Page 40 - 100 Events That Made History

Ramses led an Egyptian
army of 20,000 men
against 50,000 Hittites.

Egypt

vs.

Hittites

The first royal BATTLE!

In 1274 BCE, the Egyptians By the way…
clashed with their rivals, I fought in my first military
the Hittites. The battle, in a campaign when I was only
city called Kadesh, was the first 14 years old.
conflict in history of which we
have a detailed account.

Egypt’s rivals
The Hittites were a warlike
people who had been grabbing
territory from Egypt until
Pharaoh Ramses II decided
to fight back. The Hittites’
expert horsemanship and
advanced iron weaponry
made them fearsome
warriors. They also prayed to
more than ONE THOUSAND
GODS, including Zababa,
the god of war.

Carved head of a
Hittite god, found
in Barak, Turkey
What came before…

The Egyptians developed one THE HITTITES originally settled
of the earliest forms of writing, in Anatolia (modern-day
called HIEROGLYPHICS, which Turkey) around 2000 BCE,
used pictures and symbols to and soon began to spread
represent sounds and words. south. The city of Hattussa
They wrote on wood, paper, became the Hittite capital
and even in stone. and center of the empire.
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