Hittites.
Another nationality which took a predominant part in the politics of ancient Palestine is the Hittites. To all appearance they were a later power than the Amorites, as their name does not occur in the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria until a comparatively late date, whilst the Amorites are mentioned 2200 years before Christ, and their name had become the common Assyro-Babylonian expression for “the west.” That the Hittites were nevertheless of considerable antiquity, however, is implied by the presence of the sons of Heth at Mamre in the time of Abraham, who purchased from Ephron the Hittite the cave of Machpelah in that place. It is difficult to assign to these people any definite limits, especially in early times, but it seems certain that they began to act far in the north, and gradually extended their power southwards. [pg 316] In the times of Joshua, the tract between the Lebanon and Euphrates is described as theirs, and their domain was, in fact, the country to the north of Palestine. It was no doubt due to their predominating power that the Assyrians of later days called the whole of Palestine “the land of Ḫatti,” a designation not altogether correct, but sufficient for their purpose, namely, that of indicating the position of the nationalities enumerated. Nevertheless, it had some justification, several colonies of these people inhabiting that district, as is indicated by Gen. xxiii. 3, xxv. 10; Numbers xiii. 29, etc. The statement in Ezekiel xvi. 3, that the father of Jerusalem was an Amorite and its mother a Hittite, shows what was the opinion of the more learned Jews of the time in the matter.
The earliest mention of the Hittites outside the Bible is in the Egyptian monuments, where, in the annals of Thothmes III., it is recorded for the year 1470 b.c., that the king proceeded to the banks of the Euphrates, and received tribute from “the greater” land of the Hittites. In the year 1463 b.c., the king of this district again paid tribute. During the reign of Thothmes IV., grandson of Thothmes III., the relations between the two countries must have changed, and the Egyptian king had to repel an attack made by the Hittites upon Tunib (now Tennib) in Northern Syria. This hostile policy was continued by them also at a later date, for the successors of Thothmes IV., Amenophis III. and his son, Amenophis IV., had often to oppose the Hittite king, who either attacked Northern Syria, or stirred up strife among the Egyptian vassals in Canaan.
Here, again, the Tel-el-Amarna tablets come in, and supply a mass of details. At times the Ḫatti still send tribute, both to Amenophis III. and IV., but at the close of the reign of the former, hostilities again broke out, the Hittites being, to all appearance, the aggressors. Dušratta, king of Mitanni, writes [pg 317] that he sends to the king of Egypt tribute of the spoils which he had taken from the Ḫatti; and the king of Nuḫašše, who bears the Assyrian name of Addu-nirari, and whose grandfather had been appointed by Thothmes III., complains that the king of the Ḫatti is against him, and asks for help. From these and other statements it would seem, that whoever was on the side of the king of Egypt was the enemy of the Hittites, and therefore to be attacked by them. Akizzi, king of Qatna, complains in one of the letters that the Ḫatti had burned down a city, and reports in another that they had tried to win him over to their side. Aziru, another prince in the neighbourhood, complains that the king of Ḫatti has entered Nuḫašše, and for this reason he could not leave his own territory to go to the king of Egypt. At the end of one of his communications, Akizzi states that the Sun-god had taken away the king of the Ḫatti, but as no name is given, any historical importance which this fact might have is greatly minimized. In other letters they are spoken of as despoiling the princes of Gebal, capturing a personage named Lupakku and the cities of Amki “even from the cities of Aaddu” (or Bin-Addu = Ben-Hadad). As we have seen (pp. [288-289]), at least a portion of them was led by Etakama of Kinza.
As is well known, a large number of hieroglyphic inscriptions of a people regarded as the Hittites exist, and many attempts have been made to translate them. In addition to these, there are many sculptures, mostly on rocks, and still in situ. The most remarkable of these are at Bogaz Keui, Eyouk, Iasili-Kaia, Ghiaour-kalesi, Doganlu-deresi, Ibriz, Eflatun-bunar, Karabeli, and elsewhere in Asia Minor, as well as at Jerabis (anciently called Carchemish), Hamah (Hamath), and monuments of the Hittites have even been found at Babylon. How they came to this last place is not at present known, but they may have formed part [pg 318] of the spoils brought from the west by any of the later conquerors (such a supposition would probably be better than attributing to them a very early date), or sent thither as presents or as specimens of Hittite work. It is noteworthy that the inscriptions, with the exception of the bowl brought from Babylon, are all in relief and boustrophedon. A large number of seals, both of the ordinary kind and cylindrical, are known, and though there are bilingual inscriptions (Hittite and Babylonian), none of them are of sufficient length to make them really serviceable in translating other texts in the same character.
Notwithstanding the great difficulty attending such a task as the translation of these inscriptions, a certain amount of success has been attained. Those who have advanced the study most are Prof. Sayce in England, and Profs. Jensen and Hommel in Germany. It will be many years, however (unless some unexpected help come to light), before renderings in any real sense of the word useful can be made.
In the opinion of Prof. Sayce, Cappadocia was the earliest home of this nationality, which spread thence in every direction (except, perhaps, northwards), and made itself master of a part of Palestine, from which circumstance the district came to have, in Assyrian literature, the name of “the land of Ḫatti.” Though later than the Amorite invasion, it nevertheless took place at a very early date, as is shown by the fact that Abraham had dealings with Ephron, a Hittite or “son of Heth.”
Coming down to a later date, it is interesting to see what is said about them by the kings of Assyria. Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1120 B.C.) says as follows—
“... 4000 Kaškaians (and) Urumaians, people of the land of Ḫattê, disobedient, who in their strength had taken the cities of Subarte, subject [pg 319]unto the god Ašur, my lord, heard of my march to Subarte; the brilliance of my power overwhelmed them, they feared the conflict, my feet they embraced. With their goods and II. sos (120) of chariots of their system of yoking[79]I took from them, and delivered to the people of my land.”
Farther on in his record, Tiglath-pileser I. states that he collected his chariots and warriors, and took to the desert, going to the border-people of the Arameans, enemies of Ašur his lord. From before the land of Sūḫi (the Shuhites) as far as the city Carchemish of the land of Ḫattê, he boasts of having plundered in a single day, slaughtering their soldiers, and taking back to his own country all their property. Some of them fled across the Euphrates, followed by the Assyrians in boats of skins, and the result of this flight to seek safety was, that six of their cities at the foot of the mountain known as Bišru, were taken, plundered, and destroyed.
In other passages of his record also, this king refers to certain districts which were undoubtedly Hittite, but without calling them by that name. One of these—the interesting description of his operations in Commagene—is especially worthy of notice. It reads as follows—
“In those days the people of Qurḫê, who had come with the people of Kummuḫi to save and help the land of Kummuḫi, I caused to go down like šûbe.[80] The corpses of their warriors I heaped up in heaps on the tops of the mountains, the carcases of their warriors the river Namê took forth to the Tigris. Kili-Tešub son of Kali-Tešub, whom Irrupi put to flight (?), their king, [pg 320] my hand took in the midst of the battle. His wives, children, offspring of his heart, his force, III. sos (180) plates of copper, 5 censers of bronze, with their gods, (objects) of gold and silver, and the best of their property, I carried off. Their spoil and their goods I sent forth, that city and its palace I burned with fire, destroyed (it), laid (it) waste.
“The city Urraḫinaš, their stronghold, situated in the land of Panari, fear dreading[81] the glory of Ašur, my lord, overwhelmed them; to save their lives they carried away their gods (and their goods), they fled to the peaks of the lofty mountains like a bird. I collected my chariots and troops, (and) crossed the Tigris, Ša-di-Tešub, son of Ḫattu-šar, king of Urraḫinaš, not to be captured in his own country, took my feet. The children, offspring of his heart, and his family, I took as hostages. I. sos (60) plates of copper, libation-vases of bronze, offering-dishes of bronze, great ones, with II. sos (120) men, oxen, sheep, tribute and gifts, he brought, (and) I received it. I had mercy on him, spared his life, (and) set the heavy yoke of my dominion over him for ever. I captured the wide land of Kummuḫi to its (whole) extent (and) made it submit to my feet. At that time I offered one bronze offering-dish and one bronze libation-vase of the spoil and gifts of the land of Kummuḫi to Ašur my lord, (and) I. sos of copper plates, with their gods, I presented to Hadad who loveth me.”
In the above extract the names containing that of the god Tešub show clearly that we have here to do with nationalities in the neighbourhood of Mitanni (see p. [277]), and a close relation with the Hittites is suggested by the other name Ḫattu-šar, father of Šadi-Tešub, which is an analogous formation to Ḫattu-šil, the Kheta-sir of Egyptologists, with whom Rameses II. made a treaty (cf. p. [304]). Another reading of Ḫattu-šar is Ḫattuḫi, a name which Prof. [pg 321] Sayce translates, “the Hittite,” in the second series of the Records of the Past, vol. i. p. 97, note 2. In the same passage he analyzes the name of the city Urraḫinaš as being derived from Urra, with the termination ḫi-naš, denoting in Vannite, “the place of the people of.”
Another interesting reference to the Hittites is that of the Assyrian king Aššur-naṣir-âpli, renowned for his cruelty. The king ruling at the time was Sangara, who had as his capital the city of Carchemish. The text reads as follows—
“I drew near to the land of Carchemish. The tribute of Sangara, king of the land of Ḫatte—20 talents of gold, bangles (?) of gold, rings of gold, swords of gold, 100 talents of bronze, 250 talents of iron, dishes of bronze, vases of bronze, libation-vases of bronze, a brazier of bronze, and the numerous vessels of his palace, the weight of which was not taken; couches of oak, chairs of oak, tables of oak and ivory inlaid, 200 slave-girls (or virgins), cotton stuffs, woollen cloth, white and black and white and grey, white marble (?), tusks of elephants, a white chariot, an umbrella of gold filled with overlaying (?), the ornament of his royalty, I received. The chariots, horses, (and) grooms of the city Carchemish, (of the Hittites[82]) I set (aside) for myself.”
The riches and importance of the city of Carchemish are here well indicated, and to all appearance the place maintained its position to the end, long after the power of the Hittites had completely disappeared. Indeed, as will be recognized from the above, Sangara has every appearance of having been a local ruler, implying that the district under Hittite control was already broken up into small states practically independent of each other. Another prince of the Hittites, in the neighbourhood of Diarbekir, from whom this Assyrian [pg 322] king received tribute was “the son of Baḫiani.” Apparently he was called thus on account of his ancestor, Baḫiani, being chief of a tribe, the district over which he ruled bearing, in Aššur-naṣir-âpli's second reference to it, the name of Bît-Baḫiani, “the house of Baḫiani.” The special products of this tract are well indicated by the nature of the gifts sent to the Assyrian king: “chariots, harness, horses, silver, gold, lead, bronze, and vessels of bronze.” That these Hittite districts paid tribute so submissively would seem to indicate that they had no coherence among themselves, and did not feel called upon to aid each other in time of need.
Sargon of Assyria, who claims to have subjugated all the land of the Hittites, speaks, as do other Assyrian kings, of the people of Hamath, and what he did to Ilu-bi'idi or Yau-bi'idi, their king. This, too, was the capital of a Hittite principality, and it is in the modern town of Hamah, in which form the name still survives, that the so-called “Hamah-stones,” now generally regarded as Hittite, were found.
The disappearance of the Hittite confederate states (if such they really were), and the rise in their place from time to time of other powers, caused the Assyrians, who regarded this territory as their own special possession, won by conquest, to apply to the whole district the name of mât Ḫatti, “the land of Heth,” which would seem to have included (probably in its extended sense) Samaria, Sidon, Arvad, Gebal, Ashdod, Beth-Ammon, Moab, Edom, Askelon, and Judah.[83] It thus, to all appearance, took the place of the ancient “land of the Amorites” (not, however, when indicating the points of the compass), and in this the inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Aššur-banî-âpli agree.
What the influence of the Hittites over the nations [pg 323] contemporary with them may have been is difficult to estimate. The Assyrians, to all appearance, borrowed from them a certain style of architecture, used for the entrance-hall of the royal palaces. Their style of art, of which numerous examples are preserved, shows that they had made considerable progress, and that they had individuality as artists. Neither in sculpture nor in engraving of hard stone, however, did they ever attain to the exquisite fineness and finish of the best work of the artists of Babylonia and Assyria. The subjects, too, seem to be usually more grotesque, though this suggestion, which their work gives, may be due merely to our ignorance of their religious beliefs and the legends on which the designs were probably based.
The inscribed vase in the British Museum, and the inscribed figure found by the German explorers at the same place have already been referred to (pp. [317-318]), and it has been suggested as probable that they were sent as presents to one or more of the Babylonian kings, though the possibility that they were part of the spoils of an expedition to that part of the world, or specimens of Hittite art carried off at a later date, when the nations producing them had passed away, are also probable explanations. In any case, they seem to show that there were, at some period or other, political relations between the Hittites and the Babylonians.