Amenhotep II carried out two campaigns in Syria, the first probably in year 7, the latter in year 9. These are described on stelae left at Amada, Memphis and Karnak. The first campaign concentrated on the defeat of unaligned chiefs and rebellions among recently acquired vassals. Among the latter, the region of Takhsy, mentioned in the Theban tomb of Amenemheb (TT 85), was a primary, and successful, target.
The seven defeated chiefs of that region were taken back to Thebes, head-down on the royal barge, where six were hung upon the temple wall. One was carried all the way to Napata, in the Sudan, where his body was hung, no doubt as an example to the local population. According to the stelae, the plunder claimed from Amenhotep’s first campaign comprised a staggering 6,800 deben of gold and 500,000 deben of copper (1,643 120,833 pounds respectively), along with
550 mariannu captives, 210 horses, and 300 chariots. The second campaign in year 9 was largely carried out in Palestine.
Apart from the standard toponyms in ‘name rings’, none of the monumental texts of Amenhotep II contains a hostile reference to Mitanni or Nahrin (despite the fact that the inscriptions narrated his Syrian campaigns)—and this is probably intentional. Instead of Thut-mose Ill’s designation, ‘that foe of Nahrin’, Amenhotep II several times uses the archaic Egyptian generic term setjetyu (‘Asiatics’). The language of the stelae, composed after the conflicts had ended, in year 9 or later, reflects the fact that peace with Mitanni was at hand. Indeed, the Memphis stele contains an addition at the end, reporting that the chiefs of Nahrin, Hatti, and Sangar (Babylon) arrived before the king bearing gifts and requesting offering gifts (hetepu) in exchange, as well as asking for the breath of life. This was certainly the first official announcement of the creation of a Mitanni peace, although good relations with Babylon and others already existed in the reign of Thut-mose III.
The importance of Amenhotep II’s new alliance with Nahrin was underlined by its exposition in a column inscription from the Thutmo-sid wadjyt, or columned hall, between the Fourth and Fifth Pylons at Karnak. This location was significant, because the hall was venerated as the place where Thutmose III received a divine oracle proclaiming his future kingship. In addition, the association of the hall with the Thutmoside line going back to Thutmose I, the first king to venture to Syria, made it a logical place to boast of the Mitanni relationship. The inscription singles out Syria, stating: ‘The chiefs (weru) of Mitanni (My-tn) come to him, their deliveries upon their backs, to request offering gifts (hetepu) from his majesty in quest of the breath of life.’ By the close of Amenhotep ITs reign the portrayal of Mitanni, so recently the vile enemy of the king, was brought into line with that of Egypt’s other close allies. In monuments within the Nile Valley, these brother kings of Babylon, Hatti, and Nahrin were always portrayed as suppliants who requested life from the Egyptian king. The hard-won peace with Syria is betrayed, however, by Amenhotep ITs enthusiasm for it.
Clearly Amenhotep II considered this alliance to be a boon at home as well as abroad.
World History
