
The Hittites:The Story of a Forgotten Empire The founding of the Hittite Kingdom is attributed to either Labarna I or Hattusili I (it is debated whether this is the same person), who conquered the area south and north of Hattusa. Hattusili I campaigned as far as the kingdom of Yamkhad in Syria, where he attacked, but did not capture, its capital of Aleppo. His heir, Mursili I, conquered that city in a campaign conducted in 1595 BC.[3] Also in 1595 BC, Mursili I (or Murshilish I) conducted a great raid down the Euphrates River and captured Mari and Babylon.[4] However, the Hittite campaigns caused internal dissension which forced a withdrawal of troops to the Hittite homelands. Throughout the remainder of the sixteenth century BC, the Hittite kings were held to their homelands by dynastic quarrels and warfare with the Hurrians--their neighbors to the east.[5] Also the campaigns into Syria and Mesopotamia may be responsible for the reintroduction of cuneiform writing into Anatolia, since the Hittite script is quite different from the script of the preceding Assyrian Colony period. Mursili continued the conquests of Hattusili I. Mursili's conquests reached Mesopotamia and even ransacked Babylon itself in 1531 BC.[6] Rather than incorporate Babylonia into Hittite domains, Mursili seems to have instead turned control Babylonia over to his Kassite allies, who were to rule it for the next four centuries. This lengthy campaign, however, strained the resources of Hatti, and left <b>...</b>
Hittites
Anatolia
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