Upon the accession of Akhenaten, the founder of the Hittite empire, Suppiluliuma I, dictated a congratulatory letter to the new ruler. He expressed the wish that Hatti and Egypt would continue in the friendly and mutually beneficial relationship they had enjoyed under Akhenaten’s father (Moran 1992: 114). The Egyptian hieroglyphic translation of the Hittite version of the later treaty between Ramesses II and Hattusili III in fact refers to this prior treaty:12 “As for the treaty which was in place in the time of Suppiluliuma, the king of Hatti, likewise the treaty which existed in the time of Muwattalli, the king of Hatti, my predecessor, I hold to/embrace it” (cf. Wilson 1969: 200; Davies 1997: 102-03). This is undoubtedly the same treaty mentioned in the annals of Suppiluliuma (composed by his son Mursili II), the violation of which, according to the interpretation of the plague prayers of Mursili, led to the punishment of Suppiluliuma (his death in a plague) at the hands of the Hittite Storm God: “Then my father asked for the tablet of the treaty again, (in which there was told)... how the Storm God concluded a treaty between the countries of Egypt and Hatti, and how they were continuously friendly with each other” (Guterbock 1956: 98);
Although the Hattians as well as the Egyptians were under oath to the Hattian Storm-god, the Hattians ignored their obligations; the Hattians promptly broke the oath of the gods. My father sent foot soldiers and charioteers who attacked the country of Amqa, Egyptian territory... “Those arrangements which were made by the Hattian Storm-god - namely that the Egyptians and the Hattians as well were put under oath by the Hattian Storm-god... and that the Hattians promptly broke their word - has this perhaps become the cause of the anger of the Hattian Storm-god, my lord?” (translation adapted from Goetze 1969: 395).
Akhenaten was surely highly flattered by Suppiluliuma’s offer, but the implementation of such an alliance was hardly one of the priorities of his reign. He was preoccupied with internal affairs, including the realization of his new vision of a universal god, the Aton cult. As Egypt’s military control over its share of the border states of northern Syria loosened, the vassal princelings resumed their ceaseless squabbling. Egyptian detachments stationed in Syro-Palestine could be moved around in response to appeals for aid from Egypt’s dependents, but Egypt was unwilling or unable to commit additional troops to the area. The management of provincial affairs was left in the hands of Egyptian administrators and local coalition partners. On the whole, Egypt reacted passively to these new developments. Only one particularly duplicitous ruler, Aziru of Amurru, was actually summoned to appear at the Egyptian court to explain his behavior; he was detained for some time before being sent home again. He is next found firmly in the Hittite camp (Moran 1992: xxxiii; Beckman 1999: 36-41, 59-60, 101, 104).
World History
