The dynasty of the Hatti none the less retained the throne; Hattusil, brother of the ill-starred leader, whose end we have described, now became Great King, and Putukhipa, Princess of Qizwadna, was his queen. As daughter of the city of Arinna, the home of the sun-god, this lady was probably the foremost of the land, and her union with the Prince of the Hatti was one of the events that contributed to restore the prestige of his house. As Khetasar this monarch looms big in the pages of Egyptian history, and indeed his reign was one of considerable importance and duration. But, as with his compeer upon the throne of Egypt, the actual tendency of events throughout this reign shows signs of weakening in the Hittite power and the gradual dismemberment of their empire.[813] As with Egypt also from this date, this reign was free from serious conflict or disturbance in Syria. Assyria had fallen temporarily behind in the bid for empire, the Mitannians were utterly submerged, and neither of the other two powers was yet disposed to resume hostilities. One of Hattusil’s first acts contributed indeed to secure the tranquillity of his frontier in this direction, by the reinstatement of Put-akhi as Chief of the Amorites, under the same terms of vassalage as of old.[814] It was indeed to Hattusil’s intervention that the Amorite prince owed his life at the time of his disaffection; and now, with a Hittite princess (Gashuliawi) for wife, Put-akhi was united in his allegiance by a double bond.
Later in his reign, about 1271 B.C., Hattusil succeeded in bringing about a definite offensive and defensive alliance, and treaty of extradition, ‘a good treaty for friendship and concord, which was to assure peace, for a longer period than beforetime’ with the Pharaoh. The preliminary negotiations occupied many months, and were carried out with a full measure of oriental dignity. The queens on either side took part in the negotiations, and the chief wife of Rameses wrote to Putukhipa specially expressing her satisfaction when the affair was concluded. The first draft of the treaty was clearly prepared by the Hittite diplomatists; not only does the name of the Hittite king come first in all cases where both names occur, but a summary has been found among their archives which does not contain all the clauses finally incorporated.[815] It is prefaced with an historical preamble, after the well-established precedent found in the Hittite treaties with the Amorites and the Mitannians, as well as with minor vassal states. Only in this case, the treaty being one of equity, no pointed allusion was made to the first conquest of Subbi-luliuma on the one side, or to the exploits of Sety on the other: the fact of past wars and of the previous interim treaties was mentioned, but now the two kings were to be as allies, friends, and brothers, with a good understanding between them for evermore. Neither should henceforth invade the other’s lands, the boundary between them being the northern Lebanon; on the other hand, if either was in distress of war, and appealed to the other for assistance, then troops should be sent accordingly; their warfare should be in common.[816] Minor matters, such as the question of fugitive servants and refugees, were also arranged.
We do not know whether duplicate copies of this treaty were actually exchanged, but this may be inferred from the fact that an Egyptian embassy was received in the Hittite capital.[817] The Egyptian record of this affair, inscribed on the walls of the temple of Karnak, only makes it known that two Hittite ambassadors, by name ‘Tal-tisebu’ and ‘Rameses,’ accompanied by a goodly retinue, presented the Hittite copy engraved on a silver tablet to the Pharaoh.
The gods of all the Hittites were separately invoked, after their time-honoured custom, as guardians to the inviolability of this treaty. The sun-god, lord of heaven, takes first place, followed by the sun-god of Arinna. Then come the various localised forms of Sandes,[818] called Sutekh by the Egyptians, and associated here with nine chief states, in which we seem to recognise three,[819] Arinna, Aleppo (Khilpa), and Sarisu, possibly the classical Sareisa. A list of the tutelary deities follows, including seven gods and three goddesses,[820] but possibly the gaps in the text betoken others. Finally, the god of the land, the queen of heaven, the goddess of the soil, the mistress of the oath, the goddess (Askhir) of the mountains, and the rivers of the Hittite lands, are appealed to; with a last reference to the gods of Qizwadna, the home of the Hittite queen, and to those of Egypt, who are all covered by one clause. The designs and inscriptions of the seals are of special interest: upon the tablet itself these were naturally engraved. On the obverse, we are told, there was the image of the Hittite national god embracing the Great King,[821] surrounded by an inscription rendered, through the medium of the Egyptian text, ‘The Seal of Sutekh, Prince of Heaven,’ and ‘the seal of the treaty made by Khetasar (Hattusil) son of Maursar (Mursil), the great and powerful king of the Hittites.’ This was the seal of the Hittite god of the skies. The reverse was parallel, only in place of the figure of Sandes was that of the sun-god of Arinna, lord of the whole earth, and the Great Queen was shown in the deity’s embrace. Around was an inscription, ‘The seal of the sun-god of the city of Arinna, lord of the earth,’ and ‘The seal of Putukhipa, Great Queen of the Hittites, daughter of the land of Qizwadna ... of the land of Arinna, the mistress of its territory, the priestess of its goddess.’
The fame of this treaty was noised abroad, and an inquiry was received from the king of Babylonia as to its purport. The Hittite king replied[822] with firmness and obvious exultation: ‘I will inform my brother: the king of Egypt and I have made an alliance, and made ourselves brothers. Brothers we are and will [unite against] a common foe, and with friends in common.’ The letter continues with an explanation of the previous warfare between the nations that had rendered this compact desirable, and allusion is made to the inroads of the Pharaoh on the Hittite lands.
Though relations between Egypt and Babylonia at this time were well established, it might have been thought that Babylon was too distant to have been much concerned with the Hittite seated in the north of Asia Minor. Yet in fact at this time only the eastward extension of the Amorite realm divided the two powers, just as the same people formed the frontier with Egypt further west. Diplomatic relations had indeed been opened between them for fully a generation, and several long letters have been recovered. They refer chiefly to the brigandage of the Amorites, whom the Hittite king is asked to keep in order, and punish as being his vassals. It is interesting to notice also the influence which Hattusil exerted, through the forceful language of his ambassador at the Babylonian court, and his own almost threatening diplomatic letters, interfering even in the settlement of the succession to the Babylonian throne. This subject might well be regarded as outside the sphere of international politics, and the Babylonian king found reason to object also to the terms of the communication on this matter, which would have been addressed more fittingly to a vassal rather than a compeer. But Hattusil’s reply is worthy of record: ‘I only wrote this, “If you do not acknowledge the son of your lord, will it not happen that if an enemy attack you, I will not come to your aid?” for my brother was then a child, and he is an evil man who deals according to evil thoughts.’
Questions of foreign policy also were discussed by these two powers in several letters. One fragment from Babylon shows that the increasing power of Assyria[823] was the problem of the moment, and a reply of Hattusil[824] shows that they were being drawn together on this matter, which was of grave concern to them both. His advice to the younger king, expressed in flattering terms, to ‘go and plunder the land of the foe,’ indicates the astute politician’s anxiety to get the sword that hung menacing over his own head removed. The situation that now developed is one of considerable historical interest. Like Tushratta of Mitanni on the approach of the Hatti, so now the Hittite king at this crisis took special means to ensure the support of Egypt, where Rameses the Great still sat upon the throne of Thebes beside the tranquil Nile. Formerly Tushratta had granted a daughter in marriage at the first time of asking, contrary to precedent; but now not only was the first Hittite princess seemingly offered to Rameses, to take a place among the other royal wives, but the Hittite king himself with great state accompanied her to Egypt, and, escorted up the Nile, visited the Egyptian monarch in his capital, an event without parallel in oriental history. Naturally Rameses made adequate record of this incident,[825] and the beauties of his new bride received the praises of his courtiers.
Little is known of the two successors of Hattusil, Dudkhalia, and his son Arnuanta, under whom the dynasty of the Hatti kings was prolonged into the twelfth century, B.C. An edict issued by the former concerns the organisation of the empire and the position of the greater vassals.[826] The names of some of the chieftains transpire among the witnesses to the document: Eni-Tessub[827] appears at this time as king of Carchemish, which was probably the second state of the empire. Another event in the reign of Dudkhalia is a ‘treaty’ with the king of Aleppo, doubtless a ratification of the terms of vassalage, but the name of that chieftain is not revealed.
The name of Arnuanta, his son, who in turn became Great King, is the last of the dynasty that has come to light, and circumstances tend to show that the day of Hatti dominion was really over. He is known only from two fragments of royal edicts, and a more complete document (found in the débris of a gateway), seemingly an elaborate land register or cadastral survey.[828] This is rendered of special interest by the seals, which, like the famous boss of Tarkudimme, were inscribed in Hittite hieroglyphs and in cuneiform. The Hittite inscription on one seal is defaced, but the cuneiform can be read in both cases. The first seal is that of Arnuanta himself, the Great King, son of Dudkhalia. The second gives the names of the royal ladies, namely, the Queen-Mother Tawâssi,[829] and his wife, the Great Queen, Munidan; while a daughter of Dudkhalia is mentioned, though her name is lost.
The appearance of these royal women side by side with the monarch in the transaction of state affairs reawakens a whole series of interesting allusions which transpire in the earlier archives of this dynasty, indicating a clear position of authority held by the female side, and even suggesting a matriarchal system of succession to the throne. In the edict of Dudkhalia the Queen-Mother, Putu-khipa, is mentioned as co-ruler; and we have seen above that she separately placed her seal upon the treaty with Egypt, wherein she is described as Great Queen of the land of the Hittites, ... of the land of Arinna, the mistress of its territory.’ Further, the son of this powerful lady succeeded to the throne upon the death of Mutallu, even though the latter’s son was still alive (being mentioned in documents of Hattusil). During the interregnum[830] she maintained the continuity of the government, with sole powers in her hands, as appears from her correspondence at this time with Rameses. The title of Hattusil himself to the throne can best be explained in view of these facts, by his marriage with this lady, a first princess of the land;[831] and that her son would succeed seems to have been foreseen by Rameses II. when he wrote to her diplomatically, wishing him ‘good health.’ The part taken by royal women in state affairs in the East can be illustrated from modern events in China, which under its Mongol rulers presents us with so much interesting comparison, no less than from the records of the correspondence between Egypt and Mitanni in the age with which we deal.