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The Battle of Kadeshi, which took place in 1274 BC, was the most intense military conflict in the early Near East. It is also the largest battle using chariots in the history of human warfare. |
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| The confrontation between the two empires of Egypt and Heti before the Battle of Kadesh |
Because of the scale of the armed forces of both sides and the tactical methods used in this battle, they are unprecedented in that era. Therefore, the "Silver Plate Treaty" signed by Egypt and West Taiwan after the war also had an important impact on the political structure of the Near East. Although the Egyptian literature all claimed that Ramses II won the battle, in fact the Egyptian army did not achieve their goal-to occupy the Kadeshi city controlled by the Western Taiwan. When Ramses II took the lead in withdrawing his troops and returning to his country, the West Taiwan army continued to travel south to Damascus, consolidating its control of Kadeshi. Subsequently, King Mowatari II of Hesha also occupied Amru and continued to maintain his hegemony in Syria.
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| A copy of the tablet documenting the Egyptian contract with Heti |
Under this circumstance, after Ramses II returned to Egypt, he organized artists to create works praising his great achievements in order to cover up the truth that the Egyptian army failed to win. Ancient Egyptian artists did not disappoint, creating a series of exquisite works of art. Their efforts have also been very successful in shaping the image of a great pharaoh who led the army to win the war by his own strength. Can be called a model of propaganda art! As the ancient Egyptians worshiped a variety of gods, the sun god was one of the main gods most worshipped by them. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians also worshipped the pharaoh as the incarnation of the sun god, and the artistic works created on the theme of the pharaoh also had the purpose of beautifying the image of the pharaoh and maintaining the authority of the pharaoh.
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| Ramses II on the Egyptian relief is like a god descending to earth |
In the New Kingdom period, as Egypt's foreign wars gradually increased and the conquered territories continued to expand, the pharaoh, as the highest military commander, naturally became the absolute protagonist in many works of art. When depicting the scene of the Pharaoh's battle, the artist will not only highlight the huge image of the Pharaoh, but also emphasize his invincible and invincible characteristics. In order to strengthen the supremacy of the pharaoh in the minds of the people. In short, artistic works that beautify the image of the pharaoh existed widely in ancient Egyptian society. This also reflects the practical characteristics of ancient Egyptian art. The three relief sculptures describing the Battle of Kadeite that we will introduce today are typical representatives of this type of work. They not only have strong practicability, but also fully reflect the characteristics of Egyptian art in the New Kingdom period.
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| The first relief is located at the Ramesseum Temple in Thebes. It depicts some important events in and around the Egyptian army camp at the beginning of the Battle of Kadeite. |
On the left side of the screen, Egyptian soldiers in the camp are preparing for battle. In the center of the picture, near the bottom of the Pharaoh’s camp, Pharaoh’s guards are interrogating the captured Xitai spy, asking the latter to tell the real location of the West Taiwan army. In the upper right corner of the screen is the scene of the Egyptian army fighting with the West Taiwan army that assaulted the base camp. In the face of the sudden invasion of the enemy, the Egyptian army is in a more disadvantaged position.
This relief significantly embodies the "division method" in Egyptian art. The layer division method is the most basic expression technique used for narration in ancient Egyptian paintings and relief works. The main feature is to use different levels or columns with different character content to represent different times and spaces. Show the development and change of things, and show the complete process of an event with multiple sets of pictures connected to each other.
In this relief, the artist adopts a relatively regular composition and uses multiple scene connections to narrate the development process of a series of events in the Egyptian camp during the Battle of Kadeshi. Although there are a lot of characters in the picture, the picture does not appear to be crowded and chaotic. In addition, the layer segmentation method actually helps the audience understand the sequence of events. As the Egyptian army prepared for war-captured the West Taiwan spy-it was preparing to obtain accurate information about the enemy. However, shortly after the Pharaoh learned the correct position of the West Taiwan army, the West Taiwan army had already launched a preemptive raid on the Egyptians. Although Ramses II does not appear in the picture, the artist still hints. Isn’t the Pharaoh’s camp located in the center of the picture the Pharaoh’s location?
In the center of the screen is Ramses II, the leader of the army, standing majestically on the chariot with his bow and shooting at the enemy. However, the driver of Ramses did not appear in the picture. On the right side of the screen is the Egyptian army chasing after Pharaoh. On the left side of the screen are the West Taiwanese troops fleeing in embarrassment. Some of the defeated West Taiwanese troops fell into the Oriented River and drowned. In addition, the difference between the Egyptian chariot and the Western Taiwan chariot can be clearly seen in the relief. Egyptian tanks are lighter, with only two crew members. The Xitai chariot is heavy and carries three crew members. The characters in the picture are diverse and dynamic, which vividly reflects the fierce battle between the two armies.
This relief significantly embodies the "scattering method" in Egyptian art. From the Ancient Kingdom to the New Kingdom period, the scatter method has always been the usual creative method in ancient Egyptian artworks. Different from the perspective method used today, the divergence method of ancient Egyptian art is not to faithfully reproduce the original appearance of the object, but to enhance and exaggerate the status of the depicted object. Therefore, Egyptian artists did not pay attention to whether its position on the screen was in line with science when using the scatter method to express the character. Instead, it uses the method of expanding the proportion of characters to emphasize and highlight key characters. At the same time, reduce the image of other minor figures to set off the lofty status of important figures. In order to highlight the position of the protagonist Ramses II, the artist mainly adopted two methods: First of all, the image of the pharaoh was enlarged, and he was drawn into a giant with a size more than the average number of people to increase his power. Correspondingly, the giant war horse and the giant bow used by the pharaoh are also symbols of his power. Second, the image of Pharaoh's subordinates and enemies is reduced, and other characters are omitted. For example, Pharaoh’s chariot driver and other important figures on both sides have been omitted. This approach helps to increase the contrast between the protagonist and the supporting role in the picture, and further highlights the important position of the pharaoh. It also helps to shape the image of Pharaoh as a "lone hero."
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| Ancient Egyptian Army in the New Kingdom |
In this relief, the artist adopts a relatively regular composition and uses multiple scene connections to narrate the development process of a series of events in the Egyptian camp during the Battle of Kadeshi. Although there are a lot of characters in the picture, the picture does not appear to be crowded and chaotic. In addition, the layer segmentation method actually helps the audience understand the sequence of events. As the Egyptian army prepared for war-captured the West Taiwan spy-it was preparing to obtain accurate information about the enemy. However, shortly after the Pharaoh learned the correct position of the West Taiwan army, the West Taiwan army had already launched a preemptive raid on the Egyptians. Although Ramses II does not appear in the picture, the artist still hints. Isn’t the Pharaoh’s camp located in the center of the picture the Pharaoh’s location?
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| The second relief is located on a wall of the tower on the east side of Luxor Temple. It depicts the scene of Ramses II leading the Egyptian army to counterattack and chases the fleeing Western Taiwan army. In fact, Ramses II did not pursue the West Taiwan army when it retreated but quickly retreated southward. Therefore, the scenes in the reliefs are purely imaginary. |
In the center of the screen is Ramses II, the leader of the army, standing majestically on the chariot with his bow and shooting at the enemy. However, the driver of Ramses did not appear in the picture. On the right side of the screen is the Egyptian army chasing after Pharaoh. On the left side of the screen are the West Taiwanese troops fleeing in embarrassment. Some of the defeated West Taiwanese troops fell into the Oriented River and drowned. In addition, the difference between the Egyptian chariot and the Western Taiwan chariot can be clearly seen in the relief. Egyptian tanks are lighter, with only two crew members. The Xitai chariot is heavy and carries three crew members. The characters in the picture are diverse and dynamic, which vividly reflects the fierce battle between the two armies.
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| The Chariots of the Hittits and Ancient Egypt belong to two tactical styles |
This relief significantly embodies the "scattering method" in Egyptian art. From the Ancient Kingdom to the New Kingdom period, the scatter method has always been the usual creative method in ancient Egyptian artworks. Different from the perspective method used today, the divergence method of ancient Egyptian art is not to faithfully reproduce the original appearance of the object, but to enhance and exaggerate the status of the depicted object. Therefore, Egyptian artists did not pay attention to whether its position on the screen was in line with science when using the scatter method to express the character. Instead, it uses the method of expanding the proportion of characters to emphasize and highlight key characters. At the same time, reduce the image of other minor figures to set off the lofty status of important figures. In order to highlight the position of the protagonist Ramses II, the artist mainly adopted two methods: First of all, the image of the pharaoh was enlarged, and he was drawn into a giant with a size more than the average number of people to increase his power. Correspondingly, the giant war horse and the giant bow used by the pharaoh are also symbols of his power. Second, the image of Pharaoh's subordinates and enemies is reduced, and other characters are omitted. For example, Pharaoh’s chariot driver and other important figures on both sides have been omitted. This approach helps to increase the contrast between the protagonist and the supporting role in the picture, and further highlights the important position of the pharaoh. It also helps to shape the image of Pharaoh as a "lone hero."
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Modern art styles generally do not use such exaggerated techniques |
Finally, when the artist creates according to the scatter method, he will also use the overlay method to process the picture. "Overlapping method" refers to drawing multiple rows of people and objects side by side in the distance, drawing them to the same size with the same proportions, and stacking them on top of each other. Make it difficult for the audience to judge the level of the picture and the true sequence. It can be seen that with the exception of the Pharaoh, all the tanks on both sides of the screen are processed in this way to ensure that each tank can be displayed completely.
Overlapping is not only a standardized treatment in Egyptian art but also a manifestation of Egyptian religious concepts. The Egyptians believed that both images and words had magical powers. If the group portraits are occluded and displayed incompletely when the group portrait is drawn, it means that the deceased will also experience physical insufficiency after the resurrection. Therefore, in Egyptian art, it is rare that the pictures block each other.
The text part of the relief is a general introduction to the battle of Kadeshi. Like the reliefs of the Luxor Temple, the artist also highlighted the image of the pharaoh in the painting, placing him in the most conspicuous center of the painting. Around the pharaoh there are servants looking up at him and the guards below, which also played a role in setting off the supremacy of the pharaoh.
This scene also shows the typical image of the pharaoh as the ruler. He wears an exquisite crown that symbolizes authority and casts a holy snake pattern on his head, holds a cane that symbolizes the highest authority, and sits on a high throne. On the right side of Pharaoh were the messengers who reported the news to him, and the servants who prepared the chariot for him. The luxurious decoration on the horse clearly shows that it is undertaking the task of pulling the chariot for the Pharaoh. At the bottom of the screen is a guard unit composed of the Egyptians and Sherdan descendants of the Haimen. The biggest difference between the Sherdan and the Egyptians is that they usually wear round shields and horned helmets, and use long swords to fight. It can be seen that the four guards directly below the Pharaoh in the picture are Sherdan, and the rest are Egyptians. However, the main members of the Pharaoh's Guards are still Egyptians, and the proportion of Sherdan is not large. Another highlight of this relief is the artist's regular composition and more serious character expressions. Successfully rendered the tense atmosphere that the war was about to start.
Due to the hard work of ancient Egyptian artists, and the archaeological craze of modern Egypt first appeared. Many scholars in modern times believe that the Egyptian army won the battle of Kadesh. Until the twentieth century, more and more artifacts of the Hetuan Empire were discovered. In particular, the discovery of the ruins of the Royal Library in Hattusa, the capital, gave scholars a large number of official clay tablet archives. The Egyptians' scheming bitch practice of concealing defeat into victory was revealed.
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| The third relief is located in the Temple of Abu Simbel. It depicts the scene when Ramses II was about to summon the guards to meet the enemy after he learned the news of the West Taiwan army's attack on the base. |
The text part of the relief is a general introduction to the battle of Kadeshi. Like the reliefs of the Luxor Temple, the artist also highlighted the image of the pharaoh in the painting, placing him in the most conspicuous center of the painting. Around the pharaoh there are servants looking up at him and the guards below, which also played a role in setting off the supremacy of the pharaoh.
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| Sea peoples and Nubian mercenaries often appearing in the army of the New Kingdom |
This scene also shows the typical image of the pharaoh as the ruler. He wears an exquisite crown that symbolizes authority and casts a holy snake pattern on his head, holds a cane that symbolizes the highest authority, and sits on a high throne. On the right side of Pharaoh were the messengers who reported the news to him, and the servants who prepared the chariot for him. The luxurious decoration on the horse clearly shows that it is undertaking the task of pulling the chariot for the Pharaoh. At the bottom of the screen is a guard unit composed of the Egyptians and Sherdan descendants of the Haimen. The biggest difference between the Sherdan and the Egyptians is that they usually wear round shields and horned helmets, and use long swords to fight. It can be seen that the four guards directly below the Pharaoh in the picture are Sherdan, and the rest are Egyptians. However, the main members of the Pharaoh's Guards are still Egyptians, and the proportion of Sherdan is not large. Another highlight of this relief is the artist's regular composition and more serious character expressions. Successfully rendered the tense atmosphere that the war was about to start.
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| The ruins of Hattusa, the capital of the Heti Empire |
Due to the hard work of ancient Egyptian artists, and the archaeological craze of modern Egypt first appeared. Many scholars in modern times believe that the Egyptian army won the battle of Kadesh. Until the twentieth century, more and more artifacts of the Hetuan Empire were discovered. In particular, the discovery of the ruins of the Royal Library in Hattusa, the capital, gave scholars a large number of official clay tablet archives. The Egyptians' scheming bitch practice of concealing defeat into victory was revealed.
