The Hittites and Lydians Quotes

“The Hittites called their language Nesili (van de Mieroop 2007, 119), while the Egyptians and Mesopotamians referred to them and their language as “Hittite” and their land as “Hatti” (Faulkner 1999, 198). Technically the Hittites spoke Arzawan (Macqueen 2003, 25), but Arzawa was also the name of a kingdom that neighbored Hatti, and those people also spoke the same language as the Hittites. During the era of the Hittite civilization, there were three written Indo-European languages that coexisted in Anatolia: Hittite/Arzawan, Luwian, and Palic (Anthony 2007, 43). The earliest Hittite inscriptions are dated to around 1900 BCE, which makes the language the oldest written form of any Indo-European language”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“However, while the neo-Hittites may have been relegated to an inferior political position in the first millennium BCE, another passage from 2 Kings reveals that they may not have lost their zeal for warfare. The passage states, “And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were               come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. For the               lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.” (2 Kings 7:5-6). Ultimately,”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“By the reign of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076 BCE), the Assyrians had extended their influence into the former homeland of the Hittites,”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“The first mention of the Hittites in the Bible also came during this period, which was in a context that was a far cry from the days of Suppiluliuma II. The Bible said, “And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice to this day.” (1 Kings 9:19-21). Although”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“The most influential people in the region during the first millennium BCE – the Assyrians, Urartians, and Hebrews – referred to the local Syrian rulers as “Kings of the Hittites”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“but those of the major cults, such as the Storm-god and Sun-goddess, were primarily done in the capital of Hattusa (Kuhrt 2010, 1:277). The king fulfilled two roles in the spiritual/theological world of the Hittites by serving as high-priest and hero.”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“The Hittites believed that evil spirits lurked around every corner and sought to pollute the living spiritually and physically, and that death carried the greatest risk of pollution to those who touched the corpse”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Many ancient Indo-Europeans – most notably the Romans, Aryans, and Vikings – believed that a corpse was not only unclean but that it also held the soul of the dead and therefore needed to be released through fire. The ancient Persians also believed that corpses were unclean vessels that held the soul of the deceased, but instead of cremating their dead – to them fire was sacred and could not touch any impurities – they exposed the corpse”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“the Hittite solar goddess is notably different in that it was a female (Macqueen 2003, 111). The importance of the Sun-goddess, who was also associated with fertility, continued throughout Hittite history and beyond as she evolved into the goddess known as Cybele during the Greco-Roman period”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“The Hittites followed a religion that combined both Indo-European and non-Indo-European theological elements. At the center of the religion were the Storm-god and his consort, the Sun-goddess (Macqueen 2003, 111), and the Storm-god, who was only referred to as such in the extant texts and never by a specific name, was derived from the Hittites’ Indo-European origins”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“A group of Semitic speaking people, known as the Arameans, began to attack and ravage numerous Mesopotamian cities around this same time (Haywood 2005, 41). The Aramean raids became the primary focus of Tiglath-pileser’s reign, a fact mentioned in the historical annals: “With the help of Assur, my lord, I led forth my chariots and warriors and went into the desert. Into the midst of the Ahlami, Arameans, enemies of Assur, my lord, I marched. The country from Suhi to the city of Carchemish, in the land of Hatti, I raided in one day. I slew their troops; their spoil, their goods and their possessions in countless numbers I carried away. The rest of their forces, which had fled from before the terrible weapons of Assur, my lord, and had crossed over the Euphrates – in pursuit of them I crossed the Euphrates in vessels made of skins. Six of their cities, which lay at the foot of the               mountain of Beshri, I captured, I burned with fire, I laid (them) waste, I destroyed (them). Their spoil, their goods and their possessions I carried away to my city Assur.”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Hattusili III quickly made an alliance with Babylon and then made overtures to Egypt, which was still ruled by the enduring Ramesses II (Macqueen 2003, 50). The Hittites and Egyptians eventually agreed to a peace treaty and alliance, which was sealed with a diplomatic marriage, because the two kingdoms saw a mutual enemy in the growing power of the Assyrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Ramesses had personal details inscribed that claimed, "No officer was with me, no charioteer, no soldier of the army, no shield-bearer..." and “I was before them like Seth in his monument. I found the mass of chariots in whose midst I was, scattering them before my horses..." In Luxor, it was written, “His majesty slaughtered the armed forces of the Hittites in their entirety, their great rulers and all their brothers ... their infantry and chariot troops fell prostrate, one on top of the other. His majesty killed them ... and they lay stretched out in front of their horses. But his majesty was alone, nobody accompanied him...” If the inscriptions were to be believed, the great warrior had singlehandedly ensured his own survival, even with all the odds stacked against him. Ramesses II successfully used propaganda inscribed onto the monuments and in the public places of Egypt to ensure that the people he ruled would deem him a victorious leader, even when he himself was faced with defeat. The”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“An extant Hittite text, dated to the reign of Mursili II, demonstrates that an Egyptian queen, probably the widow of the young king Tutankhamun, requested Suppiluliuma I to send one of his sons to Egypt for her to wed. The letter read, “While my father was down in the country of Karkamis, he dispatched Lupakkis and Tessub-zalmas to the country of Amqa. They proceeded to attack the country of Amqa and brought deportees, cattle (and) sheep home before my father. When the people of the land of Egypt heard about the attack on Amqa, they became frightened. Because, to make matters worse, their lord Bibhururiyas had just died, the Egyptian queen who had become a widow, sent and envoy to my father and wrote him as follows: ‘My husband died and I               have no son. People say that you have many sons. If you were to send me one of your sons, he might become my husband. I am loath to take a servant of mine and make him my husband.’ . . . When my father heard that, he called the great into council . . . ‘Perhaps they have a prince; they may try to deceive me and do not really want one of my sons to               (take over) the kingship,’ the Egyptian queen answered my father in a letter as follows: ‘Why do you say: ‘They may try to deceive me’? If I had a son, would I write to a foreign country in a manner which is humiliating to myself and my country?” (Pritchard 1992, 319). The letter was most unusual because although Egyptian kings quite frequently married foreign princesses, they never allowed their own princesses to marry foreigners”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Hittite chariots, like those of most of their contemporaries from other kingdoms, consisted of a wooden frame covered with leather, but they were different from their contemporaries in one notable respect: the axle was attached to the middle of the body rather than the rear (Macqueen 2003, 58). The design of the Hittite chariots meant that they were much slower than the chariots of their adversaries, but they had an advantage because three men (instead of the usual two) could ride in the chariot”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Suppiluliuma I came to the throne while the mighty Amenhotep III ruled in Egypt and Kadashman-Enlil I sat on the throne in Babylon (Kuhrt 1:336). Known for his military endeavors, Suppiluliuma first conquered lands the Hittites had lost in Anatolia during the Dark Age before he turned his attention south to Mittani (Macqueen 2003, 46). At the same time, Suppiluliuma was also a diplomat who saw the virtues of providing for his people through peaceful means. Instead of attacking Babylon and overextending his empire as Mursili I did, Suppiluliuma I contracted a marriage with the Babylonian king’s daughter (Macqueen 2003, 46). Perhaps Suppiluliuma I hoped to one day make a claim to the throne of Babylon, or one of his potential future sons from the Babylonian princess could, but all of his sons appear to have been born to a Hittite queen”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Thanks to these efforts, Telepinu is viewed as one of the greatest Hittite kings, but before he could end the orgy of violence in the Hittite Dark Age, a new and powerful state came to power in Hatti’s backyard. While the Hittites had been preoccupied with killing each other during the middle of the second millennium BCE, the Hurrian people coalesced and formed a powerful kingdom in northern Mesopotamia and the Levant known as Mitanni. For a brief period, Mittani was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the ancient Near East, and it was a perpetual thorn in the Hittites’ side for over 200 years. Like”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Today, historians know so much about what led to the Dark Age and its details because the events were meticulously recorded in what is now known as “The Edict of Telepinu.” The Edict presents the king as the savior of the Hittite kingdom who restored order and glory to the empire. The text reads: “But, as Mursili reigned as king in Hattusa, his sons, his brothers, his in-laws, the people of his clan/family and his soldiers were gathered (around him in harmony), and he held the land of the enemy conquered with (his strong) arm. He conquered the lands in their entirety and made them into the frontiers of the sea. He went to Halpa (Aleppo) and destroyed Halpa, and the captive population of Halpa and their possessions he brought here to Hattusa. But after that he went (on) to Babylon and destroyed Babylon. He fought against the Hurrians and the captive population and their possessions he displayed in Hattusa. Hantili was cup-bearer (at that time) and had Har[apsili] the sister of Mursili as his wife. Zidanta led Hantili [. . .] on, and [they planned] an evil deed. They murdered Mursili and shed (lit, ‘made’) blood. . .” (Kuhrt 1:245) The”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Hattusili I’s reign was cut short when he was assassinated by his brother-in-law, Hantili I (ca. 1590-1560), who then ruled a relatively stable kingdom, but the peace soon dissipated and Hatti was plunged into a “dark age” (Kuhrt 1:244). The Hittite Dark Age lasted approximately 70 years and was marked by a number of violent coup d’états (Kuhrt 1:244), as well as the steady loss of all the lands gained by Hattusili I and Mursili I (Macqueen 2003, 46). The Dark Age ultimately ended with the accession of Telepinu (ca. 1525-1500 BCE) to the throne. Today,”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Indeed, the city has been excavated continuously by German archaeologists since 1906 (Kuhrt 2010, 1:234). Hattusa was located both within the center of Anatolia and the middle of the Hittite territory in a strategic hill-top position (van de Mieroop 2007, 121). As such, Hattusa was the center of Hittite religion (discussed further in depth below), and it was ideally located in the middle of Anatolia’s agricultural breadbasket”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“The elders of the various cities, high priests, and military commanders in Hittite society all formed an assembly, known in Hittite as the panku, which advised the king on important matters (Kuhrt 2010, 1:240). The panku may have been an ancient Indo-European tradition, similar to the Germanic teuta, that the Hittites brought with them into Anatolia”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“One of the earliest Hittite historical texts, known as the “Anitta Text,” is written in both the Hittite and Akkadian languages and reads like a literary autobiography, detailing how Anitta first became the Hittite “great prince”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“For instance, there are no Hittite primary sources that detail the period from the end of the Assyrian trading settlements until the emergence of the Hittite state (Kuhrt 2010, 1:225). Nonetheless, a fairly reasonable view of Hittite chronology can still be put together. The first king of the Hittite Old Kingdom was the eponymously named Hattusili I (ca, 1650-1620), who led the conquest of”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Today’s historiographical methods are largely influenced by the Greeks, who were the first people to write narrative and critical histories, whereas the Hittites and their contemporaries did not write history for edification purposes but instead mixed myth and theology with historiography.”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Ultimately, the culturally and economically lucrative Assyrian trade routes came to a sudden end with the arrival of a new ethnic group to the region, the Hurrians, around 1780 BCE”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“In turn, the Hittites would see more than just material and economic benefits from the Assyrian trade network. The earliest Hittite inscriptions coincide with their involvement in the Assyrian trade networks, which leads some modern scholars to conclude that the networks were the catalyst for Hittite literacy”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“In the late third and early second millenniums BCE, the Assyrians, who lived to the south of the Hittites in northern Mesopotamia, developed sophisticated trade networks that snaked across central Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The Assyrian capital of Assur was the central point of the network that traded in textiles from Babylonia, tin from the east, and silver and gold from Anatolia”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Some historians believe that the similarity in the words “Ahhiyawa” and “Achaean” is evidence, along with archaeological revelations, that the Hittites were in contact with the early Greeks (Bryce 2007, 57-60). The Hittites may have also known and negotiated with the legendary city of Troy, which is now known to have been located in northwest Anatolia”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Anatolia, which is today known as Turkey, is a mountainous region rich in metal deposits that were economically important in the ancient Near East (Macqueen 2003, 15). Archaeological excavations have revealed that by 6000 BCE – before the Hittites had even entered the region – Anatolian metal smiths had mastered the intricate techniques of smelting and had begun to produce copper tools”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations

“Norwegian scholar J.A. Knudtzon was the first to decipher the Hittite language in 1902, which he termed Arzawan, and it was called as such for some time (Macqueen 2003, 25). Eventually, Arzawan was determined to be an Indo-European language, which proved to be an interesting discovery in itself since most of the neighboring kingdoms spoke languages that were either Semitic or derived from Afro-Asiatic.”
― Charles River Editors, The Hittites and Lydians: The History and Legacy of Ancient Anatolia’s Most Influential Civilizations