Ancient History - Part 44: An Empire At Its Peak

Upon the defeat of prince Aki-izzi's league of Semitic and Harri rebels, Shubbiluliuma next turned his conquest toward central Syria, occupied and controlled by the Amorites. Much like northern Syria had Aleppo as its crown jewel, central Syria bore Kadesh, the most prestigious power center of the region, and the Hattic king reasoned that should it fall, the surrounding areas would be quick to follow. A theory that proved correct.

With the success of his Campaign of Syria thus far and central Syria fallen, Shubbiluliuma knew that there were greater riches extending beyond Syria, whose resources were quite matched in wealth and would see grand results in the eventual trade from it that would follow the war. The most fertile lands that he eyed with a hunger, lay southward, the lands of Aziru (Lebanon) and Palestine, specifically.

Syria, Aziru, and Palestine are collectively known as the Fertile Crescent, an area desired throughout history by many competing powerful kingdoms.

According to the Amarna letters, Shubbiluliuma's forces overwhelmed and defeated the remaining Amorite regions of Syria with ease, but once it came time to annex Aziru, were met by a fiercely unexpected resistance. Be it city-street or countryside, the defenders, though few, simply would not surrender. Despite his heightened interest in conquering the former Egyptian-satellite nations, upon Aziru's eventual submission (and compliance to a heavy monthly tribute that would lessen over time), the Hattic king ended his conquest here.

In the aftermath of the Hittite Empire's violent expansion, two empires now encroached upon the other. Hatta and Egypt. This was a most sensitive political situation and the first instance in a span of many years when two superpowers of the Near East directly bordered the other in such a confrontational manner.

The Hattic king treated with the Egyptian Pharoah and the battlefield changed from a clash of swords to a conversational war of words. Perhaps heated at first, in the end, Shubbiluliuma and Amenhotep III signed a peace treaty. Hatta would retain control over Aziru whilst Egypt would retain control over Palestine, and neither empire would take arms against the other, as far as both monarchs ruled.

And while all agreements prove temporary over time, neither side challenged the limit of the treaty, with much to gain from mutual obeyance. The Hittite forces bore wartime exhaustion and the Egyptian empire was in a state of rapid decline which extended to the waning size and scope of their once mighty military. For a lengthy period, the security measures were respected by both nations, peace terms held intact.

[LETTER BETWEEN EGYPT AND AZIRU]

Ancient History - Part 43: The Last Redoubts

[SYRIA=YELLOW: THE LANDS OF SHUBBILULILUMI'S CONQUEST]

As Shubbiluliuma asserted his dominance over northern Syria, the remaining of independent regions fought tooth-and-nail in defiance:

• Shaizar and Rukhizzi: Twin settlement communities of towns and common folk. There was little in the way of military activity here, but the lands were no less rich, and the Hattic army took them with ease to supply the major war efforts of the much more defensible regions that lay south.
• Abina: A small province full of Mitanni loyalists, thought to be located on the eastern border of Syria. After a crushing engagement in the field, Abina narrowly avoided a Hattic raid, sending messengers to greet their would-be invaders, signaling a willingness in shifting allegiance. 
• Qatna: A Semitic state, harboring a people who despite small numbers, may have proven themselves the most heavily resistant challenge. Rather than relinquish liberty for the call of safety, the prince, Aki-izzi, openly maintained independence, at one point even calling upon Egypt's Pharoah, Amenhotep IV, for support. (Predictably, such pleas were ignored and prince Aki-izzi's people waited for a Hattic attack that never arrived. Shubbiluliuma instead left Qatna to be taken lastly, intending to appeal to the prince and his people's surrender only after the entirety of its neighboring region had been conquered)
• Kinza: A populous state worth noting that whilst successfully repelling invaders, switched sides none too long thereafter. The ruling prince, Shutatarra, and his refusal to submit to Hittite authority was then ousted by his son, Aitakkama, and his new regime. In an interesting development, Aitakkama of Kinza became a close friend and ally to Shubbiluliuma, and was instrumental in carrying out his new king's will as the growing Hittite Empire's leading agent.
• Aleppo: The king of the Hittites amassed the bulk of his forces in the Kowaik basin where he subjected the grandest city of Syria to a large-scale siege, clashing against Aleppo's defenders within the city's walls, well-armed Mitanni legions. Upon victory, Shubbiluliuma installed one of his own sons to the city's seat, to establish order whilst ruling in his name.

Once Syria had wholly fallen, Shubbiluliuma turned back to Qatna. However, his desire to appeal to prince Aki-izzi with reason was met with a disastrous discovery: 

The prince had secretly engaged in a successful conspiracy in spurring a fire within the ancestral rivals of Hatta, the Harri people, to defect, stoking a revolt within the Hittite army. Perhaps a less sane ruler might have reacted emotionally, but recognizing an opportunity, Shubbiluliuma enlisted his new ally, Aitakkama, and his forces to prove themselves, who defeated the prince and his assortment of local chiefs and traitors in battle, allowing the last redoubt, Qatna, to be annexed.

Despite the interference and setbacks that occurred, Shubbiluliuma's lengthy Campaign of Syria was a profound success.

[ALEPPO CITADEL - THE SITE WHERE MITANNI DEFENDERS WERE OVERTAKEN BY HATTIC FORCES]

Ancient History - Part 39: War and Peace

[A united Hattic Kingdom under Shubbiluliuma]

Shubbiluliuma removed the Harri people from Kissuwadna, confining them to the other side of the Euphrates, where they adopted the lifestyle of riverfolk. In the days that followed, the Hattic king's favorable treatment earned their obedience. The fatal mistakes that monarch-kings often make tend to be leaving problems unsolved, ones that continue to fester, and Shubbiluliuma's handling of Harri in a way that did not result in mass genocide or civil war was something the world took note of.

Next, he traveled to Syria to treat with the princes who ruled from their impressively rich city-states. This entire area bore spheres of influence that included princes aligned with the Mitanni and others with Egypt. In the case of the Mitanni, the Syrian princes were offered protection; with Egypt, innovation; but in the case of Hatta? War.

Shubbiluliuma did not enter Syria with peaceful intentions and carried the near full force of his armies into their lands. The Hattic king wisely chose to leave his internal struggles almost bloodless, but the opposite was true for the external challenge of staking a claim in Syria to form a new dynasty under his one rule. This move was unprecedented and a brutal one, taking Syria itself, along with its new allies in the Egyptians and Mitanni, completely unawares.

It is a fool's bargain to believe in others blindly fighting your battles for you upon nothing more than their word, and when the Hattic soldiers began their raids, Egypt and Mitanni occupied areas also fell to Shubbiluliuma's grasp. The local chieftains quickly submitted and before the Near End knew it, the Hattic nation now possessed all of northern Syria. King Shubbiluliuma's people remembered the old days written and told via oral tradition of the fierceness of the Assyria, and establishing this foothold in upper Syria was considered an effective posture against any notion of western expansion.

Just as one country might absorb another in order to create a buffer of sorts, this was the will of Shubbiluliuma's people, however, his own two reasons were entirely different.

Legacy and power.

[THE DEEDS OF SHUBBILULIUMA]