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The Stop
The Hittites were an ancient Indo-European people who first appeared in Anatolia1 at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, and by 1340 BCE had become one of the dominant powers of the Middle East. The time span of the empire is divided into the Old Hittite Kingdom (1700-1500 BCE) and the New Hittite Kingdom (1400-1200 BCE), with a 100-year interregnum described as a ‘dark age’ about which very little is known. Mentioned repeatedly throughout the Hebrew Tanakh (the Christian Old Testament), they were believed to be the descendants of Noah’s grandson Canaan and were adversaries of the Israelites and their god.2
Believed to have originated from lands beyond the Black Sea, the early kings of the Old Hittite Kingdom such as Hattusilis I ‘consolidated and extended Hittite control over much of Anatolia and northern Syria,’ building a unified kingdom with the support of a large extended family.3 However, this unity proved to be short-lived as almost as soon as the kingdom was united, his sons used the very resources of the regions he’d put them in charge of to rebel against him. Though Hattusilis prevailed in the end, his sons (who were probably killed) were no longer available to succeed him, so he was forced to skip a generation and choose his grandson Mursilis I as his heir.
Though Mursilis extended the influence of the Hittites as far south as Babylon, it appears he was less interested in adding land and resources to the kingdom than he was in attaining as much loot as possible. Follow Mursilis’s assassination by his brother-in-law, a series of dynastic struggles between incompetent kings resulted in the kingdom’s eventual dissolution as regions rebelled and broke away from the central government. Though the last king of the Old Hittite Kingdom - Telepinus - attempted to ‘restore the kingdom to its former glory,’ it was so far gone by the time he ascended the throne ‘there was little to be done.’ Telepinus is most famous for the Edict of Telipinus - an attempt to ‘regulate the royal succession’ while providing a record of the Hittites’ history and past glories to contrast the ‘sad state the kingdom has come to in his time.’
Following the ‘dark age’ of the interregnum, the New Kingdom of the Hittites (also known as the Hittite Empire) began in earnest with the reign of Suppiluliumas I in 1380 BCE. Under him, the empire would reach its height by annexing the kingdom of Mitanni to the southeast and establishing a strong Hittite control in Syria. Further Hittite kings would continue to dominate Syria, a military policy which set them directly against the Egyptian rulers Seti I and Ramses II and eventually led to the Battle of Kadesh in 1299 BCE.4 Despite Ramses II claiming victory, the actual result was ‘probably indecisive,’ and 16 years afterwards, under Hattusilis III a ‘peace treaty, mutual defence pact, and dynastic marriage’ were arranged between the Hittites and the Egyptians.5
The fall of the Hittite Empire in 1193 BCE was sudden and has been attributed to a number of events, including repeated raids on Hittite holdings by the migratory Sea Peoples6 and a resurgence of the Kaska tribe which the Hittites had once subdued but now ‘chipped away at the stability of the empire until it broke apart.’ When the capital city - Hattusa - was sacked by the Kaskas in 1190 BCE, Suppiluliuma II - the final Hittite king - was killed. What the Kaskas didn’t destroy or take was eventually destroyed by the Assyrians who brought to the region their culture and values. Though the area was still known as the ‘land of the Hatti’ as late as 630 BCE, the people living there ‘no longer remembered … the Hittite kings and their achievements.’
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to an interesting documentary (15:41) about the history of the light bulb. Though the general assumption is that Thomas Edison invented it, the bulb’s origin actually includes Isaac Newton and stretches back to 1705. The presenter is a little intense, but it’s an eye-opener!
The History of the Light Bulb 1705-1809
The Recommendation
Today’s recommendation is Aliens (1986). Written and directed by James Cameron7 and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser, Aliens is the sequel to the 1979 film Alien.8 While the original was more of a suspenseful horror film, Aliens focusses on non-stop action. Upon its release, Empire magazine referred to it as the ‘perfect sequel … the model for every potential sequel-maker: it connects irrefutably with the events of the original (even to the point of starting exactly where the drama left off, albeit 57 years later) and expands on all the ideas and themes while simultaneously differentiating itself. The same, yet entirely different. Perfect.’ I couldn’t say it better myself.
You can read the entire review here: Aliens (Empire)
Aliens streams on multiple platforms.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a collection of five solid rock tracks that could provide a soundtrack if you're inclined to be an alien-hunting space marine: ‘Immigrant Song’ (Led Zeppelin, 1970), ‘You Really Got Me’ (Van Halen, 1978), ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ (AC/DC, 1976),9 ‘Enter Sandman’ (Metallica, 1991) and ‘War Pigs’ (Black Sabbath, 1970). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from the Italian Renaissance political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527):10
‘Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next stop …
Also known as Asia Minor, Anatolia is the peninsula of land that constitutes the Asian portion of modern Turkey.
The name Hittite comes from the Bible’s reference to a ‘Kingdom of Hatti,’ the name of the land the Hittites inhabited, but they referred to themselves as the Nesili. Go figure. I love Ancient Near East history (see The Bus 2.13 - Tiglath-Pilesar, if you want more) and find the ancient Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Egyptians, etc. fascinating. Sources for today’s Stop include: Hittite (Worldhistory.org) and Hittite (Britannica).
An ‘essentially feudal and agrarian’ society in which the common people were either ‘freemen, artisans or slaves,’ the king was not only the ‘chief ruler, military leader, and supreme judge,’ but was considered the ‘earthly deputy of the storm god’ who would become a god himself at his death.
Considered ‘one of the greatest battles in the ancient world,’ it was also the largest chariot battle in history - involving 5,000 chariots in a single day. See: Battle of Kadesh (Britannica).
This was the ‘world’s first recorded peace treaty.’
This name is given to any of the ‘groups of aggressive seafarers’ who invaded the this part of the world near the end of the Bronze Age. See: The Sea People (Britannica).
Aliens was Cameron’s third feature film - the first two being Piranha II: The Spawning (1982) and The Terminator (1984); he later would direct a little-known film called Titanic (1997).
Directed by Ridley Scott.
Truly, one of the best AC/DC tracks of all time. I was surprised to learn that though the eponymous album was released in Australia and Europe in 1976 , it wasn’t released in the US until 1981 - over a year after the lead singer Bon Scott’s death.
Machiavelli is on the list of future Bus Stops, but in the meantime: Machiavelli (Britannica).
Love this issue, Bryan! Was not aware that Dirty Deeds wasn’t out in the US until 1981, although I did know that our version of High Voltage was a compilation from previous Australian releases. Will have to give Aliens another try with my teenagers.
Hittites and War Pigs! What a combo. We had a little New Years card game the other day--it was really an excuse to laugh--and were just calling out songs to play, some chosen by use old guys for the 18 year old who had joined us. We chose War Pigs. I have to say, it was not an immediate sensation with young Maria! Perhaps you had to have been there.