Were the Hittites a Bible myth or did they really exist?
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 K�ltepe (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 (Free Bible) - 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 K�ltepe (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.