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Primary sourceDocumentc. 1258 BCE

Egyptian–Hittite Peace Treaty

c. 1258 BCE

The earliest surviving peace treaty, agreed by Ramesses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III to end decades of war.

Ramesses II agreed this treaty with the Hittite king, ending their long war and securing peace in his reign.

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Two clay cuneiform tablets on a clear acrylic stand against a red background. The larger tablet is broken into several fragments, covered in dense wedge-shaped writing. A smaller tablet fragment sits at lower right, also inscribed.
Hittite tablet of the Egyptian–Hittite Peace Treaty, c. 1258 BCE. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul.

About this source

What it is

This treaty was agreed between Ramesses II of Egypt and Hattusili III of the Hittites, around Year 21 of Ramesses's reign. The Egyptian version was carved in hieroglyphs on temple walls at Thebes, while the Hittite version survives on baked clay tablets found at their capital, Hattusa, now in Turkey and Germany.

Why it matters

It is the oldest known peace treaty where both sides' texts survive, ending a long war that included the Battle of Kadesh. Each version claims the other side asked for peace, showing how rulers shaped the story to flatter themselves. It reveals how two great powers of the ancient Near East managed conflict and diplomacy.

Look closer

  • Why might each side's version claim it was the other who asked for peace?
  • What does it tell us that this treaty was carved on temple walls as well as written on clay?
  • What does the treaty leave out about the human cost of the war?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ramses II (Ramses the Great) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Sepia photograph of the facade of the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt, with four seated colossal statues of Ramesses II carved into the rock. A small standing man at lower left shows scale. A doorway lies between the middle statues, and hieroglyphs are carved across the upper wall.Photograph

Secondary source

Abu Simbel Temple Colossi

Pascal Sébah · 1875

Facade of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel carved into a sandstone cliff under a clear blue sky. Four seated colossal statues of a pharaoh flank the central doorway, with a sand-covered walkway leading up to the entrance.Artifact

Primary source

Abu Simbel

Ramesses II · c. 1273 BCE

Sepia photograph of the Abu Simbel temple facade in Egypt. A colossal seated stone statue of a pharaoh with a striped headdress dominates the right. Beside it stands a statue of a falcon-headed god wearing a sun disk. Relief carvings and hieroglyphs cover the wall, and a small seated man at the bottom gives scale. Caption reads Abou Simbel, Gd Temple, Le dieu Soleil Ra et Rhamses II, P. Sébah.Photograph

Secondary source

Facade Detail of Abu Simbel Showing Ramesses II and Ra

Pascal Sébah · 1875

Sepia photograph of the ruined Ramesseum temple at Luxor, Egypt. Four fallen-headed colossal seated statues stand before a sandstone gateway with carved hieroglyphs on its lintel. A broken statue lies in the foreground, and a small figure sits near the base of the statues. Desert and a column are visible on the left.Photograph

Secondary source

Ramesseum Colossi in Ruins

Pascal Sébah · c. 1875

Black-and-white drawing in profile of an elderly Egyptian man wearing a tall, patterned royal headdress with a cobra emblem and a pleated collar necklace with a scarab pendant. Signed WLM 1917 at lower right.Painting

Secondary source

Figure of Ancient Egyptian, Ramesses II

1917

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