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The Mitannians Campaigns
The next few reigns were concerned with
establishing Egypt’s empire. Ethnic movements in the Near East had
created a power vacuum, and a new force the kingdom of Mitanni now
became one of Egypt’s major contacts, first as an enemy and then as
an ally. Mitanni now occupied the land of Naharin (between the
rivers Tigris and Euphrates) where the Hurrians (originally from the
region south of the Caspian Sea) were ruled by an aristocracy of
Indo-Aryan origin. When the Mitannians attempted to push southward
they became a major threat to Egypt’s military ambitions to
establish the northern boundaries of its new empire at the
Euphrates.
The main arena of this conflict was northern Syria; however, the petty princedoms and city-states that occupied Palestine and the rest of Syria were also drawn into the confrontation as the two powers rivaled each other in attempting to make them vassals or client-states. Tuthmosis I led the first major offensive in Syria, taking an expedition across the Euphrates into Naharin (this means the “River Country”; the names Naharin and Mitanni are synonymous in Egyptian texts). A commemorative stela set up there records that the king killed many of the enemy and also took prisoners. Tomb inscriptions at el-Kab supply other details: The king returned through Syria and celebrated his success with an elephant hunt in the region of Niy. His son, Tuthmosis II, also campaigned in Palestine and took many prisoners, but his grandson, Tuthmosis III, was the greatest of all Egyptian warrior kings. While his stepmother, Hatshepsut, ruled Egypt, Mitanni had gained influence over many of the vassals in Syria/ Palestine. Tuthmosis III was determined to halt this process and to drive the Mitannians back beyond the Euphrates. He waged a total of seventeen campaigns in Syria against Mitanni, and some of the most important successes of these campaigns are recorded in the wall scenes and inscriptions in the Temple of Karnak and on two stelae, one in his temple at Napata (Gebel Barkal) and the other from Armant. The king evidently regarded his success in capturing Megiddo (a fortified town overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon) as a very important achievement in his long-term strategy. He launched this campaign in year 2 of his reign and faced a rebellious coalition of princes of Syria/Palestine led by the prince of Kadesh, a city on the river Orontes. Tuthmosis III marched first to the city of Gaza and took it before proceeding to Megiddo. Here, the princes and the ruler of Kadesh faced Tuthmosis III, but his personal bravery and clever tactics ensured that the Egyptians routed the enemy, although they then had to endure a seven-month seige to take the city. A feature of Tuthmosis III’s military organization was the subjugation and provisioning of the harbors along the Palestine/Syria coast so that they could be used to support Egyptian campaigns in the hinterland. Although the coalition of princes had been subdued, Mitanni still posed a great threat to Egypt, and in the eighth campaign in year 33, the Egyptians pushed forward to cross the Euphrates and to defeat the Mitannians. The Egyptians crossed the river by using boats that had been built at Byblos on the Syrian coast and then taken overland on wheeled wagons drawn by oxen. Several sources recount this victory including the stela that Tuthmosis III ordered to be inscribed and set up at Napata. On his return journey Tuthmosis III hunted elephants at Niy and revisited the city of Kadesh, which had been destroyed in year 30. .
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EGYPTIAN HEGEMONY
Egypt was now the greatest military power in the
area and received lavish gifts from Assyria, Babylonia, and the
Hittites. The Egyptian Empire, now firmly established, reached from
southern Nubia to the Euphrates River. Amenhotep II, son of
Tuthmosis III, tried to emulate this success. In year 3 of his reign
he led his first campaign against the district of Takhsy near
Kadesh. He crossed the river Orontes and eventually reached Kadesh,
where the princes and their children were obliged to take oaths of
allegiance to the Egyptians. Amenhotep II then went target shooting
and hunted game in the forest before taking prisoners and booty back
to Memphis. He undertook a smaller campaign in year 9, but he was
the last king of Dynasty 18 to pursue an aggressive military policy.
Recognizing that neither could permanently expel the other from
northern Syria the Mitannian and Egyptian rulers ultimately made
peace. This marked a profound change in the relationship of the two
countries and in the power struggles of the whole area.
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THE HITTITES
The Hittites were the next major threat to Egyptian supremacy. A
vigorous king, Suppiluliumas, attacked Mitanni, and its king,
Tushratta, was murdered. His kingdom was split apart by internal
troubles and foreign intervention, and the Mitannians were no longer
able to hold sway. During the later years of Dynasty 18 and in
Dynasty 19 the Egyptian kings had to face and fight the Hittites.
The major campaigns of Sethos I (Dynasty 19) are recorded in scenes
on the north and east walls in the hypostyle hall in the Temple of
Karnak. In year 1 of his reign he took his troops along the military
coast road from Egypt to Palestine and probably reached the southern
end of the Phoenician coast. A second campaign returned there, and
Sethos I then continued along the coast and inflicted an attack on
the town of Kadesh. Problems in the western Delta brought him back
to fight the Libyans, but he returned to Syria in years 5 and 6 to
face the Hittites and to briefly take possession of the land of
Amurru and the town of Kadesh. This conflict was brought to a
conclusion by a treaty with the Hittite king in which the Egyptians
agreed to allow Amurru and Kadesh to return to Hittite control. The
Hittites respected Egyptian influence, particularly in the
Phoenician coastal towns. Sethos I tried to reinstate Egyptian
control of Palestine and temporarily regained authority over part of
Syria. His strategy mirrored the actions of pharaohs in Dynasty 18:
He led his forces to Canaan (Palestine) and took control of the
coastal towns so that he could launch attacks into the hinterland
(central and northern Syria). His son, Ramesses II, continued this
policy. In the Great Dedicatory Inscription in the Temple of Sethos
I at Abydos (a monument which Ramesses completed) it is recorded
that Ramesses began his campaigns to Syria in year 4 of his reign.
The first “Campaign of Victory” reached the “Dog River” (Nahr
el-Kelb), which lay a few miles beyond the site of modern Beirut.
The following year he set out to try to repossess the town of Kadesh
on the river Orontes which Sethos I had briefly taken from the
Hittites. The account of this battle is preserved in an epic poem
repeated in eight inscriptions in the temples of Karnak, Luxor,
Abydos, and the Ramesseum. There is also a shorter account (the
“Report,” or “Bulletin”) preserved in these temples (except Karnak)
and in Ramesses’ temple at Abu Simbel. These all describe the king’s
valor and brilliance in battle and claim that he gained a
single-handed victory. Records preserved on clay tablets at
Bogazköy, the Hittite capital, however, present a different version
of the conflict. They suggest that the Egyptians returned home after
a strategic defeat, but both versions probably preserve an element
of the truth since Ramesses II had further military successes
elsewhere after Kadesh and was able to subjugate revolts in the
Palestinian city-states and penetrate further into the Hittite
territories. Both the Egyptians and Hittites realized, however, that
neither could become the outright winner. It was always difficult
for the Egyptians to retain control over these distant areas, and in
year 21 of his reign Ramesses II signed a peace treaty with the
Hittite king Khattusilis III. Separate copies of the treaty have
survived in the two capitals of Thebes and Bogazköy. The Egyptians
and Hittites were equal partners in the treaty and entered into a
pact of brotherhood and perpetual peace. It was both an offensive
and defensive alliance, and the two parties agreed not to attack
each other’s territories, to recognize a mutual frontier, and to
have a joint defensive pact against other aggressors with the
ability to extradite refugees from each other’s country. The
alliance was to continue even after the death of either ruler, and
the treaty was to be witnessed and approved by the gods of both
countries. The Egyptians and Hittites now became firm friends and
allies; friendship developed between the royal households and their
members exchanged cordial letters. Finally, in year 34 of his reign
a Hittite princess traveled to Egypt to become the wife of Ramesses
II. She was warmly welcomed and was soon elevated to the status of
Great Royal Wife. Later, another Hittite princess may have joined
the Egyptian royal family. This change in the relationship between
the Egyptians and the Hittites effectively brought to an end
Egyptian military ambitions to control an empire in Syria/Palestine.
The problems of ruling and controlling lands far from Egypt and the
gradual but inevitable decline of the pharaoh’s own powers forced
the Egyptians to reverse their earlier policy of expansion in this
area.
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The Mitannians Campaigns
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