The 14th Century BCE

The 14th century BCE is a hundred-year period running from 1400 BCE to 1301 BCE. It forms part of the Late Bronze Age, when the Eastern Mediterranean and eastern Mediterranean regions were controlled by several major kingdoms linked through trade, dynastic marriage, and warfare.

During this period, major states—Egypt, the Hittites of Anatolia, Assyria, Kassite Babylon, and Mitanni in northern Mesopotamia—shared diplomatic practices. Akkadian-language documents were used for interstate communication, a practice evidenced by the archive of letters found at Amarna, Egypt.

Egypt and the Amarna Period

Egypt was in the New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty. This century saw the rule of Amenhotep III and later Akhenaten, who initiated religious change: the worship of Aten (the sun disk) was promoted, and a new capital was built at what is now known as Amarna. After his death, the earlier polytheistic system was gradually restored, and the burial goods of Tutankhamun, dated to the 20th century BCE, were preserved.

The Hittites and Mitanni

The Hittite kingdom, centered at Hattusa in central Anatolia, passed through a difficult period in this century followed by recovery. Suppiluliuma I is credited with extending Hittite power into northern Syria, reducing Mitanni influence. Treaties and agreements repeatedly altered control of the Syrian region, where cities such as Ugarit and Qadesh lay between Egyptian and Hittite spheres.

The Mediterranean Region and Iran-Mesopotamia

In the Aegean, Mycenaean culture spread, with Minoan Crete coming under Mycenaean dominance. In Mesopotamia, Babylon was ruled by Kassite kings, while Assyria began a period of renewed power called the Middle Assyrian period. Trade in copper, tin, gold, and Mediterranean vessels connected these societies.