ANATOLIA
Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, was fertile and heavily for-
ested. During the seventh and sixth millennia b.c.e. many
people settled on the banks of the Black Sea, then the Euxine
Sea (or lake). People fl ocked to the coasts from surrounding
areas, attracted by the rich soil. Around 5800 b.c.e. it appears
that the lake fl ooded. Th is forced the inhabitants to fl ee to
higher ground, either within Anatolia or in eastern Europe.
During the third millennium b.c.e. northern Anatolia
was inhabited by a people called the Hattians, who spoke a
non-Indo-European language. Th ey were displaced by the
Hittites, who appeared in Anatolia sometime around 2000 or
1900 b.c.e. Historians do not know where the Hittites came
from, but it appears that their ancestors may have lived in the
Ukraine during the previous two millennia. Th ey were not a
Semitic people, and they spoke an Indo-European language.
Th ey were excellent charioteers and skilled horsemen.
Th ey created a capital at the city Hattusa, named aft er the
earlier Hattian inhabitants. From there they spread through-
out western Anatolia and the Levant. Th e Hittites arrived
in Mesopotamia around 1600 b.c.e. Th eir arrival ended the
Old Babylonian regime of the Amorites. At the height of the
Hittite empire (1430–1180 b.c.e.) the Hittites encroached on
Egyptian territory in Canaan. Th e Hittites traded with peo-
ple throughout Mesopotamia. Th ey depended particularly on
Mesopotamian metal for their weapons and chariots and thus
needed to keep control of Sy ria, which gave t hem access to t he
Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Th e Hittite empire collapsed in
the 12th century b.c.e. amid the general chaos of the time. It
may have fallen victim to assaults by the Sea Peoples.
Th e ancestors of the Lycians moved into southwestern
Anatolia in prehistoric times. Th ey spoke an Indo-European
language called Lycian, which appears to have developed
from an earlier Anatolian language called Luwian. Th e Ly-
cians were allies of the Hittites and may have been related
to them. Th e Lydian people also were related to the Hittites;
Lydian was another Indo-European language of the Anato-
lian branch. Th ey inhabited western Anatolia in the area of
modern Izmir. Th e Phrygians are believed to have been part
of the Sea Peoples. Th ey moved into central Anatolia around
1200 b.c.e. and may have participated in the fi ghting that
toppled the Hittite capital Hattusa. Th ey inhabited this area
through the rest of the ancient period.
HURRIANS AND HYKSOS
Th e Hurrians were a group of people who migrated into
northern Mesopotamia from the Caucasus region around
2500 b.c.e. Th eir language was neither Semitic nor Indo-Eu-
ropean but may have been related to other languages of the
Caucasus. Th ey established several small nations in south-
eastern Turkey and Syria and migrated far to the south, east,
and west. During the second millennium b.c.e. there were
Hurrians throughout Turkey, Mesopotamia, and the Levant.
By about 1000 b.c.e., however, Hurrians had been assimilated
into other ethnic groups and ceased to exist as a people.
Th e people known as the Hyksos rode south through the
Levant and entered Egypt in the 17th^ century b.c.e. Th e tradi-
tional story has been that they invaded Egypt, but new inter-
pretations of the evidence suggest that the Hyksos may simply
have migrated to Egypt from Canaan without violence. His-
torians have long debated who the Hyksos were. Th ey drove
chariots and rode horses, like the Indo-European people from
the Caucasus and Central Asia. Th ey had Semitic names, like
the Canaanites and Hebrews. Some historians think they
were a mixture of Indo-Iranian peoples. Th ey may have been
Hurrians. Whoever they were, the ruled Egypt for about 100
years before being driven out. Many historians have tried to
equate the departure of the Hyksos from Egypt into Canaan
with the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt under Moses, but
there is no historical evidence for this.DESERT NOMADS
Th e deserts of modern-day Arabia and Jordan were home to a
number of nomads who moved freely throughout the Middle
East. Th ey oft en did not have permanent homes. Instead, they
regularly migrated from place to place along standard trade
routes. Th e Edomites were Semitic nomads who lived in the
Negev Desert in Jordan and southern Israel. Th ey certainly
existed during the eighth century b.c.e. and may have been
in the area as long as three centuries earlier than that. Th ey
supported themselves by running caravans to carry goods
between Arabia, the Levant, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
Th e Nabataeans lived in Jordan and Arabia. Th ey were
Semitic nomads who moved throughout the desert on trade
routes between the Euphrates and the Red Sea. Some histo-
rians have suggested that the ancestors of the Nabataeans
may have been in the desert during the time of the events
in the biblical book of Genesis, but the fi rst real documents
mentioning them date to the fourth century b.c.e. Th e people
called Arabs lived in Arabia and Sinai. Th e earliest mention
of Arabs dates to 853 b.c.e. Assyrian records describe Arab
queens who led tribes of caravan traders.PERSIA
Th e Elamites created one of the earliest civilizations in Per-
sia. Th ey moved into western Persia around 3200 b.c.e. Th eir
civilization was centered on the city Susa, which had been
built around 4000 b.c.e. by even earlier inhabitants. Th e
Elamites spoke a language that was not related to any of the
surrounding languages, including Sumerian and the Semitic
and Indo-European languages. Historians believe that the
Elamite language may have been related to the Dravidian lan-
guages spoken by the earliest inhabitants of southern India.
Th is could suggest that the Elamite people were descended
from the people of the Indus Valley and migrated to Persia
from what is now Pakistan, but there is no good evidence to
prove this hypothesis.
Th e Persians were an Indo-Iranian (Aryan) people who
migrated into Persia from central Asia during the second
millennium b.c.e. Th ese people split into two groups withmigration and population movements: The Middle East 701