The New Kingdom

The next major chapter in Hittite history began in the early 14th century BCE, when King Suppiluliumas I (ruled c. 1358— 1323 BCE) founded the New Kingdom. Suppiluliumas dedicated himself to restoring the fortunes of the Hittites and began by reconquering the territories in southern Anatolia that had previously been Hittite possessions. He then advanced into Syria, where he conquered several city-states, reaching as far south as Damascus. Turning east, Suppiluliumas sought to subdue the Hurrians and defeated them at the Battle of Carchemish. He then turned the Hurrians’ kingdom into a vassal state by installing a minor Hurrian prince on the throne, making him swear loyalty to the Hittites, and marrying him to a Hittite princess.

Suppiluliumas also turned the conquered Syrian cities into vassals. By doing so, he built up an empire of confederate states that owed allegiance to the Hittites. They were bound by treaty to pay a substantial annual tribute to their masters. At the same time, they supplied a number of soldiers to the Hittite army. Suppiluliumas’s success in expanding his empire depended both on the efficient organization of his new Hittite state, which was run along strictly military lines, and on his extremely formidable army (see box, page 85).

Suppiluliumas’s successors were equally dedicated to maintaining and expanding the Hittite Empire. They waged war against neighboring tribes and took on the might of Egypt, which was trying to halt the Hittite expansion. Suppiluliumas’s son, Mursilis II, fought the mountain tribes to the north and succeeded in extending Hittite domination westward to the Aegean coast. There he created a series of vassal states. To protect his kingdom from attacks from the north, Mursilis built a line of

THE HITTITE EMPIRE

Fortresses that were permanently garrisoned by soldiers.

Despite Mursilis’s efforts, the kingdom came under renewed attack from northern tribes during the reign of his successor, Muwatallis. The end result of these attacks was the destruction of Hattushash. In response, Muwatallis moved his capital city farther south. He also subdued the vassal states of Arzawa in the west, which were in revolt.