Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/39

 The History of the Hittites. 23 was felt over the whole of the neighbouring populations ; they occu- pied the Naharaim, 'Mand of the two rivers" (the Orontes and Euphrates), and formed an almost impassable barrier against the Pharaohs on their line of march against Mesopotamia. From this date, the frontiers of Egypt, even under the most warlike princes^ did not extend beyond Orontes, Palestine, and Phoenicia. In their former conflicts with Egypt, the Hittites could only reckon on the support of adjoining tribes; but in the time of Ramses H., they were able to summon to their help the Masu or Mysians, the Dar- dani of the Troad, with their towns, Iluna or Ilion, and Pidasa or Pidasus, as well as the Lycians or Leka, the Carians or Akerit, and the Colchians ; in a word, Phoenicia, Syria, Asia Minor and Chaldaea, were brought together to oppose, and certainly in the hope to plunder, the mighty host of the Egyptians. If the Kheta were able to show so bold a front, it was no doubt due to the fact that they had used the opportunities afforded them during the long intervals of peace to consolidate their power in Asia Minor. It is uncertain, however, whether we are to consider these auxiliaries as vassals of Kheta-Sira, the new king of Kadesh, or tribes, many of whom may have been bound to the chief com- mander by no stronger tie than the hope of plunder, caring little to quit themselves as soldiers, so that they carried away goodly spoils. This supposition would account for the Hittites having been so easily routed, the actual number that stood the brunt of a pitched battle having, in all probability, always been very small. Even allowing for Egyptian exaggeration, to increase the impor- tance of the victory, there is reason to suppose that the allied forces far outnumbered those of their opponents. One of the confederates alone was able to bring into the field 18,000 men, that fought in regular ranks, and 2500 war chariots fell to the Egyptians. The advantages of undivided counsels and better discipline told in favour of Ramses. At first, the odds were against the young Pharaoh, who with but a small following had marched far in advance of his army, when he was surrounded and had almost fallen into the hands of the Kheta. In his distress, he called upon his father, Amu-Ra, reminding him of the temples he had built in his honour, of the altars ever a-smoke with the fat of victims, beseeching him to deliver him from the vile Kheta. Amu-Ra heard his prayer, and sent astray the darts of the enemy, ue. he was joined by his army, and the Syrians were obliged to fall back, whilst