14. How a Massive Propaganda Campaign Preserved the Memory of Mosses’ Pharaoh

The last Egyptian Division of Ptah arrived just as King Muwatalli sent in the rest of the Hittite chariots, and the battle lasted until sunset. After prolonged slaughter, the Hittites finally withdrew into Kadesh, and left the field – and technically the victory – to Ramses. When he returned to Egypt, the warrior pharaoh littered his kingdom with monuments and murals that detailed the engagement – or at least his version of the engagement. In them, he described himself as “Ramses, the Great, Conqueror of the Hittites” – which is how we know so much about the battle.



