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Ramses the Great Dies
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Prowess in Battle  


illustration of battle
 
  In the exercise of the divine power of sekhem—war and conquest—Ramses the Great expanded his realm and protected it from enemies.

In the fifth year of his reign, the great Ramses achieved his most illustrious military victory, against the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. After a monthlong march, Ramses arrived at a river near Kadesh accompanied by four army divisions. There, two informants reported that the Hittites, fearful of the might of the Egyptian army, had retreated far away to the north. Ramses, emboldened by this information, pushed forward with one of his army divisions, leaving the other three far behind. Upon setting up camp, he discovered that the earlier report had been a ruse—the Hittite army was actually camped nearby, ready for battle.

What happened when the Hittites attacked? Read Ramses's own account of the battle in these excerpts from the Poem of Pentaur:


illustration of armyPoem of Pentaur

This poem, inscribed at temples and monuments throughout the kingdom, tells how Ramses, the great pharaoh-god, single-handedly vanquished the Hittite forces.

". . . Then his Majesty arose like his father Monthu, All his weapons took in hand, And his armor did he don, Just like Baal, ready for the fight, And carried by the great pair of horses from the king's own stables, Both named Victory-in-Thebes. Then his Majesty galloped forth, into the midst of the Hittite horde, Alone by himself, none other with him. His Majesty looked around, and found surrounding him Two-thousand five-hundred pairs of horses with their charioteers. . .

". . . There was no captain with me, no charioteer, No soldier nor shield-bearer. My infantry, my charitory vanished away before the foe. Not one of them stood firm to fight. . . ."

Then Ramses cried out to his father-god Amon, reminding him of the many acts of piety he had performed in his honor. And Amon responded:

" 'I have joined you, Ramses Meryanmun! See how I stand at your side, Your own father, the Sun, the mighty god Re, Along with my hand, stronger by far than the hundreds of thousands Arrayed against you, your hand shall do battle. . . .'

"And so he spoke and my spirit was transformed. I became like Monthu, god of war, Fierce as Baal, I shot arrows with my left hand, With my right slashed with the sword. Around me were two-thousand five-hundred pairs of horses. Into the midst of them I charged. The hooves of my horses crushed them to pieces. Not a single warrior raised a weapon against me. For their courage had stolen away, And their arms and legs grew limp with fear. Their arrows and their spears hung unused at their sides. I flung them into the river, And they sank as crocodiles from the bank roll into the water. One by one they fell face down. And I slaughtered them without restraint So that not one had time to flee. Every one lay still where he fell, And never more from the dirt would lift his head. . . ."

With that, the Hittite king himself fled. He sent reinforcements, but Ramses fought them as valiantly as he did the first wave. When Ramses's chariot driver cried out in fear, the pharaoh reassured him:

". . . Then his Majesty spoke to his driver, ' Stop and have courage, charioteer. As a falcon swoops upon his prey, So I descend upon the enemy, and I will kill. I will slash them to ribbons, crush them to dust. Have no fear and dash such woeful thought from your mind. These men are godless who trust not in Amon.' Then his Majesty sped forward and flew upon the Hittite horde. For the sixth time I charged, and-heed well- Like mighty Baal, I attacked from the rear And I killed them all. Not one escaped, And I killed and killed and killed. . . ."

   

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