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Primary sourceDocument13th century BCE

Treaty of Kadesh Tablet (Boğazköy Version)

13th century BCE

A cuneiform clay tablet recording the peace treaty between Ramesses II of Egypt and the Hittite king, found at Hattusa.

Ramesses II was one of the two rulers who agreed to this treaty, making it a direct record of his diplomacy.

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Photograph of a fragmentary clay tablet covered in cuneiform script, reassembled from broken pieces and displayed in a clear acrylic stand. A smaller fragment with more cuneiform lies at the lower right.
Treaty of Kadesh tablet, Boğazköy version. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul Archaeology Museums.

About this source

What it is

This is a fragmentary clay tablet inscribed in cuneiform, found at Boğazköy (ancient Hattusa) in Turkey. It preserves the Hittite version of the peace treaty agreed between Ramesses II of Egypt and the Hittite ruler. It is now kept at the Museum of the Ancient Orient in Istanbul.

Why it matters

This treaty is one of the earliest known international peace agreements in history. It shows that Ramesses II, after years of conflict with the Hittites including the Battle of Kadesh, negotiated a formal diplomatic settlement, revealing the political and administrative sophistication of both empires.

Look closer

  • Why do you think this treaty was written in cuneiform rather than Egyptian hieroglyphs?
  • What does the existence of a treaty tell you about the limits of military power even for a pharaoh like Ramesses II?
  • How might historians compare this Hittite copy with the Egyptian version of the same treaty?

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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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.Document

Primary source

Egyptian–Hittite Peace Treaty

c. 1258 BCE

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

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