# Kadesh (Syria)

Kadesh, or Qadesh, was an ancient city of the Levant on or near the headwaters or a ford of the Orontes River. It was of some importance during the Late Bronze Age and is mentioned in the Amarna letters. It was the site of the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittite and Egyptian empires in the 13th century BC.

## Name and location

The name is from the West Semitic (Canaanite) root Q-D-Š "holy". It is rendered Qdšw in Egyptian and Kadeš in Hittite. Akkadian spelling variants include Kinza, Kidša, Gizza.
Kadesh is identified with the ruins at Tell Nebi Mend, about 24 kilometers (15 mi) southwest of Homs near al-Qusayr and adjacent to the modern-day Syrian village of Tell al-Nabi Mando. The text of the Kadesh inscriptions locates Kadesh as being near Tunip in the land of the Amurru, itself assumed to have been near the Orontes River (perhaps at Tell Salhab).
Some scholars also identify Kadesh with the city of Kadytis (Καδύτις in Greek) mentioned by Herodotus (2.159, an alternative identification for Kadytis being Gaza.

## History
### Early Bronze

In the late Early Bronze, the site is known for White-on-Blackweel Ware pottery. This ware appeared in the transitional EB III/IV (Phase O), flourished and was traded in the Orontes Valley up to the Plains of Antioch and to eastern North Syria in EB IVA (Phase N). In EB IVB (Phase M), the ware continued features from the previous phase, but is easily distinguishable. It disappeares in the transitional EB IV/MB I (Phase L). Comparison should be made with Hama J7-5 (EB IVA) and J4-2 (EB IVB).

### Middle Bronze Age

Map of Syria in the second millennium BC, showing the location of Kadesh (Qadesh)
The city first entered historical records when it was mentioned in the archive of Mari in the 18th century BC as the headquarters of king Ishi-Addu of Qatna during the suppression of a rebellion in the south of the city.
In Inner Syria, the Middle Bronze ends with the military campaigns of Mursili I of Hatti (c. 1590 BC). Here the MB IIB is followed by LB IA, while MB IIC starts in the southern Levant.

### Late Bronze Age
#### Mitanni Period

Kadesh came under Mitanni influence after the murder of Mursili I of Hatti (c. 1587 BCE) and the subsequent decline of the Old Hittite Kingdom. The Mitanni confederation emerged from the Habur region.
Around 1520 BCE, Thutmosis I campaigned north into Syria against the Mitanni, along with Aram, an ally of Kadesh. In the time of Hatshepsut there were no campaigns against Kadesh as she was focused on developing trade across the Red Sea and southward.
Battle of Megiddo. Kadesh is first noted as one of two Canaanite cities (with Megiddo) that led a coalition of city-states opposing the conquest of the Levant by Thutmose III. The king of Kadesh was probably encouraged in this resitance by the ruler of Mittani, Egypt's primary foreign rival the Levant. Defeat in the subsequent Battle of Megiddo ultimately led to Egyptian hegemony over the city and the rest of southern Syria.
Although Amenophis II campaigned in the Djadi, from then on for a century and a half, until the reign of Horemheb (1319–1307), Canaan was independent of Egyptian rule.

#### Hittite Period

Around 1350 BC, Suppiluliuma I of Hatti attacked Tushratta of Mitanni conducting military campaigns against Mitanni strongholds, and then taking control over vassal rulers west of the Euphrates River in Syria. Egypt had been allied to Mitanni since peace was made under Amenhotep II, and was now being drawn into the conflict. Both Aziru of Amurru (Akkar Plain) and Etakkama of Kadesh became vassals of Suppiluliuma I. Qatna which had been the regional capital in the Middle Bronze now came to an end facing the Hittites. The ruler pledge for help from the King of Egypt.
Amarna Letters. Correspondence between the ruler of Kadesh and the pharaoh Akhenaten is preserved among the Amarna letters. Kadesh is known as Qidshu in these Akkadian language letters.
The names of three kings of Kadesh survive from contemporary sources: Suttarna (or Sutatarra; fl. c. 1350 BC); Etakkama (c. 1340s) and his son Ari-Teshub (fl. c. 1330–1325).
Under Mursili II of Hatti, several territories in Syria tried to rebel with the support of Horemheb of Egypt. However, the Hittites maintained control. When the 18th Dynasty was replaced by the 19th Dynasty, renewed efforts were made to attack the Hittites in Amurru and Kadesh.

#### Seti I campaign

The city was captured by the great pharaoh Seti I in 1306 BC, during his campaign to Syria. Kadesh had been lost to Egypt since the time of Akhenaten. Tutankhamun and Horemheb had both failed to recapture the city from the Hittites. Seti I was successful here and defeated a Hittite army that tried to defend it. He triumphantly entered the city together with his son Ramesses II and erected a victory stela at the site.
His success was only temporary. As soon as Seti I returned to Egypt, the Hittite king, Mursilis II, marched south to take Kadesh and made it a stronghold of the Hittite defenses in Syria. The Hittites ruled through a viceroy in Carchemish.

#### Battle of Kadesh

The city is best known for one of the best documented battles of the ancient world, the Battle of Kadesh between the superpowers of the 13th century, the Egyptian and Hittite Empires. An Egyptian vassal for approximately 150 years, Kadesh eventually defected to Hittite suzerainty, thereby placing the city on the contested frontier between the two rival empires.
In response to this Hittite expansion southwards, the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II prepared an aggressive military response and captured the coastal state of Amurru. The next year, the Hittites moved south to recover Amurru, while the Egyptians moved north to continue their expansion into Syria. The inhabitants of Kadesh had cut a channel from the river to a stream south of the town, which had turned the town into a virtual island.
In 1274 BC, the fifth year of Ramesses' reign, he led a large force of chariots and infantry 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to retake the walled city. In the Battle of Kadesh, the two forces clashed on the plain south of the city and west of the Orontes River, in what is widely regarded as the largest chariot versus chariot battle in history (5,000–6,000 between the two sides). The battle saw the Egyptians turning a near catastrophe into a near victory. After Hittite spies convinced the Egyptians that the Hittites were far away, the Hittites ambushed Ramesses in his camp. Ramesses rallied his bodyguard and broke out of the trap in time for the last-minute arrival of a supporting Egyptian force from coastal Amurru. The pharoah was able to recover the initiative, and the two armies withdrew in stalemate, both claiming victory.

#### Aftermath

Kadesh, however, remained under Hittite overlordship, Amurru returned to the Hittite fold, and the Hittite army continued its conquests southward as far as Upi, the territory around Damascus.
The subsequent impasse between Egypt and Hatti was resolved in one of the earliest known international peace treaties, concluded several decades later between Ramesses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III.

### End of Kadesh

Kadesh vanished from history after it was destroyed by the invading Sea Peoples around 1178 BC. However, Hellenistic remains have been found in the upper levels of the tell mound, and the summit is still occupied today. In Byzantine times, widespread occupation is evidenced by extensive remains at the foot of the tell, which is believed to represent the city of Laodicea ad Libanum. Continuous occupation throughout the Islamic period is likely, the mound having been named after a local Muslim holy man, Nebi Mend.

## Tell Nebi Mend

Tell Nebi Mend, consisting of an upper (450 x 200 meter) and lower tell, lies 10 kilometers southwest of the modern city of Homs and covers an area of about 10 hectares and rises to a height of about 30 meters over the plain. An enclosure wall around the site, thought to be Middle Bronze Age, encompasses about 40 hectares. Located at the confluence of the Orontes River and Mukadiya river, it was occupied through the Neolithic (followed by a break in occupation), Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Hellenistic/Roman periods.
The site was first excavated by a French team led by Maurice Pezard in 1922 and 1923, in the northeast quadrant of the upper mound. The excavator opened two trenches, one 60 meters by 25 meters, and 20 meters deep and the other 30 by 40 meters by 70 meters and shallow. Finds included an incomplete stele of Pharaoh Seti I (c. 1294/1290–1279 BC) in a out-of-context Iron Age level, some stone statuettes and Syro-Hittite cylinder seals, and a terracotta figurine.
The site was then excavated between 1975 and 1995 by a team from the University College London Institute of Archaeology led by Peter Parr. Nine trenches were opened, all on the upper mound, with excavated levels ranging from Middle Bronze I to Late Bronze II. A number of charcoal samples were radiocarbon dated though there were apparently technical problems that limited their usefulness. Six cuneiform tablets were found at the site, one blank with sealing and the others in a Babylonian dialect of Akkadian. The tablets, from the late 14th century BC, mentioned the name of a ruler, Niqmadda, and provided confirmation of the site as Qadesh.
The site has received damage in the Syrian Civil War.