The Battle of Kadesh
Second Syrian CampaignKadesh, located beside the Orontes River, overlooked a majority of the Beka Valley and presented itself as a challenging obstacle for Egypt when trying to gain control of the Mesopotamia route. Consequently, many pharaohs attempted to acquire Kadesh as it was seen as a valuable asset to the Egyptian Empire. Within year five of Ramesses II reign in 1274 Ramesses launched his second campaign within Syria, which later became known as the Battle of Kadesh.
Ramesses II embarked on his second Syrian campaign (Battle of Kadesh) on the 9th day within the second month of the Egyptian summer. The Pharaohs army consisted of an estimated twenty thousand soldiers broken into four main divisions titled after Ramesses chief gods; Ptah, Re, Amun and Set. These regiments were placed in a systematic formation each separated by about ten kilometres with Ramesses leading with the division of Amun. The Battle of Kadesh commenced with the discovery of the Hittite plan of ambushing the Egyptian army, through the torture and interrogation of two spies. The Egyptians were overpowered through the Hittites extreme strength and numbers as they had highly advanced technology (iron weapons) and were more numerous in men. As a result it was only through the arrival of reinforcements that the Egyptians were able to acquire a minimal amount of dominance over the Hittites though neither side gained full control, each ultimately retreating. With the conclusion of the Battle at Kadesh the Egyptian pharaoh returned to Per-Ramesses, boasting of his heroic bravery where he accomplished an easy triumph over the Hittites. The ‘victory’ was inscribed on reliefs at numerous locations including Abydos, Karnak and Abu Simbel. For example one of the reliefs describing the battle was translated as: "He (Ramesses) grabbed his weapons, and set off at a gallop, completely alone. His majesty was an unstoppable fighting force. Everything near him was ablaze with fire. All the foreign lands were blasted by his scorching breath… His majesty struck them down and killed them where they stood." (Tyldesley, J.A, Egypt's Golden Empire) The inscriptions were used as propaganda to emphasis Ramesses role as warrior and protector of Egypt, depicting Ramesses with divine, godlike strength and bravery. As a result of the advertising and the decisions Ramesses made at the Battle of Kadesh, many historians look at Ramesses role as a warrior in a negative light. J.A Wilson describes Ramesses and his capability as Warrior: “He (Ramesses) was a stupid and culpably inefficient general and that he failed to gain his objectives at Kadesh.” (The Culture of Ancient Egypt, pp. 247) Although this is a valid view, the outcome of the Battle of Kadesh is one of Ramesses II’s most momentous achievements as it became a diplomatic milestone for the pharaoh. Within year twenty-one of Ramesses reign, after around fifteen years of ongoing war the Hittites, the two societies agreed on a diplomatic peace treaty and later a marriage alliance. This is a significant part of history as historians believe that the alliance between the two civilisations was the first structured peace treaty. Three duplicates of the agreement were completed and confined within the Hittite capitol, the Ramesseum and the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. |