hittite
UK[ˈhɪtaɪt]US[ˈhɪtaɪt]
n
A member of an ancient people who established an empire in Anatolia and northern Syria from around 1700 to 1200 BC.
n
The extinct Indo-European language of the Hittites, the earliest attested Anatolian language, written in both a cuneiform script and a hieroglyphic script.
adj
Of or relating to the Hittites, their empire, or their language.
Etymology
The term 'Hittite' originates from the Biblical Hebrew "Ḥittīm," which referred to a people in Canaan. Modern archaeology in the 19th and early 20th centuries discovered the ruins and cuneiform archives of a major empire in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). Scholars linked these findings to the biblical references, adopting 'Hittite' as the name for this previously lost civilization and its language. The word's journey from a biblical ethnonym to a precise archaeological and linguistic label exemplifies how modern scholarship repurposed ancient terms to classify newly discovered historical entities.
Analysis
The word is a proper noun adopted from the Hebrew term "Ḥittīm," used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to certain groups in Canaan. It was later applied by modern scholars to the ancient Anatolian empire and its language. Its role is as a toponymic and ethnonymic label.
Examples
The Hittite empire was a major rival to ancient Egypt during the Late Bronze Age.
Scholars deciphered Hittite cuneiform tablets in the early 20th century.
A significant Hittite artifact was discovered at the archaeological site of Hattusa.