Samsu-Ditana, the last king of the First…

Mursili, reaching through Mesopotamia, even ransacks Babylon itself in 1595 BCE (although rather than incorporate Babylonia into Hittite domains, he seems to have instead turned it over to his Kassite allies, who are to rule it for the next four centuries).

This lengthy campaign, however, has strained the resources of Hatti, and has left the capital in a state of near-anarchy.

Mursili is assassinated by his brother-in-law, who succeeds him as king Hantili I, shortly after his return home, and the Hittite Empire is plunged into chaos.

Hittite king Mursili I is possibly the grandson of Hattusili.

While few details of his reign are known, he is credited with a campaign in northern Syria which involved the overthrow of the Amorite dynasty of the once-powerful kingdom of Yamhad (Aleppo) and the city’s destruction in about 1600 BCE and the sack of Babylon around 1595.

The latter act ends the rule of the descendants of Hammurabi in this city.

When Mursili returns to his kingdom, he is assassinated by his brother-in-law, who succeeds him as king Hantili I.

Mursili I, possibly a grandson of Hattusili, marches on Aleppo and conquers it in about 1600 BCE, then defeats Mitanni around 1595 BCE.

The Hittites under Hattusili had battled with the Syrians of Aleppo and the Hurrians of Mittani for control of Cilicia; his heir, Mursili I, conquers Aleppo and stalemates Mitanni, then launches a series of forays down the Euphrates Valley, plundering Babylon and leaving it to the further depredations of the Kassites and other groups.

The Dynasty of the Sealand, based in the far south, fills the power vacuum left when the Hitttites withdraw.

Mursili defeats the Hurrians on his return march from Babylon, bringing with him captives and possessions of Babylon to Hattusa.

Following the assassination of Mursili in 1590 BCE, the Hittite kingdom experiences several decades of internal strife, punctuated by political insurrection, royal assassinations, and palace intrigues.

The Hittites lose control of much of their previously acquired territory in Anatolia and Syria following the assassination of Mursili and the attendant problems of succession.

The Hittite conquest of Aleppo, the weak middle Assyrian kings, and the internal strife of the Hittites has created a power vacuum in upper Mesopotamia.

Labarna I is the earliest Hittite ruler for whom contemporary records have been found.

In addition to "King of Hattusas", he took the title "Man of Kushara", a reference to the prehistoric capital and home of the Hittites, before they had occupied Neša, which has remained the dynastic capital for about a century.

Labarna was not the first in line to the throne.

PU-Sarruma designated Labarna as his successor after his own sons revolted against him.

Upon PU-Sarruma's death, Labarna and Papahdilmah, one of PU-Sarruma's sons, contended for the throne, with Labarna emerging victorious.

A cuneiform tablet found in 1957 written in both the Hittite and the Akkadian language provides details of six years of his reign.

In it, he claims to have extended Hittite domain to the sea, and in the second year, to have subdued Alalakh and other cities in Syria.

In the third year, he campaigned against Arzawa in western Anatolia, then returned to Syria to spend the next three years retaking his former conquests from the Hurrians, who had occupied them in his absence.

What little is known about him is culled mainly from the Edict of Telipinu, which states that he overwhelmed his enemies and "made them borders of the sea", a statement which may refer to conquests as far as the Mediterranean coast in the south, and the Black Sea in the north.

He installed his sons as governors in several cities including Tuwanuwa, Hupisna, Landa, and Lusna (the identities of these cities are uncertain, but thought to perhaps be Tyana, Heraclea Cybistra, Laranda, and Lystra).

Through his conquests, he is responsible for laying the groundwork for the Hittite empire that is to come.

The Kassites dislodge the Amorites around 1570 BCE to become the new political masters of Babylonia.

The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, one of the oldest surviving astronomical documents, a copy of which will be found in the ruins of the eighth century BCE library of Ashurbanipal, is a twenty-one-year record of the appearances of Venus (which the early Babylonians called Nindaranna).

Hantili I has ruled the Hittites for thirty years, approximately 1590–1560 BCE.

Zidanta I succeeds him.

It takes some time before the Hittites establish themselves, as is clear from some of the texts.

For several centuries there have been separate Hittite groups, usually centered around various cities, but strong rulers with their center in Boğazköy succeed in bringing these together and conquering large parts of central Anatolia to establish the Hittite kingdom about 1700 BCE.

The Assyrian trading colonies in Anatolia come to an end, as the Hittites begin to take over Anatolia and Assyria loses its independence to a dynasty of Amorite descent.

The kingdom’s founder (according to tradition) is a leader named Labarnas, who is said to have established the seas as his boundaries and made his sons governors of seven major conquered territories.

Labarnas’ successor rules the Hitttites from about 1586 BCE as Hattusilis I, apparently establishing his capital in the fortress city of Hattusa (Bogazkale), the reoccupied site of the Assyrian merchant colony destroyed in 1720.

Under Hattusilis I, the Hittite kingdom begins to expand into northwest Syria.

His “Annals” tell of the king’s penetrations into that region and eastward across the Euphates River to Mesopotamia.

The Hittites’ legal code concedes that slaves are human beings, although of an inferior order.