n.
Any member of an Indo-European people whose empire (Old Kingdom 0441; 17001500 BC, New Kingdom 0441; 14001180 BC) was centred in Anatolia and northern Syria.
Old Kingdom records detail Hittite territorial expansion; New Kingdom documents contain accounts of the Battle of Kadesh , one of the greatest conflicts of the ancient world, which was fought against Egypt. Hittite kings had absolute power and were viewed as deputies of the gods, at death becoming gods themselves. Hittite society was feudal and agrarian; iron-working technology was developed. The kingdom fell abruptly, possibly because of large-scale migrations of Sea Peoples and Phrygians into parts of the empire.