–Epochal battle for supremacy of the Levant region, on the banks of the Orontes River in modern–day Syria.
The region under contention stretches from the Egyptian Empire in the south, under Pharaoh and Commanding General Ramesses II, to the Hittite Empire in the north, under King Muwatalli II and Commanding General Hattusili II.
The forces were apparently each comprised of approximately 50,000 men.
Note: These were “chariot warfare” years, and the evolving expertise of the Hittites perhaps surpassed that of the Egyptians in this sphere.
Classically, two wheels were positioned at the back edge of the (Hittite) chariot, and each chariot carried two warriors. In the period leading into the epochal battle, however, Hittite engineers moved the wheels to the center of the chariot’s under–carriage. This forward–adjustment gave the chariot more strength—creating room for a crucial third warrior—that was the margin of victory as the war chariot drove into enemy lines. Apparently, this was one key component that helped tilt the balance of power towards the Hittites.
The Hittites prevail at The Battle of Kadesh, and in the subsequent treaty—the earliest known example of a written international agreement of any sort—the Egyptians are forced to refer to the Hittite King as “the Great King.”
But within decades, the awesome Hittite Empire implodes from civil war. Apparently, subsequent to the Battle of Kadesh, the Hittite king and the commanding general battle each other for supremacy of the empire. The denouement of this civil war is the implosion—and subsequent disappearance from history—of the Hittites.