Forging an Empire

The Project

Forging an Empire: Hittite Imperial Administration from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates is a research project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and based at the Tel Aviv University (Israel). It focuses on the Hittite administration of the empire's periphery in current Syria from the second half of the 14^th century to the opening decades of the 12^th century BCE, when the Hittite Empire collapsed.

The project offers a new perspective on the administrative apparatus by researching the intra-regional network of the Empire's administrative nodes, essential for understanding the mechanisms of forging an Empire. The purpose is to study how Syrian cities and kingdoms constantly negotiated their geo-political status vis-à-vis the Empire.