Hittite officer

HITTITE OFFICER, around the time of the Battle of Kadesh (13th century BC). The Hittites were a civilization from BRONZE AGE Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), that spoke an Indo-European language of the extinct Anatolian branch. The Hittites created an empire that became one of the main superpowers of the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and rivalled pharaonic Egypt. In 1274 BC the Hittites, led by king Muwatalli II, clashed with the Egyptian army of the pharaoh Ramesses II “the Great” at the Battle of Kadesh, in the modern Lebanon-Syria border. Despite being a civilization from the Bronze Age, Hittites were one of the earliest civilizations to start using iron weapons, although iron was still rare at the time. The Hittite Empire, with its capital in Hattusa, was destroyed around the 12th century BC alongside neighbouring civilizations such as Canaan or Mycenaean Greece, in the context of the Late Bronze Age Collapse (of which Egypt was the only survivor). Traditionally, the destruction of the Late Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean has been attributed to the obscure multi-ethnic confederacy of pirates known as the Sea Peoples, but nowadays the Sea Peoples themselves are seen as wandering victims of that same collapse. The Hittite Empire was succeeded by multiple Post-Hittite or Neo-Hittite states under the control and cultural influence of the Assyrian Empire. As a result of the Assyrian influence, the Bronze Age Hittite fashion of being clean-shaven and wearing their long hair in a mullet gave way to the iconic Mesopotamian-style curled beards.

The reference for the scale armour used in this illustration is a modern replica of a New Kingdom Egyptian armour by Dimitrios Katsikis (Hellenic Armors), which I’ve slightly modified by alternating iron and bronze scales. This type of scale armour would have been worn by both Hittite and Egyptian charioteers and commanders at the time of the Battle of Kadesh. The shield is based on a replica by Szczytnik – Shields with History.