The initial territory of Hittite Kingdom was limited to the middle and upper reaches of Harris River (now Kaiser River) in the east of Asia Minor. Because it is located on the plateau, it has little rainfall and is not suitable for farming. The original inhabitants were primitive Hati speakers, mainly engaged in gardening and animal husbandry. After 3000 BC, they were still in the inheritance stage of clan and tribe system. Hittite is surrounded by mountains and is rich in mineral resources (silver, copper, iron, etc. ) and timber have long attracted the attention of businessmen in neighboring countries. In the 0/9th century BC, Assyrians had established many commercial colonies in Hittite.
Around 2000 BC, Hittites belonging to Indo-European language family entered Asia Minor. At this time, the Hittites have begun to transition to slave society, and gradually formed some small States. The local primitive Hittites gradually merged with the new Hittites and switched to ——Nexil, the language of the newcomers.
Cheng Bang, a Hittite, had a meeting besides the leader (calling himself "the king"): "Penkus" or "Turias" (aristocratic meeting). There are frequent wars between Cheng Bang. At first, Kusa and Chengbang prevailed, and later Hattush (later called Hattusha, now Gasco River) became the center of Cheng Bang. The Cheng Bang League centered on Hattush has been expanding outward. In the 6th century BC/KLOC-0, Mursili I led troops to destroy the ancient Babylonian kingdom and returned with huge booty.
In the early 6th century BC/KLOC-the Hittites still had the legacy of clan matriarchal system and brotherhood, and civil wars often occurred in the ruling class for the throne. By the late 6th century BC/KLOC-,Tielieping had carried out reforms, established the system that the eldest son succeeded to the throne (if there was no eldest son, it was replaced by the eldest daughter or the eldest son-in-law), and stipulated that Penkus (Tulias) had the right to supervise and stop disputes within the royal family, and also had the right to arrest and deal with criminal members of the royal family and officials at all levels, so as to consolidate sovereignty.
At the beginning of the 0/5th century BC/KLOC, the Hittites were defeated by Thutmose III and forced to pay tribute to Egypt. It was not until the middle of BC15th century that Hittite's power gradually became stronger. Its heyday is from the end of 15 BC to the beginning of 13 BC. During this period, Hittite gradually changed from bronze to iron. On the basis of the development of domestic production, King Soubirou stayed in Malaysia, taking advantage of the decline of the kingdom of Mitanni caused by the rise of Assyria in the south and the chaos in Egypt caused by the religious reform, unified the tribes in Asia Minor, occupied most of the areas ruled by Mitanni before Syria, and even invaded Palestine, posing a great threat to the Egyptians. Since then, the Hittites have formed a unified and powerful empire. After Soubirou's death, Assyrian forces gradually approached the situation in the south of Hittite. At the beginning of13rd century BC, when Hattusili III was in power, there were many internal contradictions in Hittite, and because of the siege of Assyrian army, Hattusili was afraid of the attack of Egypt and Assyria, so he made peace with Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II. BC 1259, the two sides signed a peace treaty.
Because the Hittites captured a large number of slaves in the long-term war of aggression, slavery has developed greatly. According to the Hittite Code and some fragments of documents given by the king to slaves, land and livestock, it can be known that there were hundreds of slaves in the princes and nobles at that time. In addition, there are fields, vineyards and pastures in the gift list. Because there are many prisoners of war, the selling price of slaves is very low. A skilled slave is only worth two-thirds of the price of a cow. The situation of slaves is extremely miserable, and slave owners have the right to kill slaves at will.
With the development of slavery, private ownership of land began to prevail. With the development of private ownership of land and slavery, the differentiation between freemen has intensified. People who go bankrupt because of losing their land are either engaged in wage labor, attached to the royal family and temples, or become slaves. But the remnants of rural commune ownership still exist.
Hittite slave owners are mainly composed of princes, ministers, priests, city businessmen and usurers. In the heyday of Hittite, city merchants and usurers occupied a prominent position in society. They completely excluded the former Assyrian merchants and had business contacts with Egypt, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Aegean islands. They transported slaves, wood and metals such as silver and iron to these places, especially Egypt, in exchange for luxury goods there. The Hittites also had business contacts and cultural exchanges with Mycenae on the Greek peninsula at that time.
In the second half of BC13rd century, the Hittite Empire was constantly invaded by Assyria and its national strength was weak. At the end of13rd century BC12nd century BC, Hittite was invaded by a militant barbarian from Aegean Sea or Kangu Sker people along the Black Sea, and the capital Hattush and other big cities were completely burned, thus ending the empire. Hattush and its surrounding areas have been abandoned for more than 300 years. The remaining Hittite countries in northern Syria in Silesia were all destroyed by Assyria in the 8th century BC.
Hittite Empire does not occupy a significant proportion in history, with a total history of more than 400 years, but it has left the famous Hittite Code as a legal reference around the world.