Eclectic Archeological Exchange

Saturday, March 21, 2015

1:00 to 4:30 p.m.

 Paul K. Davis

Sacramento Archeological Society, Inc. member

“Hittites”

From about four thousand years ago until about three thousand years ago,
peoples and nations called “Hittite” were a major force in the Middle East, based in what is now Turkey, extending into northern Syria, with
interactions from Iraq to Greece and Egypt.  When the first Hittite kingdom was founded, only the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Indus people had writing systems.  The Hittites were next to learn to write.  By the end of the last Hittite kingdom, the Chinese, Phoenicians, Greeks, Olmec and Maya could.  We only learned much of the Hittites in the last century and a half.  Thanks to archaeology our knowledge is still growing.  The Hittites made significant contributions to ancient civilizations, such as how to smelt iron and how to train horses, and their influence affected many later civilizations including our own.