The text of the
Treaty between the Hittites and
Ramses II (Dr. Brugsch's
translation):—
In the year 21,
in the month of Tybi, on the
21st day of the month, in the
reign of king Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the dispenser of life eternally
and for ever, the worshipper of
the divinities, Amun-Ra (of
Thebes), Hor-em-khu (of
Heliopolis), Ptah (of Memphis),
Mut, the lady of the Asher Lake
(near Karnak), and Khonsu, the
peace-loving, there took place a
public sitting on the throne of
Horus among the living,
resembling his father,
Hor-em-khu in eternity, in
eternity, evermore.
On that day the
king was in the city of Ramses (Zoan),
presenting his peace-offerings
to his father, Amun-ra, and to
the gods, Hor-em-khu-Tum, the
lord of Heliopolis (On), and to
Amun of Ramessu Mi-Amun, to Ptah
of Ramessu Mi-Amun, and to
Sutekh, the strong, the son of
Nut, the goddess of heaven, that
they might grant to him many
thirty years' jubilee feasts,
and innumerable happy years, and
the subjection of all peoples
under his feet for ever.
Then came forward
the ambassador of the king and
the governor (of his house, by
name..., and presented the
ambassadors) of the great king
of the Hittites (Khita), Khita-sir,
who were sent to Pharaoh to
propose friendship with the
king, Ramessu Mi-Amun, the
dispenser of life eternally and
for ever, just as his father,
the Sun-god (dispenses it), each
day.
This is the copy
of the contents of the silver
tablet, which the great king of
the Hittites, Khita-sir, had
caused to be made, and which was
presented to the Pharaoh by the
hand of his ambassador Tartibus
and his ambassador Ra-mes, to
propose friendship to the king,
Ramessu Mi-Amun, the bull among
the princes, who places his
boundary-marks where it pleases
him in all lands.
The treaty which
had been proposed by the great
king of the Hittites, Khita-sir,
the powerful, the son of Maro-sir,
the great king of the Hittites,
the powerful, the grandson of
Sapalili, the great king of the
Hittites, the powerful, on the
silver tablet, to Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, the
powerful, the grandson of
Ramessu I, the great king of
Egypt, the powerful,—this was a
good treaty for friendship and
concord, which assured peace
(and established concord) for a
longer period than was
previously the case for a long
time. For it was the agreement
of the great prince of Egypt in
common with the great king of
the Hittites, that the god
should not allow enmity to exist
between them, on the basis of a
treaty.
To wit, in the
times of Mauthaner, the great
king of the Hittites, my
brother, he was at war with (Meneptah
Seti I) the great prince of
Egypt.
But now, from
this very day forward, Khita-sir,
the great king of the Hittites,
shall look upon this treaty, so
that the agreement may remain,
which the Sun-god, Ra, has made,
which the god Sutekh has made,
for the people of Egypt and for
the people of the Hittites, that
there should be no enmity
between them for evermore.
And these are the
contents:—
Khita-sir, the
great king of the Hittites, is
in covenant with Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, from
this very day
forward, that there may subsist
a good friendship and a good
understanding between them for
evermore.
He shall be my
ally; he shall be my friend. I
will be his ally; I will be his
friend; for ever.
To wit: in the
time of Mauthaner, the great
king of the Hittites, his
brother, Khita-sir, after his
murder, placed himself on the
throne of his father as the
great king of the Hittites. I
strove for friendship with
Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt, and it is (my
wish) that the friendship and
the concord may be better than
the friendship and the concord
which before existed, and which
was broken.
I declare: I, the
great king of the Hittites, will
hold together with (Ramessu Mi-Amun)
the great prince of Egypt, in
good friendship and good
concord. The sons of the sons of
the great king of the Hittites
will hold together and be
friends with the sons of the
sons of Ramessu Mi-Amun, the
great prince of Egypt.
In virtue of our
treaty for concord, and in
virtue of our agreement (for
friendship, let the people) of
Egypt (be bound in friendship)
with the people of the Hittites.
Let a like friendship and a like
concord subsist in such measure
for ever.
Never let enmity
rise between them. Never let the
great king of the Hittites
invade the land of Egypt, if
anything has been plundered from
it (the land of the Hittites).
Never let Ramessu Mi-Amun, the
great prince of Egypt, overstep
the boundary of the land (of the
Hittites, if anything shall have
been plundered) from it (the
land of Egypt).
The just treaty
which existed in the times of
Sapalili, the great king of the
Hittites, likewise the just
treaty which existed in the
times of Mauthaner, the great
king of the Hittites, my
brother, that will I keep.
Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt,
declares that he will keep it.
(We have come to an
understanding about it) with one
another at the same time from
this day forward, and we will
fulfil it, and will act in a
righteous manner.
If another shall
come as an enemy to the lands of
Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt, then let him
send an embassy to the great
king of the Hittites to this
effect: “Come,
and make me stronger than him.” Then
shall the great king of the
Hittites (assemble his
warriors), and the king of the
Hittites (shall come) and smite
his enemies. But if it should
not be the wish of the great
king of the Hittites to march
out in person, then he shall
send his warriors and his
chariots that they may smite his
enemies. Otherwise (he would
incur) the wrath of Ramessu Mi-Amun
(the great prince of Egypt. And
if Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt, should banish
for a crime) subjects from his
country, and they should commit
further crime against him, then
shall the king of the Hittites
come forward to kill them. The
great king of the Hittites shall
act in common with (the great
prince of Egypt).
(If another
should come as an enemy to the
lands of the great king of the
Hittites, then shall he send an
embassy to the great prince of
Egypt with the request that) he
would come in great power to
kill his enemies; and if it be
the intention of Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt,
(himself) to come, he shall
(smite the enemies of the great
king of the Hittites. If it is
not the intention of the great
prince of Egypt to march out in
person, then he shall send his
warriors and his two)-horse
chariots, while he sends back
the answer to the people of the
Hittites.
If any subjects
of the great king of the
Hittites have offended him, then
Ramessu Mi-Amun (the great
prince of Egypt, shall not
receive them in his land, but
shall advance to kill them) ...
the oath with the wish to say, I
will go ... until ... Ramessu
Mi-Amun, the great prince of
Egypt, living for ever ... that
he may be given for them (?) to
the lord, and that Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, may
speak according to his agreement
for evermore....
(If servants
shall flee away) out of the
territories of Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, to
betake themselves to) the great
king of the Hittites, the great
king of the Hittites shall not
receive them, but the great king
of the Hittites shall give them
up to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt (that they may
be punished).
If servants of
Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt, leave his
country, and betake themselves
to the land of the Hittites, to
make themselves servants of
another, they shall not remain
in the land of the Hittites,
(but shall be given up) to
Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt.
If, on the other
hand, there should flee away
(servants of the great king of
the Hittites, in order to betake
themselves to) Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, (in
order to stay in Egypt), then
those who have come from the
land of the Hittites in order to
betake themselves to Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, shall
not be (received) by Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt, (but)
the great prince of Egypt,
Ramessu Mi-Amun, (shall deliver
them up to the great king of the
Hittites.
And if shall
leave the land of the Hittites
persons) of skilled mind, so
that they come to the land of
Egypt to make themselves servants
of another, then Ramessu Mi-Amun
shall not allow them to settle,
he shall deliver them up to the
great king of the Hittites.
When this
(treaty) shall be known (by the
inhabitants of the land of Egypt
and of the land of the Hittites,
then shall they not offend
against it, for all that stands
written on) the silver tablet,
these are words which will have
been approved by the company of
the gods, among the male gods,
and among the female gods, among
those, namely, of the land of
the Hittites, and by the company
of the gods among the male gods
and among the female gods, among
those, namely, of the land of
Egypt. They are witnesses for me
(to the validity) of these
words, (which they have allowed.
This is the
catalogue of the gods of the
land of the Hittites:—
(Sutekh of
the city of) Tunep,
Sutekh of the land of the
Hittites,
Sutekh of the city of Arnema,
Sutekh of the city Zaranda
[or Ta-Orontes],
Sutekh of the city of Pilka
[or Pairaka],
Sutekh of the city of
Khisasap,
Sutekh of the city of Sarsu,
Sutekh of the city of
Aleppo,
Sutekh of the city of...,
(Sutekh of the city of...),
Sutekh of the city of
Sarpina,
Astartha [or Antarata] of
the land of the Hittites,
The god of the land of
Zaiath-khirri,
The god of the land of
Ka...,
The god of the land of Kher...,
The goddess of the city of
Akh...,
(The goddess of the city
of....) and of the land of A
... ua,
The goddess of the land of
Zaina,
The god of the land of ...
nath ... er.
(I have invoked
these male and these) female
(gods of the land of the
Hittites, these are the gods) of
the land, as (witnesses to) my
oath. (With them have been
associated the male and the
female gods) of the mountains,
and of the rivers of the land of
the Hittites, the gods of the
land of Kazawatana. Amun, Ra,
Sutekh, and the male and female
gods of the land of Egypt, of
the earth, of the sea, of the
winds, and of the storms.
With regard to
the commandment which the silver
tablet contains for the people
of the Hittites and for the
people of Egypt, he who shall
not observe it shall be given
over (to the vengeance) of the
company of the gods of the
Hittites, and shall be given
over (to the vengeance of the)
company of the gods of Egypt,
(he) and his house and his
servants.
But he who shall
observe these commandments,
which the silver tablet
contains, whether he be of the
people of the Hittites or (of
the people of the Egyptians),
because he has not neglected
them, the company of the gods of
the land of the Hittites and the
company of the gods of the land
of Egypt shall secure his reward
and preserve life (for him) and
his servants, and those who are
with him and who are with his
servants.
If there flee
away of the inhabitants (one
from the land of Egypt), or two
or three, and they betake
themselves to the great king of
the Hittites, (the great king of
the Hittites shall not) allow
them (to remain, but he shall)
deliver them up, and send them
back to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the
great prince of Egypt.
Now with regard
to the (inhabitant of the land
of Egypt), who is delivered up
to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt, his fault shall
not be avenged upon him, his
(house) shall not be taken away,
nor his (wife), nor his
(children). There shall not be
(put to death his mother,
neither shall he be punished in
his eyes, nor in his mouth, nor
on the soles of his feet), so
that thus no crime shall be
brought forward against him.
In the same way
shall it be done, if inhabitants
of the land of the Hittites take
to flight, be it one alone, or
two or three, to betake
themselves to Ramessu Mi-Amun,
the great prince of Egypt;
Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great
prince of Egypt, shall cause
them to be seized, and they
shall be delivered up to the
great king of the Hittites.
(With regard to)
him who (is delivered up, his
crime shall not be brought
forward against him). His
(house) shall not be taken away,
nor his wives nor his children,
nor his people; his mother shall
not be put to death, he shall
not be punished in his eyes, nor
on his mouth, nor on the soles
of his feet, nor shall any
accusation be brought forward
against him.
That which is in
the middle of this silver tablet
and on its front side is a
likeness of the god Sutekh ...
surrounded by an inscription to
this effect: “This
is the (picture) of the god
Sutekh, the king of heaven and
(earth).” At
the time (?) of the treaty which
the great king of the Hittites,
Khita-sir made....
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