War & Trade With the Pharaohs by Garry J. Shaw

Author:Garry J. Shaw [Shaw, Garry J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Ancient
Goodreads: 36253580
Publisher: Pen and Sword Archaeology
Published: 2017-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The Hittites and the Ramessides

(1298–1187 BCE)

With the Mitanni now swallowed by the Hittite Empire, and Egypt’s

dynastic succession severed, the wider world was changing. To

make matters worse, a plague swept through the Near East,

claiming both King Suppiluliuma I and his eldest son Arnuwanda a year

later. This left another royal son, Mursilis II, to briefly reign over the Hittite Empire, after which, in around 1295 BCE, his own son, Muwatallis, came

to power. It wasn’t the best time to become king of the Hittites. Instability rocked the fringes of the empire, to the north and west, but also in the south, in the borderlands with the Egyptians. Muwatallis had to choose his battles carefully, for to strengthen one region would deplete his troops in another –

and this could be disastrous. To enhance his control of the north, Muwatallis put his brother, Hattusilis, in charge of this rebellious territory, where the Kaska people lived. There, Hattusilis fought several campaigns.

Around this time, Muwatallis moved the Hittite capital from Hattusa

(modern Boghazkoy in Turkey) in the north to Tarhuntassa – an as yet

unidentified city much further south in central Anatolia. Muwatallis’ reason seems to have been security: he wanted to keep his capital safe, far from the warfare threatening his empire’s stability at its fringes. But its only result was to encourage further rebellion in the north. Hattusilis records that the king

– his brother, let’s not forget – sent only 120 teams of horses to fight with him against the rebels (who, he says, had 800 teams of horses). Nevertheless, against all odds, he managed to defeat the rebels and reclaimed the land they’d stolen. Muwatallis proclaimed his brother king of the north.

Meanwhile... Back in Egypt

While the Hittites had been expanding their influence, defeating the Mitanni, building their empire, succumbing to plague, and fighting rebellions, a man named Pa-Ramessu, born in the north-east Delta – close to where the Hyksos had once established their capital – had been working his way up through Egypt’s military hierarchy. From the position of stable-master, he’d War and Trade with the Pharaohs.indd 109

6/19/2017 12:55:47 PM

110 War and Trade with the Pharaohs

advanced to become commander at the fortress of Sile – a border fortification on the eastern edge of the Delta – and served as a royal messenger in foreign countries. Perhaps due to a combination of skill, pure luck, and nepotism, he was eventually appointed vizier by King Horemheb, who had

been a military man himself before ascending the throne. Like his immediate royal predecessors, Horemheb had no surviving children, and having witnessed the problems that an unclear dynastic succession could bring, wanted to leave Egypt in stable hands upon his death. His solution was Pa-Ramessu, who, although quite elderly by this time, had both a son and a grandson to succeed him. And so, when Horemheb died, taking the 18th Dynasty with

him to the grave, his appointed successor Pa-Ramessu was crowned as King Ramesses I. The 19th Dynasty, and the Ramesside Period, was born.

Crowned in his advanced age, Ramesses I

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.