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It is known today that from 1900 B.C. to about 1200 B.C. they were one of the great powers of the Middle East, rivaling Babylonia, Assyria and Egypt—and superior to all three in statesmanship, lawgiving and warfare. They ruled Asia Minor, into which they had come as Indo-European invaders, and forged a commonwealth of city-states out of the tribes and kingdoms they found there. Little of their art or literature remains, but on thousands of clay tablets and on rocks and stone-faced hills they left inscriptions—sculptures of their gods, their kings and their people, and writings in cuneiform and hieroglyphics. Unlike some of their neighbors, the Hittites were not cruel. They were, however, excellent strategists, tacticians and warriors. They were superb horsemen, inventors of the most formidable war machine of their time—the light, two-wheeled battle chariot. Under the relentless attack of the Hittite infantry and chariot-drawn legions, even the power of Egypt broke.
With all these glories the Hittites, when their empire at last declined, should have been remembered through the ages. Egypt was. So was Babylonia. But by a freak of history, the Hittites were forgotten for 30 centuries—from the end of their power around 1200 B.C. until their rediscovery in the last century.
The People that History Forgot
The earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca. 2000 BC and their usage peaked around 1300 BC (see Battle of Kadesh). Chariots ceased to have military importance in the 4th century BC. wiki
The Hittite army of this period was built round a strong and large chariot corps. This chariot corps was supported by many different types of foot units unlike the Egyptian army. Hittite Allies were formed round a core of Hittite units. It is believed that the chariots would carry three men. One driver with shield, a fighter and a runner. Quadesh the Hititites
Because of its great antiquity, Hittite and its close relative Luwian provided invaluable aid to the study of Indo-European linguistics. In particular, they were the only languages with evidence to support the laryngeal theory, which profoundly changed the understanding of Proto-Indo-European, the supposed mother tongue of all Indo-European languages.
Ancient Scripts