Ancient History - Part 13: Bitter Friends, Better Enemies

The reputation of king Adad-nirari I's successful forays on the battlefield, particularly in prevailing over Babylonia, soon reached the ears of the Hittites, the power center west of Assyria. Yet, the two sides did not come to blows. The Hittites feared the force of will of the Assyrian military leader while the Assyrians knew that their strength alone would not be enough to conquer such a formidable new foe.

At this point in history, we must lean upon a pair of recovered artifacts of antiquity, in order to fill in the gaps:

1. A bronze scimitar was recovered from Diyarbakir with the Assyrian king's name, Adad-nirari I, engraved upon it. This confirms that the Assyrian military pushed fully into the lands of the Mitanni and directly onto the borders of the Hittites. One might surmise with ease that these standard weapons each bore their leader's name onto them.
2. A fragment of a cuneiform letter from the Hittite kingdom to Assyria used the phrase "your lord, Adad-nirari..." This in turn presents firsthand evidence that the Hittites held at least a cautious high regard for their eastern neighbor in a show of deference in their communications (compared to other tribes at the time, whom they addressed much less formally).

The Euphrates would act as a natural boundary between Assyria and the Hittite kingdom for a century without one side crossing over in an act of invasion or even mild encroachment. One must also bear in mind that during this period, the Hittites were entangled with the New Kingdom of Egypt, and the reactionary effect of their withdrawal from Syria and Palestine.

While once a subordinate state to the pharaohs of the Nile, Assyria bore little regard for matters between the Hittites and Egyptians, all too content to focus on the prosperity of their newly gained lands. 

Murshil II (1355-1330), now king of the Hittites, may have glared occasionally across the Euphrates many times during his rulership, but never once did he dare attack Assyria. Yet the one fact remained: Assyria had fully settled up to the Euphrates River. 

How long would it be before she chose to expand further?