The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who established a major Bronze Age empirecentered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia (modern Turkey). The Old Hittite Kingdom began around 1650 BC, and by the 14th–13th centuries BC (the New Kingdom or Empire period under kings like Suppiluliuma I and Muwatalli II), the Hittites rivaled Egypt and Assyria for dominance of the Near East. They are significant as the first well-attested Indo-European language speakers (their cuneiform tablets in Hittite are among the earliest Indo-European texts). The Hittite Empire is known for its sophisticated legal code, massive fortifications, and monuments (like the Lion Gate at Hattusa), and diplomatic dealings (they famously clashed with New Kingdom Egypt at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC and later forged a peace treaty with Pharaoh Ramesses II). The empire fell around 1200 BC during the Bronze Age Collapse, possibly due to internal strife and invasions by the “Sea Peoples.” In the aftermath, remnant “Neo-Hittite” city-states lingered in Syria and southeastern Anatolia for a few centuries but gradually faded or were absorbed by Assyrians.

Genetically, the Hittites, as an Anatolian people, would have been descended from the mix of populations present in Anatolia since the Neolithic. The ancient DNA from earlier Anatolian farmers (like Çatalhöyük) shows they were primarily derived from Anatolia’s Neolithic stock (itself an offshoot of the Fertile Crescent populations) with very little if any steppe ancestry. The Indo-European-speaking Hittites likely introduced some amount of steppe genetic material when their ancestors migrated into Anatolia (the timing of Indo-European arrival is debated, but possibly during the early Bronze Age). However, ancient DNA from Bronze Age Anatolia (published in recent studies) indicates that even by Hittite times, the amount of steppe ancestry in central Anatolians was modest – suggesting a cultural/language spread with limited gene flow, or a long integration that diluted the newcomer ancestry. Therefore, Hittites would have had a predominantly Middle Eastern genetic profile with a touch of Indo- European steppe. Modern Anatolian populations (e.g., Turks from central Turkey) are a complex mix due also to later Turkic migrations and others, but interestingly they still carry significant affinity to ancient Anatolians. Some villagers in Central Turkey today, aside from the later Turkic layer (which adds some Central Asian DNA), genetically overlap partially withCaucasus/Iran-related ancestry that could be a heritage from Hittite and other ancient Anatolian peoples. In summary, the Hittites, like other Anatolians, were basically native Anatolian in genetics with a slight northerly tilt from Indo-European influences – a composition that underlies much of the ancestry of people in that region even now, despite changes in language and identity.