 Following this, the Hittites entered a weak phase of obscure records, insignificant rulers, and reduced domains.This pattern of expansion under strong kings followed by contraction under weaker ones, was to be repeated over and over through the Hittite Kingdom's 500-year history, making events during the waning periods difficult to reconstruct.The political instability of these years of the Old Hittite Kingdom can be explained in part by the nature of the Hittite kingship at that time.