The Hittites: kingship and diplomacy

The Hittite kingdom developed around Hattusa in Anatolia during the second millennium BCE. Walls, palaces and temples served a monarchy connected to surrounding districts and subordinate rulers. Kings led armies and performed religious duties. Queens and royal relatives participated in court life, while succession disputes encouraged rules concerning the transfer of the throne.

Agriculture and tribute supplied the court and military. Central officials, local administrators and dependent kings shared government, maintaining relationships through appointments, marriages and negotiated obligations.

References: [1]

Archives at Hattusa contain cuneiform treaties, letters and ritual texts. Hittite served local business, while Akkadian was used in international diplomacy. Treaties specified loyalty, military assistance and succession duties; correspondence between kings concerned gifts, marriage and personnel. Scribes converted negotiations into durable texts, allowing political obligations across distant regions to be stored and read again.

References: [1]

Hittite and Egyptian rulers competed over Syria, fought at Kadesh and later established peace and royal marriages. Near the end of the Bronze Age, warfare, population movement and supply problems affected Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean. The royal center at Hattusa disappeared, but states in northern Syria and southern Anatolia continued related traditions. Writing, imagery and religious practices survived the breakup of the larger kingdom.

References: [1]