Turkey > The Kadesh War and Peace Treaty

The Kadesh War and Peace Treaty

As a result of the pitched battle fought near Kadesh in 1285 BC between Ramses II and Muwatalli came the Kadesh Peace Treaty.

According to the terms of this treaty Ramses II returned the cities he had conquered and the City of Kadesh remained Hittite. As the monarch Muwatalli was killed in a Hittite army riot during the writing of the Peace Treaty, it was signed by his successor Hattushili III (1269 BC). This treaty is the oldest treaty in world history that has equality as its principle. The original text of the treaty, written on silver tablets in cuneiform writing in the Akkadian language, Was lost. The text was also carved on the walls of the temples in Egypt. Another copy was discovered on clay tablets at the Bogazkoy-Hattusha excavations and it is now exhibited at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

An enlarged version of the clay tablet version of the Kadesh Treaty found at Hattusha is attached to the United Nations Building in New York.