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.
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.: "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.
The Song of the Sea in the Hebrew Bible echoes the structures and imagery of the Poem; it is recited daily as part of Jewish prayer.
Poem The Poem of Pentaur (pntAwr.t), usually referred to in short as The Poem, is known from eight inscriptions 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).
Bulletin The Bulletin or the Record is itself simply a lengthy caption accompanying the reliefs.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.
Eight copies survive today on the temples at Abydos, Karnak, Luxor and Abu Simbel, with reliefs depicting the battle.
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.Breasted, James Henry, Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents (1906) p. 58. However, this is "an inaccurate copy of the whole text".Gardiner, p. 2
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.Kitchen, Kenneth A., Ramesside Inscriptions, Notes and Comments Volume II (1999) pp. 13ff. 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 Karnak, outside the south wall of the Great Hypostyle Hall Abydos: Ramesses II temple
Bulletin Abu Simbel: Great Temple north wall of the first hall Ramesseum, west side of first pylon Luxor Temple pylon, south side
Reliefs Abydos: Ramesses II temple, outside walls Ramesseum, first pylon Ramesseum, second pylon Karnak Luxor Temple pylon: Temple of Derr Abu Simbel: Great Temple north wall of the first hall
Gallery
See also Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty Stelae of Nahr el-Kalb
References
Bibliography
Gardiner, A.H. 1960. The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II. Oxford
External websites Egyptian Accounts of the Battle of Kadesh