Lions leapt out at us from the light stone of the city’s great gateway, set into the towering walls; these were not lions of terror and war, but of pride, magnanimity and courage. We clattered through the gate, past the guards of the watchtowers, through a long, dark, high triangular tunnel that led under the massive ramparts-and finally entered the capital of our arch-enemies.
Once inside, we ascended a stone-paved, stepped ceremonial way that wound past small dark temples, low warehouses, and what seemed like sizeable underground grain siloes, beside extensive offices and elite dwellings. Hattusa pointed out the impressive engineering of the terraces and the viaducts that audaciously spanned the crevasses surrounding the citadel rock.
‘This is the Upper City. Here are all the offices on which the palace of the King depends.’ Hattusa nodded at the prominent acropolis above us, clearly separated from the rest of the city by its grand elevation, and by more encircling, protecting high stone walls.
‘If we have leisure I will be glad to give you a tour of the greatest of them, the Temple of the Storm God. That is a wonder you must see,’ he added, pointing at a vast building, its great walls covered with carvings and reliefs of lions and sphinxes fashioned from a dark-green stone the colour of deep water.
‘I would much appreciate the opportunity to admire it,’ answered Nakht.
As we made our way up and up, groups of Hittite men in fine woollen robes stared at us. Some nodded respectfully to the ambassador, and exchanged earnest greetings of welcome; but most turned aside so as not to look upon us, and a few even spat ostentatiously on the ground as we passed.
The ambassador showed us our accommodation, in a timber and mud-brick dwelling decorated with simple friezes.
‘These are your quarters. They are simple, in the Hittite fashion. But I hope you’ll be comfortable here. So, please rest, and wash, and refresh yourselves. Tonight there will be an official banquet, and then tomorrow morning, the King has granted us an audience. I hope it will be the first step in the successful resolution to our project. If you need anything at all, before then, I am at your service. The servants will assist you. Guards have been posted, but please be assured, they are there for your protection. You are not their prisoners. Meanwhile, I must return to my home, and then attend the King himself. I have been away for a long time. Perhaps my wife has finally noticed my absence!’
We waited until the guards had closed the wooden doors to the outside world, and Simut had ordered his guards to take up their own positions; and then we set to talking.
‘Is this strange place really the capital of our great enemy? Compared with Thebes or Memphis, it seems primitive!’ said Simut.
‘The old city was sacked and almost destroyed by fire, before the reign of the present King’s father,’ said Nakht. ‘So this is a relatively new city, and from that perspective, it’s more impressive. All the same, I’d assume the Hittite King has been greatly preoccupied with his military campaigns, at the expense of any magnificent building projects. This is not what I expected at all. It’s all very interesting…’
Simut raised his eyebrows at me, in mockery of Nakht’s high-handed tone.
‘This is a strange land in every way. And yet they seem to have created an empire to rival our own in just two or three generations. How have they done it? It would seem impossible,’ he said.
‘Do not be deceived. For all their foreign triumphs, the Hittite empire is young, unstable and underdeveloped. They are surrounded by domestic enemies to the north and west, and have therefore to fight wars and defend borders on several fronts simultaneously. They lack reliable supplies of grain sufficient to feed their population, and so they are dependent on the international market-and as you see, transportation from the ports is a serious problem, for they have no great river,’ replied Nakht.
‘And yet despite those disadvantages, they have conquered the empire of Mittani, absorbed its territory into their own, and subjugated the great cities of Carchemish and Ugarit, making them vassals,’ I said.
‘And that is what I find alarming,’ said Simut, removing his sandals and lowering his feet into a bowl of cool water with a sigh. ‘Because if a young, fairly primitive kingdom, with few resources, and no natural geographical advantages-not even a decent river to call its own-can destroy Mittani, and then seriously challenge Egypt itself for supremacy, what does that tell you about the way the future may turn out?’
Nakht nodded, absorbed by these words.
‘Egypt can no longer live on past glories. We must set the terms of the present, in order to conquer and possess the future.’ He broke the seal on his official trunk, and opened the lid. ‘So let us focus on our task at hand. It will certainly make all the difference to the future,’ he said, very carefully producing from his bag the official diplomatic tablets from the Queen herself, wrapped in fine linen. ‘These are the keys to that future,’ he said. And then he broke the seal on another, heavier trunk. ‘And these are the gifts which will sweeten the marriage proposal,’ he said. Inside was a collection of magnificent gold objects-plates, goblets and statuettes. ‘All men love gold. And they will do anything to possess it.’
He gazed at the objects, his face strangely lit.