Ramesses II: The Most Powerful Ruler of Egypt The Pharaoh Who Changed Egypt Forever

Ramses's reign marked one of the most remarkable periods in ancient Egypt. During 66 years of long rule, he won countless victories and had enormous monuments built in his name. The secret behind these victories was that his father had prepared him well for the throne and left him a solid legacy of statehood. However, neither Ramses nor his father was born into nobility. Neither was expected to become a pharaoh. This interesting story of Ramses II's path to the throne dates back some 50 years to the reign of Amenhotep IV. Like many pharaohs in Egypt, the exact date of Amenhotep's accession to the throne is not known, but it is believed that he ascended the throne in 1352 BC. After consolidating his authority on the throne within his first five years, he challenged the traditional gods of Egypt, ordering his people to worship only the sun disc Aten. Aten was depicted in reliefs as a radiant sun god. Dissatisfied with Akhenaten's rule, the Egyptian people, especially the aristocrats and priests, were restless. Although civil servants continued to worship Aten, in their private lives they remained faithful to their traditional beliefs. After Aten's death, his son Tutankhamen, who ascended the throne in 1322 BC, would reject his father's monotheistic faith and change his name to Tutank. Tutankhamen died at the age of 18, leaving no heir. The vizier Ai succeeded him to the throne of Egypt. Due to his old age, Ai ruled for only four years and died in 1319 BC. Horemheb, a high-ranking soldier, succeeded him and had Akhenaten's name removed. He also had his tomb destroyed and restored the temples of Aten. However, dynastic problems were still unresolved. Horemheb also had no heir. To solve these problems, he named his vizier Ramses as heir apparent. When Horemheb died in 1292 BC, he assumed the throne, taking the name Ramses. Thus, Ramses II, who was not expected to become pharaoh, and his father Seti I, became heirs to the throne. Ramses I ruled Egypt for only two years. He died in 1290 BC. When Ramses took the throne as a young and experienced pharaoh, the first problem he faced was the sea pirates who were wreaking havoc with Egypt's trade. These pirates were capturing ships coming to Egypt and plundering the coasts. In order to catch the pirates, Ramses set a trap for them by placing a merchant fleet off the Nile River. When the pirates attacked to capture this fleet, Ramses' hidden warships appeared and blockaded them. In this battle, most of the pirates were destroyed and the survivors joined the Egyptian army. This success of Ramses II took place in the second year of his reign. He had now solved the problems in Egypt, but now he wanted to move on to bigger goals. Preparing for the Asian campaign, he aimed to recapture the lost territories. From Thebes, the capital of Egypt, he built a new city on the Pelusium branch of the Nile River and named it Peramses. This city was to become one of the important centers of Egypt. Ramses set out on his first Asian expedition in 1275 BC. First he conquered Canaan and the kingdom of Amur. Then he organized the first Asian campaign. Divided into four divisions, each with thousands of soldiers and chariots, the Egyptian army set out. Ramses was at the forefront with the Ammonite troops at the head of his army. This campaign offered a great opportunity to consolidate Egypt's power. Egyptian chariots were lightweight and usually had two soldiers in the back. However, heavier chariots had three soldiers. In this way, one soldier controlled the horses while the other two soldiers used arrows or spears to gain an advantage over the enemy. In May 1274 BC, Ramses II camped at Roblox, southwest of modern-day Homs. When it was light, he broke camp, crossed west of the Assi River, and marched with his army north toward Kadesh. Meanwhile, the vanguard of his army captured two Bedouin chasers and brought them to Pharaoh for information. At first, the two Bedouins refused to answer Pharaoh's questions, but after being tortured by his soldiers, they were forced to confess that they were with the army of the Hittite king Muvattali II in Aleppo. This was good news for the Egyptians because they had reached their brother earlier and would have the chance to choose the battlefield themselves. Ramses chose a strategic position for his army west of his brother's city and set up headquarters there. His aim was to wait for the rear RA and set troops and capture Kadesh before the Hittite army arrived. After deploying his army in the area, they placed scouts in different areas to scout the area. The scouts soon captured two violent spies near the camp. According to these spies, the Hittite army was camped northeast of Kadesh, and King Muvattali had sent them to scout the Egyptian camp. This new intelligence panicked Ramses, for he realized that separating the armies was a grave mistake. Ramses ordered the southern divisions of Rajabta and set to speed up. He also sent word to the Naran troops in the north. The purpose of their presence in the north was unclear, as they are poorly documented in Egyptian sources, but the general consensus was that they were Canaanite mercenaries loyal to Egypt. After a needed help, quickly crossed the Assi river and marched towards the camp of Ramses, where the Ammonian company was located. Meanwhile, the Hittite king Muvattali II had sent a reconnaissance force of 500 chariots south to locate and outnumber the Egyptian army. This reconnaissance force encountered the RA division advancing west of the Assi river. First of all, Hittite troops took the initiative here and attacked them in order to prevent the RA division from merging with Lake Amon. The Egyptian chariots were largely destroyed by the Hittite soldiers before they could even take up a proper position. The few chariots that escaped headed towards the Ammon camp and the Egyptian infantry, left defenseless by the escape of the chariots, was almost completely destroyed. The Egyptian chariots fleeing the Hittites had just reached the camp when the Egyptian soldiers noticed a cloud of dust moving to the west of their camp. Hittite chariots were taking up positions west of the Ammon camp. Ramses II hurriedly tried to deploy his troops west of the camp. The Hittites attacked the enemy camp without giving the Egyptians a chance to get into position. The Egyptian infantry could not withstand the onslaught of the extremely heavy Hittite chariots and began to scatter across the battlefield. After fighting for a while, they began to retreat towards the interior of the camp. However, as the Hittite soldiers advanced, they began to take over the interior of the camp. Thinking that the battle was won, many Hittite soldiers got out of their chariots and started to collect booty. At this point, the Egyptian soldiers turned back and launched a counterattack against the Hittite soldiers. Unable to move in the narrow space, the soldiers on the Hittite chariots began to fall one by one. Meanwhile, Ramses II was praying to Ammon in the center of the camp. After completing his prayer, he marched into the camp with the baths and the chariots left over from the Lord's company and surrounded the Hittite soldiers in the west from the rear. Once in position, the charging Egyptian chariots unleashed an intense hail of arrows on the Hittite soldiers. Hittite soldiers, caught between the rain of arrows and the Egyptian infantry, began to fall one by one. The three-seater cabins of the chariots emptied one by one and they had no choice but to flee. Those who could save themselves began to flee southward. Ramses II followed the fleeing Hittite soldiers with his chariots and some infantry. Meanwhile, Muvatani, who had been watching the battle from across the Assi River to the east, saw that the Ammon camp had been left undefended. This was an opportunity for the Hittite army. Knowing that his infantry would take a long time to cross the Assi River and reach the enemy lines, Muvatani took only his chariots and charged into the Egyptian camp. Because Ramesses had followed the Hittite soldiers, only the tired Egyptian infantry remained in the camp. The Hittite chariots began to attack the Egyptian camp and the Egyptian infantry did not stand a chance against the chariots. Just then, Narin troops from the north came to the aid of the Ammon camp. Muvatani knew that his army could not withstand being surrounded, so he ordered his troops to retreat and crossed east of the Assi River. During the retreat, many Hittite soldiers abandoned their chariots and some drowned in the river. The Egyptians had driven the Hittite army out of camp, but their own losses were considerable. The Ra company was almost completely wiped out, while Lake Ammon suffered heavy losses. Likewise, the Hittite troops on the other side of the river also suffered casualties. But the Hittite losses were mainly in chariots, and they still had 15,000 infantry and several thousand chariots. The balance between the two armies could change at any time. In the Egyptian army, the Peta division had still not reached the battlefield, while the Set division was still advancing unaware of the situation. The Egyptians were severely depleted. They had no chance to attack the Hittites before the other divisions arrived on the battlefield. The Hittite king could have decided to attack the Egyptian army before it joined the other troops, but there were no moves from either side. Ramses thought it would be difficult to defeat the Hittites and retreated with his troops to the south. The Hittites held their position, hesitating to attack the Egyptian army. When both leaders returned home, they claimed that they had won the war. However, when the Egyptian army, which had set out to capture Kadesh, returned without capturing it, it became clear that the Hittites had won the war. In addition, Ramses had captured the provinces of Muvatani, Upe, and Amaro, which followed him on his way back to his country. The fact that the Egyptian pharaoh, who went on a campaign to expand his sphere of influence, narrowed his sphere of influence as a result of the campaign showed that the Hittites were the winning side of the war. Moreover, the Hittites had provoked the princes in Canaan and encouraged them to revolt against the pharaoh. In order to solve this situation, Ramses embarked on his third Asian expedition in 1272 BC, which coincided with the seventh year of his reign.