<P> The Hittites ( / ˈhɪtaɪts / ) were an Ancient Anatolian people who established an empire centered on Hattusa in north - central Anatolia around 1600 BC . This empire reached its height during the mid-14th century BC under Suppiluliuma I , when it encompassed an area that included most of Anatolia as well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia . Between the 15th and 13th centuries BC the Hittite Empire came into conflict with the Egyptian Empire , Middle Assyrian Empire and the empire of the Mitanni for control of the Near East . The Assyrians eventually emerged as the dominant power and annexed much of the Hittite empire , while the remainder was sacked by Phrygian newcomers to the region . After c. 1180 BC , during the Bronze Age collapse , the Hittites splintered into several independent `` Neo-Hittite '' city - states , some of which survived until the 8th century BC before succumbing to the Neo-Assyrian Empire . </P>
who were the hittites and what did they do
an Ancient Anatolian people who established an empire centered on Hattusa in north - central Anatolia around 1600 BC