The sting of a scorpionAttacking from behind
Is especially painful
Feeling dirty, unethical
This was treachery and to many minds
Kadesh would be made to pay
An outlying province
It had changed paths
Formerly loyal even passive
A distant client state of the Egyptian Empire
Of Ramesses
Later called Lion of Kadesh
They were not truly rebellious
Whatever Ramesses' opinion
Kadesh had left
And did not desire independence from,
Nor to commune with, Egypt
This was something called reabsorption
Returning to the Hittite empire
A long time Egyptian foe
Kadesh was at the distant reach of Egypt
Some leaders there, therefore
Might have not feared
The coming military blow
Perhaps thought themselves safe
But while being seen as being rebels
Would be dangerous for any province
Being seen as treasonous, traitorous
Would lead to a far different fate
King Ramesses
Reached for his great bow
Called for his chariot driver
And notified his officers
It was time for his army to march
They would share a welcome
To any who rebelled
From the newly tightening orbit
Of his power
For Kadesh, now was the hour
Of destiny
It was a fortified city
On the border between two empires
It was used to being used
And the time had come to decide
Who will rule it, and would it even survive
The journey to Kadesh was very long
With an army for the day that was massive
Separated into four cadres, each of 5000 men
They marched behind the elite of Egypt
A chariot force led by King Ramesses
Such a force kicked up a great cloud of sand
Walking through a desert with thousands
It is impossible to hide your men
The King's chariot force arrived first
Egyptians gathered before the walls of Kadesh
His infantry still marched far behind
A force 2000 chariots
Lay in wait, a hidden army from Kadesh
Ambushed the unready Egyptian forces
The chariots cut straight through the infantry
The surprise leading to a massive slaughter
Egypt's army was bleeding
And confusion reigned
Ramesses's remaining forces still had not arrived
Another Kadesh ambush would win the day
Someone in Pharaoh's camp saw a wall of dust
Heard a rising cry and the din of the conflict
From the battle site
And with a shout of urgency
Ramesses gathered his chariot forces
The elite of his great army
He took many extra quivers
Knowing he'd need every single arrow
And entered battle quickly
Like a lion Ramesses struck
His agile form rising high above the field of battle
Loosing arrow after arrow with his great bow
Into the chests
Piercing the hearts of the enemy chariot crews
Ramesses never relentedNever allowed the foe
A chance to respond
With bladed great wheels of his chariot
His driver, the best in the land
Sliced through the survivors of the ambush force
Ramesses and his elite chariot force
Turned the tide with great slaughter
And by his hand, the desert sands turned red
All of the cadres of the Egyptian forces assembled
Ramesses had stopped a flood, almost single handedly
The Kadesh forces retreated back into their walled city
The surviving attackers prepared to be destroyed
But again, just as some didn't expect Egypt to march
King Ramesses acted against common wisdom
Refused to fully launch his army
Instead, he had his force wait, and marching
Skirmish aggressively outside the walls of Kadesh
Soon enough there were entreaties
The Kadesh leader and Ramesses met and spoke
They promised to exchange daughters
And sons for marriage
To restore the relationship
And perhaps restore their place
In the eternal empire
Of Egypt
The name Ozymandias from a transliteration of Ancient Egyptian into Greek. It comes from a part of Ramesses' throne name, Usermaatre Setepenre, "The justice of Rê is powerful—chosen of Rê".
"Ozymandias"
Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
