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The Battle of Kadesh was a major battle that was fought between New Kingdom Egypt and the Hittite Empire in 1274 BC. In the first battle in history to be well-recorded, the Egyptians and Hittites fought to a draw, but the battle resulted in Pharaoh Ramesses II's retreat from the Levant, a Hittite advance into the region, Canaan rising in rebellion against Egypt, and the signing of history's first recorded peace treaty, concluded by Egypt and Hatti.

History[]

The battle at Kadesh is the most famous encounter from the era of chariot warfare, with thousands of the two-wheeled vehicles engaged on each side. Its origins lay in the contest between the Egyptians and the Hittites for control of Lebanon and Syria, which lay between their two empires. In the first year of the war, Pharaoh Ramesses II carried out a successful campaign up the eastern Mediterranean coast, apparently catching the Hittites off guard. But when he returned the following year, the Hittite king Muwatalli had assembled an army from all his domains to confront hte Egyptians. Ramesses' fortunes consisted of four divisions, with chariots at the core of each. Drawn by two horses, the chariots were light and fast, traveling at speeds of up to 24 miles per hour and capable of very sharp turns on their widely spaced wheels. Each vehicle had a crew of two, one to steer and one to fight, the charioteers' main weapon being the composite bow. The Hittites also depended on chariots, although theirs was heavier and slower, with a crew of three. The extra crew member may have acted as shield-bearer or may have jumped off the chariot and onto the battlefield to provide infantry support - a role played in the Egyptian force by specially trained soldiers woh ran alongside the chariots. If the Egyptian charioteers had a shield, the driver probably held it as well as the reins. On the day of battle, Ramesses' divisions advanced toward Kadesh, a city on the Orontes River. Ramesses and his lead division, believing the Hittites to be some distance away, set up camp near the city. Muwatalli had set a trap, however: his men were concealed on the other side of the Orontes, from where 2,500 Hittite chariots emerged to attack the Egyptian divisions still approaching Kadesh. The Hittites routed one of the divisions, then swung around to advance on the pharaoh's camp, at the same time that Muwatalli unleashed a thousand more chariots across the Orontes. According to the Egyptian version of events, Ramesses mounted his chariot and single-handedly cut down thousands of his enemies, forcing them to flee into the river. It certainly seems that an Egyptian counterattack, demonstrating superior chariot speed and archery power, carried the day, but the battle was not the clear-cut victory the Egyptians proclaimed; Ramesses withdrew his force after the engagement, and, when both sides agreed to what was effectively the world's first peace treaty, Kadesh remained a Hittite possession. The Hittites had thwarted the renewal of Egyptian power in Syria.

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