Tristan Hughes

And you do get a sense then, don't you, putting aside all the Ramesses' own spin on it that he does later.

Yeah.

This sense of this young, rash, you know, kid.

Young man.

Young man, yes.

Yeah, young man, I know.

Who wants to kind of follow in his dad's footsteps and...

but doesn't have the military intuition there, maybe, that he's lured into a bad position, bad intelligence, then gets the better intelligence later.

And he's outwitted by this other king, by this Hittite ruler and his chariots and the like, isn't it?

So how significant do you think is the result at Kadesh for Ramesses if you look at what he does afterwards?

If you take the actual military effect of it out of the picture, the fact that, okay, it is a draw, but is it ultimately a success for Ramesses because of what he then later does with that?

the palace for a long time so for him to come back with some stuff and the story is a success enough and then he'll just paint that paint those pictures of him on the walls of temples they're looking triumphant as a figure to try and reinforce that image of a successful returning king

So is it very much Kadesh and its result?

This is only the beginning of Ramesses' story.

This is only the beginning of his reign and he's still got a lot to do, a lot to learn and a lot to show off.

Well, there you go.

There was Dr. Campbell Price talking through the rise of Ramesses II, his father and grandfather and Horemheb and the likes before him, how it ultimately paved the way for Ramesses II to take the title of pharaoh.

in the early 13th century BC.

I hope you enjoyed the episode.

Campbell will be back next week to continue the story, to explain more about Ramesses II's long, long reign and what followed following his death.