Old Kingdom

From the founder of the Old Kingdom, the firmly historical Hattusilis I (Labarnas II), came an annalistic autobiography (excavated in 1957) and a “farewell address,” or political testament, in Hittite as well as Akkadian versions. Subsequent events, including the capture of Babylon by Hattusilis’ son, Mursilis I (c. 1590 bce),…

…customarily referred to as the Old Kingdom (c. 1650–c. 1500 bce) and the New Kingdom, or Empire (c. 1400–c. 1180). The less well-documented interlude of about a hundred years is sometimes referred to as the Middle Kingdom. Among the texts from Boğazköy, preserved or recopied by the imperial archivists, those…

…of the founders of the Old Hittite kingdom. One of his successors, Hantilis, is said to have fortified the city. The line of the Old Hittite city wall can be followed today: it surrounds the northern terraces and follows the edge of the eastern valley up to Büyükkale, which must…