The kingdom returned CO some stability around 1500 BCE under the leadership of Telipinu, who laid down strict succession guidelines and possibly established a code of law. Some 50 years later, the New Hittite Kingdom was established. The Hittites had just suffered a defeat at the hands of the Egyptian pharaoh, Thutmosis and had begun paying the Egyptians trib-ute. One of the key figures in the New Kingdom was Suppiluliuma (Shubbiluliu), who seized power around 1380 BCE, re-established Hittite authority in Anatolia, and defeated the Mitanni. He was unable to defeat the Egyptians, however, and the two powers remained rivals for the next century. During a time of Egyptian weakness under Akhenaton, the Hittites made gains in Lebanon at Egyptian expense. They also spread their power to the Aegean, Armenia, and upper Mesopotamia.
The key battle in the ongoing conflict with Egypt took place in 1294 BCE at Kadesh on the Orontes River. Pharaoh Rameses 11 led his army of Numidian mercenaries north to force his will on the Hittites once and for all. When two captured Hittite deserters informed the pharaoh that their army was still many days' march away, Rameses rode ahead of his army to set up camp near Kadesh. The two prisoners turned out to have been planted by the Hittite king, Muwatallis, and the Hittite army attacked the pharaoh without most of his troops. Rameses fought bravely until his army arrived, and their appearance forced a Hittite retreat into the city of Kadesh. Without siege equipment, Rameses could not force their surrender, so he withdrew. Shortly thereafter the two nations signed a peace agreement: The Egyptians recognized Hittite sovereignty in Syria in return for Hittite recognition of Egyptian dominance in Palestine. The alliance was sealed by a dynastic marriage. The two peoples remained at peace until the fall of the Hittite empire, which came at the hands of the "Peoples of the Sea" around 1200 BCE. The secret of Hittite expansion and superiority lay in the fact that they were the first power to develop the process of smelting iron in large quantities, a method that was probably discovered about 1400 BCE.
In a time when everyone used bronze for their weapons, iron weaponry gave its possessors a great advantage. Despite this advantage, however, the bulk of the Hittite army was made up of mounted troops and chariots, from which archers fought. Iron weaponry conferred less of an advantage on these troops, but the Hittite infantry carried iron swords and iron-tipped spears and fought in a phalanx formation. At the battle of Kadesh, the Hittite king was able to muster some 3,500 chariots, each with a driver and two archers. Probably half the Hittite army was in chariots, with between 8,000 and 9,000 infantry and archers recruited from Hittite vassals and allies.
The Hittite kingdom recognized a supreme ruler, but a strong aristocracy made absolute rule difficult. An early form of feudalism was the basic social and govern-mental structure, with the local lords being responsible for providing troops in times of emergency. The king maintained a standing army, however, especially as the empire expanded and garrisons were necessary to maintain control over subject populations. Further, the king maintained a personal guard of 1,200 (and possibly as many as 12,000) Elamites (from modern-day Iran), who were talented soldiers available for hire, and other mercenaries were employed as well. All of this lasted until the arrival of the Peoples of the Sea in the thirteenth and twelfth centuries BCE. The Hittite empire collapsed, but Hittite populations survived for several centuries in cities such as Carchemish, on the upper Euphrates, Sam'al (modern Zincirli), and Millid (modern Malatia).
In the Bible, Uriah the Hittite held a major position in King David's army but was unfortunately married to Bathsheba, and David's desire for her resulted in Uriah's being killed. The story illustrates the spread of the Hittite population and the respect for their military abilities throughout the ancient world.
The final blow for the Hittites came in the eighth century BCE when the power of Assyria absorbed everyone in the Middle East. The Assyrian king, Sargon, however, kept a strong contingent of Hittites in his army after their absorption into the Assyrian empire.
Important Note: This work is owed to the ‘Encyclopedia of Warrior Peoples and Fighting Groups’ published by the ‘Grey House Publishing’ company in 2006. Please don’t forget to mention this if you are to use this work for any of your writings. Thank You.
-A.W.