The Battle of Qantir was a battle fought between the invading Shekelesh "Sea People" and the Egyptian army of Ahmenet in 1198 BC during the Sea Peoples' Raids.
In 1198 BC, the Sicilian warlords Cutu, Cure, Metus, Kaisie, Arnth, and Huzlu led massive fleets of Sicel warriors in an invasion of the divided New Kingdom Egypt, in the throes of a civil war. While Ahmenet's newly-raised Sinaite army destroyed Cutu's army at the Battle of Bardawil, Cure's fleet made it into the Nile Delta and threatened the city of Pi-Ramesses. Ahmenet, fresh from his first victory, sailed down the Nile to meet Cure's army and inflict a similar defeat on the enemy, in spite of his numerical inferiority.
The two armies met at a shallow valley within a few miles of Pi-Ramesses. The Egyptian army was divided into thirds, with the main body advancing through the valley and the two flanks moving over high ground. The Shekelesh did not fall for the Egyptians' trap, choosing to attack the Egyptian left rather than their center. The Egyptian center and right proceeded to rush into battle, with the Egyptian right attempting to outflank its enemies. Ahmenet was nearly slain, while most of his bodyguards perished in the thick of the fighting. Whole units of Egyptian swordsmen and Habiru raiders were lost in the chaos, their lack of armor faring poorly in the face of better-armored Shekelesh warriors. However, the Egyptians' flanking maneuver ultimately carried the day, and the Shekelesh army was destroyed when Paseny chased down and annihilated Itzoccor's remnants a few weeks later.
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