Difference between revisions of "Hittites"

<p> <strong> HITTITES </strong> . A people said in the J [Note: Jahwist.] document ( Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17 ) to have been one of the pre-Israelitish occupants of Palestine. The E [Note: Elohist.] document says they lived in the mountains ( Numbers 13:29 ). They are often included by D [Note: Deuteronomist.] and his followers among the early inhabitants of the land, while P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] tells us ( [[Genesis]] 23:1-20 ) that [[Abraham]] bought from a Hittite the cave of [[Machpelah]] at Hebron. They are probably the people known in [[Egyptian]] inscriptions as <em> Kheta </em> , in [[Assyrian]] annals as <em> Khatti </em> , and in [[Homer]] ( <em> [[Od]] </em> . xi. 521) as <em> Kçteioi </em> . </p> <p> It is supposed that the carved figures found in many parts of Asia Minor, having a peculiar type of high hat and shoes which turn up at the toe, and containing hieroglyphs of a distinct type which are as yet undeciphered, are Hittite monuments. Assuming that this is correct, the principal <em> habitat </em> of the [[Hittites]] was Asia Minor, for these monuments are found from Karabel, a pass near Smyrna, to Erzerum, and from the so-called [[Niobe]] (originally a Hittite goddess), near Magnesia, to Jerabis, the ancient Carchemish, on the Euphrates. They have also been found at Zenjirli and [[Hamath]] in northern [[Syria]] (cf. Messerschmidt’s ‘Corp. Inscript. Hett.’ in <em> Mitteilungen der Vorderas. Gesell </em> . vol. v.; and Sayce, <em> PSBA </em> <em> [Note: SBA Proceedings of Soc. of Bibl. Archeology.] </em> vol. xxviii. 91 95). It appears from these monuments that at Boghazkui east of the Halys, at Marash, and at various points in ancient Galatia, Lycaonia, Isauria, and [[Cilicia]] the Hittites were especially strong. It is probable that their civilization was developed in Asia Minor, and that they afterwards pushed southward into northern Syria, invading a region as far eastward as the Euphrates. </p> <p> This is confirmed by what we know of them from the inscriptions of other nations. Our earliest mention of them occurs in the annals of Thothmes iii. of [[Egypt]] (about b.c. 1500), to whom they paid tribute (cf. Breasted’s <em> [[Ancient]] [[Records]] of Egypt </em> , ii. 213). </p> <p> In the reign of Amenophis iii. (about b.c. 1400) they attempted unsuccessfully to invade the land of Mittani on the Euphrates, and successfully planted themselves on the [[Orontes]] valley in Syria (cf. <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> v. 33, and 255, 257). In the reign of Amenophis iv. they made much greater advances, as the el-Amarna letters show. In the next dynasty Seti i. fought a battle with the Hittites between the ranges of the Lehanon (Breasted, <em> op cit </em> . iii. 71). In the reign of [[Rameses]] ii. [[Kadesh]] on the Orontes was in their hands. Rameses fought a great battle with them there, and afterwards made a treaty of peace with them (Breasted, <em> op. cit. </em> iii. 125 ff., 165 ff.). Meren-Ptah and Rameses iii. had skirmishes with them, the latter as late as b.c. 1200. From the similarity of his name to the names of Hittite kings, Moore has conjectured ( <em> JAOS </em> <em> [Note: AOS Journ. of the Amer. Oriental Society.] </em> xix. 159, 160) that [[Sisera]] ( Judges 5:1-31 ) was a Hittite. If so, in the time of [[Deborah]] (about b.c. 1150) a Hittite dynasty invaded northern Palestine. </p> <p> About b.c. 1100 Tiglath-pileser i. of [[Assyria]] fought with Hittites ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> i. 23). In David’s reign individual Hittites such as [[Ahimelech]] and [[Uriah]] were in [[Israel]] ( 1 Samuel 26:6 , 2 Samuel 11:3 etc.). Kings of the Hittites are said to have been contemporary with [[Solomon]] ( 1 Kings 10:29; 1 Kings 11:1 ), also a century later contemporary with [[Joram]] of Israel ( 2 Kings 7:6 ). In the 9th cent. the Assyrian kings Ashurnazir-pal ( <em> KIB </em> <em> [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] </em> i. 105) and [[Shalmaneser]] ii. ( <em> ib. </em> p. 139) fought with Hittites, as did Tiglath-pileser iii. ( <em> ib. </em> ii. 29), in the next century, while [[Sargon]] ii. in 717 ( <em> ib. </em> ii. 43; Isaiah 10:9 ) destroyed the kingdom of Carchemish, the last of the Hittite kingdoms of which we have definite record. The researches of recent years, especially those of Jensen and Breasted, make it probable that the Cilicians were a Hittite people, and that Syennesis, king of Cilicia, mentioned in Xenopbon’s <em> Anabasis </em> as a vassal king of [[Persia]] about b.c. 400, was a Hittite. Possibly the people of Lycaonia, whose language Paul and [[Barnabas]] did not understand ( Acts 14:11 ), spoke a dialect of Hittite. </p> <p> The Hittites accordingly played an important part in history from b.c. 1500 to b.c. 700, and lingered on in many quarters much longer. It is probable that a Hittite kingdom in [[Sardis]] preceded the [[Lydian]] kingdom there (cf. Herod, i. 7). The Lydian Cyhele and [[Artemis]] of [[Ephesus]] were probably originally Hittite divinities. </p> <p> Jensen, who has made a little progress in deciphering the Hittite inscriptions, believes them to be an Aryan people, the ancestors of the [[Armenians]] (cf. his <em> Hittiter und Armenier </em> ), but this is very doubtful. </p> <p> Politically the Hittites were not, so far as we know, united. They seem to have formed small city-kingdoms. </p> <p> The religion of the Hittites seems to have had some features in common with Semitic religion (cf. Barton, <em> Semitic Origins </em> , pp. 311 316). </p> <p> [[George]] A. Barton. </p>

<li> the Hittites, who were the warlike element of this confederation of tribes. They inhabited the whole region between the [[Euphrates]] and Damascus, their chief cities being [[Carchemish]] on the Euphrates, and Kadesh, now Tell Neby Mendeh, in the [[Orontes]] valley, about six miles south of the Lake of Homs. These [[Hittites]] seem to have risen to great power as a nation, as for a long time they were formidable rivals of the [[Egyptian]] and [[Assyrian]] empires. In the book of Joshua they always appear as the dominant race to the north of Galilee. <p> [[Somewhere]] about the twenty-third century B.C. the [[Syrian]] confederation, led probably by the Hittites, arched against Lower Egypt, which they took possession of, making [[Zoan]] their capital. Their rulers were the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. They were at length finally driven out of Egypt. [[Rameses]] II. sought vengeance against the "vile Kheta," as he called them, and encountered and defeated them in the great battle of Kadesh, four centuries after Abraham. (See JOSHUA .) </p> <p> They are first referred to in [[Scripture]] in the history of Abraham, who bought from [[Ephron]] the Hittite the field and the cave of [[Machpelah]] (Genesis 15:20 : 23:3-18 ). They were then settled at Kirjath-arba. From this tribe [[Esau]] took his first two wives (26:34; 36:2). </p> <p> They are afterwards mentioned in the usual way among the inhabitants of the [[Promised]] Land (Exodus 23:28 ). They were closely allied to the Amorites, and are frequently mentioned along with them as inhabiting the mountains of Palestine. When the spies entered the land they seem to have occupied with the [[Amorites]] the mountain region of [[Judah]] (Numbers 13:29 ). They took part with the other [[Canaanites]] against the [[Israelites]] (Joshua 9:1; 11:3 ). </p> <p> After this there are few references to them in Scripture. [[Mention]] is made of "Ahimelech the Hittite" (1 Samuel 26:6 ), and of "Uriah the Hittite," one of David's chief officers (2 Samuel 23:39; 1 Chronicles 11:41 ). In the days of [[Solomon]] they were a powerful confederation in the north of Syria, and were ruled by "kings." They are met with after the [[Exile]] still a distinct people (Ezra 9:1; Compare Nehemiah 13:23-28 ). </p> <p> The [[Hebrew]] merchants exported horses from [[Egypt]] not only for the kings of Israel, but also for the Hittites (1 Kings 10:28,29 ). From the Egyptian monuments we learn that "the Hittites were a people with yellow skins and 'Mongoloid' features, whose receding foreheads, oblique eyes, and protruding upper jaws are represented as faithfully on their own monuments as they are on those of Egypt, so that we cannot accuse the Egyptian artists of caricaturing their enemies. The Amorites, on the contrary, were a tall and handsome people. They are depicted with white skins, blue eyes, and reddish hair, all the characteristics, in fact, of the white race" (Sayce's The Hittites). The original seat of the Hittite tribes was the mountain ranges of Taurus. They belonged to Asia Minor, and not to Syria. </p> <div> <p> Copyright StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated [[Bible]] Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Hittites'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/h/hittites.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> Descended from [[Cheth]] or Heth, second son of Canaan. (See HETH.) A peaceable and commercial people when first brought before us at [[Kirjath]] [[Arba]] or [[Hebron]] (Genesis 23:19; [[Genesis]] 25:9). Their courteous dignity of bearing towards [[Abraham]] is conspicuous throughout. As he took the [[Amorites]] as his allies in warfare, so he sought: from the [[Hittites]] a tomb. The Amalekites' advance necessitated their withdrawal to the mountains (Numbers 13:29). In Joshua (Joshua 1:4; Joshua 9:1; Joshua 11:3-4; Joshua 12:8) they appear as the principal power occupying upper Syria, between [[Palestine]] and the Euphrates. The [[Egyptian]] monuments represent them (Sheta) as forming a confederacy of chiefs, Egypt's opponents in the valley of the Orontes, during the 19th and 20th dynasties of Manetho, including Joshua's time. Sethos I took their capital Ketesh near Emesa, 1340 B.C. </p> <p> Two or three centuries later the [[Assyrian]] inscription of Tiglath Pileser (1125 B.C.) mentions them. As the [[Philistines]] appear in Joshua (Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3) predominant in S. [[Canaan]] toward Egypt, so the Hittites in the N. Their military power is represented in Joshua as consisting in chariots (1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6). A hieroglyphic inscription of [[Rameses]] II mentions Astert (Ashtoreth) as their god. Uriah, the unsuspicious, self-denying patriot, whom David so wronged though of his own bodyguard "the thirty," was a Hittite, and showed the chivalrous bearing which [[Ephron]] the Hittite and his people had showed of old. </p> <p> The names of Hittites mentioned in Scripture, Adah, Ahimelech, etc., seem akin to Hebrew. (See HEBREW.) G. Smith has just discovered their capital lying about half way between the mighty cities of the [[Euphrates]] valley and those of the Nile. Their art forms the connecting link between Egyptian and Assyrian art. The name of their capital is identical with that of the Etruscans. This implies a connection of the Hittites with that people. </p>

<p> The Middle Eastern political power known as the Hittite [[Empire]] lasted from about 1800 to 1200 BC. It extended from northern [[Palestine]] across [[Syria]] and into Asia Minor. Tidal, king of Goiim, was possibly a Hittite king of the era before the Empire was fully established (Genesis 14:1). </p> <p> Even after the Empire had collapsed, Syria was still sometimes referred to as the land of the Hittites. Likewise the people of various states and cities in Syria still called themselves [[Hittites]] (Joshua 1:4; 2 Samuel 24:6; 1 Kings 10:29; 1 Kings 11:1; 2 Kings 7:6). </p> <p> However, the Hittites most often mentioned in the [[Bible]] are not those of the ancient Hittite Empire in the north, but those of smaller tribal groups in Canaan. They were probably the descendants of migrants from earlier Hittite kingdoms, and formed one of the many tribal groups that occupied [[Canaan]] before the conquering [[Israelites]] drove them out (Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10; Ezra 9:1). </p> <p> The main area where the Hittites of Canaan lived was the central mountain region. This included the towns of Bethel, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, [[Hebron]] and [[Beersheba]] (Genesis 23:2-16; [[Genesis]] 26:34; Judges 1:23; Judges 1:26; 2 Samuel 23:39; Ezekiel 16:3). The Hittites were among the many [[Canaanite]] groups whom [[Solomon]] used as slaves in his building programs (1 Kings 9:20-21). Eventually they were absorbed into the Israelites and so ceased to be a distinct racial group. </p>

<p> The descendants of Heth, a son of Canaan, and hence descendants of Ham: a numerous race who inhabited Palestine. In God's covenant with [[Abraham]] their territory was to be possessed by his descendants. [[Genesis]] 15:20 . On the death of Sarah, Abraham bought the field and cave of [[Machpelah]] from the Hittites. His intercourse and contract with them show that they were a civilised race, used to commercial transactions. Genesis 23:3-20 . This was near or at [[Hebron]] in the south of Palestine, whereas other passages speak of them in the north, between the [[Lebanon]] and the Euphrates, which was probably where they originally settled, Joshua 1:4; and there are intimations that they continued a powerful and warlike race after [[Palestine]] was possessed by Israel. 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6 . [[Ahimelech]] and Uriah, eminent men in the time of David, were Hittites. 1 Samuel 26:6; 2 Samuel 23:39 . </p> <p> In various parts of Palestine and [[Syria]] monuments have been found of the Hittites, and in [[Egypt]] there are records of a long defensive treaty that was made between the [[Egyptians]] and the Hittites, showing that the latter were an important race. The Tell Amarna tablets show that they seized upon [[Damascus]] then held by Egypt. Letter after letter urged Egypt to come to the rescue. Their features even are now well understood on the monuments, being described as a people with yellow skins and 'mongoloid ' features, receding foreheads, oblique eyes, and protruding upper jaws. </p>

<p> One of the original tribes of Canaan, and one of the most powerful, whose dominion extended at one time as far as the border of [[Egypt]] on the one hand, and [[Mesopotamia]] on the other, and northward beyond the [[Taurus]] Mountains, traces of which have been discovered over all Asia Minor, while they were strong enough to engage in war with the Egyptians; they had two capitals, [[Kadesh]] on the Orontes, and [[Carchemish]] on the Euphrates. </p>