CHAPTER 17

War with Egypt

THEAMURRITE TERRORIST CLAN

B

efore reading any further, have a look again at Map 6.1,
and note the locations of Amurru, a mountainous region
lying between the Orontes river and the Mediterranean
coast, and a bit further south the city-state of Qadesh on the east
bank of the Orontes. These lands were key components of the
events leading up to the final showdown (more precisely
showdowns) between the Great Kings of Hatti and Egypt. In the
past, both lands had been subject-territories of Egypt. But during
the reigns of the pharaohs Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaten,
Amurru had become a wild and anarchic region, taken over by a
terrorist-clan ledfirstly by a ruthless brigand called Abdi-Ashirta.
This man built himself a formidable military force by recruiting
large numbers of predatory semi-nomadic groups called Habiru,
promising them rich plunder in return for their services. Having
secured their support, he not only set about robbing hapless groups
of travellers who passed through the open countryside he
controlled, but also let loose his bands of thugs on the cities and
settled populations of the region. In so doing, he risked bringing
upon himself the wrath and military might of Egypt, for these
peoples and cities were subjects of the pharaoh.
But he kept staving off Egyptian military retaliation by
protesting in response to the pharaoh’s complaints that he was His
Majesty’s devoted subject, and that all his actions were carried out
to protect his interests and eliminate those elements who were