The Collapse of the Hittite Kingdom

Abstract

The collapse of the Hittite Kingdom can be dated to the second decade of the twelfth century BCE. The breakdown of the Hittite central system of control determined the fragmentation of the kingdom into smaller polities, and the complete disappearance of the Hittite language as well as of the cuneiform writing. The fall of Hatti might have been due to a series of factors, such as the endemic lack of labour forces, the institutional crisis, the loss of charisma of the royal house, and the pressure of newcomers along the coastal regions. We cannot exclude that the situation of the kingdom precipitated as result of the sudden death of the king, or the abandonment of the capital by the court.