#精品长文创作季#
Topographic map of the Anatolian Peninsula
If you want to talk about the ancient powerful countries of the world, many answers can be given in people's hearts, such as the Roman Empire, the Arab Empire. And in the 19th century B.C., in Asia Minor, which is now Turkey, there was also such a leading military power, which was the Hittite Empire! Today, let's get to know this behemoth that once dominated Anatolia!
First, the beginning is a mountain, but the development is not slow
The Hittites originated in the eastern mountains of Asia Minor, and at that time the Hittites were not called Hittites, but Hattite, and they settled in the upper reaches of the Al-Khalis River (present-day the Kzel River). The Hatian people did not live a particularly good life, but they were barely able to develop. But who wants to live such a miserable life for the rest of their lives? The Hatites look at the group of neighbors next door who occupy the resource-rich area of Anatolia, and that is called envy! These neighbors are all strong and strong, and the Hatites can only watch with their eyes and dare not take action.
But history will develop after all, and it depends on who develops faster and who develops slowly. From the current point of view, the Hattians are the fast-growing side. Around the beginning of the 20th century BC, a group of Nesites, belonging to the Indo-Europeans, broke into the territory of the Hattits. There will be conflicts between the two sides at the beginning, but slowly, the two sides will find that cooperation can achieve a win-win situation. As a result, the Nestite tribe gradually assimilated with the local Hattites, forming the later Hittites, who spoke the Hittite language (the main component of which was the Nestite language). Subsequently, the Hittites learned the way of writing from neighboring Assyrian merchants and began to adopt the cuneiform script popular in Mesopotamia as the form of Hittite writing, and the development of the Hittites gradually got on the right track.
The Indo-Europeans moved to the vicinity of the Hattites
After another one or two hundred years of development, the Hittites finally developed to the strength of almost dominating one side. The Hittites understood that it was certainly not enough to rely on the efforts of the nation, and that only by occupying places rich in resources could they truly achieve their rise. And there is a good place for now, and that is central Anatolia, which was occupied by Assyrian merchants, the former teachers of the Hittites. As a former apprentice of an Assyrian merchant, the Hittites were better than the blue. In the 18th century BCE, the Hittites, led by their leader Pitanas and their successors, Anitas, succeeded in expelling the Assyrian merchants, ending their trade in central Anatolia. The city-states of central Anatolia were gradually unified by the Hittites, and the Hittite kingdom was established.
Second, move to the face of the ancestors by the way
Hatusha is located in the village of Burgakkar, northeast of Ankara, the capital of Turkey. As early as 3000 BC-2000 BC, Hattusha was inhabited by humans. Around 1700 B.C., the Hittite Kusar king Anitas (the aforementioned Anitas) captured Hattusha, destroying the city's buildings and inscribed in the ruins the inscription: "I took the city by force at night and sowed the seeds of weeds here." If any king wants to rebuild Hattusha in the future, he will be defeated by the gods", prohibiting future generations from rebuilding Hatusha. However, just a few decades later, Anitas was slapped in the face, and it was none other than the Hittites.
Overlooking Hattusha
In the 17th century B.C., the Hittite Kusar king Hattusiri I (r. 1650–1620 B.C.) rebuilt the city of Hatusha and moved its capital there. Since then, Hattusha has continued to expand in the hands of the Hittites, and at its peak it was home to about 50,000 people, which was considered a metropolis in the civilization of BC.
After Hattusili I moved his capital to Hatusha, the Anitas's inscription that "it will be crushed by the gods" was not realized. During the reign of Khatusiri, the Hittites conquered Silesia in one fell swoop, subjugating Ararach in northern Syria and defeating the cities of Ursu and Hasselblad. The Hittite kingdom continued to expand its territory and even reached the shores of the Mediterranean.
Why did Haturisis I disobey the orders of his ancestors and move the capital to Hattusha?
Around the site of Hatusha, there is a large amount of farmland, hillsides, meadows and forests. Needless to say, farmland is a source of food for a city. The hillsides and meadows were also natural pastures for the Hittites, who could not only provide meat, but also the fur of some sheep, which could also be used for clothing. In this way, the Hittites will have no worries about food and clothing, and then they will have to solve the problem of housing and transportation. The forest near Hatusha happened to be a treasure land of timber, and it was very convenient for the Hittites to collect materials for houses and hunt, and the forest could also play a role in shielding against foreign invasions. The only shortcoming of Hattusha may be that the water volume of the surrounding rivers is too small to meet the conditions for navigation, so it cannot develop shipping, and the mode of transportation is mainly land transportation. Such a city with superior geographical conditions, who is not impressed.
Although with the fall of the Hittite kingdom, Hattusha was once again destroyed and gradually deserted, forgotten for thousands of years. But from 1906 onwards, German archaeologists began to take note of the ruins of this massive ancient city.
Site of Hatusha
The entire site of Hatusha is 2,100 meters long from north to south and 1,300 meters wide from east to west, and the walls are made of large stones, and it is said that the weight of a single stone may have exceeded 10 tons. The site of Hatusha can be roughly divided into two parts: the new and the old city according to the early and late establishment time.
The old town is located in the northern low-lying area, so it is also called the lower town. The most famous and important building is the Great Temple, which is dedicated to the Hittite god of storms, Tishub, and the sun goddess Herbert (also known as Alina). The exterior decoration of the Great Temple is not ornate, the main thing is the inner courtyard. In the center of the temple lay a huge turquoise, which is said to have been a gift from Ramses II to the Hittites. In addition to this, there are various elaborate statues inside the temple. Due to the careful arrangement of the Hittites, the lighting in the temple is also very good. The new town of Hattusha is not much different from the old town, and the main buildings are also castles and temples.
Walking along the crumbling stone path outside the temple towards the hillside, you will arrive at the heart of the ancient city, the Castle of Buyukl, which offers a great visual experience overlooking the whole city. The gate of the castle is the famous Lion's Gate, named after the two stone lions that are located on either side of the gate. In addition, there are many statues of mythical beasts and guardian gods in the castle, and there are two square cisterns in the precincts for water supply. The front of the palace is a semi-open-air nave and the rear is an inner chamber, a building tradition that was borrowed by later Persians.
Hatusha Lion Gate
It is at the site of Hatusa that German archaeologists have unearthed many valuable clay tablets. After some decipherment, people were pleasantly surprised to find that the Hittite script engraved on the clay tablets recorded the history of the Hittites, and thus a new discipline was born, Hittiteology, which opened the prelude to the study of Hittite history. Today, the site of Hatusha has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 and attracts archaeologists from all over the world to come for archaeological research, as well as many tourists to visit.
Excavated Hittite clay tablets
III. The Glory and Decline of the Hittites
Since the conquered areas were not well managed during the reign of Hattusili I, after his death, a revolt known as the "slaves of the princes" broke out in the Hittite, and the rebel army was mainly the people of the areas conquered by the Hittites. This revolt did not make a huge stir within the Hittite, and the Hittite princes and nobles, led by the new monarch Mursili I, quickly suppressed the revolt. At the same time, during the reign of Mursili I, the Hittites also marched into the valley of the Euphrates River and destroyed the First Dynasty of ancient Babylon.
Later, Mursili I died as a result of a court conspiracy, and the Hittite kingdom was plunged into a civil war over the throne. In the strife of many princes, the final winner, Tie Liepin, established the principle of succession to the throne after ascending the throne. During this period, due to the internal strife and turmoil, the strength of the Hittites was weakened, and they had to recuperate, maintaining peace and prosperity for a while.
But how could the enemies of the Hittites let go of this good opportunity, and after the death of Tilepin, Egypt joined forces with the Kingdom of Mitanni to invade the Hittite territory in Syria. When it rained overnight, the eastern and western subjects of the Hittes united to launch a rebellion when they saw the Amy coalition attacking the Hittites. Casca, the Hittites' formidable enemy in the north, also dared to take advantage of this chaos to advance southward, sacking the towns on the northern border of the Hittites. The Hittites were unable to withstand the onslaught of the coalition forces for a while, and in just a few years they lost most of their territory, and even the capital city of Hatusha was captured by the enemy, leaving only a small part of the core of central Anatolia to survive.
Hittite under flanking blows
Just when the Hittite enemies believed that the Hittite kingdom was doomed and doomed, a man named Supiluliumas stepped forward. He was the Hittite prince at the time, and although he violated the law of succession to the throne of his ancestor Tielepin by usurping the throne, his military prowess was unquestionable. Generations of warfare taught Supilulimas that he could not do without a strong army, and when he and his father Tut Hari II retreated to the temporary capital of Shamwa, he actively reorganized his men and prepared to regain the lost land. The Hittites were the first countries in Western Asia to invent iron smelting and use iron tools, and Supilulimas formed an army with strong combat effectiveness, using more advanced weapons such as short axes, swords, bows and arrows, and chariots.
Supilulimas led his army to conquer Azava's territory to the west, then to the north to destroy Kaska, and regain control of Hatusha. He then marched south in a big way, crushing the Syrian coalition army, and in less than a year, most of Syria was under his control, and the Amy coalition army was also defeated. Under the rule of Supiluliumas, the Hittites succeeded in revival, and the country stretched from the Black Sea in the north, the Euphrates River in the east, and the Lebanese Mountains in the south. Supiluliumas also took the initiative to attack Egypt to avenge the murder of his son, who was caught up in the political maelstrom of Egypt. But just after the victory, a plague broke out among the Hittites, thanks to the return of a large number of prisoners of war infected with the plague. In 1322 BC, Supilulimas died of plague and his eldest son, Alnwanda II, ascended the throne. Only a year later, Alnwanda II also died of illness.
But the Hittites did not perish because of the plague, and even under the leadership of the Hittite king Hattusili III, the Hittites and the Egyptians engaged in a great battle called the Battle of Kadesh, which was led by Ramses II. Due to the stalemate between the two sides and the emergence of new crises in both countries, the Hittites and Egypt could only shake hands and conclude a peace treaty. This peace treaty is also the earliest documented international military treaty in history.
Treaty between the Hittites and Egypt after the Battle of Kadesh (clay copy in cuneiform)
At the end of the 13th century BCE, the Hittite Empire was once again plunged into civil war, fragmentation and decline. At the same time, the Assyrians and some maritime peoples attacked the divided Hittites from many directions, occupying large swaths of the Hittite Empire. However, some small Hittite city-states remained at this time, and it was not until the 8th century BC that the remaining Hittite kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire.
Wen Shijun said
The main reason for the fall of the Hittites was internal divisions. In the history of the Hittite, there were often rivalries between brothers and each other due to the struggle for the throne. Although Tielepin established a reasonable system of succession to the throne, this did not fundamentally prevent the struggle for power. Therefore, in ancient times, when state power was alternated, ensuring the stability of the country was an important factor affecting the future development of the country.
bibliography
Li Zheng, "On the Historical and Cultural Road of the Origin of Hittite Civilization", Oriental Forum, No. 5, 2013.
Gao Guanzhong, "Hatusha - The Forgotten Capital of the Hittite Empire", Encyclopedic Knowledge, No. 22, 2015.
(Author: Haoran Literature and History)
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