The pact with Hattusili was reaffirmed in the year 34 and again around years 40-42 by Ramesses’ marriages to Hittite princesses.38 The Hittite king was now Ramesses’ father-in-law; and the former was represented along with his eldest daughter, a Chief Queen of Egypt, on marriage stelae set up in several Egyptian temples,39 and in the decoration of a colossal statue of the Egyptian king at Pi-Ramesse itself! (Montet 1935-37a: pl. 7; Bittel 1986; Goyon 1987: 48; Desroches Noblecourt 1991: 162, fig. 19; Klengel 2002: 132-36). We are not certain of her Hittite name,40 but she was given the Egyptian name Maat-Hor-Neferure.41 With characteristic hyperbole and bombast, Ramesses uses the event to memorialize his “great victory” over the Hittites, portraying this marriage as a logical outcome. The princess was accompanied in her train by a sumptuous dowry, and the clear evidence of the strength of the Egypto-Hittite coalition would let their Syrian vassals know that any opposition against either in the future would be fruitless. The description of preparations made for her reception at the border between Hatti and Egypt, in the mountains of Syria, contains the first Egyptian reference to snow,42 because it was winter and Ramesses was worried they might have a hard journey on the difficult roads. But Ramesses appealed to Seth, the god of (bad) weather, not to make rain, cold wind, or snow; Seth obliged him: the skies remained clear, and the days were like those of summer. So the Syrian chieftains said of Ramesses: “Even the sky is sealed/controlled by him; it behaves in whatever way he has commanded!” (cf. Wilson 1969: 257-58; Davies 1997: 136-41).
The joyous occasion of the meeting of the Hittite and Egyptian parties to escort the girl to Egypt is depicted as follows: “the infantry, chariotry, and officials of his Majesty ... mingling with the infantry and chariotry of Hatti, ... all the people of the land of Hatti mingling with those of Egypt. They ate and drank together, being of one mind, like brothers, no one disdainful of his partner, (rather) peace and brotherhood being between them in accordance with the plan/design of God himself.” From the Hittite side, we know that Queen Puduhepa played an especially important role in the negotiations preceding the signing of the marriage contract (Archi 1997: 8). Despite his impatience at the delay in her arrival - due to difficulties in raising an appropriate dowry - when the beautiful young girl, whom her mother describes as “the daughter of heaven and earth,” is finally about to set out for Pi-Ramesse, Ramesses is delighted (Beckman 1999: 131-36). One of the main issues at stake was the assurance that the princess would become a ruling queen in Egypt (Archi 1997: 13-14).43 When he hears the glad news that his daughter is pregnant, Hattusili writes that, if the child is a boy, he would have a chance to succeed to the Hittite throne. Here we envision the proposed reciprocal arrangement of the ill-fated Zannanza affair! Later we learn that a daughter has been born; and the gods have proclaimed that she will become queen of a foreign land, which will thereby be united with Egypt (Edel 1994: vol. 1,166-67, 226-31, vol. 2, 251,254, 256, 349, 352-53). The letter to Ramesses expressing the Hittite grandparents’ elation reads, in part: “I have rejoiced at (hearing the news of) your daughter; likewise the (whole) land of Hatti. Heaven, earth, the mountains, and the rivers were (also) joyful that the gods have granted you (such) good fortune!” (Edel 1994: vol. 1, 228-29, vol. 2, 352). Indeed, one of Ramesses’ daughters bears the name Neferure, undoubtedly derived from her mother’s name (Desroches Noblecourt 1991: 136; Edel 1994: vol. 2, 257; Archi 1997: 14, n. 51; Leblanc 1999: 270, fig. 73).
World History
