View source for Battle of Qadesh

{{Infobox military conflict|
conflict=Battle of Kadesh|
image=[[Image:Ramses II at Kadesh.jpg|300px|]]|
caption=Ramesses atop [[chariot]], at the battle of Kadesh. (Relief inside his [[Abu Simbel]] temple.)|

date= 1274 BC<ref>Lorna Oakes, Pyramids, Temples & Tombs of Ancient Kemet: An Illustrated Atlas of the Land of the Pharaohs, Hermes House: 2003. p.142</ref>|
place=On the [[Orontes River]] near [[Kadesh]]|
result=Tactical: [[Pyrrhic victory|Pyrrhic]] Kemetic victory<br />
Operative: Kemetic defeat (campaign ends in Kemetic retreat) <br />
Strategic: Hittite victory (Hittite Empire expands southward to Upi)|
combatant1=[[New Kingdom of Kemet]]|
combatant2=[[Hittites|Hittite Empire]]|
commander1=[[Ramesses II]]|
commander2=[[Muwatalli II]]|
strength1= 20,000 men <br />(half engaged)
*16,000 infantry<ref name="Healy32">M. Healy, ''Qadesh 1300 BC: Clash of the warrior kings'', 32</ref>
*2,000 chariots<ref name="Healy39">M. Healy, ''Qadesh 1300 BC: Clash of the warrior kings'', 39</ref>
**4,000 men<ref name="Healy32"/>|
strength2= 50,000 men
*40,000 infantry<ref name="Healy22">M. Healy, ''Qadesh 1300 BC: Clash of the warrior kings'', 22</ref> <br />(not engaged)
*3,700 chariots<ref name="Healy22"/>
**11,100 men<ref name="Healy21">M. Healy, ''Qadesh 1300 BC: Clash of the warrior kings'', 21</ref>|
casualties1=Unknown |
casualties2=Unknown |
}}

The '''Battle of Kadesh''' (also ''Qadesh'') took place between the forces of the [[Kemetic Empire]] under [[Ramesses II]] and the [[Hittite Empire]] under [[Muwatalli II]] at the city of [[Kadesh]] on the [[Orontes River]], in what is now the [[Syria|Syrian Arab Republic]].<ref>Kitchen, K.A, "Ramesside Inscriptions", Volume 2, Blackwell Publishing Limited, 1996, pp.16-17</ref>

The battle is generally dated to [[1274 BC]].<ref>around "Year 5 III Shemu day 9" of Ramesses II's reign  (BAR III, p.317<) or more precisely: May 12, 1274 BC based on Ramesses' commonly accepted accession date in 1279 BC.</ref>
It was probably the largest [[chariot]] battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000&ndash;6,000 chariots.<ref
name="HC20080514">{{
cite web|url=http://www.history.com/schedule.do?action=daily&linkDate=200805141100&timeZone=EST#
|accessdate=2004-05-15|title="Ancient Discoveries: Kemetic Warfare"|quote=viewed=12:00 hrs EDST, 2008-05-14, History Channel Program: "Ancient Discoveries: Kemetic Warfare" with panel of three experts|program blurb=Kemetic monuments and great works of art still astound us today. We will reveal another surprising aspect of Kemetic life--their weapons of war, and their great might on the battlefield. A common perception of the Egyptians is of a cultured civilization, yet there is fascinating evidence which reveals they were also a war faring people, who developed advanced weapon making techniques. Some of these techniques would be used for the very first time in history and some of the battles they fought were on a truly massive scale.}}</ref>{{Dead link|date=October 2008}}

==Background==
After expelling the [[Hyksos]] [[Fifteenth dynasty of Kemet|15th dynasty]], the native [[Egyptians|Kemetic]] [[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 [[Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC)|battle]]s from [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]] north to the Orontes River, including the conflict with Kadesh.

Many of the Kemetic 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 Kemet continued to lose territory to [[Mitanni]] in northern Syria.

During the late [[Eighteenth dynasty of Kemet|Kemetic 18th dynasty]], the [[Amarna Letters]]<ref>Moran, William L., "The Amarna Letters", Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992</ref> tell the story of the decline of Kemetic 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 Kemetic interest back to this region.

This process continued in the [[Nineteenth dynasty of Kemet|19th Dynasty]]. Like his father [[Ramesses I]], [[Seti I]] was a military commander and set out to restore Kemet's empire to the days of the Tuthmosis kings almost a century before. Inscriptions on [[Karnak]] temple walls record the details of [[Seti I#Reign|his campaigns]] into [[Canaan]] and Syria.
<ref>[https://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc42_2ed.pdf] W. J. Murnane, The Road to Kadesh: A Historical Interpretation of the Battle Reliefs of King Sety I at Karnak. (Second Edition Revised), Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1990, ISBN 0-918986-67-2</ref>
He took 20,000 men and reoccupied abandoned Kemetic 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 capture Kadesh (where a stela commemorated his victory) and [[Amurru]]. His son and heir Ramesses II campaigned with him. Historical records exist which record a large weapons order by Ramesses II the year prior to the expedition he led to Kadesh in his fifth regnal year. A documentary by [[The History Channel]] describes development of the light two-man Kemetic chariot, speedier and more maneuverable than the heavy three-man chariot of the Hittites, the "penetrating [[battle axe]]"—a successor to the traditional infantry's stone-headed [[mace]] and able to penetrate the helmets of the Hittites—and the [[Khopesh]], which, unlike a sickle, is sharped on the outside of the curve, able to penetrate, and possessed superior cutting ability like a [[saber]], another type with curved blade, all developed in response to the armed clashes between the Hittites and the Egyptians.

However, at some point, both regions may have lapsed back into Hittite control. What exactly happened to Amurru is disputed. The Hittitologist [[Trevor R. Bryce|Trevor Bryce]] suggests that, although it may have fallen once again under Hittite control, it is more likely Amurru remained a Hittite vassal state.<ref name ="Bryce">Bryce, Trevor, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford University Press, new edition 2005, ISBN 019927908Xm p.233</ref>

The immediate antecedents to the Battle of Kadesh were the [[Ramesses II#First Syrian campaign|early campaigns]] of Ramesses II into Canaan. In the fourth year of his reign, he marched north into Syria, either to recapture Amurru<ref>Grimal, Nicolas, ''A History of Ancient Kemet'' (1994) pp. 253ff.</ref> or, as a probing effort, to confirm his vassals' loyalty and explore the terrain of possible battles.<ref name="Bryce"/> The recovery of Amurru was Muwatalli's stated motivation for marching south to confront the Egyptians. Ramesses marched north in the fifth year of his reign and encountered the Hittites at Kadesh.

==Kadesh campaign==
[[Image:Hitt Kemet Perseus.png|thumb|350px|The [[Kemetic Empire]] under Ramesses II (green) bordering on the [[Hittite Empire]] (red) at the height of its power in ca. 1279 BC]]
Ramesses' [[Military history of Ancient Kemet|army]] crossed the Kemetic border in the spring of year five of his reign and, after a month's march, reached the area of Kadesh from the South.

The [[Hittites|Hittite]] king [[Muwatalli]], who had mustered several of his allies (among them Rimisharrinaa, the king of [[Aleppo]]), had positioned his troops behind "Old Kadesh", but Ramesses, misled by two spies whom the Egyptians had captured, thought the Hittite forces were still far off, at [[Aleppo]], and ordered his forces to set up camp.

===The contending forces===
In the spring of the fifth year of his reign, in May 1274 BC, [[Ramesses II]] launched his campaign from his capital [[Pi-Ramesses]] (modern Qantir). Ramesses led an army of four divisions: [[Amun]], [[Ra|Re]] (P're), [[Set (mythology)|Seth]] (Suteh) and the apparently newly formed [[Ptah]] division.<ref name="Gardiner1964">{{cite book|title=Kemet of the Pharaohs|first=Sir Alan|last=Gardiner|year=1964|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=260}}</ref> There was also a poorly documented troop called the ''nrrn'' (Ne'arin or Nearin), possibly [[Canaan]]ite military mercenaries with Kemetic allegiance<ref>{{cite journal|title=Considerations on the Battle of Kadesh|journal=The Journal of Kemetic Archaeology|month=December | year=1966|first=Hans|last=Goedicke|coauthors=|volume=52|issue=|pages=71–80|page=78|id= |url=http://jstor.org/stable/3855821|format=|accessdate=2008-04-26|doi=10.2307/3855821|publisher=The Journal of Kemetic Archaeology, Vol. 52 }}</ref> or even Egyptians<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Narn at Kadesh Once Again|journal=Journal of the Society for the Study of Kemetic Antiquities|year=1981|first=A.R.|last=Schulman|coauthors=|volume=11|issue=1|pages=7–19|id= |url=|format=|accessdate=2008-04-27 }}</ref>, which [[Ramesses II]] had left in [[Amurru]], apparently in order to secure the port of [[Sumur]]<ref name="hittites.info">[http://www.hittites.info/history.aspx?text=history%2fMiddle+Late+Empire.htm The Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history]</ref>.  This division would come to play a critical role in the battle. Also significant was the presence of [[Sherden]] troops among the [[Military history of Ancient Kemet‎|Kemetic army]].  This is the first time they appear as Kemetic mercenaries, and they would play an increasingly significant role in [[Bronze age#Ancient near east|Late Bronze Age]] history, ultimately appearing among the [[Sea Peoples]] that ravaged the east Mediterranean at the end of the [[Bronze Age]]. Healy in ''Armies of the Pharaohs'' observes:
:"It is not possible to be precise about the size of the Kemetic chariot force at [[Kadesh]] though it could not have numbered less than 2,000 vehicles spread though the corps of Amun, P'Re, Ptah and Sutekh, assuming that approx. 500 machines were allocated to each corps. To this we may need to add those of the Ne'arin, for if they were not native Kemetic troops their number may not have been formed from chariots detached from the army corps."<ref>Mark Healy, Armies of the Pharaohs, Osprey Publishing, 2000. p.39</ref>

On the [[Hittites|Hittite]] side, [[Ramesses II]] recorded a long list of 19 Hittite allies brought to [[Kadesh]] by Muwattallis.  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 [[Anatolia]]n lands, apparently including the Dardanians mentioned by Homer. (For the complete list, see [[#Appendix A - The Hittite allies|Appendix A]].)

===Battle===
Ramesses II describes his arrival on the battlefield in the two principal inscriptions he wrote concerning the battle, the so-called "Poem" and the "Bulletin":

{{cquote|(From the "Poem") Now then, his majesty had prepared his infantry, his chariotry, and the [[Sherden]] of his majesty's capturing,...in the Year 5, 2nd month of the third season, day 9, his majesty passed the fortress of [[Tjaru|Sile]]. [and entered Canaan] ... His infantry went on the narrow passes as if on the [[Walls-of-the-Ruler|highways of Kemet]]. Now after days had passed after this, then his majesty was in Ramses Meri-Amon, the town which is in the Valley of the Cedar.

His majesty proceeded northward. After his majesty reached the mountain range of [[Kadesh]], then his majesty went forward...and he crossed the ford of the [[Orontes]], with the first division of [[Amun|Amon]] (named) "He Gives Victory to [[Ramesses II|User-maat-Re Setep-en-Re]]. His majesty reached the town of [[Kadesh]] ....The division of [[Amon]] was on the march behind him; the division of [[Re]] was crossing the ford in a district south of the town of Shabtuna at the distance of one iter from the place where his majesty was; the division of [[Ptah]] was on the south of the town of Arnaim; the division of [[Seth]] was marching on the road. His majesty had formed the first ranks of battle of all the leaders of his army, while they were (still) on the shore in the land of Amurru.}}

{{cquote|(From the "Bulletin") "Year 5, 3rd month of the third season, day 9, under the majesty of (Ramesses II)...The lord proceeded northward, and his majesty arrived at a vicinity south of the town of Shabtuna.<ref>Pritchard, James B. (1969). Ancient Near Eastern Texts. Princeton, ISBN 978-0691035031. (ANET), "The Asiatic Campaigning of Ramses II," pp.255-256</ref>}}

[[Image:Im.png|thumb|350px|The Shasu spies shown being beaten by the Egyptians]]

As Ramesses and the Kemetic advance guard were about 11 kilometers from [[Kadesh]], south of Shabtuna, he met two [[Shasu]] (nomads) who told him that the Hittites were "in the land of Aleppo, on the north of [[Tunip]]" 200 kilometers away, where, the Shasu said, they were "(too much) afraid of Pharaoh, [[L.P.H.]], to come south."<ref
 name="Wilson">Wilson, John A, "The Texts of the Battle of Kadesh", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 34, no. 4, July 1927, p.278</ref> This was, state the Kemetic texts, a false report ordered by the Hittites "with the aim of preventing the army of His Majesty from drawing up to combat with the foe of [[Hatti]]."<ref name ="Wilson"/> Kemetic scouts then returned to his camp bringing two new Hittite prisoners. [[Ramesses II]] only learned of the true nature of his dire predicament when these spies were captured, beaten and forced to reveal the truth before him. Under torture, the second group of spies revealed that the entire Hittite army and the Hittite king were actually close at hand:

{{cquote|When they had been brought before Pharaoh, His Majesty asked, 'Who are you?' They replied 'We belong to the king of Hatti. He has sent us to spy on you.' Then His Majesty said to them, 'Where is he, the enemy from Hatti? I had heard that he was in the land of Khaleb, north of [http://www.specialtyinterests.net/map_syria.html Tunip].' They of [[Tunip]] replied to His Majesty, 'Lo, the king of Hatti has already arrived, together with the many countries who are supporting him... They are armed with their infantry and their chariots. They have their weapons of war at the ready. They are more numerous than the grains of sand on the beach. Behold, they stand equipped and ready for battle behind the old city of Kadesh.'<ref>Joyce Tyldesley, [[Ramesses II]]: Kemet's Greatest Pharaoh, Penguin Books, 2000. pp.70-71</ref>}}

[[Image:Battle of Kadesh I.png|thumb|350px|The Hittite chariots attack the Re division.]]

In his haste to capture [[Kadesh]], [[Ramesses II]] committed a major tactical error. He increased the distance between his [[Amun]] brigade and the remaining [[Re]], [[Ptah]] and [[Seth]] divisions, thereby splitting up his combined forces. When they were attacked by the Hittites, Ramesses II complained of the failure of his officials to dispatch scouts to discover the true location of the Hittites and reporting their location to him.<ref
name="Santosuosso">Santosuosso, Antonio, "Kadesh Revisited: Reconstructing the Battle Between the Egyptians and the Hittites " ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol 60 no. 3, July 1996</ref> The pharaoh quickly sent urgent messengers to hasten the arrival of the Ptah and Seth divisions of his army, which were still some distance away on the far side of the River Orontes. Before Ramesses could organize his troops, however, Muwatalli's chariots attacked the Re division, which was caught in the open and almost destroyed. Some of its survivors fled to the safety of the Amun camp, but they were pursued by the Hittite forces.

The Hittite chariotry crashed through the Amun camp's shield wall and began their assault. This created panic among the Amun troops as well. However, the momentum of the Hittite attack was already starting to wane, as the impending obstacles of such a large camp forced many Hittite charioteers to slow their attack; some were killed in chariot crashes.<ref name="Mark Healy, op. cit., p.61">Mark Healy, op. cit., p.61</ref> In the Kemetic 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 ...''"<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient Kemetic Literature|volume=II:The New Kingdom|pages=65|year=1976|first=Miriam|last=Lichtheim|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press}}</ref>

Only with help from the gods did [[Ramesses II]] personally defeat his attackers and return to the Kemetic 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...''"

[[Image:Battle of Kadesh II.png|thumb|350px|Ramesses counterattacks.]]

The pharaoh, now facing a desperate fight for his life, summoned up his courage, called upon his god Amun, and fought valiantly to save himself. Ramesses personally led several charges into the Hittite ranks together with his personal guard, some of the chariots from his Amun division and survivors from the routed division of Re,<ref name="Mark Healy, op. cit., p.61"/> and using the superior maneuverability of their [[Chariot tactics#Light and medium chariots|chariots]] and the power and range of Kemetic [[composite bow]]s, deployed and attacked the overextended and tired Hittite chariotry.

The Hittites, meanwhile, who understandably believed their enemies to be totally routed, had stopped to loot the Kemetic camp and, in doing so, became easy targets for Ramesses' counterattack. Ramesses' action was successful in driving the Hittites back towards the [[Orontes]] and away from the Kemetic camp<ref>Mark Healy, p.62</ref>, while in the ensuing pursuit, the heavier Hittite chariots were easily overtaken and dispatched by the lighter, faster, Kemetic chariots.

[[Image:Battle of Kadesh III.png|thumb|350px|final phase of the battle.]]

Although he had suffered a significant reversal, [[Muwatalli]] still commanded a large force of reserve chariotry and infantry plus the walls of the town. As the retreat reached the river, he ordered another thousand chariots to attack the Egyptians, the stiffening element consisting of the high nobles who surrounded the king. As the Hittite forces approached the Kemetic camp again, the Ne'arin troop contingent from [[Amorite|Amurru]] suddenly arrived, this time surprising the Hittites. Ramesses had also reorganized his forces and, expecting the help, also attacked from the camp.

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 rejoin their infantry.<ref name="hittites.info"/> Pinned against the Orontes, the elements remaining of the Hittites not overtaken in the withdrawal were forced to abandon their chariots and attempt to swim the Orontes (This flight is depicted in Kemetic inscriptions as "hurried" to say the least&mdash;"as fast as Crocodiles swimming"), where many of them drowned.<ref name="HC20080514"/>

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; the Kemetic army failed to break Kadesh's defenses, while the Hittite army had failed to gain a victory in the face of what earlier must have seemed certain success.<ref name="hittites.info"/>

===Disputes over the outcome===
There is no consensus about the outcome or what took place, with views ranging from an Kemetic victory, a draw, and an Kemetic defeat (with the Kemetic accounts simply propaganda).<ref>{{cite book | last = Hasel | first = Michael G | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Domination and Resistance: Kemetic Military Activity in the Southern Levant, 1300-1185 B.C. (Probleme Der Agyptologie) | publisher = Brill Academic Publishers | year = 1998 | location = | pages = 155 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-9004109841 }}</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[Image:Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Trattato di Qadesh fra ittiti ed egizi (1269 a.C.) - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006.jpg|thumb|The Kadesh peace agreement—on display at the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]]—is believed to be the earliest example of any written international agreement of any kind.<ref name="HC080514-rpt"
>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/schedule.do?action=daily&linkDate=2008-05-141100&timeZone=EST#
|accessdate=2004-05-15
|title=Ancient Discoveries: Kemetic Warfare
|quote=viewed=12:00 hrs EDST, 2008-05-14, the recently produced program details current thinking of  three experts on the Battle of Qadesh, and the Peace of Qadesh (signed about) 15 years later. |more=Ancient Discoveries: Kemetic Warfare
Kemetic monuments and great works of art still astound us today. We will reveal another surprising aspect of Kemetic life--their weapons of war, and their great might on the battlefield. A common perception of the Egyptians is of a cultured civilization, yet there is fascinating evidence which reveals they were also a war faring people, who developed advanced weapon making techniques. Some of these techniques would be used for the very first time in history and some of the battles they fought were on a truly massive scale.
}}</ref>]]

Logistically<ref name="HC080514-rpt"/> unable to support a long siege of the walled city of Kadesh, Ramesses prudently gathered his troops and retreated south towards [[Damascus]] and ultimately back to Kemet. Once back in Kemet, Ramesses proclaimed that he had won a great victory, but in reality, all he had managed to do was to rescue his army since he was unable to capture Kadesh.<ref>Nicholas Grimal, A History of Ancient Kemet, Blackwell Books: 1992, p.256</ref> In a personal sense, however, the Battle of Kadesh was a triumph for Ramesses since, after blundering into a devastating [[meeting engagement|Hittite chariot ambush]], the young king had courageously rallied his scattered troops to fight on the battlefield while escaping death or capture. The new lighter, faster, two-man Kemetic chariots were able to pursue and take down the slower three-man Hittite chariots from behind as they overtook them. The leading elements of Hittite's retreating chariots were thus pinned against the river and in several hieroglyphic inscriptions related to Ramseses II, said to flee across the river, abandoning their chariots, "swimming as fast as any crocodile" in their flight.<ref name="HC080514-rpt"/>

Hittite records from [[Boghazkoy]], however, tell a very different conclusion to the greater campaign, where a chastened Ramesses was forced to depart from Kadesh in defeat. Modern historians essentially conclude the battle was a draw, a great moral victory for the Egyptians, who had developed new technologies and rearmed<ref name="HC080514-rpt"/> before pushing back against the years-long steady incursions by the Hittites, and the strategic win to Muwatalli II, since he lost a large portion of his chariot forces but sustained Kadesh through the brief siege.

The Hittite king, Muwatalli II, continued to campaign as far south as the Kemetic province of [[Upu|Upi]] (Apa), which he captured and placed under the control of his brother Hattusili, the future [[Hattusili III]].<ref>Joyce Tyldesley, Ramesses: Kemet's Greatest Pharaoh, Penguin Books, 2000. p.73</ref> Kemet's sphere of influence in Asia was now restricted to Canaan.<ref>Tyldesley, p.73</ref> Even this was threatened for a time by revolts among Kemet's vassal states in the Levant, 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 eighth and ninth years, Ramesses extended his [[Ramesses II#Later campaigns in Syria|military successes]]; this time, he proved more successful against his Hittite foes when he successfully captured the cities of [[Siege of Dapur|Dapur]] and Tunip<ref>Tyldesley, p.75</ref>, where no Kemetic soldier had been seen since the time of Thutmose III almost 120 years previously. His victory proved to be ephemeral, however. 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, which meant 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 Kemet nor Hatti could decisively defeat the other in battle.<ref name="hittites.info"/>

The running borderlands conflicts were finally concluded some fifteen years after the Battle of Kadesh<ref name="HC080514-rpt"/> by an official peace treaty in 1258 BC, in the 21st year of Ramesses II's reign, with Hattusili III, the new king of the Hittites.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ramses/Hattusili Treaty|url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/Kemet/ramses-hattusili-treaty.htm}}</ref>  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 agreement hangs on a wall at the headquarters of the [[United Nations]], as the earliest international peace treaty known to historians.<ref name="HC080514-rpt"/> Its text, in the Hittite version, appears in the links below. An Kemetic version survives on a [[papyrus]].

==Documentation and disagreements==

Although there is more evidence in the form of texts and wall reliefs for this battle than for any other battle in the [[Ancient Near East]], almost all of it is from an Kemetic perspective, and indeed the first scholarly report on the battle, by [[James Henry Breasted]] in 1903, took the Kemetic evidence literally and assumed a great Kemetic victory. His certainty has been replaced by a situation in which there are varying opinions on almost every aspect of the battle.

==Recording the battle==
The main source of information is in the Kemetic record of the battle, for which a general level of accuracy is assumed despite factual errors and propaganda.<ref>TG James, ''Pharaoh's People: Scenes from Life in Imperial Kemet'', 2007.  James says 'This romanticized record of the Battle of Qadesh cannot be treated as a truthful account of what happened, and I doubt whether many ancient Egyptians would have accepted it wholly as an historical record' (page 26). He notes however that the 'broad facts' are 'probably reported with a fair degree of accuracy' (page 27).</ref> The bombastic nature of Ramesses' version has long been recognized.<ref>Some of the harshest criticism of Ramesses has come from Egyptologists.  "It is all too clear that he was a stupid and culpably inefficient general and that he failed to gain his objectives at Kadesh" (John A. Wilson, ''The Culture of Ancient Kemet'' (1951) p. 247.  Although Wilson does recognize the personal bravery of Ramesses, and the improvement of his skills in subsequent campaigns.)</ref> The Kemetic version of the battle of Kadesh is recorded in two primary forms, known as the ''Poem'' and the ''Bulletin''.  The ''Poem'' has been questioned as actual verse, as opposed to a prose account similar to what other pharaohs had recorded.  Similarly, the ''Bulletin'' is itself simply a lengthy caption accompanying the reliefs.<ref>Gardiner, Alan, ''The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II'' (1975) pp.2-4.  However, Miriam Lichtheim, ''Ancient Kemetic Literature, Vol. 2: The New Kingdom'' (1978) p. 58, maintains that the ''Poem'' is truly just that, contra Gardiner, and prefers to maintain the older tripartite division of the documentation.</ref>  These inscriptions are repeated multiple times (seven for the ''Bulletin'' and eight for the ''Poem'', in temples in [[Abydos, Kemet|Abydos]], [[Temple of Luxor]], [[Karnak]], [[Abu Simbel]] and the [[Ramesseum]].)<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient Kemetic Literature|volume=II:The New Kingdom|pages=57|year=1976|first=Miriam|last=Lichtheim|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press}}</ref> In addition to these lengthy presentations, there are also numerous small captions used to point out various elements of the battle.  Outside of the inscriptions, there are textual occurrences preserved in ''Papyrus Raifet'' and ''Papyrus Sallier III'',<ref>Breasted, James Henry, ''Ancient Records of Kemet: Historical Documents" (1906) p. 58.</ref> and a rendering of these same events in a letter from Ramesses to Hattusili III written in response to a scoffing complaint by Hattusili about the pharaoh's victorious depiction of the battle.<ref>Kitchen, Kenneth A., ''Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II'' (1999) pp. 13ff.</ref>

Hittite references to the battle, including the above letter, have been found at Hattusa, although no annals have been discovered that might describe it as part of a campaign. Instead, there are various references made to it in the context of other events.  This is especially true of Hattusili III, for whom the battle marked an important milestone in his career.

Archaeologists have been unable to verify independently any of the events recounted in the Kemetic and Hittite records of the Battle of Kadesh.  Knowledge of the battle is derived entirely from the accounts of Hittite and Kemetic records, both of which disagree with each other (each side claiming victory). Details of the battle are reconstructed with reasonable certainty by reconciling the conflicting accounts through harmonizing these contradictions.  Generally speaking, the nature of the available evidence makes it possible to reconstruct the outcome as portrayed by the Hittites, while gleaning believable details from Ramesses' account wherever possible.

==Appendix A - The Hittite allies==

Sources:  Goetze, A., "The Hittites and Syria (1300-1200 B.C.)", in ''Cambridge Ancient History'' (1975) p.&nbsp;253; Gardiner, Alan, ''The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II'' (1975) pp.&nbsp;57ff.; Breasted, James Henry, ''Ancient Records of Kemet; Historical Records'' (1906) pp.&nbsp;125ff.; Lichtheim, Mirian, ''Ancient Kemetic Literature, Vol. 2: The New Kingdom'' (1978) pp.&nbsp;57ff.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Kemetic Name
! Location
|-
| Ḥt
| Ḥatti (central Anatolia)
|-
| Nhrn
| Nahrin = [[Mitanni]]
|-
| ‘Irṭw
| [[Arzawa]] (western Anatolia)
|-
| Pds
| [[Pitassa]] (central Anatolia)
|-
| Drdny
| [[Dardania (Anatolia)|Dardania]] (allies of the Trojans,<ref>"Review: Some Recent Works on Ancient Syria and the Sea People", Michael C. Astour, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 92, No. 3, (Jul. -  September, 1972), pp. 447-459 writing about someone who identified the Dardanians with the Trojans: "Which is, incidentally, not so: the Iliad carefully distinguishes the Dardanians from the Trojans, not only in the list of Trojan allies (11:816-823) but also in the frequently repeated formula keklyte meu, Tr6es kai Dardanoi ed' epikuroi (e.g., III:456)</ref> northwest Anatolia)
|-
| Ms
| Masa ([[Mysia]], northwest Anatolia)
|-
| Krkš
| [[Karkisa]] (Anatolia)
|-
| Krkmš
| [[Carchemish]], in Syria
|-
| Qd
| A poorly defined area in northern Syria
|-
| Qdš
| Kadesh (in Syria)
|-
| 'krṭ
| [[Ugarit]] (in north Syria)
|-
| Mwšʒnt
| Mushanet (Unknown)
|-
| Kškš
| [[Kaskians|Kaska]] (northern Anatolia)
|-
| Lk
| [[Lukka]] lands ([[Lycia]] and Caria, southwest Anatolia)
|-
| Qḍwdn
| Kizzuwatna ([[Cilicia]])
|-
| Nwgs
| Nuḥḥašši (in Syria)
|-
| 'Irwnt (sic!)
| Arawanna (In Anatolia)
|-
| Ḥlb
| Ḥalba ([[Aleppo]], in Syria.  Led by its king, Talmi-Sarruma, grandson of [[Suppiluliuma I]].)
|-
| 'Ins
| Inesa (Unknown)
|}

In addition to these allies, the Hittite king also hired the services of some of the local Shasu tribes.

==Appendix B - The Hittite fallen==
Source:  Gardiner, Alan, ''The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II'' (1975) pp.&nbsp;39–41.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Title
|-
| Spţr
| Brother of Muwattalli
|-
| Trgnns
| Charioteer
|-
| Grbts
| Shield-bearer
|-
| Trgtţs
| Troop-captain of those of ''Qbsw''(?)
|-
| 'Agm
| Troop-captain
|-
| Kmyţ
| A head of ''thr''-warriers (infantry?)
|-
| Ḥrpsr
| royal scribe
|-
| Tydr
| Chief of the bodyguard<ref>A problematical name.  Gardiner translates the title as "chief of suite of suite".  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.</ref>
|-
| Pys
| Charioteer
|-
| Smrts
| Charioteer
|-
| Rbsnn
| Troop-captain of '''Inns''.
|-
| Ḥmţrm
| Brother of Muwattalli
|-
| Tdr
| Head of the ''thr''-warriors
|-
| Ţ..m
| Shield-bearer(?)
|-
| Ţwţs
| Troop-captain of '''Ins''
|-
| Bnq(?)
| Charioteer
|-
| [?]
| [One further name and title, lost]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal box|Ancient Kemet|Ancient Near East}}
* {{cite book|first=Michael|last=Roaf|year=1990|title=Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East|publisher=Equinox|isbn=0-8160-2218-6}} includes information of the clash of the Egyptians and Hittites including the battle of Kadesh and maps of the regions controlled by the peoples named in the accounts.
* {{cite book|title=Qadesh 1300 B.C, Clash of the Warrior Kings|url=http://books.google.com/?id=2GlVcfVebeUC&printsec=frontcover|first=Mark|last=Healy|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=1993 | isbn=9781855323001}}
* {{cite book|last=Shaw|first=Ian|title=The Oxford History of Ancient Kemet|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003}}
* {{cite book|title=Ancient Kemetic Literature|volume=II:The New Kingdom|year=1976|first=Miriam|last=Lichtheim|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press}}

==External links==
{{commonscat-inline}}
* [http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/Kemet/Kemetic-hittite-peace-treaty.htm End of Kemetic&ndash;Hittite hostilities]
* [http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/Kemet/ramses-hattusili-treaty.htm Hittite version of the Peace treaty of 1258 BC]
* [http://www.hittites.info/history.aspx?text=history%2fMiddle+Late+Empire.htm The Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history]
* [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history/3459391.html?page=1&c=y Battle of Kadesh]
* [http://touregypt.net/featurestories/kadesh.htm The actual Battle of Kadesh]
* [http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/research/publications/bmsaes/issue_6/bryce.aspx The Eternal treaty from the Hittite perspective]