Uncontacted contemporaries · 422 overlapping years

Hittite Empire Elamite Civilization

For 422 years — from 1,600 BCE to 1,178 BCE — both civilizations existed simultaneously. Neither this dataset nor the historical record shows any documented trade, war, or diplomatic contact between them.

2,700 BCE 539 BCE

Hittite Empire

1,600 BCE–1,178 BCE

Elamite Civilization

2,700 BCE–539 BCE

↑ Overlap begins, 1,600 BCE

Hittite Empire

Anatolia

An Anatolian empire that fought Egypt to a standstill at Kadesh and pioneered early iron production.

Elamite Civilization

Southwestern Iran

A persistent Near Eastern power whose political and cultural identity endured for over two millennia alongside Mesopotamia's empires.

Traits both developed independently

With no documented contact, any shared trait below represents independent development rather than transmission from one to the other.

Monumental architecture Bronze metallurgy Iron metallurgy Standing army Long-distance trade Urban planning

Hittite Empire only

Codified law

Elamite Civilization only

Irrigation agriculture