Ancient Hittite Ruins

Were the Hittites a Bible myth or did they really exist?

This painted sketch reveals the entrance into the Hittite Empire which was guarded by giant stone lions. These ancient Hittite ruins date back to Biblical times. The stone lions guarded the gateway of the ancient Hittite capital city of Hattusha which is located in modern Turkey. The Hittite ruins are important in the study of Biblical archaeology, they reveal that the Hittites of the Bible really existed and were important in ancient times.

The Hittite Empire was known as the Hatti by the Assyrians and the El Amarna letters reveal much about their history. They were the predominant power in the Anatolia (ancient Turkey) area during the 16th - 13th centuries BC. Some Hittite documents were discovered at Bogazkoy (Hattusa) revealing many names of their kings and the gods that they worshipped. The Hittites settled in the land of Syria and Canaan during Biblical times. 

2 Kings 7:6 "For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us."

The Hittites were an ancient people of Asia Minor and Syria, who flourished from 1600 to 1200 B.C. The Hittites, a people of Indo-European connection, were supposed to have entered Cappadocia 1800 B.C. To the southwest, in the Taurus and Cilicia, were the Luites, relatives of the Hittites; to the southeast, in the Upper Euphrates, the Hurrians (Khurrites). In the country the Hittites then occupied, the aboriginal inhabitants were apparently the Khatti, or Hatti. Hittite names appear 1800 B.C. on the tablets written by Assyrian colonists (see Assyria) at Kültepe (Kanesh) in Cappadocia. However, real evidence of Hittite existence does not occur until the Old Hittite Kingdom (1600-1400 B.C.). This kingdom, which was centered in Cappadocia, was opposed by the Syrians. The Hittites invaded Babylonia but mysteriously left, maybe they were threatened by Egypt and Mitanni.

Some Scriptures mentioning "Hittites"

2 Kings 7:6 - For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

Deuteronomy 7:1 - When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 Chronicles 1:17 - And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so brought they out [horses] for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their means.

Exodus 13:5 - And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

Joshua 1:4 - From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

Exodus 3:8 - And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Nehemiah 9:8 - And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:

1 Kings 10:29 - And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring [them] out by their means.

Ezra 9:1 - Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Numbers 13:29 - The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

Exodus 3:17 - And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

Joshua 24:11 - And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

1 Kings 11:1 - But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites;

Judges 1:26 - And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which [is] the name thereof unto this day.

Exodus 23:23 - For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

Deuteronomy 20:17 - But thou shalt utterly destroy them; [namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

Joshua 12:8 - In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

Joshua 3:10 - And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among you, and [that] he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Judges 3:5 - And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:

1 Kings 9:20 - [And] all the people [that were] left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which [were] not of the children of Israel,

2 Chronicles 8:7 - [As for] all the people [that were] left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which [were] not of Israel,

Genesis 15:20 - And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

Related Pages:

The Hittites - ISBE Encyclopedia - The Hittites were known to the Assyrians as Chatti, and to the Egyptians as Kheta, and their history has been very fully recovered from the records of the XVIIIth and XIXth Egyptian Dynasties, from the Tell el-Amarna Letters, from Assyrian annals and, quite recently, from copies of letters addressed to Babylonian rulers by the Hittite kings, discovered by Dr. H. Winckler in the ruins of Boghaz-keui ("the town of the pass"), the ancient Pterium in Pontus, East of the river Halys. The earliest known notice (King, Egypt and West Asia, 250) is in the reign of Saamsu-ditana, the last king of the first Babylonian Dynasty, about 2000 BC, when the Hittites marched on the "land of Akkad," or "highlands" North of Mesopotamia...

Hittites - Biblical Meaning of Hittites in Eastons Bible Dictionary -  the Hittites, who were the warlike element of this confederation of tribes. They inhabited the whole region between the Euphrates and Damascus, their chief cities being Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Kadesh, now Tell Neby Mendeh, in the Orontes valley, about six miles south of the Lake of Homs. These Hittites seem to have risen to great power as a nation, as for a long time they were formidable rivals of the Egyptian and Assyrian empires. In the book of Joshua they always appear as the dominant race to the north of Galilee...

Hittites - Map of Ancient Israel (Old Testament Maps) - Hittite Empire: (Hatti): predominant power in Anatolia, in 16th and in 14th-13th cents. n.c.; Hittite documents discovered at Bogazkoy, q.v. (Hattusa), reveal its relations with Egypt, &c., and names of kings, deities, &c. 'Hittites' in Bible are people from this race settled in Syria-Palestine after fall of empire...

Map of the Canaanites (Bible History Online) - The Old Testament mentions a lot about Canaan, the half of Palestine to the west of the Jordan. This name "Canaan" has been found in Egyptian inscriptions of the New Kingdom, and also in the Tell el-Amarna letters. The Canaanites mostly lived in the plains (the coastal strip and near the Jordan). The Amorites lived in the hill country. Other tribes lived in Canaan: The Perizzites, Hivites, Hittites, Jebusites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines and Girgashites. The Canaanites descended from Canaan, the son of Ham and father of Heth, thus they were a separate race from the Semites. The people were never known to be united and was divided into numerous city-states, dependent upon Egypt. There have been numerous discoveries and cuneiform inscriptions, especially in the Tell el-Amarna letters.

Ancient Babylonia - Hittites An ancient people of Asia Minor and Syria, who flourished from 1600 to 1200 B.C. The Hittites, a people of Indo-European connection, were supposed to have entered Cappadocia 1800 B.C. To the southwest, in the Taurus and Cilicia, were the Luites, relatives of the Hittites; to the southeast, in the Upper Euphrates, the Hurrians (Khurrites). In the country the Hittites then occupied, the aboriginal inhabitants were apparently the Khatti, or Hatti. Hittite names appear 1800 B.C. on the tablets written by Assyrian colonists (see Assyria) at Kültepe (Kanesh) in Cappadocia. However, real evidence of Hittite existence does not occur until the Old Hittite Kingdom (1600-1400 B.C.). This kingdom, which was centered in Cappadocia, was opposed by the Syrians. The Hittites invaded Babylonia but mysteriously left, maybe they were threatened by Egypt and Mitanni.

The Hittites - Smith's - Hittites: (descendans of Heth), The, the nation descended from Cheth (Authorized Version HETH), the second son of Canaan. Abraham bought from the "children of Heth" the field and the cave of Machpelah, belonging to Ephron the Hittite. 'They were then settled at the town which was afterwards, under its new name of Hebron, to become one of the most famous cities of Palestine, and which then bore the name of Kir-jath-arba.

Ge 23:19; 25:9 When the Israelites entered the promised land, we find the Hittites taking part against the invader, in equal alliance with the other Canaanite tribes. Jos 9:1; 11:3 etc. Henceforward the notices of the Hittites are very few and faint. We meet with two individuals, both attached to the person of David --

1. "Ahimelech the Hittite," 1Sa 26:6

2. Uriah the Hittite," one of "the thirty" of David's body-guard. 2Sa 23:39; 1Ch 11:41

See Also: Heth

Map of Israel in the Time of Joshua - Hittites - The Hittites (children of Heth) dwelt in the Hill Country around Hebron and in the south. The Hittites were numerous and powerful and became a threat to Egypt and even Assyria. There has been much light shed on the Hittite Nation through modern archaeology.

Hittites - Biblical Definition of Hittites in Fausset's Bible Dictionary - Descended from Cheth or Heth, second son of Canaan. (See HETH.) A peaceable and commercial people when first brought before us at Kirjath Arba or Hebron (Genesis 23:19; Genesis 25:9). Their courteous dignity of bearing towards Abraham is conspicuous throughout. As he took the Amorites as his allies in warfare, so he sought: from the Hittites a tomb. The Amalekites' advance necessitated their withdrawal to the mountains (Numbers 13:29). In Joshua (Joshua 1:4; Joshua 9:1; Joshua 11:3-4; Joshua 12:8) they appear as the principal power occupying upper Syria, between Israel and the Euphrates. The Egyptian monuments represent them (Sheta) as forming a confederacy of chiefs, Egypt's opponents in the valley of the Orontes, during the 19th and 20th dynasties of Manetho, including Joshua's time. Sethos I took their capital Ketesh near Emesa, 1340 B.C. Two or three centuries later the Assyrian inscription of Tiglath Pileser (1125 B.C.) mentions them. As the Philistines appear in Joshua (Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3) predominant in S. Canaan toward Egypt, so the Hittites in the N. Their military power is represented in Joshua as consisting in chariots (1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6). A hieroglyphic inscription of Rameses II mentions Astert (Ashtoreth) as their god. Uriah, the unsuspicious, self-denying patriot, whom David so wronged though of his own bodyguard "the thirty," was a Hittite, and showed the chivalrous bearing which Ephron the Hittite and his people had showed of old. The names of Hittites mentioned in Scripture, Adah, Ahimelech, etc., seem akin to Hebrew. (See HEBREW.) G. Smith has just discovered their capital lying about half way between the mighty cities of the Euphrates valley and those of the Nile. Their art forms the connecting link between Egyptian and Assyrian art. The name of their capital is identical with that of the Etruscans. This implies a connection of the Hittites with that people.

Ancient Babylonia - The Hittite Kingdom It was the Hittite kingdom in Anatolia (Asia Minor) who brought to an end the first dynasty of Babylon. Mursilis I, king of the Hittites, invaded Babylonia by surprise and sacked Babylon. But for some strange reason he withdrew from the area after he had exceeded. The Kassites saw this power vacuum and seized control.
 

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