Rameses II 1304-1237bc
When Sety died the Hittite King Muwatallis, who ruled what is now Turkey attacked Egypt. He hoped that the young Rameses would be too weak and inexperienced to resist. The Hittites captured the key fortress city of Kadesh on the Orontes. Rameses led an army of 20,000 men, divided into four divisions, north to face the Hittites
Rameses believed the reports of two Hittites who claimed to be deserters, but were really spies, that Muwatallis was at Aleppo. As Rameses and the Egyptian army marched passed Kadesh they stumbled into an ambush. The first division of the Egyptian army was destroyed, but the second and third were rallied by Rameses himself. Galloping about in his chariot, Rameses put fresh heart into his men and led a charge that drove the Hittites back in defeat.
Rameses II was enormously proud of his feats at the Battle of Kadesh. He had carvings showing him in action carved on to temple walls throughout Egypt. However, the Hittites were a rich and powerful nation. The war dragged on for years. It finally ended in a peace treaty that established a boundary between the two empires and pledged them to support each other if a third force attacked either. To seal the treaty, Rameses married Manefrure, a daughter of Muwatallis.
Meanwhile, Rameses had been fighting wars in Nubia to the south of Egypt. This was another area that had slipped away from Egyptian control. Rameses defeated his enemies and re-established Egyptian power in the area.
Wars came to an end once Rameses had defeated his enemies and established secure borders for the Egyptian Empire. For the final 20 years of his reign, Rameses concentrated on building vast temples and palaces.
Conquest timeline
c.1314bc Birth of Rameses
1292bc Rameses becomes Pharaoh
1288bc Battle of Kadesh
1257bc Treaty with Hittites
1237bc Death of Rameses
Photo By Speedster - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38220820
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