ontes. It is, according to Penta-Our,
inhabited by a people known as Khita, whose spies are brought into the
tent of Rameses and questioned as to the whereabouts of the King of
Kadesh. The spies are forced by blows to answer, and they tell the
Egyptian monarch that the King of the Khita "is powerful with many
soldiers, and with chariot soldiers, and with their harness, as many as
the sand of the seashore, and they are ready to fight behind Kadesh."

The King is very angry; for he had been deceived by false news to the
effect that his enemy had fled in terror to Khilibu. "The fault is great,"
he cries, "that the governors of the land and the vassal princes of
Pharaoh have committed, in neglecting to watch the movements of the
Khita." He sends to bring back the legions he had sent away, and meanwhile
the approach of the enemy is announced. The camp of Rameses is surprised
by the Asiatics; many foot-soldiers are killed before they can seize their
weapons, but a faithful band rallies in front of the royal quarters.
Suddenly a cry is heard; Rameses has quickly put on his armor, seized his
lance, ordered his war lion to be loosed, and dashed into the fight.
Pharaoh with his master of the horse, Menni, is soon hemmed in by foes.
"My Lord, O generous King!" cries Menni, "Egypt's great protector in the
day of battle! behold we stand alone in the midst of the enemy, for the
archers and the chariots have left us. Let us return, that our lives may
be saved. Save us, O my Lord, Rameses Miamun!" Then Rameses called upon
Amen, his god, and under his protection charged the enemy, and "his hand
devoured them in the space of an instant." Five times he rushed upon them,
and five times they repulsed him. The sixth time he breaks their ranks and
regains his own lines. Then the legions of Ptah, which had returned to the
camp, join the battle, and the Asiatics are routed. The first care of
Rameses is to refresh his brave horses, Victory-in-Thebes and
Maut-is-Satisfied. Neither they nor Rameses and his lion are wounded,
though all stained with blood and dust, while the head-plumes of the team
are torn and tattered and their caparison broken.

This is a brief account of the main incident in this Egyptian epic, which
is written with life-like detail and animation. The war concludes with a
treaty, and the marriage of Rameses with the daughter of the King of
Kadesh, so that henceforth "the people of Egypt were of one mind with the
princes of Khita