Secret of the Hittites - the discovery of an Ancient Empire
by Ceram, C.W.
pub. by Lafred A. Knopf, NY. 1966       LCCN 53-9457 - illustrated with black and white plates. p.v-xxi -- 281 pages plus index at back pages i - x.(Roman numerals)
The author writes under C.W. Ceram, a pseudonym for Kurt Wilhelm Marek. Due to an unfortunate bit of writing he did during WWII he chose to distance himself from that past.

This book covers the modern history of the discovery of the Hittite civilization and the eventual discovery that there was a Hittite Empire. There was some scant mention of them in the Bible, and some mention by the Egyptians, but little which would lead any modern person to the conclusion that they were an empire. Egyptians, Assyrians, Sumarians were known.
Just before 1900 (AD) some archeologists stumbled across ruins in Turkey which did not belong to any of the other major civilizations.
The parts on the decipherment of dead languages (pre computer) is very interesting.
This is a very readable and intersting book. I recommend it to anyone interested in early archeology or the advancment of knowledge of ancient civilizations.

Chapters -
    v. Preface
    ix.- xii. Contents
    xiii.- xiv. list of plates
    xvii.- xxi line drawings in the text
        I. The Enigma of their Existance
    2. Note on quotations
    3. Discovery and Wild Surmise
    22. Bible and new research
    46. Winckler digs in Boghazkoy
        II. the RIDDLE of the SCRIPTS
    71. On the Art of Deciphering
    87. Did the Hittites speak Hittite
    96. Nothing can be deciphered out of nothing
        III.The Secret of their power
    119. Kings of Hattusas
    132. Science of Historical Dating
    153. Battle of Kadesh (Hittite vs. Egypt)
    200. City and Land - people and customs
        IV. The Mystery of their Survival
    219. Finds on teh Black Mountain (Turkey)
    241. Astawandas Speaks
    253. The Future
    257. Chronological Table
    261. Bibliography
    281+. Index

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