The Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty was concluded between Ramesses II

Ramesses II

Ramesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...

 and Hattušiliš III during year 21 of Ramesses rule; which according to most Egyptologists

Egyptology

Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...

 should be dated at around 1259 BCE. This is the date that marks the official end of the negotiations and commemorates the instance of Ramesses II accepting a silver tablet, with the treaty terms inscribed, from the Hittite

Hittites

The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...

 diplomats. Although known in instances as the Qadesh Treaty the actual battle of Qadesh (fought in Ramesses fifth year of rule) did not prove the catalyst for the attempt at peace. In fact “an atmosphere of enmity between Hatti and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 lasted many years” until the eventual treaty of alliance was signed.

Located at pharaoh Ramesses II’s mortuary temple

Mortuary temple

Mortuary temples were temples constructed adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in the Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the pharaoh by whom they were built, as well as for use by the pharaoh's cult after death.-History:Mortuary temples were built...

 in Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

 (commonly known as the Ramesseum

Ramesseum

The Ramesseum is the memorial temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II . It is located in the Theban necropolis in Upper Egypt, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor...

) is the Egyptian translation of a peace treaty

Peace treaty

A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...

 commenced between the pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

 of Egypt and King Hattušiliš III of Hatti. Translation of the texts has revealed that this engraving had originally been translated from the silver tablet given to Ramesses II but has since been lost to contemporary historians. Included in the text of the Egyptian version of the treaty the scribes included descriptions of the figures and seals that were on the tablet that the Hittites delivered. Besides the hieroglyphic version which appears on a wall of the Ramesseum, a Hittite version of the treaty still exists. A complete version of the Hittite text is currently housed within Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

’s Ancient Orient section of its Archaeological Museums.

Pre-Ramesses II relationship with the Hittites

Hittite-Egyptian relations officially began once the Hatti took over Mitanni

Mitanni

Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...

’s role as the ruling power in central Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and from there tensions would continue to be high until the conclusion of the treaty nearly one hundred years later. During the invasion and eventual defeat of Mitanni, the Hittite armies poured into Syria and began to exert their rule over the Egyptian vassals of Qadesh

Kadesh

This article is about Kadesh in the lands of the Amurru, bordering on Damascus Syria up to Hammath; see also Kadesh or Kedesh Kadesh was an ancient city of the Levant, located on or near the headwaters or ford of the Orontes River...

 and Amurru

Amurru kingdom

Amurru was an Amorite kingdom located at the territory of modern Lebanon during the 14th–12th centuries BCThe first documented leader of Amurru was Abdi-Ashirta, under whose leadership Amurru was part of the Egyptian empire...

. The loss of these lands in northern Syria would never be forgotten by the Egyptian pharaohs and their later actions demonstrated that they never would fully concede this loss at the hands of the Hittite empire. Egypt’s attempts to regain the territory lost during the rule of Akhenaten

Akhenaten

Akhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...

 continued to be futile until under the leadership of Seti I

Seti I

Menmaatre Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt , the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II...

, father to Ramesses II, did significant gains start to be made. In his own Qadesh-Amurru campaign against the Hittite armies Seti I vanquished his foes at a battle near Qadesh, these gains proved short-lived since Qadesh was eventually given up by Seti in a later treaty. This short gain by the Egyptians was the “opening salvo” of a conflict between the two nations which would drag on over the next two decades.

Battle of Qadesh

The accounts of this battle mainly are derived from Egyptian literary accounts known as the Bulletin (also known as the Record) and the Poem as well as pictorial reliefs on the Ramesseum. Unfortunately for scholars and individuals interested in the Battle of Qadesh the details that these sources provide are heavily biased interpretation of the events. Since Ramesses II had complete control over the building projects these resources were used for propagandistic

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 purposes by the pharaoh who used them to brag about his victory at Qadesh. Despite this uncertainty it is known that Ramesses marched through Syria with four divisions of troops in the hopes of destroying the Hittite presence there and restoring Egypt to the “preeminent position it had enjoyed under Tuthmosis III”. The Hittite king, Muwatallis, gathered together an army of his allies to prevent the invasion of his territory. At the site of Qadesh Ramesses foolishly outdistanced the remainder of his forces and after hearing unreliable intelligence regarding the Hittite position from a pair of captured prisoners the pharaoh pitched camp across from the town. The Hittite armies, hidden behind the town, launched a surprise attack against the Amun

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...

 division and quickly sent the division scattering. Although Ramesses tried to rally his troops against the onslaught of the Hittite chariots it wasn’t until the arrival of relief forces from Amurru that the Hittite attack was thrown back. Although the Egyptians were able to survive a terrible predicament in Qadesh it was not the splendid victory that Ramesses sought to portray but rather a stalemate in which both sides sustained heavily losses. After an unsuccessful attempt to gain further ground the following day, Ramesses headed back south to Egypt bragging about his individual achievements during Qadesh. Even though Ramesses technically won the battle, he ultimately lost the war when Muwatallis and his army retake Amurru and extend the buffer zone

Buffer zone

A buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....

 with Egypt further southward.

Ramesses Subsequent campaigns into Syria

Despite suffering the later losses during his year five invasion of Syria Ramesses II launched another campaign in his eighth year of rule which proved largely successful. Instead of launching an attack against the heavily fortified position of Qadesh or going through Amurru, Ramesses conquered the city of Dapur in the hope of using the city as a bridgehead

Bridgehead

A bridgehead is a High Middle Ages military term, which antedating the invention of cannons was in the original meaning expressly a referent term to the military fortification that protects the end of a bridge...

 for future campaigns. After the successful capture Dapur the army returned to Egypt and consequently the recently acquired territory reverted back to Hittite control. In the year ten of his rule Ramesses II launched another attack on the Hittite holdings in central Syria and yet again all areas of conquest eventually returned to Hittite hands. It is this campaign that led the pharaoh to recognize the impossible task of holding Syria in such a fashion and therefore from year 11 to 17 his northern campaigns ceased to be. This period is notable in the relationship between the Hittites and the Egyptians because despite the hostilities between the two nations and military conquests in Syria, Qadesh had been the last direct, official military confrontation fought among the Hittites and Egyptians. In some regards, as historians have noted, this period can be considered ‘cold war

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

’ between Hatti and Egypt.

Content

The peace treaty of Ramesses II and Hattušiliš III is known as one of the most important official ‘international’ peace treaties between two great powers from the ancient Near East

Near East

The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...

 because its exact wording is known to us. Divided into points the treaty flows between the Egyptians and Hittites as each side makes pledges of brotherhood and peace to the other in terms of the objectives. The treaty can be seen as a promise of peace and alliance since both powers make the mutual guarantee that neither would invade the other’s land. This provision ensures that both participants would act in harmony regarding the disputed Syrian holdings and in effect establishes boundaries for the two conflicting claims. No longer, according to the treaty, would costly Syrian campaigns be waged between the two Near Eastern powers as a formal renunciation of further hostilities is made.

A second clause promotes alliance by making reassurances of aid, most likely military support, if either party is attacked by a third party or be internal forces of rebellion

Rebellion

Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...

, insurgency

Insurgency

An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...

. The other stipulations coincide with Hattušiliš’ aims (consult Hittite aims section) in that the Hittite ruler placed great emphasis on establishing legitimacy for his rule: each country swore to the other to extradite political fugitives back to their home country and within the Hittite version of the treaty Ramesses II agreed to provide support to Hattušiliš’ successors in order to hold the Hittite throne against dissent

Dissent

Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity...

ers. After the conclusion of the provision detailing the extradition of emigrants to their land of origin, the two rulers call upon the respective gods of Hatti and Egypt to bear witness to their agreement. The inclusion of the gods is a common feature in major pieces of international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

 since only a direct appeal to the gods could provide the proper means to guarantee adherence to the treaty. Gods do not merely witness the signing of the treaty but their ability to assure observance of the treaty is enforced by their noted ability to bestow curse

Curse

A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...

s on the violator of the treaty or blessings on the observer of the treaty.

Analysis-theories about the treaty

Previous and contemporary Egyptologists have argued over the correct labeling of the treaty: some have interpreted it as a treaty of peace while others have seen it as a treaty alliance between two hostile states. James Breasted in 1906 was one of the first people to collect the historical documents of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 in an anthology and understood the treaty to be “not only a treaty of alliance, but also a treaty of peace, and the war [Ramesses’ Syrian campaigns] evidently continued until the negotiations for the treaty began”. For Breasted the intermediate periods of conflict were directly resolved by the signing of the treaty and therefore required the treaty to be one of both alliance and peace. However later Egyptologists and other scholars began, even within twenty years of Breasted’s publishing, to question whether or not the treaty between Ramesses II and Hattušiliš III to be one of peace at all. Alan Gardiner

Alan Gardiner

Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner was one of the premier British Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century...

 and his partner S. Langdon examined previous interpretations and determined that their predecessors had misinterpreted the line “to beg peace” in the text. This oversight in the language caused Egyptologists to incorrectly see the treaty terminating a war instead of seeking a beneficial alliance between Hatti and Egypt. Trevor Bryce further argues that within the Late Bronze Age treaties were established “for reasons of expediency and self-interest…their concern was much more with establishing strategic alliances than with peace for its own sake”. The consensus that is starting to emerge is that although the treaty mentions establishing “brotherhood and peace forever” it is not about peace but rather about forming a mutually beneficial alliance between the two powers.

Another matter that has caused scholars to speculate is which of the two countries pursued negotiation

Negotiation

Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, to craft outcomes to satisfy...

s first. As previously mentioned Ramesses II had lost portions of his Syrian territory when he retreated back to Egypt at the conclusion of the Battle of Qadesh. In this sense Hattušiliš would have had the upper hand in the negotiations considering Ramesses’ desires to emulate the militaristic successes of Tuthmosis III. Up until the 1920s, Egyptologists had mistaken the insecurity of Egypt’s Syrian holdings to mean that Ramesses had come to Hattušiliš begging for a solution to the Syria problem. Donald Magnetti brings up the point that the pharaoh’s duty to bring mortal activity in line with the divine order through the maintenance of maat

Maat

Maat is a naval rank of the German navy equivalent to the army rank of Unteroffizier. A Maat is considered the equivalent of a junior Petty Officer in the navies of many other nations....

 would have been reason enough for Ramesses II to pursue peace. However this interpretation is incorrect since the questions about Hattušiliš’ legitimacy as monarch

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 would demand recognition by his fellow royals in the Near East. The weak position abroad and at home that defined Hattušiliš’ reign suggests that it was the Hatti leader who sued for peace. In fact Trevor Bryce interprets the opening lines of the treaty “Ramesses, Beloved of Amon, Great King, King of Egypt, hero, concluded on a tablet of silver with Hattušiliš, Great King, King of Hatti, his brother” to enforce that the incentives of the Hatti ruler had far greater implications which compelled him to sue for peace.

Egyptian aim

Considering his relatively stronger position over Hattušiliš, what would Ramesses hope to achieve by accepting an alliance

Alliance

An alliance is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests.See also military alliance and business alliance.-International relations:...

 with his hated Hittite enemies. After fifteen years of futile attempts at regaining his lost territory in Syria, scholars argue that Ramesses now realized that his opportunities to match the military achievements of Tuthmosis III were unrealizable. In that light, it became increasingly important for Ramesses to obtain an international victory through diplomacy

Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...

 to bolster his deeds as pharaoh. The attempts at regaining the lands that the Hittites had taken had ultimately failed to break the hold that the Hittites had over the region. Instead Ramesses would take his losses so long as the Hittites would recognize the current division of Syria, give Egypt access to ports in the Hittite territory to boost commerce, and grant trading access as far north as Ugarit. Therefore the advancement Egypt’s financial and security interests controlled Ramesses’ willingness to pursue friendlier relations with the Hittites. Maintaining the status quo in the region became a priority for Ramesses considering the emergence of the Assyrian military power. Assyria as a military force was not to be reckoned with and thereby made it desirable to ensure that Assyria would not have a presence in Syria. If the Assyrians were allowed to enter Syria they would be an arm’s length away from Egypt herself and pose a threat to Egypt proper. By accepting the Hittite overture of alliance the newly made allies would help safeguard their mutual holdings in Syria against this upstart power.

Besides the added incentive of no longer stressing the finances with expensive war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

s with Hatti and increasing the security of Egypt’s claims in Syria, signing the treaty with Hatti also provided Ramesses the opportunity to brag about his “defeat” of the Hittites. Since Hattušiliš had been the one to approach Ramesses, the pharaoh in his depictions at the Ramesseum represents the settlement as one that the Hittite had asked for in a position of submission. Considering the official language of the treaties at the time was completely independent of one another Ramesses was able to present the terms of the treaty

Treaty

A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

 from his perspective. This free control over the depictions of his role by the language of the treaty gave the pharaoh opportunity to present a greatly idealized point of view. His ability to assert a sense of supremacy as ruler of Egypt and his attempts to portray this strategic alliance as a victory over the Hittites demonstrate why Ramesses’ would be so willing to choose such a mutually beneficial peace. The conclusion of open hostilities between the two regional powers was a personal triumph for the aging pharaoh and as his monument at Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel temples refers to two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 230 km southwest of Aswan...

 shows the pharaoh made his subjects well aware of the fact that he, Ramesses, was the conqueror of the Hittites.

Hittite aim

In opposition to Ramesses’ strength in international affairs, Hattušiliš III was disadvantaged by questions of legitimacy that were raised doubts about his position as king of the Hittites. Although Hattušiliš had successfully defeated his nephew, Urhi-Tesub, for the throne in all regards he continued to be seen as a usurper

Usurper

Usurper is a derogatory term used to describe either an illegitimate or controversial claimant to the power; often, but not always in a monarchy, or a person who succeeds in establishing himself as a monarch without inheriting the throne, or any other person exercising authority unconstitutionally...

 of the kingship. Urhi-Tesub’s determination to regain the throne from his uncle caused the Hittite empire to enter into a period of instability both at home and abroad. The nephew had been banished after an unsuccessful coupe and had ended up in Egypt. Ramesses II thereby posed a direct threat to Hattušiliš’ reign by harboring Urhi-Tesub within Egypt’s borders. Hattušiliš realized that only an alliance with Ramesses could prevent the monarch from unleashing his nephew back into contention with him for the throne. By completing a treaty with Egypt, Hattušiliš also hoped that garnering the endorsement as the true king of Hatti by Ramesses would effectively reconcile the disaffected elements in his kingdom that backed Urhi-Tesub as the rightful possessor of the kingship. In the Near Eastern world Ramesses wielded great power amongst the rulers of the day and formal recognition from him would give Hattušiliš credibility

Credibility

Credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message.Traditionally, modern, credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective...

 on the international scene as well.

The threat of his nephew staging another coup against him greatly worried Hattušiliš during a time when he faced a considerable threat from the Assyrians in the east. During the reign of his predecessor the Assyrian king had taken Hanigalbat which had been a vassal territory under Hittite control. This aggression strained the relationship between the two countries however more importantly the Assyria

Assyria

Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...

ns appeared to put themselves in the position to launch further attacks across the Euphrates River. The recognized threat of Assyrian invasion

Invasion

An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...

 proved a strong motivator for the Hittites to open up negotiations with Egypt. It was this certainty about the ‘Assyrian danger’ that pushed the Hatti into a relationship with Egypt. Under the terms of the treaty the Egyptians would be obligated to join with their Hatti allies if Assyria invaded Hittite territory. Besides this threat to the east, Hattušiliš recognized the need to strengthen his relationship with his Egyptian neighbors. The competition that had existed between Hatti and Egypt over the Syrian lands was no longer an interest to Hattušiliš. In fact Trevor Bryce argues that Hattušiliš was satisfied with his current holdings in Syria, any further expansion of Hittite territory southward was both unjustifiable and undesirable.

Aftermath

After reaching the desired alliance with the Hatti, Ramesses was now able to turn his energies to domestic building

Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

 projects, such as the completion of his great rock temple

Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

s at Abu Simbel. The warming of the relationship between Ramesses and the Hittite king enabled the pharaoh to gather the necessary resources, which no longer were spent on the war effort but rather, for the extensive construction projects. In year 34 of Ramesses II’s reign there is evidence that to continue the relationship between the two empires, the pharaoh married a Hittite princess in an effort to establish stronger, familial bonds with Hatti. Evidence of the dynastic marriage

Dynastic marriage

A dynastic marriage is a type of marriage between members of two distinct ruling houses or dynasties. Intended as a means of strengthening the bonds between royal families, clans or states rather than the bridegroom, the dynastic marriages were known at least since the times of Ancient Egypt....

as well as the lack of textual evidence of a deterioration of the friendly relationship demonstrates that peaceful dealings between Hatti and Egypt continued for the remainder of Ramesses’ reign. By furthering their bonds of friendship through marriage the Hittites and Egyptians ensured that a mutually beneficial peace would exist between them until the fall of Hatti to Assyria nearly a century later.