The first written peace treaty: between Pharaonic Egypt and Hittie Empire

The land called Levant, encompassing Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, is rife with warfare, bloodshed, migrations, bombings and untold miseries for its people. It doesn't have to be so provided that the lessons of history are taken as a guide. In the year 1274 BC, three and a quarter centuries ago, the Egyptian empire located along the River Nile and Hittite empire spread over present day Turkey went to a prolonged war over control of this very area but then negotiated and signed a peace treaty. It was a remarkable diplomatic triumph that assured peace and cooperation between the two nations till Hittite empire disintegrated a century later. We will recount the story of this remarkable treaty. In 1822, the French Egyptologist Jean Francois Champollion decoded the ancient Egyptian writing. One of the texts translated by researchers was 30 lines of writing at the Temple of Karnak on the wall extending south of the Great Hypostyle Hall in present day Luxor on the right bank of river Nile. The text depicted, in prose and verse, a treaty between Egyptian Ramesses II of Egypt and Hittite King Hattusilis III. The last ten lines of the same text were also discovered at Ramesseum on the west bank of the river opposite Luxor. The writings told of a long bloody war between the two states before the draft of the treaty was brought from Hattusa, the capital of Hittite state, on a silver tablet and was presented to the Egyptian pharaoh. It was an interesting story told by the Egyptian ruins but unsubstantiated by sources from the other side, i.e. the Hittites, whose existence was only known through Egyptian and Biblical texts but its ruins had as yet not been established. In 1906-08, Hugo Winckler, a German archaeologist and professor of oriental languages at university of Berlin, in conjunction with Ottomon-Greek Theodore Makridi, the then director of Istanbul Archaeological Museum,excavated a site in central Turkey and found ruins that turned out to be the remains of Hattusa. They had hit a vein of archaeological gold mine in collecting 10,000 clay tablets written in the language that was the lingua-franca of the region in the 13th century BC. The professor could read the language. Among these tablets, he found three that prescribed a peace treaty between Egypt and Hittites. The professor called it the most significant achievement of his life. Two of these tablets are displayed in Istanbul Archaeological Museum while the third is on display at Berlin State Museum in Germany. This text found in Turkey is the exact translation of the text found in Egypt, confirming the occurrence of the long war and the conclusion of the peace treaty. This is the oldest written peace treaty discovered to date. Considering that the two empires used two entirely different languages yet the texts are identical, it testifies to the proficiency of the translators. As has been noted above, the treaty was sequel to a long drawn out war between the two super powers of the time. In the 13th century BC, the area we now call Middle East and eastern Mediterranean was home to four powerful empires. They included Assyrian in the present day Iraq, Egyptian along the river Nile, Hittite in the present day Turkey, and the Mycenaean around the Aegean sea. In addition, there are numerous references in the written records of the era to the powerful and savage 'Sea People' who were attacking and ravaging the coastal cities and towns around the Mediterranean. As the history testifies, the relationship between super powers ultimately becomes competitive and belligerent due to conflicting territorial and economic interests. Egypt and Hittites were no exceptions. Both wanted to expand into Levant. The tussle between the two for control of the area had continued for decades. Before the two came in to physical contact with a common border, there was an independent buffer state across south east Turkey and north east Syria that separated the two powers. When expansionist Hittite empire took over the buffer state, it came face to face with the Egyptian area of influence with their border placed somewhere north of Tripoli (Now in Syria) and going east through the town of Kadesh on the River Ontoroe south of Homs. As the Hittite empire had aspirations to expand further south, it resulted in armed conflicts with the Egyptian empire. Ramesses II is also known as Ramesses the Great due to his long rule and achievements. He was born in 1303 BC and assumed throne in 1279 at the age of 24. He ruled for 66 years and died at the age of 90. Because the Egyptians recorded the events of their monarchs on clay tablets and temple walls, the history of the monarch is well preserved. In the 5th year of his reign in 1274 BC, Ramesses launched an attack against Hittite forces in Syria to capture the city of kadesh. In preparation of this campaign, he displayed remarkable industrial prowess. His armament factories produced 1000 weapons in week, about 250 chariots in two weeks, and 1,000 shields in a week and a half. Egypt finally launched the attack with 20,000 troops comprising four divisions and 2,000 chariots. Opposing him was the Hittite army, led by their king Muwatalli II, of somewhere 25 to 40 thousand men and 2,500 to 3,500 chariots. The Egyptian army camped on the western bank of the river Orontoes whereas the Hittite army was stationed on its eastern bank north of Kadesh. With this large number of chariots on both sides, the battle of Kadesh is also known as the largest battle of chariots. The Egyptians used 2-men chariots that were smaller in size and hence more agile and manoeuvrable whereas the Hittite deployed larger 3-men chariots that were slower but packed more power. Both types were powered by two horses each. Having watched the chariot race umpteenth times between Charleston Heston and Stephen Boyd in the 1959 movie 'Ben Hur', I hope that one day a new William Wyler would be able to recreate a cinematic version of the chariot war fought in the battle of Kadesh. After much bloodshed, heavy causalities and loss of life on both sides, the Hittite army retreated but the Egyptians too, unable to capture kadesh, retreated. The battle is now categorized as a draw. Posterity has learnt about the battle from Egyptian engravings which claim a great victory for Ramesses but the analysis of the battle and subsequent events prove that neither side won a decisive victory. The heavy losses on both sides dampened the fighting spirits of both the warring empires. In addition, the Hittites were now threatened by the Assyrians, who would eventually annihilate them a century later in 1178 BC. Egyptians too were facing a menacing onslaught by the Sea people on their coastal area. This forced both the empires to talk about peace. Negotiations, and skirmishes, between the two would continue for another 15 years. The peace treaty was finally formalised in 1259 BC when Hattusilis III was the Hittite king. It is a symmetrical treaty that treats both sides equally and requires them to undertake mutual obligations. The treaty contains more than 20 principles and obligations for both sides. It proclaims that that both sides would in future forever remain at peace and wouldn't commit acts of aggression against each other, binding the children and grandchildren of the parties to the adherence of the treaty. It states that' “There shall be no hostilities between them, forever. The great chief of Kheta (Hittite) shall not pass over into the land of Egypt, forever, to take anything there from. forever… The great ruler of Egypt shall not pass over into the land of Hatti, to take anything there from, forever.” Each side committed to come to the other's aid if threatened by outsiders: "And if another enemy come [against] the land of Hatti ... the great king of Egypt shall send his troops and his chariots and shall slay his enemy and he shall restore confidence to the land of Hatti." Reciprocally, it states that in case of an attack on Egypt by third party, country of Hatti shall send its infantry and chariots in aid of the former. Mindful of the hostility created by high ranking rebellious asylum seekers of a hostile empire, the treaty stipulates as obligation number 11 that, "if any great man shall flee from the land of Hatti to Egypt (and vice versa), then the great ruler of Egypt shall not receive them, (but) cause them to be brought to the great chief of Hatti. They shall not be settled.” The treaty however forbade punishment of the persons thus returned. In conclusion the gods of two nations and the natural elements are invoked to preserve the treaty and punish the violator. It states with an oath before "a thousand gods, male gods and female gods" of the lands of Egypt and Hatti, witnessed by "the mountains and rivers of the lands of Egypt; the sky; the earth; the great sea; the winds; the clouds." If the treaty was ever violated, the oath-breaker would be cursed by the gods who "shall destroy his house, his land and his servants." Conversely, he who maintained his vows would be rewarded by the gods, who "will cause him to be healthy and to live." Interestingly the treaty is now referred to as 'Treaty of Kadesh', as a postlude to the eponymous battle, yet its actual text doesn't mention the word Kadesh. Also Ramesses never met Muwatallis, in whose time the negotiations commenced or Hattusillis III, during whose reign the treaty was signed,. The treaty was finalised through their diplomats. As the capital cities of two empires were separated by two thousand kilometres and it involved multiple arduous journeys, the lengthy negotiations testify to the tenacity of the diplomats and earnestness of the two emperors. As a reward, they enjoyed a mutual peace for eighty long years. In 1970, a bronze replica of the Hittite tablets bearing the text of the treaty was presented by Turkey to the UN, where it now hangs prominently on one of walls as a reminder of the principle aim of the organization. This article appeared in the weekly The Friday Times on 17th Aug 2018 Parvez Mahmood retired as a Group Captain from PAF and is now a software engineer. He lives in Islamabad and writes on social and historical issues. He can be reached at parvezmahmood53@gmail.com.