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The Kadesh inscriptions or Qadesh inscriptions are a variety of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions describing the
Battle of Kadesh The Battle of Kadesh or Battle of Qadesh took place between the forces of the New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs near the mod ...
(1274 BC). The combined evidence in the form of texts and wall reliefs provide the best documented description of a battle in all of ancient history. The Egyptian version of the battle of Kadesh is recorded in two primary accounts, known as the ''Bulletin'' or ''Report'' and the ''Poem'' which are often placed side by side in the locations they were inscribed. In addition, some reliefs also inscribed in the same location offer pictorial depictions of the battle. Some scholars divide these accounts into three. The ''Bulletin'' is repeated seven times and the ''Poem'' eight times, spread across temples in Abydos,
Temple of Luxor The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes (Egypt), Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In th ...
,
Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...
,
Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about sou ...
and the
Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the River Nile, across from the m ...
, and two
hieratic Hieratic (; grc, ἱερατικά, hieratiká, priestly) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BC until the ris ...
papyri.: "Subsequently the campaign was told al length in two separate accounts which scholars have called the Bulletin (or the Record) and the Poem. The two accounts are supplemented by pictorial reliefs with explanatory captions. The whole composition offers a number of striking features. First the fact that there are two distinct though overlapping accounts. Second the fact that the two versions were not merely carved once on the walls of a temple but were repeated in multiple copies – the Bulletin seven times and the Poem eight times. They are inscribed on the walls of the temples of Abydos, Luxor, Karnak, Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum, and the Poem is also found on fragments of two hieratic papyri.


Poem

The ''Poem'' or "Poem of Pentaur" (pntAwr.t) is known from eight inscriptions, and lists the peoples which went to Kadesh as allies of the Hittites. Amongst them are some of the
Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fren ...
and many of the other peoples who would later take part in battles of the 12th century BC (see
Battle of Kadesh The Battle of Kadesh or Battle of Qadesh took place between the forces of the New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs near the mod ...
). The ''Poem'' has been questioned as actual verse, as opposed to a prose account similar to what other pharaohs had recorded.


Bulletin

The ''Bulletin'' or the ''Record'' is itself simply a lengthy caption accompanying the reliefs. Eight copies survive today on the temples at Abydos,
Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...
,
Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
and
Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about sou ...
, with reliefs depicting the battle.


Other inscriptions

In addition to these lengthy presentations, there are also numerous small captions used to point out various elements of the battle. Outside of the inscriptions, a
hieratic Hieratic (; grc, ἱερατικά, hieratiká, priestly) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BC until the ris ...
copy of the ''Poem'' is preserved in the ''Raifet-Sallier papyrus'', of which the first page is lost, the second page ("Papyrus Raifet") is in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
and the third page ("Papyrus Sallier III") is in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. However, this is "an inaccurate copy of the whole text". Cuneiform references to the battle have been found at
Hattusa Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of t ...
, including a letter from Ramesses to Hattusili III written in response to a scoffing complaint by Hattusili about the pharaoh's victorious depiction of the battle.Kitchen, Kenneth A., ''Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II'' (1999) pp. 13ff. However, no annals have been discovered that might describe it as part of a campaign. Instead, there are various references made to it in the context of other events.


Copies


Poem

*
Luxor Temple The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian lang ...
pylon, north side of both towers *
Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...
, outside the south wall of the
Great Hypostyle Hall The Great Hypostyle Hall is located within the Karnak temple complex, in the Precinct of Amon-Re. It is one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt. The structure was built around the 19th Egyptian Dynasty (c. 1290–1224 BC). Its design ...
* Abydos: Ramesses II temple


Bulletin

* Abu Simbel: Great Temple north wall of the first hall *
Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the River Nile, across from the m ...
, west side of first pylon *
Luxor Temple The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian lang ...
pylon, south side


Reliefs

* Abydos: Ramesses II temple, outside walls *
Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the River Nile, across from the m ...
, first pylon *
Ramesseum The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the River Nile, across from the m ...
, second pylon *
Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...
*
Luxor Temple The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian lang ...
pylon: *
Temple of Derr The Temple of Derr or el-Derr is a ''speos'' or rock-cut Egyptian temple, now located in New Amada in Lower Nubia. It was built during the 19th Dynasty by Pharaoh Ramesses II. It is the only rock-cut temple in Nubia, which was constructed by thi ...
* Abu Simbel: Great Temple north wall of the first hall


Gallery

File:AbydosR2QadeshBattle-81.jpg, File:LuxorTemplePylonBattleR2.jpg, File:Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-3B-036.jpg, File:Karnak Ägyptisch-Hethitischer Friedensvertrag 06.jpg, File:Cyark Ramesseum first pylon 2.jpg, File:RamesseumPM10.jpg, File:Relief Kadesh Breasted.jpg, File:Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-10C-021.jpg, File:Ramses II at Kadesh.jpg, File:Ägypten 1999 (134) Assuan- Im Großen Tempel von Abu Simbel (27595822585).jpg,


See also

*
Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty The Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty, also known as the Eternal Treaty or the Silver Treaty, is the only Ancient Near Eastern treaty for which the versions of both sides have survived. It is also the earliest known surviving peace treaty. It is so ...
*
Commemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb The commemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb are a group of over 20 inscriptions and rock reliefs carved into the limestone rocks around the estuary of the Nahr al-Kalb (Dog River) in Lebanon, just north of Beirut. The inscriptions include three Egyp ...


References


Bibliography

* * * Gardiner, A.H. 1960
The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II
Oxford * * * {{cite book, last=Lichtheim, first=Miriam, title=Ancient Egyptian Literature: The late period, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nN2jfpSbk2kC&pg=PA57, year=1973, publisher=University of California Press, isbn=978-0-520-03615-4, pages=57–, chapter=The Kadesh Battle Inscriptions of Ramses II


External websites



13th-century BC inscriptions Sea Peoples Egyptian inscriptions Ramesses II Military history of ancient Egypt Abu Simbel