The Battle of Kadesh (1274 BCE)

     Today is my last day in Egypt. I have gathered all the information I needed on the 18th dynasty and I feel that now it's appropriate to leave. The 18th Dynasty of Egypt has ended and it has now entered its 19th Dynasty. My goal of recording the period of the 18th Dynasty has been completed. However, I felt that I should at least see what is happening in the 19th Dynasty. I found out that the new Pharoah, Ramses II, has just concluded a battle for Kadesh. I decided that it would be appropriate to record this event as I would let my readers compare the 18th dynasty to the 19th dynasty. 



    I wanted to find a recount of the battle, so I went to one of the temples nearby. Apparently, Ramses had the transcript of the battle written onto the walls of the Karnak Temple. What I read was very interesting. The text spoke of the glory of Ramses II in this battle. The text spoke in detail of Egypt's total victory over the Hittites, detailing how they defeated their enemies. I was astonished at the detail but also skeptical. The details seemed exaggerated and fake, so I decided to go do some research. So I went to the site where the battle took place to ask the locals there about how the battle really went.

    What they told me proved my doubts. They told me that the battle was actually a draw. Neither side outright won the battle. The battle actually resulted in a peace treaty between the Egyptians and the Hittites. This really opened my eyes to the fact that what was transcribed on the wall was propaganda. It depicted this battle as a total victory for Egypt who has defeated the evil Hittites. It seems that Ramses II wants the people to believe that their military is powerful, that they forced the Hittites to surrender which is why they trade and do business with them now. This must be so that the people don't see Ramses II as weak or their military as weak due to their inability to outright win against the Hittites. 


    I can see through this that the military and the expansion of power are still a priority in Egypt. Like Thutmose III, Ramses II seemed to want to defeat the Hittites to have access to more land and power. He settled for a peace treaty, which is actually one of the first peace treaties I've ever seen. Usually, societies fight to the last man, so it's nice to see that wars can be resolved peacefully. This is also a good example of propaganda for society, making the general public believe that they won in a dominating fashion so they believe in their Pharoah and military. 

    This event marks the end of my journey through Egypt. I gained an ample amount of information that I hope can prove to be useful in my goal. Thank you for following me on my journey and I hope you learn something from my travel log.

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