THE HITTITES

Anatolia, Turkey is home to the ruins Hattusha, the late 17th-16th century BC city that was once the capitol of the Hittite empire. For over 3,000 years, the only evidence of Hittites was in the Bible.
 
4,000 years ago, the Hittites controlled the remote highlands of Anatolia. Over the next 500 years, their borders were pushed as far as the ancient lands of the Bible, toppling empires in the process. By the 14th century BC, their only comparable rival was ancient Egypt. The clash of these two empires determined the course of history. Egypt became the most famous civilization of the ancient world, but the great Hittite city fell to ruin. Hattusha includes a huge ritual pyramid monument that faced Egypt, and was used to show its religious and political significance. A sphinx was also found at the site.
 
In 1274 BC, the balance of power there changed. Ramses wanted to prove himself as the new king of Egypt. His first target was the Hittite empire. Prince Hattusili left Hattusha to meet Ramses over a border dispute. The Hittite empire had expanded at a rapid rate and now occupied rich lands once claimed by Egypt. They met at the border town of Kadesh. For over 3,000 years, the only known depictions of the battle were inscribed on Egyptian temples. They claimed Ramses won a magnificent victory for Egypt.
 
When Hattusha was discovered, archaeologists found thousands of writing tablets. A wealth of information was discovered, including the Hittite description of the battle of Kadesh. Ramses considered it Egypt's most impressive victory. In the Hittite records, there was a different account, telling the story of how they almost won. Under General Hattusili, Kadesh was saved from the Egyptian onslaught, and he became a national hero. His nephew, the king, resented Hattusili's success and began plotting his downfall. In response, Hattusili seized the throne for himself in 1265 BC. He felt he needed to do this to save the empire.   
 
But by doing this, he had broken one of the Hittites holiest laws. It is possibly for this reason that he decided to build Hattusha's greatest temple, to worship their sun mother and storm father. It was a very structured religious system.   
 
The remains of more than 30 temples were also found in Hattusha, dedicated to the gods of a conquered people that lived there. Hattusili's wife was a priestess from a kingdom conquered by the Hittites. When her people became part of the Hittite empire, their deities became part of the Hittite religion. Because it was so mixed, the Hittites were called the people of 1,000 gods.   
 
They were also known as the people of 1,000 laws. Law permeated every aspect of Hittite life. Unlike any other people of their time, they had an evolving legal system that was more concerned with practicalities than punishments.   
 
The Hittites always gave their rivals a choice – to join them peacefully, or to be crushed. Many of their conquests took place without a sword even being drawn. Their greatest treaty – the Treaty of Kadesh -was written 16 years after the Battle of Kadesh. It brought peace between the two superpowers.
 
Hattusili could make this treaty only after he stabilized political events in Anatolia - he had to make sure he was strong at home first. With the Egyptians as allies, the Hittites had little to fear from other parts of the world. No aggression happened after this treaty until the fall of the Hittite empire. But inside the empire, having deposed the rightful heir to the throne, Hattusili had made powerful enemies who wanted the throne for themselves.    
 
To protect himself and his family, he built a royal citadel. He and his family lived in secluded isolation. Hattusili's well-educated wife was good at international relations. Her influence helped make their complex the center of the empire.   
 
Hattusili died in 1237 BC. The last known monument constructed by the people of Hattusha was a funerary chamber carved on the orders of Hattusili's grandson. This provides the most important clue as to when the Hittite Empire disappeared. The empire fell during the reign of Hattusili's grandson.   
 
The Nishantas Inscription located there tells about the victories and conquests of Hattusili's grandson. Many of the battles listed are not conquests enlarging the empire, but what appear to be civil wars within it. Hattusili's heirs were struggling to hold the empire together. Further evidence for how Hattusha came to an end is found in tablets that were found on the site. There was no evidence of an invading army, but there was a large fire that's assumed to have been started during this civil war. It could have been in an attempt to take the throne. With their capitol abandoned, and no king strong enough to reunify Hattusha, the region was plunged into chaos.   
 
Although Hattusha disappeared almost overnight, remains of Hittite civilization lived on. In the 12th century BC, the Lion's Gate was Hattusha's main entrance. Lions were the most popular symbols of Hittite art. 400 years later, descendants of the Hittites were still carving similar lion statues in Canaan, the home of the Biblical Hittites. One lion from the 8th century BC is strongly reminiscent of the lions at Hattusha's Lion's Gate.
 
Although the original kingdom had collapsed, neo-Hittites still existed in parts of Syria. This correlates with the Biblical references to the Hittites when they are referred to as Canaanite tribes who lived alongside the Israelites at the time of King David.   

bible evidence, faith and religion

The Nabonidus Chronicle is a cuneiform clay tablet chronicling the reign of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It covers the overtaking of Babylon by Cyrus the Great, and ends with the start of the reign of Cyrus's son. It spans the period from 556 BC to past 539 BC.   

Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. It was used from the early Bronze Age until the early AD era. AD stands for Anno Domini, the year of our Lord. The Nabonidus Chronicle has been said to be "the most reliable and sober [ancient] account of the fall of Babylon."     

The city of Babylon rose to prominence in 1830 BC. Isaiah 47:11 (c. 740 BC) is a warning to her:
Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.   
 
Babylon fell in 539 BC.   
 
The Nabonidus Chronicle text begins presumably with the accession of Nabonidus in 556 BC. Much of it is missing.
 
It mentions campaigns by Nabonidus against several places, and describes the self-imposed exile of Nabonidus in Tema (mentioned as Teiman in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls), and the disruption that this caused to the New Year festival for ten years. The king spent ten years in Arabia and left Babylonia to be administered by his son, Belshazzar of the Book of Daniel.
 
One section describes the events of Nabonidus's seventeenth and final year as king, when Cyrus invaded and conquered Babylonia.   
 
Isaiah 45:1: 

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;   

Nabonidus Chronicle

Column [iv.4] [...] ... the gate was ruined   
[iii.15] Nabonidus fled. On the sixteenth day, Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus, without battle
[iii.16] they entered Babylon. Afterwards, after Nabonidus retreated, he was captured in Babylon.
[iii.18] there was not, and no date (for a performance) was missed. On the third day of the month Arahsamna, Cyrus entered Babylon.
[iii.19] The harû-vessels were filled before him. There was peace in the city while Cyrus, (his) greeting to
[iii.20] Babylon in its entirety spoke. Gubaru, his district officer, appointed the district officers in Babylon.

After the city was defeated, ancient Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484-425 BC) says that the city gates were pulled down and 3000 of the leading citizens were impaled upon the walls. The once great city – the Queen of the world! – was defeated, devastated and despoiled.   
 
After his conquest, Cyrus issued the decree of liberation to the Jews in Babylon...
 
2 Chronicles 36:23: 

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.   
 

Ezra 1 :7:

Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar [former king of Babylon] had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;  11 ...All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. 

The edict of Cyrus for the rebuilding of Jerusalem marked a great epoch in the history of the Jewish people (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1-4; 4:3; 5:13-17; 6:3-5). 

bible evidence, faith and religion

During the time of the divided kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south, the great and terrible power of the Assyrian Empire arose. The kings of Israel and Judah had direct dealings with Assyria, including one of it's most powerful kings, Tiglath-Pileser III.   
 
In spring 745 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III led a coup, where he took the Assyrian throne during a rebellion. He then reorganized the kingdom, centralized his power, and created a standing army, before setting out to conquer the surrounding nations.   
 
Tiglath-Pileser III ruled from 745-727 BC, and stabilized and expanded Assyrian power during his reign. He merged the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia into one. When he died in 727 BC, he left an expanded kingdom. The Neo-Assyrian Empire became the greatest empire of the world, and ruled for more than 100 years.   

His marches into the area of the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean region of western Asia) brought him into contact with the Hebrew kings in Israel and Judah during the period of the divided monarchy. These are recorded in both the Bible and Assyrian inscriptions.  The Bible describes a number of interactions that Tiglath-Pileser III had with the kings of Israel and Judah, including King Menahem of Israel and King Ahaz of Judah. The Assyrian inscriptions describe similar events from their own perspective.   
 
Scripture says that Tiglath-Pileser III's name was both Pul (the name he was born with) and Tiglath-Pileser. 1 Chronicles 5:26: 

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile.   
 
Tiglath-Pileser III is also called Pul, or Pulu, in some Assyrian inscriptions, as in the Incirli Stele (“Pu'lu the great, king of Assyria”), from the 8th century BC. He's also referred to as Pulu in Babylonian inscriptions.   
 
King Menahem ruled in Israel for about 10 years (752-742 BC). Near the end of his reign, Tiglath-Pileser III marched towards the Mediterranean, and says that he received tribute from many kings in the area. One that he names is King Menahem of Israel. 2 Kings 15:19-20: 

And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. 20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
 
In one Assyrian inscription, Tiglath-Pileser III boasts, “As for Menahem, I overwhelmed him like a snowstorm. He fled like a bird alone and bowed at my feet.” The ancient kings were masters of rhetoric.   
 
On Tiglath-Pileser III's stele, Menahem of Samaria is listed as one of the 17 kings of the west whom he received tribute from. He claims to have received from these kings gold, silver, tin, iron, elephant hides, ivory, linen garments, and ebony wood...whatever was precious enough for his royal treasury.   

Scripture also records how Pekah, an Israelite official, assassinated Menahem's son and succeeded him as king. 2 Kings 15:

23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. 25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.   
 
Pekah then teamed up with King Rezin of Assyria to attack Jerusalem, in Judah, where King Ahaz reigned. King Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III for help. 2 Kings 16: 

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
 
The Annals of Tiglath-Pileser III lists a group of kings in the Levant who paid him tribute. Among the kings listed is Jehoahaz the Judahite. In Assyrian inscriptions, Ahaz is referred to as Jehoahaz (his long name). The Bible refers to him as Ahaz. The Assyrian inscription confirms that tribute was given by King Ahaz to Tiglath-Pileser III, just as Scripture records.   
 
Hoshea was another Israelite king mentioned in both Scripture and Assyrian inscriptions. 2 Kings 15:30: 

And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.   
 

If the annals of  Tiglath-Pileser III are to be believed, he himself was behind this assassination. One inscription reads, “They overthrew their king [Pekah], and I placed Hoshea the king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold, 1,000 talents of silver, as they brought their tribute to Assyria.”

2 Kings 15:29:

In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.   
 
There is an inscription from Tiglath-Pileser III that likely refers to this event. He says, “Israel and all its inhabitants and possessions I led to Assyria.”  
 
There are many points at which the Assyrian history and the Biblical Hebrew history align. The Bible records actual history – it's historically reliable. If the Bible is historically trustworthy, it is also spiritually trustworthy. There is a God who loves us -  He sent His son Jesus to die on a cross to save us from our sins. Anyone who asks for repentance and places their trust in the Lord Jesus will be saved.   
 
 bible evidence, faith and religion 

Each of the kings from the Assyrian Empire (745-612 BC) are in the Old Testament.  
 

Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BC)
 

Shalmaneser V (727-722 BC)
 

In 724 BC, King Hoshea of Israel rebelled against the Assyrians under Shalmaneser V. In 722 BC, Israel fell to the Assyrians. The 10 northern tribes of Israel were defeated and scattered abroad. Many of them traveled over the Caucasus Mountains and became known as Caucasians.
 

Sargon II (722-705 BC)   
 

Sennacherib (705-681 BC)
 

Esarhaddon (681-669 BC)
 

Ashurbanipal (669-627 BC)
 

After Ashurbanipal's death, the kingdom was plunged into civil war between his two oldest sons (627-623 BC). Saracus became the new Assyrian king. While the civil war was going on, a native Chaldean, Nabopolassar, came in under the radar and seized Babylon. In 623 BC when Saracus became king, he tried to retake Babylon, but he was met by a powerful adversary in Nabopolassar. They battled for about five years (623-617 BC). By 616 BC, after weakening their army, Nabopolassar marched on Assyria and besieged the city of Ashur.   
 

Gradually, Saracus was losing power. He appealed to the Egyptians, who didn't give him any help. In 615 BC, there was a twofold attack against the Assyrians. In 614 BC, the city of Ashur was destroyed by Nabopolassar of Babylon and Cyaxeres of Media. In fulfilling what Nahum had predicted, in 612 BC, they went on to destroy Ninevah, the last great city of Assyria. 

Nahum 2:8: 

But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.   

Nahum 3:18: 

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.   
 

That year, the Tigris River flooded and breached one of the defensive walls so the Medes and Babylonians were able to come in galloping through the streets just as Nahum had predicted. Saracus gathered his court together in an inner chamber of the palace, built a large bonfire, & went up in flames with those closest to him. This became the end of the Assyrian Empire. 

The following two videos weave together Biblical and historical accounts between these kings of Assyria, and Hebrew kings and other figures in the Bible.

Part 1

Part 2

bible evidence, faith and religion