War & Trade With the Pharaohs

by Garry J. Shaw

  One of the more interesting examples is that of Abdiashirta of Amurru,

  a region on the edge of southern Syria. Though an Egyptian vassal, this local ruler had an expansionist policy, which particularly bothered another of Egypt’s vassals, Ribaddi of Byblos, who frequently wrote to pharaoh to complain. When plundering local cities, Abdiashirta enlisted local ‘Apiru’

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  as mercenaries – these were people of various backgrounds, who lived in bands as refugees outside the cities. Most local rulers regarded them as violent outlaws. Abdiashirta’s expansionism came to an abrupt halt when he occupied an Egyptian fortress in Sumur, arguing that he had, in fact, saved it. The Egyptians, unconvinced, captured Abdiashirta and dragged him to Egypt, where he was executed. One of his sons, Aziru, then took his place and immediately continued his father’s expansionist policy, attacking neighbouring cities (including Sumur), showing a spectacular lack of learning from the past. As Aziru should probably have predicted, he was then summoned to the Egyptian court to explain himself. Surprisingly, he managed to convince the pharaoh that he was not rebellious at all, and that he was actually extremely loyal. The Egyptians allowed him to return to Amurru, where he immediately defected to the Hittite cause.

  The Diplomatic Service

  Archaeologists found many of the Amarna Letters in the ‘Records Office’

  at Amarna, where such diplomatic correspondence was stored. Among the

  letters were also thirty-two ‘scholarly tablets,’ bearing mythological texts, vocabularies, and even literary narratives in cuneiform script. It appears that scribes versed in Akkadian were based in this office, who might themselves have been foreigners or Egyptians trained to understand cuneiform. If the latter, through training by reading and copying Mesopotamian literature and other such texts, foreign learning and cultural understanding would have passed into the Egyptian court as a form of cultural transmission.

  There’s no evidence for Egyptian dignitaries being permanently based

  in foreign countries (except for areas under Egyptian control). And foreign ambassadors didn’t have an ‘embassy’ in Egypt; vassals, however, could own property: a chief of Sidon had a house at the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Ramesside Period, for example. Instead of being resident in foreign cities, envoys were sent from Egypt whenever a message needed to be delivered.

  Such long-distance journeys posed many dangers: King Burnaburiash of

  Babylon wrote to Akhenaten, saying that his merchants were travelling

  through Egypt’s Levantine territory, on their way to Egypt, when they were beaten and robbed in the town of Hanatun by men sent by the ruler of Akko.

  As this region was under Egyptian control, he asked that the pharaoh bind the thieves and return the stolen goods.

  Even after arriving at their destination, messengers could be treated

  miserably by their foreign hosts. In one of the Amarna Letters, an envoy War and Trade with the Pharaohs.indd 103

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  is referred to as an ‘ass-herder’ and a liar. Even worse, Akhenaten forced Assyrian diplomats to stand in the blazing sun, probably whilst attending a royal ceremony or religious event, prompting King Ashuruballit I to write to Akhenaten in frustration. An envoy’s return journey could also be prob-lematic. Foreign messengers at pharaoh’s court had to wait for the king to find the time to respond to the message delivered. This could take years.

  Afterwards, even with the reply in hand, they had to wait until the king gave them permission to return home and supplied them with provisions and

  protection for the journey. Spying at court was probably an element of life as an envoy too, but there is no evidence for it. Nevertheless, intelligence gathering was a topic of conversation between Egypt and her vassal states in the Amarna Letters. Akhenaten asked Zimreddi of Sidon to report to him

  on everything the vassal heard about Amurru, for example. The king was

  keeping an eye on his vassals, and expected them to snitch on one another.

  Foreigners at Amarna

  A great reception was held at Amarna in Akhenaten’s twelfth year as king (with the campaigning in Nubia, and the expansion of the Hittite Empire, it must have been a busy year!). This reception is depicted in the tombs of the courtiers Meryre II and Huya at Amarna, which show large scenes

  of foreigners bringing tribute. Among the dignitaries present, people from the Aegean bring metal vessels; Puntites carry incense; there’s Libyans with ostrich feathers and eggs; Asiatics offering horses and chariots; and Nubians bringing gold.

  This great event isn’t the only evidence for the presence of foreigners at Amarna. A fragmentary papyrus in the British Museum, found at Amarna,

  depicts two Libyan archers and a kneeling Egyptian. From the posture of the Libyans and the Egyptian, it appears as if the Egyptian is about to be killed.

  Another scene from the same papyrus shows Egyptians and Mycenaeans

  running. Although the Mycenaeans aren’t identified in writing, their boar’s tusk helmets are quite distinctive and unlike those worn by the Egyptians.

  At the top of this scene, an Egyptian thrusts a dagger into an enemy, probably a Libyan. These scenes are of interest, not only because they suggest that the Egyptians faced an incursion from Libyan groups under Akhenaten (an otherwise unattested event), but because they also suggest that Mycenaeans were fighting alongside the Egyptians, and may even have been living at Amarna. Intriguingly, the house in which this papyrus was discovered

  contained a complete Mycenaean vessel, further suggestive of a foreign

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  presence. A large number of Mycenaean pottery sherds have also been found during excavations at the city; these probably contained oils brought from the Greek mainland.

  The Uluburun Shipwreck: International Sea Trade

  During the Amarna Period, a vessel was wrecked off the coast of south-

  ern Turkey, in an area today known as Uluburun. When excavated, this ship was found to contain goods from across the then known world: objects from northern Europe and Africa, Mesopotamia to the east, and as far west as Sicily formed its cargo. In total, items from about nine or ten different cultures were revealed, among them a gold ring bearing the name of Queen Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten. The main commodity onboard was copper, made in an ‘ox-hide’

  shape, followed by tin. There was also gold, silver, electrum, and even jars filled with seeds. Among the finished goods were glass beads, and gold and silver jewellery. Over 100 jars of terebinth resin for ritual use were also being transported, as well as glass ingots for glass production and un-carved hippo ivory.

  The traders had stored various ceramic items in pithoi (large storage jars), including Cypriote oil lamps. Indeed, most of the ceramics in the pithoi seem to be of Cypriote origin, and were a secondary cargo, probably picked up along the journey (the oil lamps hadn’t been used). It seems that the crew thought they could sell these items on, perhaps for their quality, but probably also in some cases as status symbols – in Egypt, foreign pottery was sometimes kept for show, and local imitations were even made.

  These normally display no signs of use, indicating that they were purely for decoration.

  Given its contents, the Uluburun wreck has been identified as a mer-

  chant ship, travelling anticlockwise around the Mediterranean coastline – it was normal at this time for ships to remain in view of land as much as possible, rather than sailing in the open sea. Following a well-travelled shipping route, the vessel probably stopped at numerous ports along the way; from the north coast of Egypt, up the Levant, it would have stopped at cities such as Ashkelon, Byblos, and Ugarit, before travelling westward along th
e southern coast of Turkey towards Greece. Then, from Crete, it would have headed southward, crossing the open sea on its way to North Africa, where the aim was probably to reach Mersa Matruh in western Egypt. From there, the circle began again.

  So who were these sailors, and where did their ship originate? The ship was probably constructed in the Levant, and based on the objects of daily War and Trade with the Pharaohs.indd 105

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  use found onboard, as well as a votive figurine, its crew were a mixture of people of Levantine and Mycenaean origin. Some of the items found probably belonged to these sailors, including fishing equipment, used oil lamps (which had been charred), a writing panel, weights, and perhaps even some bronze bowls.

  Foreign Relations Under Tutankhamun

  With the death of Akhenaten, and the shadowy reigns of his immediate successors, we reach Tutankhamun, who came to the throne at a young age

  and died after only ten years. But although the boy king’s reign was short, there was still time for warfare. He was perhaps particularly keen to re-establish Egypt’s importance in the east, for in his Restoration Stele – erected at Karnak Temple to record the return to tradition following the Amarna revolution – it’s said that before his reign, military ventures into the Levant had failed.

  From Hittite sources, it appears that Tutankhamun launched a campaign

  against Qadesh in his final years on the throne. Egyptian temple blocks decorated under the boy king may depict events from this campaign.

  Among the dramatic scenes are images of the Egyptians riding their chariots towards an unnamed Syrian fortress; an enemy collapsing over the legs of an Egyptian horse; and Asiatics falling from the battlements of the fortress, while Egyptians, armed with shields and spears, climb ladders to gain

  entry. The Egyptians took prisoners and marched with severed hands on

  their spears; and, when sailing along the Nile, triumphant after the battle, they hung a cage from the royal barge, an imprisoned Syrian, dressed in a long robe, held inside. Tribute scenes at Karnak Temple, carved under Tutankhamun, also show Asiatic prisoners (as well as tribute arriving from Punt). All of this infuriated the Hittites, who retaliated by launching an attack on the Egyptian territory of Amka.

  General Horemheb led the Egyptian army during this eastern campaign.

  Consequently, scenes of warfare from his royal mortuary temple – he later became king – perhaps show events from the boy king’s reign: here, the

  battlements of a Syrian city are identified as Qadesh, a royal chariot battle rages, charioteers shoot arrows, and Asiatics lie dead. Horemheb also owned a tomb at Saqqara, constructed and decorated before he became king.

  The inscriptions stress his reputation among the Hittites and his presence on the battlefield; and in a depiction, bound prisoners are brought before Tutankhamun. Interestingly, another scene in Horemheb’s tomb shows a

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  delegation of foreigners from the east arriving at the Egyptian court and speaking to the king through an interpreter.

  There was also warfare in Nubia under Tutankhamun. The royal chariot,

  marching troops, and singing Asiatic and Nubian mercenaries are all depicted on temple blocks; and the Nubians are described as having collapsed, their chiefs slaughtered, because they had violated Egypt’s borders. This same campaign might be depicted at Gebel Silsilah, where Horemheb as king is shown returning from a campaign in Kush; again, because Horemheb served as general under Tutankhamun, this event may have occurred during the

  boy king’s reign.

  From the Theban tomb of Tutankhamun’s King’s Son of Kush Huy, we

  also gain an insight into Egypt’s control of Nubia and the responsibilities of this important office in the final days of the 18th Dynasty. Huy mentions his appointment to king’s son of Kush under Tutankhamun, and the treasury

  chief awarding him the seal of office. Afterwards, he held authority from Hierakonpolis to the region of Napata, effectively from southern Egypt

  down to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile – a significant amount of territory.

  As part of his work, Huy collected tribute in Nubia, to be presented at a royal audience before Tutankhamun. Huy’s men loaded the tribute onto ships,

  which sailed north to the royal court. There, the various Nubian rulers of Wawat and Kush also presented offerings, prostrating themselves before the king. One Nubian princess arrived by chariot, pulled by two cows. Among the prostrating Nubian rulers was a man named Hekanefer, shown in full

  Nubian dress with feathers in his hair. Hekanefer, the ruler of Aniba, had earlier been a child of the royal nursery – meaning that he’d been raised and educated at Egypt’s royal court with the princes. Interestingly, given his depiction in the Tomb of Huy, in Hekanefer’s own tomb at Toshka in Nubia, he wears only Egyptian clothing, and was buried with a traditional Egyptian burial assemblage.

  The Death of a Hittite Prince

  With Tutankhamun’s death at a young age, there was no successor to the

  Egyptian throne: the 18th Dynasty was in danger of collapse. This is when a rather shadowy series of events occurred, primarily known from the account of the Hittite King Mursilis II, written years after the events described.

  According to Mursilis, King Suppiluliuma I, his father, was in Carchemish after a successful campaign against the Egyptian territory of Amka – revenge for Tutankhamun’s attempt to retake Qadesh. This, Mursilis adds, made the War and Trade with the Pharaohs.indd 107

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  people of Egypt afraid because their king, identified as ‘Nibhururiya’ – most probably a rendering of Nebkheperure, one of Tutankhamun’s royal names

  – had just died. Then, unexpectedly, a letter from the widowed Egyptian queen arrived, addressed to Suppiluliuma. ‘My husband is dead! I have no son’, she wrote. ‘Yet I am told that you have many sons. If you would give me one of your sons, he would become my husband. Never shall I pick out a servant of mine and make him my husband!’2

  This surprised Suppiluliuma, so he called a meeting of his council to

  discuss the matter. Sceptical of the queen’s true intent, he sent his chamberlain to Egypt to investigate whether the Egyptians were trying to deceive him (and probably to see whether they had a secret prince stashed away

  somewhere). The Hittite’s lack of trust angered the widowed queen, who

  sent him a second letter, reiterating her desperate situation. Despite his initial hesitation, Suppiluliuma became convinced of the queen’s honesty, and sent his son to Egypt for marriage. The specifics of what happened next are obscure, only the outcome is clear: the Hittite prince died en route to Egypt. After hearing the news, Suppiluliuma became enraged; he accused

  the Egyptians of murder and sent his army into combat against them.

  Tutankhamun dead and the Amarna movement buried, the elderly Vizier

  Aye, who was perhaps also father of Queen Nefertiti (wife of Akhenaten), ruled as king for a short time. To legitimize his claim to the throne, he might have married Tutankhamun’s widow, Ankhesenamun (although evidence for

  this rests on a single ring bearing their names side by side). Meanwhile, following the death of his son, the Hittite king attacked Egyptian territory in the Levant, breaking an existing treaty between Egypt and Hatti. During this campaign, disaster struck: the troops contracted a plague, which they brought back to Hatti. It ravaged the Hittites for the next twenty years, and was regarded as divine punishment for them breaking the treaty with the Egyptians. Back in Egypt, because Aye had no heir, General Horemheb

  ascended the throne. His reign was reasonably uneventful: campaigning

  continued in the Levant and a new treaty with the Hittites possibly came into force, tempo
rarily solving the Qadesh issue. Horemheb’s greatest impact on history was his appointment of the Vizier Pa-Ramessu as his successor. It was a decision that would change Egypt’s history forever.

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  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.