THE  HITTITES  75

4.  Hitdte  History.
(1)  First  Appearance, — ^The  earliest  reference  to  the  Hittites
which  we  have  in  any  written  record  occurs  in  a  Babylonian  chron-
icle, which  states  that  "against  Shamsu-ditana  the  men  of  the
country  Khattu  marched."*  Shamsu-ditana  was  the  last  king  of
the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon.  His  reign  terminated  in  1924  b.  c.
Khattu  land,  as  wiU  appear  further  on,  was  the  name  later  given
to  the  Hittite  settlement  in  Cappadocia.  One  would  naturally  sup-
pose that  the  name  would  have  the  same  significance  here,  but  of
this  we  cannot  be  certain.  The  tablet  on  which  this  chronicle  was
written  was  inscribed  in  the  Persian  or  late  Babylonian  period,  but
there  is  evidence  that  it  was  copied  from  an  earlier  original.  If  its
statement  is  true,  the  Hittites  had  made  their  appearance  in  history
and  were  prepared  to  mingle  in  that  melee  of  the  races  which
occurred  when  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon  was  overthrown.
Nothing  is  said  in  the  chronicle  as  to  the  location  of  the  land  of
Khattu,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Hittites  approached
Babylonia  from  the  northwest.  Their  seat  must  have  been  in  the
region  where  we  later  find  the  Hittites,  or  Mitanni.  At  what
period  the  Hittites  came  into  this  region  we  can  only  conjecture.
