A group of fearsome war like people known as the Hittites swept into the Middle East around 2000 BC. They came from what is now modern Turkey and Northern Syria. The Hittites used advanced weaponry that allowed them to easily defeat and conquer any enemies who stood in their way. Most of what we know about them today comes from ancient texts that have been recovered.
By 1650 B.C. the Hittites had established a number of city-states on a plateau known as Anatolia. From here, they were able to develop and advanced and sophisticated culture. The Hittite capital was Hattusa, a massive city that had tremendous walls. They were also the first people to sign a treaty with another civilization. In 1284 BC, the Hittite king Hattusili III signed a treaty with king Ramses II of Egypt. Each civilization agreed not to attack the other, and to defend the other if attacked by a third civilization.
An important contribution of the Hittites was that they discovered a way to smelt iron around 1500 BC that is, they found a way a way to take iron ore from the ground, and make it into useful tools and weapons. Seeing that this was a very valuable skill, the Hittites kept it a carefully guarded secret for a long time. They made iron tools and weapons and sold them to other people of West Asia, but since they would not tell other people how to make them, iron remained rare. The Hittites were also the first to use advanced chariots in warfare. The Hittite kingdom collapsed around 1200 BC and no one knows exactly why this happened.
