{{short description|Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions describing the Battle of Kadesh}} [[File:Ancient carving - Shasu spies being beaten by Egyptians.png|thumb|300px|A carved relief showing Shasu spies being beaten by Egyptians]] The '''Kadesh inscriptions''' or '''Qadesh inscriptions''' are a variety of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions describing the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC). The combined evidence in the form of texts and wall reliefs provide the best documented description of a battle in all of ancient history.{{sfn| Ockinga|1987|p=38|ps=: "No battle fought in antiquity is so well-documented as the clash between the Egyptians and the Hittites before the city of Kadesh on the Orontes in 1275 BC"}}
The Egyptian version of the battle of Kadesh is recorded in two primary accounts, known as the ''Bulletin'' or ''Report'' and the ''Poem'', which are often placed side by side at the locations where they were inscribed. In addition, reliefs inscribed at the same location depict the battle. Some scholars divide these accounts into three. The ''Bulletin'' is repeated seven times and the ''Poem'' eight times, spread across temples in Abydos, Luxor Temple, Karnak, Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum, and two hieratic papyri.<ref name=Lichtheim>{{harvnb|Lichtheim|1973|p=57}}: "Subsequently the campaign was told al length in two separate accounts which scholars have called the Bulletin (or the Record) and the Poem. The two accounts are supplemented by pictorial reliefs with explanatory captions. The whole composition offers a number of striking features. First the fact that there are two distinct though overlapping accounts. Second the fact that the two versions were not merely carved once on the walls of a temple but were repeated in multiple copies – the Bulletin seven times and the Poem eight times. They are inscribed on the walls of the temples of Abydos, Luxor, Karnak, Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum, and the Poem is also found on fragments of two hieratic papyri.</ref>
The Song of the Sea in the Hebrew Bible echoes the structures and imagery of the ''Poem'';<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berman |first1=Joshua A. |title=Inconsistency in the Torah |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=35-60 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190658809.003.0003 |chapter=The Exodus Sea Account (Exod 13:17–15:19) in Light of the Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II}}</ref> it is recited daily as part of Jewish prayer.
==Poem== The ''Poem of Pentaur'' (pntAwr.t), usually short referred to as the ''Poem'' is known from eight inscriptions,<ref name=Lichtheim/> and lists the peoples which went to Kadesh as allies of the Hittites. Amongst them are some of the Sea Peoples and many of the other peoples who would later take part in battles of the 12th century BC (see Battle of Kadesh).
The ''Poem'' has been questioned as actual verse, as opposed to a prose account similar to what other pharaohs had recorded.
==Bulletin== The ''Bulletin'' or the ''Record'' is itself simply a lengthy caption accompanying the reliefs.<ref>Gardiner, Alan, ''The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II'' (1975) pp. 2–4. However, Miriam Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2: The New Kingdom'' (1978) p. 58, maintains that the ''Poem'' is truly just that, contra Gardiner, and prefers to maintain the older tripartite division of the documentation.</ref>
Eight copies survive today on the temples at Abydos, Karnak, Luxor and Abu Simbel, with reliefs depicting the battle.<ref name=Lichtheim/>
==Other inscriptions== In addition to these lengthy presentations, there are also numerous small captions used to point out various elements of the battle.
Outside of the inscriptions, a hieratic copy of the ''Poem'' is preserved in the ''Raifet-Sallier papyrus'', of which the first page is lost, the second page ("Papyrus Raifet") is in the Louvre and the third page ("Papyrus Sallier III") is in the British Museum.<ref>{{cite book|title=Transactions: The Third Sallier Papyrus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvQDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA84|year=1874|page=84}}</ref><ref>Breasted, James Henry, ''Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents'' (1906) p. 58.</ref> However, this is "an inaccurate copy of the whole text".<ref>Gardiner, p. 2</ref>
Cuneiform references to the battle have been found at Hattusa, including a letter from Ramesses to Hattusili III written in response to a scoffing complaint by Hattusili about the pharaoh's victorious depiction of the battle.<ref>Kitchen, Kenneth A., ''Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II'' (1999) pp. 13ff.</ref> However, no annals have been discovered that might describe it as part of a campaign. Instead, there are various references made to it in the context of other events.
==Copies==
===Poem=== * Luxor Temple pylon, north side of both towers{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=84, n.19.1|ps=: "The Luxor copy occupies the lower portion of the front (north side) of both towers of Ramses II's pylon... The inscription was partially cleared by Mariette, which permitted E. de Rouge to copy [most of it]"}}{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=84 n.20|ps=: "All these texts, including the hieroglyphic, were once combined by E. de Rouge and published after his death by J. de Rouge (Rev. e.g., III–IX) [in 1883]."}} * Karnak, outside the south wall of the Great Hypostyle Hall{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=84, n.19.2|ps=: "The Karnak copy is on the outside of the south wall of the great hypostyle hall. "}} * Abydos: Ramesses II temple{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=84, n.19.3|ps=: "The Abydos copy on the walls of Ramses II's mortuary temple there has preserved only the lower ends of the lines, as the walls are destroyed except the last few courses."}}
===Bulletin=== * Abu Simbel: Great Temple north wall of the first hall{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=85, n.21.1|ps=: "Abu Simbel – In the great rock temple on the north wall of the first hall over the battle reliefs. It was published by Champollion (Mon., 27–9), by Rossellini (Mon. stor., 100–102), and by Lepsius (LD., Ill, l87c–e). The original itself is very careless, the scribe having omitted the lower two-thirds of 1. 7 and beginning of 1. 8 (Ramesseum numbering)."}} * Ramesseum, west side of first pylon{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=85, n.21.2|ps=: "Ramesseum – Over the battle reliefs on the rear (west) side of the first pylon. It was published by Sharpe (Eg. Inscr. 2d part 52), and by Lepsius (LD., III, 153). It is the best of all the texts, though Lepsius's copy needs some correction."}} * Luxor Temple pylon, south side{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=85, n.21.3|ps=: "3. Luxor. – On the rear (south side) of Ramses II's pylon... But these modern buildings of the natives have never been removed, and we have only a copy of the visible fragments by Brugsch (Rec. de mon., II, 53)"}}
===Reliefs=== * Abydos: Ramesses II temple, outside walls{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.1|ps=: "Abydos. – On the outside of the north, west, and south walls of the temple of Ramses II. Nearly the whole has perished, as only the lower courses of the walls remain. The short inscriptions were published by Mariette (Abydos II, pp. 10–11)"}} * Ramesseum, first pylon{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.2|ps=: "Ramesseum, First Pylon. – Champ., Not. Descr., I, 870–72"}} * Ramesseum, second pylon{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.3|ps=: "Ramesseum, Second Pylon. – Champ., Mon., 328–30; Not. Descry. 585–89, 873, 874"}} * Karnak{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.4|ps=: "Karnak. – Chiseled out in antiquity; published infra, pp. 45, 46, and Plate VIII."}} * Luxor Temple pylon: {{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.5|ps=: "Luxor – On pylon of Ramses II.; Champ., Mon., 323, 324, 327–327 (last two incorrectly marked Ramesseum)"}} * Temple of Derr{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.6|ps=: "Derr – Now destroyed, but seen by Champollion, Weidemann, Aeg. Gesch., 434, n. 5"}} * Abu Simbel: Great Temple north wall of the first hall{{sfn|Breasted|1903|p=86, n.22.7|ps=: "Abu Simbel – In the great temple, first hall, north wall; Champ Mon., 17 bis-33; Not. Descr., I, 64–66"}}
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" caption="Abydos"> File:AbydosR2QadeshBattle-81.jpg| </gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Luxor"> File:LuxorTemplePylonBattleR2.jpg| File:Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-3B-036.jpg| </gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Karnak"> File:Karnak Ägyptisch-Hethitischer Friedensvertrag 06.jpg| </gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Ramesseum"> File:Cyark Ramesseum first pylon 2.jpg| File:RamesseumPM10.jpg| </gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Abu Simbel"> File:Relief Kadesh Breasted.jpg| File:Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-10C-021.jpg| File:Ramses II at Kadesh.jpg| File:Ägypten 1999 (134) Assuan- Im Großen Tempel von Abu Simbel (27595822585).jpg| </gallery>
==See also== * Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty * Stelae of Nahr el-Kalb
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book|last=Breasted|first=James Henry|date=1903|url=https://archive.org/details/battleofkadeshst00breauoft|title=The battle of Kadesh : a study in the earliest known military strategy}} * {{citation|author-link=Boyo Ockinga|first=Boyo|last=Ockinga|title=On the Interpretation of the Kadesh Record|journal= Chronique d'Égypte|volume=62|issue=123–124|year=1987|pages=38–48|doi=10.1484/J.CDE.2.308740}} * Gardiner, A.H. 1960. [https://www.scribd.com/doc/52370380/GARDINER-Alan-The-Kadesh-Inscriptions-of-Ramesses-II The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II]. Oxford * {{cite book|author=Thomas Charles Hartman|title=The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II: An Analysis of the Verbal Patterns of a Ramesside Royal Inscription|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l289nQEACAAJ|year=1967|publisher=Brandeis University}} * {{cite book|author=Anthony John Spalinger|title=The Transformation of an Ancient Egyptian Narrative: P. Sallier III and the Battle of Kadesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MMJzGIrFMMC|year=2002|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-04355-7}} * {{cite book|last=Lichtheim|first=Miriam|author-link=Miriam Lichtheim |title=Ancient Egyptian Literature: The late period|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nN2jfpSbk2kC&pg=PA57|year=1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-03615-4|pages=57–|chapter=The Kadesh Battle Inscriptions of Ramses II}}
==External websites== * [http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/kadeshaccounts.htm Egyptian Accounts of the Battle of Kadesh]
Category:13th-century BC inscriptions Category:Sea Peoples Category:Egyptian inscriptions Category:Ramesses II Category:Military history of ancient Egypt Category:Abu Simbel