The Forgotten Empire of Hittites: Bronze Age Superpower Rediscovered

For centuries, the Hittite Empire was a shadow behind scattered names and ruined monuments. Then excavations at Hattusa uncovered thousands of clay tablets. They revealed a Great Power that ruled central Anatolia, dominated northern Syria, challenged Egypt and built one of the ancient world's richest surviving diplomatic archives. The Forgotten Empire of the Hittites traces this civilisation from Assyrian merchant colonies and early kings to Suppiluliuma I, Mursili II, Hattusili III and Tudhaliya IV. It enters the temples and archives of Hattusa, examines queenship and the Tawananna, follows chariots to Kadesh, and explains the treaty and marriage diplomacy that linked Hatti with Egypt. Drawing on translated texts, archaeology, seals, ritual objects and historically documented images, this illustrated history also confronts the empire's collapse and the successor states that carried Hittite-Luwian traditions into the Iron Age. The final chapters follow excavation and decipherment, showing how clay and stone restored a forgotten superpower to history.