The Battle of Kadesh: The History of the Most Important Battle Between the Egyptians and Hittites
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Colin Fluxman
()
About this audiobook
Many battles fought in antiquity remain famous thousands of years later, such as Marathon, Thermopylae, and Cannae, mainly due to the belligerents involved and the ways in which the battles changed the course of history. However, even as people are fascinated by the Egyptians, one of the most important battles in antiquity has also been one of the most overlooked: the Battle of Kadesh, fought by Ramesses II against the Hittites.
For one thing, it is the earliest known pitched battle to be documented, and the number of troops deployed by both the Egyptians and Hittites may have made it the largest battle ever fought up until that point in time. The organization of the forces, especially the Egyptians, is another intriguing aspect of this battle, because the Egyptians organized their units into divisions, which may be the first such case in history or simply the first time the organization was recorded.
Arguably the most famous aspect of the battle is that it was passed down in ways that barely aligned with reality. Surrounded and swiftly outnumbered, most of the Egyptian soldiers were killed in the battle, and Ramesses II was forced to retreat in order to survive. What is known of the rest of the battle is that the pharaoh rallied his forces, fought on through the battlefield in order to evade capture and death, and managed to get away with only with a fraction of his troops, while the majority of his army lay slain on the field of battle that he left behind him.
Nonetheless, the battle essentially ended in a stalemate, after which there was a period of extended peace and eventually an alliance between the Egyptians and Hittites. The ensuing peace also helped to solidify the Late Bronze Age Near Eastern geopolitical system modern scholars often refer to as the “Great Powers Club,” during which the most powerful empires of the Near East tended to use diplomacy instead of warfare to settle their differences.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMadame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Culper Ring: The History and Legacy of the Revolutionary War's Most Famous Spy Ring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Battle of Kadesh
Related audiobooks
The Battle of Zama: The History of the Battle Between Rome and Carthage that Decided the Second Punic War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAncient Greek Cavalry: The History and Legacy of Classical Greece’s Forgotten Soldiers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arzawa: The History and Legacy of a Forgotten Ancient Kingdom in Anatolia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAkhenaten and Amarna: The History of Ancient Egypt’s Most Mysterious Pharaoh and His Capital City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost City of Mari: The History and Legacy of an Ancient Mesopotamian Power Center Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImhotep: The Life and Legacy of the High Priest Who Designed Ancient Egypt’s First Major Pyramid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hamilcar Barca: The Life and Legacy of the Legendary Carthaginian General Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fall of Rome: The History and Legacy of the Western Roman Empire’s Collapse in the 5th Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hannibal and Scipio Africanus: The Lives and Careers of the Second Punic War’s Legendary Generals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Megiddo: The History of the Famous Archaeological Site and Prophesized Battle of Armageddon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scipio Africanus: The Life and Legacy of the Roman General Who Defeated Hannibal during the Second Punic War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Advent of Early Modern Warfare: The History of the Transition from Medieval Military Tactics to the Age of Gunpowder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRome and Germania: The History of the Roman Empire’s Conflicts and Interactions with Germanic Tribes Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Kingdom of Pontus: The History of the Ancient Anatolian Kingdom Before It Was Conquered by Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nerva-Antonine Dynasty: The History and Legacy of the Emperors Who Ruled the Roman Empire at Its Peak Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History Revealed: Battlefield Kadesh: Episode 82 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTyre & Carthage: The History of the Phoenician Cities that Dominated the Mediterranean for Centuries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia: The History of the Parthian Kings Who Ruled the Ancient Kingdom of Armenia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kitos War: A Captivating Guide to One of the Jewish–Roman Wars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Persian Empire: The History and Legacy of the Macedonian King’s Campaign against the Persians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAncient Egypt Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Athenian Agora and Roman Forum: The Beating Hearts of the Ancient World’s Most Famous Cities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Ancient History For You
The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Greek Mythology: An Elaborate Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Harems, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Histories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hekate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Epic of Gilgamesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Jesus: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History Is Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chariots of the Gods Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Our Occulted History: Do the Global Elite Conceal Ancient Aliens? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roman History 101: From Republic to Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plutarch's Lives: Volume 1 of 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptian Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Egyptian Myths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of the Dead: The History and Legacy of Ancient Egypt’s Famous Funerary Texts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Past Mistakes: How We Misinterpret History and Why it Matters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caesar: Life of a Colossus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Battle of Kadesh
0 ratings0 reviews