The Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC) – Ancient Egypt vs the Hittites

The Battle of Kadesh (Qadesh) took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under the pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II near the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs near the modern Syrian-Lebanese border, in 1274 BC. The Battle of Kadesh is the earliest battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known, and possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought. Ramesses led an army of four divisions: Amun, Re, Seth, and Ptah. While Ramesses was with the Amun division in the camp, waiting for the rest of the army to arrive, the Hittite chariots ambushed the Re division. When the Hittites attacked his camp, Ramses managed to organize a counter-attack with the help of the Ptah division arriving from the south. The Hittite army was ultimately forced to retreat, but the Egyptians were unsuccessful in capturing Kadesh.

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Voice & editing: Nicolae Bondar (myself)

Music: Desert Caravan, by Aaron Kenny, downloaded from YouTube Audio Library

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[mohamedmostafa]

Very interesting video. The historical background at the beginning is wonderful and crucial for better understanding of this battle.

[jpx]

Includes an accurate and rarely provided modern geographic location of the battle space events. Also includes several interesting photos, one of the river against which the Egyptians were able to pin the Hittites attempted retreat.

[yousefshahin]

Anceint Egypt is one of the oldest and best civilisations that ever existed. And indeed, the battle of Kadesh is epic partly because due to the fact that it's the largest Chariot battle ever. We Egyptians one, and after that we made peace with the Hittites. Proud that I am Egyptian 💪🇪🇬

[doyleperkins]

For years scholars, mainly Egyptologists, were divided into two historiographic camps regarding the historicity of this epic battle, celebrated by the victorious Ramses II the Great in the Hall of Karnak, Luxor Egypt; the first camp of intetpretation, the minimalist one, sized the whole "campaign" up to Egyptian expansionist propaganda; the second interpretive school quite frankly accepted the details of the hieroglyphic text as primarily true. It would not be until the opening of the Hittite royal archives in the early 20th century in Bjogozkoy, Turkey, that we would get the counterpoint from the opposing Hittite army, themselves. On balance, it would seem that the Hittites won the battle after all, and Ramses II glossed over his military mistakes with his narrative of how the god Amun/Amon came to his rescue in what was a rout of his chariot corps, in particular his own chariot. Today, scholars attempt to arrive at the truth through a merger of both ancient sources.