You have some great questions in there, Ape. Amenhotep III was one of the most powerful Egyptian rulers, ever. His son, initially Amenhotep IV was something of a nut who moved the capital to Amarna, began worshiping the Aten (sun) and changed his name to Akhenaten. At the end of his rule his reforms were overturned, the capital returned to Thebes, and his infant sun, Tutankhamun - originally Tutankhaten - became pharaoh at about the age of 8-9. Obviously, he was under the control of his handlers, notably Ay who became pharoah on Tuts' death. Ay reigned for only a short time and was succeeded by Horemheb who was the last king of the 18th dynasty.
So what we see is a period of internal weakness in Egypt during which the Hittites took advantage and moved south into Syrian (or Hurrian as it was then known) regions. Egyptian hegemony over Canaan remained intact however. Subsequently, the 19th Dynasty pharaohs, Seti I and Ramesses II, stabilized the border, Ramesses fought the Hittites to a draw at Kadesh and subsequently a peace treaty was worked out which established the respective spheres of influence between the Hittites and Egypt. Said treaty remained unbroken until the Hittites were overrun by the Sea People, local enemies or internal rebellion....or a combination of the 3.
By the way, the Amarna tablets also give us the name of the ruler of Jerusalem in the 14th century BC: Abdi Heba(t) The name is a theophoric. meaning "Servant of Heba(t)." Hebat being a goddess from the aforementioned Hurrian region. Thus, it appears that as is customary with empires, a commander from another region was brought in to rule. The Russian Tzars used to do that with the Cossacks all the time! It does give some suggestion of the cosmopolitan nature of the Egyptian Empire in Canaan, though.
So what we see is a period of internal weakness in Egypt during which the Hittites took advantage and moved south into Syrian (or Hurrian as it was then known) regions. Egyptian hegemony over Canaan remained intact however. Subsequently, the 19th Dynasty pharaohs, Seti I and Ramesses II, stabilized the border, Ramesses fought the Hittites to a draw at Kadesh and subsequently a peace treaty was worked out which established the respective spheres of influence between the Hittites and Egypt. Said treaty remained unbroken until the Hittites were overrun by the Sea People, local enemies or internal rebellion....or a combination of the 3.
By the way, the Amarna tablets also give us the name of the ruler of Jerusalem in the 14th century BC: Abdi Heba(t) The name is a theophoric. meaning "Servant of Heba(t)." Hebat being a goddess from the aforementioned Hurrian region. Thus, it appears that as is customary with empires, a commander from another region was brought in to rule. The Russian Tzars used to do that with the Cossacks all the time! It does give some suggestion of the cosmopolitan nature of the Egyptian Empire in Canaan, though.
