Famous Pharaohs

Previous Campaigns of Ramses II Against Kadesh

Thus did the poet on the banks of the holy river sing the heroic deed of King Ramses II before Kadesh. We are indebted to the Egyptian Homer for full information about this historical event, the knowledge of which was never transmitted by tradition to the memory of men. The wars of the king in Syria and Canaan did not certainly begin in the fifth year of his reign, in which the great battle of Kadesh took place ; but as early as the preceding years Earases had extended his first campaign as far as these countries. The three celebrated rock tablets in the neighbourhood of Beyrout, which were as well known to the Greek travelers in the fifth century before our era, (they are the columns of Sesostris mentioned by Herodotus), as they are still in our own day the goal of enquiring pilgrims in the land of Palestine, testify to the presence of King Ramses II at this very place in the second year and first campaign, and in the fifth year and second campaign, of his reign.

Pictures of Battle of Kadesh

From the poet we pass to the unknown painter and sculptor, who has chiselled in deep work on the stone of the same wall, with a bold execution of the several parts, the procession of the warriors, the battle before Kadesh, the storming of the fortress, the overthrow of the enemy, and the camp life of the Egyptians. The whole conception must even at this day be acknowledged to be grand beyond measure, for the representation sets before our eyes the deeds which were performed more vividly than any description in words and with the richest handling of the material, and displays the whole composition even to its smallest details. Here in the camp of the Egyptians, which was laid out as a square, and was surrounded by an artificial wall of the shields of the Egyptian warriors placed side by side, we see displayed the actions and life of the soldiers and the camp-servants, who rest on the ground by the side of the baggage and the numerous necessaries for a long journey. Among them wander asses, and even the favourite lion of the king has his place within the enclosure. The tent of Pharaoh is seen in the middle of the camp, and near it the movable shrine of the great gods of Egypt. Above the whole is placed the inscription: “This is the first legion of Amon, who bestows victory on King Ramses II (1279-1212 B.C). The Pharaoh is with it. It is occupied in pitching its camp” Not far off the king sits on his throne, and receives the report of his generals, or gives the necessary orders to his followers. Important episodes are not wanting. Thus the Egyptians are dragging forward two foreigners, about whom the appended inscription thus informs us: “This is the arrival of the spies of Pharaoh; they bring two spies of the people of the Khita before Pharaoh. They are beating them to make them declare where the King of Khita is” There the chariots of war and the warriors of the king are passing in good order before Pharaoh: among them the legions of Amon, Ptah, Pra, and Sutekh. Then, after the gods, the hosts of the warriors are for the most part mentioned by name. Mercenary troops also are not wanting, for the Colchian Shardana, whose fine linen was well known to antiquity under the name of Sardonian, appear among the Egyptian allies. They are particularly distinguished by their helmets with horns and a ball-shaped crest, by their long swords and the round shields on their left arm, while then- right hand grasps a spear.

The host also of the Khita and of their allies are represented with a lively pictorial expression, for the artist has been guided by the intention of bringing before the eyes of the beholder the orderly masses of the Khita warriors, and the less regular and warlike troops of the allied peoples, according to their costume and arms. The Canaanites are distinguished in the most striking manner from the allies, of races unknown to us, who are attired with turban-like coverings for the head, or with high caps such as are still worn at the present day by the Persians. Short swords, lances, bows and arrows, form the weapons of the enemies of the Egyptians. We have already made the necessary observations on the warlike and truly chivalrous appearance of the Khita, and must now particularly mention the Tuhir, or “chosen ones” who follow in the train of their king. To these belong the Qel'au, or slingers, who attended close about the person of their prince. Wonderfully rich is the great battle-picture which represents the fight of the chariots before Kadesh on the banks of the Orontes. While the gigantic form of Ramses, in the very midst of the mass of hostile chariots, performs deeds of the highest prowess, to the astonishment of the Egjrptians and of their enemies, his brave son, Prahiunamif, as the chief commander of the chariots, heads the attack on the chariots of the enemy. Several of his brothers, the children of Ramses, take part in the battle. The chariots of the Khita and their warriors are thrown into the river; and among them the King of Khilibu, whom his warriors have just dragged out of the water, and are endeavouring to restore to animation while the battle is raging. They hold their lord by the legs, with his head hanging down. The inscription by the side runs thus: “This is the King of Khilibu. His warriors raise him up after the Pharaoh has thrown him into the water” The battle, or rather its beginning, is described in the following manner in a short annexed inscription on the picture: “When the king had halted, he sat down to the north- west of the town of Kadesh. He had come up with the hostile hosts of Khita, being quite alone, no other was with him. There were thousands and hundreds of chariots round about him on all sides. He dashed them down in heaps of dead bodies before his horses. He killed all the kings of all the peoples who were allies of the king of Khita, together with his princes and elders, his warriors and his horses. He threw them one upon another, head over heels, into the water of the Orontes. There the King of Khita turned round, and raised up his hands to implore the divine benefactor” The battle, or rather the butchery, seems to have been as little agreeable to the people of the Khita as to their lords, for: “The hostile Khita speak, praising the divine benefactor, thus: “Give us freedom (literally, breath) from thy hand, O good king! Let us lie at thy feet; the fear of thee has opened the land of Khita. We are like the foals of mares, which tremble in terror at the sight of the grim lion.”” In the customary manner, above described, the inscriptions sing the praise of their king: “The brave and bold conqueror of the nations, of the highest valour in the field of battle, firm on horseback, and glorious on his chariot, whom none can escape when he seizes his bow and arrows.” - Ramses II and The Inferiority of Buildings and Sculptures.

Heart Scarab of Pakasha

Pharaoh Ramses VI

The inscriptions which mention him speak with a certain emphasis of his monuments in honor of the gods; but of these, those which have survived the ravages of time are reduced to a very small number. The most important edifice, and the most instructive on account of its representations and inscriptions, is his great and splendid tomb in the royal valley of Biban-el-Moluk. The tables of the hours, with the times of the risings of the stars, which formed the houses of the sun's course in the 36 or 37 weeks of the Egyptian year, will be for all times the most valuable contribution to astronomical science in the 12th century before our era. According to the researches of the French savant, Biot, whose labors in the department of astronomical calculation, in order to fix certain epochs of Egyptian history, are almost the only ones which have treated the subject with scientific accuracy, the drawing up of these tables of stars would fall in the reign of Pharaoh Ramses VI, in the year 1240 B.C. Our learned fellow countryman, Professor Lepsius, has, however, from his own point of view, sought to prove that herein lay an error and that, on the authority of the already cited table of hours in the grave of this king, the year 1194 is indicated as the only proper date. This last view does not difier very much from our calculation of 1166, deduced from the number of successive generations. The foregoing inscription is found in a rock-tomb at Anibe, little visited by travelers, on the western bank of the Nile, opposite the village of Ibrim, about fifty kilometers (31 miles) north of Ibsambul.

The owner of the tomb was an official of Pharaoh Ramses VI, of the name of Penni, who, in his office as Adon or governor of the land of Wawa, died and was buried in this lonely region. The directions he left behind him, particularly with regard to the number of estates, the produce of which was devoted to the maintenance of the service of a statue of the king, hardly require an explanation. What makes the inscription particularly valuable is the designation of lands in those parts, and the offices connected with them. He himself, as we have already remarked, was Adon of Wawa. Another Adon is mentioned by the name of Meri. The sun-city of Pira is the ancient designation of the modern place Derr, or Dirr. The city mentioned by the name of Ama, in which a Nubian Horus enjoyed an especial worship, is very often named in the inscriptions, and seems to have been the ancient appellation of Ibrim. At Pira (Derr), in all probability, was the seat of the administration of the whole country of Wawa. The districts of Ahi and the gold land of Akita belonged to it, the revenues of which Penni had to collect and pay over to the Pharaoh. For his especial diligence in the fulfillment of his service to the court he was most warmly commended by the “King's son of Kush” of that time, whose name unfortunately is passed over in silence. On a royal visit, the king appears accompanied by the above-named Meri, who is also called “the superintendent of the temple”, to recommend his officials to the grace of Pharaoh. The statue of the royal lord, which had been set up, plays here an important part. His Majesty appears to have been much pleased with the services of his faithful servant, since he presented Penni with two silver vessels filled with precious ointments, as a reward of honor. Penni was certainly an artist, as is shown by the statue of Pharaoh, and his rock tomb adorned with rich sculptiu-es in stone, but especially by his office, mentioned in the inscriptions, of “master of the quarry”, besides that of a “superintendent of the temple of Horus”, the lord of the town of Ama. These and similar statements are confirmed by the pictures and writings in his eternal dwelling, where he rests surrounded by his numerous relations. The several members of his family appear all to have held during their lifetime various offices in the Horus-city of Ama. I find among them a chief priest of Isis, whose son was the Amenemapi named in the inscription; also two treasurers of the king in Ama, a captain of the city of Ama, a priest and a scribe, while the women are mostly named as female singers of Amon or of Horus, the lord of the town of Ama. When all historical data for depicting the life and deeds of a king fail, the family information contained in the tomb of a contemporary becomes of importance, even if it teaches us nothing else than that in the times of Ramses VI. the Egyptian dominion south of the tropic was still maintained, and that among the "King's sons of Kush" there were several Adons, corresponding to the districts of Kush, to whom again were subordinated the H'a, or governors of the towns.

Magical Funerary Figure: Late New Kingdom

Previous Campaigns of Ramses II Against Kadesh

Pictures of Battle of Kadesh

Pharaoh Ramses VI

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