Archaeologists in Turkey have found a new piece of the Treaty of Kadesh, the oldest known international peace agreement, Smithsonian Magazine reports.
The clay fragment, written in Akkadian cuneiform, turned up at Büyükkale in Hattusa, the ancient Hittite capital in Çorum province, and was studied for about a year before the announcement. The treaty was agreed around 1269 BC between Egypt’s pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III, after their armies fought to a standstill at the Battle of Kadesh.
This piece holds articles 12 to 20, which set out how refugees crossing between the two kingdoms should be treated and how their homes should be protected. The original silver tablets are lost, but copies survive in an Egyptian temple and in Anatolia, and a replica hangs at the United Nations in New York.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine