The battle of Kadesh: a compromised victory
General information This battle was between the ancient Egyptians under the leadership of King Ramses II and the Hittites under the leadership of King Muwattali II along with his brother and commander in charge Murshilli. This battle dates to nearly 1275B.C. It took place in present day Syria. This battle is, by far, the most well documented in the history of the Middle East. Causes Hittite expansion into Syria coincided with the revive of the Egyptian interests in the same area. Both of them wanted the wealth of natural sources in Syria, its strategical location and the control of trade routes. Why clash in Kadesh specifically? Kaddish was the border line and a critical point between Egypt and the Hittite empire so the battle naturally took place there.As usual the Egyptian army was divided into its traditional four divisions (Amun, Seth, Re, Hours). The Hittites surpassed the Egyptian army and Muwatalli was very cunning to drag Egypt to a foxy trap. He sent a spy to the Eg...