Fall of the Hittite Empire

Around 1180 BCE, the Hittite capital of Hattusa is destroyed by fire and the empire that once rivaled Egypt simply ceases to exist. The causes likely combine internal civil wars, disrupted grain supplies, and attacks by the Sea Peoples and neighboring groups. Small Hittite successor states — the 'Neo-Hittite' kingdoms mentioned in the Hebrew Bible — survive in northern Syria for centuries. But the empire that signed history's first peace treaty is gone, and the balance of power in the ancient Near East is permanently altered.