Hittites: Empire of Mesopotamia

During the time of early empires in the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, several civilizations rose and fell during intense warfare and failed development. These early territories contributed a vast amount of cultural evolution into their societies as they tried to prosper including, language, myth and, warfare. The Hittite Empire faced many hardships as it continued to grow within Mesopotamia, but continued to prosper and develop until its collapse.

The Hittite Monument of Sultanhani:
This stele was erected in the name of
god Tarhui for a better year of crops.
[Brewbooks CC BY-SA 2.0]

In the North West area of Mesopotamia a new culture and empire grew into the Hittite Kingdom. The stronghold and capital city of the Hittite empire was called Hattusas and laid in central Turkey. With the rise of the Hittite Empire also came the first record of the Indo-European language being spoken and with a bit of luck it became one of the strongest empires of its time. The Hittite language was written in cuneiform and during the end of the empires time frame the use of hieroglyphics became prevalent.

Since the Hittite Empire was so close in time frame and proximity to the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires many deities and myths are similar or even just different interpretations or accounts of the same event. The Hittites worshipped the Goddess Ishtar who held domain over war, fertility, love, and the dead. In the myth The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld, the Hittites and surrounding cultures used the myth to reason the changing of the seasons through out the years.

The myth accounts that Ishtar went down to the underworld demanding entrance and threatening to raise the dead to kill the living. After her threats the gatekeeper goes to Ereshikigal to ask if Ishtar could enter. After being allowed entrance Ishtar is trapped in the underworld and winter comes over Mesopotamia. In a plea to let Ishtar leave the underworld Ea created a man named Good-looks and offered him to Ereshikigal. Out of outrage to Ea trick Ereshikigal curses Good-looks and reluctantly makes Ishtar leave the underworld restoring spring to the nations of Mesopotamia.

During a time when the Babylonian Empire was frail the King of Hittite was able to attack was able to attack the city of Babylon in the seventeenth century BC. Though the Hittites were unable to make a significant amount of headway in their campaign to conquer other areas of Mesopotamia they did contribute to the growth of Mesopotamia’s culture and diversity. Around 1200 BC the Hittite empire lost most of its power and by 1000 BCE it dissipated completely.

For Further Reading

A World of Art. By Henry M. Sayre. ISBN: 978-0-205-88757-6

Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary.
By Jeremy Black and Anthony Green. Illustrations by Tessa Rickards.

Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilagamesh, and Others. A New translation by Stephanie Dalley ISBN: 978-0-19-953836-2

Contribution by: Margaret Smith, University of New Mexico, Anthropology & Japanese undergraduate