By studying juniper timbers, researchers from Cornell University & Cyprus Institute found that series of droughts may have precipitated Hittite empire’s collapse.
About Hittites –
- Hittites, were members of an ancient Indo-European people who appeared in Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey) at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE.
- The Hittite language was a member of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family.
- The Hittite economy was based on agriculture, with the main crops being emmer wheat and barley.
- Although their civilisation thrived during the Bronze Age, the Hittites were the forerunners of the Iron Age and were manufacturing iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BCE.
- The Hittites were famous for their skill in building and using chariots.
About the Hittite empire –
- Between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E. the Hittites established one of the great empires of the ancient Middle East.
- The Hittite empire, with its capital at Bogazköy (also called as Hattusas), was the chief power and cultural force in Western Asia from 1400 to 1200 BC.
- The head of the Hittite state was the king, but other officials exercised independent authority over various branches of the government.
- After c. 1180 BCE, the empire came to an end during the Bronze Age collapse and splintered into several independent “Neo-Hittite” city-states, some of which survived until the 8th century BCE.
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