This article is about the specific polity Hittite Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was an empire centered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia during Antiquity. It was founded by the Hittities, an Anatolian people. It fragmented into several Syro-Hittite states during the Late Bronze Age collapse.
Establishment
January 1650 BC: Labarna founded the Hittite Kingdom ca. 1650 BC. He renamed himself Hattusili I (meaning "the man of Hattusa") and established his capital city at Hattusa.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Military campaigns of Hittite King Hattusili I.
January 1647 BC: Hittite King Hattusili I campaigned against Arzawa in western Anatolia.
February 1647 BC: Hittite King Hattusili I campaigned against Arzawa in western Anatolia.
Military campaigns of Hittite King Mursili I.
January 1599 BC: Hittite King Mursili I conquered the kingdom of Yamhad and its capital, Aleppo.
January 1595 BC: Hittite King Mursili Ied an unprecedented march of 2,000 km south into the heart of Mesopotamia, where in 1595 BC he sacked the city of Babylon.
February 1595 BC: Hittite King Mursili Ied an unprecedented march of 2,000 km south into the heart of Mesopotamia, where in 1595 BC he sacked the city of Babylon.
Military campaigns of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ahmose I.
January 1549 BC: Pharaoh Ahmose I reasserted Egyptian power in Canaan.
3.1.Punitive Expedition in Canaan
Military campaign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ahmose I in Canaan.
January 1526 BC: Ahmose I began a military expedition in Syria and Nubia during his 22nd year of reign. He reached Djahy in the Levant and perhaps as far as the Euphrates. Ahmose did reach at least as far as Kedem (thought to be near Byblos), according to an ostracon in the tomb of his wife, Ahmose-Nefertari.
February 1526 BC: Ahmose I started a military expedition in Syria and Nubia during his 22nd year of reign. At the end of the expedition the Pharaoh left most of the territories.
Military campaigns of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose I.
January 1504 BC: Syrian campaign of Thutmose I at the beginning of his second regnal year. During this campaign, the Syrian princes declared allegiance to Thutmose.
January 1503 BC: After Thutmose I returned in Egypt, the Syrian vassals of Egypt discontinued tribute and began fortifying against future incursions.
Military campaigns of Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose II.
5.1.Syrian Campaigns of Thutmose III
Were the military campaigns of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III in Syria.
5.1.1.First Syria Campaign
Military campaign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III in Syria.
January 1456 BC: The Battle of Megiddo was fought between Egyptian forces under the command of Pharaoh Thutmose III and a large rebellious coalition of Canaanite vassal states led by the king of Kadesh. Egyptian dominance in the Levant was re-established
Military campaigns of Hittite king Tudḫaliya I.
January 1399 BC: During his reign (c. 1400 BC), Hittite King Tudhaliya I, conquered the Hurrian region of Aleppo from Mitanni.
January 1399 BC: In 1400 BC the Assuwa League defeated by the Hittite Empire, under Tudhaliya I.
January 1399 BC: The Hittite Empire expanded to the west at the expense of Arzawa (a Luwian state).
Military campaigns of Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I.
January 1349 BC: In his Syrian Campaigns, King Šuppiluliuma I (c. 1350 BC) defeated King Tusratta of Mitanni, and the kingdom came under Hittite control.
January 1349 BC: After the Syrian Campaigns of King Šuppiluliuma I (c. 1350 BC), Aleppo came under Hittite control.
January 1349 BC: The Kingdom of Isuwa fell under Hittite rule.
7.1.Akhenaten´s Loss of control of Syrian states
During the kingdom of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten the influence of Egypt in Syria vanished.
January 1351 BC: During the reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, Egypt was unable to oppose the rise of the Hittites, thus losing control of a series of vassal states of Asia Minor.
Military campaigns of Hittite king Muršili II.
January 1319 BC: When Shattiwaza became king of Mitanni, his kingdom was restricted to the Khabur River and Balikh River valleys as the remnant regions of the kingdom had fallen to the Hittite Empire.
January 1311 BC: Hittite ruler Mursili II invaded Hayasa-Azzi and submitted it after one year.
January 1299 BC: According to Hittite records, in c. 1320 BC Arzawa joined an anti-Hittite alliance together with the region of Millawanta (Miletus). As a response to this initiative, the Hittite kings Suppiluliuma I and Mursili II finally managed to defeat Arzawa around 1300 BC.
January 1299 BC: After the conquest of Arzawa by Assyrian king Muršili II, Šeḫa became a vassal of the Hittite realm.
January 1294 BC: Having inherited a position of strength in the east, Hittite King Mursili was able to turn his attention to the west, where he attacked Arzawa and a city known as Millawanda (Miletus), which was under the control of Ahhiyawa.
Military campaigns of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I.
9.1.Seti´s Campiagn in Syria
Military campaign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I in Syria.
January 1289 BC: In his first regnal year, pharaoh Seti I led his armies along the "Horus Military road," the coastal road that went from the Egyptian city of Tjaru in the northeast of the Nile Delta along the northern coast of the Sinai peninsula ending in the town of "Canaan" in the modern Gaza strip. The campaign continued into Lebanon where the pharaoh received the submission of local chiefs.
9.2.Capture of Kadesh
Conquest of Kadesh by Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I.
January 1287 BC: Kadesh reverted to Hittite control because the Egyptians could not maintain a permanent military occupation of the area, which was close to the Hittite homelands. Pharaoh Seti I probably reached an agreement with the Hittite king Muwatalli on the precise boundaries of the Egyptian and Hittite Empires.
January 1286 BC: It seems that by the end of 1287 BC the Egyptians were again in control of the cities of Kadesh and Fenchu, located in an are disputed with the Hittite Empire.
Military campaigns of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II.
10.1.Second Syrian campaign
Military campaign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II in Syria.
June 1274 BC: Battle of Kadesh: the Hittites defeated the Egyptians. Egypt's sphere of influence was now restricted to Canaan while Syria fell into Hittite hands.
10.2.Third Syrian Campaign
Military campaign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II in Syria.
January 1271 BC: Canaanite princes, seemingly encouraged by the Egyptian incapacity to impose their will and goaded on by the Hittites, began revolts against Egypt. In the seventh year of his reign, Ramesses II returned to Syria once again. The reunited army then marched on Hesbon, Damascus, on to Kumidi, and finally, recaptured Upi (the land around Damascus), reestablishing Egypt's former sphere of influence.
10.3.Egyptian Loss of Tunip
The army of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II left Tunip, a city in the Levant.
January 1269 BC: The conquests of pharaoh Ramesses II in Syria proved to be ephemeral. The Hittites soon reconquered the lands of Tunip, Dapur, Amurru and Kadesh.
10.4.Fifth Syrian campaign of Ramesses II
Military campaign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II in Syria.
January 1268 BC: Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II marched once more in Syria during his tenth year. He took towns in Retenu, and Tunip in Naharin.
10.5.Later campaigns in Syria by Ramesses II
Military campaigns in Syria during the late reign of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II.
10.5.1.Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty
Was a treaty concluded between Ramesses II and Ḫattušili III in year 21 of Ramesses's reign (c. 1258 BC). The frontiers are not laid down in this treaty, but may be inferred from other documents. The harbour town of Sumur, north of Byblos, is mentioned as the northernmost town belonging to Egypt, suggesting it contained an Egyptian garrison.
January 1257 BC: The Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty (or the treaty of Kadesh) between Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and Hittite king Ḫattušili III was ratified in the 21st year of Ramesses II's reign (1258 BC) and continued in force until the Hittite Empire collapsed eighty years later. The frontiers are not laid down in this treaty, but the harbour town of Sumur, north of Byblos, is mentioned as the northernmost town belonging to Egypt, suggesting it contained an Egyptian garrison.
Military campaigns of Assyrian king Shalmaneser I.
January 1271 BC: The Assyrian king Shalmaneser I expanded his kingdom up to the head of the Euphrates in Anatolia as the Hittite power in the region declined.
January 1243 BC: During his reign Assyrian king Salmanassar I conquered the region of Urartu that encompassed most of Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus Mountains.
January 1599 BC: Beth-Nahrin was an Aramaic kingdom established in the Harran region around 1600 BC.
January 1593 BC: Hittie King Mursili was assassinated shortly after his return from the Sack of Babylon, and the Hittite Kingdom was plunged into chaos. The Hurrians, a people living in the mountainous region along the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern south east Turkey, took advantage of the situation to seize Aleppo and the surrounding areas for themselves.
January 1589 BC: Mursili left for Babylon and sacked it, but was assassinated upon his return to his capital Hattusa, and his empire disintegrated.
January 1499 BC: Washukanni and surrounding regions conquered by Mitanni.
January 1399 BC: The first documented leader of Amurru was Abdi-Ashirta, under whose leadership Amurru was a vassal of the Egyptian empire.
January 1399 BC: Expansion of Mitanni until 1400 BC.
January 1399 BC: Šeḫa was a polity in the area of ancient Lydia. It is first attested in the fourteenth century BC, duirng the military campaigns of the Hittite king Tudḫaliya I.
January 1369 BC: A weak phase followed Tudhaliya I, and Aleppo reverted to an independent polity.
January 1359 BC: Hayasa-Azzi was a Late Bronze Age confederation formed between two kingdoms of Armenian Highlands, Hayasa located South of Trabzon and Azzi, located north of the Euphrates and to the south of Hayasa.
January 1321 BC: Assyrian King Adad-nirari I annexed north east Syria from the control of the Hittites.
January 1321 BC: The region of Nuḫašše was conquered by the Hittite King Šuppiluliuma I.
January 1321 BC: Qatna comes under Hittite domination when Suppiluliuma I seized Syria.
January 1299 BC: In the XIII century BC the Kingdom of Colchis was formed as a result of the constant consolidation of the tribes that inhabited modern-day Georgia.
January 1229 BC: The Phoenician city-state of Beirut is established. The Phoenicians emerged as a distinct and organized civilization in 1230 BC after the Late Bronze Age collapse had severely weakened the Egyptian and Hittits civilizations.
January 1229 BC: The Phoenician city-state of Sidon is established. The Phoenicians emerged as a distinct and organized civilization in 1230 BC after the Late Bronze Age collapse had severely weakened the Egyptian and Hittits civilizations.
January 1229 BC: The Phoenician city-state of Byblos is established. The Phoenicians emerged as a distinct and organized civilization in 1230 BC after the Late Bronze Age collapse had severely weakened the Egyptian and Hittits civilizations.
January 1229 BC: The Phoenician city-state of Tyros is established. The Phoenicians emerged as a distinct and organized civilization in 1230 BC after the Late Bronze Age collapse had severely weakened the Egyptian and Hittits civilizations.
January 1214 BC: In the last third of the 13th century BC Cyprus may have come under Hittite rule for a short time. In any case, Tudhalija IV (reigned around 1240-1215 BC) boasts on an inscription found in Ḫattuša (KBo 12.38) that he subjugated the island
January 1199 BC: Ishtunda was a neo-Hittite state in the Taurus Mountains region risen in the early twelfth century.
January 1199 BC: From around 1200 BC, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centred on the Sangarios River.
January 1199 BC: Diauehi was a tribal union of possibly proto-Armenian, Hurrian or proto-Kartvelian groups, located in northeastern Anatolia, that was formed in the 12th century BC in the post-Hittite period.
January 1199 BC: Caria emerged as an indipendent Neo-Hittite kingdom around the 11th century BC.
January 1199 BC: The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient nations of Anatolia and listed among the allies of the Trojans in the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC or 1250 BC), where their king Pylaemenes and his son Harpalion perished according ot the Iliad.
Disestablishment
January 1179 BC: Hittite domination in Anatolia lasted until the general period of crisis of the Mediterranean cultures, which coincided with the invasions of the so-called Sea Peoples.
Selected Sources
Broad, William J. "It Swallowed a Civilization. " New York Times, D1. 21 October 2003.
Bryce, Trevor R., (2018). "The Annals and Lost Golden Statue of the Hittite King Hattusili I", in Gephyra 16, November 2018, pp. 1-12.
Burney, C. (2018): Historical Dictionary of the Hittites, Rowman & Littlefield, p.167
Cline, Eric H. (2021). "Of Arms and the Man". 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Princeton University Press. p. 32
Cline, Eric H. (May 2002). The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age. University of Michigan Press. Pp. 16-22
George Steindorff and Keith C. Seele (1942): When Egypt ruled the East, University of Chicago Press, p. 35
George Steindorff and Keith C. Seele (1942): When Egypt ruled the East, University of Chicago Press, p. 36
Grimal, Nicolas (1992). A History of Ancient Egypt. Translated by Ian Shaw. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-19396-8. p. 192
Grimal, Nicolas-Christophe (1992). A History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-17472-1., p. 256.
Hoffner, H.A. (2009): Letters from the Hittite Kingdom, Society of Biblical Lit, p. 401
Near East 1400 BCE. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 1 April 2024 on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Near_East_1400_BCE.png
Trevisanato, S. I. (2007). "The 'Hittite plague', an epidemic of tularemia and the first record of biological warfare". Medical Hypotheses. 69 (6): 1371–1374. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2007.03.012. PMID 17499936.
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, pp.4-5
Weinstein, J. M. (1981): The Egyptian Empire in Palestine: A Reassessment, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research nr. 241, p.7
Hittite Empire
