Battles & Wars › Ancient world › Battle of Kadesh
Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty
c. 1259 BC· Book, artwork, monument or document· Middle East & Africa
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Ramesses II and Hittite King Hattusili III made a formal peace, one of the earliest surviving written treaties between states.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
About sixteen years after Kadesh, both empires had reasons to stop fighting: Assyria was rising to the east, and Hattusili had seized the Hittite throne from his nephew, who fled to Egypt. The treaty promised peace and brotherhood, mutual defense against outside attack and rebellion, and the return of fugitives. It was written in Akkadian, the diplomatic language of the day. The peace held, and about thirteen years later Ramesses married Hattusili's daughter.
Why it matters
It shows great powers settling a stalemate by negotiation, with clauses on alliance and extradition that still appear in treaties today.
Think of it like
Like neighboring owners ending a costly boundary dispute with a recorded agreement on lines, access and mutual help.
How we know
The Egyptian version is carved at Karnak and the Ramesseum; Hittite clay copies were found at Hattusa (Boğazköy, Turkey). A replica hangs at UN headquarters in New York.
Still debated
Each version says the other side asked for peace first; who really did, and why, is unknown.
Connections (2)
▸Battle of Kadesh led years later to Egyptian–Hittite peace treatyWell documented
The connection
Kadesh showed that neither empire could defeat the other. After years of inconclusive border fighting, with Assyria rising and the Hittite throne contested, both sides chose to fix their frontier in Syria and become allies instead of rivals.
When and how
About sixteen years after the battle, around 1259 BC, between Ramesses II and Hattusili III, Muwatalli's brother.
How we know
The treaty survives in both Egyptian and Hittite versions, and later letters between the two courts show the peace working.
Debates and open questions
Historians weigh how much the treaty owed to Kadesh's stalemate versus the later Assyrian threat and Hittite succession politics.
▸Ramesses II signed Egyptian–Hittite peace treatyWell documented
The connection
In his 21st year as king, Ramesses agreed the treaty with Hattusili III, ending generations of rivalry. He had it carved on temple walls and sealed the peace about thirteen years later by marrying a Hittite princess, keeping the Syrian frontier quiet for the rest of his long reign.
When and how
Egypt and the Hittite capital Hattusa, about 1259 BC; Ramesses II and Hattusili III, whose queens Nefertari and Puduhepa also exchanged letters.
How we know
The Egyptian text says it copies a silver tablet sent by the Hittites; clay copies found at Hattusa match it closely.
Debates and open questions
Neither silver original survives, and the two versions differ on who asked for peace first.