Kadesh 1274 BC: Ramesses II, the Shasu Spies and a Draw Sold as Victory

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In May 1274 BC, in the fifth year of his reign, Pharaoh Ramesses II marched north to retake Kadesh and Amurru, territories his father Seti I had captured and lost to the Hittites. He led 16,000 infantry and at least 2,000 chariots in four divisions named for the gods Amun, Re, Set and Ptah, with Sherden mercenaries in the ranks. Near the Orontes River, two captured Shasu nomads told him the Hittite king Muwatalli II was cowering 200 kilometers away at Aleppo. The nomads were Hittite spies. Ramesses raced ahead with only the Amun division and camped beside Kadesh, where Muwatalli was waiting with a coalition the Egyptians later put at 40,000 infantry, 2,500 chariots and 19 allied nations.

Hittite three-man chariots smashed the Re division on the march and broke into the Egyptian camp. Ramesses, abandoned by his officers and shield bearers, led repeated counter charges in his light six-spoked chariots. The attackers stopped to loot, the Ne'arin troops and then the Ptah division arrived, and the Hittites were driven into the river. The battle ended in an exhausted stalemate, and Ramesses went home without Kadesh or Amurru. He then carved his own heroic version on temples across Egypt, while Hittite records at Hattusa told the opposite story. About 15 years later he made peace with Muwatalli's brother Hattusili III, who had fought against him at Kadesh.

• The battle is believed to be the largest chariot engagement in recorded history, with five to six thousand chariots on one field.
• Ramesses berated his princes and officials for failing to spot a coalition army hiding behind the old city of Kadesh.
• At least two of Muwatalli's own brothers were killed, and six further Hittite chariot charges failed to break the Egyptian line.
• Hittitologist Trevor Bryce calls it a tactical win for Egypt and a strategic win for the Hittites, who kept the disputed land.
• The treaty of around 1258 BC is often called the earliest written international peace agreement, and a replica hangs at the United Nations in New York.