The treaty of pace
The treaty of pace
| In spite of the battle in Qadesh, the hostilities against the ittiti
continued until the sovereign Muwatellish’s death. His successor Hattushilish
III and Ramses signed what we know as the first international treaty in history.
Two versions have been found of it, one in hieroglyphics, engraved on the wall
of the great Hypostyle Chamber in Karnak, the other one, found among the ruins
of the ittita capital Hattusa, written in Babylon cuneiform on clay tablets. To
induce the two sovereigns to the treaty, which has many elements of modernity,
was the threat by the Assiri, bellicose people who risked the integrity of the
two states. The pact was signed around 1269 BC in Pi-Ramses, the capital of the
Egyptian reign that Ramses himself had ordered to build. IT foresaw the
non-belligerence between the two peoples, the mutual help in case of an attack
by an enemy, the sageguard of the respective rights to the throne in the two
states and the extradition of the political refugees if they looked for
hospitality in the respective Countries.
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