The Northern Wars of Seti I: An Integrative Study

Abstract

Nothing is more vexing for the historian trying to reconstruct the foreign policy of an ancient nation than having to rely upon one-sided accounts. All too often the participants in an international conflict gloss over their errors and inflate their victories -and if theirs is the only testimony available to the historian (as is often the case), then, no matter what he may suspect to have been the truth of the affair, the evidence on which to base his suppositions is limited Then, too, he is faced with the ever present problem of chronology, a thorn in the side of historical reconstruction that grows in importance the more nations he tries to cover. In essence, one caveat in particular must be adhered to when attempting an historical reconstruction of the international affairs of a nation: to preserve a holistic approach. The wars of Seti I provide ample testimony in favor of this position. His campaigns in the Levant, known mainly from the Karnak reliefs, have been discussed before, yet one paramount difficulty always remains to be faced: what indeed was the exact chronology of these campaigns.1 On the northeast side of the Great Hypostyle Hall, only one datethat of year one -is recorded, on the lowest register. Hence, it is necessary to analyze both the Egyptian and the non-Egyptian data for this period. The following discussion centers around Seti Fs foreign policy, his wars in particular. In Part I, the scenes and inscriptions in the Great Hypostyle Hall are discussed in conjunction with other Egyptian inscriptions referring to Seti's campaigns to the north. Part II is concerned with the topographical data from the reign of Seti, and Part III is devoted to the international aspects of his wars-i.e., the Hittite and other cuneiform data In section IV, I hope to resolve some of the chronological points raised in the earlier parts of this paper and to propose time bounds on Seti's northern wars.2.