Mediterranean world crumbled under what is now known as the Bronze Age Collapse, c.1200 BCE. Droughts, famine, natural disasters, disruptions in trade, and marauders caused such an upheaval that it was nearly impossible to recover fully. At the time, the regions surrounding the Mediterranean had become increasingly interconnected and dependent on each other; the fall of one ultimately affected others. Powerful kingdoms cracked under the immense pressure of uncertainty and catastrophe.
The traditional explanation for the Bronze Age Collapse points to the arrival of the Sea Peoples, a group of foreign seafarers who moved from place to place, wreaking havoc. It is unknown what their motivations would have been, but perhaps, they were escaping the same devastation of a merciless era and were met with hostility. Yet, their reputation will always be synonymous with widespread panic and destruction.
The Egyptians fought the Sea Peoples off twice, relatively unaffected by their advances. The Hittites were not so lucky. Not only were they plagued by nature’s fury and the Sea Peoples, but the Kashka to the north also threatened their empire. It was all too much. The royal family began to turn on each other, and exile and dethronement followed. Before long, one kingdom became two: Hattusa and Tarhuntassa. Hattusa was evacuated, anticipating an attack. The once-thriving capital would soon be gone, reduced to nothing more than smoke and rubble. With the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Dark Ages of Iron, the Hittite empire was no more. What remained was a scatter of vice-kings out of Tarhuntassa and Carchemish, the foundation of the Neo-Hittite states.
A New Beginning
As Carchemish in the Upper Euphrates region of northern Syria lost control of its northern and western territories, more kingdom states began to form. Tarhuntassa in southern Anatolia would eventually completely dissolve into several kingdoms. The subsequent Neo-Hittite states quickly became a vast network of interconnected yet independent entities, with some having more influence than others but no clear coherence.
It is important to remember that the upheaval of the Bronze Age Collapse transformed the landscape, inviting new alliances and cultural connections. A large section of these newly formed states, those close to the Arameans and Assyrians, rapidly assimilated into Aramean society around 1000 BCE, adopting an Aramean identity and language while maintaining some Hittite traditions. This group would have been part of the Land of Aram, named after the Arameans. The other group, the northern and western states branching out of Carchemish and select southern states, may have continued to identify with the Land of Hatti.
Though many of these regions continued to preserve the empire through their traditions, religion, architecture, and royal legacies, it is difficult to discern precisely how the ever-evolving movement of people in the wider region and the introduction of new groups affected the Neo-Hittite population. Though many states would have expectedly consisted largely of refugees from the old empire, we also know the migrations of people, which may include the Sea Peoples, but most certainly includes the Phrygians from the southern Balkans and the Arameans, ultimately became part of the Neo-Hittite state structure as well.
Some of the more recognizable languages in the area were Aramaic, Phoenician, Assyrian, and Luwian. Luwian was of Indo-European origin and was used by the Hittites mainly for religious or administrative purposes, often seen in hieroglyphic form. The Neo-Hittites transformed this ancient dialect into their dominant language. Additionally, as an homage to the empire, many of their kings took the names of some of the great rulers of their past.
Their religion mostly reflected the old pantheon of the Hittites, but likely evolved to accommodate changes in the new kingdom states. Tarhunt was the chief god of Carchemish, of weather and storms, represented in the bull. Karhuhas was a protector, represented by the stag. Kubaba was seen as the queen; her cult endured throughout the kingdoms, and her sacred animal was the lion. Interestingly, the Hittite pantheon drew inspiration from the Hurrians of Mesopotamia. After removing the Assyrians who once ruled there, the Hurrians dominated large areas of Mesopotamia and eastern Anatolia. As close neighbors with a complicated relationship, the Hurrians were eventually absorbed into the old Hittite Empire, and their gods were incorporated into Hittite epics.
The complexity of the region cannot be overstated; ultimately, it is what defines them as Neo-Hittites. Nevertheless, now that we have a general understanding of who they were, it is time to dive into their more prominent northern Luwian-speaking city-states.
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Carchemish: Perhaps the most influential kingdom, Carchemish survived the Bronze Age Collapse and its dynasties, dating back to the empire, remained intact. As a wealthy city-state with exquisite monuments and a rich history, it set the tone for much of the surrounding region and kept the Neo-Assyrians at bay with extremely generous tributes, as did other states.
Malatya: Located north of Carchemish in a plateau overlooking the Tarsus Mountains, Malatya was second only to the great city in influence and wealth. As a lucrative trade center, their architecture and monuments were awe-inspiring: gateways flanked by stylized lions, opulent statuary of their ruler, and narrative wall reliefs. This city-state, much like Carchemish, dates back to the old empire and also miraculously survived its collapse.
Tabal: Directly west of Malatya, many impressive cities made up the state of Tabal, called the Tyanitis: Tuwana, Ishtunda, Shinukhtu, Hupisna, and Tyana.
Kummuh: Slightly south of Malatya, Kummuh, known for its diplomatic ties, had a close relationship with the powerful Egyptians and Babylonians.
Gurgum: Just northwest of Carchemish, the city of Margasi in Gurgum was a cultural hub and strong political entity in the greater region.
Que & Hilakku: Que, located in the coastal plains, and Hilakku in the mountains, were both close to the Arameans, eventually joining alongside them to resist invasion. Que, specifically, gives us a unique look at the religiopolitical atmosphere as well as the diversity of Neo-Hittite states. The Karatepe inscription, authored by King Azatiwada of Que, is a bilingual Luwian and Phoenician commemoration from the 8th century BCE, during a time of increased instability with the ever-encroaching Neo-Assyrians. It was discovered by archaeologists in Karatepe, a Neo-Hittite fortress in the Tarsus Mountains.
“I am really Azatiwada, Man of my Sun, the servant of Thunder God, Rendered superior by Awariku, and the ruler of Adanawa, Thunder God rendered me Mother and Father of Adanawa city…
When a king among the kings, a prince among the princes or a nobleman among the noblemen erases the name of Azatiwada from this gate, carves any other name; furthermore covets this city, destroys this gate built by Azatiwada, builds another gate in its place, and carves his own name on it, destroys this gate with the purpose of greed, hatred or insult then Sky deity, Nature deity and Sun of the universe and generations of all deities will wipe out this king, this prince or this nobleman from the earth, Only the name Azatiwada is eternal, forever like the name of the Sun and the Moon.” (Karatepe inscription)
As I mentioned earlier, many states were heavily occupied or completely assimilated into Aramean society. I will not go through the full list, but a few notable southern states that spoke Luwian as their dominant language are worth mentioning: Hamath on the Orontes River, Pattin, and Luash. It is also worth noting that sociopolitical structures were exceedingly intertwined with the Arameans in these states, which causes some confusion in differentiating rulers. Inscriptions from the Neo-Hittite kingdoms were often found to be bilingual or even trilingual, including Luwian, Aramaic, and Phoenician. As such, there is a shared aura of integrative and cooperative ethnic diversity among the Neo-Hittites, something that will come into play as we look into our new biblical arrivals.
The Sons and Daughters of Heth
According to the Old Testament, the clans of Noah’s descendants spread throughout the land. Of them, his grandson Canaan had a son, Heth. The land of Canaan was named after Noah’s grandson, and Hatti after Heth. The “sons and daughters of Heth” were his descendants, the Hittites from the land of Hatti.
Geographically, at the time when the Israelites began making their way into Canaan, the Neo-Hittites were situated to the north and northwest. The Israelites would have settled in areas to the south and southeast. The battle of Kadesh occurred just north of what would become Jerusalem, during the reign of Ramesses II, likely around the time of the great Exodus shortly before the Bronze Age Collapse. After the death of Moses, Joshua prepared his people to enter the Promised Land, a land the Lord had pledged to them.
“Moses my servant is dead; go now and cross this Jordan, you and this whole people, into the country which I am giving to them. Every place you tread with the soles of your feet I shall give you, as I declared to Moses that I would. From the desert and the Lebanon, to the Great River, the Euphrates (the entire country of the Hittites), and as far as the Great Sea to westward, is to be your territory.” (Joshua 1:2-4)
However, there was a catch. The Israelites needed to acquire this land on their own, some with the offer of peace and others by any means necessary.
“But as regards the towns of those peoples whom Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage, you must not spare the life of any living thing. Instead, you must lay them under the curse of destruction: Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, as Yahweh your God has commanded…” (Deuteronomy 20:16-17)
The Jebusites mentioned were connected to the land surrounding the location of Jerusalem. Canaanite was likely a term to differentiate all those living on the coastal plains of the southern Levant. The Amorites and the Hittites mentioned here were associated with the highlands. This is where it gets a bit confusing: historically, the Neo-Hittites would have been farther north in the northern Levant with Hamath being the closest state, but biblical texts place some of them in the Judean Highlands, specifically in the city of Hebron, and later in Beer-Sheba, Bethel, and even in Jerusalem. These Neo-Hittites were said to have had Semitic names, names generally linked to the people of Canaan.
It appears, then, that the Neo-Hittites that the newcomers had come into contact with may have been spared from extermination and perhaps, when considering the people of Hebron, were part of a group that had migrated south. The southern regions of the Neo-Hittite kingdom states were closely associated with the Arameans and Phoenicians, and their languages, specifically Aramaic, were one of the languages spoken in this region at this time, along with Hebrew. Additionally, all three of these languages are within the Semitic language group. Therefore, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that the Neo-Hittites of the Judean Highlands and even a bit farther north, as we see in Que, spoke a Semitic language and may have had Semitic names.
It would also appear that the Israelites and the Neo-Hittites had a cordial if not amicable relationship. After living for an astounding 127 years, Abraham’s wife Sarah dies in Hebron. Kneeling in grief, bewailing beside his beloved’s lifeless body, Abraham managed enough strength to speak.
“Then rising from beside his dead, Abraham spoke to the Hittites, ‘I am a stranger resident here,’ he said. ‘Let me have a burial site of my own here, so that I can remove my dead for burial.’
The Hittites replied to Abraham, ‘Please listen to us, my lord, we regard you as a prince of God; bury your dead in the best of our tombs; not one of us would refuse you his tomb for you to bury your dead.’
At this, Abraham rose and bowed low to the local people, the Hittites…” (Genesis 23:3-7)
Abraham would go on to bury his wife in a cave that he purchased from Ephron, son of Zohar, in the field of Machpelah facing Hebron.
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Moving on to the kingdoms of Israel and Judea, in Samuel 24:6, David’s kingdom was said to have reached as far north as Kadesh, nearing Hamath and Damascus. Under the reign of his dynasty, the Judaean Dynasty, these two kingdoms were unified for several centuries as a powerful empire. They amassed great wealth, fought battles, expanded their territory, rebuilt broken cities, and their borders remained secure and protected. Saul reigned from about 1047 BCE until he committed suicide during battle in 1000 BCE. David, who was believed to reign from about 1000 – 961 BCE, founded Judea and unified the tribes of Israel under one ruler. Solomon (c. 970 – 931 BCE), along with his son, Rehoboam, expanded the kingdom.
It was during this time that rulers had close ties with the neighboring Neo-Hittites. In one such story within the Book of Samuel, King David had an affair and impregnated the wife of one of his soldiers, a Neo-Hittite by the name of Uriah. Attempting to remedy the situation, he summoned Uriah to return home to his wife, but Uriah, a valiant soldier, refused. David then ordered his abandonment while he battled abroad. Uriah would soon perish, and David claimed his wife, Bathsheba, as his eighth wife. Though Uriah died a hapless death, the Neo-Hittites were known to be fierce warriors. In 2 Kings, the Aramaeans never stood a chance and fled their invasion of Damascus.
“So at dusk they set out and made for the Aramaean camp, but when they reached the confines of the camp there was not a soul there. For Yahweh had caused the Aramaeans in their camp to hear a noise of chariots and horses, the noise of a great army; and they had said to one another, 'Listen! The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings against us, to attack us.'
So in the dusk they had made off and fled, abandoning their tents, their horses and their donkeys; leaving the camp just as it was, they had fled for their lives.” (2 Kings 7:5-7)
David’s son with Bathsheba, King Solomon, served as an intermediary between Syria, Hatti, and Egypt, purchasing and selling chariots to the Neo-Hittites and securing alliances. Solomon was also very fond of women of Hittite descent, having married one. Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, was another who wed a Neo-Hittite woman. Perhaps, given Solomon's heritage, it may be to no surprise that distinct parallels exist between his temple design and Neo-Hittite temples; at least that is what many scholars have pointed out.
Be that as it may, and despite an intimidating pairing, the Assyrians proved far more powerful. During the 8th century, the Neo-Assyrians descended on the Neo-Hittites, capturing one state at a time; the last stronghold, Malatya, fell to Sargon II in 708 BCE. All the kingdoms were forever lost and absorbed. A similar fate befell the Israelites shortly after the death of Solomon. Tension brewed between the northern tribes and the southern region, dominated by Jerusalem, under the reign of Rehoboam. The kingdom split, and around 772 BCE, the north was taken by the Neo-Assyrians. In 586 BCE, the Babylonians invaded the southern region; Jerusalem was destroyed, and its people were exiled. It was not until the fall of Babylon and a revolt (c. 160 – 134 BCE) that sparked religious freedom that the Israelites were finally able to return home.
A Land of Diversity
Scholars have often debated the extent to which the cultures in this area influenced each other. It is known that the Arameans, Phoenicians, Hurrians, and Assyrians influenced the Hittites and the Neo-Hittites. The Bronze Age Collapse caused quite a stir amongst the people, and shifts in movement occurred rather rapidly. When the Israelites came to Canaan, it would be expected that they, too, would be influenced by those around them.
It is possible that the Israelites adopted aspects of neighboring cultures into their own, as such, with the covenant between God and his people, like those found in the Book of Deuteronomy. From a biblical perspective, the covenant was a spiritual, binding agreement, a contract that established clear relationships and expectations. The Late Bronze Age Hittites followed a similar formula, one that can be seen in the Suzerainty Treaties, whereby the Hittites acted as suzerain (sovereign). This is just one brief example that remains a topic of debate but reveals the ever-present state of a familiar adaptability.
There is no doubt that the people of this vast land came from various backgrounds, political and social, and related to each other in various ways. The Israelites and the Neo-Hittites were able to coexist relatively peacefully and were spouses, trade partners, and even allies. If anything, their relationship reflects a dynamic flux of boundaries and people, of cross-cultural relations in an evolving region. Indeed, their Promised Land was theirs, but those they met along the way helped to define who they would become.
Featured image: The lion gate at the Hittite capital city of Hattusa. (Carole Raddato / CC BY-SA 2.0)
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References
Thuesen, I. 2019. The Neo-Hittite City-States. The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. Available at: http://publ.royalacademy.dk/backend/web/uploads/2019-07-23/AFL%202/SH_27_00_00_2002_1789/SH_27_03_00_2002_2195.pdf
Kempinski, A. 1979. Hittites in the Bible: What Does Archaeology Say? Biblical Archaeology Society (5:5). Available at: https://cojs.org/hittites_in_the_bible-_what_does_archaeology_say-_aharon_kempinski-_bar_5-05-_sep-oct_1979/
Mariottini, C. 2021. The Hittites: A Historical Perspective. Available at: https://claudemariottini.com/2021/09/01/the-hittites-a-historical-perspective/
Roos, D. 2021. What Caused the Bronze Age Collapse? History. Available at: https://www.history.com/articles/bronze-age-collapse-causes
Hopper, J. Deuteronomy and the Hittite Treaties. Bible League Trust. Available at: https://www.bibleleaguetrust.org/deuteronomy-and-the-hittite-treaties/
World Ancient Map: Syro-Hittite States. Maps of the World. Available at: https://www.mapsofworld.com/world-ancient-history/syro-hittite-states.html
Karatepe inscription available at: https://www.hittitemonuments.com/karatepe/
The Old Testament database used for this article is available at: https://www.catholic.org/bible/
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