This theory has been increasingly contested in the 21st century, with the Late Bronze Age collapse, and subsequent Iron Age, seeing the slow, comparatively continuous spread of ironworking technology across the region. Scholars once attributed the development of iron- smelting to the Hittites, who were believed to have monopolized ironworking during the Bronze Age. The history of the Hittite civilization is known mostly from cuneiform texts found in the area of their kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in various archives in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and the Middle East, the decipherment of which was a key event in the history of Indo-European studies. Along with the closely related Luwian language, Hittite is the oldest historically attested Indo-European language, referred to by its speakers as nešili, 'the language of Nesa'. The Hittite language was a distinct member of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. From the late 12th century BC, during the Late Bronze Age collapse, the Hittites splintered into several small, independent Syro-Hittite states, some of which survived until the eighth century BC before succumbing to the Neo-Assyrian Empire lacking a unifying continuity, their descendants scattered and ultimately merged into the modern populations of the Levant, Turkey, and Mesopotamia. By the 12th century BC, much of the Hittie Empire was annexed by the Middle Assyrian Empire, with the remainder sacked by Phrygian newcomers to the region.

Known in modern times as the Hittite Empire, it reached its height during the mid-14th century BC under Šuppiluliuma I, when it encompassed most of Anatolia and parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia.īetween the 15th and 13th centuries BC, the Hittites were one of the dominant powers of the Near East, coming into conflict with the New Kingdom of Egypt, the Middle Assyrian Empire and the empire of Mitanni for control of the region. 1750–1650 BC), and an empire centered on Hattusa (around 1650 BC). The Hittites formed a series of polities in north-central Anatolia, including the kingdom of Kussara (before 1750 BC), the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom ( c. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in modern day Turkey in the early 2nd millennium BC. The Hittites ( / ˈ h ɪ t aɪ t s/) were an Anatolian Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of Bronze Age West Asia. The Great Temple in the inner city of Hattusa

Pala casino driving directions