The Oxford History of the Biblical World by Michael D. Coogan Page A
Authors: Michael D. Coogan
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Canaan. After a brief skirmish, the coalition members hastily retreated into the fortified town of Megiddo, which Thutmose besieged. After seven months the trapped rulers surrendered, all then being forced to pay a heavy tribute and to take an oath of loyalty. Thutmose’s inscriptions claim that the coalition was composed of 330 princes, but this is an exaggeration. A more realistic number is found in the temple of Amun at Karnak, containing a list of 119 towns whose rulers are said to have been captured in the siege of Megiddo. More likely, this list enumerates all the towns and villages that came under Thutmose’s control as a result of the campaign, whether or not their rulers had capitulated at Megiddo. Canaan was now firmly in Egyptian hands.
His appetite whetted, Thutmose began his efforts to secure control of Syria as well. He built a fleet of ships that allowed him to sail his army to the Syrian coast, thus saving the men a grueling march through Canaan. Three campaigns against the powerful city-states of Tunip and Qadesh/Kinza succeeded only partially, but they prepared the way for Thutmose’s greatest military achievement in his thirty-third year, when he and his army marched to the vicinity of Carchemish in northern Syria and crossed the Euphrates, meeting only minor resistance from Mitanni.
But control of the kingdoms of Syria was always tenuous for the Egyptians, and Thutmose found himself fighting in northwest Syria during several subsequent years. At his death the Syrian states quickly rebelled, obliging his successor Amenhotep II (1427–1400) to lead three campaigns into Syria to enforce Egyptian control. But these came early in his reign; during his latter years Amenhotep appears to have given up. Under Thutmose IV a peace treaty between Egypt and Artatama of Mitanni presumably delineated each empire’s sphere of influence in Syria. Evidently both sides realized that an equilibrium had been achieved, for the treaty was renewed by the successors of the two kings, Amenhotep III of Egypt and Shuttarna II of Mitanni. The boundaries between the two states probably coincided with those that were in force later during the mid-fourteenth century. Coastal Syria as far north as Ugarit came under Egyptian control, along with southern Syria—the Damascus region, the Biqa Valley of Lebanon (Amqa), and the lands of Qadesh and Amurru. Qatna and the northern states, including Niya and Nuhashe, fell within the Mitannian orbit.
Shuttarna of Mitanni probably saw good reason to keep the peace with Egypt because he was threatened on two sides by growing powers. In the late fifteenth century Assyria, which had been under Mitannian control for about a century, became increasingly independent. And in Anatolia, the Hittites briefly repeated their earlier attempt to extend their influence into northern Syria; they were not successful, and by the end of the fifteenth century they were fighting for their lives against enemies in Anatolia itself. Still, they could not be counted out, and Shuttarna did not need any complications in his dealings with the Egyptians.
The final king of independent Mitanni was Tushratta, a younger son of Shuttarna. Despite coming to his throne in an irregular way, he maintained his authority securely for several years. He continued cordial relations with Egypt, sending his daughter Tadu-Hepa to marry Amenhotep III in a gesture reaffirming the close ties between the two countries. But relations with Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) deteriorated after Akhenaten sent Tushratta wooden statues covered with gold foil, not the solid gold statues that Amenhotep III had promised.
Mitanni’s downfall was, however, at hand. Tushratta was not prepared to face the extraordinary recovery of Hatti shortly after the great king Suppiluliumas came to its throne. Suppiluliumas was a remarkably able soldier and an astute politician. He saw Mitanni as his primary rival for control of Syria and set about forming alliances to
His appetite whetted, Thutmose began his efforts to secure control of Syria as well. He built a fleet of ships that allowed him to sail his army to the Syrian coast, thus saving the men a grueling march through Canaan. Three campaigns against the powerful city-states of Tunip and Qadesh/Kinza succeeded only partially, but they prepared the way for Thutmose’s greatest military achievement in his thirty-third year, when he and his army marched to the vicinity of Carchemish in northern Syria and crossed the Euphrates, meeting only minor resistance from Mitanni.
But control of the kingdoms of Syria was always tenuous for the Egyptians, and Thutmose found himself fighting in northwest Syria during several subsequent years. At his death the Syrian states quickly rebelled, obliging his successor Amenhotep II (1427–1400) to lead three campaigns into Syria to enforce Egyptian control. But these came early in his reign; during his latter years Amenhotep appears to have given up. Under Thutmose IV a peace treaty between Egypt and Artatama of Mitanni presumably delineated each empire’s sphere of influence in Syria. Evidently both sides realized that an equilibrium had been achieved, for the treaty was renewed by the successors of the two kings, Amenhotep III of Egypt and Shuttarna II of Mitanni. The boundaries between the two states probably coincided with those that were in force later during the mid-fourteenth century. Coastal Syria as far north as Ugarit came under Egyptian control, along with southern Syria—the Damascus region, the Biqa Valley of Lebanon (Amqa), and the lands of Qadesh and Amurru. Qatna and the northern states, including Niya and Nuhashe, fell within the Mitannian orbit.
Shuttarna of Mitanni probably saw good reason to keep the peace with Egypt because he was threatened on two sides by growing powers. In the late fifteenth century Assyria, which had been under Mitannian control for about a century, became increasingly independent. And in Anatolia, the Hittites briefly repeated their earlier attempt to extend their influence into northern Syria; they were not successful, and by the end of the fifteenth century they were fighting for their lives against enemies in Anatolia itself. Still, they could not be counted out, and Shuttarna did not need any complications in his dealings with the Egyptians.
The final king of independent Mitanni was Tushratta, a younger son of Shuttarna. Despite coming to his throne in an irregular way, he maintained his authority securely for several years. He continued cordial relations with Egypt, sending his daughter Tadu-Hepa to marry Amenhotep III in a gesture reaffirming the close ties between the two countries. But relations with Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) deteriorated after Akhenaten sent Tushratta wooden statues covered with gold foil, not the solid gold statues that Amenhotep III had promised.
Mitanni’s downfall was, however, at hand. Tushratta was not prepared to face the extraordinary recovery of Hatti shortly after the great king Suppiluliumas came to its throne. Suppiluliumas was a remarkably able soldier and an astute politician. He saw Mitanni as his primary rival for control of Syria and set about forming alliances to
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