But then came horrifying news. Two genuine Hittite scouts sent
to spy out Ramesses’position were captured, and under torture
revealed that the entire Hittite army was in a concealed position the
other side of the Orontes, poised to attack. And attack they
suddenly did, smashing into the Amun division while it was still
making camp, and charging into the Re (Second) Division which
was still crossing the river to the south. The other two Egyptian
divisions were too far away to be of any use at all to Ramesses.
A total rout of thefirst two divisions and the capture or death of the
pharaoh, seemed inevitable. But luck was with the Egyptians.
Believing the victory was already won, the Hittite forces discarded
all discipline and set about plundering the Egyptian camp. This
afforded the Egyptians an opportunity to regroup, their morale
boosted by the arrival of a large number of reinforcements from the
west, probably from Amurru. Ramesses claims that he won the
battle, and did so singlehandedly. Yet at the end of the day neither
side was able to claim victory, and whenfighting resumed on the
morrow the outcome was still a stalemate.
Nevertheless, with the wisdom of hindsight we must declare the
Hittite king Muwattalli the ultimate winner of the contest. Qadesh
and Amurru once more reverted to Hittite control, and the
pharaoh’s retreating forces were pursued by the Hittite army to the
region of Damascus. Damascus-city and the territory attached to it,
which had hitherto beenfirmly under Egyptian control, were now
occupied by Muwattalli’s forces and placed under the command of
the king’s brother Hattusili. Subsequently, Damascus was returned
to Egypt, and a de facto boundary between Hittite and Egyptian
territory was established just to the north of the city.
Of course, you wouldn’t have been aware of any of this if
your time machine had taken you back to Ramesses’Egypt, and
the pharaoh had given you a tour of thefive temples wherehis
version of the Qadesh engagement was recorded. He would have
relished pointing out to you his alleged resounding defeat of
his opponent’s forces and the abject surrender of the Hittite king,
‘the wretched one of Hatti’. Even with the wisdom of hindsight,
would you have dared challenge his version of events while you
were his guest?
WAR WITH EGYPT 165