Ramesses II · 1274 BCE · overland

The most celebrated journey of Ramesses II: the march of 1274 BC from his Delta capital of Pi-Ramesses, up through Canaan to Kadesh on the Orontes, and the near-disaster there against the Hittites that the pharaoh recast as his greatest triumph. This route follows the army north to the battle and back.

1. 1
   Pi-Ramesses

   From his new capital in the eastern Delta, Ramesses II mustered four divisions and marched north to break the Hittite grip on Syria.

2. 2
   Gaza

   Along the Ways of Horus and up the coast of Canaan the army pressed toward the contested north.

3. 3
   Megiddo

   Through the great crossroads of Megiddo the divisions of Amun, Re, Ptah and Set advanced into Hittite country.

4. 4
   Kadesh

   At Kadesh on the Orontes, ambushed and all but overwhelmed, Ramesses turned the tide by his own account and claimed a mighty victory carved on temple walls from Abu Simbel to Karnak.

5. 5
   Pi-Ramesses (return)

   The divisions withdrew south to the Delta; years later the long war would end not in conquest but in the first recorded peace treaty between empires.