Written international peace treaty (Kadesh)
Tratado internacional de paz escrito (Kadesh)
- Date
- 1259 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Hattusa (Boğazkale), Turkey and Pi-Ramesses / Karnak, Egypt
- Credited to
- Ramesses II of Egypt and Hattusili III of Hatti
- Field
- Communication
What it is
Bilateral agreement of perpetual peace, defensive alliance and extradition, drafted in Akkadian on silver tablets, with surviving Egyptian (Karnak) and Hittite (Hattusa) versions. It is the oldest international treaty of which both versions survive.
Earlier treaties exist (Ebla-Abarsal, c. 2350 BCE; 14th-century Hittite treaties), but Kadesh is the first with a complete text from both parties.
What it led to
- International law: parity between 'great kings', divine guarantees, and extradition and succession clauses
- The Late Bronze Age diplomatic system with ambassadors, dynastic marriages and a lingua franca
- A model for Assyrian and biblical vassal treaties (covenant form)
- A replica displayed at the UN headquarters as a symbol of diplomacy
Built on
- Cuneiform writingc. 3200 BCE
- State courier and relay systemc. 2100 BCE
- War chariotc. 1900 BCE
- Lagash-Umma border treaty
- War chariot (Battle of Kadesh)
Made possible
- Assyrian vassal treaties
- Diplomacy by correspondence
- International law