In the late fall of 1257 BC. e. a large caravan, accompanied by a detachment of armed soldiers and chariots, and which encouraged many dazzling gifts and possessions, was on its way out of the harsh plains of Anatolia. After passing south to Syria, the procession stopped at the border between the two most powerful countries of this century, where the possession of Hattusili III, the great king of the Hittites, bordered the kingdom of Ramesses II, an Egyptian pharaoh ...
Two kings, old enemies, brought peace to their country 13 years ago. Now, to make the bond between them closer, Hattusili sent his eldest daughter to become the new queen of polygamy pharaohs. For over a year, intensive negotiations were held on the engagement, traveling travelers between the Egyptian capital Per-Ramses and the far-flung palace of Hattusili. To show how rich, the Hittite sovereign promised not only a princess, but also a rich dowry, including precious stones and fancy fabrics, bronze ornaments, precious metals, horses, herds of sheep and cattle, and a group of master slaves. Ramesses waited for months, but neither the bride nor the wedding gifts appeared. Letters, which are more unpleasant, travel from page to page. As time passed, Pharaoh became more and more irritated and was told of his displeasure with his mother-in-law and father-in-law.
Hattusili Queen OMP-Heba's spirited wife, Ramses is blamed for impatience, asking (apparently with sarcasm cover-up), why one of the richest kings in the world so needs a promised reward. "My brother has nothing, the fact that you, my brother, want to enrich myself at my expense, it is unkind and dishonest!" Regarding the reason for the delay, he called "various difficulties", including the burned-out palace. Wedding preparations begin really only in the summer of 1257.
By order of Hattusili, the Egyptian ambassador arrived at the Hitt court to perform a ceremony that legitimized the engagement. The queen wrote a letter to Ramesses to express her joy. "When my daughter's head is anointed with pure oil, the gods in the underworld are expelled," she wrote. "On that day, two great nations become one land, and you, two great kings, become true brothers." This fascinating correspondence is stored in the Hittite archive, discovered and unearthed by a German expedition in Turkey in 1906. The princess's journey to Egypt and the marriage itself is depicted for posterity by Egyptian scribes who, according to Ramses's order, compiled a long story. This text, a harsh compliment to Pharaoh, is carved into a stone monument erected at the greatest temples in Egypt: Stela Ramses II's marriage still stands in Karnak, Abu Simbel, and elsewhere, telling the modern world of long-standing events there is.
When the procession of marriage in all the sluggish splendor that finally went to Egypt Queen OMP-Heba spent the daughter to the southern Syrian border, which was then under the strong leadership of Egypt. The feelings that these two women experienced during separation, remain unknown. But the official atmosphere was festive. The convoy must have many conditions or they use the forced generosity of the local rulers who seek to please Pharaoh.
The transition to a territory subject to Egypt is marked by a number of celebrations from Het and Egyptian delegates. Although traveling through mountains and plains, signaling winter through areas prone to cold winds, the weather stays off-season with warm and mild weather. For this extraordinary phenomenon, as reported by Stela Marriage, it is necessary to thank Pharaoh. Pharaoh personally appeals to the gods:
"Heaven is in your hands, the land - under your feet, no matter what happens to your will, so I ask you not to send rain or cold wind, or snow, until the miracle, which has You point to me, will not come to me."
When called a miracle I came to Pi-Ramesses (event indicated a personal scale and public celebration), her new husband was fascinated: "He is beautiful in His eyes His Majesty, and he loves him more than anything, for him it is important moment, victory. "This name, Egyptian Ma'at-Gore-Neferuri, means" the man who beholds the king's eagle, which is the majesty of Ra's visible ", and it is a new name.
The honeymoon, so detailed depicted in the stela marriage, certainly does not last a lifetime. The first years he lived in Egypt, the name Maat-Gore-Neferuri appeared with Rameses on statues and stone buildings, but after a while it seemed to disappear. The final proof of his life in Egypt is a piece of clothing and other items from his wardrobe, found by archaeologists in the royal harem, 190 kilometers from Per-Ramses, on the edge of the province of Fayum gardens. In addition to these details, I know little about the Het bride, but from the darkness gradually emerges the world in which she appears. A new generation of Ancient Egypt began studying the massive layers of texts, images, and ancient civilizations preserved on the banks of the Nile.
In the course of this study, they created the image (though and sometimes violated the striking contradiction) of women's lives from every social layer during Ramesses II: the great queen, immortalized in monumental sculptures-zemlevladelits of women, defended their property rights for documented trials with well, dancers and palace musicians painted on the wall of the tomb of the rich, prostitutes engaged in their crafts on sketches made by the imagination of the workers in the Valley of the Kings.