216: How Ramesses Described Kadesh

The History of Egypt

Dominic Perry

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

The war of the words. Following his strategic defeat at Kadesh, Ramesses set about putting his version of the story into wide circulation. Today, art and texts of this conflict survive at the temples of Abu Simbel, Karnak, Luxor, Abydos, and the Ramesseum. Among those texts, we have the “Literary Record” or “Kadesh Poem.” A lengthy, dramatised version of the events, painting Ramesses as the great hero. In this episode, I introduce the Literary Record and then read it in full, with musical accompaniment by Jeffrey Goodman. LIVESTREAM about "The Art of Kadesh" on Sunday 14 September. To join, simply subscribe to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ancientegypthist. The Livestream will be Sunday September 14 at 16:30 (UK time). This translates to: Berlin, Germany Sun, 14 Sep 2025 at 17:30 CEST London, United Kingdom Sun, 14 Sep 2025 at 16:30 BST New York, USA Sun, 14 Sep 2025 at 11:30 EDT Los Angeles, USA Sun, 14 Sep 2025 at 08:30 PDT Check other timezones here https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20250914T153000&p1=37&p2=136&p3=179&p4=137 To learn more about the “Battle of Kadesh” narrative as a piece of literary/historical storytelling, see: Brand, P. J. (2023). Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh. Lockwood Press. https://www.lockwoodpress.com/product-page/ramesses-ii-egypt-s-ultimate-pharaoh-paper Manassa, C. (2013). Imagining the Past: Historical Fiction in New Kingdom Egypt. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199982226.003.0003 Spalinger, A. J. (2021). The Books Behind the Masks: Sources of Warfare Leadership in Ancient Egypt. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004466111 More music by Jeffrey Goodman www.jeffreygoodman.com and on Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before we begin, a quick note.
0:03.1	In this episode, I'm going to present the written account of Kadesh as Ramesses told it,
0:08.8	with a bit of commentary and some music.
0:11.6	But that is only half of the story.
0:14.3	If you're interested in the visual side of things, I will be doing a live stream about the art of Kadesh on Sunday the 14th of September, UK time.
0:25.1	There are details in the episode description, including a link to my YouTube channel where we'll do the stream.
0:31.4	If you're listening in the future, the recording will be available on Patreon for a couple of months,
0:37.3	and then it'll go out to the public.
0:39.5	So once again, live stream about the art of Kadesh on Sunday, the 14th of September.
0:46.4	Hope to see you there. In 1287 BCE, Rameses returned from his Kadesh campaign.
1:06.0	Things had not turned out well.
1:08.3	Despite some narrow success on the battlefield itself, the larger strategic
1:13.4	goal was a failure. The Kedishians, those wretched, aggravating rebels, had thrown off Egyptian
1:20.7	authority and kept it off. Now, the city remained a vassal of Hatti. The conflict would grind on. However, while
1:31.1	Ramesses had lost a campaign, he intended to win the history. Shortly after his return,
1:37.9	the king and his advisors began shaping their version of events. What followed was an elaborate artistic program,
1:47.3	adorning temples with art and hieroglyphs proclaiming the king's victory.
1:52.8	You can find these images and texts at the following sites.
1:57.2	Abu Sembel, the great temple,
1:59.1	in the main columned hall on the northern wall, to your right when you enter.
2:05.0	Luxor Temple, on the two pylon towers that form the entrance of the monument.
2:10.8	The ramesium, on the first pylons, to your left when you enter the site, and on the second pylon, which is just next to the fallen
	...

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