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The
Battle of Kadesh
(1275 BC):
major battle between the Egyptians under Ramses II and the Hittites under
Muwatallis in Syria southwest of Homs on the Orontes River. Seeking to recapture
the Hittite held city of Kadesh in Syria Ramses II invaded Syria with four
divisions and an auxiliary force. Muwatallis gathered a large alliance among his
vassal states and, hiding his army behind the city mound, sent out false reports
that he was at
Aleppo farther north. Ramses, falling into the trap, hurried his army toward
Kadesh, his units stretched along the Orontes Valley road. Toward evening Ramses
II with the first division reached Kadesh and set up camp. Too late, two
captured Hittite scouts confessed the actual situation. The Hittites forded the
river and after routing the second division, stormed the Egyptian camp. His
first division destroyed, Ramses was saved mostly by his auxiliary force that
struck the attacking Hittites in the rear. Pushing the Hittites into the river,
the mauled Egyptians retained the battlefield. The next day after indecisive
fighting Ramses was compelled to withdraw his battered army; and in the
aftermath the Hittites advanced south to the region of
Damascus, halting the Egyptian resurgence into Syria. The biased Egyptian
version of the battle was recorded on numerous temples by Ramses but a Hittite
version excavated at
Boghazköy has enabled a truer assessment of the battle .....
Ramesses II's Battle of Kadesh
Inscriptions
By
Megaera Lorenz
Ramesses II left a detailed official account
of his battle with the Hittites at Kadesh. The battle, one of the most
significant events of Ramesses' reign, took place in his 5th year (c. 1285 BCE).
Although it did not end in a victory for either side, it did result in an
alliance between Egypt and Khatti and a period of stability in the ancient Near
East that would last for nearly a century.
The text is divided into two sections, a
bulletin and a poem (Lichtheim 1976: 57). Both of these were reproduced numerous
times in the form of temple inscriptions and papyri. The events have been
heavily glossed over in the official account, but the basic details of the
battle can still be sifted through the veneer of propaganda.
In the bulletin (Lichtheim 1976: 60-62),
Ramesses describes a massive confederation of peoples from Canaan and the
Mediterranean working alongside the Hittites. Among them are two of the groups
now classified as Sea Peoples: the
Karkisha and the
Lukka. Throughout the text, these two peoples are always mentioned in close
association with one another.
The basic events of the battle can be
summarized as follows. Ramesses, taking his troops northward, encountered two
bedouin working secretly as agents of the Hittites. The bedouin misled Ramesses
into believing that the Hittite army was waiting in Khaleb far to the north,
when in fact the Hittites and their allies were in hiding at Kadesh. Ramesses
later ascertained the true location of the Hittite encampment from two captured
Hittite scouts, and tried to send warnings to the other divisions of the
Egyptian army. One of the Egyptian divisions, however, was caught off-guard by a
group of Hittites crossing the Orontes. Ramesses rushed out to go to their aid,
only to be surrounded by Hittites and their confederated allies. Ramesses and
the charioteering units with him were able to break out and drive the Hittite
forces back into their fortress, but the battle ended in a draw (Lichtheim 1976:
60-62).
The poem (Lichtheim 1976: 62-72) gives a more
detailed account of Ramesses' escape from the Hittite forces. Here the
composition of the Hittite confederation is again described, and another of the
future "Sea Peoples" is mentioned in the context of Ramesses' own soldiers. We
are told that Ramesses' forces included
Shardana captured in battle by the king and then put to work as mercenary
troops.
These accounts of the battle of Kadesh
provide some important information about the status of the Sea Peoples at the
height of the New Kingdom empire. The Lukka, Karkisha and Shardana were all
significant military forces at this time, apparently operating mostly as
mercenaries. Ramesses states in the poem that the Hittite king had ensured the
cooperation of the Lukka and Karkisha (among others) by paying them off with
booty that he had stripped from various conquered towns (Lichtheim 1976: 64).
The Shardana had already been acting as mercenaries for Egypt and her
territories since at least as early as the reign of Akhenaten (see
The Amarna Letters), and would continue to act in that capacity at least
through the time of Ramesses III (see
The Medinet Habu Inscriptions).
Bibliography:
Ramesses II's account of the Battle of Kadesh, regnal year 5, c. 1285 BCE. Pp.
60-72 in:
Lichtheim, M.
1976 Ancient Egyptian Literature. California: University of
California Press.
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