Ramses Contributions In The Battle Of Kadesh

By the time of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, foreign affairs have expanded far beyond merely Nubia and the Levant; archaeological and literary records have demonstrated interactions with the “Sea Peoples”, Mesopotamians, and other “Asiatics” from the east. The Ramesside Period occurred during late New Kingdom, at which time Ramses II ruled as a militaristic pharaoh who warred against the eastern Hittites to expand their territory within the Levant. One of the key wars he led against them here was the Battle of Kadesh, though it has been a topic of debate between historians. Though Ramses depicts himself as having won against the Hittites and their leader Muwatallis in his commemorative reliefs and its accompanying texts, this conflicts …show more content…
Here, it is admitted that the two spies successfully tricked Ramses into believing that Muwatallis was in Aleppo, and only later on does he realize that Muwatallis was close by, preparing a surprise attack (Breasted 1988:144-6). This reveals that the Pharaoh was not infallible, a mistake that led to a major part of why the Egyptians performed as poorly as they did in the battle. By the time Ramses sends a vizier back to warn the other divisions, the surprise attack is sprung on Ramses’ division, “Amun” (Breasted 1988:147). The second division, “Ra”, was already decimated although the public caption only says that they were “aware of the attack” (Breasted 1988:151). There are other problems between the narrative’s consistency between contents of the records and reliefs. Ramses claims that he was “forsaken” to fight single-handedly, despite another statement being made that officials aided in smiting the Hittites (Breasted 1988:147). Ramses stresses this point, going so far as to have it put as an “aside” comment in the official record, and that “infantry and chariotry [were] there to prove it” (Breasted 1988:147). Ironically, this attempt of legitimizing this claim only contradicts himself since it speaks of