The Hittites and their Geography: Problems of Hittite Historical Geography

Abstract

The Hittite state was founded c. 1650 BC and developed thereafter. The Hittites were able to establish their rule in Anatolia's hostile landscape and overcome the difficulties it presented to create an empire-an objective that they achieved with the aid of their remarkable organizational skills. Despite the frequent occurrence of geographical names in the state archives, only a small number of them can be safely localized and, although Hittitology is a 100-year-old field, the regional names have only recently been determined. This article serves as a general introduction to the Hittites as well as a review of the problem of geographical names, revealing the complexity it presents.