0:00:16 > 0:00:17WOMAN SCREAMS
0:00:22 > 0:00:26A mysterious new army has struck Babylon without warning.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Spreading terror throughout the city.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41With ruthless efficiency, these dark warriors of Hattusha
0:00:41 > 0:00:44would go on to destroy anything in their way.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Their mission -
0:00:49 > 0:00:52to become the greatest empire the world had ever seen.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Yet once they had succeeded,
0:00:57 > 0:01:03this ruthless army - and the vast empire they created - simply disappeared,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07as mysteriously as they had emerged.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14For 3,000 years, all trace of them was lost
0:01:14 > 0:01:19from all the history books, and even from myth and legend.
0:01:19 > 0:01:25Till one by one, fragments from this lost world began to emerge.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31These fragments opened up a world of mysteries and secret codes.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37A fortress city, built to last forever...
0:01:37 > 0:01:39An unstoppable war machine...
0:01:39 > 0:01:44And a mighty empire, even greater than that of Egypt.
0:01:44 > 0:01:51This is the story of how a civilisation built to last forever,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54could simply vanish from history.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17At the turn of the 20th century,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21explorers were setting off on one of archaeology's great quests -
0:02:21 > 0:02:26to test the truth of the ancient myths.
0:02:28 > 0:02:35The earliest historians had told of a world before the Bible was written,
0:02:35 > 0:02:42ruled by just three mighty empires - Egypt, Assyria and Babylon.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47The explorers now confirmed those accounts.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54These three great empires, all centred on the Middle East,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57had left behind fabulous cities and monuments.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05So the notion there could be a fourth great empire,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09of which there was no trace, seemed impossible.
0:03:11 > 0:03:18Yet fragments of a mysterious language, seemingly spoken across large areas of the ancient world,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20were beginning to emerge.
0:03:20 > 0:03:27And some even dared to believe this language, which no-one could understand,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31could be evidence of a fourth vast empire -
0:03:31 > 0:03:34one completely lost to history.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Hugo Winckler, a German professor,
0:03:44 > 0:03:49was one of those who believed there might be a fourth empire.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52But he lacked the proof.
0:03:52 > 0:03:59He could read several ancient languages, including Babylonian and Assyrian.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05But now he was scouring the world for examples of that lost language -
0:04:05 > 0:04:08a language no-one could understand.
0:04:08 > 0:04:14Because he believed it could lead him to the lost fourth empire.
0:04:14 > 0:04:20He asked his contacts to bring him any unusual writings that turned up.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Theodor Macridi was Curator at the Ottoman Museum in Istanbul.
0:04:28 > 0:04:29KNOCK ON DOOR
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Professor, take a look at this.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39It has ended up in my department at the museum.
0:04:40 > 0:04:47A tablet with cuneiform writing on it. Macridi, couldn't one of your people deal with it?
0:04:47 > 0:04:51That's just it. No. No-one can make any sense of it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54We hoped you could. What do you think?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It's fascinating.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07- Why?- Because I don't understand a word of it.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12Not a single word.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23This single tablet would be the vital clue that would lead him to his lost empire.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Right, where does it come from?
0:05:31 > 0:05:36There. Some ruins in Bogazkoy, central Anatolia.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Anatolia? But there's nothing important up there. Nothing.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Winckler and his team set off to investigate,
0:05:47 > 0:05:51and headed for the wilds of Anatolia in central Turkey.
0:05:54 > 0:06:01Following in the footsteps of earlier explorers, he went in search of this remote site,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04and the source of those strange writings.
0:06:07 > 0:06:14But the further he travelled, the more absurd it seemed that a missing empire could be so far away
0:06:14 > 0:06:17from the other named centres of the ancient world.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29And then, in the middle of nowhere,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31he saw something remarkable.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45A massive gateway adorned with lions.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55The shape and style of the carvings differed to anything he'd ever seen.
0:07:00 > 0:07:06The size of the gateway and the quality of the craftsmanship, breathtaking.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19Everywhere, the signs of a major civilisation.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37And it all led into a vast city.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Who built this place?
0:08:04 > 0:08:11As Winckler examined the ruins further, he could see the city stretched out for miles.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Here, in the mountains of Anatolia,
0:08:16 > 0:08:21nearly 1,000 miles from the three key capitals of the ancient world,
0:08:21 > 0:08:27were the remains of a vast city, forgotten by history.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35A civilisation about which he and the rest of the world knew nothing.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44The team set up camp.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49They were looking for anything to tell them who had built this extraordinary city,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and if it was connected to the missing fourth empire.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59They discovered clay tablets across the site.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08Each was covered in the same mysterious language Winckler had seen in the library.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17But in order to unlock the secrets of this lost civilisation,
0:09:17 > 0:09:22Winckler now needed to find one tablet in a language he could actually understand.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33For weeks, the team searched, but he just couldn't make sense of any of them.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36The tablets were indecipherable.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46And then, at last, something appeared that did make sense.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54A tablet written in a language he could understand.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Babylonian. The diplomatic language of the ancient world.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Macridi. Macridi!
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Something?
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Look, it's in Babylonian.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15"Re mah ce sa.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19"Shari ra bi."
0:10:19 > 0:10:24The treaty which Ramesses the great king,
0:10:24 > 0:10:30the King of Egypt... made with Hattusili,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35Great King, King of the Hatti,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39in order to establish a great peace
0:10:39 > 0:10:44and great brotherhood between them forever.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Only the kings of the three great empires -
0:10:50 > 0:10:55of Egypt, Assyria and Babylon - were referred to as "Great King".
0:10:55 > 0:11:00And yet here in this peace treaty was named a fourth Great King.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06Hattusili, King of the mysterious land of Hatti.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13Macridi, I think we've found our lost empire.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20The peace treaty, dated to 1259BC,
0:11:20 > 0:11:25was proof there had indeed been a missing fourth empire.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27And here...
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Yet Winckler was to die before he could solve the real mystery.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33..is the capital city.
0:11:33 > 0:11:40How did such a vast empire disappear so completely from history?
0:11:48 > 0:11:53It was a question that would take nearly 100 years to answer.
0:11:53 > 0:11:58Archaeologists would need to examine the city carefully,
0:11:58 > 0:12:03analyse in detail everything recovered,
0:12:03 > 0:12:09and then decipher two seemingly impenetrable codes -
0:12:09 > 0:12:11one of them in hieroglyphs.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17They called the city Hattusha.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21In the land of Hatti.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27They called its people the Hittites,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30even though they were completely different
0:12:30 > 0:12:33to the famous Hittites of the Bible.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48The Hittites of Hattusha had built their capital in the strangest of places.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56A place where no capital of an empire should ever be.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02For a great city, it is just so remote.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06It's totally cut off. You can't get in or out.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13All major cities of the time were crossroads to the rest of the world.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18Close to the trade routes or rivers or the sea.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21But not Hattusha.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Hattusha was 50 miles from a major river,
0:13:25 > 0:13:31locked in behind towering mountain ranges,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33it was hundreds of miles from the sea,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38and perched high up on the barren hills where the climate was harsh.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44The whole region is landlocked.
0:13:44 > 0:13:52It's cut off from the Black Sea, it's some 250 miles from the eastern Mediterranean.
0:13:52 > 0:13:58There's the other factor too, because of its height, the region's snowed in for a number of months of the year.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02So it's totally cut off.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07It seemed impossible to imagine
0:14:07 > 0:14:11how or why the Hittites built their capital city here.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27But archaeologists were to discover it was precisely these difficulties
0:14:27 > 0:14:30that made it the perfect site for Hittite ambitions.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Every detail of their city was deliberately planned.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39A permanent stronghold, able to withstand any attack.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46The Hittites began by exploiting the natural defences of the mountains.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52They built in the most extreme places.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Carved into sheer rock faces...
0:14:56 > 0:15:00And built across steep ravines.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05They hauled huge stones up hundreds of metres.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10They drilled holes into solid granite.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16And built thick walls along the edges of sheer cliffs.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Everywhere were feats of death-defying engineering,
0:15:23 > 0:15:28as they forged a city out of the granite mountains.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34One massive outer wall enclosed the entire city.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39It was more than four miles long,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42and crossed every obstacle.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50An unbreakable ring
0:15:50 > 0:15:53to protect the Hittites from the outside world.
0:16:03 > 0:16:10The Hittites then turned every part of Hattusha into an impregnable fortress.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15They were clearly obsessed with their own security.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20These walls were among the thickest in the ancient world,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24with unique features to strengthen them even further.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29We found these large walls around the whole city,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33which, at some places, reach a width of more than eight metres.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38The most surprising feature of the walls are these puzzling compartments
0:16:38 > 0:16:42which make the walls unique in the ancient world.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47These compartments gave the walls an incredible strength.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52The Hittites filled them with a special watertight mix of earth and sand.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55When it was pounded...
0:16:55 > 0:16:58it set hard, like concrete.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04And on top of these super-strong foundations,
0:17:04 > 0:17:10scientists calculated that Hittite builders added eight-metre-high mud brick walls.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16And images on pottery show that, at every 12 metres,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20they built watchtowers, 30 metres high,
0:17:20 > 0:17:27and turned gateways, normally the weak point of any defensive system, into deadly traps.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34Any enemy which did break through would be caught,
0:17:34 > 0:17:39powerless against Hittite defenders on the massive defensive towers looming above them.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49The unique features of the wall meant that the Hittites were able to build a fortification system
0:17:49 > 0:17:53which was unbreakable for any weapon of its time.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58But the city didn't stop there.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Cutting through the site was an inner wall even thicker than the first.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08And here they'd added another defensive innovation -
0:18:08 > 0:18:11secret tunnels. Eight of them.
0:18:14 > 0:18:20Anyone who did break through the outer ring faced an even greater danger -
0:18:20 > 0:18:22ambush.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27A surprise counter-attack by the Hittite army hidden in the tunnel.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35This was a city bristling with layer upon layer of defensive rings.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Hattusha was home to more than 50,000 people.
0:18:55 > 0:19:01The Hittites had deliberately chosen a remote mountainous location, well out of reach of their enemies.
0:19:02 > 0:19:09And then transformed this impossible site into an impregnable fortress.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25But the dry, barren mountains of Anatolia still presented the Hittites
0:19:25 > 0:19:30with what seemed an insurmountable problem.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33The lack of water.
0:19:33 > 0:19:40And so they devised an ingenious way to provide themselves with continuous, fresh water,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43even if they were under siege.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48At the heart of their system
0:19:48 > 0:19:54were the strangest looking objects ever found at the site.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Although, at first, it wasn't clear exactly what they were.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06Luckily, while digging the upper city we were able to find,
0:20:06 > 0:20:12um, a row of them, and it was understood that this narrowing of the cylinder
0:20:12 > 0:20:18was just used to stick them together to form a row, so then it became obvious, it's a pipe.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25The Hittites had discovered natural springs in the hills above Hattusha.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30Using the pressure of the water, they then ran it across the neighbouring hills
0:20:30 > 0:20:35and down into vast storage pools within the city walls.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40It became clear that the Hittites were rather clever
0:20:40 > 0:20:47in bringing water from the natural springs to the highest point of the city, to where they built the ponds.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50These seven ponds were huge.
0:20:50 > 0:20:56One alone held enough to meet the needs of 10,000 people for a year.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03They ran the fresh water down through miles of pipes into the city's buildings.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12It is a masterpiece of ancient engineering.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17Um, the Hittites were able to use the landscape very cleverly.
0:21:19 > 0:21:25The Hittites had imposed themselves on this strange remote place,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28and forced it to meet their needs.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41As archaeologists mapped out the city,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45it confirmed just how impressive this civilisation had once been.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54As soon as the Hittites had made their city impregnable,
0:21:54 > 0:21:59they decided to show the world just how powerful they were.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04They designed monuments to be the envy of the world
0:22:04 > 0:22:09and stand forever as evidence of their power and strength.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12One of the buildings had monumental doorways
0:22:12 > 0:22:17and 200 rooms surrounding a vast central courtyard.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Inside were a number of ritualistic objects.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29This was the great temple of Hattusha -
0:22:29 > 0:22:32the most holy place in the entire empire.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40At the highest point of the city, there was even a massive pyramid.
0:22:40 > 0:22:46250 metres wide, with 100 steps leading to the top.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50It was magnificent.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54The outer city wall ran across the top of it.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59In the centre, a gateway adorned with sphinxes,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02facing south, to Egypt.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06The first sight of the city for most visitors.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10A symbol of the power of the Hittite empire.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19But it was on a hill, right in the centre of the city,
0:23:19 > 0:23:24that the Hittites built the most important building of all -
0:23:24 > 0:23:27a castle for the king.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33This was the beating heart of the city.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Around the castle, yet another massive fortified wall
0:23:39 > 0:23:42to keep the king safe.
0:23:42 > 0:23:48From here, every corner of the city could be observed.
0:23:50 > 0:23:57A central passageway ran up through the castle, denying access to all but the most important.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07At the top, were the king's own private apartments,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10at the heart of the city and its massive defences.
0:24:12 > 0:24:20And laid out beneath, a wonder of the ancient world.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25This truly was a city built on a monumental scale.
0:24:25 > 0:24:32Every detail of its defences and survival had been ingeniously designed.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36The Hittites, it seemed, has planned for Hattusha to be here forever.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43But still there was nothing to explain how they'd emerged
0:24:43 > 0:24:47from their isolated city to build a great empire.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51And how they'd disappeared so completely from history.
0:24:51 > 0:24:58For this, archaeologists would need to continue searching for clues.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04They uncovered the sacred places of the kings.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06They found images of the Hittites themselves.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13And others that revealed their obsession with warfare.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16And with death.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22But strangely, throughout the city, they discovered few precious objects.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27None of the things normally found among the remains of an ancient capital.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33It was if Hattusha had been mysteriously stripped clean,
0:25:33 > 0:25:38leaving nothing behind to reveal the fate of the Hittite empire.
0:25:46 > 0:25:53But ancient Hattusha did have one wonderful treasure just waiting to be discovered by archaeologists.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02Not gold or jewels, but something far more precious.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Hidden away in a labyrinth of rooms are five enormous libraries.
0:26:18 > 0:26:24In them, beautifully filed and catalogued, were 30,000 tablets.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31It was one of the largest and oldest libraries ever discovered.
0:26:35 > 0:26:41Recorded here, the thoughts and deeds of this mysterious people.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47The inside story of a lost civilisation laid out in neat rows,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51just waiting to be read.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54There was only one problem.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59They were written in a language no-one could understand.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07Cracking this code was to absorb some of the greatest linguistic minds.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14The Hittite language was written in a series of triangular-shaped signs
0:27:14 > 0:27:18called cuneiform, one of the world's oldest writing systems.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Because it was used for writing several ancient Middle Eastern languages,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29the cuneiform signs themselves were known, and could be easily read.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33It was the Hittite language that was impossible to understand.
0:27:34 > 0:27:40It's like being able to read the sounds of Latin, because it's written in our familiar alphabet,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44without being able to understand the meaning of any of the words.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54The key to cracking an unknown language is to find a language that's similar.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59It's then possible, using shared words and grammar, to begin the decipherment.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04But Hittite baffled everyone.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It seemed to be a language all on its own.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11There was no other Middle Eastern language like it.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14But the code was finally cracked
0:28:14 > 0:28:20with the discovery of just one sentence among thousands.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25A Czech scholar came across the sentence that starts right here
0:28:25 > 0:28:28and ends at the end of the column.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33You can see it much better on a hand copy that we have right here.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36It's this sentence.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40HE READS THE DIALECT
0:28:44 > 0:28:50I have here the same sentence written out again, first in cuneiform,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53then in our own alphabet.
0:28:53 > 0:28:59He could see the sign for bread. Something common to many ancient languages.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01"NINDA-an".
0:29:01 > 0:29:06But then he saw something that stopped him dead. Something no-one could have expected -
0:29:06 > 0:29:09a word in English.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13So, here, one of the words...
0:29:13 > 0:29:15jumped out at him at first.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Er, "wa-a-tar."
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Well, that is, of course, very much like our own English "water".
0:29:22 > 0:29:29And in a similar way, "ez-za" reminded him very much of the old High German for "to eat".
0:29:29 > 0:29:32"Etzum", which sounds very much the same.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36So, in combination, he seemed to have a sentence here,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39a complete sentence that he might now be able to translate,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43so he might have written out the words, like I've done here,
0:29:43 > 0:29:49and the "nu" reminded him of Latin "nunc", for example, which means "now".
0:29:51 > 0:29:53The "NINDA-an"
0:29:53 > 0:29:56he recognised as "bread".
0:29:56 > 0:30:00"E-ez-za-at-te-ni" - we already saw was "to eat".
0:30:00 > 0:30:05"Wa-a-tar" could be the "water" word,
0:30:05 > 0:30:10and the "e-ku-ut-te-ni", at the very end,
0:30:10 > 0:30:15the "e-ku" part reminded him very much of Latin "aqua". Water.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19So that might be "to drink" if it is a verb,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23in common, used in combination with water.
0:30:23 > 0:30:28So, here he recognised a sentence that could be translated as,
0:30:28 > 0:30:33"Now you eat bread and you drink water."
0:30:33 > 0:30:38And with this, he had the first full Hittite sentence translated in 30,000 years.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44The breakthrough surprised everyone.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48It meant Hittite was not a Middle Eastern language, as everyone expected,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51but an Indo-European language, just like English.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57The Hittites were unlike all their rivals in the ancient world,
0:30:57 > 0:31:01because they were not from the Middle East, but from some part of Europe.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08The Hittites must have migrated to Turkey
0:31:08 > 0:31:14and then chosen the barren mountains of Anatolia to build their fortress city.
0:31:24 > 0:31:31Now, finally, the world of the Hittites was laid bare for all to read.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38Each word revealing more and more of this mysterious lost civilisation.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54And so, for the first time in 3,000 years,
0:31:54 > 0:31:59the fabulous story of the fourth great empire of the ancient world could be told.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07It was a story of how the Hittites carefully planned and executed a strategy
0:32:07 > 0:32:09to become a great superpower.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13And it all began with control.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19Theirs was a world obsessed by order and riddled with fear.
0:32:21 > 0:32:27From the tablets, it was clear that every aspect of Hittite life was tightly regulated.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35From working on state farms, to the payment of taxes.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38And even to people's sex lives.
0:32:39 > 0:32:45The texts revealed the population was tightly controlled by harsh penalties.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49"Execute the entire family of he who disobeys the King.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55"Cut off the nose and ears of the slave who starts a fire...
0:32:55 > 0:32:58"Kill the man who steals a bronze spear.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01"He shall be put to death.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04"Take away the land of the man who refuses to pay..."
0:33:10 > 0:33:18The commandments of the Hittites, it appears, were duty, discipline and sacrifice.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23And then, to ensure total obedience,
0:33:23 > 0:33:29oaths were sworn to the gods who could themselves inflict terrible punishment.
0:33:39 > 0:33:45The anger...of the gods would be inflicted on you when you broke an oath.
0:33:45 > 0:33:52And these oaths would also be very often, sort of, enforced, strengthened by rituals.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57But the most important oath was loyalty to the King.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01According to the texts, a ruling elite,
0:34:01 > 0:34:05the lords of Hattusha, executed his will.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09These close members of the King's own family
0:34:09 > 0:34:12were the real power in Hattusha.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17Bound together by a sacred bond of unity in the service of the King.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22The Storm God will destroy anyone who dishonours the King.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24All must stand united with the King.
0:34:24 > 0:34:30To break this bond of brotherhood was the most terrible act a Hittite could commit.
0:34:30 > 0:34:35The gods will always come back at you if you kill a family member,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and that was a real taboo in Hittite society.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44The brothers burned effigies of their enemies.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Rituals like this strengthened the sacred bond of brotherhood that held Hattusha together
0:34:50 > 0:34:53in this hostile environment.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59This bond was the rock upon which Hittite success was built.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08The texts revealed just how efficiently the Hittites imposed order on Hattusha.
0:35:08 > 0:35:14The libraries held detailed accounts of the administration,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18recorded the treaties and alliances with other kings
0:35:18 > 0:35:22and compiled a detailed history of the Hittites themselves.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Everything seemed designed for a greater purpose.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36A plan to impose Hittite power on the world.
0:35:39 > 0:35:46And at the heart of their strategy was the plan to build an unstoppable war machine.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51They began by developing
0:35:51 > 0:35:54a very effective military machine, and I think
0:35:54 > 0:35:58that's the core of Hittite success - very highly disciplined.
0:36:01 > 0:36:08Training manuals dictated how to turn raw recruits into ruthless warriors.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15Specialist training sergeants imposed punishing schedules and absolute obedience.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21And trained them in the deadly arts of war.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25Officers who don't obey immediately will be blinded.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29We expect soldiers to spy on their comrades.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31Missing targets will be punished.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34The king orders him killed.
0:36:34 > 0:36:41The best warriors specialised in chariot fighting, the most powerful weapon of the ancient world.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46The horses were force-fed a special diet
0:36:46 > 0:36:51and pushed to the limits of their endurance. The weakest were killed.
0:36:54 > 0:37:01It seemed the Hittites had one ambition - to create a military force that could win at any cost.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06They then unleashed their war machine on the world.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11According to the texts, for hundreds of years,
0:37:11 > 0:37:17the great cities and kingdoms of the ancient world surrendered, or were crushed by the Hittites.
0:37:17 > 0:37:24From the Arzawa and Uliwanda in the west, to Niya, Arahtu and Qatna in the south.
0:37:24 > 0:37:32The mighty kingdoms of Aleppo and Mitanni, and even the lands of the Kaska as far as Hatenzuwa.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36The Hittites showed no mercy.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42This text tells about a Hittite king who destroyed a city,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46and, at the end, after the city had been plundered and razed to the ground,
0:37:46 > 0:37:53sowed poisonous weeds, simply to make sure that it would never be resettled again.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57So we can see this as a very early form of biological warfare.
0:38:00 > 0:38:06In just one line, the texts record how the Hittites marched nearly 1,000 miles
0:38:06 > 0:38:08to the great city of Babylon,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11destroyed it and marched home.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17Some kingdoms fought back, and at times even won.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20But nothing could stop the relentless Hittites.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Their mission was to build the world's greatest empire.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30And now only one power stood in their way -
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Egypt.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43By 1279BC, Ramesses the Great,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48one of the most powerful leaders in Egyptian history, was pharaoh.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52And he knew the Hittites now threatened Egypt itself.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00His own empire stretched from the Nile to where Syria is today.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05All the ancient empires vied to control this strategically vital area.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10And at the heart of the region was the town of Kadesh.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Whoever controlled Kadesh might well claim to be
0:39:16 > 0:39:20the most powerful king in the whole near-eastern region.
0:39:20 > 0:39:27So that was the bone of contention between Egypt and the Hittites.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33War between the world's two great superpowers was inevitable.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38Its outcome would decide the fate of the whole of the Middle East.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40The stakes could not be higher.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48Ramesses commanded more resources and now added extra divisions,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51making his the largest army in Egyptian history.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00Prince Hattusili was the Hittite general with the largest Hittite army ever assembled -
0:40:00 > 0:40:02more than 47,000 men.
0:40:04 > 0:40:10And crucially, the Hittites had ruthlessly prepared for the inevitable clash.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15They now unveiled something that would give them that vital edge.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20A new super-weapon.
0:40:25 > 0:40:33Some time before the Battle of Kadesh, the Hittites introduced an innovation in chariot warfare.
0:40:33 > 0:40:39What they did was to transfer the wheel from the back of the car to the centre.
0:40:39 > 0:40:45And that was associated with a very significant change.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57This Hittite innovation revolutionised ancient warfare.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00Moving the wheels from the rear to the centre of the car
0:41:00 > 0:41:05made the chariot stronger, and so capable of carrying an extra man.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10And that gave the chariot greater weight and firepower.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16This changed the battle tactics, in that these three-man vehicles
0:41:16 > 0:41:22could be used rather more like a, say, a small modern tank, for charging into the enemy
0:41:22 > 0:41:28right at the beginning of a battle, so presumably creating as much mayhem as possible,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30getting deeper into enemy ranks.
0:41:38 > 0:41:44The Battle of Kadesh in 1274BC was the greatest battle the world had ever seen.
0:41:48 > 0:41:53Thousands of Hittite chariots smashed into the Egyptian lines.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12The Egyptians claimed victory.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17But we now know from the texts found in Hattusha,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21that in fact the Hittites had won the war.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30A peace treaty in the Hittite library shows that their commander, Prince Hattusili,
0:42:30 > 0:42:37actually conquered all the territory around Kadesh and drove the Egyptians hundreds of miles south.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42The new super-weapon, together with superior tactics,
0:42:42 > 0:42:44had won the day.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Kadesh was a great victory for the Hittites.
0:42:58 > 0:43:04Back in Hattusha, the king was finally one of the most powerful men in the world.
0:43:20 > 0:43:27His uncle, Prince Hattusilis, had defeated the armies of the pharaoh and returned home a hero.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37Remote Hattusha was now the capital city of a vast empire.
0:43:40 > 0:43:46Soon after, Ramesses agreed an everlasting peace.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51In it, the Hittite ruler was called "Great King",
0:43:51 > 0:43:55the title reserved for the head of a great superpower.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02The Hittite's mission was complete.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05A small band of brothers had appeared,
0:44:05 > 0:44:09and within just a few hundred years, had forged a mighty empire.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16The future belonged to them.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27And yet, within decades of the triumphant return from Kadesh of Prince Hattusili,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30this mighty empire vanished from history.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33And still no-one knew why.
0:44:37 > 0:44:44Every word in the five great libraries of Hattusha was carefully re-examined for answers.
0:44:44 > 0:44:50Somewhere here had to be the final dramatic chapter of the Hittites.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Surely, only the greatest of catastrophes
0:44:54 > 0:44:59could bring the fourth great empire of the ancient world crashing down.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03But they found nothing.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Not one word.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08The archives seem to run out,
0:45:08 > 0:45:13er, right before the end.
0:45:13 > 0:45:20There's nothing that sheds any light on the very last days of the empire.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25It was now clear the archive would never reveal
0:45:25 > 0:45:30what disaster had overwhelmed the Hittites 3,000 years ago.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34And erased all trace of them.
0:45:39 > 0:45:45And that's how things remained, until archaeologists uncovered something that had lain buried
0:45:45 > 0:45:50in the heart of Hattusha for more than 3,000 years.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55At first sight, it looked like the tomb of a king.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59But inside, there was no body.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05Instead, the walls were covered in strange symbols.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Hieroglyphs.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12A second impossible Hittite code.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19These symbols would one day help unravel the fate of this empire -
0:46:19 > 0:46:23a fate brought about not by mighty armies,
0:46:23 > 0:46:28but by an all-too-human tragedy of greed and revenge.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34TRANSLATED: We didn't know what it was at first,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38but later when we saw the hieroglyphs on the walls,
0:46:38 > 0:46:41we realised this must be an important place.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46But no-one there could read them.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51And they would take years to fully decipher.
0:46:54 > 0:47:00"Amu-u-vah-pah-la-va-sa..."
0:47:02 > 0:47:06There are only a handful of people who can read Hittite hieroglyphs,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10and two of them are married to each other.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Professor Dincol and his wife, Belkis,
0:47:13 > 0:47:17have devoted their lives to understanding these strange symbols.
0:47:17 > 0:47:23They knew from hieroglyphs already discovered around the empire,
0:47:23 > 0:47:27that this code was increasingly important to the last Hittite kings.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34And so now, together with colleagues around the world, they got to work.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Hieroglyphs are notoriously difficult to decipher.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46They start off simply enough.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51If you draw a figure pointing to himself,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54this means, "I am".
0:47:54 > 0:47:59But things become more complicated with the expression of abstract thoughts.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03Such a hieroglyph in English could be created like this.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10For example, an eye and a dear,
0:48:10 > 0:48:14this would mean "eye deer".
0:48:14 > 0:48:18Idea.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24The same sign can have more than one meaning.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28But, to make matters worse, some Hittite hieroglyphs had evolved
0:48:28 > 0:48:32until the picture signs no longer looked like anything recognisable.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41The experts needed something to help them unlock the code.
0:48:44 > 0:48:52That came with a number of intriguing finds, including hundreds of tiny lumps of clay.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56They were name seals, a kind of ancient business card
0:48:56 > 0:49:00with the name and rank of the owner inscribed into the clay.
0:49:02 > 0:49:07Around the edge, words were written in cuneiform, which could be understood.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09And in the centre,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12the same words, but in hieroglyphs.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20So now the code breakers could begin to match the two.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28One by one, the hieroglyphs were deciphered.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33The first hieroglyph from the cave was also the most exciting.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37It was a symbol of the last known king of the Hittites.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44Well, here are the signs of "Great King"
0:49:44 > 0:49:47and, here, "hero".
0:49:48 > 0:49:53The hieroglyphs told the story of his last great military campaign.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Surely, here also would be the name of the mighty foreign power
0:49:59 > 0:50:03that had finally brought about the downfall of the Hittites.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07But as the names of his enemies were deciphered,
0:50:07 > 0:50:09everyone was stunned.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13Because the enemy that was named was not foreign,
0:50:13 > 0:50:18but came from within the Hittite empire itself.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21That could only mean civil war.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29The hieroglyphs had revealed an unexpected story.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32In the last years of the Hittite empire,
0:50:32 > 0:50:37the great king was desperately suppressing a rebellion deep inside Hittite territory.
0:50:45 > 0:50:50Now, piece by piece, everything began to fall into place.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Prince Hattusili's return from the triumph at Kadesh
0:50:54 > 0:51:00had, in fact, sparked a bitter family feud with the king, his nephew.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04The king appears to become increasingly nervous
0:51:04 > 0:51:07about the great power which Hattusili wielded.
0:51:07 > 0:51:12Suspected his intentions, started stripping him of his powers
0:51:12 > 0:51:18and once that happened, Hattusili realised that his days were numbered unless he retaliated.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Hattusili acted quickly.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32He broke the most sacred oath of the Hittites - the oath of brotherhood.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40He arrested the king and sent him into exile.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49The loyalty at the heart of Hittite unity was shattered.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53Brother turned against brother,
0:51:53 > 0:51:59and for the next three generations, the civil war spiralled out of control.
0:52:01 > 0:52:07Until Hattusha, at the heart of the empire, lay dying.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18The civil war slowly drained the great city of Hattusha of life.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25The city was designed to withstand attack from any foreign invader,
0:52:25 > 0:52:28but not from within the brotherhood itself.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33The civil war brought about the collapse of the rigid order that had kept the kingdom together,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36and the empire began to fragment.
0:52:36 > 0:52:42Food no longer reached Hattusha, and the great capital began to starve.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47Now, one of the texts, a very famous text,
0:52:47 > 0:52:52is a letter written by a Hittite king to Vassal, king in Ugarit,
0:52:52 > 0:52:59er, urgently requesting that a large consignment of grain be sent to the Hittite homeland,
0:52:59 > 0:53:03and the letter finishes by saying, "It's a matter of life and death."
0:53:06 > 0:53:10Day by day, the poison of betrayal that Hattusili had unleashed
0:53:10 > 0:53:17was weakening Hattusha and draining Hittite authority around the empire.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22But what exactly happened in the last days of Hattusha
0:53:22 > 0:53:26to make the Hittites disappear so completely from history?
0:53:28 > 0:53:31None of the texts or hieroglyphs could help.
0:53:31 > 0:53:37Then, archaeologists uncovered one last clue in Hattusha
0:53:37 > 0:53:40that would help solve the mystery.
0:53:45 > 0:53:50As they dug deep into the foundations of the palace and other key buildings,
0:53:50 > 0:53:55they uncovered bricks that had been baked hard by fire.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00But only parts of the city seemed affected.
0:54:00 > 0:54:06We have fires here at the palace in Bogazkoy,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10but also in the temple area - temple one, and here...
0:54:10 > 0:54:14In the upper temple area, some of the temples burned.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18Here, this temple, temple seven, burned.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22Only the important buildings of state were burnt down.
0:54:22 > 0:54:27But there was something even stranger about the destruction of these buildings.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33It seems as if those parts of the city which were destroyed by fire,
0:54:33 > 0:54:40er, were...beforehand were cleaned or were emptied.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45The precious objects, which must once have been there -
0:54:45 > 0:54:51the gold, treasures and the most recent archives of the Hittites - had all disappeared.
0:54:51 > 0:54:58And nowhere was there any sign of an invading army, whether foreign or Hittite.
0:55:04 > 0:55:10There was one theory that could explain all the most recent archaeological evidence.
0:55:12 > 0:55:18The Hittites knew their city and empire were finished, and so they abandoned their city.
0:55:19 > 0:55:25It's even possible that, as they left, they set fire to their own great buildings -
0:55:25 > 0:55:30leaving nothing of value to their enemies.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39What does the Great King of Hattusha do in the last moments of desperation?
0:55:39 > 0:55:46I believe that what he did was to organise a systematic evacuation
0:55:46 > 0:55:52of the...above all, the acropolis and the royal buildings,
0:55:53 > 0:56:00so that he would take his most valuable possessions with him, including documents.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Together, the Hittite brothers were invincible.
0:56:09 > 0:56:15They had built a great city and created the fourth great empire of the ancient world.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18They looked set to rule forever.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26But with their code of unity broken, everything disintegrated.
0:56:26 > 0:56:32At the height of their power, fear and greed turned them against each other.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39The Hittites deserted their city.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43They left behind no monuments recording their incredible deeds,
0:56:43 > 0:56:51and the great libraries containing their story were burned, burying all the clay tablets.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01The Hittites then simply abandoned Hattusha.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06And disappeared without trace.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20The interesting question, I think, is where did they go?
0:57:20 > 0:57:25If they took their most valuable documents with them,
0:57:25 > 0:57:31this could mean that the last chapter of Hittite history lies hidden somewhere,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33just waiting to be dug up.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43The Hittites had deliberately built the city of Hattusha to last forever.
0:57:43 > 0:57:49But it was so remote that no other great civilisation ever settled up here again.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55There was no-one to pass on the myths and legends of the Hittites,
0:57:55 > 0:58:01and so their history died with the city.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06Over time, the stones of Hattusha were buried and its name forgotten.
0:58:06 > 0:58:11And so the amazing story of the Hittites disappeared
0:58:11 > 0:58:14for more than 3,000 years.