The Oxford History of the Biblical World by Michael D. Coogan Page B
Authors: Michael D. Coogan
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weaken Tushratta’s position. Eventually he marched his army directly into Mitanni and attacked its capital, Washukani. Tushratta apparently had no means to resist the Hittite advance and fled his capital before Suppiluliumas arrived. Meeting no Mitannian opposition, the Hittite king turned westward and promptly conquered all of northern Syria except for Carchemish.
Suppiluliumas was apparently prepared to stop with the conquest of the states in the Mitannian sphere of influence, but the king of Qadesh/Kinza, a vassal of the Egyptians, attacked the Hittite army. Suppiluliumas easily defeated the Qadeshite army and then marched southward, taking over Qadesh and perhaps also Amurru. By the end of Suppiluliumas’s reign, then, all of central Syria, as well as the coast, lay under Hittite control, including the former Egyptian vassals of Ugarit, Amurru, and Qadesh. Such a violation of Egyptian territory would not go unchallenged for long.
Tushratta, the king of Mitanni, meanwhile, met his end, creating further instability. One of his own sons murdered him. With Assyrian help a puppet ruler, Shuttarna III, took control of what was left of Mitanni. Outraged, the Hittite king Suppiluliumas within a short time sent an army under his own son to place Shattiwaza, another son of Tushratta, on the throne as a Hittite vassal.
Mitanni had by now become a mere bone of contention. After the death of Suppiluliumas, the Assyrians began a long struggle to wrest for themselves the control of Mitanni, and from the late fourteenth to the end of the thirteenth centuries, its allegiance swerved back and forth. But it never played an independent role again. Northern Syria to the west of the Euphrates, however, continued to be part of the Hittite empire. In the seventh year of the reign of Mursilis II, the son and second successor of Suppiluliumas, Nuhashe and Qadesh/Kinza, rebelled with the support of Egyptian troops dispatched by Pharaoh Horemhab. This revolt was suppressed, but the Egyptians were not ready to relinquish their claims to Qadesh and Amurru.
With the ascent to the throne of Seti I in the early thirteenth century, a final period of hostilities began between the Egyptians and the Hittites. Central Syria was the battleground and the prize. After suppressing revolts in Palestine, Seti marched north and reconquered both Qadesh and Amurru. The Hittite archives record the official withdrawal of Benteshina, ruler of Amurru, from his alliance with Hatti. This brought the Egyptian sphere of influence to its greatest extent since the rise of Hittite power several decades earlier.
Rameses II ascended the throne of Egypt in 1279 BCE and in his fifth year metMuwatallis of Hatti at one of the most famous battles of the ancient Near East, the battle of Qadesh. Here Rameses found himself caught by surprise by the Hittite forces, barely escaping with his life. Although his inscriptions portray the outcome as a great victory, it was in fact a disaster for the Egyptians. Rameses and his troops retreated southward, followed by the Hittite army, which temporarily occupied most of southern Syria and regained more permanent possession of Amurru. Over the next sixteen years other battles raged in Syria. Although Egyptian sources claim several victories, these were at best substantial exaggerations, for the Hittites remained lords of central Syria for as long as Hatti existed.
Eventually, in Rameses’ twenty-first year, he and Hattusili III negotiated a peace treaty that ended the warfare between the two countries. Although boundaries are not mentioned in the treaty, they must have coincided substantially with those at the end of Suppiluliumas’s reign, with Hatti in control of Amurru and Qadesh, and Egypt retaining southern Syria, including Upi and Amqa.
From the mid-thirteenth century on, the political situation in Syria-Palestine remains obscure. The end of the thirteenth century, however, saw the beginning of the extraordinary collapse of Late
Suppiluliumas was apparently prepared to stop with the conquest of the states in the Mitannian sphere of influence, but the king of Qadesh/Kinza, a vassal of the Egyptians, attacked the Hittite army. Suppiluliumas easily defeated the Qadeshite army and then marched southward, taking over Qadesh and perhaps also Amurru. By the end of Suppiluliumas’s reign, then, all of central Syria, as well as the coast, lay under Hittite control, including the former Egyptian vassals of Ugarit, Amurru, and Qadesh. Such a violation of Egyptian territory would not go unchallenged for long.
Tushratta, the king of Mitanni, meanwhile, met his end, creating further instability. One of his own sons murdered him. With Assyrian help a puppet ruler, Shuttarna III, took control of what was left of Mitanni. Outraged, the Hittite king Suppiluliumas within a short time sent an army under his own son to place Shattiwaza, another son of Tushratta, on the throne as a Hittite vassal.
Mitanni had by now become a mere bone of contention. After the death of Suppiluliumas, the Assyrians began a long struggle to wrest for themselves the control of Mitanni, and from the late fourteenth to the end of the thirteenth centuries, its allegiance swerved back and forth. But it never played an independent role again. Northern Syria to the west of the Euphrates, however, continued to be part of the Hittite empire. In the seventh year of the reign of Mursilis II, the son and second successor of Suppiluliumas, Nuhashe and Qadesh/Kinza, rebelled with the support of Egyptian troops dispatched by Pharaoh Horemhab. This revolt was suppressed, but the Egyptians were not ready to relinquish their claims to Qadesh and Amurru.
With the ascent to the throne of Seti I in the early thirteenth century, a final period of hostilities began between the Egyptians and the Hittites. Central Syria was the battleground and the prize. After suppressing revolts in Palestine, Seti marched north and reconquered both Qadesh and Amurru. The Hittite archives record the official withdrawal of Benteshina, ruler of Amurru, from his alliance with Hatti. This brought the Egyptian sphere of influence to its greatest extent since the rise of Hittite power several decades earlier.
Rameses II ascended the throne of Egypt in 1279 BCE and in his fifth year metMuwatallis of Hatti at one of the most famous battles of the ancient Near East, the battle of Qadesh. Here Rameses found himself caught by surprise by the Hittite forces, barely escaping with his life. Although his inscriptions portray the outcome as a great victory, it was in fact a disaster for the Egyptians. Rameses and his troops retreated southward, followed by the Hittite army, which temporarily occupied most of southern Syria and regained more permanent possession of Amurru. Over the next sixteen years other battles raged in Syria. Although Egyptian sources claim several victories, these were at best substantial exaggerations, for the Hittites remained lords of central Syria for as long as Hatti existed.
Eventually, in Rameses’ twenty-first year, he and Hattusili III negotiated a peace treaty that ended the warfare between the two countries. Although boundaries are not mentioned in the treaty, they must have coincided substantially with those at the end of Suppiluliumas’s reign, with Hatti in control of Amurru and Qadesh, and Egypt retaining southern Syria, including Upi and Amqa.
From the mid-thirteenth century on, the political situation in Syria-Palestine remains obscure. The end of the thirteenth century, however, saw the beginning of the extraordinary collapse of Late
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