Editing Hittites (section)

====Downfall and demise of the kingdom====
[[File:Treaty of Kadesh.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty|Egypto-Hittite Peace Treaty]] (c. 1258 BC) between [[Hattusili III]] and [[Ramesses II]], the earliest known surviving peace treaty, sometimes called the Treaty of Kadesh after the [[Battle of Kadesh]] ([[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]]).]]
[[File:Museum_of_Anatolian_Civilizations080.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Chimera (mythology)|Chimera]] with a human head and a lion's body; Late Hittite period in [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]], [[Ankara]] ]]
After this date, the power of both the Hittites and Egyptians began to decline yet again because of the power of the Assyrians.{{sfn|Gurney|1966|p=36}} The Assyrian king [[Shalmaneser I]] had seized the opportunity to vanquish [[Hurrians|Hurria]] and Mitanni, occupy their lands, and expand up to the head of the [[Euphrates]], while [[Muwatalli II|Muwatalli]] was preoccupied with the Egyptians. The Hittites had vainly tried to preserve the Mitanni Kingdom with military support.<ref name=Roux /> Assyria now posed just as great a threat to Hittite trade routes as Egypt ever had. Muwatalli's son, [[Urhi-Teshub]], took the throne and ruled as king for seven years as [[Mursili III]] before being ousted by his uncle, [[Hattusili III]] after a [[Hattusili's Civil War|brief civil war]]. In response to increasing Assyrian annexation of Hittite territory, he concluded a peace and alliance with Ramesses II (also fearful of Assyria), presenting his daughter's hand in marriage to the Pharaoh.{{sfn|Gurney|1966|p=36}} The [[Treaty of Kadesh]], one of the oldest completely surviving treaties in history, fixed their mutual boundaries in southern Canaan, and was signed in the 21st year of Rameses (c. 1258 BC). Terms of this treaty included the marriage of one of the Hittite princesses to Ramesses.{{sfn|Gurney|1966|p=36}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/ramses-hattusili-treaty.htm |title=The peace treaty between Ramses II and Hattusili III |work=Ancient Egypt: an introduction to the history and culture |date=December 2006 |access-date=27 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608080809/http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/ramses-hattusili-treaty.htm |archive-date=8 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hattusili's son, [[Tudhaliya IV]], was the last strong Hittite king able to keep the Assyrians out of the Hittite heartland to some degree at least, though he too lost much territory to them, and was heavily defeated by [[Tukulti-Ninurta I]] of Assyria in the [[Battle of Nihriya]]. He even temporarily annexed the island of [[Cyprus]], before that too fell to Assyria. The last king, [[Šuppiluliuma II]] also managed to win some victories, including a naval battle against [[Alashiya]] off the coast of Cyprus.<ref name="naval">Horst Nowacki, Wolfgang Lefèvre ''Creating Shapes in Civil and Naval Architecture: A Cross-Disciplinary Comparison'' Brill, 2009 {{ISBN|9004173455}}</ref> {{dubious span|text=But the Assyrians, under [[Ashur-resh-ishi I]] had by this time annexed much Hittite territory in Asia Minor and Syria, driving out and defeating the Babylonian king [[Nebuchadnezzar I]] in the process, who also had eyes on Hittite lands.|date=June 2023|reason=not sourced, and dubious because Ashur-resh-ishi I and Nebuchadnezzar I are not of the same period as Suppiluliuma II}}
Bryce sees the Great Kingdom's end as a gradual disintegration. Pointing to the death of Hattusili as a starting point. Tudhaliya would have to put down rebellions and plots against his rule. This was not abnormal. However the Hittite military were stretched thin, due to a lack of manpower and hits to the [[Hittites#Population|population]] of the Empire. Putting down revolts and civil wars with brute force was not something Hatti could do to the same extent anymore. Every soldier was also a worker away from the [[Hittites#Economy|economy]], such as food production. Thus, casualties from war became ever more costly and unsustainable.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor|year=2024|title= Hattusili: The Hittite Prince who stole an Empire|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1-3503-4182-1|pages=182–183}}</ref>

The [[Sea Peoples]] had already begun their push down the [[Mediterranean]] coastline, starting from the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], and continuing all the way to Canaan, founding the state of [[Philistia]]{{snd}}taking [[Cilicia]] and Cyprus away from the Hittites en route and cutting off their coveted trade routes. This left the Hittite homelands vulnerable to attack from all directions, and Hattusa was burnt to the ground sometime around 1180 BC following a combined onslaught from new waves of invaders: the Kaskians, [[Phrygians]] and [[Bryges]]. The Hittite Kingdom thus vanished from historical records, much of the territory being seized by Assyria.{{sfn|Gurney|1966|p=39}} Alongside these attacks, many internal issues also led to the end of the Hittite Kingdom. The end of the kingdom was part of the larger [[Bronze Age Collapse]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Western Civilization |last1=Spielvolgel |first1=Jackson |publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning |year=2011 |isbn=978-1111342142 |location=Boston, MA |page=30}}</ref> A study of tree rings of juniper trees growing in the region showed a change to drier conditions from the 13th century BC into the 12th century BC with drought for three consecutive years in 1198, 1197 and 1196 BC.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2023 |title=Drought may have doomed ancient Hittite empire, tree study reveals |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/08/ancient-hittite-empire-tree-study-drought |access-date=9 February 2023 |issn=}}</ref>