The Hitties & The Hyksos Essay, Research Paper

The Hittites

The Hittites are a people mentioned frequently in the Bible (Old Testament). They were immigrant people who arrived in Anatolia in 2000 BC. It took them 250 years to establish a kingdom in central Anatolia 1750 BC and their powerful Empire flourished in the 14-13CBC until the Sea Peoples destroyed it in 1200 BC.

When the Hittites, who lived north of the Black Sea, migrated into Anatolia. Native people, the Hattians, already occupied that region. Their arrival and diffusion had been peaceful and accompanied by intermarriage and alliance with the natives. So well did the Hittites integrate themselves into the local culture of central Anatolia that they even adopted the worship of several native deities. This is the first political organization in Anatolia.

It remained for Suppiluliumas I (about 1375-1345 BC), an energetic and successful campaigner, to restore Hittite control in Anatolia and effectively extend the borders of his kingdom to the south and east. His major accomplishments were the defeat of Mitanni and conquests in Syria, including the capture of the powerful city-state of Kargamis. His period saw the Empire at its peak, but even during that time the Hittite Empire was never a single, political unit. Hittite penetration into Syria brought the newly revived state into conflict with Egypt. The war between two most powerful states in the Middle East area has resulted in the first written international treaty known to us as “ Kadesh Treaty”. It insured peace between the Hittites and Egypt on the southern border of the Empire (1248 BC). In Anatolia, the old pattern of unrest and revolt presented continuing dangers for the Hittite state, as vassals sought to reassert their independence. The main problem was the Assyrians who were unwilling to come to any terms with Hittites and also a heavy famine hit the country. The unexpected end of the Hittites was not because of Assyrians, but it came from the West, the flog of people known as “ Sea Peoples” who have destroyed much of Asia Minor including Hittite State about 1200 BC. Beset by both internal and external pressures, the Hittites have never been able to restore their state again.

The people who survived the massacre of the foreign invaders “ Sea Peoples” have moved to Northern Syria and integrated with native people of the area and built many towns. The remaining Hittite cities and towns have been totally destroyed by the Assyrians who had, at every opportunity, attacked the Hittites. Thus, from around 700 BC, all of the Hittite towns have been incorporated into Assyrian states and provinces. The vacuum created by the disappearance of the Hittites in Anatolia was filled by the Luwians a native community, Phrygians the people of the King Midas, and by Uratians in the eastern Anatolia.

The Hyksos

Around 1786 BC, the Hyksos invaded Egypt, starting the Second Intermediate Period. The Hyksos were a group of mixed Semitic-Asiatics who settled in Lower Egypt.

The name “Hyksos” was probably an Egyptian term for “ rulers of foreign lands”, (heqa-khase), and it almost certainly designated the foreign dynasts rather than a whole nation. They seem to have been connected with the general migratory movements elsewhere in the Middle East at the time. Although most of the Hyksos names seem to have been Semitic, there may also have been a Hurrian element among them. The Hyksos assimilated well into mainstream Egyptian culture during their rule. They practiced many Egyptian traditions including worshipping the same pantheon. They also left some contributions to the Egyptians, such as the scimitar and the chariot.

The rise of the Hyksos to power was a turning point in the history of the Near East. Up until this time, Egyptian history and Asian history were largely separated. With the Hyksos on Egyptian soil, the histories of the two cultures were intertwined for the first time. For better or for worse, Egypt’s history would from this point on always influence and be influenced by the various Asian peoples. The Hyksos also included Indo- European warriors, and it is believed that they were the source of the new horse-drawn war chariot introduced to Egypt in the second half of the Hyksos rule. This invention, never before seen in Egypt, was instrumental in the continued power of the Hyksos in this region.

The Hyksos had their great power concentrated in Lower Egypt; they also held sway in most of Middle and Upper Egypt, as well as a small portion of Western Asia. However, Upper Egypt and even Middle Egypt to some extent were so far away that the Hyksos government could barely control them. So a Theban family maintained control of Upper Egypt at that time. This Theban family began the process of expelling the Hyksos. Ahmose who was the founder of the 18th dynasty in Egypt’s ancient history finally drove the Hyksos completely out of Egypt and ended 108 years of Hyksos rule over Egypt. Unable to escape by sea, most of them became slaves. It would explain why the friendly Egyptian suddenly enslaved many or even all of those who remained in the country ancient history.