HITIES
The first civilization established in Anatolia was the Hittites. Its capital is Hattusa (Boğazköy). The administration of the Hittites consisted of the king, tavanna and pankush (assembly). The king had many duties. The king was both the commander of the army, religious leader and judge. The most authorized person after the king was the tavanna. Tavanna was called the queen. State affairs were discussed in the panchus (parliament). The king had the authority to judge and punish. The Hittites had a yearbook called anal in which they wrote down the good and bad events of the year in order to account to God. They accepted the gods of each conquered place or country as their own gods and added them to their own gods. The reason for this was to prevent the people living there from resisting them, and they succeeded. The people did not show resistance against the Hittites who did not touch their own religion and cultural values. They believed that they were on the side of their gods when they died. Hittite king tombs have not been found. Bodies were burned. Their deaths remain a mystery. They fought the Battle of Kadesh with the Egyptians in 1296 BC (for the domination of Syria). The Kadesh Treaty, the first written treaty in history, was signed between the Hittites and Egyptians in 1280.
FRIGS
It is a civilization founded around the Sakarya River. Its most important ruler is King Midas. There are two legends about him. One is about his ears (the legend of King Midas with donkey ears) and the other is that everything he touched turned to gold. Their most important god was Cybele, the goddess of fertility and earth. Agriculture was of great importance. They worked their land with a plow, but they had to be very careful while doing this work because those who broke the plow and damaged the soil were severely punished. Carpets and rugs made by the Phrygians were very famous. These were called tapates. They were making safety pins called fibula. They made furniture and they did it without using any nails. In Phrygians, kings and nobles were buried in tombs called tumuli.
LIDIANS
It is a civilization established between the Menderes and Gediz rivers. The Lydians, who developed in trade, would take the goods they produced to Mesapotomia via the King’s Road and buy what they needed from there. Lydians invented money to facilitate this trade. The invention of money affected and changed many things. It made trade easier, exchanges more frequent, and economic life more orderly. The rich Lydians built their army with mercenaries. Their tombs consist of tombs called tumuli like the Phrygians.
IONS
It is a civilization coming from Greece and established on the Aegean coast. Due to its location, they interacted with different cultures. They were engaged in sea trade and their economy was quite good. The fact that their economy was good was effective in their progress in scientific studies. They developed the Phoenician alphabet. The free thinking environment made itself evident and many scientists were trained. Scientists such as Tales in mathematics, Hippocrates in medicine, Herodotus in history and Diogenes in philosophy were raised.
They thought their gods were in human form. They believed in polytheistic religion. Ionians built the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world.
URARTUANS
It is a civilization established in Eastern Anatolia. Urartus is a very advanced civilization in stone workmanship. They were located in mountainous regions. They built stone castles to protect themselves from enemies. They made their graves in the form of stone rooms. They also put the items they used daily in these rooms. The fifty-one kilometer long Shamran Canal, a wonder of world water engineering, was built to bring water to Van and is still in use today. They believed in polytheistic religion. Their most important god is Haldi. In addition to stonemasonry, they also developed themselves in jewelry making. This shows that the region is rich in minerals.
