Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The treaty consists of two separate but broadly similar documents, one from Egypt and the other from Hatti. Both were drafted in Akkadian cuneiform, the common diplomatic language of the second millennium BCE. Each kingdom engraved the text on a silver tablet, and they exchanged the tablets with grand ceremony. Only copies survive, as the silver originals were melted down for their precious metal long ago. The Hittite version—referred to as the Akkadian version—was discovered in the ruins of the ancient Hittite capital city of Hattushash and is a “file copy” on clay tablets of the text Ramses II sent to the Hittites. It is written in Akkadian cuneiform. The Egyptian version is a public memorial of the Akkadian document that Hattusilis III sent to the pharaoh, translated into the ancient Egyptian language and hieroglyphic script and carved onto the walls of at least two temples, Karnak and the Ramesseum (in modern-day Luxor in southern Egypt). Because these documents are thirty-three hundred years old, they both suffer from damaged passages throughout. Some lost passages can be restored because they use formulaic set phrases and have parallels elsewhere in the text. In the Hittite version, angle brackets enclose words that were omitted by the scribe, and square brackets indicate where text was damaged. In both cases, the correct wording has been confidently deduced.

The treaty as a type of legal document originated in Mesopotamia several centuries before the accord between Ramses II and Hattusilis III. Hatti often used treaties in its foreign relations. Since the Egyptians had rarely made treaties before, they followed the Hittite format. Most Hittite treaties, however, were one-sided agreements imposed on vassal kingdoms conquered by the Hittite Empire. With these treaties, Hittite emperors imposed tribute payments and other strict obligations on their vassals.

The Egyptian-Hittite compact is a parity treaty, meaning that the two kingdoms are considered equal in rank and political independence. Egypt and Hatti belonged to an elite circle of “Great Kings”; their numerous vassals were “Little Kings.” As equals, Great Kings referred to each other as “brothers.” This conflicted with Egyptian ideology, which claimed that the pharaoh was ruler of the entire world. In diplomacy, the pharaoh was the peer of his great “brothers,” but at home he claimed superiority.

All Hittite treaties share the same basic pattern. The treaties are agreements between kings, not between their respective countries. A historical prologue, or introduction, describes the conflict that led to the treaty, while specific articles deal with the legal obligations of each side. The kings swear religious oaths to uphold every article of the treaty before a list of gods who act as witnesses. The document refers to curses in the form of divine punishment on any person who violates the treaty and to blessings on those who obey it.

The Hittite terms for treaty mean “binding agreement” and “oath,” as treaties were religious oaths that two kings swore by the gods. The Egyptian language did not have a native word for “treaty.” The Egyptian term neta, used for “treaty” in the hieroglyphic version, actually means “regulations” or “stipulations.” A previous agreement between them is called neta-mety, for “normal relations” or “normal arrangement.” Neither Egyptian term actually means “oath.”

Most of the treaty stipulations, such as the extradition and mutual defense clauses, apply equally to both sides, as honor demanded. The historical prologue is toned down compared with Hittite vassal treaties, in which the prologue usually blames the vassal kingdom for the conflict. So that the pharaoh could avoid embarrassment, the prologue of Hattusilis III's text sent to Egypt says only that the two sides had fought in the past, without giving causes, pronouncing victors, or laying blame. The document sent by Ramses II to Hatti has no prologue. Both versions of the Egyptian-Hittite treaty ignore the territorial dispute over Amurru and Kadesh; Egypt must have renounced its claim on them, but this is never stated. Perhaps this was likewise a kind of unstated gentlemen's agreement allowing the pharaoh to save face by ignoring the issue. Among the many divine witnesses, the Egyptian sun god Ra (also spelled Re) and the Hittite storm god stand out. In the hieroglyphic version of the treaty, the Hittite storm god is identified with the Egyptian storm god Seth.

Introduction and Historical Prologue

A ceremonial introduction to the hieroglyphic version of the treaty not found in the document Hatti sent to the pharaoh was inserted by the Egyptians. It begins with the date and Ramses II's elaborate royal titles and then reports the delivery of the Hittite silver tablet to the pharaoh in his capital city of Piramses by Egyptian and Hittite envoys. The hieroglyphic translation of the treaty is called a “copy of the silver tablet which the Great Chief of Hatti, Hattusilis III sent to Pharaoh.” There is no such introduction in the document Ramses sent to the Hittite capital of Hattushash.

In the Akkadian texts of both versions, Egyptian and Hittite rulers are called “Great Kings.” But because the Egyptians considered the pharaoh to be the only true “king,” Hattusilis III is called “the Great Chief of Hatti” in the hieroglyphic version, while Ramses himself is “the Great Ruler of Egypt.” The Egyptian translation sometimes inserts the pharaoh's elaborate titles to flatter his political vanity. Both texts mention the fathers and grandfathers of the two kings to prove their royal heritage. A passage in the Hittite prologue of the hieroglyphic version also names Hattusilis III's brother and former emperor Muwatallis II, who had fought against a pharaoh whose name is now too damaged to be read. If this opponent was Ramses II, the reference could be to the Battle of Kadesh.

Reestablishment of Peace

The Egyptian document announces that Egypt and Hatti have established an eternal treaty of “perfect peace and perfect brotherhood.” Relations between ancient kingdoms were described as familial, such that when two Great Kings were on friendly terms, they were “brothers.” The treaty stipulates that neither side should ever make war on the other's territory to “take anything from it.” This clause ended the long struggle for control of Syria, but borders and territorial disputes are otherwise ignored.

The treaty calls for the renewal of the peaceful relations that had once existed before the war. But regarding how many treaties were signed before this one, the wording of the hieroglyphic document is ambiguous. Some scholars believe there had been two earlier pacts, one made sometime before Suppiluliumas I and Pharaoh Akhenaton, another made by either Horemheb or Seti I with Muwatallis II. If there was indeed a second treaty before Ramses II's time, the Egyptians must have broken it by attacking Kadesh.

In the hieroglyphic edition, Hattusilis states,

“As for the normal relations which existed in the time of Suppiluliumas I … and likewise, the normal relations which existed in the time of Muwatallis … I take hold of it. See, Ramses II … takes hold of the treaty which he made with us now, beginning from today. We both take hold of it and we shall behave according to the agreed stipulations.”

This passage could mean that both Suppiluliumas I and Muwattalis had made treaties with the pharaohs of their day. But the text says only that a treaty “existed” and that Hattusilis as well as Ramses “take hold of it,” not “them.” It is more likely, then, that there was only one previous treaty.

Mutual Defense Alliance

The treaty commits each side to come to the other's aid if attacked by a third party. The enemy could be another empire, rebellious subjects of vassal kingdoms controlled by either empire, or domestic political opponents inside either kingdom. The Akkadian version states that

if Hattusili … [becomes angry] with his own [subjects], after they have offended against him, and he sends to Ramses … on account of this, then Ramses … must send his infantry and his chariotry, [and] they will destroy all with whom he is angry.”

A parallel clause in similar language in the hieroglyphic edition obligates Hattusilis to likewise come to the pharaoh's aid.

Egyptian Support for the Hittite Succession

The single one-sided clause in the treaty, in the Akkadian version, commits the pharaoh to aid Hattusilis III's son after the father's death if his subjects should “commit an offense against him.” Since Hattusilis seized the throne by force, his heirs would be at risk of being challenged as illegitimate. There is no parallel clause in the hieroglyphic version because the Egyptians refused to believe that the pharaoh's throne could ever be in jeopardy or that foreigners could help him.

Extradition of Fugitives

Both versions of the treaty have extradition clauses for the return of fugitives to their home country. Such defectors could include government officials, whole populations, or vassal kingdoms. The extradition clauses also stipulate that any fugitives returned were to be granted legal amnesty; neither they nor their families were to be killed or physically harmed in any way. With regard to returned fugitives, the hieroglyphic version states, “Do not let his crimes stand against him, do not let his house or his wives or his children be destroyed. Do not let him be killed, nor let his eyes, his ears, his mouth or his legs be harmed.” The Egyptian scribe who translated the Akkadian text sent by Hattusilis into the hieroglyphic version actually misread the proper order of the columns of text on the silver tablet. In so doing, he placed the second half of the extradition clause after the list of divine witnesses and the curses and blessings, which should have been at the end of the treaty. In fact, one fugitive was never extradited: Hattusilis III's nephew, the deposed emperor Urhi-Teshub, remained in Egypt after the treaty, despite repeated complaints by Hattusilis. Eventually, he agreed that Egypt was the safest place to leave his nephew.

List of Divine Witnesses

The Egyptian-Hittite treaty is a religious oath sworn by both kings. The last sections of the Akkadian version are not preserved, but the hieroglyphic edition sent to Ramses by Hattusilis III mentions “1000 Gods and Goddesses of the land of Hatti and 1000 Gods and Goddesses of the land of Egypt” as witnesses. It names almost forty individual deities, most of them Hittite, beginning with the chief sun and storm gods of Hatti. Many of the other gods are local incarnations of the storm god resident in cities throughout the Hittite Empire, including the distant “Goddess of Nineveh,” of a town located in Assyria. The list ends with three important Egyptian deities: the imperial god Amun (or Amon), the sun god Ra, and Seth, the hometown god of the Nineteenth Dynasty kings. Seth was also the Egyptian god of storms, foreign countries, and chaotic forces. He was identified with the Hittite storm god, and his name is written as the “translation” for the Hittite title “Storm-god” in the hieroglyphic version of the treaty.

Curses and Blessings

To enforce the treaty, these two thousand gods were invoked to curse any king who violated the treaty and to bless all those who upheld it: “With regard to these terms … for anyone who shall not keep them, 1000 Gods of the land of Hatti and 1000 Gods of the land of Egypt will destroy his house, his land and his subjects.” The Hittites took these oaths seriously, believing that the death of their mighty emperor Suppiluliumas I from plague was divine retribution for his violation of the first peace treaty between Hatti and Egypt.

Egyptian Description of the Hittite State Seals Embossed on the Silver Tablet

Ancient treaties were not “signed”; they were “stamped.” Seals inscribed with the names and titles of the owner were used to authenticate documents in antiquity. The hieroglyphic transcription of the silver tablet sent by Hattusilis III to Ramses II concludes with a precise description of the official seals of the Hittite emperor and his queen embossed on the silver treaty tablet. Both seals were round and featured the name and titles of the king and queen, respectively, and their personal deities. At the center of his seal, Hattusilis III is embraced by the Hittite storm god. On the queen's seal, she is protected by the Hittite sun goddess. The Egyptians were fascinated by these exotic foreign objects. Since the silver tablets are lost, scholars have no idea how Ramses II “signed” his own name.