Page 41 - 100 Events That Made History

Battle tactics
We know how the battle was fought
mainly from Egyptian reports. At first,
the Egyptians were tricked into an
ambush. Then Ramses regrouped, and
when his driver was too scared to go
back into battle, Ramses wrapped
the chariot horses’ reins around
his waist and charged the Hittites,
determined to win or DIE TRYING.

Egyptian chariots
were light and built
for two men.
Hittite chariots were
bigger and heavier. They
could cause more damage but
were hard to steer on sand.
Treaty time
Both armies lost a lot of men, and the
battle was a stalemate. The two sides
signed the first surviving PEACE
TREATY, pledging to share the land
and to enter into an alliance. The
Hittites copied the agreement onto
clay tablets, while the Egyptians
recorded the details on the walls of temples.

How it changed the world
The dispute between Egypt and the
Hittites was eventually settled by an
agreement between the two sides.
It was the first time that historians
know of when peace was achieved
through negotiations.

What came after…

RAMSES built a huge temple at The HITTITES believed they had
Abu Simbel to mark his victory, won at Kadesh. They fought
even though most historians the first recorded sea battle in
now agree that there was no 1210 BCE, against Cyprus. But
clear winner at Kadesh. He they were overcome by the rise of
ruled for 67 years until his the Assyrians, and their empire
death at the age of 90. had collapsed by 1200 BCE.
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