Dead Men Tell Tales

by Harry Rimmer

We shall later refer to the great work of Dr. A. H. Sayce in deciphering these hieroglyphics. His achievement in that instance was, in the annals of human history, one of the greatest triumphs of pure reason. Before this was done, however, the Hittites had begun to stretch themselves and stir in the tomb of oblivion. Their long sleep was ended and they began to rise from the dead, when experts in Egyptology read the record of Ramses the Second. It is not too much to say that these early discoveries threw the camp of higher criticism into utter confusion.

Ramses the Second successfully ended a period of warfare with the Hittites which had vexed and distressed Egypt for more than five hundred years. So great was the power of the Hittite empire that no previous conqueror or king in Egypt had been able to shake off their yoke completely. Indeed, Ramses the Second succeeded in so doing only by contracting an important political marriage with a Hittite princess.

The center of the Hittite empire was Charchemish. On the site of Megiddo, which was so often the scene of battles in successive years, the forces of Ramses fought with the armed forces of the Hittites. There the Egyptian monarch successfully defeated the Hittites in one of the most stirring battles preserved to us in ancient records. The Hittites at this time were governed by a number of kings who had a close confederation in all affairs pertaining to the empire. In the day of Ramses the confederation was headed by the king of Kadesh. According to Ramses’ record, which is preserved for us on the walls of Karnak, all “the kings and peoples from the water of Egypt to the river-land of Mesopotamia obeyed this chief.”

This army of the confederation massed itself on the bloody field of Megiddo in a battle which lasted six hours. Ramses tells in detail how he marched and maneuvered his forces to gain strategic advantages.

It was a coincidence that the battle began on the morning of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ascension of Ramses the Second. He celebrated the anniversary of his crowning by throwing off the yoke of the Hittites. A complete victory was denied Ramses, due to the fact that when the Hittite force broke and fled before him, his army failed to take advantage of the rout. Falling upon the rich plunder, they fought among themselves over the spoils so long that the Hittites were able to enter their fortified city and barricade it against the Egyptians. An element of humor enters into the final statement. Ramses recounts that he besieged the city for a number of days, but since “Megiddo had the might of a thousand cities, the king graciously pardoned the foreign princes.” In the list of the spoil that the Egyptians gathered from this battle, there occurred the names of one hundred nineteen towns and cities which henceforth paid tribute to Egypt. The next important item was the capture of nine hundred twenty-four chariots, including the personal chariot of the Hittite king which was plated and armored with gold. (See [Plate 20].)

Although Ramses boasted that he had “completely overthrown the might and power of the Hittites,” the future history of this Pharaoh depicts campaign after campaign lasting until the end of his life. At least nine campaigns are recorded on the walls of Karnak, in each of which the Hittites were singularly exterminated, completely overthrown, and defeated for all time hereafter. The only trouble seems to have been that the Hittites didn’t realize how completely they were defeated, so that they came back again and again! The nearest to peace that Ramses ever achieved, in his dealings with this race, was when upon his marriage with a Hittite princess, a great treaty was signed. In the records of his battles, Ramses refers to the Hittite king as “the miserable lord of the despised Hittites.” When he records the treaty that he made at the time of his marriage, he refers to the same man as “his noble and magnificent brother, a fellow to sit with the god of the sun by the side of Ramses himself.” It is evident, then, that some of Ramses’ records must be taken with a grain of salt. We noticed recently, as we were studying and photographing the battle scene of Megiddo which is portrayed on the north side of the great temple at Karnak, that Ramses is shown as having thrown to the ground all the Hittites and as having slain their king. Seven years later, however, the king is still alive to give his daughter in marriage to Ramses!

Since the Hittites were at this time the central power of the ancient world, peace with them meant peace with all the other enemies of Egypt. Perhaps, for this reason, Ramses’ boasting of his great victory might be pardoned.

This great battle is also immortalized by a contemporary poet. The papyrus copy of this poem is now in the possession of the British Museum. Many stanzas from this notable work, however, are to be seen in connection with the magnificent battle pictures at Karnak. Some of these are also repeated in the temple at Luxor, as well as on the great monument at Abydos.

Professor Wright refers to this poem as “the earliest specimen of special war correspondence.” This work is known as the poem of Pentauer. Pentauer is the name of a Theban poet who wrote his dramatic ode two years after the battle between Ramses the Second and the Hittite horde. The boastful extravagance of his language becomes a bit wearisome as he sings the praises of Ramses and chants of the impossible feats of the monarch. An example of hyperbole is offered in this verse:

“King Pharaoh was young and bold. His arms were strong, his heart courageous. He seized his weapons, and a hundred thousand sunk before his glance. He armed his people and his chariots. As he marched towards the land of the Hittites, the whole earth trembled. His warriors passed by the path of the desert, and went along the roads of the north.”