The most important campaign of Ramses II’s reign culminated in the famous Battle of Kadesh. Ramses II set out in his fourth year as king to reestablish Egypt’s imperial holdings in Asia, much of which had been lost to the Hittites. Hittite and Egyptian forces met at Kadesh, a Hittite stronghold in Syria. The battle initially looked to be a rout of Egyptian forces, but the timely arrival of Egyptian reinforcements resulted in a stalemate. Egypt continued to campaign in Hittite territory for the next 16 years, until the two empires signed the first peace treaty in recorded history.
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