Egypt and the Hittites
Interaction between the Egyptians and the Hittites started in the 18th Dynasty, during the reign of Tuthmosis III, who conquered the Mitannian subject territories in Syria, which expanded the Egyptian empire north to the border of the Hittite empire. This is when the Hittites and many other empires from the Middle East started to pay tribute to Thutmosis III. The tribute given to Tuthmosis III from the Hittites was probably to gain a friendly relationship with their powerful neighbors and to hold back any ideas by the Egyptians to invade their own territories. The Hittites were also thankful to the Egyptians because they slowed down the Mitanni empire that posed more of a serious threat to them than the Egyptians would.
Over the following years the Hittite and Egyptian relationship grew stronger. Communication and trade increased and at some point they came up with an agreement referred to as the Kurustama Treaty. This treaty was an agreement to allow the exchange of inhabitants between the Hittite city of Kurustama in Anatolia and the Egyptian controlled territories in Syria. This friendship started to waver during the reign of Amenhotep II and Tuthmosis IV, because of the growing power of the Hittite empire and the friendly relationship that was developing between the Egyptians and the Mitannians. The Hittites felt threatened by this relationship and during this time the great ruler of the Hittites, Suppiluliumas I started a struggle with the Egyptians for control of the Syrian territories. After several campaigns, Suppiluliumas succeeded in his desire to take over the northern part of Syria.
The Hittites maintained control of northern Syria up until the plague entered the Hittite region and devastated the Kingdom during the reign of Mursilis II. This forced the Hittites to turn the Syrian lands that they had conquered, over to the Egyptians. After the death of Mursilis II, the Hittite Empire was passed on to his son, Muwatallis. Muwatallis' reign saw many battles against the Egyptians for control of Syria, including two battles at the Syrian city of Kadesh. The first battle at Kadesh was a small altercation against the second pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty named Seti I. The outcome of this battle was the signing of a precarious peace treaty that didn't mean a whole lot to either empire.
The second battle was a large battle that involved the famous Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II. This was a large battle that happened in 1276BC. Ramses returned from Kadesh proclaiming that victory had belonged to the Egyptians. He spread the word of victory throughout Egypt, and made sure that the Egyptian public would believe his view of the battle. Ramses, however, did show great leadership in the battle, and may have even saved the Egyptians from defeat by devising a surprised attack that he lead by entering the battle himself on his own chariot. Although this showed great courage and leadership, the outcome of the battle for the Egyptians was more of an escape from defeat rather than a victory.
The biggest blow to the Hittites from this battle was the death of their leader, Muwatallis. After the battle, the new Hittite emperor became Hattushilish III. Hattushilish III together with Ramses II agreed on a peace treaty between the two Empires. This treaty is, considered by many as being, the first official treaty ever made. The treaty was made official because it was drawn up in the international diplomatic language of the time called Akkadian.
The details of the treaty must have been discussed in great detail prior to it being written up, because copies from each side were identical. One of the biggest reasons for this treaty was that the rising power of the Assyrian Empire posed a threat to both the Egyptians and the Hittites. Throughout the rest of the reigns of Ramses II and Hattusillis III, the alliance between the two grew stronger, and continued through the reigns of their successors, Merneptah, son of Ramses II and the Hittite rulers Tudhaliyas IV and Arnuwandas during the 12th century BC.
Toward the end of the 12th century BC and the beginning of the 11th century BC the Hittite Empire disappears. They were destroyed by a society referred to as the Sea Peoples. The Egyptians, on the other hand, were strong enough to fight off the advance of the Sea Peoples into Egypt. This ended an Egyptian and Hittite relationship that covered a substantial period of time that was for the most part a peaceful relationship that benefited both empires.
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