History of Kurdistan
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Hittite, member of an ancient Indo-European people who appeared in Anatoliaat the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE; by 1340 BCE they had become one of the dominant powers of the Middle East.
Probably originating from the area beyond the Black Sea, the Hittites first occupied central Anatolia, making their capital at Hattusa (modern Boğazköy). Early kings of the Hittite Old Kingdom, such as Hattusilis I (reigned c. 1650–c. 1620 BCE), consolidated and extended Hittite control over much of Anatolia and northern Syria. Hattusilis’ grandson Mursilis I raided down the Euphrates River to Babylon, putting an end (c. 1590 BCE) to the Amorite dynastythere. After the death of Mursilis, a dynastic power struggle ensued, with Telipinus finally gaining control about 1530 BCE. In the noted Edict of Telipinus, long upheld by succeeding generations, he attempted to end lawlessness and to regulate the royal succession.
