Welcome to the History of the World Podcast. My name is Chris Hasler.

And you're listening to volume 2, The Ancient World

This is episode 17 The Battle of Kadesh. The Oh, The location of Kedesh was indeed populated for many years dating back to prehistory as the lands of the Levant were known to be somewhat fertile. The site of Kadesh is now a mound called Tell Nebbhe mend and it is situated adjacent to the

Arontee River although there was likely a fork in the river in ancient times and Kadesh sat right in the middle of the fork.

The only way to access Kadesh without a river crossing was from the south.

Whoever was living there may well have been approached by the Neo-Sumirians during the 21st century

B.C. and possibly even the Acadians could have encountered them shortly before.

The largest modern city to Kadesh is the Syrian city of Homs. And to the northeast of Homs lies the ancient city of Kutna.

Kutna was the most influential local city to Kadesh and so much so that it would actually carve

out its own little near-east kingdom which says the name Kna and Kedesh

would have been under its influence during the early part of the second

millennium B. C, Khatna was politically affected by the goings-on of its two powerful neighbours, Yam had to the north and the

Mari to the east. The Mari would tend to support Kutner as it could provide Marry with a link to the Mediterranean Sea.

However, when the Marry were made subjects to the Assyrians under Shamshi DadAdad the first during the 18th century B.C.

Khatna effectively became a vassal state of the Assyrians.

As we already know this didn't last too long and the Assyrian state lost a lot of its influence

after the time as Shamshirdad.

With the Marry Kingdom disintegrated, this meant little or no protection from the aggressive

Yamhard kingdom to the north.

It does appear that during the 17th century B.C. E. Cutner would be subjugated by the Yam had.

In the meantime, to the north of the Yam had kingdom, the mighty Indo-European kingdom of the Hittites was beginning to grow large

and threatening. Although the Hittites couldn't do anything to bring Babylon into its realm after they sacked the city in 1595 B.C.

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