Mursili I

Mursili I was a Hittite king who led a long-distance campaign that captured Babylon around 1595 BCE and helped end its First Dynasty.

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Sack of Babylon: The Hittite raid that captured and plundered Babylon around 1595 BCE. This campaign was Mursili I’s defining military achievement.
Hittite military: The armed forces used by the Hittite kingdom, including infantry, chariots, and siege methods. Its forces carried Mursili’s campaign from Anatolia to Babylon.
Hattusili I: An early Hittite king who expanded the kingdom and made Hattusa its capital. Mursili succeeded this ruler and continued Hittite expansion.
Kassite Dynasty: The dynasty that ruled Babylonia for centuries after the fall of Babylon’s First Dynasty. Kassite rule followed the disruption caused by Mursili’s attack.
First Babylonian Dynasty: The dynasty that ruled Babylon from the city’s rise to power until its capture by the Hittites. Mursili’s raid brought this dynasty to an abrupt end.
Hittite Empire: An ancient Anatolian state that became one of the major powers of the Late Bronze Age. The kingdom’s political and military capacity made the distant raid possible.
Hattusa: The ancient capital of the Hittite kingdom, located near modern Boğazkale in Turkey. This was the political center from which Mursili ruled.
Hittite royal succession: The transfer of kingship among members of the Hittite royal house, often shaped by court conflict. Mursili was murdered after returning from Babylon, triggering a succession struggle.
Hammurabi: The sixth king of Babylon’s First Dynasty, known for military expansion and a famous law collection. His dynasty’s rule ended decades after his reign with Mursili’s capture of Babylon.
Anatolia: The peninsula forming most of modern Turkey, home to the Hittite kingdom. Mursili’s forces set out from the Hittite heartland in Anatolia.