ABSTRACT

In the early spring of 1274 BC, Ramesses II (1279–1213) of Egypt and Muwatalli of Hatti were with their respective armies in the first famous battle in world history: the battle beneath the walls of Kadesh in the Orontes valley in Syria. Whatever happened, it must have been momentous and terrifying, at least for Ramesses II, whose accounts of the battle have defined the age for us. Before he died in ca. 1213 BC, the war had been ended with a peace treaty and Ramesses II was married to at least one Hittite princess and had fathered at least one Egyptian princess who was half-Hittite (Kitchen 1982, 1995: 763–774).