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The Battle of Kadesh took place between the forces of Ramesses II\'s Egypt and the Hittites of Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh, the modern Tell Nebi Mend,Kitchen, K.A, "Ramesside Inscriptions", Volume 2, Blackwell Publishing Limited, 1996, pp.16-17 on the Orontes River of modern Syria. The battle is generally dated to 1274 BC, around Year 5 III Shemu day 9 of Ramesses II\'s reign when the Pharaoh arrived in the vicinity of KadeshBAR III, p.317 (or more precisely May 12, 1274 BC based on Ramesses\' commonly accepted accession date in 1279 BC). It was probably the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000 chariots.
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After expelling the Hyksos 15th dynasty, the native Egyptian New Kingdom rulers became more aggressive in reclaiming control of their state\'s borders. Thutmose I, Thutmose III and his son and coregent Amenhotep II fought battles from Megiddo North to the Orontes river, including conflict with Kadesh.
Many of the Egyptian campaign accounts between c.1400 and 1300 BC reflect the general destabilization of the region of the Djahi. The reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III were undistinguished except that Egypt continued to lose territory to Mitanni in northern Syria.
During the late Egyptian 18th dynasty, the Amarna Letters Moran, William L., "The Amarna Letters", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992 tell the story of the decline of Egyptian influence in the region. The Egyptians showed flagging interest here until almost the end of the dynasty. Horemheb, the last ruler of this dynasty, campaigned in this region, finally beginning to turn Egyptian interest back to this region. This process continued in the 19th Dynasty. Like his father Ramesses I, Seti I was a military commander and set out to restore Egypt\'s empire to the days of the Tuthmosis kings almost a century before. Inscriptions on Karnak temple walls record the details of his campaigns into Canaan and Syria. He took 20,000 men and reoccupied abandoned Egyptian posts and garrisoned cities. He made an informal peace with the Hittites, took control of coastal areas along the Mediterranean, and continued to campaign in Canaan. A second campaign led him to briefly capture Kadesh where a stela commemorated his victory and his son and heir Ramesses II campaigned with him. However, this city would soon lapse back into Hittite control.
The immediate antecedents to the Battle of Kadesh were the early campaigns of Ramesses II into Canaan. Ramesses saw that Egyptian vassals were loyal and that the Hittite power seemed weak. He desperately wanted a victory at Kadesh partly in order to expand Egypt\'s frontiers into Syria and to emulate his father Seti I\'s triumphal entry into the city just a decade or so earlier. In order to accomplish this, he incorporated as many men as possible into his army including the Sherden sea pirates whom he had captured just a few years earlier specifically for this climatic battle. He also constructed his new capital, Pi-Ramesses where he built factories to manufacture weapons, chariots, and shields. Of course, they followed his wishes and manufactured some 1,000 weapons in a week, about 250 chariots in 2 weeks, and 1,000 shields in a week and a half. After these preparations, Ramesses decided to attack territory in the Levant which belonged to a more substantial enemy: the Hittite Empire.Tyldesley, Ramesses, p.68
In the fourth year of his reign, he marched north into Syria, capturing the Hittite vassal state of Amurru.Grimal, Nicolas, A History of Ancient Egypt (1994) pp. 253ff. The recovery of Amurru was Muwatalli\'s stated motivation for marching south to confront the Egyptians. Ramesses marched north the 5th year of his reign, and encountered the Hittites at Kadesh.
The Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II (green) bordering on the Hittite Empire (red) at the height of its power in ca. 1279 BC
Kadesh was a strategic city in Syria, and it marked the border between the two superpowers. It had once been controlled by Egypt, so it is natural to assume that Ramesses would wish to retake such a significant city as part of his campaigns in Syria. It was not, however, where he expected to encounter the Hittite army.
Ramesses led an army of four divisions, Amun, Re (P\'re), Seth (Suteh) and the apparently newly formed Ptah division.Gardiner, Sir Alan (1964). Egypt of the Pharaohs. Oxford University Press, p. 260. There was also a poorly documented troop called the Ne\'arin which Ramesses had left in Amurru, apparently in order to secure the port of SumurThe Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history. This division would come to play a critical role in the battle. The presence of Sherden troops among the Egyptian army is also significant because, although already employed in Egyptian armies by this time, they would soon appear among the Sea Peoples that ravaged the east Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age.
On the Hittite side, Ramesses recorded a long list of 19 Hittite allies brought to Kadesh by Muwattalli. This list has excited considerable interest over the years because it has been a challenge to identify all of the locations, because it represents such a broad swath of the Hittite subject lands, and because of the appearance of several west Anatolian lands, apparently including the Trojans, which is of interest to early Greek historians. (For the complete list, see Appendix A.)
Ramesses\'s army crossed the Egyptian border in the spring of Year five of his reign, and after a month\'s march reached the area of Kadesh from the south. In his haste to capture Kadesh, Ramesses made a tactical error. He increased the distance between him and the Ptah and the Seth divisions, thus splitting his forces. As Ramesses prepared to cross the Orontes river, his forces captured two Shasu Bedouin spies who told Ramesses that the Hittite army was cowering many miles to the north at Aleppo. This was a ruse, as in fact the Hittite king Muwatalli was at Kadesh, hidden from the Egyptian king behind "Old Kadesh" to the north-east.
The next day, Ramesses began the crossing to the north bank of the river, leading with the Amun division which he commanded. The pharaoh established camp on the north-western side of Kadesh while the Re division had not yet crossed from south bank. The Ptah and the Seth divisions were still many miles to the south. In order to secure the city the inhabitants of Kadesh had cut a channel from the river to a stream south of town, which had turned the town into a virtual island.
Egyptian scouts then returned to the camp bringing two new Hittite prisoners. Under torture, it was now revealed that in truth the entire Hittite army and their king were actually at hand.
Immediately Ramesses sent messengers to hasten the arrival of the Re divisions of his army, which were still on the far side of the river Orontes. Before Ramesses could organize his troops, Muwatalli\'s chariots attacked the Re division, which was routed. The remnants of the Re division approached the camp of Amun, and were followed closely by the Hittite chariots. The Hittite chariots crashed through the front lines of Ramesses’ camp, creating widespread panic amongst these troops as well. However the Hittites were quickly slowed by the impending obstacles of such a large camp, and many died from crashes between their own chariots. In the Egyptian account of the battle, Ramesses describes himself as being deserted and surrounded by enemies;
"...No officer was with me, no charioteer, no soldier of the army, no shield-bearer ..."Lichtheim, Miriam (1976). Ancient Egyptian Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press, p.65.
Only through the gods did Ramesses personally defeat his attackers and return to the Egyptian lines;
"...I was before them like Seth in his monument. I found the mass of chariots in whose midst I was, scattering them before my horses..."
In a fit of valour, Ramesses, together with his personal guard and some of the chariots recovered from the broken divisions of Amon and Re, attacked the Hittite forces and, with the superior maneuverability of their chariots, wheeled about in successive attacks on the slower forces of the Hittites. The results were that the Egyptians began to pick off the overextended Hittite chariotry. The Hittites, who understandably believed their enemies to be totally routed, had stopped to loot the Egyptian camp, and doing so were easy targets. This counterattack was successful, driving the Hittites back across the Orontes. Although suffering a significant reversal, Muwatalli still had his reserve chariotry and his infantry. He ordered another thousand chariots to attack, consisting of the high nobles who surrounded the king. As the Hittite forces approached the Egyptian camp, the troop contingent from Amurru called Ne\'arin, suddenly arrived, surprising the Hittites. At this point Ramesses went on the attack by changing tactics. He decided to close with the enemy and use the terrain in his benefit in order to slow the Hittite chariotry before they could reach great speeds. Hittite chariots had to cross the Orontes and mount the riverbank to reach the plain where the Egyptians were. Also, by fighting them close to the river, he kept the Hittites from making a formation. That protected his own flanks and allowed him to fight only a small part of the Hittite force at one time.The Battle of Kadesh After six charges the Hittite forces were almost surrounded and the survivors were faced with the humiliation of having to swim back across the Orontes River to join their infantry.The Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history Many drowned in the river. The king of Aleppo was among those who survived, after being rescued and taken out of the river by his companions, depicted as half drowned, when he reached the eastern shore. His companions even had to revive him by holding him upside down.The Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history
The next morning, a second, inconclusive battle was fought. Muwatalli is reported by Ramesses to have called for a truce but this may be propaganda since Hittite records note no such arrangement. Neither side gained total victory. Both the Egyptians and the Hittites had suffered heavy casualties but Kadesh\'s defenses remained unbroken.
On the Hittite side, the casualties included many high-ranking figures. Muwutallis\' brother Metarema was killed by an Egyptian arrow even before he could reach the Orontes river and cross it to confront the Egyptians.It isn\'t clear who this brother was. Hattusili states that his father only had four children, Halpa-sulupi, Muwatalli, Hattusili, and Massanauzzi, a daughter. A possible explanation is that he was the son of a second rank wife, so that perhaps Hattusili wouldn\'t mention him. Herpaser, the royal scribe, was also dead together with the charioteers Tergannasa and Pays. Others killed in battle included Te\'edura, chief of the Hittite bodyguardsAlso a problematical name. If the Chief of the Royal Bodyguard is meant here, then that position was held by his brother Hattusili, who quite clearly did not die.; Kamayta, a corps commander; and Aagem, a commander of the archers.The Battle of Kadesh
The Kadesh peace agreement - on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum
Ramesses prudently gathered his troops and retreated south towards Damascus, and ultimately back to Egypt. Once back in Egypt, Ramesses proclaimed that he had won a great victory but in reality all he had managed to do was to rescue his army.Nicholas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell Books: 1992, p.256 In a sense, however, the Battle of Kadesh was a personal triumph for Ramesses since after blundering into a devastating Hittite ambush, the young king had courageously rallied his scattered troops to fight on the battlefield while escaping death or capture.[citation needed]
Hittite records from Boghazkoy tell of a very different conclusion to the battle where a humiliated Ramesses was forced to depart from Kadesh in defeat. The Hittite king, Muwatalli II, continued to successfully campaign as far south as the Egyptian province of Upi (Apa), which he placed under the control of his brother Hattusili III.Joyce Tyldesley, Ramesses: Egypt\'s Greatest Pharaoh, Penguin Books, 2000. p.73 Egypt\'s sphere of influence in Asia was now restricted to Canaan.Tyldesley, op. cit., p.73 Even this was threatened for a time and Ramesses was compelled to embark on a series of campaigns in Canaan in order to uphold his authority there before he could initiate further assaults against the Hittite Empire. In his Years 8 and 9 Ramesses extended his military successes, this time he proved more successful against his Hittite foes when he successfully captured the cities of Dapur and TunipTyldesley, op. cit., p.75 where no Egyptian soldier had been seen since the time of Thutmose III almost 120 years previously. His victory proved to be ephemeral. The thin strip of territory pinched between Amurru and Kadesh did not make for a stable possession. Within a year, they had returned to the Hittite fold, so that Ramesses had to march against Dapur once more in his tenth year. His second success here was equally as meaningless as his first since neither power could decisively defeat the other in battle.The Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history
The conflicts were finally concluded by a peace treaty in 1258 BC, in the 21st year of Ramesses II\'s reign, with Hattusili III, the new king of the Hittites.Ramses/Hattusili Treaty. The treaty that was established was inscribed on a silver tablet, of which a clay copy survived in the Hittite capital of Hattusa, in modern Turkey, and is on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. An enlarged replica of the Kadesh peace agreement hangs on a wall at the headquarters of the United Nations, as one of the earliest international peace treaties. Its text, in the Hittite version, appears in the links below. An Egyptian version survives in a papyrus.
The Egyptian version of the battle of Kadesh is recorded in 2 forms, known as the Bulletin and the Poem. These are repeated multiple times (7 for the Bulletin and 8 times for the Poem, in temples in Abydos, Temple of Luxor, Karnak, Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum.) Lichtheim, Miriam (1976). Ancient Egyptian Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press, p.57. The Hittite version has been found at Hattusa, and tells the story of the battle as recalled by the brother of Muwatalli II, Hattusili III.
Source: Goetze, A., "The Hittites and Syria (1300-1200 B.C.)", in Cambridge Ancient History (1975) p.253.
| Egyptian Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Nhrn | Nahrin = Mitanni |
| ‘Irṭw | Arzawa (western Anatolia) |
| Pds | Pitassa (central Anatolia) |
| Drdny | Dardania (Trojans, northwest Anatolia) |
| Ms | Masa (Mysia, northwest Anatolia) |
| Krkš | Karkisa (Anatolia) |
| Krkmš | Carchemish, in Syria |
| Qd | Ḥalba(?) |
| Qdš | Kadesh |
| \'krṭ | Ugarit |
| M3šnt | (Unknown) |
| Kškš | Kaska (northern Anatolia) |
| Lk | Lukka lands (Lycia and Caria, southwest Anatolia) |
| Qḍwdn | Kizzuwatna (Cilicia) |
| Nwgs | Nuḥḥašši |
| \'Irwnt (sic!) | Arawanna (In Anatolia) |
| Hlb | Halba (Aleppo, in Syria. Led by its king, Talmi-Sarruma, grandson of Suppiluliuma I.) |
| (?) | Malunna |
| (?) | Arathu |
In addition to these allies, the Hittite king also hired the services of some of the local Shasu tribes.
Selected quotes from "Ancient Near Eastern Texts" by James PritchardPritchard, James B. (1969). Ancient Near Eastern Texts. Princeton. ISBN 978-0691035031. are of special interest:
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