Ancient Cuneiform Fragment Recovered at Hattusha Sheds Light on Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty

A cuneiform tablet fragment unearthed last year at Hattusha has been identified as part of the ancient Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Monday.

“We have discovered millennia-old traces of peace in the soil of Anatolia,” Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy wrote on X. “This valuable discovery, shared with the public on September 21—World Peace Day—once again highlights Anatolia’s deep-rooted place in the history of peace and diplomacy.”

The fragment was excavated at the Boğazköy/Hattusha archaeological site, the location of the Hittite royal palace, in Çorum’s Boğazkale district during the 2025 season. Hattusha served as the Bronze Age capital of the Hittite Empire.

Since its recovery, researchers have analyzed the cuneiform inscription and recently confirmed that the piece belongs to the obverse of one of the treaty’s Akkadian-language copies.

The newly identified fragment preserves lines from the treaty’s provisions governing the treatment of fugitives fleeing between the two kingdoms, Ersoy explained. Legible passages reference individuals escaping from Egypt and the Land of Hatti, alongside stipulations protecting households from destruction.

Ersoy also commended the excavation team and the researchers responsible for the discovery.

The find advances Turkey’s efforts to reconstruct the clay tablet copies of the treaty housed at Hattusha, and future excavations at the site will target the recovery of additional missing fragments.

What is the Egyptian–Hittite Peace Treaty?

Known variously as the Eternal Treaty or the Silver Treaty, the accord is the oldest known surviving peace treaty. It was concluded circa 1259 BCE between Hittite King Hattusili III and Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, ending a protracted conflict between the two powers.

It is occasionally referred to as the Treaty of Kadesh, although the famous Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE) is not mentioned in the text.

The Egyptian version was inscribed in hieroglyphs on the walls of two monuments commissioned by Ramesses II at Thebes: the Ramesseum and the Precinct of Amun-Re at the Temple of Karnak.

Fragments of the Akkadian version on baked clay tablets were first uncovered at Hattusha during the site’s initial excavations between 1906 and 1912.

Previously recovered fragments are distributed among the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the Berlin Museum of the Ancient Near East, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

A replica of the treaty is prominently displayed at United Nations headquarters.

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