= Rise to Power = (4)

Learn about the Hittite expansion into Asia Minor around 2000 BC and their rivalry with Egypt, culminating in the Battle of Kadesh.

Around 2000 B.C., the Hittites began their expansion into Asia Minor, a region then populated by small kingdoms of no more than a thousand people each. By 1900 B.C., the Hittites were actively expanding their kingdom, using both force and diplomacy to bring rival city-states under their control. The Hittite kingdom experienced periods of growth and contraction until approximately 1400 B.C.

From 1400 B.C. onwards, a succession of strong kings significantly expanded the Hittite empire, encompassing all of Asia Minor, extending into Syria, and beyond the Euphrates River. This expansion into Syria led to conflict with the Egyptians, who also aimed to control the region.

For several generations, the Hittites and Egyptians were diplomatic and military rivals. A major confrontation, the great battle of Kadesh, occurred between these two superpowers around 1300 BC. This battle was commemorated in Egypt through a great pictorial relief, an epic poem, and an official written record. After several decades of an uneasy stalemate, the two powers signed a peace treaty and mutual defense pact, possibly due to the growing power of Assyria to the east. A copy of this treaty is inscribed on the walls of an Egyptian temple at Karnak, and duplicate copies on clay and silver tablets were discovered by archaeologists in both countries.