Muwatalli II in the context of "List of ancient treaties"

The Battle of Kadesh took place in the 13th century BC between the Egyptian Empire led by pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire led by king Muwatalli II. Their armies engaged each other at the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs and near the archaeological site of Kadesh, along what is today the Lebanon–Syria border.

The battle is generally dated to May 1274 BC, as accounted by Egyptian chronology, and is the earliest pitched battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known. It is believed to be the largest battle ever fought involving chariots, numbering at a total of 5,000 to 6,000.

The dating and sequence of Hittite kings is compiled by scholars from fragmentary records, supplemented by the finds in Ḫattuša and other administrative centers of cuneiform tablets and more than 3,500 seal impressions providing the names, titles, and sometimes ancestry of Hittite kings and officials. Given the nature of the source evidence, reconstructions vary among scholars, and the dating or even existence, relationships and sequence of some kings is disputed at several point within Hittite history. The list below indicates instances of such debates, with references.

All dates in the list below should be considered approximate. Hittite Chronology is almost completely dependent on synchronisms with other ancient Near Eastern countries. Such synchronisms are few and usually open to interpretation. Muršili I is believed to have overthrown Samsu-ditāna, the last king of the Amorite dynasty of Babylon, but the dating of this event varies widely across chronological schemes based on interpretations of the records of observation of Venus during the reign of Samsu-ditāna's predecessor. These have resulted in several chronologies for Mesopotamia. In reference to the capture of Babylon by Muršili I, these are High (1651 BC), Middle (1595 BC), Low (1531 BC), and Ultra-Low (1499 BC), with additional variants such as the lower Middle Chronology (1587 BC). The distinction between these Mesopotamian chronological models disappears in the Late Bronze Age. Egyptian chronology is also subject to variant interpretations, resulting in three leading options, High (1304 BC), Middle (1290 BC), and Low (1279 BC), for the accession of Ramesses II, the contemporary of the Hittite kings Muwatalli II and Ḫattušili III. Assuming the preferred Low Chronology for Egypt, Ramesses II fought Muwatalli II at Kadesh in 1274 BC (Year 5), concluded a peace treaty with Ḫattušili III in 1259 BC (Year 21), and married the latter's daughter Maathorneferure in 1246 BC (Year 34).

Tabarna or Labarna was a royal title used by the Hittites. It was used from at least the 17th century BC until the end of the Hittite empire, except for the brief period from Suppiluliuma I to Muwatalli II. It was in origin possibly a personal name, borne by the first two Hittite kings, Labarna I and Labarna II. In that regard, it is comparable to the Latin title caesar. Its etymology, however, is uncertain. Ilya Yakubovich calls it "the single most discussed word of the Hittite lexicon".