Editing Hittites (section)

===Old Kingdom===
[[File:Hattusa.rampart.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Hattusa]] ramp]]
The founding of the Hittite Kingdom is attributed to either Labarna I or [[Ḫattušili I|Hattusili I]] (the latter might also have had Labarna as a personal name),{{sfn|Forlanini|2010|p=119}} who conquered the area south and north of Hattusa. Hattusili I campaigned as far as the Semitic [[Amorite]] kingdom of [[Yamkhad]] in [[Syria]], where he attacked, but did not capture, its capital of [[Aleppo]]. Hattusili I did eventually capture Hattusa and was credited for the foundation of the Hittite Empire. <blockquote>"Hattusili was king, and his sons, brothers, in-laws, family members, and troops were all united. Wherever he went on campaign he controlled the enemy land with force. He destroyed the lands one after the other, took away their power, and made them the borders of the sea. When he came back from campaign, however, each of his sons went somewhere to a country, and in his hand the great cities prospered. But, when later the princes' servants became corrupt, they began to devour the properties, conspired constantly against their masters, and began to shed their blood." </blockquote>This excerpt from ''The Edict of Telepinu'', dating to the 16th century BC, is supposed to illustrate the unification, growth, and prosperity of the Hittites under his rule. It also illustrates the corruption of "the princes", believed to be his sons. The lack of sources leads to uncertainty of how the corruption was addressed. On Hattusili I's deathbed, he chose his grandson, [[Mursili I]] (or Murshilish I), as his heir.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/hittite/|title=The Hittites|last1=Mark|first1=Joshua|date=28 April 2011|access-date=9 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413083436/https://www.worldhistory.org/hittite/|archive-date=13 April 2021|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:The İnandık vase, a Hittite four-handled large terracota vase with scenes in relief depicting a sacred wedding ceremony, mid 17th century, found in İnandıktepe, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara (26167755270).jpg|thumb|upright|The İnandık vase, also known as a [[Hüseyindede vases|Hüseyindede vase]], a large, four-handled Hittite terracotta vase with scenes in relief depicting a sacred wedding ceremony, mid 17th century BC, İnandıktepe, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara]]

Mursili continued the conquests of Hattusili I. In 1595 BC ([[middle chronology]]) or 1587 BC (low middle chronology), Mursili I conducted a great raid down the Euphrates River, bypassing Assyria and sacking [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] and [[Babylon]], ejecting the [[Amorite dynasty|Amorite rulers]] of the [[Old Babylonian Empire]] in the process. Rather than incorporate [[Babylonia]] into Hittite domains, Mursili seems to have instead turned control of Babylonia over to his [[Kassites|Kassite]] allies, who were to [[Kassite dynasty|rule it]] for the next four centuries. Due to fear of revolts at home, he did not remain in Babylon for long. This lengthy campaign strained the resources of Hatti, and left the capital in a state of near-anarchy. Mursili was assassinated by his brother-in-law [[Hantili I]] during his journey back to Hattusa or shortly after his return home, and the Hittite Kingdom was plunged into chaos. Hantili took the throne. He was able to escape multiple murder attempts on himself, however, his family did not. His wife, [[Harapsili]] and her son were murdered. In addition, other members of the royal family were killed by [[Zidanta I]], who was then murdered by his own son, [[Ammuna]]. All of the internal unrest among the Hittite royal family led to a decline of power. The Hurrians, a people living in the mountainous region along the upper [[Tigris River|Tigris]] and [[Euphrates River|Euphrates]] rivers in modern south east Turkey, took advantage of the situation to seize Aleppo and the surrounding areas for themselves, as well as the coastal region of Adaniya, renaming it Kizzuwatna (later [[Cilicia]]). Throughout the remainder of the 16th century BC, the Hittite kings were held to their homelands by dynastic quarrels and warfare with the Hurrians. The Hurrians became the center of power in Anatolia.{{sfn|Roebuck|1966|p=93}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.periclespress.net/Hittites_resources.html|title=The Hittites – Resources of Ancient Anatolia|date=May 2017|website=Pericles Press|access-date=5 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306132041/http://www.periclespress.net/Hittites_resources.html|archive-date=6 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The campaigns into [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]] and southern Mesopotamia may be responsible for the reintroduction of cuneiform writing into Anatolia, since the Hittite script is quite different from that of the preceding Assyrian colonial period.

The Hittites entered a weak phase of obscure records, insignificant rulers, and reduced domains. This pattern of expansion under strong kings followed by contraction under weaker ones, was to be repeated over and over through the Hittite Kingdom's 500-year history, making events during the waning periods difficult to reconstruct. The political instability of these years of the Old Hittite Kingdom can be explained in part by the nature of the Hittite kingship at that time. During the Old Hittite Kingdom prior to 1400 BC, the king of the Hittites was not viewed by his subjects as a "living god" like the [[pharaoh]]s of Egypt, but rather as a first among equals.{{sfn|Roebuck|1966|p=94}} Only in the later period from 1400 BC until 1200 BC did the Hittite kingship become more centralized and powerful. Also in earlier years the succession was not legally fixed, enabling [[Wars of the Roses|"War of the Roses"]]-style rivalries between northern and southern branches.

The next monarch of note following Mursili I was [[Telepinu]] ({{Circa|1500 BC}}), who won a few victories to the southwest, apparently by allying himself with one Hurrian state (Kizzuwatna) against another. Telepinu also attempted to secure the lines of succession.{{sfn|Forlanini|2010|pp=115–116}}