II.

The New Hittite Kingdom

About 1450 BC the so-called New Hittite Kingdom was founded. One of its most important members, the royal prince Suppiluliuma (reigned about 1380-1346 bc), usurped the throne during a period of foreign invasions. After liberating his country and defeating his main enemy, the kingdom of Mitanni in northern Mesopotamia, he led his armies farther into Syria. There his conquests were made easier by a weakening of Egyptian power during the reign of the pharaoh Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaton. Thus the Hittite Kingdom under Suppiluliuma became a great empire rivaling the power of Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria. After the death of Suppiluliuma, the Hittites were largely able to maintain their empire, although only by constant warfare. During the 15th and 14th centuries bc their holdings extended westward to the Aegean Sea, eastward into Armenia, southeastward into upper Mesopotamia, and southward into Syria as far as present-day Lebanon.

During the last half of the 14th century bc, the Hittites continued to come into frequent conflict with Egypt. The two great powers struggled for control of Syria until a battle was fought in Kadesh, Syria, between the Hittite king Muwatalli (reigned about 1315-1296 bc) and the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. Although Ramses claimed a great victory, the Hittites continued to maintain their hold on Syria. The Hittite king Hattusili III (reigned about 1289-1265 bc) concluded a treaty of peace and alliance with Ramses years later and subsequently gave him his daughter in marriage. Thereafter, relations between the Hittites and Egyptians remained friendly until the Hittite Empire fell shortly after 1200 bc to invaders called the Sea Peoples in Egyptian records.