Qadesh In The Amarna Age

How This Syrian City Became The Front Line For Imperial Conquest

Sep 25, 2009

During the Late Bronze Age Egypt's 18th Dynasty was at the apex of its wealth and power, but it was soon to see its authority over its vassal territories challenged.

The southwestern Syrian city of Qadesh had been loyal to the Kingdom of Mittani throughout much of the 15th century B.C.E., and had even led an army against Egypt at the Battle of Megiddo. However, after the conquests of Tuthmoses III, (ca. 1479-1425 B.C.E.), the city of Qadesh became one of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s most important and strategically placed client states. By the reign of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III (ca. 1390-1352), Qadesh was the key to Egypt’s control over trade coming along the inland routes from central Syria and Babylonia.

The Hittite Invasion

The Amarna Letters, a trove of diplomatic correspondence from Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and the Hittite Archives, found in the ruins of the ancient city of Hattusha, tell how the city of Qadesh went from being an important hub of trade to become the ultimate prize in an epic struggle between two empires.

During this period, often termed the Amarna Age, Qadesh became a focal point of conflict as the Hittites, under Suppililiuma I (ca. 1357-1322 B.C.E.), invaded Syria and began to divest the Mittani Kingdom of its territory west of the Euphrates River. According to Hittite accounts, Suppililiuma originally intended to avoid conflict with Qadesh, as it was under Egyptian control and the Hittites had an existing treaty with Egypt.

However, even though the Hittites had not planned on it, the King of Qadesh, Shuttarna, and his son, Aittakama, rode out to meet them in battle, ca. 1350 B.C.E. The Hittite army easily defeated the forces of Qadesh. Both the king and prince were captured and deported northward to the Hittite homeland of Hatti. In a move that was characteristic to the Hittites, Aittakama was soon returned to Qadesh as a vassal ruler who had sworn loyalty to the Hittite King.

The King Of Qadesh And Imperial Politics

In the Amarna Letters several interesting accounts of Aittakama’s rule can be found. The fledgling ruler made attempts to capitalize politically as a vassal stuck between the ancient power of the pharaoh and the burgeoning might of the Hittite Empire. Letters from the ruler of Qatna to the Pharaoh complain of Qadesh’s treasonous behavior. Aittakama, in his own letter sent to Egypt, claimed his innocence and he professed himself to be a loyal subject of the Pharaoh.

However, at the same time as these letters were written, Aittakama had already moved aggressively against his neighbors. The ruler of Qadesh created an alliance of disaffected cities and territories that had been loyal to the Pharaoh. These allies had now shifted allegiance away from Egypt as Suppililiuma launched a series of successful military campaigns in the region. Key among Aittakama’s allies was another important Egyptian vassal, Aziru of Amurru, who controlled the lands to the south of Ugarit. Together these two rulers destabilized Egypt’s frontier significantly.

Qadesh quickly became the target of Egyptian counterattacks against the Hittites. Strategically the city gave control over the vital Orontes Valley to its occupier, and no major attack by the Egyptians could be launched farther northward while this city and its supply of water and fertile soil lay in Hittite hands. One attack, ca. 1322 B.C.E, may have taken place during the reign of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun (ca. 1336-1322 B.C.E.), but it apparently enjoyed little success and was followed by a strong Hittite counterattack in the Amka region to the southwest of Qadesh.

The Death Of King Aittakama

King Aittakama managed to rule Qadesh for a total of 28 years (ca. 1340-1312 B.C.E.) until he launched another revolt, this time to reject Hittite rule. During his reign Aittakama had survived a number of unsuccessful revolts against the Hittites, but this time he was killed by his own son, Niqmaddu who was a Hittite loyalist.

Although Niqmaddu killed his own father in an attempt to prove Qadesh's loyalty to the Hittites, he was himself deported to the court of the Hittite King, then based at Ashtata along the Euphrates River to south of Karkemesh, where he was made to renew his oath of vassalage. The length of Niqmaddu’s tenure as ruler of Qadesh is unknown, and it is possible that the city soon came to be administered by a Hittite military governor.

The following decades were marked by repeated Egyptian attempts to retake the vital city. Notable are the campaigns of Seti I (ca. 1290-1279 B.C.E.), who successfully captured the city, albeit briefly, and his successor, Ramses II (ca. 1279-1213 B.C.E.), who would lead Egyptian forces into near disaster at the Battle of Qadesh, ca. 1275 B.C.E. However, despite this effort by Egypt, Qadesh would remain under Hittite control until the invasion of the Sea Peoples and the destruction of the city in the 12th Century B.C.E.

Bryce, Trevor, Kingdom of the Hittites, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005)

Moran, William, The Amarna Letters, (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992)

Roaf, Michael, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, (Andromeda, Oxfordshire, 2004.)

Shaw, Ian. “The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt” (Oxford University Press, 2000)

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