The Kadesh Reliefs of the
Ramesseum:
a commemorative monument and
historical narrative
Katie Barcay
Intimate Stories
ARCH0250
Ömür Harmansah
The Battle of Kadesh
• Outline of the Battle:
– Egyptian army of 20,000 marches to North Syria in Year 5 of
Ramesses II’s reign. (Freed 1987: 41)
– Hittite king Muwatallis learns of coming attack from spies,
• creates a channel connecting a stream at the western edge of the
city to the Orontes river southeast of the city, creating a defensible
territory (Kitchen 1982: 53-63)
– Ramesses II only discovers Hittite spies 2 miles away
– Hittite army launches surprise attack against Egyptians, with an
army twice the size of the Egyptian army.
– Egypt gets help from an ally, the Nearin of the Amurru coast,
putting Ramesses on the offensive
– The next day, Ramesses begins an offensive initiative, though
the battle ends in a stalemate because of the massive size of
the Hittite army.
The Battle of Kadesh, cont.
• “Kadesh” is a name
often given to temple
cities that were
considered holy cities,
so there have been
multiple Kadesh
battles (Velikovsky
1978: 11)
– Ramses II’s reign:
Kadesh is a city in
North Syria (north of
Mount Lebanon)
The Ramesseum Plan
• Located on the west bank of the nile
• Large Area: 10 hectares =100,000 m2
(Kitchen 1982: 44)
– Great precinct over 600 ft. long
• Pylons span the entire width of the main
complex
• Beyond the pylons are two outdoor courts
with colonnades, a large hypostyle hall,
smaller columned halls, a small palace,
service rooms, etc. (Kitchen 1982,176-77)
Ground Plan of Ramesseum
“Thebes: Ramesseum of Thebes: general plan of sanctuary” University of California, San Diego
The Ramesseum Plan, cont.
• Recent archaeological research has
discovered that the Ramesseum housed
administrative powers and was an economic
center for Egypt at Thebes (Leblanc 2005:
79)
– found in documents within tombs of government
workers
• The state of bakeries, kitchens, and supply
rooms reveal that the site remained active
throughout the reign of Ramesses III, and
perhaps later. (Leblanc 2005: 80-81)
Ramesseum Plan, cont.
• The Ramesseum also contained the
“Ramesseum School” for scribe training,
which is unique (Leblanc 2005: 80-81)
– the first school within a pharaonic temple.
• Contained a treasury with vaulted store
rooms and luxury products.
Criteria for Commemorative
Monument
• Public work of art
• Architectural object
• Evokes a shared social memory
– Event
– Person
– Idea
• Often a place of worship
Commemorative Monument
• Bas-reliefs of the Battle of Kadesh are located
on the first pylons
– The first thing that one sees when walking up to
the temple complex, and must pass through to
enter.
– Ramesses II created a novel form for this temple
when abandoning the open courts before the
pylons, emphasizing their grandeur, and thus
emphasizing what is depicted on them. (Kitchen
1982: 175)
Commemorative Monument,
cont.
• commemorate the military effort of
Ramesses II and the strength of the
king and Egyptian army in their ability to
fight off the Hittites, even after false
information from counterspies led them
into a great disadvantage at battle.
Do the Kadesh reliefs meet criteria
for a commemorative monument?
• The Kadesh reliefs are on the exterior of the temple,
open to the entire public, and are passed by all who
enter the temple.
• The reliefs are carved on massive pylons
• Reliefs evoke a shared social memory
– Event: Battle of Kadesh
– Person: Ramesses II
– Idea: the power of the king, his kinship with the gods
• The temple was a place to honor the god-king
Ramesses II along with the local gods of Thebes
Criteria for a Historical
Narrative
• Sequence of scenes which represent an
event in history
• relate the account of an event
• Specificity in scenes
– In terms of the actions which relate to the
event
– Geographical/topographical specificity aid the
classification as a historical narrative
Do the Kadesh reliefs meet
criteria for a historical narrative?
• The Kadesh reliefs depict a series of known
scenes of the battle:
– Ramesses II learning of the Hittite attack, chariot
waiting for command (Kitchen 1982: 58)
– Beating of the Hittite counterspies (Gardiner 1960:
28)
– The Egyptian counter-attack across the Orontes
river against the Hittite army (Kitchen 1982: 59)
– Emptying of water from almost-drowned Hittite
prince Aleppo (Kitchen 1982: 61)
Do the Kadesh reliefs meet
criteria for a historical narrative?
• The Battle of Kadesh is one of Ramesses II’s
most well known battles, so it is known by the
general public.
• Specificity: (Velikovsky 1978: 15)
– known for their topographical specificity:
• the directional placement of the Orontes river, along with
environmental markers such as plains and rocks, create
an accurate historical landscape.
– geographical specificity of the reliefs disproved a
previous theory of the location of “Kadesh” at Tell
Nebi-Mend
Counter-Argument
• In his book Arrest and Movement,
Groenewegen-Frankfort discusses
representational art of Egypt:
– “Not even a wealth of realistic details,
especially in connection with drowning
figures, can atone for a complete lack of
dramatic tension. Artistically speaking, the
scene is a failure” (Groenewegen-Frankfort
1951: 135)
Counter-Argument
• Groenewegen-Frankfort finds great importance in the
superhuman aspect of monumental art which allows
it to transcend temporality. (Groenewegen-Frankfort
1951: 23)
• He also believes that the “king’s static perfection”
(Groenewegen-Frankfort 1951: 51) is revealed
through the manipulation of battle scenes showing
the flawlessness and power of the king.
Response to CounterArgument
• While Groenewegen-Frankfort believes
that a superhuman quality is necessary
for a commemorative monument, I
believe that the specificity involved in
the depiction of the battle, along with
the memorialization of that event on the
front of a great religious, economic, and
cultural complex allows it to transcend
temporality.
Response to CounterArgument
• G-F: role of the king as a god-king creates a static
perfection that prevents classification both historical
narrative and commemorative monument
(Groenewegen-Frankfort 1951: 49-51)
• Response:
– the stalemate battle was depicted somewhat deceivingly in
its entirety, though scenes that were depicted did occur, and
thus compose a historical narrative.
Response, continued.
– Note the scene where Ramesses discovers
that he has been fooled into an almost
hopeless battle.
It is at this time that he is most vulnerable,
yet it is depicted on the relief, defying the
belief of static flawlessness.
– This adds dramatic tension to the scene, which G-F
believes is necessary for a commemorative monument
(because of the possibility of failure).
Bibliography
•
Brega, Isabella; 1999. Egypt: ancient and modern. Cairo: American University in Cairo
Press.
•
Freed, Rita E.; 1987. Ramesses the Great. Boston: Boston Museum of Science.
•
Gardiner, Alan Henderson, Sir; 1960. The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II. Oxford:
Griffith Institute.
•
Groenewegen-Frankfort, H. A.; 1951. Arrest and Movement, an essay on space and time
in the representational art of the near east. London: Faber and Faber Limited.
•
Kitchen, K. A.; 1982. Pharaoh triumphant: the life and times of Ramesses II, King of
Egypt. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.
Bibliography, cont.
•
Leblanc, Christian; 2005. “Research, development, and management of heritage on the
left bank of the Nile: Ramesseum and its environs,” Museum International 57:
79-86.
•
McCarthy, Heather Lee; 2003. “The function of “Emblematic scenes” of the king’s
domination of foreign enemies and narrative battle scenes in Ramesses II’s
Nubian Temples,” Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 30:
59-74.
•
Quibell, J. E.; 1898. The Ramesseum. London: B. Quaritch.
•
Spalinger, Anthony; 2003. “The battle of Kadesh: the chariot frieze at Abydos,” in Egypt
and the Levant. Edited by M. Bietak; Vienna: ﾖsterreichische Akademie der
Wissenschaften, 163-199.
•
Velikovsky, Immanuel; 1978. Ramses II and his time. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.