The Battle of Kadesh took place in the 13th century BC between the Egyptian Empire led by pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire led by king Muwatalli II. Their armies engaged each other at the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs and near the archaeological site of Kadesh, along what is today the Lebanon–Syria border.
It is generally dated to May 1274 BC, as accounted by Egyptian chronology, and is the earliest pitched battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known. It is believed to be the largest battle ever fought involving chariots, numbering at a total of 5,000 to 6,000.
After being outmaneuvered, ambushed, and surrounded, Ramesses II personally led a charge through the Hittite ranks with his bodyguard. They broke through and avoided the capture or death of the pharaoh.
The battle is considered to have ended in a stalemate.
Description in AoE 1 DE:
According to the Egyptian records, Ramesses, in haste to engage the enemy, drove his division ahead of the rest of his army. Believing the reports of two captured Shasu nomads, who claimed that the Hittite army was still far from Kadesh, the pharaoh was unprepared for a Hittite attack. In fact, Muwatalli’s forces were nearby and, crossing the Arantu (Orontes) River, they ambushed the pharaoh and his smaller force.
In the initial clash, the Hittites had the advantage, catching the Egyptian Re Division- each unit in Ramesses’ army was named after a god- in the open and routing it. The pharaoh himself became surrounded in the fighting and, according to his accounts, survived only by finding that the god “Ammon’s grace is better for to me than a million fighting men and ten thousand chariots be.” The pharaoh personally led several charges into the Hittite ranks with his personal guard.
The Hittites, meanwhile, believing that they had defeated their enemies, stopped to plunder the Egyptian camp. This proved disastrous for the Hittites, who succumbed to an Egyptian counterattack from the Path division, which had arrived in time to prevent total defeat. As the Hittite army fled back across the river, the larger and heavier Hittite chariots, which carried three men, were overtaken and dispatched by the lighter and faster Egyptian chariots. Despite this rout, Muwatalli chose not to commit his reserves to the battle, instead keeping them in the city of Kadesh.
There is no historical consensus on the outcome of the battle. The surviving records from both civilizations claimed a great victory. The city of Kadesh remained under Hittite control, however, and Ramesses retreated to Egypt. The Egyptian pharaoh would return to Canaan in the following years and skirmish withe Hittites, but neither power could decisively defeat the other. Sixteen years after the clash at Kadesh, the two kingdoms signed a peace accord known as the Eternal Treaty. Remarkably, it is the only ancient treaty from the Near East in which each side’s version survived the ravages of time. Discovered nearly a century apart by archaeologists, the Hittite version of the alliance (recorded on clay tablets in Akkadian), and the Egyptian version (carved with hieroglyphics into stone) serve as an inspiration for modern nations.
Depiction of Ramesses II slaying one enemy while trampling another, from a rock-cut relief at Abu Simbel…
Map of the battle in 1 DE
Minimap of the battle in 1 DE
The player’s starting forces.
