Ramses II's Secret War: The Battle of Kadesh and the First Peace Treaty

Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History · Oct 4, 2026 · 9m · transcript

We turn our attention to the year 1274 BCE and the desert plateau of Qadesh, where Ramses II faced the Hittite Empire in a clash that would reshape the ancient Near East. While earlier episodes touched on diplomacy and propaganda, this episode digs into the military reality of the battle itself—the intelligence failures, the chaotic cavalry maneuvers, and the near-disaster that nearly ended his reign before it truly began. We explore how Ramses survived the initial ambush by the Muwatalli II’s forces and how that narrow escape became the foundation for the world’s first recorded peace treaty…