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The Daily Insight

What was the culture of the Hittites?

Author

Mia Phillips

Updated on March 02, 2026

The Hittites were the first ancient people to use iron for tools and weapons, and they spoke an Indo-European language—a branch of language that includes Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Persian, German, and English. The Great Temple at Hattusa was the religious center of the empire.

What was the major contribution of the Hittites?

The Hittites were skilled metallurgists, or people who study the properties and composition of metals, and had iron mines near the Black Sea on the northern part of the their kingdom. They discovered the strength of iron and how to make it into weapons and armor.

What are three things about the Hittites?

The Hittites were an urbane and bronze age civilization that existed for over 800 years in the deep mountains of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor. The Hittites rivaled both ancient Egypt and Babylon, and were one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world.

What was the Hittites lifestyle?

The Hittites had a mostly patriarchal society that was ruled and run by men. The society was structured like a familial clan system, with a leader or patriarch who presided over a whole extended family. Even though men ran the country, however, it seems that royal women had some involvement in leadership.

What was the Hittite civilizations greatest gift to humankind?

However, the Hittites did make two great contributions to humankind. The first was the use of iron. Weapons and tools had been made from copper or bronze, which are soft and bend easily. Iron is much harder.

Who are Heth’s children?

In Genesis 10:15-16, Heth is placed between Sidon and the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgasites, Hivites, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, Hamathite and other peoples, showing their descent through their children, called “Children of Heth”(Genesis 23:3, 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20).

Who were the Proto-Hittites and Hattians?

The use of the word “Proto-Hittite” to refer to Hattians is inaccurate. Hittite (Nesili= from the city Nesa/Kanesh) is an Indo-European language, linguistically distinct from the Hattians. The Hittites continued to use the term Land of Hatti for their new kingdom.

How did the Hittites spread to Anatolia?

The Indo-European element at least establishes Hittite culture as intrusive to Anatolia in the scholarly mainstream. According to David W. Anthony, steppe herders, archaic Proto-Indo-European speakers, spread into the lower Danube valley about 4200–4000 BC, either causing or taking advantage of the collapse of Old Europe.

What is the history of the Hittite civilization?

The history of the Hittite civilization is known mostly from cuneiform texts found in the area of their kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in various archives in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and the Middle East, the decipherment of which was also a key event in the history of Indo-European studies .

Who were the Neo-Hittites?

When the once-mighty kingdom collapsed, those in the former Syrian vassal states kept the culture alive, becoming the Neo-Hittites. The archaeological record reveals the story of the original Hittites, while the Bible refers mostly to the Neo-Hittites.