readx;? The Sumerians and the ancient Egyptians were the first to use iron, and by 4000 BC it had been used in very small quantities, but most of the iron was obtained from meteorites rather than from iron ore. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Between 3000 and 2000 BC, in Asia Minor, Egypt and Mesopotamia, iron was increasingly refined from meteorite mines, but mostly for ceremonial purposes. And iron was an extremely expensive metal at the time, even more expensive than gold. There is some archaeological evidence that iron was produced at the time as a by-product of copper extraction, called sponge iron, and that it was not possible to produce it in large quantities by smelting technology at the time.

Craftsmen from all over the country were gathered to study how to extract iron from sponge iron and carry out the technique of casting.

At the attention of the king, it took only a few years for the technology of mass production of iron to be worked out. Supiluluma I was overjoyed that the Hittites had completely freed themselves from the trade blockade of the surrounding powers.

King Supiruliuma I ordered the blacksmiths who had mastered the technique to be detained and kept under strict control.

Both the Hittites and Mitanni mastered the technology of two-wheeled chariots, but because bronze was the most expensive, the number of Mitanni's two-wheeled chariots was limited, and the Hittite did not need the most expensive auxiliary tin due to the maturity of iron technology, so the number of iron two-wheeled chariots was more, and Mitanni's military superiority was surpassed by the Hittes for the first time.

The Egyptian pharaoh Ehatun was late in his reign, when the Egyptians may have sensed that Mitanni's good days were coming to an end. In order to protect Egypt's Syrian border, Ekhatun turned his back on Mitanni and accepted the envoys of the Hittites and Assyria instead in violation of the Egyptian ruling philosophy that had prevailed for generations.

Previously, the marriage relationship between Egypt and Mitanni had lasted for several generations and was very close, but at that time, Eheaton was busy with the Reformation and had no intention of dealing with complex diplomatic relations, when Mitanni gradually showed weakness, and Hittite and Assyria were getting stronger, so Ekhathong chose the stronger Hittite and Assyria, if not so chosen, then Egypt had to send troops to help Mitanni, which was not in line with the turbulent domestic situation after the Egyptian Reformation.

Tushrata recognized that without Egypt's support, Mitanni's turbulent domestic situation would not be able to cope with the challenges of the Hittites and Assyria. Tushrata personally wrote to Eheatun asking Egypt to provide a golden statue to resolve the diplomatic crisis, in effect forcing Egypt to make a statement, but Egypt apparently refused this request.

In his letter to Eheatun, Tushrata wrote: "When Thutmose IV, the father of Amenhotep III, wrote to my grandfather, he asked to marry my grandmother's daughter, my father's sister, to him. He wrote 5, 6 times, but my grandfather did not promise. When he wrote for the 7th time, my grandfather agreed. The letter mainly described the relationship between the two countries and diplomatic relations, hoping that Egypt would send troops to help, but Egypt was in the turmoil of the Reformation at that time, and it was unable and did not want to intervene.

Under the pretext that Ishuva was harboring Hittite fugitives, the Hittite army crossed the border with Mitanni and entered Ishuva, repatriating and releasing the exiles of these city-states to their origins in the city-states under Hittite rule. Reuniting all the exiles with their former subjects, the Heti will protect their land.

In this way, the Hittites gained the support of these city-states, and without any worries, they continued their march on Vashukane.

Mitanni's army was defeated, and King Tushrata saw that the situation was not good, and fled from Vashukani, fleeing with only part of his army, and even the members of the royal family did not care to take it with him. The generals who remained behind could only keep the city intact and watched as the Hittites plundered the periphery of the capital.

Supiruliuma I claimed to have plundered the region and brought back the Hittites, booty, captives, cattle, sheep, and horses. He also claimed that the Mitanni king, Tushrata, had fled from Vashukani, but apparently he had failed to capture the capital. However, the war significantly weakened Mitanni's national power, but it did not cause Mitanni to have an existential crisis.

Mitanni was the most powerful country in Mesopotamia at that time, so it was impossible to be captured by the Hittites at one time, and there were still many forces supporting the king Tushratha, and the Hittites had to withdraw from the Washukani region under the influence of resistance, but in order to weaken Mitanni, the Hittites supported Tushrata's younger brother Artatama II in the city of Washukani as the new king, so that Mitanni was divided, and Mitanni began to decline from then on.

Artatama II, the younger brother of Tushrata who remained in Vashukani, signed a treaty with Supiluluma I recognizing the Hittites' legitimate possession of the occupied western part of Syria in exchange for the Hittite's withdrawal from Washukani and support Artatama II as the new Mitanni king.

Unable to return to Vashukani, Tushrata began to establish power in Taitu, and in order to win hearts and minds, he threatened the Hittites not to cross the Euphrates and damage every tree of Mitanni.

In fact, the Hittites had no idea of establishing a permanent rule on the east bank of the Euphrates. So there was no direct conflict with Tushrata. However, it continued to support Artatama II in his war with Tushrata.

As a result, Artatama II, who remained in Vashukani, and Tushrata, who fled from Vashukani, began a civil war for the dominance of the Mitanni Kingdom.

After Mitanni's threat was lifted, Supiruliuma I resumed the campaign in the Syrian direction.

As a result of the Ehatun reforms, Egypt did not pay attention to foreign wars, and as a result, some of the Western Asian dependencies of Syria and Canaan (Palestine) became independent and turned to the Hittites. The Hittites, under the leadership of King Supiluluma I, actively advanced into southern Syria, gradually controlling most of Syria as far south as Damascus, and even the Hittite forces entered Canaan. It dealt a heavy blow to Egypt's vested interests in the region.

Supiruliuma I claimed to have conquered a vast territory stretching from Mount Lebanon to the banks of the Euphrates.

And Babylon remained in the hands of the Hittites, traditional allies of the Kassites, which used Supiruuma I as the largest arbiter of power in the known world (with the exception of Egypt and Assyria).

By this time, Supiruliuuma I had reached his heyday, after which the Hittites were gradually locked in a two-front battle on the southern (Egyptian) and eastern (Assyrian) fronts.

As the Hittites fought with Egypt over Syria, Mitanni began to be ignored by the Hittites, and Assyria's influence grew.

As the Mitanni Civil War continued, Mitanni's influence in Assyria waned.

The Mitanni king, Tushratan, was increasingly disadvantaged in his struggle with Artatama II and turned to Egypt, a traditional ally, for help.