any of an ancient people of
Asia Minor and Syria (1700 - 700 b.c.).
a
member of an ancient people
living in Syria and
Anatolia (later known as Turkey). The
origin of the Hittites is unknown; however, they invaded
Anatolia around 1900 B.C. and
imposed their
culture,
language and rule on the earlier inhabitants. In 1600 B.C., the Hittites began conquering cities in the region, one by one, in
order to
create a
single nation. They extended their
power further across
eastern Anatolia and into Syria and became the
chief cultural
force in western
Asia from 1400 to 1200 B.C.
Following this, several invading forces split the Hittite kingdom into small
independent states and these subsequently collapsed under the
force of another conquering invasion.