Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Kadesh: Ramses' Greatest Gamble at the Battle of Kadesh
Transcript
- Lucas: Ramses the Great is known for his temples, his huge family, his long reign. But if you ask me, the moment that truly defined him was when he was nearly killed on the battlefield at Kadesh. Luna: Kadesh — that's the famous battle in Syria, right? The one he plastered all over his monuments? Lucas: Exactly. It happened in his fifth year as pharaoh, around 1274 BCE. The Hittite king Muwatalli II had been challenging Egyptian control over Syria, and Ramses decided to march north with his army to retake the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River. Lucas: Now, Ramses was confident — maybe overconfident. He led his army in four divisions: Amun, Re, Ptah, and Seth. He himself was with the Amun division, moving fast, and he got ahead of the others. That's when the Hittites sprang their trap. Luna: So he walked right into an ambush? Lucas: He did. The Hittites sent two Bedouin spies who claimed the Hittite army was still far away, up near Aleppo. Ramses believed them and kept advancing. But actually, Muwatalli had hidden his entire force — thousands of chariots — behind the city of Kadesh. Lucas: When Ramses set up camp west of the city, the Hittite chariots crossed the river and smashed into the Re division, which was still marching. The Re division was routed. Then they hit the Egyptian camp. Ramses was surrounded with only his bodyguard. Luna: What did he do? He couldn't just surrender. Lucas: According to the Egyptian account — the so-called 'Poem of Kadesh' — Ramses prayed to the god Amun, who answered him. Then he single-handedly charged into the Hittite chariotry, slaying enemies left and right. Now, that's almost certainly overdramatized, but it shows the danger he was in. He fought desperately until a contingent of Egyptian troops called the Ne'arin — elite warriors from Canaan — arrived and turned the tide. Luna: So the Ne'arin saved him? And then the Ptah division showed up? Lucas: Exactly. The Ne'arin had been delayed, but they arrived at a critical moment. Then the Ptah division reached the field. The Hittites, who had been looting the Egyptian camp, were caught off guard and pushed back. By then, the sun was setting, and both sides were exhausted. Lucas: The battle ended without either side destroying the other. Ramses failed to capture Kadesh, and Muwatalli failed to destroy the Egyptian army. But when Ramses returned home, he declared a great victory and had the entire story — with him as the heroic victor — carved on temples at Karnak, Luxor, and Abu Simbel. Luna: So it was propaganda. The Hittites must have seen it differently. Lucas: Absolutely. We actually have Hittite letters that describe the battle. One letter from after the war refers to the 'defeated' Egyptian king. Muwatalli claimed victory too. But the strength of Ramses' narrative was so powerful that for centuries, people believed Kadesh was a great Egyptian triumph. It's one of the earliest examples of state-sponsored propaganda on such a massive scale. Lucas: But the battle also had a lasting effect. Both empires realized they couldn't win a decisive war. That led, eventually, to the world's first recorded peace treaty, which we covered a while back. Luna: It's funny — Ramses went to such lengths to record his version of Kadesh on temple walls. And here we are, thousands of years later, still talking about it. In a way, we're part of that same tradition—trying to tell history as fairly as we can. Lucas: Exactly. And speaking of that, one thing we're proud of is that this show is completely free of ads. We don't have to sell anything to keep our version of history going. But we do rely on listeners who find value in it. If you want to help keep that going, there's a simple way: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's how we stay independent. Luna: Yeah, I think that's part of why we can be honest about Ramses' 'victory' — because we don't have a sponsor to please. Lucas: Right. So back to the battle — Ramses' claim of a single-handed charge is probably embellished, but it's not entirely impossible. Egyptian pharaohs did fight from chariots, and the sight of their king charging could inspire troops. The question is how much of the 'Poem of Kadesh' is fact and how much is literary convention. Luna: What about the Hittite side? Do we have their version of what happened? Lucas: We have less from the Hittites directly. Muwatalli didn't carve his victories on temple walls the way Egyptians did. But we do have letters from Hattusa — the Hittite capital — that mention the battle. One letter from a Hittite king later refers to 'the Great King of Egypt' being 'smitten' at Kadesh. It's clear both sides thought they won, which usually means it was a draw. Lucas: What is certain is that Ramses' army suffered heavy casualties. He lost the entire Re division — thousands of men. The Egyptian camp was sacked. Ramses himself nearly died. If the Ne'arin had arrived even a little later, the Hittites might have captured or killed him. Luna: And what about the chariot numbers? Wasn't there a huge difference? Lucas: The Hittites fielded about 2,500 to 3,500 chariots — far more than the Egyptian total. Each Hittite chariot carried three men: a driver, a shield-bearer, and a spearman. Egyptian chariots had two men: a driver and a bowman. The Hittites had an advantage in close combat, but the Egyptians were better archers. The terrain and surprise gave the Hittites an early edge, but Egyptian resolve and the Ne'arin arrival evened it out. Luna: So it was a close call. And Ramses turned that into a story of divine favor. Smart, really. Lucas: It was genius. The 'Poem of Kadesh' includes a long prayer by Ramses where he calls out to Amun, saying he's alone and abandoned, and Amun responds by giving him strength. That kind of narrative cements the pharaoh's connection to the gods. Even if he didn't win the battle outright, he won the story. Lucas: And the 'Bulletin' — a shorter, more factual-seeming account — describes the Hittite attack and the Egyptian counter. It's found on the walls of the Ramesseum and other temples. The Bulletin verifies the basics: the ambush, the chaos, the Ne'arin arrival. But it omits Ramses' personal heroics — maybe it was written later, or for a different audience. Luna: So we have two official versions. That must have confused historians for a long time. Lucas: It did. For a while, scholars accepted the Poem as literal truth. Then, as more Hittite sources came to light, they realized the battle was far from a clear victory. Now most historians see Kadesh as a tactical draw but an Egyptian strategic failure — they didn't take the city. But Ramses' propaganda ensured it was remembered as a triumph, and his reputation as a warrior pharaoh was cemented. Lucas: The battle also shaped Ramses' later foreign policy. He became more cautious. Instead of marching into Hittite Syria again, he focused on fortifying the borders and eventually securing the peace treaty. In a way, Kadesh taught him the limits of military power. Luna: So the battle that nearly killed him ended up making him more successful in the long run. Lucas: Exactly. It's a classic case of a near-defeat being spun into a legacy. And because of those temple inscriptions, we're still talking about it over three thousand years later. When you visit Abu Simbel, you can see the reliefs of the battle — Ramses in his chariot, arrows flying, enemies tumbling. It's a beautiful piece of storytelling. Just not an entirely accurate one. Luna: Makes you wonder what other history we've inherited is really just really good advertising. Lucas: That's a whole other episode. But for now, I think Kadesh shows us that history is never just what happened — it's what people choose to remember. And Ramses was a master at choosing.