Hittites from the early Scythians. History of the Hittites: wars

“God cannot change the past, but historians can.

And it must be precisely because sometimes they provide this service,

God tolerates their existence...."

Samuel Butler

History is a word that has several meanings. The first is “what happened.” And secondly, “a science that studies and describes what happened.” It often happens that the science of History describes what was inaccurate, often incorrect and with distortions - it is mistaken, mistaken, and is captive of its established schemes and concepts. Errors occur intentionally and unintentionally, accidentally and intentionally. Like any science, History loves to make discoveries, to get at its disposal Interesting Facts. Scientists themselves are also people, and nothing human is alien to them. After all, making a discovery means recognition, fame, and a career.

But with all this, historical science remains inert and conservative, with great difficulty accepting new views and new approaches to old problems. Why? The fact is that any current concept that dominates science is the fruit of the work of some outstanding scientist, an authority in this field of knowledge. For someone to dare to reconsider his opinion, at least 40-50 years must pass after the passing of this luminary of science. And only then will someone say that this scientist was wrong, or say that this concept needs to be reconsidered. We can say that Historical Science slowly “rides” on “authorities”, that its train slowly crawls up the mountain.

There is another reason for slowness and conservatism. The fact is that many scientists have made their careers on established concepts and now it is almost impossible to budge them. To this we can also add the fact that state formations, religious and political organizations, as well as national and nationalistic ones, professing or promoting a certain ideology, contribute to the “noble cause” of rewriting History. Thus, “profitable” and “digestible” versions of historical concepts are built. All this ultimately results in biased Science.

Having discovered something new, Science proceeds as follows - it looks to see if it fits new fact into the current harmonious scheme, the “necessary” ideology and politics. If it fits, great! One can congratulate oneself on a discovery that confirms a previous discovery. And if it doesn’t fit, or, what’s even worse for the discoverer, it destroys the existing opinion? Then leave it unattended for now and push it into the “shelter box” until better times.

One of these amazing and indigestible facts for science is a phrase that exists among the Circassians as a figure of speech, as a stable phrase: “Het zhegyIe!”, which translated into Russian means “Be a Hittite!” And accurate semantic translation: “Behave in such a way that they will say about you: he is a Hittite.” This phrase also contains an emotional appeal: “Increase and continue the glory of the Hittites!” This phrase is still actively used in everyday speech among the Circassians; it is a valid living phrase used among the people. Usually this is said by an older person to a younger one, admonishing or instructing. For example, accompanying you on the road, to the army, to study, to competitions.

You should also pay attention to the fact that in the phrase: “Be a Hittite!” there is no meaning or sense that is expressed in the phrase: “Be like or similar to the Hittite” or “imitate the Hittite.” It encourages you not to try to be like a Hittite, but rather not to forget that you are a Hittite. That is, the person who utters this expression considers himself and the person to whom it is said to be Hittites. Based on this, it becomes clear and understandable that we are dealing with the archaic self-name of the Circassians.

Common sense speaks about this, because it is logical, for example, that a Russian can say to his younger one, “Don’t forget that you are Russian!”, but is unlikely to say, “Don’t forget that you are a Pole!” The Chinese will say to his friend: “be Chinese!” but in no case will he call on his younger one - be Japanese. The Circassians consider themselves Hittites, call themselves Hittites, and this capacious phrase contains a huge emotional content - pride in ethnicity and historical pride. In addition to the direct meaning, this phrase also contains a call to increase and continue the glory of the Hittites. And precisely the fact that the Circassians consider themselves Hittites and call themselves Hittites is a discrepancy with the official historical version.

Where are the Hittites geographically and where are the Circassians? At what time did the Hittites live, and when did the Circassians appear? How do they overlap? This is how Hittite scientists can ask us questions. And they will immediately answer them: “Circassians cannot be Hittites!” Because none of the discoverers of the Hittites, whose works are the basis of knowledge about this ancient people, knew about the phrase: “Hyet zhegyIe!” and still exists among the Circassians. Otherwise, Hittology would probably have taken a different path. It turns out to be such a discrepancy that this little phrase, if taken into account, can change the existing concept and give reason to completely reconsider the Hittite problematic!

Now, in the current concept, the only thread connecting the Circassians and the Hittite state is the thesis that the language of the pre-Indo-European inhabitants of Asia Minor - the Hutts - is close in its structure and vocabulary to the languages ​​of the Adyghe-Abkhazian group (Adyghe, Ubykh, Abaza, Abkhazian). But science is not interested in this “thin thread” and does not develop it. Let us now take some scientific texts and their definitions regarding the Hittites and question some of them. Let's start with the great terminological confusion that exists regarding the Hittites. This confusion is one of the biggest reasons regarding who the Hittites were.

Science calls the Hittites a people who spoke an Indo-European language and appeared from nowhere in the Country of Hatti. He gradually populated this country over several centuries and began to coexist with the local aboriginal population - the Hutts.

Science also calls the Hittites a people formed as a result of a long coexistence and mixing of Indo-European aliens with the local aboriginal population - not the Indo-European Hatts. In general, it is customary to call all the inhabitants of the Hittite state Hittites.

The Hittites are the people who lived in small kingdoms - fragments of the once powerful Hittite state, scattered throughout Anatolia after the fall of this empire.

Science calls the “Proto-Hittites” the people who lived in Asia Minor before the Indo-Europeans began to appear there. The self-name of this aboriginal population was Hittites and Hatti, depending on the dialect pronunciation. And the Indo-Europeans who came to their lands called themselves Nesites. Science also says that the “proto-Hittites” had a mature civilization at the time of the appearance of the first Nesites. There is no genetic or ethnic connection between the “Hittites”-Indo-Europeans and the “proto-Hittites”, although the term “proto-” itself suggests one.

The Bible calls all the peoples indicated in the above paragraphs Hittites, Hittites, Hittites. Actually, thanks to this book, everyone learned for the first time about the existence of the Hittite state in ancient times.

In the everyday consciousness of those who have heard at least something about the Hittites, in the popularized view and deliberately primitive modern scientific presentation, the Hittites are the first Indo-Europeans in history to conquer Asia Minor and dominate these lands. They are the discoverers of iron and competitors of Ancient Egypt who built a great civilization.

Contradictions are hidden in terminology, and terminology underlies the correct presentation of information. Terminology is a conventional language, and if there are contradictions in it, then confusion appears in knowledge. Regarding our definitions, if the information in point No. 1 is taken as correct term or the correct definition, then the information in points No. 2 and No. 3 turns out to be neither correct nor accurate. If we consider the information presented in point No. 2 to be correct, then now the other points are erroneous. In any case, the term “proto-Hittites” specified in point No. 4 is no longer initially correct; it is not a competent definition. The prefix “proto-” cannot be used where there is no consistent genetic and ethnic connection.

Because of all this confusion, the scientific statement set forth in paragraph No. 6 was formed - a primitive and popularized concept of the Hittites. Here is one example of such concepts: “But the Hittites continued to ask riddles. And the main thing was yet to come - Hittite turned out to be an Indo-European language! And this entailed another problem: it means that the people were Indo-European...” (A. Volkov, N. Nepomnyashchy. “The Hittites. The Unknown Empire of Asia Minor”).

What can be opposed to this confusion and rather primitive ideas? What else do the Circassians have, besides the phrase “Het zhegyIe!”? And there is much more preserved in the legends of the Circassian people, in songs, in language, in rituals, in knowledge about themselves. A scientific expedition that collected ancient songs of the Circassians in the 30s of the twentieth century discovered a song in the Bzhedug dialect of the Circassian language. Here are the lyrics of the song translated into Russian:

"The Hittites are our grandfathers,
The oldest tribes are
Legends tell.
The Hittite kingdom is huge
Behind big sea lying,
It becomes famous and expands.
The Hittites extend their border to Egypt
Ramses - King of Egypt
Anyone dissatisfied with this starts a war.
The Hittites bring their knowledge in all directions
Ruler of Egypt - Pharaoh Ramses
Arrives to the Hittites
The agreement is concluded together.
Both sides became related..."

As they say, no comments are necessary...

There are also linguistic examples in the Abkhaz language, which is related to Circassian. In the everyday life of the Abkhazians there is one very interesting expression. When an Abkhaz wants to say the phrase: “Native language,” he says: “A-khatey byzshaa,” which is literally translated into Russian as “Hattian language.” In addition, in all Circassian dialects, in order to ask a person “who are you?”, you need to say: “ue ukhet?”, which literally translates as “are you a Hittite?”, that is, in the semantic meaning: “are you one of us?” “Are you ours?” Among the Circassians, surnames with the root “khat”, where the Hittite past was preserved, are quite common today - Khatko (Khyetykue), Khatyzh (Khyetizh), Atazhukin (Khetezhykue), as well as names - Khyetu, Khyete, Khyetyze, etc.; also one of the Circassian nationalities is called Khatukays.

All this is the knowledge of the Circassian people about their glorious past, about themselves, so they are closer to the truth, to common sense. The following statements by scientists are also sound: “On the other hand, science has also established undoubted features of the relationship of the Caucasian languages ​​with some now dead languages ​​of Western Asia, in particular with the Proto-Hittite language. This latter, as it turns out, is especially close to the Abkhaz-Adyghe languages, in particular to Ubykh.”

Speaking about the relationship of the “proto-Hittite” language with the Adyghe-Abkhazian languages, G. A. Melikishvili writes: “The use of prefixes as morphological elements, as well as many other phenomena of the morphological structure of the language, actually brings it closer to the mountainous Caucasian languages ​​(Ubykh, Adyghe, Abaza) . S. T. Eremyan also classifies the ancient Abkhaz-Adyghe tribes as belonging to the proto-Hittite ethnic world.”

According to the famous Russian author Alexander Asov, the “proto-Hittites”-Hutti and historical Atlanteans are different names for the same people. The author writes: “So, the location of Atlantis, a real country that perished during the Dardanian Flood, has been determined. This country was inhabited by a highly developed people - the Atlanteans, or rather the Hutts, the proto-Hittites. The culture of the Atlanteans had a huge influence on the culture of the surrounding peoples, including the Proto-Slavs.”

Please note the following. As described above, both Science, the Bible, and ordinary popular opinion call different “subjects” the Hittites, thereby contradicting each other. And they do not know for certain which of these “subjects” called themselves Hittites. On the other hand, no one calls the Circassians Hittites, but they call themselves that, and consider themselves the descendants of this particular ancient people.

Why was there such confusion in terms, why did the Indo-European component in knowledge about the Hittites come to the fore, while the “proto-Hittite” component remains in the shadows and, accordingly, the significance of the Circassians and their knowledge about this remain invisible and even unknown to Science? After all, there is no doubt, and this can be seen, as they say, with the naked eye, that knowledge about the Hittites, like their country itself, and their history, consists of two components - non-Indo-European and Indo-European.

The first reason for the confusion and the fact that, in modern terms, the Indo-European component has more “PR” is that the discoverers of the Hittites were Europeans themselves. Therefore, the fact that they attached greater importance to “their” Indo-European component is quite natural. The second reason is, undoubtedly, that the very discovery of the Hittite civilization and the deciphering of the texts took place at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. - that is, in the era of the heyday of the “Indo-European idea.” Then science behaved something like this: they found a cart, past which the so-called “Indo-Europeans” once ran, and then Science declared: “This is our cart!”, while never noticing that two Africans were sitting in the cart...

Science, which itself is Indo-European by definition, having discovered the Hittites, called them Indo-Europeans. It was a powerful civilization, a competitor to Egypt, a discoverer of iron, and the temptation to call it the first civilization of the Indo-Europeans was very great. Moreover, cuneiform tablets were found in a hitherto unknown Indo-European language. This is how the opinion was established: the Hittites are the first Indo-Europeans who built a civilization equal to Ancient Egypt and so on...

The original Hutt element remained in the shadows, although it still lies on the surface today, but this topic is practically not being developed today. If it is developed, the Indo-European component will lose a lot. Here are some details that lie on the surface, but “in the shadows”:

Before the Indo-Europeans began to appear in Asia Minor, there was already a highly developed civilization there, and the newcomers did not add anything significant to it. We can say that they came with something already ready. The fact that the Indo-Europeans who came to Asia Minor were lower in level of culture is also known.

The newcomers did not conquer the territory of Hatti; over the course of centuries they gradually settled and settled among the local population.

The most important element of culture and the main element of control is religion. It remained the same as before the advent of the Indo-Europeans; the sacred ritual language remained pre-Indo-European - Hutt. Even the names of the gods remained Hutt.

AND Caucasian country Ashuya, and the Maykop culture, and the Hittite Empire are all links of one unbroken chain. Considering the Hittites separately is simply not seeing the whole historical picture as a whole. After all, the Country of Hatti was not an island of civilization, but was part of a large single world along the entire southern and east coast The Black Sea, although with separate centers, but with related tribes.

There is no evidence that the Indo-Europeans were in any way dominant in the Land of Hatti. They did not dominate either in politics, or in culture, or in religion. Even the situation is somewhat the other way around. It is known that most kings bore Hutt, rather than Indo-European, names. Religion did not change under the influence of aliens.

And let us quote one more fact: “As a result of the merger of Indo-Europeans with the aboriginal Hattian tribes in Central Asia Minor, the Hittite ethnic group was formed, which created approximately by the middle of the 18th century. BC e. the powerful Hittite state, which fully adopted the rich cultural traditions of the Hutts" (G. G. Georgadze. "History of the Ancient World", 1989).

It was not the Indo-Europeans who called themselves Hittites, but the Hutts, and now the Circassians continue to call themselves.

However, they may object to me: why then did the Hattic language become dead in the Country of Hatti, preserved only in religious texts and rituals, and Indo-European became the language of office work and diplomacy in the Hittite kingdom. And is this really so? The scientist Gordon Childe answers this question in his book “The Aryans - the Founders of European Civilization”:

“Firstly, the material that we have at our disposal, and these are tablets from the state archive of the Hittite kings in Boğazköy, reflects only the language spoken by the Hittites in Cappadocia, and on their basis no conclusions can be drawn regarding other “Hittites” , for example, those who lived in Carchemish in northern Syria. In addition, it now becomes clear that even in Cappadocia there was a large number of languages: Palayan, Mitannian and Proto-Hittite. Particular attention should be paid to the latter, since he left behind his own written monuments. There is no doubt that the “Hittites” cannot be classified as Indo-Europeans. Another thing is that the dialect, which the scribes themselves called “our language,” undoubtedly experienced Indo-European influence.”

It is a pity, of course, that Gordon Childe did not know that the Circassians have an expression - “Be a Hittite!” - this would have convinced him even more of the correctness of his own conclusions. The Hutt language itself undoubtedly belongs to the Adyghe-Abkhaz group of the Caucasian family of languages, and is as complex as the Circassian, Ubykh, and Abkhaz languages.

Many speakers of Hutt may have switched to simpler Indo European language, especially in the field of public administration. There were similar examples in the history of the Circassians later - the Mamluk Circassian sultans ruled the empire in Arabic. And modern Circassians in Turkey switched to Turkish as a state language and more easy language, compared to their native one. Apparently this happened in the Land of Hatti, where the simpler Indo-European language quickly spread throughout the multi-ethnic empire as more acceptable as an international language, while the complex local Hattic language remained as a spoken and sacred language.

Otherwise, as modern scientists say, if the Khat language completely disappeared back in those days, surviving only in religious texts, and became a dead language, then how did the phrase “Khyet zhegyIe!” come to this day? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to show the contradictions that exist in the science of Hittology. To do this, we present well-established scientific or popular theses and counterarguments or knowledge of the Circassian people about themselves:

1. The Hittites are Indo-Europeans.

1. Yes, indeed, among the ethnic group called “Hittites” there was a significant Indo-European component. But the Indo-Europeans themselves did not call themselves “Hittites”. This is a foreign name for the name of the country of which they were residents and which existed before them. The aborigines called themselves Hittites - the Hutts (“proto-Hittites”). And now in modern world The Circassians call themselves Hittites.

2. The Hittites are Indo-Europeans, the creators of a highly developed civilization and a power equal to Ancient Egypt.

2. The Hutt civilization existed long before the arrival of the Indo-Europeans in Asia Minor.

3. King Anitas - the first king of the Hittites.

3. And before Anitas, there were kings in the Country of Hatti, however, Anitas was the first king who appeared in the chronicle, which our contemporaries-scientists read. It is a mistake to begin the history of the Hittites with Anitas.

4. The Indo-European Hittites were the discoverers of iron.

4. Iron was known to the Hutts before the Indo-Europeans arrived in Central Asia Minor. This is evidenced by the message of the pharaoh to the king of Hatti with a request to send him an iron dagger. The message dates back to 2000 BC. e.

5. The Indo-European Hittites dominated Asia Minor from 1750 to 1200 BC.

5. There is no evidence that the Indo-Europeans were in any way dominant over the rest of the population of the Land of Hatti. Rather, the opposite is true: most famous kings bore Hutt names.

6. The Indo-Europeans conquered Asia Minor and created an empire.

6. It is repeated many times in the literature that there was no conquest, but a gradual settlement of Indo-Europeans in the Country of Hatti and integration.

From all of the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:

It is necessary to create the science of Circassian-Abkhazology in order to revise the knowledge about the Hittites, the country of Ashuya, Ancient Mesopotamia, the Maikop culture, not separately, but in unity, from the position of living fragments of the ancient civilization - the Circassians (Adygs), Ubykhs, Abazas, Abkhazians. This also requires knowledge of the languages ​​and dialects of all the above Caucasian peoples.

The discoveries that John Colaruso reported in 2011 (more in another chapter) once again confirm that future Europeans and future Circassians in the distant past were very for a long time were in interaction with each other.

The existing popular opinion about the Indo-European Hittites who created the Hittite state does not stand up to criticism. We can only say that there is a certain Indo-European component in the country of Hatti. At the same time, the main political model - a confederation governed by a single ruler and essentially having a socialist political system - which is nonsense for the Ancient World, remained the same.

The only fragments of the Country of Hatti, which existed before the arrival of the Indo-Europeans in Asia Minor, are the Circassians and Abkhazians. And for them, “Hittite” is an ancient self-name.

The history of the Hittites is not the interval between the 18th and 12th centuries. BC e. This is precisely the period when future Europeans and future Circassian-Abkhazians coexisted within the same state entity. It was during this period of time that future Europeans adopted from the future Circassian-Abkhazians a culture that became the basis of their European Civilization, not to mention the genes, which, according to latest discoveries, is found in fairly large quantities among Europeans.

Historical science in the case of the Hittites once again shows its bias and slowness, while “authoritatively” pushing through “profitable” ideas, and being by definition “Indo-European”, it pulls the blanket over itself.

Now I want to bring interesting example from the Bible on a Hittite theme. It contains a story about perhaps the most famous Hittite - Uriah the Hittite. This character from the Old Testament was on the list of the best warriors of the ruler of the state of Israel, King David. Chapter 11 of the 2nd Book of Kings tells about him. Anyone who has read the Old Testament remembers this story. The act of Uriah the Hittite stands completely apart from other acts and deeds described in the Bible. What is the difference? - you ask. The difference is in motivation.

The Bible is full of stories about various exploits, deeds, and deeds. They were performed in the name of faith, the Lord, kings, women, brothers. There were actions committed out of a thirst for power, out of greed, and others were caused by meanness, self-interest, etc. There were, of course, actions in the name of love and compassion. That is, in each case there is a motive. And Uriah’s act is radically different from all others described in Old Testament, precisely by his motivation. Let's remember how it was.

Uriah the Hittite refuses to go home to sleep with his wife, thereby violating the order of his king, David. David himself thus wanted to hide the reason for the pregnancy of Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. The pregnancy, as we learn from the same story, occurred because while Uriah was at war, King David forced his wife to have sex, and she conceived from him. If Uriah had spent at least one night at home, then Bathsheba’s pregnancy could have been substantiated. Therefore, King David, using cunning, tries to send Uriah home for the night.

And so Uriah refuses to go home to spend the night, although this is an order from his king, and, as you know, the word of the master is the law for his servant. But no, Uriah does not go home, but spends the night at the palace gates with the guards. He does not follow the king's order, but follows some of his own indoor installation. And this attitude is stronger than the king’s word, even though the king’s word is the law for his servant. King David himself does not even have a clue about this attitude, otherwise he would have chosen a different tactical trick in relation to Uriah.

Some ethical standard, unknown to King David and the other Israelites, prevents Uriah from carrying out the king's order. Any other warrior in Uriah’s place, who had arrived from the war and had not seen his wife for a long time, would have happily carried out the king’s order without even thinking about it. But not the Hittite. He answers the king: “... and my master Joab and my master’s servants are in the field, but I would enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife! I swear on your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this! This behavior says that Uriah the Hittite obeys an ethical norm, which in later times was known among the Circassians as “zekIue khabze” - the unwritten law of march. It is part of the general Circassian ethics - Adyge Khabze.

During a raid, campaign, or war, every warrior obeys the “zekIue khabze.” The fundamental principle of the marching law is as follows: “The interests of the group (party, army, detachment) are always more important than the interests of any individual warrior. Not a single warrior can have any privileges and benefits, unlike others, until the completion of a given campaign (war, raid). Other important principles of this code are:

“To leave the battlefield for any reason other than tactical considerations, leaving others behind, means covering your name and your children with shame forever.”
“The commander is elected only for the duration of the campaign and only on the basis of personal qualities.”
“The commander is the last to leave the battlefield.”
“To surrender is the greatest dishonor.”

These principles and requirements were preserved by the Circassians in their military culture until late XIX century.

And in Uriah’s understanding, going to bed with his wife while his comrades are in the field is equivalent to escaping from the battlefield. This understanding is, in principle, characteristic of a Hittite. He sees the only possible way out for himself - to spend the night with warriors like himself - with the palace guards, with warriors who are directly performing their military duties. Thus, Uriah creates a situation for himself in which he can consider himself not having escaped from the battlefield. King David re-invited Uriah the next day and “ate with him, and drank, and gave him something to drink.”

The king hoped that in his drunken state, Uriah would definitely go home to his wife to spend the night. However, no, he doesn’t go, he spends the night with guards at the palace gates. Even a drunk Uriah does not violate his internal rules. It must be emphasized here that no one would ever reproach him if he spent the night at home. Only his inner principle and military education, his conscience and his judges. It is this military principle, unknown to the Israelites, that does not allow Uriah to fulfill the will of the king. If you say that there is nothing surprising in this, that such a principle could have existed not only among the Hittites and Circassians, then you will be wrong - after all, the Jews know nothing about this - this is clear from the biblical story itself.

It seems that Uriah was told more than once by his elders: “Het zhegyIe!” - “Be a Hittite!”, that is, “Increase the glory of the Hittites!” And he really continued and multiplied for thousands of years. Uriah the Hittite is a symbol of true military honor. His honor cost him his life. The name Uriah appears several more times in the history of the Circassians, and apparently was quite common in pre-Christian Circassia.

From ancient inscription known - Uer Khetu - the full namesake of Uriah the Hittite, about whom the Assyrian king Narasmin wrote 4 thousand years ago. This inscription is carved in stone. It is written that a thousand years ago the Hutts came from the Western Caucasus under the leadership of Uer Khyetu and captured the city of Akkad, and built the cities of Carchemish and Thapsek.

Ueri Dade was the name of the leader of the Kasogs (ancestors of the Circassians) who fought the Russian Tmutarakan prince Mstislav in a duel in 1022. In Russian chronicles this name sounds like “Rededya”.

Ueri Dade was the name of the judge in the people's court, in one of the stories about the sage Zhabaga Kazanoko. Wary was Zhabaga's predecessor in the people's court.

In all cases, except for the story about the judge, the name of Uriah is borne by warriors - unit commanders. Perhaps this is a military position, or some nickname given by colleagues for military merits, because in Circassian:

"Werra!" - attack!
"Ware" - war, military.
“Uerubyd” – prisoner of war.
"Uarysh" is a war horse.
“Uerk” – professional warrior, officer.

(The letter "E" in the Circassian language is a short sound A)

Apparently English word– “war” and Bulgarian – “thief” - come from this ancient root..

The wife of Uriah the Hittite, who later became the wife of King David and the mother of King Solomon, was called Bathsheba, which was distorted as Bathsheba. “Be-it-schabe” translated from the Circassian language reads: Be – a lot, It – “containing”, Shchabe – “tender”. Simply – “the most tender”. As a name for a girl, and in today’s Circassian world, this name is organic and reminiscent of such Circassian names as – NefiytsIe – “black-eyed”, Pague – “snub-nosed”, Nashkhue – “gray-eyed”, Shchabe – “soft, tender”.

Her grandfather's name was Ahithophel. This name contains three Circassian roots: “khyet” - Hittite, “fe” - appearance, appearance and “lly” - man. “A” is a common prefix in the Adyghe-Abkhaz group of languages ​​indicating a specific object - a clarifying affix. Linguists are trying to translate this name from Hebrew, and the result is “brother of madness.” Agree, this is not the most suitable name for an adviser to King David, and in general this name is illogical for any nation.

Returning to Uriah the Hittite, I would like to add that for a modern Circassian man, Uriah’s behavior is not surprising. And for modern Circassians this is normal behavior, completely understandable and natural. Eight out of ten Circassians in such a situation, in Uriah’s place, would most likely have done the same, and it would have been natural for them.

Another important point. Considering legal norms in the Hittite state and ethical standards in Circassia in the 18th-19th centuries, as well as common law among the Circassians, it is impossible not to pay attention to the obvious analogies. They relate to the “distinctly” expressed humanity of the Hittites and Circassians, in contrast to their neighbors. Many researchers emphasize the humaneness of the Hittite laws, their greater softness compared to the laws of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Israelis - the contemporaries and neighbors of the Hittites.

The Hittites gave more highly appreciated life, personality and human dignity. In the Country of Hatti, the death penalty was actually banned - only the king could sentence people to death, and then only for political crimes. We find an absolutely similar attitude towards the death penalty among the Circassians. The death penalty was so unknown in pre-Muslim Circassia that the first death sentence, passed by one of the first Sharia courts in Kabarda (Eastern Circassia), remained unexecuted. They could not find an executioner to carry it out. In a country where literally everyone was ready to cut off the enemy’s head in a fair fight, there was not a single one ready to cut off the head of a defenseless criminal!

The highest form of punishment among the Circassians was expulsion from the clan and village. The expelled person left his village or tribe to another place among another people, or wandered in the mountains. This is how abreks appeared. “Abraj” translated from Adyghe means “living in nature, outside settlements.” Usually the one who repented came to a foreign village, where, according to the laws of the mountains, he was received as a guest. He had a chance to start over, he was not discriminated against as a criminal. And this is also an example of humanity. Today there is still a Circassian people who have never had the death penalty in their entire history - these are the Ubykhs.

The historian Oliver Gurney wrote: “The Hittites are completely lacking in the passion for torture and cruelty that is so clearly visible in the victorious annals of the Assyrian kings.” This is a complete analogy with the descriptions of the Polish officer Theodor Lapinsky, who lived among the Circassians for three years during the Caucasian War. He wrote: “Circassian by nature is brave, decisive, but does not like to shed blood uselessly, and is not cruel. Among the Circassians, mutilation of corpses, cutting off heads, ears, arms, legs, murder of unarmed people, and abominations against women that accompany war are completely unknown.”

Another analogy between Circassia and the Country of Hatti is punishment with property. In Hittite society the punishment for murder was free man- there was a “payment for blood”: 4 slaves, funeral at the expense of the murderer and he gives his house as security. In Circassia, the payment for the murdered person was also clearly established. Depending on the class of the person killed, the number of servants, large and small heads varied. cattle, weapons and armor. We see the same principle of punishment after 3500 thousand years.

The Czech scientist Beijih the Terrible, one of the founders of modern Hittology, who deciphered the Indo-European Hittite language, attributed the humanity of the Hittites to the fact that, being, in his opinion, Indo-Europeans, they had innate abilities to govern. “It was in their blood,” wrote B. Grozny. We can say that in expressing such a thought, Grozny was mistaken twice. The first mistake occurred, apparently, out of ignorance. It was not yet known then that not all people who speak Indo-European languages ​​are brothers and relatives (for example, the African American from New York, for whom native language English is Indo-European and Hindu whose native Sanskrit is Indo-European).

And the second mistake. Even if we assume that all peoples speaking Indo-European languages ​​are related, and if, as the scientist said, it is “in the blood” of all Indo-Europeans, then where is the analogue of this humanity in the Indo-European world in another country? Today, as we see, only the Circassians have an analogue, however, they are not an Indo-European people. These humane attitudes that deeply penetrated the mentality of the people, recognizing the personality of man and life as his highest value, existed as a special mindset among the Hutts. They were also preserved by the last fragment of the Hatti people - the Circassians.

Although the Indo-Europeans lived in the same state with the future Circassians for a long time, they did not adopt this special mentality, as more late history Europe. Perhaps these ethical guidelines mentioned above are not as visible as “Hyet zhegyIe!” or a song about the war with Ramses, but definitely - they are the same evidence that the Circassians are the heirs of that pre-Indo-European world of the Land of Hatti and the later Hittite Power.

What was “Hyet zhegyIe!” in the ancient world of future Circassians in the Land of Hatti? Perhaps it was some kind of military motto or call before battle, or a simple everyday educational instruction. It is no longer possible to establish this. But if we take into account that this expression has reached our days after 3.5 thousand years, then this is thanks to the enormous power and emotional content inherent in this short combination of words. The Russians have a saying: “Eh, it was, it wasn’t!” This saying very fully conveys the real Russian spirit. “Het zhegyIe!” in the same way, it fully conveys the true Circassian spirit and the spirit of the ancient Hittites...

This chapter began with criticism of historians and it would be fair to end it with a call to future historians: “Pay attention to the knowledge that the people have, to their songs, dances, language, and not just to the knowledge that is collected in books!” All that remains is to wish the historians of the future - Hiet zhegyIe!

The history of human civilization is the history of wars. One can hardly argue with this statement. Of course, the ancients not only fought, but built cities and temples, plowed the land and raised livestock, and created magnificent handicrafts. But war was also a common, everyday thing. The seizure of other people's property, livestock, and slaves was considered by many peoples not only one of the types of trade, but also an honorable occupation. With the advent of the first civilizations, everything larger number political objectives began to be resolved by military means. This includes increasing the territories under control, ensuring the security of trade routes and state borders, and, of course, enrichment.

The tendency towards the creation of ever larger state formations began to appear already in the initial stages of the development of early civilizations. But only in the 2nd millennium BC. e. individual civilizations tried to extend permanent power beyond their natural borders, which is what happened. These included the Hittite civilization. The Hittite state, which became one of the first examples of a structured class society, lasted for almost six centuries and fell under the swords of foreigners. Then in the 1st millennium BC. e. such as Assyrian and Persian appear. But in many ways their successes were based on the achievements of the Hittites. Among these achievements, in the first place is the use of iron weapons, superior in quality to the then known weapons made of bronze - an alloy of copper with other metals. The use of horses and war chariots, the creation of a professional army capable of waging constant wars of conquest, was another contribution of the Hittites. And finally, the organization of the state itself, not always successful, was also taken into account by subsequent reformers. We can say that the Hittites were the first to conduct a grandiose experiment - they founded a state that united different peoples through military might.

The Hittite civilization developed in the center of Asia Minor in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. In a turbulent era, when the East was shocked by the conquest of Egypt by the Hyksos, Babylonia by the Kassites, when it seemed that these great civilizations were collapsing, the Hittites, thanks to their military superiority, united Asia Minor, Syrian and Syria under their rule, creating a military civilization here.

Map of the Hittites. Hittite power

Anatolia is the central part of Asia Minor, where it originated ancient civilization the Hittites, differed in its natural conditions from other centers of early civilizations, such as the Nile River valley or. This country was a mountain plateau covered with sparse steppe vegetation, suitable only for grazing sheep and goats. Only small plains in the foothills were suitable for the development of an economy with fields and pastures. They were abundantly supplied with water from turbulent mountain rivers, which, although they played an important role in economic life, did not become the creators of civilization, like the rivers of Egypt and Mesopotamia. They were inconvenient for navigation and artificial irrigation. The valleys in the foothills were separated by mountain ranges, and each of them was a self-sufficient separate area.

In these valleys in the VIII-IV millennia BC. e. centers of early agricultural cultures arose, where people engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, built strong houses, and made elegant painted ceramics. Economic life and applied arts have reached quite a high level. This is evidenced by excavations of such settlements of that time as Çatalhöyük and Hacilar, which were large and well-equipped agricultural centers. But the lack of land, a diverse ethnic composition and a fairly high population density led to conflicts and inter-tribal clashes. During excavations of many settlements of the VI-IV millennia BC. e. Traces of destruction and fire were found.

The natural conditions of ancient Anatolia did not provide opportunities. Progress in agriculture, social sphere progressed slowly, mainly under the influence of neighboring highly developed cultures. But in III millennium BC e. the inhabitants of Asia Minor unexpectedly became one of the most advanced peoples. The main event of that era was the rapid rise of craft production, mainly in metallurgy and metalworking, as well as in jewelry. The fact is that the mountainous regions were not only rich in forests, but also stored metals in their depths: copper, silver, lead, iron. Stone, cedar, timber and iron constituted the natural wealth of the Hittite land. And Asia Minor craftsmen began to specialize in the manufacture of weapons and armor - they made swords, daggers, battle axes, helmets. Here is the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Hittites were the first to invent a method of processing iron and became a monopoly in its production. This brought them considerable income. Iron was 40 times more expensive than silver and 5-8 times more expensive than gold. The Hittite rulers strictly protected the monopoly of iron production, and the tribes kept the areas of its deposits secret.

The emergence of city-states in Asia Minor is another. These fortified points became centers of economic, political and cultural life local peoples. In some city-states, colonies of foreign traders appeared, mainly from Mesopotamia and Northern Syria. The colony, or port, as it was called, was headed by the “house of the city.” Eastern merchants supplied the tin necessary for the production of full-fledged bronze, the production of which everyone was interested in, since iron still remained a precious metal. Fine fabrics and chitons were also imported. All these goods were delivered to Anatolia by donkey caravans from Damascus. Trade played an important role in the development of the Hittite civilization. Almost the entire population of Anatolia was involved in it. The wealth of the leaders and differences in the distribution of wealth between the tribes grew, and they began to turn their settlements into fortresses.

Strengthening military power diversity in city-states also contributed to ethnic composition Anatolia. Along with the ancient population - the Hattians (or proto-Hittites), who spoke languages ​​probably related to the languages ​​of the modern peoples of the Caucasus, tribes of Hurrians lived here. At the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. such states of these tribes as Puruskhanda, Kussara, Hattusas, Kanish, etc. were known. There was a constant struggle between them for political hegemony. Initially, the leading role was played by the city of Purus-khanda. Later the situation changed in favor of Kussara. In the 18th century BC e. its rulers - Pithana and Anitta, pursuing a policy of conquest, conquered Puruskhanda and created a powerful political union - the Kussar kingdom, which later grew into the Hatti power.

L.A. Gindin believes that the Hittites were the first Indo-European people (Sredny Stogov culture) who settled Bulgaria and Greece back in the 4th millennium BC. e., and then pushed into Asia Minor by the second wave of the Indo-European invasion of the Balkans. The Hittites were strongly influenced by the local autochthonous substrate of the Hutts and, to a lesser extent, the Hurrians (Mitanni). According to another version, the Hittites are the indigenous aboriginal population of Asia Minor, whose ancestors settled in Asia Minor in the 13th-10th millennia BC.

The Hittite culture was also influenced by the Babylonian civilization, from which they borrowed cuneiform. The Hittites themselves influenced the culture of all their neighbors.

At the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. Among the Hittites who arrived in Asia Minor, the tribal system began to disintegrate. The acceleration of this process was facilitated by the penetration into this region in the 20th-18th centuries. BC e. Semitic trade colonists (Assyrian and, partly, Amorite). In the territories of the eastern and central parts of Asia Minor there was, apparently, back in the 3rd millennium BC. e. Several political entities such as city-states were created (Puruskhanda, Amkuva, Kussar, Hatti, Kanish, Vakhshushana, Ma'ma, Samukha, etc.), headed by kings (rubaum) or queens (rabatum). The city-states of Asia Minor used writing and a written language borrowed from Ashur merchants. There was a struggle among city-states for political hegemony. At first, Puruskhanda gained the upper hand, whose ruler was considered a “great king” among the other rulers of the city-states of Asia Minor. Later, the situation changed in favor of the city-state of Kussar. In the first half of the 18th century. BC e. King Anitta of Kussar founded a vast power, later called the Hittite kingdom.

Ethnonym

The Hittite self-name Nesili or Kanesili came from the city of Nesa (Kanish), while the term Hatti was used to designate the inhabitants of the Hittite kingdom, as well as the more ancient inhabitants of these lands - the Hatti.

Anthropological type

Hittite

The Hittites may have been the first to make and use war chariots, which appeared in Western Asia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. listen)) from the Indo-European steppe nomads-Aryans. “The Hittite treatise on horse training goes back to the Mitannian specialists in this matter and contains Indo-Aryan terms...”. Chariots undoubtedly came to Greece from the Hittites.

According to the established opinion, the mountain peoples of the north of Asia Minor and the Caucasus were the first to master the production of iron. The Hittites captured the territory of the ancient Hutts, who possessed iron processing technology. A message from the pharaoh of the New Kingdom to the king of Hatti with a request to send him an iron dagger is known, which in the Bronze Age was a very expensive gift (a supposedly Hittite dagger with an iron blade was found in the tomb). In subsequent centuries, the Hittites continued to possess the secret of iron production, which, along with the use of war chariots, gave this people a huge advantage.

Religion

From the available materials, it is possible to imagine only some fragments of what constituted the totality of Hittite religious beliefs. Without a doubt, these beliefs changed not only according to eras, but also according to the places of residence of the Hittites. These beliefs provided answers to all the questions that religious curiosity suggests: what gods and spirits exist, how to honor them and others, how to gain their favor, find out their will, how should one behave in general? Of course, it is not yet possible to recreate the religion of the Hittites, but it is already possible to formulate judgments that apparently have sufficient grounds behind them.

An important document for judging the Hittite religion, as well as for studying the political history of the Hittites, is the Treaty of Heta-Sira, concluded with Ramses II. This agreement states that the kings of Khet and Egypt pledged not to cross each other’s borders with their troops, not to start wars in case of any misunderstandings, to support each other with their troops in the fight against enemies, and everything that was written on the silver table of the treaty, approved by the union of the gods, male and female deities, deities of the land of Egypt. They testified to the firmness of these words, which they approved. Sutekh (god of rage) of the city of Tunepa; Sutekh of the city of Khet; Sutekh of the city of Arnhem; Sutekh of the city of Tsaranda; Sutekh of the city of Pilka; Sutekh of the city of Khizazar; Sutekh of the city of Sarto; Sutekh of the city of Khilip (Aleppo); Sutekh of the city of Sarpina; Astarte of the country of Kheta; God of the country Tsayyat - Khiri; God of the country Ka; God of the country How; God of the country Kher; Goddess of the city Akh; Goddess of the country Tsaina. As can be seen from the table above, the main deity of the Hittites was Sutekh. This god was quite favorably received in Egypt, although later in Egypt they began to confuse him with Set. It seems very likely that Sutekh was the god of the Sun among the Hittites, but this does not exclude the possibility that Sutekh had other properties.

The Hittite deities had their own female halves, and so did Sutekh. The Hittites also had more powerful goddesses. The Treaty of Ramses II and Kheta Sira mentions several goddesses, but names only one - Astarte or Antaratu. There are also other names of goddesses. It is considered probable that after the era of Ramses II, the cult of Sutekh began to recede into the background before the cult of the “great goddess” Cybele, considered the mother of the gods. The Hittites had so-called sacred cities; it turns out that along the path of conquest and possession of the Hittites there were many cities dedicated to the “great goddess”.
There is a Greek legend about the Amazons, whose origin can undoubtedly be attributed to the Hittites. The Amazons were credited with the construction of many famous cities of Asia Minor - Smyrna, Ephesus. These Amazons were actually priestesses of the great goddess of Asia.

The Hittites had gods Tar or Tarku, Mauru, Kaui, Hepa. Tarku in Cilicia and Lydia was known as Sandana (sun god). There was a god Tisbu or Tushpu, his functions are identified with the functions of the Assyro-Babylonian Ramman, that is, he is considered the god of thunderstorms and storms. We must assume that the Hittite god was Kasiu, from where he later appeared Greek Zeus. At their core, the Hittite gods had a wild and warlike character. Animals were revered by the Hittites: the eagle is often found in their images, which speaks of the cult of the eagle. The fact that the Hittites depicted a double-headed eagle holding an animal in each paw remains mysterious.

The fact of mystical veneration of the equilateral triangle among the Hittites remains curious. They believe that this modest geometric figure was considered a source of powerful strength, even a source of life. This image of an equilateral triangle was placed on seals and other images were attached to it. Sometimes eyes were placed in the triangle.

Female deities

The main female deity of the Hittites was probably a prototype of the Asia Minor "Great Mother" with the name Ma, Cybele, Rhea; she was depicted in a long robe, with a crown like a muralis on her head. At Bogaz-Köy there is an interesting image of a Hittite deity wearing a tall, pointed octagonal headdress. The institution of priests and priestesses was very large among the Hittites.

Temples

Sacrifices

Holidays

Twice a year among the Hittites, in the city of Maboga (Hierapolis), a festive procession went to a cleft in the rock located under the temple: into this cleft (according to their teachings) the waters of the flood flowed and sea water was poured into it. Pseudo-Lucian speaks of the existence of a legend about the flood in Hierapolis, in content it is almost identical to the Babylonian and biblical ones; The hero's name is Deucalion Sisitheus. The priests localized [ clarify], in a cleft in the rock under the temple, the flow of the flood waters. The legend says that the goddess Sima, daughter of the highest god Adad, put an end to the attacks of the demon by filling sea ​​water the crevice in which he lived. Anyone who came to Maboga shaved his head and eyebrows. Having sacrificed a sheep, he tore the meat into pieces and had a feast. He spread the skin on the ground, knelt down, placed the head and legs of the victim on his head, and at the same time conjured the gods to accept his sacrifice, promising to bring even better ones in the future. After which he was crowned with wreaths.

Afterlife

Society

Hittology

The history of the study of the Hittites begins in the 19th century, when scientists became interested in the powerful people mentioned in the Bible and who lived north of the “Promised Land.” However large-scale research Hittite history became possible only after the discovery of the Boghazköy archive of the Hatti kings in 1906 and deciphering in 1915-1916. Czech linguist Bedrich the Terrible of Hittite writing. One of the greatest specialists of the 20th century on the Hittites is Oliver Gurney.

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Notes

Literature

• Ardzinba V. G. Rituals and myths of ancient Anatolia. - M.: Nauka, GRVL, 1982. - 256 p.
• Volkov A.V., Nepomnyashchiy N.N. Hittites. Unknown empire of Asia Minor. - M.: Veche, 2004. - 288 p. - Series “Mysterious places of the Earth”. - ISBN 5-9533-0128-6.
• Gurney O.R. Hittites / Transl. from English - M.: Nauka, GRVL, 1987. - 240 p. - Series “In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East”.
• Giorgadze G. G. Questions of the social system of the Hittites. - Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 1991. - 192 p.
• Giorgadze G. G. Essays on the socio-economic history of the Hittite state (On direct producers in Hittite society). - Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 1973. - 312 p.
• Gindin L. A. Tsymbursky V.L. Homer and the history of the Eastern Mediterranean. - M.: Publishing house. company "Vost. lit-ra", 1996. - 328 p. - 2,000 copies.
• Dovgyalo G.I. On the history of the emergence of the state: Based on the material of Hittite cuneiform texts. - Mn.: BSU Publishing House, 1968. - 160 p.
• Dovgyalo G.I. The formation of the ideology of early class society (based on cuneiform texts). - Mn.: BSU Publishing House, 1980. - 162 p.
• Ancient Anatolia: Sat. / Ed. B.B. Piotrovsky, Vyach. Sun. Ivanova, V. G. Ardzimba. - M.: Nauka, GRVL, 1985. - 256 p.
• Zamarovsky Vojtech. Secrets of the Hittites / Trans. from Slovak - M.: Nauka, GRVL, 1968. - 336 p. - Series “In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East”.
• Gold L. The ancestral home of the Hittites. - M.: Author's book, 2012. - 134 p. - ISBN 978-5-91945-196-9.
• Ivanov V.V.
• Keram K.V. narrow gorge and black Mountain/ Per. with him. - M.: Nauka, GRVL, 1962. - 216 p. - Series “In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East”.
• McQueen JG The Hittites and their contemporaries in Asia Minor. - M.: Nauka, GRVL, 1983. - 184 p. - Series “In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East”.
• Menabde E. A. Hittite Society: Economy, Property, Family and Inheritance. - Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 1965. - 232 pp. (see)
• Nagovitsyn A. E. Hittite magic. - M.: Triksta, 2004. - 496 p. - Series “Cultures. Academic Project".
• Hittites and Hittite culture: Sat. / Ed. I. Borozdina. - M.; L.: GIZ “World Literature”, 1924. - 154 pp.: ill. - Series “Culture of the East”.

Links

• Hittites // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• d/f
• www.hittites.info/ (English)

Excerpt characterizing the Hittites

A fire was lit in the broken stove. They took out a board and, having supported it on two saddles, covered it with a blanket, took out a samovar, a cellar and half a bottle of rum, and, asking Marya Genrikhovna to be the hostess, everyone crowded around her. Some offered her a clean handkerchief to wipe her lovely hands, some put a Hungarian coat under her feet so that it would not be damp, some curtained the window with a cloak so that it wouldn’t blow, some brushed the flies off her husband’s face so that he would not wake up.
“Leave him alone,” said Marya Genrikhovna, smiling timidly and happily, “he’s already sleeping well after a sleepless night.”
“You can’t, Marya Genrikhovna,” the officer answered, “you have to serve the doctor.” That’s it, maybe he’ll feel sorry for me when he starts cutting my leg or arm.
There were only three glasses; the water was so dirty that it was impossible to decide whether the tea was strong or weak, and there was only enough water in the samovar for six glasses, but it was all the more pleasant, in turn and by seniority, to receive your glass from Marya Genrikhovna’s plump hands with short, not entirely clean, nails . All the officers seemed to really be in love with Marya Genrikhovna that evening. Even those officers who were playing cards behind the partition soon abandoned the game and moved on to the samovar, obeying the general mood of courting Marya Genrikhovna. Marya Genrikhovna, seeing herself surrounded by such brilliant and courteous youth, beamed with happiness, no matter how hard she tried to hide it and no matter how obviously shy she was at every sleepy movement of her husband, who was sleeping behind her.
There was only one spoon, there was most of the sugar, but there was no time to stir it, and therefore it was decided that she would stir the sugar for everyone in turn. Rostov, having received his glass and poured rum into it, asked Marya Genrikhovna to stir it.
- But you don’t have sugar? - she said, still smiling, as if everything that she said, and everything that others said, was very funny and had another meaning.
- Yes, I don’t need sugar, I just want you to stir it with your pen.
Marya Genrikhovna agreed and began to look for a spoon, which someone had already grabbed.
“You finger, Marya Genrikhovna,” said Rostov, “it will be even more pleasant.”
- It's hot! - said Marya Genrikhovna, blushing with pleasure.
Ilyin took a bucket of water and, dripping some rum into it, came to Marya Genrikhovna, asking him to stir it with his finger.
“This is my cup,” he said. - Just put your finger in, I’ll drink it all.
When the samovar was all drunk, Rostov took the cards and offered to play kings with Marya Genrikhovna. They cast lots to decide who would be Marya Genrikhovna's party. The rules of the game, according to Rostov’s proposal, were that the one who would be king would have the right to kiss Marya Genrikhovna’s hand, and that the one who would remain a scoundrel would go and put a new samovar for the doctor when he woke up.
- Well, what if Marya Genrikhovna becomes king? – Ilyin asked.
- She’s already a queen! And her orders are law.
The game had just begun when the doctor’s confused head suddenly rose from behind Marya Genrikhovna. He had not slept for a long time and listened to what was said, and, apparently, did not find anything cheerful, funny or amusing in everything that was said and done. His face was sad and despondent. He did not greet the officers, scratched himself and asked permission to leave, as his way was blocked. As soon as he came out, all the officers burst into loud laughter, and Marya Genrikhovna blushed to tears and thereby became even more attractive in the eyes of all the officers. Returning from the yard, the doctor told his wife (who had stopped smiling so happily and was looking at him, fearfully awaiting the verdict) that the rain had passed and that she had to go spend the night in the tent, otherwise everything would be stolen.
- Yes, I’ll send a messenger... two! - said Rostov. - Come on, doctor.
– I’ll watch the clock myself! - said Ilyin.
“No, gentlemen, you slept well, but I didn’t sleep for two nights,” said the doctor and gloomily sat down next to his wife, waiting for the end of the game.
Looking at the gloomy face of the doctor, looking askance at his wife, the officers became even more cheerful, and many could not help laughing, for which they hastily tried to find plausible excuses. When the doctor left, taking his wife away, and settled into the tent with her, the officers lay down in the tavern, covered with wet overcoats; but they didn’t sleep for a long time, either talking, remembering the doctor’s fright and the doctor’s amusement, or running out onto the porch and reporting what was happening in the tent. Several times Rostov, turning over his head, wanted to fall asleep; but again someone’s remark entertained him, a conversation began again, and again causeless, cheerful, childish laughter was heard.

At three o'clock no one had yet fallen asleep when the sergeant appeared with the order to march to the town of Ostrovne.
With the same chatter and laughter, the officers hastily began to get ready; again they put the samovar on dirty water. But Rostov, without waiting for tea, went to the squadron. It was already dawn; the rain stopped, the clouds dispersed. It was damp and cold, especially in a wet dress. Coming out of the tavern, Rostov and Ilyin, both in the twilight of dawn, looked into the doctor’s leather tent, shiny from the rain, from under the apron of which the doctor’s legs stuck out and in the middle of which the doctor’s cap was visible on the pillow and sleepy breathing could be heard.
- Really, she’s very nice! - Rostov said to Ilyin, who was leaving with him.
- What a beauty this woman is! – Ilyin answered with sixteen-year-old seriousness.
Half an hour later the lined up squadron stood on the road. The command was heard: “Sit down! – the soldiers crossed themselves and began to sit down. Rostov, riding forward, commanded: “March! - and, stretching out into four people, the hussars, sounding the slap of hooves on the wet road, the clanking of sabers and quiet talking, set off along the large road lined with birches, following the infantry and battery walking ahead.
Torn blue-purple clouds, turning red at sunrise, were quickly driven by the wind. It became lighter and lighter. The curly grass that always grows along country roads, still wet from yesterday’s rain, was clearly visible; The hanging branches of the birches, also wet, swayed in the wind and dropped light drops to their sides. The faces of the soldiers became clearer and clearer. Rostov rode with Ilyin, who did not lag behind him, on the side of the road, between a double row of birch trees.
During the campaign, Rostov took the liberty of riding not on a front-line horse, but on a Cossack horse. Both an expert and a hunter, he recently got himself a dashing Don, a large and kind game horse, on which no one had jumped him. Riding this horse was a pleasure for Rostov. He thought about the horse, about the morning, about the doctor, and never thought about the upcoming danger.
Before, Rostov, going into business, was afraid; Now he did not feel the slightest sense of fear. It was not because he was not afraid that he was accustomed to fire (you cannot get used to danger), but because he had learned to control his soul in the face of danger. He was accustomed, when going into business, to think about everything, except for what seemed to be more interesting than anything else - about the upcoming danger. No matter how hard he tried or reproached himself for cowardice during the first period of his service, he could not achieve this; but over the years it has now become natural. He now rode next to Ilyin between the birches, occasionally tearing leaves from branches that came to hand, sometimes touching the horse’s groin with his foot, sometimes, without turning around, giving his finished pipe to the hussar riding behind, with such a calm and carefree look, as if he was riding ride. He felt sorry to look at Ilyin’s agitated face, who spoke a lot and restlessly; he knew from experience the painful state of waiting for fear and death in which the cornet was, and knew that nothing except time would help him.
The sun had just appeared on a clear streak from under the clouds when the wind died down, as if it did not dare spoil this lovely summer morning after the thunderstorm; the drops were still falling, but vertically, and everything became quiet. The sun came out completely, appeared on the horizon and disappeared into a narrow and long cloud standing above it. A few minutes later the sun appeared even brighter on the upper edge of the cloud, breaking its edges. Everything lit up and sparkled. And along with this light, as if answering it, gun shots were heard ahead.
Before Rostov had time to think about and determine how far these shots were, the adjutant of Count Osterman Tolstoy galloped up from Vitebsk with orders to trot along the road.
The squadron drove around the infantry and battery, who were also in a hurry to go faster, went down the mountain and, passing through some empty village without inhabitants, climbed the mountain again. The horses began to lather, the people became flushed.
- Stop, be equal! – the division commander’s command was heard ahead.
- Left shoulder forward, step march! - they commanded from the front.
And the hussars along the line of troops went to the left flank of the position and stood behind our lancers who were in the first line. On the right stood our infantry in a thick column - these were reserves; higher up on the mountain they were visible in the clear clean air, in the morning, oblique and bright light, on the very horizon, our guns. Ahead, behind the ravine, enemy columns and cannons were visible. In the ravine we could hear our chain, already engaged and cheerfully clicking with the enemy.
Rostov, as if hearing the sounds of the most cheerful music, felt joy in his soul from these sounds, which had not been heard for a long time. Tap ta ta tap! – several shots clapped suddenly, then quickly one after another. Again everything fell silent, and again it was as if firecrackers were cracking as someone walked on them.
The hussars stood in one place for about an hour. The cannonade began. Count Osterman and his retinue rode behind the squadron, stopped, talked with the regiment commander and rode off to the guns on the mountain.
Following Osterman’s departure, the lancers heard a command:
- Form a column, line up for the attack! “The infantry ahead of them doubled their platoons to let the cavalry through. The lancers set off, their pike weather vanes swaying, and at a trot they went downhill towards the French cavalry, which appeared under the mountain to the left.
As soon as the lancers went down the mountain, the hussars were ordered to move up the mountain, to cover the battery. While the hussars were taking the place of the lancers, distant, missing bullets flew from the chain, squealing and whistling.
This sound, not heard for a long time, had an even more joyful and exciting effect on Rostov than the previous sounds of shooting. He, straightening up, looked at the battlefield opening from the mountain, and with all his soul participated in the movement of the lancers. The lancers came close to the French dragoons, something was tangled there in the smoke, and five minutes later the lancers rushed back not to the place where they stood, but to the left. Between the orange lancers on red horses and behind them, in a large heap, were visible blue French dragoons on gray horses.

Rostov, with his keen hunting eye, was one of the first to see these blue French dragoons pursuing our lancers. Closer and closer the lancers and the French dragoons pursuing them moved in frustrated crowds. One could already see how these people, who seemed small under the mountain, collided, overtook each other and waved their arms or sabers.
Rostov looked at what was happening in front of him as if he were being persecuted. He instinctively felt that if he now attacked the French dragoons with the hussars, they would not resist; but if you hit, you had to do it now, this minute, otherwise it will be too late. He looked around him. The captain, standing next to him, did not take his eyes off the cavalry below in the same way.
“Andrei Sevastyanich,” said Rostov, “we will doubt them...
“It would be a dashing thing,” said the captain, “but in fact...
Rostov, without listening to him, pushed his horse, galloped ahead of the squadron, and before he had time to command the movement, the entire squadron, experiencing the same thing as him, set off after him. Rostov himself did not know how and why he did it. He did all this, as he did on the hunt, without thinking, without thinking. He saw that the dragoons were close, that they were galloping, upset; he knew that they could not stand it, he knew that there was only one minute that would not return if he missed it. The bullets screeched and whistled around him so excitedly, the horse begged forward so eagerly that he could not stand it. He touched his horse, gave the command, and at the same moment, hearing behind him the sound of the tramp of his deployed squadron, full trots, began to descend towards the dragoons down the mountain. As soon as they went downhill, their trot gait involuntarily turned into a gallop, which became faster and faster as they approached their lancers and the French dragoons galloping behind them. The dragoons were close. The front ones, seeing the hussars, began to turn back, the rear ones stopped. With the feeling with which he rushed across the wolf, Rostov, releasing his bottom at full speed, galloped across the frustrated ranks of the French dragoons. One lancer stopped, one foot fell to the ground so as not to be crushed, one riderless horse got mixed up with the hussars. Almost all the French dragoons galloped back. Rostov, having chosen one of them on a gray horse, set off after him. On the way he ran into a bush; a good horse carried him over, and, barely able to cope in the saddle, Nikolai saw that in a few moments he would catch up with the enemy whom he had chosen as his target. This Frenchman was probably an officer - judging by his uniform, he was bent over and galloping on his gray horse, urging it on with a saber. A moment later, Rostov’s horse hit the rear of the officer’s horse with its chest, almost knocking it down, and at the same moment Rostov, without knowing why, raised his saber and hit the Frenchman with it.
The instant he did this, all the animation in Rostov suddenly disappeared. The officer fell not so much from the blow of the saber, which only slightly cut his arm above the elbow, but from the push of the horse and from fear. Rostov, holding back his horse, looked for his enemy with his eyes to see whom he had defeated. The French dragoon officer was jumping on the ground with one foot, the other was caught in the stirrup. He, squinting in fear, as if expecting a new blow every second, wrinkled his face and looked up at Rostov with an expression of horror. His face, pale and spattered with dirt, blond, young, with a hole in the chin and light hair blue eyes, it was not for the battlefield, not an enemy face, but a simple indoor face. Even before Rostov decided what he would do with him, the officer shouted: “Je me rends!” [I give up!] In a hurry, he wanted and could not untangle his leg from the stirrup and, without taking his frightened blue eyes off, looked at Rostov. The hussars jumped up and freed his leg and put him on the saddle. Hussars from different sides fiddled with the dragoons: one was wounded, but, with his face covered in blood, did not give up his horse; the other, hugging the hussar, sat on the croup of his horse; the third, supported by a hussar, climbed onto his horse. The French infantry ran ahead, shooting. The hussars hastily galloped back with their prisoners. Rostov galloped back with the others, experiencing some kind of unpleasant feeling that squeezed his heart. Something unclear, confusing, which he could not explain to himself, was revealed to him by the capture of this officer and the blow he dealt him.
Count Osterman Tolstoy met the returning hussars, called Rostov, thanked him and said that he would report to the sovereign about his brave deed and would ask for the St. George Cross for him. When Rostov was demanded to appear before Count Osterman, he, remembering that his attack had been launched without orders, was fully convinced that the boss was demanding him in order to punish him for his unauthorized act. Therefore, Osterman’s flattering words and the promise of a reward should have struck Rostov all the more joyfully; but the same unpleasant, unclear feeling sickened him morally. “What the hell is tormenting me? – he asked himself, driving away from the general. - Ilyin? No, he's intact. Have I embarrassed myself in any way? No. Everything is wrong! “Something else tormented him, like remorse.” - Yes, yes, this French officer with a hole. And I remember well how my hand stopped when I raised it.”
Rostov saw the prisoners being taken away and galloped after them to see his Frenchman with a hole in his chin. He, in his strange uniform, sat on a winding hussar horse and restlessly looked around him. The wound on his hand was almost not a wound. He feigned a smile at Rostov and waved his hand as a greeting. Rostov still felt awkward and ashamed of something.
All this day and the next, Rostov's friends and comrades noticed that he was not boring, not angry, but silent, thoughtful and concentrated. He drank reluctantly, tried to remain alone and kept thinking about something.
Rostov kept thinking about this brilliant feat of his, which, to his surprise, bought him the St. George Cross and even made him a reputation as a brave man - and he just couldn’t understand something. “So they are even more afraid of us! - he thought. – So that’s all there is to it, what’s called heroism? And did I do this for the fatherland? And what is he to blame with his hole and blue eyes? And how scared he was! He thought that I would kill him. Why should I kill him? My hand trembled. And they gave me the St. George Cross. Nothing, I don’t understand anything!”
But while Nikolai was processing these questions within himself and still did not give himself a clear account of what had so confused him, the wheel of happiness in his career, as often happens, turned in his favor. He was pushed forward after the Ostrovnensky affair, they gave him a battalion of hussars and, when it was necessary to use a brave officer, they gave him instructions.

Having received the news of Natasha’s illness, the Countess, still not entirely healthy and weak, came to Moscow with Petya and the whole house, and the entire Rostov family moved from Marya Dmitrievna to their own house and completely settled in Moscow.
Natasha’s illness was so serious that, to her happiness and to the happiness of her family, the thought of everything that was the cause of her illness, her action and the break with her fiancé became secondary. She was so sick that it was impossible to think about how much she was to blame for everything that happened, while she did not eat, did not sleep, was noticeably losing weight, was coughing and was, as the doctors made her feel, in danger. All I had to think about was helping her. The doctors visited Natasha both separately and in consultations, spoke a lot of French, German and Latin, condemned each other, prescribed a wide variety of medicines for all the diseases known to them; but not one of them had the simple thought that they could not know the disease that Natasha suffered, just as no disease that plagues a living person could be known: for every living person has his own characteristics and always has a special and its own new, complex, unknown to medicine disease, not a disease of the lungs, liver, skin, heart, nerves, etc., recorded in medicine, but a disease consisting of one of the countless compounds in the suffering of these organs. This simple thought could not occur to doctors (just as the thought that he cannot cast magic cannot occur to a sorcerer) because their life’s work was to heal, because they received money for this, and because They spent the best years of their lives on this matter. But the main thing is that this thought could not occur to the doctors because they saw that they were undoubtedly useful, and were truly useful for all the Rostovs at home. They were useful not because they forced the patient to swallow for the most part harmful substances (this harm was little sensitive, because harmful substances were given in small quantities), but they were useful, necessary, inevitable (the reason is why there are and will always be imaginary healers, sorcerers, homeopaths and allopaths) because they satisfied the moral the needs of the patient and the people who love the patient. They satisfied that eternal human need of hope for relief, the need for sympathy and activity that a person experiences during suffering. They satisfied that eternal, human - noticeable in the child in the very primitive form– the need to rub the place that is bruised. The child is killed and immediately runs into the arms of the mother, the nanny, so that they can kiss and rub the sore spot, and it becomes easier for him when the sore spot is rubbed or kissed. The child does not believe that his strongest and wisest do not have the means to help his pain. And the hope of relief and expressions of sympathy while his mother rubs his lump comfort him. The doctors were useful to Natasha because they kissed and rubbed the bobo, assuring that it would pass now if the coachman went to the Arbat pharmacy and took seven hryvnia worth of powders and pills in a nice box for a ruble, and if these powders would certainly be in two hours, no more and no less, the patient will take it in boiled water.

ATLANTIS AND THE COUNTRY OF THE HITTES

After studying Greek myths and the works of ancient historians, there is no doubt that the myths about Atlanta originated in the Black Sea region and Asia Minor. Atlas is a titan, he belongs to the most ancient gods who were revered even before the invasion of the Greek tribes in the Balkans. Many researchers of the culture of Ancient Greece believe that the myths about the struggle between the Olympian gods and the Titans depict the era of the conquest of the ancient, pre-Greek inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, the Pelasgians, by Greek tribes.

Atlanta, apparently, was revered by both the ancient inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula and the inhabitants of Asia Minor.

At that time, we assume, the Atlanteans lived around Lake Triton (the future Sea of ​​Marmara). They were a people of high culture and, of course, a warlike people who fought with their neighbors and conquered them. Traces of those Atlantean wars are preserved in the myths about the seizure of power by the Titans and Kronos and their victory over even more ancient, pre-Titanic gods - Uranus and Gaia.

Was it not this threat “from the Atlantic Sea” that Plato spoke about? The conquered peoples, of course, were culturally dependent on the Atlanteans and adopted their faith and rituals.

The catastrophe led to the death of this powerful state. Many Atlanteans died, the rest were absorbed by the surrounding tribes - Phrygians, Lydians, Thracians, Greeks, Luwians, Hittites and others.

But in this case, the remnants of the ideas and beliefs of the Atlanteans should have been preserved not only among the Greeks, for whom Atlas is an alien, non-Greek god, but directly among the indigenous inhabitants of Asia Minor themselves.

And this assumption is confirmed.

We come to the origins of the Atlantean myth. To decipher it completely, we will have to get acquainted with Hittite mythology.

These are the people who lived south of the Black Sea, in the center of Pre-Modern Turkey and Anatolia. Along with Babylon and Egypt, the kingdom of the Hittites was the third great kingdom of the Ancient World.

These are the most amazing people. It is known to us from the Bible, where there is a story about how the Hittites gave Abraham a cave in Hebron, after which Abraham “bowed down to the people of that land, the sons of Heth” (Gen. 23:7). The Hittites ruled over the cities of Palestine in 1350 BC. they defeated the kingdom of Migania in the upper reaches of the Euphrates and fought with Egypt.

But this is not the most amazing thing. The language of this people and its culture are amazing. The Hittite language is a European language, close not only to Greek, but also to German, English and Russian.

The buildings of the Hittites, the architecture of their fortresses and palaces are reminiscent of the architecture of the palaces of ancient Mycenae. The similarity is striking: the same colonnades, the same sculpture.

It is known that the Hittite state was defeated during the invasion of the “peoples of the sea” in the 12th century BC. e. The remains of it were absorbed by Assyria. The Hittites partially dispersed among the peoples of Europe. One can, for example, recall the Thracian tribe of the Getae, who lived at the mouth of the Danube. These tribes neighbored and mixed with the ancestors of the Slavs at the beginning of our era.

And we can say with a high degree of confidence that partly ( The Hittites owe their culture to the Atlanteans. It should be noted, for example, that one of the early names of the Hittites “Hattili”, which goes back to the name of the people who lived here before the invasion of the Indo-Europeans, is consonant with the name “Atlanteans”. That is, the very name “Atlanteans” may be a Hellenized interpretation of the name of the Proto-Hittites.

And the important thing is that the myth of Atlas supporting the sky has Hittite roots. Until now, no attention has been paid to this, but only the Hittites and Greeks (and Slavs, but more on that later) have a myth about the Titan god who held the sky on his shoulders.

The Hittite king serves the Thunderer

We learned this from recently deciphered Hittite cuneiform tablets containing the Epic of Ullikummi.

Before talking about the content of this myth, it is necessary to briefly familiarize yourself with the pantheon of the Hittite gods. Some of them are already known to us; they came to the Hittites from the Sumerians - for example, the god of the sea and mind Ey, who warned Ut-Napishtim (Sumerian Noah) about the flood. Other gods are local, but they clearly have parallels with those known to us Greek gods. For example, the Hittite Kronos is called Kumarbi, the Hittite Zeus is Teshub, the Hittite Uranus is Anu. Let's pay attention to the Hittite god Telepinus - the dying and resurrecting agricultural god, who vaguely resembles Prometheus (since he also dies and is resurrected), and the Egyptian Osiris, and... the Slavic Koshchei - but more on that later.

God Eya as judge

Kumarbi, like Kronos, is overthrown from the throne by his son Teshuba. The overthrown Kumarbi decides to take revenge on his son, he tries to install the monster Ulli-kummi, the monster he generated, as king instead of Te-shuba. This is what the Epic of Ullikummi is about. The Hittite plot has direct parallels in Greek mythology. In Greek myths there is a myth about Kronos, who gave birth to the monster Typhon in order to teach Zeus a lesson, who had seized his father’s throne. By the way, the setting of the Greek myth - Lycia Minor - coincides with the setting of the Hittite myth. And even Mount Ullikumi is mentioned in one unpublished text among the mountains of Lycia.

So Kumarbi gave birth to the monster Ullikummi. This monster in the form of a stone mountain began to grow in the sea. Soon the mountain grew to such a size that it blocked out the sun. The monster did not heed the admonitions of the gods and was ready to destroy the world.

Then the wise god Eya intervened in the dispute. He went to the giant Ubelluri, who held the sky on his shoulders. We learn about this from the following Hittite text:

Eya addressed Ubelluri:

“Don’t you know, about Ubelluri?

Nobody brought you news?

Don't you know him, the fast growing god,

Which Kumarbi created against the gods?

And is Kumarbi truly plotting Teshubu's death?

And gives him a rival?

Because you are far from the dark Earth,

Don’t you know this fast-growing god?”

Ubelluri began to answer Eya:

"When Heaven and Earth were built on me,

I didn't know anything.

When did it happen that Heaven and Earth were separated

From each other with a cutter, I didn’t know that either.

Now something is pressing on my right shoulder,

But I don’t know who this god is!”

When Eya heard these words,

He turned Ubelluri with his right shoulder:

Here, on the right shoulder of Ubelluri,

The Stone stood like a sword!

Per. THEM. Dyakonova

The continuation of this text has not yet been found. But the monster was obviously defeated (for Zeus also defeated Typhon).

According to the Greek version of this myth, Typhon first defeated and imprisoned Zeus in the Corycian cave in Lycia, but Zeus was freed by Hermes and Epigan, after which he threw Mount Etna in Sicily over Typhon, from where Typhon now spews out flames. There is also a similar Slavic myth about Perun and the Skipper-beast (in this myth Perun is helped by Belei).

From the surviving pieces of the Hittite text, it can be judged that Eya used a cutter with which he divided heaven and earth. He cut off the Ullikummi stone from the giant Ubelluri, which led to the victory over the monster.

It is possible that this myth preserves memories of a volcanic eruption (Santorini?). This is evidenced by the growth of the mountain, and the darkening caused by the monster, and the rapprochement with the volcano Etna. Let us remember that the myth of the Argonauts also preserves memories of that eruption (the formation of the island of Thera). That is, the image of Atlas-Ubelluri is again associated with some geological phenomena. Maybe after that earthquake there were also volcanic eruptions? But note that here there is no identification of Atlas and Ullikummi-Santorini (if, of course, this is Santorini).

The titan Atlas-Ubelluri should be associated not with the island of Santorini, but with Mount Atlas (Idu), which is located near the Dardanelles Strait.

The image of Ubelluri is the most striking confirmation of the Het-Teco-Hattian-Atlantean origin of the image of Atlas. But let’s not forget another sign of the land of Atlanta - the Garden of the Hesperides, the Garden of Eden. This sign is less reliable, since most peoples have myths about the world tree, the tree of life, etc. But we cannot help but draw attention to the fact that in Hittite mythology the image of this tree occupied an extremely important, if not central, place .

Rituals associated with the veneration of the tree were an essential part of the religious practice of the Hittites. The Hittites, in front of the image of the dying and resurrecting god Telepinus, erected an evergreen tree eia (willow) - “a sheep’s fleece hangs from it, inside it is placed sheep fat, inside it is the grain of the god of the fields and wine, inside it is a bull and a sheep, inside it are placed long years life..." That is, the Hittites associated eternal life with this tree.

A certain mythological portrait of the land of the Hittites emerges before us. In this country, the giant Ubelluri is revered, who supports the sky. And in this same land a tree that gives immortality is revered... Isn’t it true that this portrait exactly coincides with the mythological portrait of the land of Atlanta?

This civilization is also suitable government structure, which Plato dreamed of. The level of culture of the Hittite state was not lower than the level of culture of Plato's Atlantis.

However, one should not confuse the late Hittites with the early ones - those who can be identified with the Atlanteans. In the later, developed mythology of the Hittites, we find inclusions of Western Asian cultures and beliefs (for example, the veneration of the god Hey), as well as the primacy of the gods of the Aryan pantheon - Teshuba-Zeus, etc. That is, the actual heritage of the Atlantean culture constitutes only a small part in the culture of the Hittites. The gods of the Atlanteans are the gods of the titanic past. But still, we note that in the mythology of the Hittites, Atlas-Ubelluri is not thought of as an opponent of Zeus-Te-shuba. In this land, Ubelluri was revered as their own, and not an enemy god. Among the Hittites, the main function of Ubelluri - maintaining the sky - was given to the titan not as a punishment, it was inherent in him from the very beginning. And even at the time when the cult of Teshuba, the Aryan god, prevailed, it was not felt as a cult opposed to the more ancient local non-Aryan cult - Ubelluri.

Now let's think about it. Isn’t it true, all this has long been familiar to us: the giant mountain, the god (Telepinus), whose life is hidden in a tree, in various objects... These are the images of Russian fairy tales and epics known to us from childhood: Svyatogor, Koschey the Immortal...

And this is not surprising. After all, the myths of the Hittites, the vocabulary of the Hittites have parallels with the majority European peoples. It has already been written about the commonality of the Hittites and some Germanic tribes, but until now little has been said about the parallels in the culture of the Hittites and the Slavs. Meanwhile, the Hittites themselves are revered as the ancestors of many Slavic families. This means that in order to reveal the secrets of Atlantis, we must turn to the legends of the ancient Slavic Russians,

The Hittite state is comparable in antiquity to the Egyptian civilization. A unique people came with Asia Minor, distinguished by their warlike character and unique culture.

Hittites: origin story

There is an assumption that these people migrated to the territory of modern Turkey and Syria in ancient times from the Balkan Peninsula. Although it is possible that they have always lived in this area, being the indigenous inhabitants of the region. At one time, the Hittite civilization was adjacent to the Babylonian and Egyptian.

Ancient sources such as the Bible also provide direct evidence of the existence of such a culture. There is information that thirteen centuries before the birth of Christ between the Hittites and Egyptian Kingdom there was a military conflict in the Middle East. At that time, the Egyptians were a formidable and terrifying force. But they never managed to defeat these people. Archaeological research proves a cultural connection with the Babylonians and other peoples who lived in this area.

The territory in which the Hittite kingdom was located was covered with mountain hills, so there was no talk of large-scale agriculture. They were left to engage in cattle breeding, in which they were very successful. These people had large reserves of metal at their disposal, thanks to which they had no shortage of weapons. In addition, this region was quite rich in timber, which gave it some advantage even over such powerful civilizations of that era as Babylon, Egypt and the Assyrian kingdom. Of course, it was quite difficult for the enemy who encroached on the lands of the Hittites to fight in the unusual mountain conditions for them. This also gave the Hittites a defensive advantage. Many neighboring peoples lived in the areas of the plains and river valleys where agriculture was developed.

Pharaohs who fought the Hittites

In the XIV–XIII centuries, the development of the state reached the peak of its prosperity and power. But at the same time, their interests intersected with Egypt in the Middle East region, which led to a military conflict. The prerequisite for this was the rapprochement of the troops of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I with the strategically important city of Kadesh for the Hittites. However, at that time it did not come to large-scale hostilities. His son, Ramses II became a pharaoh who actively fought with the Hittites.

After a long war with heavy losses, the Egyptians still achieved some success, pushing the Hittites out of the southern regions of Syria, successfully conquering some of their border cities. This conflict significantly exhausted the material and moral forces of the warring parties. As a result, peace was concluded between the pharaoh and the Hittite king. The Hittites lost some of their possessions in the Middle East, but gained control over a number of previously captured Egyptian territories.

Descendants of the Hittites

The story of the decline of the empire is quite interesting. It was a formidable force in the region, with a strong army and navy, convenient for defense geographical position. As mentioned above, the Hittite kings managed to repel Egypt. However, the Hittite kingdom and its capital fell due to the massive colonization of their lands by invaders from the Balkan region. Mountain landscape in this case it played not a positive, but a negative role.

The different provinces of the country did not have good communications with each other and as a result were unable to quickly interact with each other and respond to dangers. In addition, the state was already significantly exhausted by previous military campaigns. As a result, the once great power fell apart into small parts, which subsequently also lost their independence.

Many residents left their homeland and migrated to safer and more remote places. Over time, the last centers of Hittite civilization and culture completely ceased to exist, having been completely conquered by powerful states, Babylon and Assyria.

It is not known for certain where exactly the Hittites went. There is too little information about this. We cannot say with certainty that it is reliable. However, there are some interesting educated guesses. Of course, these people began to assimilate with those who captured them. For example, with the Assyrians, later the Arameans.

There is some information that imprints of the Hittite culture took place in Rome, Lydia, Phrygia and other places. There is even an assumption that they fled to the Caucasus. Someone finds traces of them among the Germanic tribes. In any case, this people, having lost their historical homeland, the stronghold of their culture, civilization and identity, settled in the surrounding territories, lost their clear identity.

Some disappeared into other peoples and cultures. Others may have lived in small communities and groups, but it is not possible to trace this. Once one of the greatest civilizations and cultures of antiquity has sunk into oblivion, simply disappeared.