The oldest international peace treaty was between the Egyptians and the Hittites?
More than three thousand years ago, two rulers settled an 80-year long war over control of what is today’s Syria. During the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC neither side had emerged as a clear victor, so in 1276 BC Ramses II of Egypt and the Hittite King Hattusili III negotiated a legendary peace agreement, known as the Treaty of Kadesh, that ended the ongoing conflict.
The Egyptian version of the battle is depicted on the funerary temple of Ramses in Luxor. The original Hittite account was preserved on baked clay tablets that were excavated in 1906 at Hattusas in central Turkey and are on display in the Archaeology Museum in İstanbul. As a symbol of worldwide peace, a bronze replica is displayed above the entry to the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York.
Travel with Far Horizons on Majesty of Egypt with Professor Bob Brier.
